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Britain’s Paralympic dame is quitting after a stellar career that began in the swimming pool as a 14-year-old before five Games hoovering up cycling gold medals

“This is the first time that I will speak about the next chapter,” Dame Sarah Storey says in a quiet corner of a busy cafe in Macclesfield as, after a remarkable career in which she won 74 world and Paralympic medals as the most successful British athlete, she prepares to announce her retirement from elite competition. It’s a seismic moment for Storey and for Paralympic sport but the 48-year-old is in a relaxed and cheerful mood.

“I’ve always shied away from the word ‘retirement’ because as an athlete you have to plan for the next chapter,” she says. “It certainly isn’t doing nothing and sitting with your feet up. I started planning for what life might look like as soon as I became an international athlete.

• British wildcard will face Zverev in semi-finals

• ‘I’ve just played every match as it is. Here I am’

Arthur Fery described his run to the Wimbledon semi-finals as a product of his immense self-belief, after he defeated the ninth seed, Flavio Cobolli, 6-4, 7-6 (4), 6-0 on Wednesday.

“That’s just what I’ve tried to do for the past 10 days,” Fery said. “Just believe in myself, do the best I can do every match, give myself 100%, and see then where that will take me. Today especially, because I’ve beaten him in Australia, so I knew I could do it, and yeah I did.”

В науке всегда есть соблазн объяснить непонятную мелочь чем‑то простым и обыденным — погрешностью измерений, какой‑нибудь космической пылью, неоткрытой частицей или неточным коэффициентом в знакомой всем формуле. Но иногда необъяснённая деталь, кажущаяся странной и несущественной одновременно — верный признак того, что мы что‑то не понимаем до конца в нашем мире. Полтора века назад объявили о новой планете в Солнечной системе. Всё как положено: вычисленная орбита, имя упразднённого римского божества, и, разумеется, первооткрыватель — сельский врач из французской глубинки, получивший за свою наблюдательность и везение орден Почётного легиона. Имя подобрали отличное. Только представьте: на угольно‑чёрном небе планеты, находящейся в три раза ближе к Солнцу, чем Меркурий, полыхает огромное, в семь раз больше Солнца на нашем небосводе, косматое светило, обрушивающее на раскалённую каменную равнину тысячи огненных копий. Каньоны пышут тёмно‑вишневым жаром, в низинах искрятся свинцовые озера, далёкие скалы плывут в нестерпимо ярком мареве — настоящая кузница бога огня. Имя Вулкан подходило ей как нельзя лучше.

Только вот самой планеты никогда не существовало. Но шестьдесят лет погони за призраком не были ни глупостью, ни массовым помешательством. Это была честная попытка использовать лучший научный метод той эпохи — тот самый, что позволил с триумфом открыть Нептун, просто указав его положение на небе по странностям движения Урана. Метод обещал избавить астрономов от поисков небесных тел наугад, от долгих холодных ночей у окуляра. И кто бы мог ожидать, что тот же метод заставит впустую потратить десятки лет на изнурительные поиски. Вулкан должен был быть, его искали, а он никак не находился. Отдельные наблюдения подтверждения не нашли, ажиотаж спал, в него перестали верить даже фанатичные сторонники. Понемногу история забылась, а имя Вулкан сценаристы «Звёздного пути» подарили родной планете Спока. С Ураном всё объяснилось; его сбивал с пути соседний неучтённый Нептун. С Меркурием тот же фокус не прошёл — соседа искали и не нашли. Меркурий продолжал идти не так, как должен по расчётам. Это раздражало и требовало объяснений.

Ethics and integrity commission chief says overhaul is crucial to help restore trust in standards

All lobbying of government ministers, aides and senior officials should be publicly declared – from WhatsApp chats to party conference meetings – in a fundamental shake-up of transparency laws, the government’s ethics watchdog has said.

A review led by Doug Chalmers, the head of the ethics and integrity commission, has called for a new register to highlight who is lobbying, which policies they are seeking to influence and who in government they are meeting.

Interim report into Pip found process had systematic and deep-rooted problems and required bold and radical overhaul

A landmark government review of disability benefits has warned “challenging discussions” remain on how to overhaul and pay for a system it concludes is unfit for purpose and too often leaves vulnerable claimants dehumanised and degraded.

The Timms review of the personal independence payment (Pip) concluded the benefit, claimed by nearly 4 million people in England and Wales, suffered from systematic and deep-rooted problems that had undermined public trust in the benefits system.

Foreign affairs select committee says Peter Mandelson episode was ‘nothing short of disastrous’ for government

Political selections for ambassador posts should be subject to a veto by MPs, a parliamentary committee has recommended, as it made damning criticisms of how Peter Mandelson became Britain’s top diplomat in Washington.

The foreign affairs select committee concluded that Mandelson’s appointment was “nothing short of disastrous”, “highly damaging” for the British government and “painful and offensive to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein”.

Виктор ехал в такси и его слегка трясло. В этом состоянии он находился последнюю неделю, с того момента как Евгений Павлович предложил ему возглавить IT-проект. По словам Евгения Павловича, проект был почти готов и в конце месяца его надо будет представлять на важном мероприятии, по его мнению создавать и продавать продукт это принципиально разные задачи, требующие принципиально разных умений.

«Бросай эту сеть кофеен и иди к нам. Денег у нас больше.»

Foreign affairs select committee says Peter Mandelson episode was ‘nothing short of disastrous’ for government

Political selections for ambassador posts should be subject to a veto by MPs, a parliamentary committee has recommended, as it made damning criticisms of how Peter Mandelson became Britain’s top diplomat in Washington.

The foreign affairs select committee concluded that Mandelson’s appointment was “nothing short of disastrous”, “highly damaging” for the British government and “painful and offensive to the victims of Jeffrey Epstein”.

Interim report into Pip found process had systematic and deep-rooted problems and required bold and radical overhaul

A landmark government review of disability benefits has warned “challenging discussions” remain on how to overhaul and pay for a system it concludes is unfit for purpose and too often leaves vulnerable claimants dehumanised and degraded.

The Timms review of the personal independence payment (Pip) concluded the benefit, claimed by nearly 4 million people in England and Wales, suffered from systematic and deep-rooted problems that had undermined public trust in the benefits system.

Ethics and integrity commission chief says overhaul is crucial to help restore trust in standards

All lobbying of government ministers, aides and senior officials should be publicly declared – from WhatsApp chats to party conference meetings – in a fundamental shake-up of transparency laws, the government’s ethics watchdog has said.

A review led by Doug Chalmers, the head of the ethics and integrity commission, has called for a new register to highlight who is lobbying, which policies they are seeking to influence and who in government they are meeting.