General news

• Your pictures: share your photos on the theme of 'fire'

  11-02-2017 23:30
  
  Wherever you are in the world, this week we’d like to see your pictures on the theme ‘fire’We’re now running a regular weekly photography assignment in the Observer New Review and the next theme is ‘fire’ Share your photos of what fire means to you – and tell us about your image in the description box.The closing date is Thursday 16 February at 10 am. We’ll publish our favourites in The New Review on Sunday 19 February and in a gallery on the Guard
  
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• Royal Navy warship rescues stranded sailors

  11-02-2017 22:46
  Fourteen sailors have been rescued by the crew of a Royal Navy destroyer after they were stranded for 48 hours in the Atlantic. The Clyde Challenger yacht had left the Azores on 5 February and was heading for the UK when it lost its mast. HMS Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer, was on a routine deployment but was diverted 500 miles to save the crew of the 60ft racing yacht.
  
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• Open thread – discuss Terry Pratchett: Back in Black (with spoilers)

  11-02-2017 22:40
  
  Readers responded emotionally to our story trailing some of the revelations in the new BBC docudrama. As it airs, this is an opportunity to discuss further
  Terry Pratchett docudrama is a fittingly imaginative tribute to Discworld’s geniusTerry Pratchett, who died in March 2015 at the age of 66, left behind 41 novels set in his Discworld universe, loved by millions of fans around the world. He also left behind an unfinished autobiography, which provides much of the source material for a new
  
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• Navy warship rescues stranded British sailors

  11-02-2017 21:42
  Fourteen sailors have been rescued by the crew of a Royal Navy destroyer after they were stranded for 48 hours in the Atlantic. The Clyde Challenger yacht had left the Azores on 5 February and was heading for the UK when it lost its mast. HMS Dragon, a Type 45 destroyer, was on a routine deployment but was diverted 500 miles to save the crew of the 60ft racing yacht.
  
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• Ministers are accused of not wanting to take refugee children

  11-02-2017 18:36
  
  The Government has been accused of never wanting to take in refugee children after campaigners delivered a petition demanding a rethink to Downing Street. A box containing more than 44,000 signatures was handed in to Number 10 after the Government back-tracked on a commitment to help up to 3,000 vulnerable youngsters come to the UK. Lord Dubs, who helped secure the initial commitment to take children, described the decision to axe the pledge as a "very shabby cop-out".
  
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• Small is beautiful – art from tiny objects - in pictures

  11-02-2017 18:00
  
  One day, Atlanta-based artist and neuroscience PhD student Desirée De León was looking at some loose change on her desk when an idea struck. “I remember noticing the disembodied head on the coins,” she says, “and I impulsively drew a speech bubble coming out of the coin’s mouth.” This is how her online project 100 Days of Tiny Things was born. De León says the project allows her to appreciate the detail of everyday things. “I like focusing
  
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• Juncker says Britain may divide EU over Brexit talks

  11-02-2017 17:59
  By Joseph Nasr BERLIN (Reuters) - European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he fears Britain will divide the European Union's 27 remaining members by making different promises to each country during its Brexit negotiations. "The other EU 27 don't know it yet, but the Brits know very well how they can tackle this," Juncker told Deutschlandfunk radio. "They could promise country A this, country B that and country C something else and the end game is that there is not a united European
  
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• A newspaper accidentally used a picture of Alec Baldwin instead of Donald Trump

  11-02-2017 17:46
  Apparently they didn’t even mean to, which makes it way funnier.
  
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• Jean-Claude Juncker doubts EU unity during Brexit talks

  11-02-2017 17:03
  Jean-Claude Juncker has expressed doubts that EU countries will be able to maintain a united front during Brexit negotiations. Speaking to Germany's Deutschlandfunk radio, the European Commission president said: "The other EU 27 don't know it yet, but the Brits know very well how they can tackle this. Britain cannot negotiate trade deals while it remains a member of the bloc, he added.
  
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• Wedding dress found after Facebook appeal goes viral

  11-02-2017 17:00
  
  A newly married woman has been reunited with her lost wedding dress after a Facebook appeal went viral. Tess Newall turned to social media for help when the beloved gown vanished after being taken to a dry cleaners in Edinburgh. The wedding dress had been lovingly created by Mrs Newall's great-great-grandmother Dora in 1870, and was proudly worn at her ceremony last June.
  
