General news

• Irish minister hopeful of NI deal

  19-12-2014 23:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Irish Foreign Minister Charlie Flanagan says he is hopeful that there will be a deal in Northern Ireland's cross-party talks early next week.
  
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• British police arrest ex-RBS trader in currency probe-FT

  19-12-2014 23:46
  (Reuters) - A former trader from Royal Bank of Scotland was arrested east of London on Friday in connection with a criminal investigation into allegations that bank traders tried to manipulate currency markets, according a report in the Financial Times.
  
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• Carter gets all-clear from cancer

  19-12-2014 23:37 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Two-time World Championship finalist Ali Carter is given the all-clear after he was diagnosed with lung cancer in May.
  
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• Ali Carter gets all-clear from lung cancer

  19-12-2014 23:30
  
  • Carter: ‘Two beautiful words I’ve been waiting for’
  • Carter aiming to get snooker career back on trackAli Carter has been given the all-clear seven months after he was diagnosed with lung cancer.The 35-year-old, twice a World Championship runner-up, recovered from testicular cancer last year and is aiming to resume his career. Continue reading...
  
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• Manchester United’s Michael Carrick is lauded by Louis van Gaal

  19-12-2014 23:30
  
  The versatile 33-year-old’s return from injury and United’s six-game winning run appear to be no coincidence Continue reading...
  
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• Liverpool’s Brendan Rodgers says new system will restore side’s potency

  19-12-2014 23:30
  
  • Rodgers to stick with 3-4-3 formation against Arsenal
  • Manager says Sánchez would have softened Suárez blow
  • Wenger: Arsenal’s 5-1 loss to Liverpool is ‘scar in your heart’
  Brendan Rodgers believes his new 3-4-3 formation will restore Liverpool’s potency but would have received more plaudits had it been devised by a foreign coach.Liverpool brought their manager some much-needed respite with Wednesday’s Capital One Cup quarter-final win at Bournemouth when, with Rahee
  
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• Liverpool vs Arsenal: Brendan Rodgers feels pain of failing to get Alexis Sanchez in for Luis Suarez

  19-12-2014 23:30
  
  Brendan Rodgers has revealed that he was “bitterly disappointed” to miss out on signing Alexis Sanchez, who will face his Liverpool side as an Arsenal player.
  
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• Howard Webb: 'I’d be crazy to say that I don’t miss big games'

  19-12-2014 23:30
  
  Only three times since his last game at the summer’s World Cup finals has Howard Webb wrapped the cord of his whistle around his wrist and walked into the centre circle to referee a football match.
  
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• Hunt For Teen Freed From Prison By Mistake

  19-12-2014 23:26
  
  A teenager being held on suspicion of attempted murder has been wrongly released from a prison in London.
  
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• Sale Sharks 18-11 Exeter Chiefs

  19-12-2014 23:23 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Sale move up to fourth in the Premiership after ending Exeter Chiefs' eight-match winning run with a tense victory.
  
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• Darren Pratley gives Bolton rare away win and extends Millwall’s poor run

  19-12-2014 23:07
  
  Darren Pratley fired Bolton to a rare away win as Neil Lennon’s side won 1-0 at Millwall in the Championship. The midfielder outshone the returning Eidur Gudjohnsen as the visitors, revitalised since Lennon took over, collected only their second victory on the road this season, making it seven matches unbeaten and climbing to 14th.Gudjohnsen was given his first start since rejoining the club he left 14 years ago for Chelsea but the 36-year-old striker had left the field by the time Pratley cra
  
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• Women rule at President Obama's final press conference of 2014

  19-12-2014 23:06
  
  All eight questions he answers are from female print and radio journalists
  Social media all a-Twitter about president’s preferential treatment
  Obama on Sony pulling The Interview: ‘They made a mistake’Obama: Sony should have spoken to me before pulling film - live blogWomen, and only women, asked the questions at Barack Obama’s year-end press conference on Friday.
  At the start of the unusually packed press conference, the US president joked that he would consult a “naughty and nice
  
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• Birds sensed devastating US tornado and fled one day ahead

  19-12-2014 23:05
  
  Birds nesting on the path of an incoming tornado, which devastated parts of the US, “evacuated” their home one day before, scientists say.
  
