Top story: You win some, you luge some
Hello, I’m Warren Murray and it’s Friday – all day!
In breaking news, the United States government has been shut down again after Congress missed a midnight deadline to pass a funding bill. And the financial market turbulence has continued overnight as well – we are covering that live.
But forget about all that for a moment because …
It’s snow time! The Winter Olympics is finally here, with events in a sub-zero Pyeongchang already under way and the official opening ceremony due to begin at 11am GMT. Before a fortnight of fierce competition in South Korea, the thawing of relations between North and South has offered the IOC a good news story after criticism over its reaction to Russian doping at the Sochi Games in 2014. Talking of which, any hope 47 Russian athletes and coaches harboured of winning a last-minute appeal to be allowed entry to compete were dashed on the opening day with the court of arbitration for sport rejecting their appeals.
So, what of our own prospects? Well, Britain has had only intermittent success as a winter sport nation. Four medals – achieved in Sochi – is as good as it has ever got. This time, however, the British Olympic Association and UK Sport are aiming for at least five medals, and believe they may manage as many as 10.
Follow our live blog for all the action and you can also keep up with the latest news and main events by subscribing to our special daily recap email during the Games.
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Global markets join Dow in nosedive – It’s been another turbulent overnight session on the world’s financial markets. Follow the latest action at our live blog here. The Dow Jones average closed down more than 1,000 points on Wall Street last night and the contagion spread immediately to the Asia-Pacific where there has been some wild selling.
Stock markets in Japan, Australia and South Korea were all sold heavily but the biggest losses were seen in mainland China which had escaped the worst of the carnage until today. The Shanghai Composite was off 5.6% at one point to hit its lowest mark since last May. It recovered slightly to 4.5% but the losses were matched in Hong Kong where the Hang Seng index sank more than 4% as well.
The FTSE100 is, however, predicted to drop only 0.44% at the opening this morning, according to futures trade, while the Dax in Germany is forecast to drop a similar amount.
Opinion is mixed about what has caused the latest downward moves. One market expert said some investors were in “panic mode” while another, Chris Weston of IG in Melbourne, said the spike this year in the so-called “fear index” had left markets short of the one commodity they crave the most: certainty.
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Brexit and the Irish border – The European Union is to insist that Northern Ireland effectively remain in the customs union after Britain leaves, to preserve the open Irish border. It is expected to be a flashpoint between Brussels’ negotiators and the government – as well as widening divisions within the Conservative party, and between the Tories and the DUP who are keeping them in power. A meeting of the cabinet to discuss the Irish border on Wednesday failed to come up with an answer. “This might cause some problems in the UK but we didn’t create this mess,” said Philippe Lambert, the leader of the Greens in the European parliament. British drivers and hauliers, meanwhile, could face a wave of red tape to travel in Europe including getting new licenses, permits and registration. Britain is having to sign up to a burdensome 1968 UN convention on road traffic in case it fails to make a deal on cross-border traffic with the EU.
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‘Beatles’ caught in Syria – The last of the four infamous British Isis fighters have been captured in Syria. Alexanda Kotey, 34, and El Shafee Elsheikh, 29, stand accused of murdering two dozen hostages in Syria. They were caught by US-backed Kurdish forces. Their leader, Mohammed Emwazi, or Jihadi John, was killed in a 2015 airstrike. He was believed responsible for the beheadings of journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff. The fourth, Aine Davis, was convicted on terror charges last year in Turkey. Together they were known as “the Beatles” for their British accents. As fighting in Syria continues, the enclave of eastern Ghouta remains under a relentless and bloody siege by President Bashar al-Assad’s military. Around 200 people have been killed. “Ghouta is drowning in blood,” said a doctor in the region.
