good afternoon. sir roger bannister, the first man to run a mile in underfour 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 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. after two and a half laps, brasher gives way to chataway. bannister, a superb tactician, has suffered 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 3 minutes 59.1; seconds. and bannister has done it! though he's 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. "four—minute mile" was a sporting catchphrase everybody recognised. all i can say is i am 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's talk more about his life. we're hearing moving tributes to roger bannister.

andy moore is here. an extraordinary achievement and an extraordinary life. yes, the tributes have been led by the prime minister. she said he was a great sporting icon whose achievements are an inspiration to us all. he will be greatly missed. we have heard from sebastian coates. he said this was a day of intense sadness both for our nation and all of us in athletics. —— sebastian coates. there is not a single athlete of my generation who was not inspired by roger bannister off and on the track. we have heard that he was wonderful, he was always around athletics, always this iconic figure. touching tributes were members of the public. some would keep cropping up. legend, gentlemen. a lot of people say he was a source of inspiration. from his family, the touching tribute saying he died surrounded by his family and he was loved by them. he banked his treasure in the hearts of his friends. thank you very much. andy

moore. ireland's foreign minister has suggested 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 believe the single market and the customs union but there'll be no return to barriers and checks on the border. here is our political correspondent, mendonca. it is 310 miles long, 30,000 people across it everyday, and more than £1 billion a week is donein and more than £1 billion a week is done in trade across the border between republic of ireland and northern ireland. when you're believes —— when the uk leaves the eu, this invisible border continues. people want to keep it invisible. we are committed, the british government and all the parties in ireland, to making sure there is no

ha rd ireland, to making sure there is no hard border. mrs may says a soft border could be kept intact through technological solutions. in the first in—depth response to her plan, the republic of ireland has cast doubt on whether the eu would go for it. i am not sure that the european union will be able to support a situation whereby 80% of companies that trade north to south and south to north will actually protect the integrity of the eu single market. the irish leader met the prime minister last year to discuss solutions to the irish border question which has been a sticking point ina question which has been a sticking point in a brexit negotiations. the european union wants northern ireland ina european union wants northern ireland in a customs union, while the dup and the uk governments do not. mrs may says her speech moves the issue forward. it sets out some plans in terms of customs with the border and we can resolve 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. the future of financial services is another crucial area for the uk economy and the prime minister has made clear that the city could lose them access to european markets. she knows the deal that britain is after in this area and other sectors is a vast departure from the kinds of trade steals the eu has done before. departure from the kinds of trade steals the eu has done beforem departure from the kinds of trade steals the eu has done before. it is very broad, so covering issues like industrial goods like cars, but also financial services, energy, transport, agriculture, fisheries. tomorrow we will get a clearer idea of what the european union things when it response to mrs may's plans. susana mendonca, bbc news. large number of people are reported to be fleeing the syrian region of eastern ghouta as the government continues its 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 a0 trucks had been due to go in. polls have opened 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 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 a billion pounds. work is continuing to clear snow from roads and railway lines after days of disruption. 15 flood

warnings are in place in the south—west and north east of england. andy is that scotch corner in north yorkshire. what is the latest? the snow is continuing to fall, as you can see. this is the main a66 which links scotch corner in north yorkshire to penrith in cumbria. it had been closed for five days because of the snow but the last couple of hours it has reopened. the highways agency said that the crews worked very hard to open it. driving conditions are very poor not just because open it. driving conditions are very poor notjust because of the snow but fog as well. the weather affecting tra ns—pennine railway routes from newcastle to carlisle. no trains but a replacement bus service. the leeds and lancaster to carlisle route is also affected. as the maine coast links between england and scotland, the east coast main line did get trains running again yesterday but there are no trains on the west coast today

because of a rail replacement bus service. railway companies across the uk so the weather has been so bad that they have been making cancellations and delays throughout the country, and that continues to be the case tomorrow. you should check before you try to make any rail journeys. check before you try to make any railjourneys. a check before you try to make any rail journeys. a number of check before you try to make any railjourneys. a number of minor roads in rural and hilly areas in england, wales and scotland will com pletely england, wales and scotland will completely blocked by snow drifts as well. there is a thaw on the way but because of the power cuts, the day is likely to be anything but normal. thank you. you can see more on all of today's stories on the bbc news channel and the next news on bbc one is at 6:05pm. goodbye for now. you're watching the bbc news channel with ben brown.

