General news

• Wells responds to operations concern

  14-01-2015 23:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The health minister Jim Wells says he believes there was no need for political interference during the recent hospital pressures in Northern Ireland.
  
  Read more

• New computer program Cepheus is said to be unbeatable at poker

  14-01-2015 23:50
  
  I have tangled with a lot of fierce players during my five decades of exploring the green felt jungle that is the poker world. But a couple of days ago I found myself alone at the table with the most aggressive card player I have ever faced. In a game where my worst possible loss should have been about 160 chips, I dropped 670.
  
  Read more

• FBI foils alleged plot to bomb US Capitol building

  14-01-2015 23:37
  
  An American man accused of wanting to set up a US branch of extreme Islamist militant group Isis has been arrested for allegedly planning to bomb the US Capitol building.
  
  Read more

• VIDEO: Cornwall 'tornado' wreaks havoc

  14-01-2015 23:16 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Residents in a Cornish village have been describing the chaos caused by what is being called a "mini tornado" on Tuesday night.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Sport England's new campaign to encourage girls and women to exercise is a triumph

  14-01-2015 23:15
  
  Perspiration dripping from red faces; jubilant punches in the air; legs caked in mud; falling down in exhaustion. All are classic features of sports highlights and feel-the-burn fitness adverts. Yet we mostly only ever see men in such an unaffected light. Until now.
  
  Read more

• Lesbian couple ‘humiliated’ after Cineworld guard who thought they were men kicked them out of the women’s toilets

  14-01-2015 22:53
  
  A lesbian couple have said they were humiliated after security guards allegedly mistook them for men and threw them out of the women’s toilets at their local cinema in east London.
  
  Read more

• Beagle 2: Remembering Colin Pillinger, the man who sent the first British space probe to Mars

  14-01-2015 22:50
  
  It started with a thunderous explosion of Soviet-era rocket engines, and ended somewhat disappointingly in mute nothingness. Now, after more than 11 years of radio silence, it seems that tomorrow we will finally be told what actually happened to Beagle 2, the first and only British space probe to land on Mars.
  
  Read more

• Astronauts return after space scare

  14-01-2015 22:40
  
  Astronauts returned to the American side of the International Space Station after a scare.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Packed Commons Hears Abuse Victims Speak Out

  14-01-2015 22:28
  
  They came to discuss the faltering Home Office inquiry into historic institutional child abuse and it was a unique and highly charged gathering.
  
  Read more

• Video shows Florida teenager saving life of policeman who was questioning him

  14-01-2015 22:22
  
  In a departure from most police-related videos seen lately, footage a from Fort Lauderdale police room has surfaced, showing a teenage boy coming to the rescue of the police officer who collapsed while booking him.
  
  Read more

• Have the Danes really found the secret formula to contentment?

  14-01-2015 22:20
  
  Writer Helen Russell, 34, has lived in Jutland for two years
  
  Read more

• Teacher's sex sentence 'too lenient'

  14-01-2015 22:19 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A suspended sentence given to a religious studies teacher who had a sex with a pupil may be reviewed by the Attorney General after complaints it is "unduly lenient".
  
  Read more

• Let the right one in: Republicans contesting the nomination for the 2016 US election are impressive in both number and quality

  14-01-2015 22:14
  In the land of the permanent campaign, one election may only just be over, but skirmishes for the next one have long since begun. Fresh from securing control of both houses of Congress in November’s midterms, the Republicans have their sights set on the most important prize of all, the White House – and the battle for the GOP nomination is shaping up as one of the most fascinating in decades.
  
  Read more

• The wrong lesson: A teenager cannot 'groom' a 44-year-old teacher

  14-01-2015 22:12
  
  Schoolteachers are in a unique position: tutor, guide, mentor and often counsellor. The relationship they have with their pupils is based principally on trust; on the confident belief that the teacher is working in the best interests of the child.
  
  Read more

• Man Stabbed In 'Racially Motivated' Tesco Attack

  14-01-2015 22:02
  
  A 24-year-old man shopping in a Tesco store has been attacked in what police describe as a "racially motivated" attack.
  
