the belarusian olympic athlete krystsina tsikhanouskaya has been granted a humanitarian visa by poland. she sought help from police at tokyo airport on saturday as belarusian officials tried to force her onto a plane home, after she criticised the team's coaches on social media. the american gymnast simone biles is to compete in the beam final, after pulling out of previous events at tokyo 2020, which will be her final chance of an individual medal. a total of 26 medals are up for grabs on day eleven of the olympics. there are fears the taliban are on the verge of taking control of lashkar gar — the capital of helmand province in afghanistan. us planes are continuing to attack their positions. the us secretary of state, antony blinken, says he's seen deeply disturbing reports of taliban atrocities.

the latest research of a football players developing dementia has found those playing defence who tend to head the ball most often are more than five times more likely than the general population to develop a neuro degenerative disease. leading scientists say that footballs should hold health warnings. our editor reports. how safe is heading? questions and concerns are growing. a new study funded by the football authorities in england has highlighted risks linked to head injuries. the research team was led by professor willie stewart, a brain expert interviewed and a documentary by alan shearer. lots of cases of dementia. he arc ues lots of cases of dementia. he argues that the game needs to be changed. can the game of football be played without head impact?

even at some level, may be amateur and youth level. can we think of a way to do that? he even argues footballs on sale should carry a health warning of repeated heading. what are the main findings of the research? the studies suggest former professional footballers have a three and a half times greater risk of developing brain disorders like dementia than the population as a whole. for defenders who tend to head the ball most often, it is a five times greater risk, but for goalkeepers who really hit the ball the risk is broadly similar to the broader population. jeff astle who played for west brom in england died nearly 20 years ago. a coroner ruled he had a brain injury linked to heading. a campaign health with the risks of injury. millions of people around the world including me, this is a

much loved sport, but for my dad and all of these other professionals it was just their job and they should be afforded the same protection for known risks as anybody else and any other job. otherjob. the other job. the football association said new guidelines limiting heading in england would take a factor soon. heading for youth teams has already been restricted in each of the uk's nations. the new report may fuel demand for further action. now on bbc news, witness history. hello, i'm nikki fox. thanks forjoining me at the queen elizabeth 0lympic park here in london ahead of the summer 2020 paralympic games. in this special edition of witness history, we're looking back at some important moments in the recent history of disability and sport. coming up: a medallist who competed at the first paralympic games. we'll hear about the special olympics for those with learning disabilities.

away from sport, we'll find out why students at america's deaf only university shut down their campus. plus, we'll hear about the specially designed car for disabled people that was both terrifying and exhilarating. but first, when sports enthusiast van phillips lost his leg during an accident, he became immediately frustrated by the clumsy prosthetics on offer. determined to run again, he went on to invent the first carbon graphite prosthetic running leg in 1984. it has since simply become known as �*the blade'. when you lose a body part, it's different from any other experience because it's gone. it'sjust gone. that was the hardest part, knowing that it was irreversible. i had my accident in the spring of 1976, and i was 21, and winter had just broke and it was now time

for spring water skiing. i'd just taken a big cut to the left and the boat quit. so then all of a sudden over my right shoulder, i turn around and another boat came right at me and so the odds are that my ankle's that wide, that's what it hit, the propeller. had i not had a wetsuit on, i would have bled out, there was just no way — major arteries were cut. but my knee was bent, the wetsuit was tight. itjust stopped the blood flow. they put a cast on your stump and then on the bottom was a pink rubber foot and so i'm sitting there looking at my pink foot and you just feel like your life is gone. archive: their artificial limb, especially if it's a leg, - is the most important thing in their life. they ought to get, and it seems that now one day they will get, the very best that modern technological skills can provide. the question is when.

ijust knew intuitively that there was a better way. just years, several years prior, theyjust put man on the moon. so my early attempts at creating something that would spring and push off was — you know those little insoles you put on the side of your shoe? well, that was my first concept — let's build one of those and those early ones were actually, they weren't too bad, i had a little block of foam on the toe and the heel but then i got really blessed. i met a man called dale abildskov. dale was one of the world's leading aerospace graphite engineers. that night we drew up the drawing of what the leg was to look like and within two, maybe three weeks, i built a leg and i attached it to my socket. iran down his condominium hallway, i mean fast. that was freedom.