sir roger bannister, the first man to runa sir roger bannister, the first man to run a mile in underfour minutes, has died at the age of 88. tributes have been coming in for him. the prime minister said roger bannister was a great british sporting icon whose achievements were an inspiration to us all. the former track and field athlete lord said —— seb coe said there was not an athlete of his generation who was not inspired by roger bannister. he went on to become a doctor and urologist and he was diagnosed with parkinson's disease. i have been speaking to roger black, the former 0lympic runner and triple gold medallist, and i have been speaking to him about roger bannister‘s athletic achievements. the big

barrier was broken. and has another barrier was broken. and has another barrier been broken subsequently because he had such an impact on the world of athletics and i think the a nswer world of athletics and i think the answer is no. as a kid i did a project on roger bannister breaking the four minute mile and we all knew about it. it was a huge moment. for me personally, it is interesting because i wrote to him when i was having the dilemma of whether to leave medical school or not to take athletics seriously and he was the only person i could think of who had combined the two. he sent me a lovely handwritten letter back and said it was very different in my day, old chap, and he will have to taken more seriously i did. it was wonderful. he was always around and athletics. he was an iconic figure and whenever i chatted to him... it is interesting because we remember him for the athletics but actually medicine was his love, his true love. he was true to that. of course in his day you are able to play around a little bit with athletics.

he was a huge figure in our sport and he will be sorely missed. and why was it such a sought—after achievement to run the mile under four minutes? it was compared to climbing everest in the nineteen fifties. it was and it was roughly the same time. it cracked that perfect number four. not 4.10 the same time. it cracked that perfect numberfour. not 4.10 but that elusive figure. and when they had done it, everybody else went to do it, and he proved that once something has been done, everyone can do it. it is used in the corporate world as a great example of that. went to smash through a barrier, you prove it can be done and people believe that is what happened. he was the first person to do itand happened. he was the first person to do it and he will be remembered forever for do it and he will be remembered foreverfor being do it and he will be remembered forever for being that person. just talk to us about how he did do it. he said he was with typical modesty.

he said he was with typical modesty. he had pacers, chris chataway and chris brasher, and they were important. ina chris brasher, and they were important. in a sense it was a team effort. it was definitely a team effort. it was definitely a team effort. they chose the event, they chose the place, they chose the time. and they had a strategy and they stuck to that strategy. he was they stuck to that strategy. he was the one who came through. he always gave credit to chris chataway and eve ryo ne gave credit to chris chataway and everyone else in the race. he felt he was the person who crossed the line first but it was absolutely a team effort. he immortalised iffley road as the stadium. when you look back on it, you get nostalgia because it really was the amateur days of athletics. you have this image of him waking up in the morning and getting on the train and turning up, putting his spikes on and giving it a go. that wouldn't happen now. it is a completely different sport now, completely professional. we admire that. we

love that, the symbolism of what he did that day. but the most important thing of it was breaking that elusive barrier that had been there for so long and so many people thought couldn't be broken. roger black remembering the life and achievements of sir roger bannister, who has died at the age of 88. president trump has stepped up his rhetoric on trade tariffs, threatening to impose additional taxes on cars imported to america from europe. the eu had said it would retaliate in kind if mr trump carried out an earlier threat to apply tariffs on imports of steel and aluminium. andrew plant reports. the white hot glow of steel. this multi—billion—dollar global industry has sparked heated threats of trade tariffs and friction between the us and europe. it is disgraceful and when it comes to a time when our countries... on thursday, donald trump announced plans to levy a 25% tax on steel imports and 10% on aluminium.

the current deals, he said, bad for the us economy. european commission president jean—claude juncker said the eu could retaliate in kind with tariffs of its own on things the us sells to europe. we buy more steel from the united states than any other country. canada too opposed the idea. justin trudeau urging mr trump to reconsider. significant and serious. now donald trump has hit back, threatening to increase tax on imported european cars. america the eu's biggest car market. in a tweet, he said, if the eu wants to further increase their already massive tariffs and barriers on us companies doing business there, we will simply apply a tax on their cars which freely pour into the us. they make it impossible for our cars and more to sell there. big trade imbalance. as yet, there has been no retaliatory response. the white house press secretary simply saying no

one should be surprised at mr trump's announcements. andrew plant, bbc news. earlier, our business correspondent, joe lynam, explained what this could mean for british manufacturers. this is a tweet from a president who likes twitter. but if he were to impose taxes on european cars being sold in the united states, it would have a huge impact, because huge numbers of german, especially, and british cars are sold in the north american continent. bmw and mercedes are huge brands and volkswagen is absolutely huge. but they have factories in north america, bmw, mercedes and volkswagen. where is jaguar land rover, they make most of their cars here in the uk and export them to the united states. they are also premium products which means they were proportionally pay more money if attacks was slapped on it.

