World Service boss on financial pressure, selling ads, transmitting news via brainwaves, and Newsnight's 'brio'
Peter Horrocks is almost certainly the only BBC executive to have broken into song on a Ghanaian TV chatshow. The man in charge of the World Service had been invited onto "Ghana's equivalent of Jonathan Ross" when a member of his team let slip his penchant for music ranging from Jersey Boys tunes to Bach's St Matthew Passion. "They said, will you sing something, and the band started to strike up," remembers Horrocks. "I hadn't prepared so I made something up, a spontaneous rappy kind of rhyme about being in Ghana."
From tomorrow, the World Service will be singing a different tune when the BBC takes on responsibility for funding the global broadcaster, which was previously bankrolled by the Foreign Office a switch born out of the controversial licence fee settlement in 2010 when it was handed a number of new financial burdens including the World Service. It is not the only revolution being overseen by Horrocks, the 54-year-old former editor of Newsnight and Panorama, as his organisation is about to become the first BBC licence fee-funded operation to take advertising and sponsorship. Both changes have proved contentious.
Look at the Twitter feed (@OC) of Christian O'Connell, the much-garlanded Absolute Radio breakfast host, and you'll find its backdrop is the poster for his sporadic stand-up "tour", with the obligatory quotes from the Observer ("hilarious") and Guardian ("furiously funny"). What he may not have reckoned with, though, is that the provenance of such praise can now be easily identified, and it only takes a few clicks to discover that neither seems to concern his abilities as a comic. Far from describing O'Connell at all, indeed, the "hilarious" appears to come from a 2008 radio review mentioning one of his sidekicks dressing up in drag; while the Guardian quote is from sepia-tinted 2005 and evoked his style as a DJ on Xfm, when he was younger and hungrier a touch tragically, though some might find it endearing, it's about him almost 10 years ago.
Further examples of "Real W1A" were not hard to find last week, as if toilers in New Broadcasting House are using the sitcom as a kind of manual rather than a wake-up call. There was the timing of the news of the axing of BBC4's (formerly BBC2's) The Review Show, just two days after director general Tony Hall summoned the media to rejoice as he announced a raft of initiatives amounting to "the biggest arts push for a generation". And Monkey hears of an in-house seminar where the World Service was being discussed, and "amoebas" squishy shapes mapping its performance according to various criteria were used in a presentation to demonstrate its value. To be fair, though, the insider audience made clear they found the amoebas baffling (in W1A such surrealism would have been treated as perfectly normal), and suggested they should be renamed butterflies "before it goes public".
It is time to salute unreservedly tennis's greatest warrior-queen, now 32 and with 17 grand slam singles titles to her name
The victory boogie started after Serena Williams had struck a second serve that swirled and dipped and then leapt like untamed fire. There were hands raised, bunny hops, a twirl as if examining a new dress in a mirror and then a smile as wide as the gorge between Williams and the rest of the women's tour.
We have seen variations of that dance against Li Na in Miami on Saturday many times before. On 59 occasions, in fact, after every one of her tournament victories.
My friend Roger Pomphrey, who has died of liver cancer aged 60, was a prolific documentary film and video director and an exceptional blues guitarist who was in the original lineup of Eurythmics. Known to all as "Dodge", he made more than 400 films, TV programmes and music videos featuring many of the biggest names in rock and pop.
Among his triumphs, Roger directed what many aficionados regard as the finest film about Jimi Hendrix, Electric Ladyland (1997), which looked at the creation of Hendrix's seminal album of that name. He also directed The Alchemists of Sound (2003), a documentary about the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and Who the Hell Is Pete Doherty? (2005), which portrayed the chaos surrounding the controversial Babyshambles singer. Beyond the Groove (1990), a film series for Channel 4, featured Tom Petty, Dr John, the Womack family and Harry Dean Stanton.
