General news

• Former Les Mis star SuRie to sing for UK at Eurovision

  07-02-2018 23:58
  Former Les Miserables star SuRie will represent the UK at this year's Eurovision Song Contest.Real name Susanna Cork, she has featured in Eurovision before - as a backing dancer for Belgian act Loic Nottet in 2015, and musical director for another Belgian entrant in 2017.Speaking about her previous Eurovision experiences a few weeks ago, she said: "My eyes were opened to the beauty of Eurovision a couple of years ago and I was working with the Belgians, so false flagging for a different country,
  
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• George Soros's foundation backs campaign to reverse Brexit

  07-02-2018 23:51
  George Soros backs campaign group calling for the UK to remain part of the European Union.A key pro-EU campaign to reverse the Brexit vote has been given more than £400,000 of funding by American billionaire George Soros’s foundation, the Guardian can disclose.The business magnate, who is the founder of the Open Society Foundation (OSF), made more than £1bn betting against the pound on Black Wednesday, which forced the British government to pull it from the European exchange ra
  
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• Billionaire George Soros backs campaign to reverse Brexit

  07-02-2018 23:51
  George Soros backs campaign group calling for the UK to remain part of the European Union.A key pro-EU campaign to reverse the Brexit vote has been given more than £400,000 of funding by American billionaire George Soros, the Guardian can disclose.The business magnate, who is the founder of the Open Society Foundation (OSF), made more than £1bn betting against the pound on Black Wednesday which forced the British government to pull it from the European exchange rate mechanism.
  
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• George Soros donated money to campaign for a rerun of Britain's EU referendum

  07-02-2018 23:34
  George Soros, the billionaire who earned fame by betting against the British pound in 1992, contributed 400,000 pounds through his foundations to a campaign group which is seeking to halt Brexit, the group's chairman said on Wednesday."George Soros’s foundations have along with a number of other major donors also made significant contributions to our work," Mark Malloch-Brown, a former British diplomat who is chair of the Best for Britain campaign group."Indeed through his foundations he h
  
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• Tesco faces record $5.6 billion equal pay claim

  07-02-2018 22:41
  Supermarket group Tescois facing a potential bill of up to 4 billion pounds ($5.6 billion) in a record equal pay claim involving mainly women workers at its British stores, according to the law firm pursuing the case.Tesco is Britain's biggest retailer and its largest private sector employer with more than 310,000 staff.Law firm Leigh Day said on Wednesday the mainly male employees in Tesco's distribution centres were paid considerably more than its largely female store workers.
  
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• Gambling firms defy calls to stamp out sexist behaviour at event

  07-02-2018 22:30
  Gambling companies have defied calls to stamp out sexism at an industry conference, with guests being entertained by pole dancers and a Playboy-themed show, and hostesses claiming to have been harassed and propositioned.The ICE Totally Gaming conference, held at London’s Excel centre, drew a warning earlier this week from the UK gambling regulator.The Gambling Commission’s chief executive, Sarah Harrison, threatened to boycott the event, at which she said women were “expected t
  
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• Report warns of 16% GDP hit to the North in event of no Brexit deal

  07-02-2018 22:25
  Report warns of 16% GDP hit to the North in event of no Brexit deal
  
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• Common food compound asparagine linked to cancer spread

  07-02-2018 21:32
  A protein found in asparagus and other everyday foods has been linked to the spread of breast cancer, scientists have discovered.Restricting the amino acid asparagine decreased the spread of the disease in mice.Amino acids are essential building blocks that cells use to make proteins.
  
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• Tottenham Hotspur v Newport County: FA Cup fourth round replay – live!

  07-02-2018 20:52 via theguardian.com
  Latest updates from the 7.45pm (GMT) kick-off at WembleyNewport 1-1 Spurs: how the League Two side forced a replayFeel free to email [email protected] 7.52pm GMT 5 min: Vorm faffs about with the ball at his feet, and Amond very nearly embarrasses him with his high-energy press. Just for a second ... just for a second ... but the ball’s whacked away from the danger zone soon enough. Newport are impressively on the front foot in these early stages. They haven’t let Spurs set
  
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• Eurovision: You Decide 2018 – live!

  07-02-2018 20:52 via theguardian.com
  The world’s premier cheese-based singing competition is almost here. But who will the public send to represent the UK in Lisbon this May? 7.52pm GMT Tom liked the live performance, and thought RAYA smashed it. Rochelle loved the energy, and Rylan loved the sweaty backing mechanics - a great start to the show.7.49pm GMT This has a definitely Dua Lipa vibe going on, and I quite like it – it’s a bit light on lyrics (somebody on RAYA’s mind is making her crazy, probably ought
  
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• Scientific face of first Briton inspires flurry of cheesy jokes

  07-02-2018 20:41
  Well, he is called Cheddar Man after all.
  
