Ford thanks his rugby league roots in part for that ability. Growing up in a village outside Oldham, he had offers from Wigan, Warrington and Bradford to join their youth set-ups.

In the 13-man code, defences are more set, but there are more passages of play. In those teenage league games, there was a high premium on Ford spotting mismatches and plenty of practice for him to do so.

Years of repetition sharpens up the accuracy and streamlines the process.

At Test level there are only a couple of seconds amid the chaos for each decision to be made.

England head coach Steve Borthwick has taken a little longer to settle on Ford as his number one number 10.

Ford kicked all 27 points in England’s opening-game win over Argentina at the 2023 World Cup, but was a bit-part bench option by the time the knockout stages came round.

With Owen Farrell opting out of international duty at the following Six Nations, Ford started all five matches at 10.

Injury then gave Marcus Smith the chance to supplant Ford in the pecking order on the 2024 tour of New Zealand, before Fin Smith emerged in last year’s Six Nations.

But eight starts in the past nine Tests – Ford was rested for the autumn win over Fiji – represents his longest run as England’s starting fly-half in six years.

He is relishing the stage it has returned him to.

“When you’re in the Six Nations, you feel like you’re playing in a special tournament,” he said.

“Any opportunity you can get going to Murrayfield, Cardiff, Dublin – it is such a showpiece event.

“As a player, what an amazing thing to be a part of – and go and win and have that memory.

“That is why we work so hard in the week to try and do that.”

In the week, in the moment, in years past and in the Pilates studio. Ford is drawing strength from them all.

RIO RICO, Ariz. (AP) — A person was detained for questioning Tuesday in the kidnapping of Nancy Guthrie, hours after the FBI released surveillance videos of a masked person wearing a handgun holster outside Guthrie’s front door the night she vanished from her Arizona home.

Deputies detained the person during a traffic stop south of Tucson, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department. It did not immediately provide details about the person or the location. The FBI referred questions to the sheriff’s office.

A Phoenix, Arizona, television station, KNXV-TV, interviewed a delivery man who said he had been detained by police on suspicions of kidnapping Guthrie. He said he was innocent and that police released him after several hours. Local and federal authorities have not confirmed that the person who they had detained was released.

The department and the FBI were conducting a court-authorized search Tuesday night at a location in Rio Rico, about an hour’s drive south of Tucson, the department said in a statement. It was expected to take several hours.

Guthrie disappeared on Feb. 1 and since then the case has gripped the nation. Until Tuesday, it seemed authorities were making little headway in determining what happened to the 84-year-old mother of “Today” show host Savannah Guthrie or finding who was responsible.

Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings have released a series of video statements pleading for the return of their mother and indicating a willingness to pay a ransom. Authorities have described Nancy Guthrie as mentally sound but with limited mobility. She takes several medications and there was concern from the start that she could die without them, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos has said repeatedly.

The community of Rio Rico — population 20,000 — is roughly an hour’s drive from Guthrie’s home and about 15 miles (24 kilometers) north of the U.S.-Mexico border.

The videos released earlier Tuesday show a person wearing a ski mask and a backpack. At one point, they tilt their head down and away from a doorbell camera while approaching Guthrie’s front door. The footage also shows the person holding a flashlight in their mouth and trying to cover the camera with a gloved hand and part of a plant ripped from the yard.

The videos — less than a combined minute in length — gave investigators and the public their first glimpse of who was outside Guthrie’s home in the foothills outside Tucson. But the images did not show what happened to her or help determine whether she is still alive.

FBI Director Kash Patel said the “armed individual” appeared to “have tampered with the camera.” It was not entirely clear whether there was a gun in the holster.

The videos were pulled from data on “back-end systems” after investigators spent days trying to find lost, corrupted or inaccessible images, Patel said.

“This will get the phone ringing for lots of potential leads,” said former FBI agent Katherine Schweit. “Even when you have a person who appears to be completely covered, they’re really not. You can see their girth, the shape of their face, potentially their eyes or mouth.”

