General news

• Theresa May aims to strengthen defence ties amid Polish political storm

  20-12-2017 23:43
  The Prime Minister is travelling to Warsaw on Thursday to discuss a new defence pact but she is flying into the middle of a row between Poland and the rest of the EU.The European Union has triggered a process that could see Poland lose its voting rights over EU concerns aboutchanges being made to its judicial system .Theresa May says she will raise the issue and will have to find a diplomatic line between the views of her EU negotiating partners and those of member-state Poland, with whom Mrs Ma
  
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• Damian Green Sacked After Sleaze Row - HuffPost Verdict

  20-12-2017 23:29
  K E Y   P O I N T S Damian Green forced to quit after breaching the ministerial code of conduct Cabinet Office inquiry found Green had lied about knowing of the existence of porn on his computer Probe found deputy prime minister had made ‘inaccurate and misleading’ statements Concludes: ‘Plausible’ evidence he had sexually harassed an activist Kate Maltby had accused Green of touching her knee and sending inappropriate texts Green sent Maltby a text message afte
  
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• Senior MP vows to push Government on fur imports ban after alarming probe

  20-12-2017 23:19
  A senior MP has vowed to put pressure on the Government to bring in a fur imports ban while calling for an inquiry into mislabelled fur.Neil Parish, the chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, told Sky News it was an issue the Government needed to look at quickly."I'm also going to talk to the Secretary of State Michael Gove for DEFRA, who is extremely keen on animal welfare and within the select committee of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which I chair.
  
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• Saudi Crown Prince to visit Britain next year - May's office

  20-12-2017 23:15
  Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will visit Britain next year, a statement from British Prime Minister Theresa May's office said on Wednesday."The Prime Minister looked forward to welcoming the Crown Prince to the UK in the New Year," a spokeswoman said following a call between May, the crown prince and King Salman bin Abdulaziz.
  
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• Damian Green: a close political ally of PM, but caught up in a scandal

  20-12-2017 23:03
  Damian Green has resigned as first secretary of state, after being found in breach of the ministerial code.Damian Green is one of Theresa May’s closest political allies and the man credited with putting her shattered team back together again after the Tories’ disastrous general election campaign.Green, who was work and pensions secretary, was elevated to first secretary of state and touted as the man May felt she could trust the most, after the departure of her close aides, Nick Timo
  
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• How 'faux fur' labels can lie

  20-12-2017 23:00
  A Sky News investigation has discovered more retailers than first thought are selling real fur despite labelling them as fake.
  
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• UK Parliament debates Libyan slave trade

  20-12-2017 22:57 via bbc.co.uk
  MPs call on the government to put pressure on Libya to end the slave trade.
  
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• Damian Green resigns as Deputy Prime Minister following behaviour investigation

  20-12-2017 22:47
  De facto Deputy Prime Minister Damian Green has resigned following allegations that pornography was found on his Commons computer.The Ashford MP was asked to step down as First Secretary of State for breaching the ministerial code.In a letter published on Wednesday night, Theresa May revealed a report cleared him of watching or downloading the porn.
  
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• 'Foiled terror plot': Police given more time to question men after raids

  20-12-2017 22:41
  Police have been given until Christmas Day to decide if they want to charge four men held as part of an operation to foil a suspected attack on 25 December.Following police raids on Tuesday morning, the men, aged 31, 22, 36 and 41, have been held for questioning.Detectives have been given till 4pm on Christmas Day to either charge, release or apply for a further extension to custody.
  
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• Damian Green: timeline of how a leak led to a downfall

  20-12-2017 22:26
  A series of leaked official documents from the Home Office are published in national newspapers, embarrassing Gordon Brown’s government.The Met police are asked to investigate, and then assistant commissioner Bob Quick takes charge of the inquiry.Junior Home Office official and former Tory council candidate Christopher Galley is arrested in connection with the leaked documents, which were obtained by the Conservative party.
  
