List of All Articles with Tag '1'

Women give the BBC harrowing accounts of rape by fighters, as conflict rages in the country.

Refugees and activists tell the BBC intimidation tactics are tearing apart Uyghur communities overseas.

Traders buffeted by a swath of central-bank decisions last week are preparing for further volatility amid signs that

The Danish government is exploring banning protests destroying holy texts over security concerns.

Goals from Thiago Silva and Christopher Nkunku were enough for Chelsea to see off Fulham and claim the Premier League Summer Series trophy in the USA.

Deadly clashes broke out between rival factions in Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp over the weekend.

Lewis Hamilton described Max Verstappen’s dominance of Formula One as being like “he is having a smoke and a pancake” following the Dutch driver’s eighth straight win at the Belgian Grand Prix. Hamilton finished fourth and trailed Verstappen by 49 seconds at Spa-Francorchamps. During the 44-lap race, Verstappen even goaded his rivals by calling on Red Bull to change his tyres for “some pit-stop training”. And when asked if it was too easy for Verstappen at the front, Hamilton replied: “What do you want me to say? I have not spoken to him,” before adding with an accent: “He is having a smoke and a pancake. You know the film?” The seven-time world champion was referencing the 2002 Austin Powers movie in which Dutch villain Goldmember asks the main character if he would “like a smoke and a pancake”. Hamilton is now 35 appearances without a victory – the longest streak of his career. Across the same period, Verstappen – the man who beat him to the title in the contentious season-ending Abu Dhabi race of 2021 – has triumphed 25 times. Hamilton was demoted to seventh in Saturday’s sprint race after he was penalised by the stewards for tangling with Sergio Perez. He failed to make an impression on the podium places on Sunday. Hamilton also bemoaned the unexpected return of porpoising for Mercedes which last season plagued the grid’s once all-conquering team. “It was not bouncing a little bit, it was bouncing like last year,” said Hamilton. “It was bouncing everywhere. “They (Mercedes) don’t know (what caused the bouncing) and to me it is a concern. I know what I want and I am praying for it. I am just waiting for the day that we get it.” Hamilton is out of contract at the end of the season, and while both he and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, say an extension to his £40million-a-season deal will be struck, it may not be concluded in the near future. Asked if he expected Hamilton’s contract to be signed during Formula One’s four-week summer break, Wolff replied: “I don’t want to give you a date. It is lawyers speaking to lawyers. It is no material thing anymore. We have to give it time. And I don’t want to commit to a date.” Reflecting on Mercedes’ porpoising, the Austrian added: “The car was bouncing on every straight, and even Blanchimont was a corner that Lewis was having to lift, and that is usually an easy flat. “You bounce on the straight, you overheat the tyres on braking, and that is a vicious circle. “It is frustrating to check out for the holidays like this but we will understand more tomorrow.” Read More Max Verstappen taunts F1 rivals with ‘pit-stop training’ offer Lewis Hamilton reveals return of major issue with Mercedes car at Belgian Grand Prix Max Verstappen extends invincible streak with victory at Belgian Grand Prix ‘We should not be deterred’: Lewis Hamilton unhappy with stewards after penalty F1 Belgian Grand Prix LIVE: Race results and times at Spa-Francorchamps Max Verstappen sees off Oscar Piastri to win thrilling sprint race in Belgium

Lewis Hamilton described Max Verstappen’s dominance of Formula One as being like “he is having a smoke and a pancake” following the Dutch driver’s eighth straight win at the Belgian Grand Prix. Hamilton finished fourth and trailed Verstappen by 49 seconds at Spa-Francorchamps. During the 44-lap race, Verstappen even goaded his rivals by calling on Red Bull to change his tyres for “some pit-stop training”. And when asked if it was too easy for Verstappen at the front, Hamilton replied: “What do you want me to say? I have not spoken to him,” before adding with an accent: “He is having a smoke and a pancake. You know the film?” The seven-time world champion was referencing the 2002 Austin Powers movie in which Dutch villain Goldmember asks the main character if he would “like a smoke and a pancake”. Hamilton is now 35 appearances without a victory – the longest streak of his career. Across the same period, Verstappen – the man who beat him to the title in the contentious season-ending Abu Dhabi race of 2021 – has triumphed 25 times. Hamilton was demoted to seventh in Saturday’s sprint race after he was penalised by the stewards for tangling with Sergio Perez. He failed to make an impression on the podium places on Sunday. Hamilton also bemoaned the unexpected return of porpoising for Mercedes which last season plagued the grid’s once all-conquering team. “It was not bouncing a little bit, it was bouncing like last year,” said Hamilton. “It was bouncing everywhere. “They (Mercedes) don’t know (what caused the bouncing) and to me it is a concern. I know what I want and I am praying for it. I am just waiting for the day that we get it.” Hamilton is out of contract at the end of the season, and while both he and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, say an extension to his £40million-a-season deal will be struck, it may not be concluded in the near future. Asked if he expected Hamilton’s contract to be signed during Formula One’s four-week summer break, Wolff replied: “I don’t want to give you a date. It is lawyers speaking to lawyers. It is no material thing anymore. We have to give it time. And I don’t want to commit to a date.” Reflecting on Mercedes’ porpoising, the Austrian added: “The car was bouncing on every straight, and even Blanchimont was a corner that Lewis was having to lift, and that is usually an easy flat. “You bounce on the straight, you overheat the tyres on braking, and that is a vicious circle. “It is frustrating to check out for the holidays like this but we will understand more tomorrow.” Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live Max Verstappen taunts F1 rivals with ‘pit-stop training’ offer Max Verstappen beats Oscar Piastri to sprint race pole in Belgium How Max Verstappen and record-breaking Red Bull compare to Formula One greats