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• Global stock markets recover after sharp losses

  07-02-2018 20:35 via theguardian.com
  Market rout started in New York but Dow Jones back on track, with FTSE gaining nearly 2%Global stock markets rallied on Wednesday after sharp losses earlier in the week, with London’s leading share index gaining almost 2%.The FTSE 100 index of the most valuable companies listed in London rose 138 points to 7,279, still well below its all-time closing high of 7,779 on 12 January. Continue reading...
  
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• Universal credit error means claimants are forced to attend job centres to reset online passwords

  07-02-2018 20:33
  The Government's flagship welfare programme has been dealt another blow as it was revealed claimants who forget their log-in details for the website cannot easily reset them.Instead, universal credit online users have to attend a face-to-face interview at a job centre to receive a new password.Ged Killen, Labour MP for Rutherglen and Hamilton West, said he was worried for claimants as his constituency was a "full-service" area for the universal credit programme.
  
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• Impact on UK regions revealed in Brexit leak

  07-02-2018 20:28
  North East England will suffer a 16% hit to GDP in the event of a 'no-deal' Brexit according to the Government's own analysis, Sky News can reveal.
  
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• Senior White House aide resigns after domestic abuse allegations

  07-02-2018 20:24 via theguardian.com
  Staff secretary Rob Porter calls claims ‘outrageous’ and ‘false’Two ex-wives accused Porter of emotional and physical abuseA senior White House aide has resigned from his post, after two of his ex-wives aired allegations of physical and emotional abuse in the media.Staff secretary Rob Porter, 40, announced his resignation on Wednesday afternoon, saying he would step aside from the role. He worked closely with the White House chief of staff, John Kelly, to regulate who saw
  
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• Tesco Women Fighting For Equal Pay Describe 'Devastating' Impact On Their Earnings

  07-02-2018 20:14
  Women who are challenging Tesco over decades of allegedly unequal pay have laid bare their feelings about their employer, with one saying cuts to her income have been “devastating”.
  
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• Steve Bell on Donald Trump's wish for a military display – cartoon

  07-02-2018 20:08 via theguardian.com
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• Longer maternity leave linked to better exam results for some children

  07-02-2018 20:05 via theguardian.com
  Research suggests offspring of highly educated mothers benefit from extended parental leaveLonger paid maternity and paternity leave offers parents the chance to spend more time with their babies – but the educational benefits for the child vary greatly, depending on their background and the parents’ qualifications, according to new research.The research found that the children of highly educated, middle-class parents gained “large and significantly positive effects” in l
  
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• Redrow chief: huge Persimmon bonuses ‘very, very wrong’

  07-02-2018 19:39 via theguardian.com
  Steve Morgan says property industry leaders are ‘peed off’ with the £110m payout to boss of rival firmThe boss of housebuilder Redrow has described a £110m bonus being paid to the boss of rival Persimmon as “very, very wrong”.Steve Morgan, the self-made multimillionaire founder of Redrow, said property industry bosses were “peed off” with the vast amount of money being handed to Persimmon CEO Jeff Fairburn. Politicians, campaigners and City experts
  
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• Canada quarrel pits British Columbia against Alberta in battle of oil and wine

  07-02-2018 19:39 via theguardian.com
  Alberta bans wine imports from British Columbia amid a brewing dispute over a pipeline expansionRelations between two Canadian provinces have turned vinegary in an escalating row over oil and wine.
  The oil-rich region of Alberta announced a ban on wine imports from neighbouring British Columbia amid the brewing dispute over a contentious pipeline expansion. Continue reading...
  
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• Merkel's party loses key ministries in coalition deal

  07-02-2018 19:36 via theguardian.com
  Junior SPD party is expected to fill finance, foreign and labour ministries under agreementAngela Merkel has exposed herself to criticism from her own party after she took a crucial step towards ending a four-month period of political uncertainty by reaching a coalition agreement at the cost of giving the centre-left Social Democrats a greater role in government.
  Following a marathon of all-night dealmaking sessions and several missed deadlines, Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union on Wedne
  
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• Indian police arrest 'doctor' accused of spreading HIV

  07-02-2018 19:23 via theguardian.com
  Unlicensed practitioner alleged to have reused syringes on poor villagers in Uttar Pradesh
  Police in India have arrested an unlicensed doctor accused of infecting at least 46 people with HIV by reusing a syringe, the latest case to expose the paucity of healthcare in the country of 1.25 billion people.Police in Uttar Pradesh tracked down Rajendra Yadav, who provided cheap door-to-door medical services to poor villagers, after a filing a criminal case against him over the spread of the infection
  