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• Damian Green and the history of a pornography scandal

  20-12-2017 22:26
  A series of leaked official documents from the Home Office are published in national newspapers, embarrassing Gordon Brown’s government.The Met police are asked to investigate, and then assistant commissioner Bob Quick takes charge of the inquiry.Junior Home Office official and former Tory council candidate Christopher Galley is arrested in connection with the leaked documents, which were obtained by the Conservative party.
  
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• PM May's deputy Damian Green resigns

  20-12-2017 22:15
  Prime Minister Theresa May's most senior minister, Damian Green, has resigned at her request after an internal investigation found that he had made misleading comments about pornography found on computers in his parliamentary office.Green, an old friend, was brought in to stabilise her leadership and counter enemies within the Conservative Party who wantedher to quit.
  
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• European Commission warns on bitcoin risks

  20-12-2017 22:00
  European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said he was concerned about big fluctuations in the value of bitcoin, noting that the digital currency is not guaranteed by any country or issuer.There are clear risks for investors and consumers associated with price volatility, including the risk of complete loss of investment, operational and security failures, market manipulation and liability gaps," he told a news conference.
  
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• Damian Green sacked as first secretary of state after porn allegations

  20-12-2017 21:53
  Damian Green has been sacked by Theresa May as first secretary of state.Conservative MP Damian Green has been fired as first secretary of state and has admitted he made “misleading” statements about allegations that pornography was found on his Commons computer in 2008.Theresa May made clear in a letter to Green that she had asked him to resign.
  
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• Police charging deadline extended over suspected UK terrorist plot

  20-12-2017 21:28
  Police vans parked outside the Chesterfield fish and chip shop raided as part of an operation to foil a suspected terrorist attack.Police officers have been given until Christmas Day to decide whether to charge four men held as part of an operation to foil a suspected Christmas terrorist attack.Chip shop owner Andy Sami Star, 31, and three other men, aged 22, 36 and 41, are being questioned by police after raids in Derbyshire and South Yorkshire on Tuesday morning.
  
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• Labour calls for new laws to tackle Russian and far-right web propaganda

  20-12-2017 21:28
  Labour’s shadow digital minister, Liam Byrne, says the UK’s current strategy for dealing with electoral interference is ‘hopelessly out of date’.UK laws on electoral interference are hopelessly outdated amid a threat from Russia and far-right web propaganda, Labour is to argue, calling for the national security strategy to include a specific commitment to defend democracy.The party’s shadow digital minister Liam Byrne, during a Commons debate on the issue on Thursda
  
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• The Comeback Kid: How Michael Gove Is Saving The Tories

  20-12-2017 21:23
  Michael Gove has a mantra: “You always have less time than you think.”
  
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• Met Police 'undoubtedly made errors' in dropped rape case

  20-12-2017 21:14 via bbc.co.uk
  Met Commissioner Cressida Dick reassures the public after the collapse of two rape trials.
  
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• Maybot channels her inner nasty party then is reprogrammed at lunch | John Crace

  20-12-2017 20:37
  For her last prime minister’s questions of the year, Theresa May was determined to shoot from the hip.The government had gone out of its way to provide extra cardboard boxes in temporary refuges and had even laid on night buses for kiddies to snooze in.Theresa was equally uncompromising in her exchanges with Jeremy Corbyn.
  
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• May accused of 'callousness' over plight of homeless families

  20-12-2017 20:28
  Theresa May highlighted a decline in statutory homelessness, though rough sleeping has increased by 130% since 2010.Theresa May has been accused of failing to understand the plight of homeless families after she hit back at Labour MP Rosena Allin-Khan for highlighting the 2,500 children in her constituency who will “wake up homeless on Christmas Day”.Asked by Allin-Khan about homelessness and the rise in food bank use, the prime minister said families who qualified as homeless had th
  
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• Stop scaremongering over universal credit | Letters

  20-12-2017 20:26
  DWP secretary David Gauke leaving No 10 earlier this month. ‘We have support in place for those who need extra help,’ he writes.Universal credit is the greatest modernisation of the welfare system in a generation – and it is helping people improve their lives through work.Recently it was incorrectly reported on Twitter and then in the Guardian that a single mother would be without any financial support over Christmas while she moved on to universal credit (Behind the story that
  