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• Man's driving ban for OAP death

  19-12-2014 22:56 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A car wash worker who knocked over and killed a great-grandfather avoids an immediate jail sentence.
  
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• Wickerman founder Jamie Gilroy dead

  19-12-2014 22:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The co-founder of the Wickerman Festival has died in hospital after an incident on his farm understood to involve a firearm.
  
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• Woman arrested for murder of eight children after stabbing in Cairns

  19-12-2014 22:52
  
  Police say 37-year-old, who was mother to seven of the children, is being treated for self-inflicted wounds in hospitalChildren found dead in home – as it happenedPolice discovered ‘distressing scene’
  A 37-year-old Cairns woman has been arrested for the murder of eight children, seven of them her own.Police said the woman, who is also suspected of killing her niece, was “awake, lucid and able to speak”. Continue reading...
  
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• Obama expresses scepticism over Keystone pipeline

  19-12-2014 22:49
  
  President says pipeline’s extension from Canada to Nebraska would do little to reduce American energy prices, and generate only a limited number of US jobs
  Women journalists shut out men at Obama’s year-end press conferenceUS President Barack Obama has delivered his most sceptical remarks yet on the future of the Keystone oil pipeline, claiming its controversial extension from Canada to Nebraska would do little to reduce American energy prices and generate only a limited number of US jobs, b
  
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• Obama on Sony pulling The Interview: 'They made a mistake'

  19-12-2014 22:43
  
  FBI pins blame for massive hack of Sony Pictures on North Korea
  Obama: ‘We cannot have a dictator imposing censorship in the US’Obama speaks on North Korean hack of Sony Pictures – liveObama: Sony ‘made a mistake’ – videoSony “made a mistake” by axing the controversial comedy The Interview, which depicts the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, President Obama said Friday.Speaking after the FBI pinned the blame on North Korea for a massive hack of Sony Pictures aimed
  
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• Cairns deaths: Woman arrested on suspicion of murder after eight children were 'stabbed to death' in Australian home

  19-12-2014 22:42
  A woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the deaths of eight children in an Australian home.
  
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• Sony CEO insists 'we made no mistake' after US accuses North Korea of hack – as it happened

  19-12-2014 22:37
  
  Obama: ‘we will respond proportionally’FBI concludes North Korea mounted hack on SonyPresident says Sony ‘made a mistake’ by scrapping filmNorth Korean diplomat denies connectionUS officials hint hack is linked to North Korea Continue reading...
  
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• US claims Isis demoralised by heavy losses from air strikes

  19-12-2014 22:26
  
  Air strikes since mid-November said to have killed senior and mid-level leaders as well as about 1,000 fightersUS officials claim Islamic State extremists have lost their momentum in fighting in Iraq and Syria and have been demoralised by heavy casualties inflicted by American air strikes.The officials say air strikes since mid-November have killed senior and mid-level leaders as well as about 1,000 fighters, particularly around the fiercely contested Kurdish town of Kobani on the Syrian-Turkish
  
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• Cubans look to future with optimism in wake of historic breakthrough

  19-12-2014 22:10
  
  As Obama cautions that change won’t come immediately, chatter grows in Cuba about what’s next as the two nations work toward rebuilding relationsTell us: are you hopeful about restored relations between the US and Cuba?
  One of Hermania’s Arufat’s fondest memories of her childhood in pre-revolutionary Cuba is of waiting at the ferry port for her mother to arrive back from the United States, bearing – as she always did – a handful of gifts.More than half a century on, the 70-year old r
  
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• Controlled Explosion After Device Found

  19-12-2014 22:00
  
  A controlled explosion has been carried out on a device found under a serving soldier's car in Northern Ireland.
  