Tuesday afternoon, authorities were back near Guthrie’s neighborhood, using vehicles to block her driveway. A few miles away, law enforcement was going door-to-door in the area where daughter Annie Guthrie lives, talking with neighbors as well as walking through a drainage area and examining the inside of a culvert with a flashlight.

Investigators have said for more than a week that they believe Nancy Guthrie was taken against her will. She was last seen at home Jan. 31 and reported missing the next day. DNA tests showed blood on her porch was hers, authorities said.

Authorities initially could not pull images from camera

Until now, authorities have released few details, leaving it unclear if ransom notes demanding money with deadlines already passed were authentic, and whether the Guthrie family has had any contact with whoever took Guthrie.

Savannah Guthrie posted the new surveillance images on social media Tuesday, saying the family believes their mother is still alive and offering phone numbers for the FBI and county sheriff. Within minutes, the post had thousands of comments.

Investigators had hoped cameras would turn up evidence right away about how Nancy Guthrie disappeared from her home in an secluded neighborhood.

But the doorbell camera was disconnected early on Feb. 1. While software recorded movement at the home minutes later, Guthrie did not have an active subscription, so Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos had initially said none of the footage could be recovered. Officials continued working to get the footage.

Savannah Guthrie expressed desperation a day ago

Heartbreaking messages by Savannah Guthrie and her family shifted from hopeful to bleak as they made pleas for whoever took Nancy Guthrie. In a video just ahead of a purported ransom deadline Monday, Savannah Guthrie appeared alone and spoke directly to the public.

“We are at an hour of desperation,” she said. “We need your help.”

Much of the nation is closely following the case involving the longtime anchor of NBC’s morning show.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump watched the new surveillance footage and was in “pure disgust,” encouraging anyone with information to call the FBI.

The FBI this week began posting digital billboards about the case in major cities from Texas to California.

Connor Hagan, a spokesperson for the FBI, said Monday that the agency was not aware of ongoing communication between Guthrie’s family and any suspected kidnappers. Authorities also had not identified any suspects, he said.

Videos from Guthrie siblings appealed directly to whoever took their mom

Three days after the search began, Savannah Guthrie and her two siblings sent their first public appeal to whoever took their mother, saying, “We want to hear from you, and we are ready to listen.”

In the recorded video, Guthrie said her family was aware of media reports about a ransom letter, but they first wanted proof their mother was alive.

“Please reach out to us,” they said.

The next day, Savannah Guthrie’s brother again made a plea, saying, “Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you. We haven’t heard anything directly.”

Then over the past weekend, the family posted another video — one that was more cryptic and generated even more speculation about Nancy Guthrie’s fate.

“We received your message, and we understand. We beg you now to return our mother to us so that we can celebrate with her,” said Savannah Guthrie, flanked by her siblings. “This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”

___

Golden reported from Seattle and Seewer from Toledo, Ohio. Associated Press reporters Darlene Superville in Washington, Ed White in Detroit, and Mike Balsamo, Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed to this report.

A former police chief has told the FBI the US President once said of paedophile Epstein “thank goodness you’re stopping him, everyone has known he’s been doing this”

Donald Trump is named “more than a million times” in the unredacted Jeffrey Epstein files, US lawmakers have claimed.

The allegation came as it emerged a Florida police chief once told the FBI that the US leader once said to him, “thank goodness you’re stopping him, everyone has known he’s been doing this”. Senior Democrat Jamie Raskin spoke about Trump after reviewing the unreacted files, which he said cast doubt on the President’s longstanding claim that he threw the disgraced financier out of Mar-a-Lago.

The explosive claims came following the discovery of a 2019 FBI interview with former Palm Beach police chief Michael Reiter, who led the original 2005 investigation into Epstein. In a four-page summary, agents recorded the top cop’s account of a call he said he received from Trump in July 2006, as detectives probed allegations that Epstein recruited girls as young as 14 for sexualised “massages”.