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• Drowned boy Charlie Dunn was on child protection register, court hears

  20-12-2017 20:23
  A serious case review has been launched after the death of Charlie Dunn, who was found underwater in a lagoon at Bosworth Water Park, Leicestershire, in July 2016.Charlie's mother, Lynsey Dunn, was given an eight-month suspended jail term after admitting neglecting the youngster when he was found in a pedal car next to a busy road in 2015.Staffordshire County Council had noted "poor home conditions, a lack of food and poor hygiene" before Charlie was placed on a protection register in June 2015,
  
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• Theresa May suggests MPs' Brexit deal vote could come after ratification

  20-12-2017 20:17
  Theresa May has repeatedly dodged calls to guarantee MPs a binding vote on the final Brexit deal before it is formally ratified.Instead she said MPs would have "had their say" on the agreement by voting through the withdrawal agreement Bill.It follows a group of Tory rebels helping pass an amendment to the Brexit Bill giving Parliament the power to veto any deal reached with the EU.
  
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• 'Virtual cameras': MPs slam May over NI border

  20-12-2017 20:05
  Theresa May refused to rule out cameras on the Irish border while giving evidence to a committee of MPs.
  
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• Police made 'appalling' errors in using internet data to target suspects

  20-12-2017 19:59
  Digital devices belonging to innocent people were forensically examined by police, Sir Stanley Burton said.Police have made serious errors getting search warrants for suspected sex offenders, leading to the targeting of innocent people and children being wrongly separated from their parents, an official report has revealed.The errors – highlighted by the interception of communications commissioner, Sir Stanley Burnton, in his annual report to the prime minister – had “appalling
  
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• Laura Kuenssberg Tory Conference Speaker Story Sees The Canary Make Front Page Correction

  20-12-2017 19:41
  The Canary has made a front page correction to a story it wrote falsely claiming that BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg was a speaker at the Tory Conference in September.
  
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• Russia, China, IS and dissident Republicans 'major intelligence challenges' for UK

  20-12-2017 19:23
  The UK's Intelligence and Security Committee has released its delayed Annual Report which assess the work of the UK's intelligence agencies and the threat facing the UK following a year of terrorist attacks across Europe.The report said "the current scale of threat facing the UK and its interests from Islamist terror groups is unprecedented"."This threat is predominantly driven by the activities of Daesh (ISIL) in Syria and Iraq, which seeks to maintain the group's image and narrative of success
  
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• Hedge funds fail to stop 'billion dollar brain' City analyst's deportation

  20-12-2017 19:21
  A former City trader, Xu was convicted of theft of confidential intellectual property in 2015.Hedge fund managers have failed to prevent the deportation of a convicted City analyst from China - nicknamed the billion dollar brain - who, it is alleged, will exploit stolen computer codes if sent overseas.The highly unusual application by two firms, Corbiere and Trenchant Ltd, to keep Ke Xu in Britain was turned down by the high court on Wednesday.
  
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• Eating disorder care in Northern Ireland under review

  20-12-2017 19:00 via bbc.co.uk
  Patients battling eating disorders in Northern Ireland often have to leave the country for treatment.
  
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• Lord Buckethead released a music video for Christmas and it’s a must-watch

  20-12-2017 18:37
  The space lord who lit up this year’s election is back with a banger.
  
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• David Lammy reports email warning he could face 'same fate as Jo Cox'

  20-12-2017 18:27
  David Lammy told his Twitter followers the message would not put him off fighting for what he believed in.David Lammy has insisted he will not be intimidated after he received an email accusing him of striving for black supremacy in the UK and warning him he could suffer the same fate as murdered MP Jo Cox.A spokesman for Lammy, the Labour MP for Tottenham, who shared an image of the email in a tweet, said the matter had been reported to police.
  
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• Shell, Eni face corruption charges in corporate bribery case

  20-12-2017 18:25
  MILAN (AP) — Shell and Eni as well as former and current executives will face trial over a $1.1 billion bribery scandal to take control of one of Africa's most lucrative oil blocks in Nigeria, a judge in Milan ruled Wednesday.
  