that was, that was real inner freedom. i probably built 50, maybe 60 more legs, different types, different arrangements. broke �*em, fell down. till we finally launched our first foot. the first carbon graphite energy—storing prosthesis ever. so if you look at the structure, it's millions of tiny little hair—like fibres, and those fibres stretch, just like our tendons do, and so that energy can be stored in those fibres and that's how we came up with the c—shaped cheetah foot. my foundation's name is called second wind. i'm involved in developing a foot for landmine survivors. and they have to go to work. you know, they're labourers, they're planting fields, they don't have the luxury of sitting down. for asia, a lot of people work in rice patties. you can't wear a standard

foot in water, they rot. in afghanistan, iraq, they're on rocky hillsides, going up and down mountains. we built a design that has increased function, decreased weight and increased strength. the foot has to be able to endure all kinds of different climates. we're calling it the world foot. world foot for all countries, for all peoples everywhere. and when i think of all the amputees in the world that i can actually share that, there was never a greaterjoy than that for me. van phillips on the invention which revolutionised parasports. our next witness was a bit of a pioneer herself. in 1960, margaret maughan surprised even herself when she became a gold—medallist at the first paralympic games in rome. but it all started at a british hospital.

in 1959, i was working in malawi, involved in a car accident, when i became paralysed and was brought to stoke mandeville hospital in england and from then my life changed dramatically. the director of the unit was ludwig guttmann and his idea was movement. people just not allowed to lie there, becoming ill and miserable. archive: it's paralysis that keeps the 200 contestants | in wheelchairs, but it can't prevent them from being sportsmen. itjust worked out happened that i happened to be quite good at archery and i used to win the monthly competition quite often. in 1960 i was very lucky and very surprised to be invited to be in the team to go to the very first international sports event for wheelchair

people in rome. archive: visitors to _ the vatican where 350 paralysed people who have competed over there in what they called the paralympic games. the olympics had just taken place and we were going to stay in the olympic village in the same accommodation. to our horror when we arrived on the ground, all the buildings were up on stilts. whenever we went in or out and a building, these two soldiers would carry us up two flights of stairs and down two flights of stairs. it was a very tedious business. during the whole of the games, there was such a togetherness. everybody making new friends, it was great camaraderie

and we just supported each other. archery was one of the first competitions to begin. we would shoot six arrows each. and then a little army of people, one for each target, would rush up to the target and collect the arrows and the same thing happened again. i had no idea what my score was, and then i was allowed to go off and watch other people doing different events. we were put on the coaches ready to go back to the village. somebody said, "where's margaret maughan? we need her, she's needed for a medal ceremony." so they had to then proceed to lift me out of the coach, put me back into a wheelchair and i was wheeled up a little

ramp onto the leading position and presented with the gold medal. i wasn't really very excited about it, it had just happened. everything was so bewildering. it's now known as the first medal won by a british person at the first paralympic games. i myself managed to take apart in five paralympics over the years. it's just a marvellous experience, the whole thing. margaret maughan, britain's first paralympic gold—medallist, who sadly died in 2020. up next, a sporting moment which helped change attitudes. in 1968, the first games for athletes with learning disabilities was held. they were promoted by america's famous political family the kennedys, one of whom had

a learning disability. witness history spoke to organiser anne burke and to athlete frank 0livo about a time when people like him were often feared or ignored. i was a teacher in the chicago park district in 1965 teaching physical education. teaching skills to special athletes like frank, and frank was in the very beginning of the programme. i was 20 when i was in the special olympics. i had spinal meningitis. it made me slow. back in the early �*60s, there was no activities and no schooling for people with disabilities, or they were in institutions at the time. i tried to get on with everybody on the block and theyjust looked and laughed. i wrote to mrs eunice kennedy shriver and asked her

if she would donate some money to put in the first special games. she was very excited. i wrote a proposal to her and the kennedy foundation helped fund it. right here at soldier field, we put on the first games. there were 1,000 athletes. in ancient rome, the gladiators went into the arena with thesel words on their lips, - "let me win, but if i cannot win, let me be brave the attempt." - today, all of you young . athletes are in the arena. many of you will win, - but even more important, i know you will be brave and bring credit to yourl parents and to your countries. let us begin the olympics. thank you. applause volunteers

were needed for almost every individual athlete. this was new for even the volunteers to have even an opportunity to meet first—hand a special child or an adult. reporter: there are seven basic events: running, - jumping, throwing and swimming. my coach came and tell me i am in the 50—yard dash. i was excited but kind of nervous. the 50—yard dash, shortest yet severest test of speed - in the special olympics competition. _ it was hard at first, when they raised the gun and said, "on your marks, get set, bang". i didn't know if i was going to take off, but i took off! we were all kind of fast runners. i came pretty close to the nose.

