General news

• South Africa: more than 950 gold miners trapped underground

  01-02-2018 23:42 via theguardian.com
  Sibanye-Stillwater mining company said miners stuck up to 1000m below ground after outage caused by a storm Hundreds of gold miners were stuck underground in South Africa on Thursday after a power cut, the mine’s owner said, though the workers were not reported to be in immediate danger.
  The Sibanye-Stillwater mining company said a massive power outage caused by a storm had prevented lifts from bringing the night shift to the surface at the Beatrix gold mine, near the city of Welkom. Conti
  
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• Jeff Bezos adds billions to his fortune as Amazon reports profit surge

  01-02-2018 23:42 via theguardian.com
  Amazon’s share price soared over 4%, while Apple shares wobbled despite quarterly revenues, and Alphabet announced a lossJeff Bezos, the world’s richest man, added another couple of billion to his fortune on Thursday as Amazon, the company he founded, announced it had made more than $1bn in profits in the three months running up to Christmas. Related: Amazon fulfillment centers don't boost employment, analysis findsContinue reading...
  
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• Britain proposes unlimited fines for car emissions cheaters

  01-02-2018 23:42
  The announcement is aimed at addressing criticism that the government was toothless in dealing with Volkswagenafter a scandal that affected 1.2 million cars in Britain.The German carmaker admitted in 2015 to using software to cheat diesel emission tests in the United States and has since paid out compensation to U.S. motorists, but has refused to do so in Europe, arguing the software was not illegal there."We continue to take the unacceptable actions of Volkswagen extremely seriously, and w
  
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• Four migrants in critical condition after Calais brawl

  01-02-2018 23:34 via theguardian.com
  Casualties were shot during fight involving Afghans and EritreansFour teenage migrants are in a critical condition after being shot during a huge brawl in the French port of Calais involving Afghans and Eritreans armed with sticks and stones, local authorities said.Four Eritreans aged between 16 and 18 were taken to hospital, the local prosecutor’s office said.Another wounded migrant was taken to the nearby city of Lille because of his “very serious state of health,” the local
  
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• Long-range Ryan Hall try gives Leeds opening-day win over Warrington

  01-02-2018 23:08 via theguardian.com
  Warrington Wolves 12-16 Leeds RhinosThe opening weekend of the season rarely gives anything definitive away about a side’s chances but as far as Leeds are concerned, this was an encouraging start to life as reigning champions. Greater challenges lie ahead for the Rhinos – maybe even against Warrington who will undoubtedly improve as Steve Price’s impact on his new side increases.But for Leeds, this was a satisfying night’s work, with the mere fact this was their first win
  
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• Ben Stokes named in England’s ODI squad to face New Zealand

  01-02-2018 23:08 via theguardian.com
  • All-rounder due in court before five-match series begins
  • Dawid Malan and Jake Ball not included in squadEngland have announced the squad for their one-day international series in New Zealand, with the familiar sight of Ben Stokes’s inclusion accompanied by the caveat of his impending court case. The five-match series begins on 25 February – 12 days after Stokes is due at Bristol Magistrates to face a charge of affray.Following his court date on 13 February, Stokes is du
  
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• Best travel book of the year: Kapka Kassabova’s Border wins Stanford’s award

  01-02-2018 23:01 via theguardian.com
  A timely account of a fraught part of Europe has won Stanford’s book of the year. Here, one of the judges heralds a master storyteller and gives an overview of the nominees Continue reading...
  