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• Thousands demand ministers rethink child refugee plan

  11-02-2017 16:31
  
  Campaigners calling for Britain to continue to provide a safe haven for lone child refugees have delivered a petition to Downing Street. The Labour peer, himself a refugee who came to Britain on the Kindertransport to escape the Nazis during the Second World War, has described the Government's decision to scrap its pledge as a "very shabby cop-out". Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, has expressed concern that the scheme was being abused by people-traffickers and that it was acting as a "pull facto
  
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• EU's Juncker doubts bloc will remain united as negotiates Brexit

  11-02-2017 16:28
  European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said in an interview to be aired on Sunday that he doubts the bloc's remaining 27 members can maintain a united front as they negotiate Britain's exit from the European Union. "The other EU 27 don't know it yet, but the Brits know very well how they can tackle this," Juncker told Deutschlandfunk radio. "They could promise country A this, country B that and country C something else and the end game is that there is not united European front." He a
  
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• Peter Falconio murder: Joanne Lees hunts for body in outback

  11-02-2017 16:11
  The girlfriend of murdered British backpacker Peter Falconio has returned to Australia for the first time in 15 years to try to find his body and bring it home. Joanne Lees, from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, has gone back to the remote outback spot where her boyfriend was shot and where she was attacked. In a documentary filmed for Australian TV, she says she had no choice but to run from his killer because "it was either run or be raped or killed".
  
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• Price of fish and chips may rise amid Iceland trawler dispute

  11-02-2017 15:06
  The price of fish and chips could be about to rise as a strike by Icelandic fishermen threatens the UK supply of fresh cod and haddock. Grimsby, which is Britain's biggest importer of fresh Icelandic fish, has been hit by reduced stock levels triggered by the dispute, which centres on Icelandic trawlermen's demand for a larger share of the value of their catch. At the town's fish market, where the price of whole cod is £2.80 to £3 per kilogram and haddock is at £2.20 to £
  
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• Actual snow is falling in many parts of the UK and the excitement is real

  11-02-2017 14:33
  
  Even if the amount of snow is, well, a little underwhelming in places…
  
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• Supermarkets urged to have plastic-free aisles

  11-02-2017 13:55
  
  Supermarkets are to be asked to make one aisle in each store plastic-free to reduce the amount of packaging that ends up in the sea. The marine conservation charity Plastic Oceans Foundation will urge large supermarket chains to sell more food in biodegradable packaging. It is launching the campaign, A Plastic Free Aisle, in the next few weeks, while its film A Plastic Ocean will highlight the scale of plastic pollution.
  
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• UKIP leader Paul Nuttall moves house over safety fears

  11-02-2017 13:44
  
  UKIP leader Paul Nuttall has been forced to move house over fears for his personal safety ahead of a by-election, his party has said. The party chairman, Paul Oakden, said "concerning incidents" had prompted the decision, and the returning officer for the Stoke-on-Trent Central by-election in which Mr Nuttall is standing has been informed. Mr Oakden said: "Since the address of the house Paul Nuttall has been staying at during the Stoke-on-Trent Central campaign was published on social media ther
  
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• Weather: Snow warning for parts of UK as temperatures plunge

  11-02-2017 13:21
  
  People in the UK are having to wrap up this weekend as parts of the country are hit by icy winds, snow and sleet. Up to 15cm of snow is possible on higher ground and 3cm on lower levels, with temperatures expected to drop to their lowest levels this winter. The Met Office has issued yellow "be aware" snow warnings for southeast England and East Anglia up to 7pm on Saturday, with further heavier snowfall expected on Sunday morning, especially over the southern Pennines.
  
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• Public parks in England under threat from spending cuts

  11-02-2017 12:51
  The future of many public parks has reached a "tipping point" with budgets to maintain them being cut by up to 97%, according to MPs. A report by the Communities and Local Government Committee warns that the squeeze will mean that some parks face a return to the neglect they suffered in the 1980s and 1990s. The impact of the cuts includes reduced opening hours, an increase in litter, the removal of play equipment, public toilets being shut, a rise in vandalism and an increase in the number of ra
  
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• All change... again

  11-02-2017 12:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Labour's top team has had several incarnations of late, and high turnover in four particular roles.
  
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• Donald Trump's travel ban: What happens now?