reporter: only two tenths of a second separates - first and third. i was catching my breath, and my coach, he said "you won first place!" and i said, "thank god!" seeing 1,000 athletes on the field, showing off their skills and actually thrilled to be able tojust be there. winning wasn't the goal, it was crossing the finish line. i felt proud of myself — other people always put me down, saying, "you won't amount to nothing", and they say now, "he does amount to something, he's special!" anne burke and frank 0livo, who sadly died in 2019. i felt proud of myself — other people always put me down, saying, "you won't amount to nothing", and they say now, "he does amount to

something, he's special!" anne burke and frank 0livo, who sadly died in 2019. remember, you can watch witness history every month on the bbc news channel, or you can catch up on all our films alongside more than 2,000 radio programmes on our online archive. just go to bbc. co. uk/witnesshistory. now to the 1980s, and a protest which made the national news in america. in 1988, students at the deaf—only gallaudet university barricaded their campus, protesting against their board of trustees' decision to appoint a hearing president. witness history spoke to dr irving king jordan. it's important to know that i am totally deaf — i can't hear a jet engine, i can't hear anything. right now i'm working

with a sign language interpreter, sarah, who's sitting front of me next to the camera, so instead of hearing your questions, i'm seeing sarah's signs. newsreader: gallaudet college has been the centre of deaf - education in america since 1847. in 1987 the president at time stepped down. right away there was a push for the board to recognise that the next president should be a deaf individual. so they narrowed it down to three finalists. two of us were deaf and one was hearing. i have a lot to bring to the university but i also have a lot to learn from it, and that process must start right away. the board of trustees voted to name elisabeth zinser the seventh president of gallaudet. dr zinser had a lot

of experience but she didn't know anything about deafness. and that's when i guess you could say the protests started. someone had the bright idea to bring buses to block the gates. the rallying cry was "we want a deaf president now! chanting: deaf president now! we want a deaf president! one of the posters out front said "honk if you support a deaf prez", and of course everybody drove past, saw that sign, honked. honking. then the press started to come, and for a week it was the front page of the washington post.

are the students prepared to continue blocking the entrance as long as the board refuses to meet your demands? "we give up our soul in order to get a deaf president". - the chair of the board was jane bassett spilman. and she came to campus and called a meeting. she wanted to talk and explain her decision. woman: are you going to resign? crosstalk and chanting. she used the word "children", said "you children are making too much noise, i can't communicate if you make so much noise." but using the word children to college students? ooh, that was not good. when dr zinser realised the intensity of the feelings and the sense of the campus, she decided to step down. cheering and applause. the board discussed and decided

to name me president. there is one person i want to single out for very special thanks. applause. my wife linda. applause. right now i am getting emotional, so i have to stop. at gallaudet, people who are deaf must have unlimited educational and professional opportunity. i was delighted with the speech, i was delighted with the experience. dr irving king jordan, the first deaf president of gallaudet university. finally to britain, just after the second world war, when the government began providing free vehicles, specially designed for disabled people. colin powell tells witness history about his love—hate relationship with the invacar

he received in the 1960s. it's very much a result of the war veterans coming back disabled from the second world war. it became apparent to the government that they needed some form of transportation. newsreel: all have motor- invalid chairs and many of them go out in them every day to work in nearby factories along the great west road. the government came up with designing what we would best describe in those days as being an "invalid carriage". but then they got the brand name, which was the brand name of the manufacturer, they became the invacar. all were hand controlled, in other words if you take the three petals in a normal vehicle, the clutch, the accelerator, the foot brakes, they were all incorporated to be only operated by hands. i am a victim of polio and have always suffered