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Human eggs grown in lab – Scientists are researching a way to prepare immature human eggs for fertilisation outside the body. Cancer patients may be among those who benefit from the ability to have ovarian tissue removed, with eggs then extracted and developed to the point at which they would be released from the ovaries. A patient could then safely undergo chemotherapy or radiotherapy, with the eggs fertilised through IVF and reimplanted later. “This latest breakthrough is valuable, [but] significant further research is now needed to confirm that these eggs are healthy and functioning as they should do,” said Professor Helen Picton from the University of Leeds.
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RIP Pebbles – An American college student has protested that she was forced to flush her “emotional support hamster” down an airport toilet after being prevented from taking it on her flight. Spirit Airlines admits Belen Aldecosea was incorrectly told in advance that Pebbles could go with her on her trip home to south Florida. But it denies suggesting she should “flush or otherwise injure” the animal and calls Pebbles’ fate “incredibly disheartening”. Regular readers will recall the recent, possibly staged attempt by another traveller to take an “emotional support peacock” on a plane. A flight attendants’ union has backed an airline crackdown on creatures claimed as therapy pets, saying they are responsible for “biting, aggression, urination, defecation, allergic reactions, conflict and other disruptions”.
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And finally … A school in Japan has been criticised for telling pupils to buy Armani uniforms at $700 a pop. The headmaster says it is important because Taimei elementary school sits in the exclusive Ginza fashion district and is 200 metres away from Armani’s Japanese head office. “I was surprised, and wondered why such luxury brand-designed uniforms have been picked for a public elementary school,” said one mother with a certain amount of understatement. Toshitsugu Wada, the headmaster, has promised to explain the decision to anyone concerned.
Lunchtime read: When anaesthesia fails
Could you wake up while having surgery? The incidence is rare – one or two people in 100,000 might experience some degree of awareness.
But the disquieting possibility highlights, as one anaesthetist puts it, that, “in real philosophical and physiological terms, we don’t know how anaesthesia works”. Kate Cole-Adams writes about “the tightrope that anaesthetists walk every day” and gives us a fascinating insight into the evolution of this vital medical science. It’s also a bit scary – but reader, I hope you will agree that I have tried my best to avoid an alarmist tone.
Sport
Eddie Jones has lit the fuse before England’s Six Nations showdown with Wales by lashing out at Alun Wyn Jones, describing his behaviour against Scotland as “out of order” and revealing he has complained to World Rugby about the opposing captain. The Welsh side left for London on Thursday afternoon with a dig at the three-figure price of tickets at Twickenham, promising fans that they would entertain and not let the match become bogged down by reset scrums.
Lewis Hamilton could have his pick of the teams in Formula One should he not renew his contract with Mercedes, the McLaren executive director, Zak Brown, has said. And the athletics world is in shock after news of the death of Australian javelin champion, Jarrod Bannister, who died suddenly in the Netherlands aged 33.
Business
We’ve covered the turmoil on global markets up in the news section – don’t forget you can catch all the latest at our live blog.
Sterling has been trading at $1.394 and €1.137 overnight.
The papers
The Daily Mail is unashamed of being a day late on the Soros story: “Fury over billionaire’s plot to sabotage Brexit”, it blasts, accompanied by a comment headline telling Soros to “butt out” with his “tainted money”. The Times has the Oxfam sex scandal, saying “Top staff paid Haiti survivors for sex”.
The Guardian leads with our scoop about a crackdown on companies using unpaid interns. The Telegraph says Jeremy Corbyn has told Michel Barnier that he is open to keeping Britain in a customs union with the EU – a memo to that effect is circulating in Europe. The Daily Express trumpets about delivering a readers’ petition asking Theresa May to slash foreign aid. The i has that story of the last of the Isis “Beatles” being captured. The FT says the Bank of England is foreshadowing interest rate rises to curb inflation. The Mirror tells Jeremy Hunt “You’re off your trolley” after the health secretary refused to apologise for people waiting 12 hours on gurneys in A&E. The Sun is angry that a father and son playing with a remote-controlled car had to leave a London park because police said they were breaking bylaws.
For more news: www.theguardian.com
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