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• Britannia recap – series one, episode three

  01-02-2018 23:00 via theguardian.com
  Aulus comes back from his trip to the underworld a changed man, but can his new blissed-out approach to negotiations work with the bellicose Britons?King Pellenor has declared war on the Romans despite their attempt at diplomacy, but rival Queen Antedia has entered into a pact with Aulus as long as he brings her Kerra alive. You remember the prince’s missing knackers? Aulus has gone off to the underworld for reasons unknown, with the help of Veran’s bony fingers, and returned with th
  
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• Women’s Six Nations preview: sevens spotlight gives sides another battle | Gerard Meagher

  01-02-2018 22:52 via theguardian.com
  England and co have room for optimism but 2018 is a year in which XVs must coexist with format that can make headlinesOn the face of it, optimism abounds before the Women’s Six Nations. Last year’s tournament shattered records for attendances and broadcasting figures and there remains an afterglow, six months on from the World Cup. There have been three different winners of the championship in the past three years and the enduring image of the 2017 tournament is a winner-takes-all gr
  
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• Leicester left to pick up pieces from Riyad Mahrez transfer fallout

  01-02-2018 22:47 via theguardian.com
  • Winger upset move to Manchester City did not happen
  • Mahrez has not been seen at Leicester for three daysRiyad Mahrez is not expected to play in Leicester’s match against Swansea on Saturday and could remain out of the picture for some time as the club try to deal with the damaging fallout from Manchester City’s failed attempt to sign the winger on transfer deadline day.Mahrez is bitterly upset that he missed out on a move to the Etihad after Leicester rejected a financi
  
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• Brexit minister forced into apology for maligning civil service

  01-02-2018 22:35 via theguardian.com
  Steve Baker under fire over claims civil servants attempted to sway policy with their economic models One of Theresa May’s Brexit ministers has been forced to apologise after airing claims in parliament that civil servants had deliberately produced negative economic models to influence policy.The comments resulted in Steve Baker being accused of maligning the civil service for the second time in a week after he previously told MPs that economic forecasts by officials were “always wro
  
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• Texas to execute third prisoner this year amid reports of botched killings

  01-02-2018 22:14 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: eyewitnesses to the first two judicial killings in the state last month reported alarming scenes on the gurneyTexas prepared on Thursday afternoon to put to death its third prisoner this year, using a batch of old and poorly regulated sedatives, which eyewitnesses have suggested may have led to the botched executions of two other inmates in the past two weeks.
  John Battaglia, 62, is set to die after 6pm local time on Thursday, using a lethal dose of the barbiturate pentobarbital. If t
  
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• Grenfell fire: police apologise after victim's bone fragment found

  01-02-2018 22:05 via theguardian.com
  Family of Mohamed Amied Neda held second funeral six months on from tragedyThe police have apologised after a Grenfell victim’s bone fragment was found in a tumble dryer six months after the tragedy.The family of Mohamed Amied Neda held a second funeral after the discovery was made a few weeks ago, when police sent his clothes to be cleaned and found “one piece of his bone”. Continue reading...
  
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• Bernie Ecclestone hits back at F1’s decision to stop using grid girls

  01-02-2018 21:39 via theguardian.com
  • These girls did nothing harmful to anybody, says ex-chief executive
  • ‘We might as well say we don’t want people to go to a fashion show’Bernie Ecclestone has defended the use of gird girls after the current bosses decided to end the practice at races.The 87-year-old has been critical of the sport’s American owners, Liberty Media, who declared on Wednesday that employing grid girls was “at odds with modern-day societal norms” and will no longer hap
  
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• Darren Osborne Osborne's movements before Finsbury Park attack

  01-02-2018 21:25 via bbc.co.uk
  Darren Osborne was found guilty of murder, after driving a van into a crowd near a London mosque.
  