Amsterdam-based publisher Erik Kessels has produced 12 books of weird, often surreal, domestic photos, never intended for publication. Here are some of funniest, most enigmatic and inexplicably heartwarming pictures from his collection
Read more about the pictures hereBritish actor, who has died aged 74, played many memorable roles on screen and stage throughout her long career
Kate O'Mara obituary
Actor best known for playing Alexis Colby's sister Cassandra
Photographs from the Guardian Eyewitness series
Previous form would suggest a dominant performance from Liverpool as they take on Spurs. Can Tottenham turn expectation around and cause an upset? We bring you the best images from Anfield as they happen
Scottish leader says unnamed minister's comments on currency union indicate 'sterling bluff' is a campaign tactic
Alex Salmond said the British government's scaremongering tactics over Scottish independence had been demolished after an unnamed minister told the Guardian that the threat to deprive an independent Scotland of the pound would not be carried out.
Treasury ministers have repeatedly said they would not accept monetary union in the wake of independence, and reiterated that assertion in the wake of the Guardian story published on Saturday.
Families of Chinese passengers criticise officials over handling of disaster, as search for missing plane enters fourth week
Dozens of angry relatives of Chinese passengers aboard the missing flight MH370 have demanded that Malaysia apologise for its handling of the investigation as they arrived in Kuala Lumpur from Beijing on Sunday.
About 50 more family members joined those who had earlier flown to Malaysia, saying they hoped to get more information from officials in the capital. Around two-thirds of the 239 people on board the flight were Chinese.
Liverpool are top of the Premier league table after swatting Spurs aside at Anfield
Bill to propose removing privileges such as tax exemptions, powers of veto and immunity from planning and other legislation
Prince Charles is facing a Westminster campaign to strip him and his estate of special privileges including tax exemptions, a power of veto over new laws and immunity from legislation covering everything from squatting to planning.
A radical bill is to be put before the House of Lords proposing to remove special treatment of the prince and the Duchy of Cornwall, his inherited £800m estate that provides him with a £19m a year private income.
Javier Espinosa and Ricardo García Vilanova released but Islamist extremists still hold over 40 other western hostages
Two Spanish journalists kidnapped in northern Syria last September were freed by their captors on Saturday night, ending a six-month ordeal in the hands of an extremist Islamist group that continues to hold more than 40 other western hostages.
Javier Espinosa, a veteran correspondent for the Spanish daily El Mundo, and Ricardo García Vilanova, a freelance photographer working with him, were handed over to Turkish authorities near the Syrian town of Tal Abiyad, not far from where they were seized 194 days ago.
Actor best known for playing Alexis Colby's sister Cassandra 'Caress' Morrell in long-running US soap in 1980s
Kate O'Mara obituary
Kate O'Mara: a life in pictures
The actor Kate O'Mara, once as ubiquitous on British television screens as the test card, has died aged 74: "a shining star has gone out," her agent said.
She played a procession of glamorously tough cookies in television soaps and dramas, all menace, narrowed eyes and tossing red hair most famously in the long-running US series Dynasty, as the manipulative Cassandra 'Caress' Morrell, sister of Alexis Colby played by Joan Collins. She also appeared as another schemer in Howards' Way, the BBC's attempt to rival the glamour of Dynasty and Dallas.
...
90+3 min Surely Everton, former Cup Winners' Cup winners, are better than "We're all going on a European tour"?
90+1 min There shall be four additional minutes. Here's Enna Cooper to ease us through them. "The back-four of Walker, Caulker, Dawson and Naughton that Spurs fielded on occasion last season is possibly semantically even more pleasing than Fulham's today. Couple either defence with Wigan's midfield and forwards of last season and you've got the world's finest firm of footballing accountants: McManaman, McCarthy, McArthur, Maloney, Koné and Gomez (as every firm of accountants has one partner whose name doesn't fit)."
That's very nice - I knew there had to be a reason it was picked.
90 min Gary Naismith (what was his name after he got married?), what a player! He takes the ball off Baines and chugs through the middle unmolested, before unleashing a scudding drive from 25 yards that follows a straight line and smashes the base of the left post.
89 min "Sorry, Martin Brooks, your prosody is wrong", chides Nick Germancos. "Riise and Reither are trochees not iambs. Sorry, Daniel Harris, for being such a pedant in the course of an exciting football game - but I can't let this pass..."
And neither should you. The MBM if nothing if not severe as regards that precise distinction.
Everton bundle along the left, and Baines clips back a cross for Lukaku. He's crowded out, and it looks as though the move's over, but the ball squirts to Mirallas, who chips softly past Heitinga and then falls over him. Before anyone can cry penalty, Baines, still there by the by-line, drives a low cross, and Naismith slides it in at the near post.