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• BoE's Carney thanked for ending LSE's 'Kafka-esque' CEO spat

  20-12-2017 18:24
  Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said he was thanked by former London Stock ExchangeChief Executive Xavier Rolet for helping to end a "Kafka-esque" situation around his departure from the exchange.Rolet stepped down in November, a year earlier than planned,and an attempt on Tuesday by hedge fund shareholder TCI to fire LSE Chairman Donald Brydon over his handling of the departure was thrown out in a shareholder vote.Carney told parliament's Treasury Select Committee on Wednesday that he and
  
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• Meghan: Harry 'got on one knee'

  20-12-2017 18:05
  Meghan Markle has been talking about how Prince Harry proposed to her.
  
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• Audi recalls 330,000 cars in Germany on possible electrical problem

  20-12-2017 18:03
  MUNICH (Reuters) - German premium carmaker Audisaid on Wednesday it was recalling 330,000 cars in Germany due to possible problems with electrical connections for the auxiliary heater that could cause fires.
  
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• May says she would delay Brexit for short time in 'exceptional circumstances' - Politics live

  20-12-2017 17:58 via theguardian.com
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn at the last PMQs of 2017 and May giving evidence to the Commons liaison committeeMichel Barnier’s press conference - SummaryPMQs - Snap verdictPMQs - Verdict from the Twitter commentariat 4.58pm GMTWollaston ends by saying the committee is unhappy that the national security adviser, Mark Sedwill, is refusing to give evidence to the defence committee.May says the national secur
  
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• Police release CCTV of murder suspect

  20-12-2017 17:55
  Detectives investigating the murders of father and daughter Noel and Marie Brown release CCTV of a suspect.
  
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• Judges to revisit case of transgender Jewish woman refused right to see her children

  20-12-2017 17:55 via theguardian.com
  High court judge ‘gave up too easily’ in ruling that woman who left ultra-Orthodox Haredi community in Manchester should not see her five children, appeal court saysAn ultra-Orthodox Jew who left her community to start a new life as a woman has won the right to have her case reviewed in the high court after an earlier ruling that she should have no direct contact with her five children.The court of appeal has decided to refer back the case of the woman, known in court as J, who has n
  
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• Meghan Markle joins Prince Harry at Buckingham Palace for festive lunch with Queen

  20-12-2017 17:54
  The Queen has hosted Prince Harry and his fiance Meghan Markle at Buckingham Palace for the Royal Family's annual Christmas lunch.The event traditionally takes place each year before the Queen leaves for her private Sandringham estate to spend the rest of the holidays.The Suits actress, 36, has already been confirmed as part of the Royal party at Sandringham for Christmas.
  
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• Victim in Deptford double murder had limbs removed

  20-12-2017 17:51
  CCTV images have been released of a suspect wanted over the brutal murders of a woman and her father whose body was dismembered.Noel Brown, 69, and his daughter Marie, 41, were found dead at his home in New Butt Lane, Deptford, south London on 4 December.Scotland Yard revealed Mr Brown's limbs were removed from his flat but officers have found no trace of the missing body parts.
  
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• Florida judge halts deportation of 92 Somalis shackled on plane for 48 hours

  20-12-2017 17:45 via theguardian.com
  Judge’s order came after lawyers filed class action lawsuit against US government that alleged the Somalian immigrants were held in ‘inhumane conditions’A Florida judge has halted the deportation of 92 Somali men and women who alleged US immigration authorities physically abused them when they were shackled on an airplane for nearly 48 hours during a failed attempt to return the group to Somalia.US federal district judge Darrin Gayles halted their deportation hours after lawyer
  
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• UK train drivers' union calls strikes on six lines next month

  20-12-2017 17:44
  Rail passengers in several areas of England face more disruption next month when the RMT drivers' union takes strike action on six lines in a long-running dispute over the role of guards.RMT members on Northern, Merseyrail, Greater Anglia, South Western Railways and the Isle of Wight Island Line have been instructed not to work on Jan. 8, 10 and 12.The RMT says DOO is dangerous and based on financial motivations whereas train companies say it is the practice on other lines and has been deemed sa
  