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• Crystal Palace’s academy director suspended pending under-18s investigation

  01-02-2018 21:16 via theguardian.com
  • Gary Issott being investigated over alleged inappropriate behaviour
  • No complaint made by any Palace academy player or their parentsCrystal Palace have suspended their long-serving academy director, Gary Issott, pending the results of an internal investigation into alleged inappropriate behaviour after suggestions emerged that he had attempted to shower with members of the club’s under-18s team at an away fixture this season.Palace suspended Issott and informed the Football As
  
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• Facebook to French court: nude painting did not prompt account's deletion

  01-02-2018 21:14 via theguardian.com
  Teacher says his account was shut down because he posted a Gustave Courbet painting of a woman’s genitalsA long-running dispute over allegations of censorship by Facebook has come to a head in a French court, where the social network denied it had deleted a user’s account because he posted a picture of a 19th-century painting of a woman’s genitals.L’Origine du Monde (The Origin of the World), an 1866 oil painting by the realist painter Gustave Courbet, hangs on the walls
  
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• Irish court refuses man's extradition because of Brexit

  01-02-2018 20:59
  About 20 people are fighting extradition on the grounds that the UK is leaving the EU.Ireland’s supreme court has declined to extradite a company director wanted for fraud to London because by the time he finishes his prison sentence the UK will have left the EU.A fresh extradition treaty between the two countries could be needed.
  
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• Steve Bell on Theresa May's meeting with Xi Jinping – cartoon

  01-02-2018 20:58 via theguardian.com
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• Logan Paul says he is a ‘good guy’ in first TV interview since controversial suicide video

  01-02-2018 20:57
  The YouTube star said criticism he has received was ‘fair’.
  
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• Finsbury Park attack: man 'brainwashed by anti-Muslim propaganda' convicted

  01-02-2018 20:48 via theguardian.com
  Darren Osborne is found guilty of terrorist killing outside mosque, triggering review of extreme right threatA man “brainwashed” within a month by anti-Muslim propaganda has been found guilty of a murderous terrorist attack on worshippers leaving a mosque, triggering a complete review of the national security threat posed by the extreme right.A jury took less than an hour to be convinced that Darren Osborne, 48, drove a van into a crowd of Muslims near a mosque in Finsbury Park, nort
  
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• Finsbury Park attack: man 'brainwashed by anti-Muslim propaganda' convicted

  01-02-2018 20:48
  A man “brainwashed” within a month by anti-Muslim propaganda has been found guilty of a murderous terrorist attack on worshippers leaving a mosque, triggering a complete review of the national security threat posed by the extreme right.A jury took less than an hour to be convinced that Darren Osborne, 48, drove a van into a crowd of Muslims near a mosque in Finsbury Park, north London, killing one and injuring 12.Police believe the catalyst for Osborne’s descent into hate was s
  
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• FA looks into Sam Clucas' goal celebrations during Swansea's match against Arsenal

  01-02-2018 20:47
  The FA says it has been made aware of reports concerning Sam Clucas' goal celebrations during Swansea's match against Arsenal.It follows claims the midfielder was referencing a pornography website.Clucas scored twice as The Swans beat the Gunners 3-1 at the Liberty Stadium on Tuesday, and the 27-year-old marked both goals by apparently mimicking a pornography website's 'spy' symbol.
  
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• Asylum seekers win case over smoking in immigration detention centres

  01-02-2018 20:46
  Brook House immigration removal centre, where the men were held.Mr Justice Holman agreed that forcing Muslim detainees to pray next to toilets when locked in their cells overnight amounted to indirect discrimination and that allowing smoking in “enclosed or substantially enclosed areas” was unlawful.As a result of his ruling, the home secretary, Amber Rudd, must take steps to rectify both problems across all 10 immigration removal centres in the UK.
  
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• Slavery risk warning over UK's scallop fisheries

  01-02-2018 20:42 via theguardian.com
  Register singles out industry with retailers told to check suppliers are clear of any link to bonded labourMarine conservation campaigners have warned there is a critical risk that slaves are being used on British scallop fishing boats, and urged retailers to be on their guard.A new slavery risk register published in the US on Thursday has singled out the UK’s queen and giant scallops fisheries as the most at risk of modern slavery after a Guardian investigation found allegations of bonded
  
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• Alfie Evans: Further treatment for seriously ill baby 'inhumane'

  01-02-2018 20:32
  Alfie Evans was born in May 2016 with a degenerative neurological condition which doctors have not been able to definitively diagnose.In the High Court in Liverpool today, the hearing had to be adjourned for 20 minutes for Mr Evans' parents and sisters to comfort him, as he wept while he heard evidence that life support should be turned off.Mr Evans, 20, broke down when he heard this evidence, and a break was called in proceedings.
  