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• Justin Trudeau apologises for 'dumb joke' after 'peoplekind' quote goes viral

  07-02-2018 19:19 via theguardian.com
  Canadian PM was ridiculed for correcting woman’s use of ‘mankind’
  ‘I don’t necessarily have the best of track records on jokes’The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has apologised for making a “dumb joke” after he interrupted a woman and lightheartedly corrected her for saying “mankind”, not “peoplekind”.His comments last week drew ridicule from critics who variously accused Trudeau of mansplaining and excessive polit
  
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• Patrice Evra has great pedigree but Premier League return will be testing | Sachin Nakrani

  07-02-2018 19:15 via theguardian.com
  The 36-year-old former France captain, who looks in fine shape and has a point to prove after his ban for kicking a fan, faces a big job to lift an ageing West Ham defenceIt should probably surprise no one that West Ham have signed Patrice Evra. After all, they have previous when it comes to taking a punt on a player who has been banned for lashing out on a football pitch. Just over 19 years ago it was Paolo Di Canio, who arrived at Upton Park on the back of “Alcockgate” and, as the
  
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• James Bulger’s Mother Accuses Authorities Of ‘Colluding’ To Cover Up Extent Of Jon Venables' Offending

  07-02-2018 19:15
  The mother of murdered toddler James Bulger accused authorities of “colluding” to cover up the extent of his killer’s “vile” behaviour as he was jailed yet again on Wednesday.
  
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• Hard Brexit would cost public finances £80bn, says secret analysis

  07-02-2018 19:12 via theguardian.com
  Leave-voting heartlands of north-east and West Midlands would be worst hit, report findsA no-deal Brexit would blow an £80bn hole in the public finances, with the leave-voting heartlands of the north-east and West Midlands worst affected, according to new detail from the government’s own secret economic analysis.The Guardian has learned that the secret papers, which assess the economic impact of leaving the bloc, predict that if there is no deal, the government will need to borrow &p
  
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• Brexit to hit north-east and Midlands hardest, says secret analysis

  07-02-2018 19:12
  Secret papers which assess the economic impact of leaving the EU found the Brexit heartlands of the north-east and West Midlands would be the worst affected, it can be revealed.The analyses found Brexit would leave the UK worse off under three possible scenarios: a comprehensive free trade deal, single market access and no deal at all.MPs who have seen the documents said they showed every region of the UK would be affected negatively whatever the deal.
  
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• Paedophile scientist Matthew Falder 'made victim lick toilet seats and eat dog food'

  07-02-2018 19:09
  A talented scientist exposed as a prolific online paedophile blackmailed one of his young victims into licking toilet seats and eating dog food, a court heard.During a secret double life during years of study at Cambridge University, Dr Matthew Falder made children, young men and women photograph themselves in compromising positions and shared the material with other abusers interested in so-called "hurtcore", which depicts rape and abuse.The 29-year-old geophysicist pleaded guilty to 137 charge
  
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• Mashal Khan: death sentence for Pakistan blasphemy murder

  07-02-2018 19:09 via theguardian.com
  Student was beaten and shot by mob in attack that was posted online and widely condemnedA Pakistani court has sentenced one person to death and five others to life imprisonment for lynching a student accused of blasphemy, a crime which sent shockwaves through the conservative Muslim country.Mashal Khan, 23, was stripped, beaten and shot by a gang made up mostly of students last April before being thrown from the second floor of his dormitory at Abdul Wali Khan university in the north-western cit
  
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• Hit to North East England and Northern Ireland GDP revealed in new Brexit impact papers leak

  07-02-2018 19:07
  North East England will suffer a 16% hit to GDP in the event of a "no deal" Brexit according to the Government's own analysis, Sky News can reveal.
  
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• Briton who fought IS charged with terror offence

  07-02-2018 19:03
  A British man will become the first person to have fought Islamic State to be charged with a terror offence.Met Police have said that James Matthews, 43, will be formally charged with "attending a place used for terrorist training" when he appears at Westminster Magistrates' Court on 14 February.Many British men have travelled to Syria to fight IS with the YPG, which is mostly made up of Kurdish men and women, and a number of them have died in the conflict.
  