  11-02-2017 11:55
  
  The US president told reporters on Air Force One he’s considering signing a “brand new order”.
  
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• Donald Trump's travel ban: What happens now?

  11-02-2017 11:55
  
  The US president told reporters on Air Force One he’s considering signing a “brand new order”.
  
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• Supermarkets urged to cut back on 'toxic' plastic packaging

  11-02-2017 11:51
  Supermarkets are to be asked to make one aisle in each store plastic-free to reduce the amount of packaging that ends up in the sea. The marine conservation charity Plastic Oceans Foundation will urge large supermarket chains to sell more food in biodegradable packaging. It is launching the campaign, A Plastic Free Aisle, in the next few weeks, while its film A Plastic Ocean will highlight the scale of plastic pollution.
  
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• ‘It's the breaking of a taboo’: the parents who regret having children

  11-02-2017 10:00
  
  It’s tiring, often boring – and can mean a return to more traditional roles. Why some mothers (and fathers) feel they made a mistakeIt was coming up to Christmas 2015 when a query popped up on Victoria Elder’s home computer screen. It was from the question-and-answer site Quora, to which she had only recently subscribed. She didn’t know much about Quora at the time, except that it was a place where users posted questions others would do their best to answer, such as &ldqu
  
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• 'I was welcomed. Now I work for the NHS': views on Dubs from former child refugees

  11-02-2017 09:00
  
  As the government plans to end the scheme for child refugees in Europe, we speak to people who came to the UK as children for sanctuary The Dubs scheme, offering a safe haven for thousands of vulnerable lone child refugees in Europe, is set to end, causing widespread anger. Only 350 children came to Britain through the initiative conceded by David Cameron in May last year, despite initial suggestions that thousands would be helped. The archbishop of Canterbury said he was “shocked” a
  
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• Eight ways to cope when your child gets divorced

  11-02-2017 07:30
  
  Let them know you’re there for them, no matter what, and don’t badmouth your son-in-law or daughter-in-law, however temptingGoing through divorce is hard and when it’s your child getting divorced you may have to be a supportive parent as well as consoling grandparent.Be loyal. That doesn’t mean condoning or ignoring bad behaviour, especially if this is what ended the marriage. It’s letting them know that you’re there for them, no matter what. You can still lov
  
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• How my husband saw blindness as a ‘dark, paradoxical gift’

  11-02-2017 07:29
  
  For Marilyn Hull, life with her husband, John Hull, changed irrevocably when he went blind as their first child was born – an experience captured in the Bafta-nominated documentary Notes on BlindnessTwo wildly disparate films could be said to frame Marilyn Hull’s life with her husband, John. There’s the extraordinary documentary Notes on Blindness, an intimate, highly inventive rendition of John’s experience of losing all vision in his 40s. And then there is the romantic
  
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• A letter to … My nieces and nephews – sorry, I just don't like children

  11-02-2017 07:29
  
  The letter you always wanted to writeYou are my sisters, brothers, my dear friends. I have treated you all the same – I have not been a good auntie or helpmate to your children. As I write that I feel, as usual, defiant but apologetic.The long and short of it is, I can’t abide children. I don’t wish them harm, I don’t feel hostile to them, I can love and be charmed by them from a distance. I’m simply unable to enjoy or function in their presence. Mysteriously, their
  
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• How a mummy made of cardboard bought new life to my daughter

  11-02-2017 07:15
  
  Carl Gorham worried that his six-year-old daughter was bottling up her feelings after her mother died. But when she asked him to ‘make’ Mummy from cardboard boxes, it was to prove a breakthroughI had been worried a few months after my wife died about many things: her family’s wellbeing, my own health and ability to survive it all, even the practical necessities of my work and managing the family finances.Most of all, though, I was worried about my daughter, Romy. She was only s
  
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• Elon Musk in union spat after wrongly calling Tesla worker a paid agitator

  11-02-2017 07:10
  
  Spotlight thrown on long hours and injuries as employee speaks up and United Automobile Workers union saying it has been approached to organise plantThe United Automobile Workers union has said it was approached by workers at the Tesla assembly plant in Fremont, California – rejecting a charge by the Elon Musk that a worker who publicly criticised the company was on the UAW payroll. The move to organise at the electric car factory shines an unwelcome spotlight on allegations of long hours,
  
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• Tim Dowling: ‘How are you enjoying the break,’ I ask my wife. She shudders