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• UK launches nationwide review of meat processing plants

  01-02-2018 20:25 via theguardian.com
  Renewed focus on food safety comes after ‘serious incidents’ at 2 Sisters and Russell HumeThe UK’s food regulators are launching nationwide review of all meat cutting plants in the wake of “serious incidents” at 2 Sisters Food Group and Russell Hume.The announcement comes days after the Food Standards Agency was criticised by a committee of MPs for failing to take “definite action” to improve food standards following a Guardian and ITV undercover investi
  
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• Labour to clarify policy over trans women on all-female shortlists

  01-02-2018 20:21 via theguardian.com
  Party keen to formalise stance on self-certification of gender after activist set up fund for legal fightLabour is embarking on a consultation on the inclusion of transgender women on all-women shortlists for parliamentary seats, after confirming they are welcome to stand without a gender recognition certificate.Dawn Butler, Labour’s shadow women and equalities secretary, emailed Labour colleagues this week setting out the formal position that trans women can self-certify as women to parti
  
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• In Haringey the people have taken over, not the hard left | Aditya Chakrabortty

  01-02-2018 20:16 via theguardian.com
  Council leader Claire Kober has quit. Rightwingers claim it’s a Momentum plot, but this was all about residents fighting to save their homesThe day Claire Kober quit as head of Haringey council in north London, I remembered a car ride from long ago. It was 2016, just after Christmas, and I was in a Fiesta, being driven around by a couple from Tottenham. We shared sepia-tinted memories – their favourite park, the market where my mum used to shop – and then they pointed out the v
  
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• Roger Stone 'dropped off card' for Julian Assange at embassy

  01-02-2018 20:13
  Roger Stone said he was glad to have missed the WikiLeaks founder.Roger Stone, a longtime associate of Donald Trump who has previously claimed he had a “backchannel” to WikiLeaks, on Wednesday visited the Ecuadorian embassy in London, where officials have harbored the organization’s founder, Julian Assange, for over five years.Stone told the Daily Beast, which first reported the visit, that he did not meet Assange.
  
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• Who is Devin Nunes and why is he sowing confusion in the Russia inquiry?

  01-02-2018 20:12 via theguardian.com
  The congressman at center of the FBI memo storm has rushed forward to bolster Trump’s criticism of the FBI and justice departmentOne night in Washington last March, Devin Nunes received a call to head to the White House to see secret intelligence reports. Over the next week, he briefed the president, failed to keep his clandestine meeting a secret, spoke expansively – if confusingly – about classified information, and earned the ire and mockery of his colleagues in Congress. No
  
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• How one doctor captured dying children's wishes

  01-02-2018 20:08 via bbc.co.uk
  Paediatrician shares inspiring thoughts of kids in his palliative care and has overwhelming response.
  
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• Twelve lessons on the meaning of life from terminally ill children

  01-02-2018 20:02
  Paediatrician Alastair McAlpine anonymously documented some remarkable responses from his patients.
  
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• MPs vote in favour of ‘baby leave’ proxy voting system

  01-02-2018 20:01 via theguardian.com
  Parliament set to move on from ‘Rees-Mogg model’ of fatherhood under new proposalsMPs have voted in favour of allowing MPs who have recently become parents to nominate a colleague to cast their votes in parliament under a new system of “baby leave”.Senior Labour and Conservative members Harriet Harman and Maria Miller had brought a proposal to modernise the way the House of Commons accommodates new mothers and fathers.Continue reading...
  