84 min Naismith should finish it, doesn't. McGeady finds Lukaku inside, and he drags right before reversing a ball left. Naismith is there, and attempts a finish not dissimilar to that of Mirallas, but without the same accuracy, and Stockdale gets down well to save with his studs.
83 min Everton have scored more late goals than any team in the division, and it's not hard to see why. They've got pace and stuff, but more than anything, they have a manager who believes in them. Football's a simple game, so it sort of follows that this is the principal aspect of management. See Rodgers, Brendan.
81 min Dembele is replaced by Roberts.
This is lovely. Howard humps a groundkick towards McGeady, who's not quite free, but free enough to control brilliantly on his chest, left of centre, and slide in a brilliant pass, directly into the path of Mirallas, gambolling through the centre and in on goal. He draws the keeper - it's a decent likeness, too - and slips a low shot inside the left-hand post. There follows rapture.
76 min Osman is off and McGeady is on.
75 min I wonder if Roberto Martinez regrets taking Deulofeu off now, because Fulham are all over this. A lovely lay-off from Dembele arrives perfectly into the path of Sidwell, who's scythed through by Baines at the cost of a booking. The free-kick, roughly in centrefield, is clipped towards Heitinga at the back post - and he's only right there, all alone and shaping into a flying header. But it's straight at Howard, and the chance goes - though Fulham are soon back, Dejagah ushered away from goal by Coleman before nipping back and crossing superbly. Kasami is there, and his effort is blocked, the ball squirting to Heitinga - and his hard drive is blocked away. Two good saves from Howard, but he shouldn't have had a sniff of either, really.
74 min "'Riise, Heitinga, Hangeland, Reither'," subvocalises Michael Cosgrove." In shortened form, that gives 'Reichhattenhangelandritter', which sounds like the name of a piece of made-in-Germany welding equipment."
Or some chocolate.
Oh yes! Dejagah takes a ball from Sidwell on the left and advances, cutting inside and past McCarthy, who then finds himself frenching the turf. There's not much doing, so he absolutely annihilates a wondrous drive that screeches into the near-post top corner. That was something, a thing, and everything.
70 min Fulham have found something since the changes - nothing yet describable, but a thing nonetheless.
68 min Deulofeu departs and Mirallas arrives.
66 min Lukaku almost finishes it, soft-shoeing away from Riether down the right and barging through Heitinga inside the box. He then loses possession, regains it, and shmices a shot straight at Stockdale from five yards.
64 min Double change for Fulham. Richardson and Kvist off, Woodrow and Dejagah on.
63 min Fulham's first attack in a while, Heitinga's loping cross bouncing in front of Howard, who collects easily. Everton quickly break, Deulofeu - easily the best player on the pitch - burning diagonally from right to left. But just as he rights himself back inside to shoot, he slightly overruns the ball, and Heitinga inserts a leg to stop him. But that was great nonetheless - he is going to be a player, and he knows it - he's got the strut.
61 min Everton are going to score more times.
59 min Naismith is playing like a boss! Taking up a position at inside-left, he watches a low pass onto his toes, body already turning, and slides instantly into the path of the advancing Baines, ahead and outside. Inside the box and with a shooting opportunity, he's distracted by the presence of Lukaku, sort of hedging with a sort of cross, that's too much of a sort of shot to quite arrive in his path.
57 min Deulofeu teases Riether again, laughing at his lisp, and exchanges passes with Naismith before banging over another inviting low cross, again treated with disdain by his team-mates.
55 min "Has there ever been a better sounding back four than Fulham's today?", wonders Martin Brooks. 'Riise, Heitinga, Hangeland, Reither'. Assonance, consonance: internal rhyme, it's beautiful. The stresses arrange as: Iamb, Anapaest, Amphimacer, Iamb.* In all my time carrying tea around & pretending to study poetry I've not seen that arrangement. I propose we call it 'the high line'.
*short, long/ long, long, short/ long, short, long/ short, long. (if you broke it up into disyllabic feet it would be iamb, spondee, iamb, iamb, iamb. But that would be Riise, Heitin, GaHan, Geland, Reither and then 'GaHan' would be a spondee too and the whole thing would collapse. From an Arsenal perspective, no collapses please!)".