i had money if attacks was slapped on it. ihada money if attacks was slapped on it. i had a quick look at the statistics and jaguar land rover sold 114,000 ca i’s and jaguar land rover sold 114,000 cars in the united states last year. 74,000 of them were land rover, very big vehicles, and adding a 10% or 20% charge to that could make americans decide to buy a chevrolet oi’ americans decide to buy a chevrolet or cadillacs or whatever it is. this could definitely have an impact. or cadillacs or whatever it is. this could definitely have an impactm this tweet did become policy and legislation and so on, would europe retaliate? with this effectively become a trade war between the united states and europe? at the moment this is a verbal trade war. as we president trump said he would impose a 25% tariffs on steel and 10% on aluminium. within a day, jean—claude juncker was talking about retaliatory action and picking on harley—davidsons, from the very strategically important state of wisconsin, the key swing state for

president trump. he is not taking that lying down and he is talking about imposing taxes on european cars. about imposing taxes on european ca rs. let's about imposing taxes on european cars. let's be honest, there are not that many american cars sold on the continent of europe are plenty of european cars. as i said, they have plenty of factories in north america so plenty of factories in north america so the real loser might be american workers. it this game to pass, the cobbler gating factor is that we are leaving the european union and seeking did do a deal of our own with the usa. —— the complication factor. it just with the usa. —— the complication factor. itjust shows how rough and tumble the trade business can be. it has been relatively smooth over the last decade but it could get nasty if there is a trade war of some description. joe lynam reporting on the latest tweet from donald trump. hundreds of people are gathering in central london to campaign for gender equality. the rally precedes international women's day which is this thursday, and adina is there.

despite the weather, hundreds of people have turned up here in central london in today's march for women event which is also tied into international women's day. this is very important because it is of course 100 years since women were given the right to vote. this is a chance for women, men, children to really come together and celebrate how far they have come. one of the activists joining in this rally today is the welsh actor michael sheen. michael, why was it important for you to get involved? i think it is an important thing to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the right to vote for women and to show solidarity and support. there is clearly a moment going on but we have to make sure it is notjust a moment, that it is ongoing forever. men have to stand up and show their solidarity with women. this is notjust a women's issue. this is about having a more equal and fair society which everyone benefits from. and what does it mean for people to come out in person and take part in these rallies?

with the weather the way it has been recently, it takes a lot. but it shows the enthusiasm for this cause to see so many people here, to see young girls holding banners with their mothers, with their grandparents, seeing men out here with the women as well, marching together. it is really exciting. you have been very active on social media putting your weight and support behind the ongoing campaign to make sure that women are considered as equals. do you think we have much further to go? well, if it only stays on social media, then yes, we have a lot further to go. i saw someone wearing a sash that says "deeds not words", so it has to go much further than words. it has to be out there, making change happen, as we are seeing so many inspiring women do at the moment. i want to make sure i am next to them. i want to listen and i want to learn. it is up to us as men to hear what women's experience has been. i think we all have to look at our own responsibility and how we have been contributing, how i have been contributing, to a systemic frustration of women and not hearing their voices.

that's the important thing, i think. michael, thank you very much. the march itself is expected to get under way in the next hour or so. as michael said, it has been a very turbulent few months with the harvey weinstein scandal, the #metoo campaign, and more recently the gender pay gap row as well. hundreds of people here today to take part in the march for women rally. back to you. pubs will be allowed to stay open late to celebrate the wedding of prince harry and american actress meghan markle. bars in england and wales can remain open until one in the morning on the eve of the wedding and the day itself. jessica parker reports. congratulations from all of us. the big day is getting closer and now, pubs will be able to stay open longer.

cheers! 0n the friday night before the royal wedding and the saturday night itself, licensing hours are being extended until 1am, so people have more time to raise a glass to the happy couple. i think it's a great idea! it lets people celebrate, brings people together. to connect the people to the royal family, we need to be able to celebrate as well. i'm very much in favour! i think it's something that all pubs need. this has happened before, including for the wedding of the duke and duchess of cambridge and the queen's 90th birthday. it's the home secretary who can briefly loosen licensing laws for special occasions. of course, the royal wedding coincides with this year's fa cup final on the 19th of may, but the government says there have been no reports of increased disorder when pub rules have previously been relaxed in this way. it's all about community, it's about coming together and celebrating, whether it's football or a wedding, and i think actually it's just going to be a great day for people and for pubs. on friday, prince harry and meghan markle announced that over 1,000 members of the public will be invited to the grounds of windsor castle to join