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• Tim Sherwood column: Boxing Day reminds me of the dreadful end to my playing career

  19-12-2014 22:00
  
  On Boxing Day it will be 11 years since I broke my leg playing for Portsmouth against Tottenham, the injury that effectively signalled the end of my career as a professional footballer, and when I look back on that occasion I still wonder at the amateurish way I was treated.
  
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• Northern Ireland police say device under army officer’s car was not bomb

  19-12-2014 21:59
  
  Disposal experts carry out controlled explosion of apparent booby trap near three schools in PortadownA suspect device found under the car of a female army officer was not a viable bomb, the police in Northern Ireland confirmed on Friday night.Supt Simon Walls of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said: “While police are keeping an open mind the item is not believed to be suspicious. Continue reading...
  
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• Alex Salmond angers Tories over SNP voting hints

  19-12-2014 21:57
  
  Alex Salmond faced a Tory backlash after he hinted that Scottish National Party (SNP) MPs could abandon their usual practice of abstaining  on English-only laws in return for sustaining a minority Labour government.
  
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• Suspicious Device Triggers N Ireland Alert

  19-12-2014 21:53
  
  A controlled explosion has been carried out on a device found under a serving soldier's car in Northern Ireland.
  
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• Ferguson prosecutor says witnesses in Darren Wilson case lied under oath

  19-12-2014 21:43
  
  St Louis county prosecutor Robert McCulloch says he believes some witnesses were not telling the truth when presenting evidence in the grand jury case of officer Darren WilsonDarren Wilson not indicted: read the full grand jury reportSome witnesses who appeared before the grand jury investigating the death of 18-year-old Michael Brown were “clearly not telling the truth,” according to the St Louis county prosecutor, Robert McCulloch.
  In his first public interview since announcing the grand
  
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• Under-car object was not explosive

  19-12-2014 21:37 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Police say an object found under a serving soldier's car was not explosive, after a controlled explosion was carried out at the scene.
  
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• The Bach Choir proves itself Britain's brainiest cultural institution

  19-12-2014 21:21
  
  The Bach Choir, one of the world’s leading choruses, has sung in prestigious venues around the UK, collaborated with the Rolling Stones, and worked on blockbuster films including Ridley Scott’s Prometheus.
  
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• Christmas dinner: You think you'll consume 2,000 calories, but in reality it'll be closer to 6,000

  19-12-2014 21:20
  
  Despite the mounds of mince pies, armfuls of chocolate boxes, and stacks of yule logs which fly off the shelves in December, Brits still believe they eat half as much on Christmas Day as they really do.
  
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• Obama criticises Sony film decision

  19-12-2014 21:19
  
  Barack Obama has criticised Sony Pictures' decision to cancel the release of a movie about a plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying the studio "made a mistake".
  
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• Kenny Dalglish relives the day he could never forget at Hillsborough

  19-12-2014 21:18
  
  Kenny Dalglish looked as exasperated as a manager on the touchline during ill-tempered exchanges with a police barrister at the Hillsborough disaster inquests yesterday.
  
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• Anti-Taliban protesters in Islamabad demand action against pro-militant cleric

  19-12-2014 21:08
  
  Hundreds of people gather outside police station to protest against refusal of Abdul Aziz, head of the Red Mosque, to condemn killings in Peshawar
  
  • Peshawar school massacre: ‘This is Pakistan’s 9/11 – now is the time to act’Anti-Taliban protesters marched on a police station in Islamabad on Friday to demand an official investigation into a radical cleric who refused to condemn the killing of 132 schoolboys this week.The second night of remarkably bold action by civil society grou
  
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• Bank fines boost for charity single

  19-12-2014 20:54
  
  Fines levied on banks for misconduct will fund a VAT waiver on a military charity single, the Government has announced.
  
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• Sony hackers issue new threat and demand that film is never released in any format

  19-12-2014 20:50
  
  Hackers linked to North Korea have issued a new threat to Sony Pictures, demanding that the Hollywood studio suppress any materials related to The Interview, and ensure the film is never released on DVD or online.
  