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• Alexis Sánchez accepts 16-month Spanish prison sentence for tax fraud

  07-02-2018 19:03 via theguardian.com
  • Ruling dates back to his time at Barcelona but he will not go to jail
  • Agent calls agreement ‘unjust’ and hits out at inland revenueAlexis Sánchez’s agent has confirmed the Manchester United striker has accepted a prison sentence for tax fraud, but has described the agreement as “entirely unjust” and attacked the Spanish authorities for effectively forcing him and other players into signing the deal. He says other players have been obliged to do
  
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• Britain's Tesco faces record $5.6 billion equal pay claim

  07-02-2018 19:02
  Supermarket group Tescois facing a potential bill of up to 4 billion pounds ($5.6 billion) in a record equal pay claim involving mainly women workers at its British stores, according to the law firm pursuing the case.Tesco is Britain's biggest retailer and its largest private sector employer with more than 310,000 staff.Law firm Leigh Day said on Wednesday the mainly male employees in Tesco's distribution centres were paid considerably more than its largely female store workers.
  
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• Mental health, Labour and the crisis in criminal justice and jails

  07-02-2018 19:01
  As a psychiatrist working in prisons, I can say confidently that Charles Falconer’s damning criticism of the criminal justice system (The threat facing us all – justice only for the very rich, 7 February) is no overstatement.There was one striking omission, however, and that was mental health.Suicides – indeed all deaths – in prisons have reached their highest peak since records began in 1978.
  
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• Freemasonry, politics, the press and transparency | Letters

  07-02-2018 19:01 via theguardian.com
  Readers respond to Guardian articles about Freemasons’ lodges for MPs and journalistsThe existence of two Freemasons’ lodges associated with staff and journalists based at the Palace of Westminster, New Welcome Lodge No 5139 and Gallery Lodge No 1928, has been widely known for many years (Secret Freemasons’ lodges for MPs and journalists revealed, 5 February). Both lodges have Wikipedia entries and have published histories. They do not meet at Westminster, but at Freemasons&rsq
  
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• The Stamford Bridge tapestry struggle

  07-02-2018 19:00
  A detail from the Bayeux tapestry. Three weeks before the Saxons fought the Normans at Hastings they had to fight an invading Norwegian force at Stamford Bridge in Yorkshire. Photograph: UniversalImagesGroup/Getty Images
  
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• Spread of breast cancer linked to compound in asparagus and other foods

  07-02-2018 19:00 via theguardian.com
  Using drugs or diet to reduce levels of asparagine may benefit patients, say researchersBreast cancer patients could be encouraged to cut asparagus and other foods from their diets in the future to reduce the risk of the disease spreading, scientists say.Researchers are investigating whether a change in diet could help patients with breast tumours after studies in mice showed that asparagine, a compound first identified in asparagus but present in many other foods, drives the spread of the disea
  
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• One hippopotamus... London Zoo counts its animals in delayed census

  07-02-2018 19:00
  Keepers started counting the animals in London Zoo on Wednesday, in an annual stock take that was delayed by a fire in December.Several animals that arrived in 2017 made their first appearance in the census, including the first Hanuman langur baby born in the facility, 11 Humboldt penguin chicks and a giant anteater.It is still an ongoing investigation," said Mark Habben, Zoological Manager at the Zoological Society of London.
  
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• Food may influence cancer spread

  07-02-2018 19:00 via bbc.co.uk
  Study slowed breast cancer spread by blocking the nutrient asparagine.
  
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• Hair-raising moment: gust of wind lifts lid on mystery of Donald Trump's mane

  07-02-2018 18:59 via theguardian.com
  Speculation has long swirled about exactly what is on top of the president’s head – the answer may be less than meets the eyeAs Donald Trump wages war with Democrats over a budget deal, a video has emerged highlighting another battle – the fight the president’s hair is waging to stay attached to his head.Footage, widely shared on Wednesday, showed Trump’s hair being dramatically swept about in a blustery wind, revealing what appeared to be a large hairless patch at
  
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• From 'secretly bare' to 'comedy nude': a guide to the naked wedding dress trend

  07-02-2018 18:45 via theguardian.com
  There has been a 30% rise in requests for gowns that leave little to the imagination – but there are plenty of options for brides keen to spend the big day in the buffThe great American singer Bill Callahan once sang Dress Sexy at My Funeral, but anyone getting married this year could well borrow the same sentiment for their wedding. The definition of “sexy” is much-contested, but according to one bridal company, the key is flesh. Grace Loves Lace, which designed the most-pinne
  
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• Jacob Rees-Mogg has become the perfect politician for our confused times | Nesrine Malik