52 min "Just your normal first half away Everton performance" emailed Daniel Miller at half-time. "2-11-3-3-6 so far this season - with 11 goalless first halves."
I've no idea what that telephone number means, but imagine it's simple enough for everyone else to deduce.
Baines' corner isn't much, and it's headed away easily enough - but only to Naismith, loitering around the environs of the box, just left of centre. He trots into a volley that's strong and controlled, and it hits Barry, who may have deliberately flicked it, before cannoning Stockdale's shins - he was running back towards his line.
50 min Everton have stepped things up already, snapping into tackles and trying and stuff. Deulofeu wins another corner after burrowing towards the right by-line, and, and, and...
49 min "Some nice work so far from Sylvain 'Staring-blankly-in-to-middle' Distin", offers Matt Dony.
I like to call him Soi.
47 min Everton rattle some quick passes, Naismith and Osman combining in a one-two that results in a dangerous low cross from the former. It whooshes across the box and earns a corner, which comes to nothing.
47 min Does the "live by the river" bit contradict the tone of London Calling? I contend aye.
46 min We've started.
The PA is playing London Calling. Naismith is on for Barkley.
Does Roberto Martinez become angry? Because if so, his players will be getting telt round about now.
That was a relatively pleasant bit of stuff from Fulham. They've fought really hard for possession and have passed sharply and smartly. In particular, they've found space on their right and the delivery has been good too. Everton have done mainly nothing, Deulofeu aside.
...
45+1 min Fulham should score! They don't. Kasami finds Sidwell, just outside the box and on the right. He curves over a ball to the back post, and this time, Dembele is right there. He heads firmly, but straight at Howard.
45 min There shall be one minute of additional time.
44 min Hangeland sends a ball down the left for the excellent Richardson (yes, I know!). He pauses, thinks (yes, I know!) and squares to Dembele, on the edge of the box. There's a little space and time, so he takes it, before trying a curler that loops over the top.
42 min Everton pass the ball to each other a few times, and it makes its way out to Deulofeu. He nudges a yard to the side of Riise, and curls over a brilliant low cross that was too good to anticipate, so no one did.
41 min Everton surely won't play this badly in the second half. Fulham need to do something.
40 min "Enough of this nickname nonsense", says James Chambers. "We all know how unimaginative footballers are... His nickname is probably Stoney, or The Stonester, or Stonalicious, or the Stoneinator... Or John."
Or Paint Trophy.
38 min Distin finds Barry, facing his own net, and Kasami bustles through him. "Allow that!" says Lee Probert, and Kasami proceeds towards goal, cutting in to drive a shot at the near post - but Distin is there, extending a body to block. This is really good from Fulham.
36 min Barkley, who's been quiet, is found by Osman "in and around the penalty box". There's not a whole lot of room in which to manoeuvre - he's surrounded - but manages to dig out a decent enough shot that's snatched by Stockdale at the near post.
34 min Kasami, on the touchline. takes a throw from Riether and with his back to goal hooks over another suitable cross. No one's there to enjoy it, so it makes it's way to the other side of the box, where Riise meets it with his left foot. It does not go near the goal.
32 min Richardson pulls off Coleman and takes a pass on the half-turn, skipping around him. Coleman pulls him back, and is booked.
30 min Everton have been very Neil Pointon so far. Of whom it would be immoral to talk without posting this. "A block tackle", reckoned Motty, and so it was.
27 min More niceness from Fulhan, Sidwell on the right chwipping over a cross towards the back post. Holtby does brilliantly to slide away from his marker, and arches back and neck to butt towards the far corner, but Howards backpeddles to tip over the top. The corner comes to nothing.
26 min "John Stones nickname is 'Sticksan'", reckons "Sean Moore (not the drummer from the Manics)", channeling Neil "Dissa" Pointon.
23 min Much action! Dembele, whose movement looks very smart - or if you listen to the commentators, is strong and powerful - espies Richardson on his outside. He feeds the ball into his path, and there follows a low, hard shot, well saved by Howard with his studs. And immediately, Everton break, G Deulofeu rushing down the right with thrilling pace, teasing Hangeland, nipping outside, and driving a shot that Stockdale blocks clear.