According to the FBI document, “DONALD TRUMP told [Reiter] that he threw EPSTEIN out of his club. TRUMP called the [Palm Beach Police Department] to tell him ‘thank goodness you’re stopping him, everyone has known he’s been doing this.”

The report continues: “TRUMP told him people in New York knew EPSTEIN was disgusting. TRUMP said MAXWELL was EPSTEIN’s operative, ‘she is evil and to focus on her,’” before adding: “TRUMP told [Reiter] that he was around EPSTEIN once when teenagers were present and TRUMP ‘got the hell out of there.’ TRUMP was one of the very first people to call when people found out that they were investigating EPSTEIN.”

The alleged call has not previously been made public. Trump has repeatedly insisted that he cut ties with Epstein more than 20 years ago and expelled him from Mar-a-Lago after discovering he was poaching spa staff.

Yet the FBI account appears to contradict his claim.

After reviewing the unredacted Epstein files, Raskin said: “The idea that we could get through a meaningful fraction of them is just ridiculous. I mean, there’s tons of redacted stuff.… And [Trump’s] name, I think I put his name, and it appears more than a million times. So it’s all over the place.

“To me, this whole rollout of saying that members can come from nine to five to sit at those four computers is just part of the cover-up,” Raskin continued. He then claimed that an unredacted email he examined contradicts Trump’s account of having banished Epstein from his Florida club.

“Epstein’s lawyers synopsised and quoted Trump as saying that Jeffrey Epstein was not a member of his club at Mar-a-Lago – but he was a guest at Mar-a-Lago, and he had never been asked to leave,” Raskin said.

A Department of Justice official said the agency was “not aware of any corroborating evidence that the President contacted law enforcement 20 years ago.”

At the White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt declined to confirm whether the call described in the FBI report took place.

Pressed by reporters, she said: “Look [that] phone call that may or may not have happened in 2006. I don’t know the answer to that question. What I’m telling you is that what President Trump has always said is that he kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his Mar-a-Lago club because Jeffrey Epstein was a creep. And that remains true.”

Reiter, who clashed publicly with local prosecutors in 2006 over their handling of the case, later apologised to victims and coordinated with federal authorities in a separate investigation that resulted in Epstein’s controversial 2008 non-prosecution agreement.

He has not responded to requests for comment on his FBI interview. Epstein died by suicide in custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.

Neighbours on How Clough Drive in Walkden have won today, February 11, on the People’s Postcode Lottery.

Ticket holders on the street, which is covered by the M28 3FS postcode, are entitled to £1,000 each as part of the lottery’s daily prize.

They have won alongside 19 other postcodes across the country.

Subscriptions to the postcode lottery support a range of charities across the UK. 

The People’s Postcode Lottery manages lotteries for 20 charities, with each one having one draw a month.

The lottery supports “a wide range of charities and good causes across Britain and around the world”.

To date, they’ve provided more than £1.1 billion in funding, which is helping thousands of organisations and projects.

An urgent recall has been issued for the Hello Sunday The One For Your Eyes Mineral Eye Cream SPF50 after recent quality testing revealed it has a lower SPF level than is listed on the label.

Hello Sunday said they were “voluntarily” recalling the eye cream, which had been sold at Boots and TK Maxx, after testing reported lower SPF levels than declared.

As a result, the product may not provide adequate protection and could increase the risk of sun-related skin damage.

(Image: Kennedy News & Media)

Boots and Tk Maxx are urging anyone who bought the eye cream, to “stop using it immediately” and return it for a full refund.

The recall affects all batch numbers and expiring dates.

A Tk Maxx spokesman said: “Recent quality testing of Hello Sunday – The One for Your Eyes – Eye Cream SPF 50 has shown a significant discrepancy in its labelled sun protection.

“Initial tests indicated compliance with SPF 50, but later analyses reported lower SPF levels than declared.

“As a result, the product may not provide adequate protection and may increase the risk of sun-related skin damage.

“If you’ve purchased this product, please stop using it immediately and return to any TK Maxx store.”