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• Shell, Eni to stand trial in Nigeria bribery case

  20-12-2017 17:44
  Royal Dutch Shelland Enihave been ordered to stand trial over alleged corruption in Nigeria with the Italian major's chief executive among those indicted.A Milan judge ruled on Wednesday the two companies along with a series of present and past executives would have to face a trial which legal sources said is due to start on March 5.The case involves the 2011 purchase by Eni and Shell of Nigeria's OPL-245 offshore oilfield - one of Africa's most valuable oil blocks - for about $1.3 billion (&pou
  
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• Charlie Dunn's stepfather jailed after water park death

  20-12-2017 17:33 via theguardian.com
  Paul Smith, 36, sentenced to more than seven years over drowning of five-year-old and threatening to bomb home of witnessThe stepfather of a small child who drowned at a water park has been jailed for more than seven years for offences including manslaughter by gross negligence and threatening to bomb the home of a witness.Paul Smith, 36, was sentenced on Wednesday, having changed his plea on the former charge to guilty during his trial at Birmingham crown court. Continue reading...
  
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• Charlie Dunn's stepfather jailed after water park death

  20-12-2017 17:33
  A photo tribute to Charlie Dunn, who died after being pulled from a lagoon at a water park in Leicestershire last year.The stepfather of a small child who drowned at a water park has been jailed for more than seven years for offences including manslaughter by gross negligence and threatening to bomb the home of a witness.Paul Smith, 36, was sentenced on Wednesday, having changed his plea on the former charge to guilty during his trial at Birmingham crown court.
  
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• UK Regions That Voted To Leave EU Are More Vulnerable To Effects Of Brexit, University Of Birmingham’s Research Shows

  20-12-2017 17:29
  The UK regions that voted to leave the European Union are more vulnerable to the economic impact of Brexit than those which voted Remain, research suggests.
  
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• Carney warns of 'consequences' to EU banks if Brexit talks sour

  20-12-2017 17:26
  Bank of England governor Mark Carney has warned that dozens of European banks face costly consequences if the UK and EU fail to achieve hoped-for cooperation over Brexit.The Bank is proposing to allow firms to continue operating as normal in London, the world's leading financial centre, after Britain leaves the EU - but said this could be jeopardised if talks turn sour.Mr Carney signalled to MPs that it could revisit the proposals as soon as next spring - if there is a failure to agree a Brexit
  
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• Last-minute Christmas shopping guide: is there still time to save the day?

  20-12-2017 17:21 via theguardian.com
  Guide to online deadlines for guaranteed deliveries – and a word of warning for those hitting the high street to buy their presents on Christmas EveHave you done your Christmas shopping yet? There is still plenty of time to hit the high street but deadlines are rapidly approaching for online purchases. Here is a roundup of retailers’ last order dates for guaranteed delivery before Christmas and, for those who really like to leave things to the last minute, a guide to opening hours on
  
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• Russian censors wanted to remove gay character from Mrs Brown's Boys

  20-12-2017 17:14 via theguardian.com
  Creator of the hugely popular sitcom says he turned down a ‘nice licensing fee’ that would have meant writing out character of RoryThe creator of the sitcom Mrs Brown’s Boys has rejected a lucrative licensing deal in Russia after being told he would have to remove a gay character from the storyline. Brendan O’Carroll said other eastern European countries had raised concerns about an openly gay character, but the Russian deal would have involved removing the role altogethe
  
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• Why it's difficult to attract younger people into the social care sector

  20-12-2017 17:03 via theguardian.com
  Staff shortages are set to cause a crisis. That’s why organisations are reaching out to young people to show how rewarding a career in care can beWearing ear defenders that muffle sound, goggles that blur eyesight and thick suede gloves to restrict hand movement, students taking part in a workshop run by the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital experience what life is like for adults who need the support of care workers. Classmates then help each other put on hospital gowns, drink from a beaker
  
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