Max Verstappen goaded his forlorn rivals by challenging Red Bull to pointless “pit-stop training” during his exhibition win in Belgium on Sunday. Verstappen started sixth by virtue of a grid penalty for a gearbox change, but he assumed the lead on lap 17 of 44 before taking the chequered flag 22.3 seconds clear of Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez. Charles Leclerc finished third for Ferrari. Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton started third and crossed the line in fourth. Verstappen’s triumph was his eighth in a row – leaving him just one short of Sebastian Vettel’s record. It also marked his 10th victory from 12 rounds so far this season, his 19th from his last 23 outings and Red Bull’s 22nd in that period. The team from Milton Keynes head into Formula One’s summer break unbeaten this season. Verstappen is riding on a wave of invincibility – a staggering 125 points clear in the championship – and with nine laps remaining here, his supreme confidence was expressed in a message to his race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase. “I could also push on and we do another stop?” he said. “A little bit of pit-stop training?” “Not this time,” replied Lambiase. “He has reason to be cheeky because he is just driving circles round everybody else on merit,” was the verdict of Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff following another so-so afternoon for the Silver Arrows. “The stopwatch never lies and there is one guy in one car above everyone else.” From sixth to fourth at the end of the first lap, Verstappen dispatched of Hamilton at 210mph on the Kemmel Straight on lap six, and then Leclerc three laps later following a fine move round the outside of the Ferrari pole-sitter at Les Combes. Then came the first of a series of sharp-edged radio exchanges with Lambiase which would provide some entertainment on a one-sided afternoon in the Ardennes. Trailing Perez, Verstappen wanted Red Bull to perform a double-stack tyre-stop in order not to lose any time to his team-mate on fresh rubber. But his request was rebuffed by the Red Bull pit wall. “So don’t forget Max, use your head please,” said Lambiase. “Are we both doing it (stopping) or what?” replied Verstappen. “You just follow my instruction,” came Lambiase’s response. “No, I want to know both cars do it,” fired back Verstappen. “Max, please follow my instruction and trust it, thank you,” said Lambiase. Lambiase was promptly back on the radio to ask Verstappen if he could make his dry rubber last for the next nine minutes with fine drizzle anticipated. “I can’t see the weather radar,” was Verstappen’s spiky response. A lap after Perez stopped for tyres, Verstappen came in. He left the pit-lane 2.8 sec adrift of the Mexican but he required only two laps before he was crawling all over the back of his team-mate’s identical machine. Verstappen tracked Perez through the fearsome Eau Rouge-Raidillon section before he applied DRS and roared round Perez along the Kemmel Straight. By the end of that 17th lap, Verstappen had already established a 1.6 sec gap over his team-mate. It then began to drizzle, and Verstappen endued a hairy moment through Eau Rouge as the back end of his Red Bull stepped out at 180mph. “F***, I nearly lost it,” said the championship leader after he regained control. On lap 29, Perez now trailing Verstappen by nine seconds, stopped for a second time, with Verstappen following in on the same lap and then building on his lead. Lambiase returned to the airwaves. “You used a lot of the tyre on the out-lap, Max,” he said. “I am not sure if that was sensible.” Verstappen responded by producing the fastest lap of the race. Verstappen’s back-and-forth with Lambiase, known as GP, came 48 hours after they squabbled over the radio in qualifying. But Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said: “GP and Max have been together since the first race that Max stepped into the car. Max is a demanding customer. And you’ve got to be a strong character to deal with that. “GP is our Jason Statham equivalent, certainly a lookalike, and he deals with him firmly but fairly. “There’s a great respect between the two of them and that comes out of a mutual trust, which you must have between an engineer and a driver. There’s no counselling required.” The sport will now head for a four-week shutdown before Verstappen’s home race in the Netherlands on August 27.

Police say they have found evidence of a suicide attack at a rally organised by an Islamist party.

South Africa is planning to scale up its grid capacity as it works to both address the crippling

South Africa’s state-owned power utility, Eskom SOC Ltd, will remove 4,000 megawatts of power from the national grid