21 min Richardson takes possession in midfield, left of centre, and looks up to see Dembele pointing for a pass, McManaman-style. It's duly delivered, in between the centre-backs, and well controlled, only for a shot to be dribbled at Howard, only for the linesman to flag for offside, only for it not to be offside.
20 min "I like to imagine Niall Quinn as a historian", emails Andrew Byrne. "'The Second World War had a significant impact on a number of countries during the middle of the 20th century. It is still talked about. To be fair, this shouldn't be a surprise.'"
For me.
19 min Deulofeu has "G Deulofeu" on his shirt. Presumably in order to avoid confusion with the myriad other Deulofeus in the division. Kasami, meanwhile, arcs over another cross, Sidwell rushing after itand the back post - but the delivery is a little strong.
18 min Is John Stones' dressing room nickname Toilet Testes? Please tell me that it is.
16 min "So the evolution is from mullet to ray?" arfs John Tumbridge, wishing he'd thought of it ten minutes earlier. As we all do.
14 min This is really close. McCarthy does brilliantly to block a shot from Richardson, and from the ensuing right-wing corner, Hangeland peels away towards the near corner of the box and contorts he head into the hard flick that scoots towards the far post. Kasami is after it, and throws his brow at it, but can't quite get the angle to divert it home, as Barkley tugs his shirt.
12 min Fulham are playing well here - not words I ever supposed to type. But they are, and Hangeland clips a free-kick out left to Riise. He chests down and nashes by Deulofeu before cutting back for Richardson, but Distin sends it behind.
11 min Everton have yet to really threaten, and Roberto Martinez is on the touchline, stroking his chin. As we'd all like to, given its unfathomable smoothness.
9 min Lovely from Kvist, who slides through midfield and around McCarthy before seeking Richardson outside him. The ball is dispatched in that direction, but fails to make it.
7 min Richardson sprays a long ball right to Kasami, who steps inside and curves a tempting cross to the far post. But Dembele was on his heels generally being 17, so the ball skipped off the turf and behind.
6 min "I put it to you MLud" puts it to me M'lud John Tumbridge, "that there were points in his life when Hoddle's Hair did not resemble a manta ray: I present evidence here.
That's the beauty of it - it's revolutionary evolution.
5 min Everton knock the ball backwards and forwards along their back four, like Liverpool in their eighties heyday.
3 min Fulham break nicely, and eventually the ball arrives Holtby on the right. He attempts to drill a composed yet powerful finish high inside the near post, but slices it all black years away instead.
2 min A pass canons Barry in centrefield and he squares for Osman to send Lukaku away at inside-left and running at Heitinga. He leans infield and shoots hard, but the ball is deflected behind for a corner. Richardson heads it behind and there follows another, which comes to nothing.
1 min Heitinga is still wearing his mask, but he's no Facundo "Alright" Sava.
1 min Fulham begin. To the heart, tick-tock, you don't stop, stop!
Niall Quinn is co-commentating. I am already blinded by the insight.
Fulham hand a debut to Moussa with two esses Dembele. He's only 17, the scumbag, but I'm told by Lawrence Ostlere, sat diagonally opposite me (is that possible?), that he and Patrick Roberts are very good.
The players are lining up in the tunnel before the tunnel. Here they come! "Ladies and gentlemen, it is showtime!"
Yes, he really said that.
Riff time. Uses and occupations for Glenn Hoddle's pet ray.
Roy Hodgson received the ball whilst walking along the touchline, and kicked it back. Hilarity ensued. Talking of which, Glenn Hoddle's manta ray is appearing in an improvised sitcom to be shown on BBC3.
Konstantinos Mitroglu cost £12m, or in the region of, in January. He has made one start and one substitute appearance, for the league's bottom side. Oh.
Other hand, and in the interests of balance, he has scrumptious eyebrows.
Glenn Hoddle's hair is in fact not hair. Scientific research has revealed it to have been a manta ray all along.
So, Fulham make three changes from their most recent kicking. Holtby, Dembele and Kasami come in, and the splendidly-named Cauley Woodrow, Kacaniklic and the suspended Amorebieta are saved. Everton are unchanged.