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• Polar bears could become extinct faster than was feared, study says

  01-02-2018 20:00 via theguardian.com
  The animals facing an increasing struggle to find enough food to survive as climate change steadily transforms their environmentPolar bears could be sliding towards extinction faster than previously feared, with the animals facing an increasing struggle to find enough food to survive as climate change steadily transforms their environment. New research has unearthed fresh insights into polar bear habits, revealing that the Arctic predators have far higher metabolisms than previously thought. Thi
  
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• Permission given to create Britain's first 'three-person babies'

  01-02-2018 19:48 via theguardian.com
  Two women with gene mutation that causes degenerative disorder will undergo therapyDoctors in Newcastle have been granted permission to create Britain’s first “three-person babies” for two women who are at risk of passing on devastating and incurable genetic diseases to their children.The green light from the fertility regulator means that doctors at the Newcastle Fertility Centre will now attempt to make healthy embryos for the women by merging fertilised eggs created through
  
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• Robert Wagner is 'person of interest' in Natalie Wood death investigation

  01-02-2018 19:46 via theguardian.com
  Six years after the reopening of the investigation into the actor’s mysterious death, CBS has learned her husband is a potential suspectNearly 40 years after Natalie Wood died mysteriously on a boat trip to Santa Catalina Island, investigators have named the actor’s husband Robert Wagner as a person of interest. Related: Natalie Wood's drowning death reclassified by Los Angeles coronerContinue reading...
  
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• BoE studies stresses in 'stretched' corporate bond market

  01-02-2018 19:42
  Alex Brazier, the BoE's executive director for financial stability strategy and risk, said market-based finance is a "next frontier" for its policymaking as companies issue far more bonds to raise funds than they did before the financial crisis."With credit markets and commercial property markets stretched, a broadening of our work is timely," Brazier said in a speech on Thursday.There were questions about resilience and liquidity in bond markets, even if the firms who operate on them are safe,
  
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• PIP fiasco should have been avoided

  01-02-2018 19:33
  ‘In exceptional circumstances the Lords should not flinch from voting against regulations,’ writes Celia Thomas.The personal independence payment (PIP) regulations which the high court has quashed, thus allowing claimants with overwhelming psychological distress to potentially receive enhanced mobility payments (Report, 30 January), could have been stopped at a much earlier point in the House of Lords.In exceptional circumstances the Lords should not flinch from voting against regula
  
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• Margaret Atwood says Handmaid's Tale TV show profits went to MGM, not her

  01-02-2018 19:33 via theguardian.com
  Author says she ‘did not have a negotiating position’, after selling the rights of her novel to MGM for a 1990 film, which the studio retainedMargaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale, has revealed that profits from the hugely successful 2017 TV series of her novel did not go to her, after having sold on the rights for a film adaptation almost three decades ago.Hulu’s recent TV series of The Handmaid’s Tale was a critical success, winning four Emmys and prompti
  
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• Will Theresa May follow Richard Nixon’s lead?

  01-02-2018 19:32
  If Admiral Lord West really believes (Letters, 25 January) that stability in the Middle East and Mediterranean calls for nuclear attack submarines, he is not living in the real world.No conceivable strategic threat in such an unstable region could effectively be met with the threat, let alone use, of weapons of mass destruction.Or does the admiral simply mean submarines driven by nuclear power?
  
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• West Ham crisis: Tony Henry suspended after report over African players

  01-02-2018 19:32 via theguardian.com
  • Recruitment chief suspended after allegations of racism
  • Karren Brady comments said to have scuppered Islam Slimani moveWest Ham are facing a crisis after their head of player recruitment was suspended following allegations of racism and unlawful discrimination. Senior players reacted with bemusement to the club’s messy end to the transfer window and remarks by Karren Brady were said to have scuppered a deal to sign Islam Slimani from Leicester.A report in the Daily Mail alleg
  
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• Treasury forecasts and the post-Brexit UK economy

