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16 February 2022

This England: Be a good sport

This column – which, though named after a line in Shakespeare’s “Richard II”, refers to the whole of Britain – has run in the NS since 1934.

By New Statesman

Manchester United want someone who is a dab hand with a duster, and also has a degree, to polish their trophies. Major parts of the role of curatorial assistant at the club’s museum will be “cleaning and redisplaying the permanent displays”, a job advert states.

The ideal person will be educated to “degree level with a postgraduate qualification in Museum Studies, or equivalent”. Liking football would also be an advantage.
Daily Mirror (Daragh Brady)

New kids on the block

A pair of fighting goats blocked off the entrance to a supermarket car park. A herd of Great Orme goats was seen at Asda in Llandudno, north Wales, with one pair locking horns at the traffic lights.

Michelle Evans, who saw them, said: “They were really going at it. The two goats fighting had their horns locked while the rest of the herd was just watching.

“People were beeping their horns because they couldn’t get in or out of Asda. In the end, people just drove around them. You don’t expect to see that when you go to pick up your shopping!”
BBC Wales (Neil Stone)

A mole walks into a shop…

A mole was rescued after straying into a Poundstretcher. A checkout worker screamed when she saw the “rat-sized” animal, which manager Judi Brewis, 64, put in a basket and carried 500 yards to woods at Stowmarket, Suffolk. “I don’t know if he was bargain hunting, but he certainly caused a stir,” she said.
Metro (Amanda Welles)

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This article appears in the 16 Feb 2022 issue of the New Statesman, The Edge of War