Wa teams:
Fulham: Stockdale; Riether, Heitinga, Hangeland, Riise; Holtby, Kvist, Sidwell, Richardson; Kasami, Dembele.
Preamble At some point in a lifetime, and however hard they try to avoid it, people have to prove themselves. Can you be socially acceptable? Are you a waste of space? Will your friends invite your ex to their wedding?
Hello Everton! Yes, it is now that time. Again. It's true that Arsenal's run-in is easy, and it's true that with the serious pressure off, they'll probably do enough. But you never know; win both games in hand, and Everton are right there. It's all very well taking three points at Old Trafford - even West Brom do that. Taking points everywhere, though, at this stage of the season, is the preserve of the proper.
Pakistan 190-5 beat Bangladesh 140-7 by 50 runs
Bangladesh and Australia eliminated from World T20
Ahmed Shehzad became the first Pakistan batsman to hit a Twenty20 international century as the 2009 champions thrashed Bangladesh by 50 runs in this Group Two match to keep alive their semi-final hopes in the World Twenty20.
The right-handed Shehzad remained unbeaten after a sparkling 111 from 62 balls inspired Pakistan to a commanding 190 for five before they returned to restrict Bangladesh to 140-7.
London hottest place in Britain with temperatures reaching a maximum of 20.4C
Parts of Britain basked in weather warmer than mainland Spain and Ibiza as temperatures reached over 20C (68F).
London was the hottest place in the UK, with temperatures reaching a maximum of 20.4C (68.7F) at St James's Park at 1pm on Sunday, according to the Met Office.
Party's election manifesto will include commitment to scrap government's £9,000 fees but long-term policy still undecided
Labour's manifesto for next year's election will include a pledge to scrap the coalition's £9,000-a-year tuition fees and may replace it with a maximum of £6,000, Douglas Alexander has confirmed.
Hamilton leads Mercedes one-two alongside Nico Rosberg
British driver ends run of nine F1 races without podium finish
There is a line on Lewis Hamilton's fastidiously decorated helmet taken from the American poet and author Maya Angelou which reads "Still I Rise".
But for Nico Rosberg and the other Formula One drivers who trail in his phosphorescent wake there should be another message: Mind The Gap. The letters should be very large, and placed on the back of the helmet.
World Cup referee Nicola Rizzoli initially gave Sassuolo penalty
Later changed his mind after five minutes of player protests
Italian World Cup referee Nicola Rizzoli was involved in an extraordinary incident when he awarded a penalty and then changed his mind after five minutes of angry protests during second-placed Roma's 2-0 win at Sassuolo on Sunday.
Rizzoli initially awarded Sassuolo a penalty when their forward Nicola Sansone went down under a seemingly innocuous challenge by Roma defender Mehdi Benatia in the 36th minute of the Serie A match.
Rowan Williams blames western lifestyle for 'pushing environment towards crisis' ahead of IPCC report
Rowan Williams has spoken of his fears for the global climate, saying the winter flooding was a portent of what is to come.
Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, the former archbishop of Canterbury blamed the lifestyle of western countries, which he said was "pushing the environment towards crisis".
Arsène Wenger rules out Arsenal's chances of winning the Premier League after his side draw with Manchester City. The Gunners were 1-0 down after 18 minutes until Mathieu Flamini's 53rd-minute equaliser. Arsenal are currently fourth in the league, three points behind Manchester City
Eight-month-old royal appears in informal picture at Kensington Palace ahead of tour of New Zealand and Australia
Sophie McKenzie shares her favourite mothers and mother figures from books for children and teenagers, just in time for Mother's Day!
Ah, mothers and mother figures. They get a mixed press in children's books.
There are two basic types that appear again and again: saints and monsters. Saints are those loving and reliable mums who hover in the background of their children's lives while the kids themselves go on adventures. Monsters are mothers or more likely stepmothers or substitute mums who exist in stories to thwart the hopes and dreams of the young main characters.
The perfect tear-jerker to read on Mother's Day: Meet Liv, an 11-year-old photography fanatic on a heart-wrenching journey from "Thirteen Weeks Before" to "Six Months After" her mum's death.
Described as "gripping" by site member HGirl1000, read the first chapter here