  01-02-2018 19:32
  Brexit minister Steve Baker. ‘Economic studies are not attempting to predict a final outcome but what will happen under different assumptions about the form of Brexit,’ writes John Whitley.In a way Steve Baker is right (Backlash over minister’s claim that government forecasts are never right, 31 January), because it is nigh impossible to predict with precision a particular outcome in a world characterised by lots of unknowns.The Bank of England, among others, has long recognise
  
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• Fostering must be a public service for the public good

  01-02-2018 19:32
  ‘Independent Fostering Agencies provide far better support and training opportunities to their foster carers and smaller workloads for their social workers,’ writes Clive Sellick.The foster carers quoted in Anna Bawden’s article (Councils face a huge hike in costs as foster carers jump ship, 31 January) expressed the same sentiments and experiences of many foster carers I interviewed over a 20-year period in a series of research studies.It is indisputable that, generally, Indep
  
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• The Guardian view on parliament’s move: be bold, leave London | Editorial

  01-02-2018 19:30 via theguardian.com
  With Westminster in need of refurbishment, parliamentarians should seize the opportunity to strengthen links with the rest of the UKParliament’s decision to move out of the Palace of Westminster is an opportunity that should be seized; it is also a risk that could be mishandled. MPs voted this week to quit the hallowed Westminster site for at least six years, probably from 2025, to enable major refurbishment of what has become a dangerous and inadequate set of buildings. The plan is to bui
  
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• Bitcoin's January fall wipes off $44bn in value

  01-02-2018 19:30 via theguardian.com
  US investigation into boom stokes fears of impending bust as cryptocurrency records steepest monthly slide in its historyBitcoin plummeted in value by more than $44bn (£30.9bn) in January, marking the steepest monthly fall in its short history. The slide extended further on Thursday after the Indian government said it would ban all cryptocurrency trading and Facebook announced a ban on digital currency adverts. Bitcoin fell by more than 10%, dropping below $9,000, marking a sharp reverse f
  
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• Mull community trust given green light to buy island of Ulva for £4m

  01-02-2018 19:26 via theguardian.com
  Scottish minister allows sale of Hebridean property, where the population has dwindled to sixA community trust has been allowed to mount a £4m buyout of the small island of Ulva off Mull despite its owner’s reluctance over the deal.Roseanna Cunningham, the Scottish environment secretary, announced she would allow a community trust in Mull to try to buy Ulva, which has suffered decades of depopulation and unsuccessful attempts at regeneration by its current owner.Continue reading...
  
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• UK power capacity auction for 2018/19 clears at 5-10 pounds kW/year - national grid

  01-02-2018 19:20
  (Reuters) - Britain secured 10.66 gigawatts of backup electricity capacity for 2018/2019 at 5-10 pounds/kilowatt (kW)/year, data on the National Grid auction website showed on Thursday.
  
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• Guantánamo: Bush-era officials warn keeping prison open may be $6bn error

  01-02-2018 19:17 via theguardian.com
  Trump’s decision to keep the prison open may be costly and dangerous, according to officials who set up the Cuba facilityUS officials and military lawyers who helped set up and run the notorious prison at Guantánamo Bay have warned that Donald Trump risks repeating a $6bn mistake by keeping it open. Related: Donald Trump signs executive order to keep Guantánamo Bay openContinue reading...
  
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• IOC in the dock as Russia rejoices in absolution of its doping damned | Martha Kelner

  01-02-2018 19:16 via theguardian.com
  Ruling by the court of arbitration for sport, overturning lifetime Olympic bans on 28 Russian athletes, leaves Olympic movement in state of chaos on the eve of Pyeongchang GamesA month before Rio 2016 a report authored by the Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren found overwhelming evidence of state-sponsored doping in Russia. So why – more than 18 months later – are we a week away from another Olympic Games wondering yet again how many Russian athletes will be competing?The ruling by the
  
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