the celebrations and hear the wedding bells chime. drinkers will hear a familiar peal, too. just a little later than normal. jessica parker, bbc news. and the bell has run for the beginning of the sports news. let's go straight to 0lly foster. beginning of the sports news. let's go straight to olly foster. hello. we will start with the boxing. john tae wilder says he is ready to take on anthonyjoshua in heavyweight unification fight at all boxing fans wa nt to unification fight at all boxing fans want to see. that is after the unbeaten american retained his wbc belt overnight. luis 0rtiz was also unbeaten and looked to have dion to a wild in trouble in the seventh but the cu ban was a wild in trouble in the seventh but the cuban was knocked down three times that the fight was stopped in the tenth. that was john times that the fight was stopped in the tenth. that wasjohn terry times that the fight was stopped in the tenth. that was john terry while the's 39 not out in 45. joshua puts his ibf and w be a belt on the line

against the wbo championjoseph parker in cardiff at the end of the month. if he comes through that then that superbright could be made but john tae wilder is not convinced that thejoshua camp is keen. they definitely don't want it, the promoters. it is up to you guys, the fans. i have talked about it enough and i don't want to talk about it no more because i said all i have to say and after tonight i don't need to say no more. i don't need to prove to the world that i am the best. a couple of games in the premier league, kicking off at the amex stadium, brighton and arsenal. and manchester city face chelsea later. city would go 18 points clear at the top with a win. they go into this match off the back of two wins against arsenal and in the league last thursday night, when pep guardiola was asked about today's opponents chelsea and their manager. he has introduced another way to attack, another system. a lot of teams, even arsenal, wanted to imitate him, to do that.

tactically he is a master. he did it amazingly in the national team with italy, withjuventus and turin. i think conte is going to give something to english football, i am pretty sure of that. to see an advantage against a team like manchester city is very difficult, yes. but at the same time we have to prepare the game in the right way and we hope to have all the players in good form and to try to fight for a good result. but for sure in this moment they seem unstoppable. unstoppable, yes. there's an important match under way at ewood park in league one. leaders blackburn rovers are facing third placed wigan athletic. rovers were 2—0 up by halftime.

adam armstrong scored the first afterjust six minutes and then elliott bennett added a second. three points would see them move 7 points clear of shrewsbury. wigan would climb to second with a win. they have just pulled back one goal so they have just pulled back one goal so it is 2—1 to blackburn and things could be exciting there. and there are two more scottish cup quarter—finals today. motherwell face hearts and rangers take on falkirk. celtic made it through to the semifinals yesterday. aberdeen and kilmarnock have got to replay after a draw. in italy, all serie a matches have been called off after the death of the fiorentina captain davide astori following a sudden illness, according to his club. he was 31. he had been due to lead his team against udinese this afternoon.

this was the tribute paid today at genoa, where his former club cagliari was due to play. he was part of the most recent italy squad and had been capped 14 times. the final of the welsh 0pen snooker is under way. let's go live to cardiff and check in onjohn higgins and barry hawkins. this is the very first frame of the match and it is level pegging. both men up to 50 points and hawkins is that the table. john higgins has won four titles, and his first was 18 yea rs four titles, and his first was 18 years ago. if he wins another, it will be a record, joint record with ronnie 0'sullivan, who he beat in the quarterfinals. the final is under way and it looks to be a cagey affair very early on in that match. and sir mo farah has won the inaugral big half race in london. it isa it is a half marathon, if you hadn't guessed. he will now turn his attention to next month's london marathon,

where he'll bid to become the first british man to win since 1993. that's all the sport for now. we will have more for you throughout the rest of the afternoon on bbc news. thank you very much. 0lly foster. now we can check out the weather which is still causing problems in many parts of the country. let's get the latest forecast. good afternoon. you are right, because scenes like these are all too widespread. but things are 110w all too widespread. but things are now soaring, and the outlook for the week ahead is the milder air to push north across the british isles. —— thawing. 0f north across the british isles. —— thawing. of course the thawing can cause problems itself with flooding. and it can be rapid when the rain i’u ns over and it can be rapid when the rain runs over the snow. some rain in eastern england this afternoon and hefty showers in the south—west. still some snow in the northern areas of england and in scotland,

quite significant actually. as the milder airfinally winds its quite significant actually. as the milder air finally winds its way up, it should become increasingly confined to the hills. we are talking about the risk of roads dropping down to freezing by the small hours of monday so i could be an issuejust small hours of monday so i could be an issue just about anywhere. by monday daytime, some sunny spells and some showers in northern ireland. still the chance of something wintery across eastern scotland but finally some healthier temperatures. five in edinburgh.