  07-02-2018 18:44 via theguardian.com
  His views seem to have no place in the modern world – but amid the Brexit chaos, his calm, dignity and conviction set him above the frayIt has happened: Jacob Rees-Mogg has gone from being a joke to a serious contender for a senior role within the Tory cabinet. At the weekend it was whispered that a “dream team” (few quote marks have done heavier lifting) of Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and Rees-Mogg would be fielded by Eurosceptics against Theresa May if her stance on the custo
  
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• The suffragettes would have a crushing verdict on the pay gap | Zoe Williams

  07-02-2018 18:43 via theguardian.com
  Women may have the vote, but as Tesco’s mainly female checkout staff fight to be paid the same as male colleagues in the warehouse, inequality still plagues the workplace In a case that could cost it £4bn, Tesco is fighting an equal pay claim over its hourly rate – £8 for work on the checkout, £11 for work in the warehouse. By startling and, unfortunately for the grocer, actionable coincidence, the checkout staff are mainly women, an army of 200,000, while the wareh
  
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• Labour MP Hugh Gaffney apologises for 'deeply offensive' Burns Night remarks

  07-02-2018 18:38
  A Labour MP has apologised for making "deeply offensive" racist and homophobic remarks at a Burns Night celebration.Hugh Gaffney said he would attend equality and diversity training following the revelation he joked about Scottish poet Robert Burns being "bent".Giving the traditional 'Immortal Memory' at a Scottish Labour students event on Saturday, Mr Gaffney claimed Burns told "lads and lassies he was not bent".
  
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• Peter Dench's best photograph – drunks kiss and throw up at the Epsom Derby

  07-02-2018 18:36 via theguardian.com
  ‘It was a decade when the English were drinking longer, faster, more cheaply and more dangerously than ever before’The Epsom Derby is one of the biggest events of the English summer. I’d heard it was quite lairy, quite boozy. So, since I was documenting the drinking habits of the English, I thought I’d head there for the day.People hire open-top buses and come in from all over Surrey and beyond. They start celebrating early, sometimes at nine in the morning. I went to whe
  
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• The Maldives’ political soap opera won’t end without judicial reform | JJ Robinson

  07-02-2018 18:35 via theguardian.com
  However excited the opposition may be about their recent good fortune, it didn’t come about as a result of the action of independent judgesThe tranquillity of the Maldives’ tourist resorts, popular with British honeymooners, arms dealers and celebrity footballers alike, is matched only by the fractiousness of its domestic politics. This was underlined on Monday by the declaration of a 15-day state of emergency.The contradictions hardly end there – the Maldives successfully trad
  
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• Forget the car in space: why Elon Musk's reusable rockets are more than a publicity stunt

  07-02-2018 18:32 via theguardian.com
  The onboard Tesla Roadster grabbed the headlines, but the real success of this week’s space adventure was the Falcon Heavy launch vehicleSpaceX has made history: the rocket company, founded in 2002 by billionaire playboy Elon Musk, has launched his cherry-red Tesla Roadster into space, on course to the asteroid belt after overshooting its intended Mars orbit.As with so much Musk does, the event was a hybrid of genuine breakthrough and nerd-baiting publicity stunt. The presence of the car &
  
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• Elon Musk's space car set to overshoot Mars and hurtle towards asteroid belt

  07-02-2018 18:29 via theguardian.com
  Tesla sports car was launched by Falcon Heavy rocket on TuesdaySpaceX mission originally planned to end in orbit around red planetElon Musk’s cherry red Tesla sports car and its dummy test pilot Starman were on a new course hurtling towards the asteroid belt on Wednesday after overshooting their planned trajectory.Just hours after Tuesday’s spectacular launch from Florida of Falcon Heavy, the world’s most powerful space rocket, the billionaire founder of the private spaceflight
  
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• England to wear ‘classic’ World Cup kit for Russia 2018

  07-02-2018 18:17 via theguardian.com
  • All 28 national teams based in St George’s Park will wear kits
  • The kits add to excitement around national teams, says FAEngland have unveiled their World Cup kit for the tournament in Russia, including new home and away kits. The outfits will be worn by all 28 national teams based in St George’s Park.A press release said: “The home kit is a classic look of white shirt, blue shorts and white socks. A modern rib collar is backed by a small St George’s cross an
  
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• MPs warned against term 'fake news' for first live committee hearing outside UK

  07-02-2018 18:09 via theguardian.com
  Inquiry into tech firms needs wider focus on misinformation while phrase is distorted by Donald Trump’s use, critics claimA Commons committee has been warned against using the term “fake news” as it prepares to hear evidence on the topic in Washington.The digital, culture, media and sport committee chaired by the Conservative MP Damian Collins will hear five hours of testimony in George Washington University, including an hour each from senior representatives of Twitter, Google
  
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