  11-02-2017 07:00
  
  The weekend away was her idea, even though it’s not quite a weekendMy wife and I are sitting opposite one another on a train heading north. Planned engineering works have added an hour to the journey, but we have a table, and the landscape rolling by is pleasingly misty. My wife is asleep with headphones on and my coat draped over her, mouth slightly ajar.I distinctly remember her once responding to an idle proposal of mine with the words, “Never, ever try to take me on a mini-break&
  
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• The 100-year-old couple – still married, still going strong

  11-02-2017 07:00
  
  Morrie and Betty Markoff, 103 and 100, say that there’s no particular secret to their very long marriage, other than tolerance, respect and luck. But why has Morrie never told Betty that he loves her?‘We don’t know anyone else over 100. We are really oddities: two people married for 78 years, one 103, the other 100. We’ve outlived everybody. And it’s rare, I recognise that. We’re very lucky. The best I can wish you is our luck.”Morrie Markoff is sitting
  
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• Blind date: ‘There was some kissing’

  11-02-2017 07:00
  
  Emma, 27, social enterprise events coordinator, meets Gervase, 28, civil servantWhat were you hoping for?
  A good time with a nice guy. Oh, and a fancy meal, too.Continue reading...
  
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• China expels South Korean missionaries amid missile defence tensions

  11-02-2017 06:43
  
  Beijing believed to be retaliating against Seoul’s plan to host Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system of the US militaryChina has expelled 32 South Korean Christian missionaries, a Seoul official has said, amid diplomatic tension between the two countries over the planned deployment of a US missile defence system. The 32 were based in China’s northeastern Yanji region near the border with North Korea, many of whom had worked there more than a decade, South Korean media has repor
  
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• Thousands join newlywed's quest to find lost wedding dress

  11-02-2017 06:36
  A Facebook appeal to reunite a newly married woman with her lost wedding dress has gone viral. Tess Newall turned to social media for help after her local dry cleaners in Edinburgh lost the beloved gown. The wedding dress had been lovingly created by Mrs Newall's great-great-grandmother in 1870, and was proudly worn at her ceremony last June.
  
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• 'Cyber curriculum' to defend UK against attacks

  11-02-2017 06:33
  
  Thousands of teenagers are to be given lessons in cyber security in the hope they will boost Britain's defences against hackers and terrorists. The Cyber Schools Programme aims to train 5,700 teenagers aged between 14 and 18 over the next five years to develop some of the key skills they would need to work in cyber security. A "cyber curriculum" will be drawn up to mix classroom and online teaching with real-world challenges and hands-on work experience.
  
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• Trump envoy blocks ex-Palestinian PM from UN job 'to support Israel'

  11-02-2017 06:05
  
  Nikki Haley, US ambassador to United Nations, rejects choice of Salam Fayyad as Libya peace broker and declares UN ‘biased to the detriment of our allies’ The United States has blocked the appointment of the former Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad as UN envoy to Libya.Donald Trump’s UN ambassador, Nikki Haley, said in a statement that she did not “support the signal this appointment would send within the United Nations” where the state of Palestine does not h
  
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• Hong Kong subway arson attack injures 18, three critical

  11-02-2017 05:33
  
  Police rule out possibility of it being a terrorist attack and arrested one man for the crimeHong Kong police said 18 people were injured in an arson attack on a subway train during evening rush hour, with one man arrested.
  Three people were in a critical condition after the incident at 7.15pm o nFriday, while police said they had seized suspected liquid fire accelerants from the scene. Police ruled out the possibility of a terrorist attack and said the man acted alone. Investigators were lookin
  
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• Car crash puts Poland's prime minister in hospital

  11-02-2017 05:05
  
  Beata Szydlo flown by helicopter to Warsaw for medical tests, though doctors say she was not badly hurtPrime minister Beata Szydlo suffered injuries in a car crash in southern Poland on Friday and was flown by helicopter to Warsaw for medical tests, though doctors and her spokesman said she was not badly hurt.The accident occurred shortly before 7pm in the southern town of Oswiecim – better better known by its German name, Auschwitz – which is Szydlo’s hometown. Szydlo, 53, was
  
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• Mentally ill man who beheaded bus passenger is freed from all supervision