A Boots spokesman added: “Recent test results by the brand showed the product failed to meet the level of SPF stated on the product label.

“As such, the product is being immediately recalled.

“Customers are asked to stop using the product immediately and to return the product to the point of sale for a full refund.

“If customers purchased the product through an authorised retail partner, they should contact them directly for a refund.

“If you purchased the product from Boots, please return to your local store for a refund.”

Hello Sunday said they had not received reports of any incidents related to the issue, but were still “proactively and voluntarily recalling” the product.

A social media post from U.S Vice President JD Vance‘s team, referring to the early 20th-century killings of Armenians by the Ottoman Empire as ‘Armenian genocide,’ was swiftly deleted after publication.

The message had been shared following Mr Vance’s visit to the Armenian Genocide Memorial honouring the victims.

The term’s use is highly sensitive, as the US government has historically refrained from officially designating the events as genocide.

While the Biden administration previously used the term, the White House later attributed this instance to a staff mistake.

Here are some questions and answers about what that means, what Vance himself did and didn’t say, and why it matters.

What did Vance go see in Armenia?

JD Vance visited the Armenian Genocide Memorial, Armenia’s national monument, honouring citizens who died under the Ottoman Empire’s brutal control during World War I.

An initial post on Mr Vance’s official X account, stating he was visiting “to honor the victims of the Armenian genocide”, was replaced.

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A second post then showed his guest book entry and a clip of the vice president and Usha Vance laying flowers at the memorial.

Vance, the first U.S. vice president to visit Armenia, was in the country as part of the Trump administration’s follow-up to a U.S.-brokered deal aimed at ending a decades-long conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan, where Vance traveled later Tuesday.

Why does the word choice matter?

“Genocide” is a fraught and legally distinct term that national governments, international bodies and media organizations use carefully.

The United Nations in 1948 defined genocide “to mean certain acts, enumerated in Article II, committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such,” according to the U.S. State Department’s long-held understanding.

It is not questioned that many thousands of Armenian citizens, most of them Christians, died at the direction of the Committee of Union and Progress that led the Muslim government in Constantinople, now the Turkish capital of Istanbul.

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The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum estimates that “at least 664,000 and possibly as many as 1.2 million” died.

But the U.S. government has historically not recognized what happened as a “genocide” out of fear of alienating Turkey, a key U.S. ally in the region. In 2021, then-President Joe Biden formally recognized that the systematic killings and deportations of hundreds of thousands of Armenians by Ottoman Empire forces were a part of a “genocide.”

Turkey reacted with fury at the time. The foreign minister said his country “will not be given lessons on our history from anyone.”

People of Armenian descent recall the victims with memorials and an annual day of remembrance observed around the world, including in the U.S.

What did Vance himself say?

Vance was asked specifically on Tuesday about his visit to the memorial and whether he was “recognizing” genocide.

He avoided using the word and said he went to “pay my respects” at the invitation of his host, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and his government.

“They said this is a very important site for us, and obviously I’m the first (U.S.) vice president to ever visit Armenia,” Vance said. “They asked us to visit the site. Obviously, it’s a very terrible thing that happened a little over a hundred years ago and something that’s very, very important to them culturally.”

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Vance added that it was “a sign of respect, both for the victims but also for the Armenian government that’s been a very important partner for us in the region.”

What did the White House say?

The White House blamed the original post on a staff member. It’s the second time in less than a week that the West Wing has blamed an unnamed aide for a controversy over a social media post. Last Friday, it was a racist video that Trump had shared on his Truth Social account that depicted former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama as jungle primates.

The White House defended that post initially before deleting it after a cascade of criticism.

What happens next?

It’s not yet clear whether there will be any diplomatic consequences. Vance, for his part, seemed determined to keep the focus on the original mission of his trip.

“I think the president struck a great peace deal. I think the administration is really making it stick,” Vance said.

Still, there is the political question of whether Armenian Americans react, with the rhetorical boomerang offering one more reminder of how reluctant the U.S. has been to use the word “genocide” to describe what Armenians remember that way.