a restricted mobility. i was 16 when i first got my invalid carriage. the excitement of this vehicle coming into your possession after years of being dependent on, in my case, my parents, to take me anywhere, was an absolute delight and thrill. it gave you the feeling of somehow levelling out the playing field of the limitations put upon you by your disability. it took me to college, when i was a student, it took me to my firstjob, but when we look at it objectively we can see a lot that wasn't right with it as well. reporter: 8596 of disabled | people using this vehicle have said to have complained about its unpredictable behaviour on the road. they were not reliable, they were unstable,

they were fundamentally unsafe. the fact that it was a single seater meant in your formulative teenage and 20s years, it was a very antisocial method of transport, because, you know, when you started to form friendships with girls and what have you, i was a bit of a rebel, and i can't say with my hand on my heart that i didn't sneak a young lady in my car on more than one occasion. she'd sit where the wheelchair would sit, on the floor, very uncomfortable, totally no padding, no seatbelt, totally unsafe. reporter: the campaign to get invalids onto four wheels - instead of three switched in october to tower bridge. i did take part in a protest against these vehicles. we were looking for the government to consider issuing regular, adapted ordinary cars. eventually the protest got so heated that the government allowed this scheme to allow the provision of a regular car adapted for disabled persons. archive: this triumph spitfire is the first sports car to be - converted and cost £115

to switch to hand operation. most things you find in the disability world are never designed by a disabled person. they'd be decided by someone who thinks they know what a disabled person needs. i might be disabled but i'm a human being, i'm as normal as anyone else. it's just that i have additional challenges in my life as the mass—market motoring could have easily accommodated from day one. colin powell there talking about the invacar. that's all from this special edition of witness history, from the queen elizabeth olympic park here in london. we'll be back soon with more extraordinary stories from the past. but for now from me

and the rest of the witness history team, goodbye. hello. sunny spells aplenty on tuesday, but there'll be showers around, too. and in fact it's going to stay quite showery for the rest of the week, and, if anything, it'll turn even more unsettled towards the end of the week. now, thejet stream's not on our side. we're on the cool side of the jet. the jet stream separates the cool air from the north and the warm air to the south, and it also sends weather systems in our direction. so, actually much of western and central europe is feeling the effects of that cool air. you can see the yellows there, whereas the hot air is in place across the balkans, greece, turkey and into russia. in excess of a0 degrees there. obviously not for us, not that we'd want it anyway.

but this is what it looks like early in the morning on tuesday. a lot of clear weather, sunshine right from the word go, but quite nippy in the morning in some places. around five degrees in rural spots. so, the weather map for tuesday shows that we're in between weather systems. more weather systems out in the atlantic heading our way, but in between means that we'll see those scattered showers here and there. very light winds as well. now, watch where the showers form, some across the south almost along these distinct lines here. elsewhere, a lot of sunshine around, but if you're caught underneath that area of showers, it could be very, very wet, thunder and lightning as well. but like i say, fine sunny weather for the majority of the uk, and temperatures getting up to around 20 or so. now, the showers could linger into the evening hours for some of us on tuesday. here's a look at wednesday's weather map, and there's a weak weather front approaching from the west.

it'll bring some showers to parts of northern ireland, scotland, too, and there'll be one or two showers breaking out elsewhere. but once again, plenty of sunny spells, so it's really sort of all or nothing really over the next few days. temperatures could get up to around 22 whether you're in the south or the north. now, towards the end of the week, so here's thursday and friday, a low pressure is sitting on top of us. that inevitably means strengthening winds. they could be quite strong and gusty in the south of the country, and they will bring quite changeable weather. so, frequent showers on the way. now, you can see the outlook, really not much changes overall for the foreseeable future. that's it from me. bye— bye.

welcome to bbc news. i'm rich preston. our top stories: an olympic sprinter from belarus who was ordered home is granted a humanitarian visa by poland after taking refuge at its embassy in tokyo. 26 gold medals up for grabs on day 11 of the tokyo olympics, which will see the return to competition of us gymnast simone biles. there are fears the taliban are on the verge of taking control of lashkar gah, the capital of helmand province in afghanistan. and — why covid infections rise in the american tourist destination provincetown, despite the high rate of vaccinations there.