  11-02-2017 03:37
  
  Will Baker, formerly known as Vince Li, was found not criminally responsible for 2008 killing in Canada and has now been given absolute dischargeA Canadian man who was found not criminally responsible for beheading and cannibalising a fellow passenger on a Greyhound bus has been granted freedom from all supervision.Manitoba’s Criminal Code Review Board announced it had given Will Baker, formerly known as Vince Li, an absolute discharge, meaning he is longer subject to monitoring. Continue
  
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• Snowden claims report Russia may 'gift' him to Trump proves he is not a spy

  11-02-2017 03:03
  
  The whistleblower took to Twitter to say that the NBC report vindicates him of spying charges because ‘no country trades away spies’Whistleblower Edward Snowden has seized on a report that Russia is considering sending him back to the US as a “gift” to Donald Trump, saying that the story vindicates him of charges that he is a spy.“Finally: irrefutable evidence that I never cooperated with Russian intel,” he said on Twitter. “No country trades away spies,
  
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• Back in control

  11-02-2017 02:34 via bbc.co.uk
  
  How I overcame anorexia and what to look for if you're worried someone you know has an eating disorder
  
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• Missing Harry Potter painting prompts Parcelforce apology

  11-02-2017 01:45 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A nationwide depot search was carried out but the painting was never found.
  
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• UK could be hit by coldest temperatures of the winter this weekend

  11-02-2017 01:28
  
  Most of UK will see the mercury hover above freezing, although biting winds from Scandinavia will make it feel much colderBritons heading out this weekend should brace themselves for bitterly cold conditions as the country is lashed by icy winds and snow.
  The UK could have the coldest temperature of the winter in the next 48 hours, with up to 10cm (4in) of snow on higher ground and gales in the north east. Continue reading...
  
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• Fake news is 'killing people's minds', says Apple boss Tim Cook

  11-02-2017 01:18
  
  Apple chief calls on governments and technology companies to crack down on misinformation in public discourseFake news is “killing people’s minds”, Tim Cook, the head of Apple, has said. The technology boss said firms such as his own needed to create tools that would help stem the spread of falsehoods, without impinging on freedom of speech.Cook also called for governments to lead information campaigns to crack down on fake news in an interview with a British national newspaper
  
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• Birmingham’s Gianfranco Zola sanguine in defeat by Sheffield Wednesday

  11-02-2017 01:15
  
  Gianfranco Zola has declared himself happy with Birmingham City’s performance despite their 3-0 defeat at Sheffield Wednesday in the Championship on Friday night.Zola, who has now presided over seven defeats in 12 matches since he came into the manager’s job in December, pointed out that his side had long periods of domination and possession, hit the woodwork three times and were only 1-0 down until the late stages. Continue reading...
  
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• NHS 'pays £7.5m a year for 20 most expensive agency doctors'

  11-02-2017 01:03
  
  Watchdog says health service could save £300m a year if locums charged within set price cap, after data found some are paid £375,000 a yearThe NHS is paying agency doctors millions of pounds every year – with one having charged £363 an hour, according to a health watchdog. Data from NHS Improvement shows that 20 of the most expensive locums cost the NHS £7.5m a year – an average of £375,000 each. Continue reading...
  
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• Illuminating facts about the UK's art collection

  11-02-2017 01:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Horses are more popular than dogs, and nine other facts about the UK's oil painting collection.
  
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• Talking Horses: Saturday’s best bets for Newbury and Warwick

  11-02-2017 01:00
  
  William H Bonney goes up against Veinard in a highly competitive Betfair Hurdle at Newbury and Whizzzey Rascal is likely to fly at WarwickThere was a certain amount of surprise expressed this week when Newbury’s Betfair Hurdle attracted only 16 horses at the final entry stage. A few more runners might have been expected for the money on offer but Saturday’s field still looks extremely competitive and those who disagree are welcome to try picking the winner.William H Bonney (3.35) mig
  
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• FA Council member Ray Kiddell sparks Kick It Out complaint with ‘ethnic’ comment

  11-02-2017 00:52
  
  • Kick It Out and Football Supporters’ Federation ‘dismayed’ by Kiddell
  • FA is under increasing Government pressure to reformKick It Out and the Football Supporters’ Federation will complain to the Football Association over “unhelpful comments” made by one of its council members about reform within the game in England.The FA finds itself under increasing scrutiny after the House of Commons passed a “no confidence” motion in football&rsqu
  
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