Featured
From: Barnes
The new coronavirus has been declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization, as the outbreak continues to spread outside China. Hundreds of people in China have died from the virus, mostly in Hubei, with many thousands of cases nationally. This outbreak needs to be neutralized. China has said it will send charter plans to bring back Hubei province residents who are overseas "as soon as possible". A foreign ministry spokesman said this was because of the "practical difficulties" Chinese citizens have faced abroad. Hubei is where the virus emerged in a fish market in the city of  Wuhan. The WHO said there had been dozens of cases in 18 other countries, but only a small number of deaths. Most international cases are in people who had been to Wuhan in Hubei. However in a few cases - in the UK, Germany, Japan, Vietnam and the United States - patients were infected by people who had traveled to China. This is the main reason China has shut its borders down.
From: Barnes
Everyone should be able to pursue their dreams. If they want to be a footballer, they should be allowed to do so. Unfortunately, girls are only just beginning to be treated equally, some aren't even allowed to play on the same pitch as boys. Some club coaches split girls and boys into different teams. Why can't they play together? This year, since the Women's World Cup, lots of girls and women have been inspired to take up football. One of those girls is thirteen-year-old Olivia Hancock. Ever since the age of 7, Olivia has been campaigning for gender equality in football. In May, she was a guest speaker for UEFA before the Women's Champions League final where she spoke about her goal to make sure girls are treated the same as boys when they're playing football. Her story caught the eye of Millie Bright (English professional footballer) and the two decided to meet up to discuss the future of women's football. Olivia told Millie about her tough experiences in her favourite sport - football. Unfortunately, she also spoke about a time where she was punched by a boy when she was playing in a football match. Millie told her that she thinks boys need to be educated that both genders should both be allowed to play, and both be treated equally. "That's someone's career, someone's dream and it could be their job for a very long time," Millie said. "For me to say that I wouldn't want to play at Stamford Bridge every week would be a lie. That's something all clubs should be trying to enable women to do, playing at the big stadiums." When Millie asked Olivia what she'd like to see happen to encourage the women's game, Olivia said: "I think it has to start at primary schools. Set teams up there so they can start at an early age and work their way up in the game." The Football Association is halfway through a plan to make football the number one sport for girls in the UK. More than 12 million people played football in England last year. A quarter of those were female. That's almost 10% more than the previous year.
From: Barnes
England thrashed Montenegro to secure a place in the 2020 Euros. They won 7-0. While the team had something to be proud of, the fans don't. They booed an innocent Joe Gomez for getting into an argument, in training, with Raheem Stirling. They booed at poor Joe because Stirling was dropped from the squad after he started the argument. After the match,Raheem Stirling defended his team mate by saying, ' to all the @England fans, I wanted to leave things as it was but tonight I have to speak again: it was hard for me to see my teammate get booed for something that was my fault'. Stirling played on Sunday in England's 4-0 victory against Kosovo. Let's hope the England fans never do it again!
From: St Osmunds
On the 26th January 2020, 41 year old champion basketball player Kobe Bryant was killed in a helicopter crash. The Lakers legend was on his way to a basketball match when the helicopter crashed into a mountain near Calabasas in California and fell more than 20,000 feet per minute. The crash killed 9 people including the NBA star and his daughter Gianna who was only 13 years old and a great future basket player in the making. During the Oscars awards show on Sunday 10th February, Bryant was included in the Academy’s In Memoriam video montage, dedicated to those in Hollywood who passed away in the last year. The giant will be missed for years to come. By Elise and Maria