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• Obama criticises Sony for cancelling 'The Interview' and vows a proportional response over the alleged North Korean cyber-attack

  19-12-2014 20:43
  US President Barack Obama has said Sony Pictures “made a mistake” in capitulating to threats from a North Korean-sponsored hacker group, by cancelling the release of its film The Interview.
  
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• Obama criticises Sony for cancelling 'The Interview' and vows a proportional response over alleged North Korean cyber-attack

  19-12-2014 20:43
  US President Barack Obama has said Sony Pictures “made a mistake” in capitulating to threats from a North Korean-sponsored hacker group, by cancelling the release of its film The Interview.
  
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• Escort killer detained indefinitely

  19-12-2014 20:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A killer who attacked escorts is detained indefinitely in a high-security psychiatric hospital.
  
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• Obama criticises Sony for film move

  19-12-2014 20:36
  
  Sony Pictures "made a mistake" in deciding to shelve a film about a plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un even though the studio suffered significant damage in a hacking attack the FBI blames on the secretive Communist regime, US President Barack Obama has said.
  
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• VIDEO: Officers 'may have been targeted'

  19-12-2014 20:27 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An off-duty police constable who died after he and two colleagues were assaulted in Liverpool city centre 'may have been targeted because of his job'.
  
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• How Cuba learnt to forget America and survive the blockade

  19-12-2014 20:26
  
  The departure board at Miami airport shows dozens of cities from Montego Bay to Montevideo. But I scanned the screens in vain for my destination.
  
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• Man, 80, jailed for teen acid attack

  19-12-2014 20:17 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An 80-year-old man is jailed for 18 years for masterminding an acid revenge attack on his teenage ex-girlfriend.
  
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• Two nations: 13m Brits will spend £1.2bn tomorrow but 13m more will have Christmas in poverty

  19-12-2014 20:14
  
  Christmas shoppers are expected spend £1.2bn today, as 13 million consumers hand over £21m every minute. But while those who can afford it stock up in the desperate rush for gifts on “Panic Saturday”, another 13 million people will have more sobering reasons to worry – living in poverty in a festive Britain characterised as “two nations” divided.
  
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• Two nations: 13m Brits will spend £1.2bn on 'Panic Saturday', but 13m others across the country will spend this Christmas in poverty

  19-12-2014 20:14
  Christmas shoppers are expected spend £1.2bn today, as 13 million consumers hand over £21m every minute. But while those who can afford it stock up in the desperate rush for gifts on “Panic Saturday”, another 13 million people will have more sobering reasons to worry – living in poverty in a festive Britain characterised as “two nations” divided.
  
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• VIDEO: Dalglish describes scenes of mayhem

  19-12-2014 20:12 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The former Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish has given evidence at the inquests into the Hillsborough disaster.
  
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• The Profumo affair: Mandy Rice-Davies’ famed retort was a blow against deference

  19-12-2014 20:11
  
  What a joyless, prurient, repressed, class-ridden, snobbish, miserable, misogynist society Britain was when Mandy Rice-Davies was a teenager, at the dawn of the “Swinging Sixties”.
  
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• Stephen Ward’s trial was disgraceful. There can be no justification for it

  19-12-2014 20:10
  
  Mandy Rice-Davies was a witness, together with Christine Keeler, at the Old Bailey trial of Dr Stephen Ward, accused of living off their earnings as prostitutes. Neither was a prostitute and both women, in fact, lived off Ward’s earnings as a society osteopath and successful portrait painter. The criminal charges were a nonsense and the truth about the trial is still being covered up: the files which contain “some sensational items that would be embarrassing if released” will not be relea
  
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• New Era estate victory: Residents, with Russell Brand’s help, stop takeover of their estate

  19-12-2014 20:06
  
  Russell Brand and fellow campaigners have been victorious in their battle to stop a housing estate being taken over by a multi-billion dollar American asset management firm that residents feared would either evict them or more than double their rents.
  
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• Bomb Found Under Soldier's Car In N Ireland

  19-12-2014 20:03
  
  A controlled explosion has been carried out on a device found under a soldier's car in Northern Ireland.
  
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