  Read more

• Climbers complete historic ascent of Dawn Wall of Yosemite's El Capitan

  14-01-2015 22:02
  
  Two American climbers have become the first men in history to free-climb the south-eastern face of El Capitan in California’s Yosemite National Park, considered the world’s toughest rock climb. Tommy Caldwell, 36, and his climbing partner 30-year-old Kevin Jorgesen completed their ascent of the mountain’s so-called “Dawn Wall” shortly before 3.30 on Wednesday afternoon, after a 19-day free-climb, meaning ropes are used only to break a climber’s fall, not to assist in their ascent.
  
  Read more

• Climbers close to completing ascent of Dawn Wall of Yosemite's El Capitan

  14-01-2015 22:02
  
  Nineteen days after they embarked on the seemingly mad and unlikely challenge of climbing a sheer cliff in the Yosemite National Park, two climbers are closing in on their challenge. If all goes well, they will end their climb and reach the top some time on Wednesday afternoon local time.
  
  Read more

• Paedophile rocker's ex cleared

  14-01-2015 21:45
  
  A former girlfriend of paedophile rocker Ian Watkins has been cleared of possessing indecent images of children.
  
  Read more

• Charges dropped in 'match-fix' case

  14-01-2015 21:45
  
  Prosecutors have dropped the case against 13 footballers investigated over alleged match-fixing after considering the reliability of evidence from "Fake Sheikh" Mazher Mahmood.
  
  Read more

• Kerner sentence to be considered

  14-01-2015 21:45
  
  The Attorney General is to consider whether the case of a former religious studies teacher who walked free after being convicted of repeatedly having sex with a student should be reviewed.
  
  Read more

• Woman dies after burger bar meal

  14-01-2015 21:30 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An 18-year-old woman dies following a suspected allergic reaction after eating at Almost Famous Burgers in Manchester city centre.
  
  Read more

• VIDEO: Teacher 'stalked by abuse victim'

  14-01-2015 21:30 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A teacher who had sex with a pupil at school avoids being sent to prison by a judge who said the victim "stalked him".
  
  Read more

• George Osborne: Future budgets must have surpluses

  14-01-2015 21:29
  
  Future governments should be obliged to run annual budget surpluses every year to protect the economy from future global shocks, George Osborne said today, as he outlined Tory plans for a new fiscal rule should his party be re-elected in May.
  
  Read more

• Wintry blast brings travel trouble

  14-01-2015 21:27
  
  The latest blast of wintry weather has brought difficulties for UK travellers, with roads closed and services cancelled in many parts.
  
  Read more

• Runaways are still at risk from honour killings, says think-tank

  14-01-2015 21:18
  
  Young runaways at risk of being killed for bringing “dishonour” on their families face being sent home, a report says.
  
  Read more

• Storm Rachel Sweeps In After Thundersnow

  14-01-2015 21:09
  
  The northwest of Britain is bracing itself for 80mph gales and torrential downpours when the Atlantic cyclone dubbed Storm Rachel hits land on Wednesday night.
  
  Read more

• Outrage as judge says teacher was 'groomed' by 16-year-old student

  14-01-2015 21:05
  
  Child protection campaigners have reacted angrily after a judge declined to jail a teacher who had a sexual affair with a teenage pupil, on the basis that he had been “groomed” by his victim.
  
  Read more

• Two parties, two flawed sets of plans for the NHS

  14-01-2015 20:55
  
  Four months until election day and a clearer picture is now emerging of how two main parties would fund and run the NHS if they win in May.
  
  Read more

• Donald Macintyre's Sketch: The PM is not 'frit', he just doesn't need the TV debates

  14-01-2015 20:55
  
  For students of game theory, today’s raucous exchanges about TV election debates between Ed Miliband and David Cameron were unexpectedly intriguing. Miliband won, oddly since Cameron had on the face of it the better case, and made it just as robustly. As the Greens’ sole MP Caroline Lucas smilingly nodded her approval – not a frequent sight – Cameron pointed out that in the last European elections, “Ukip and the Greens both beat the Liberal Democrats, I am afraid.” (Not a great day f
  
  Read more

• Leaders' Debates: Ball Back With Broadcasters

  14-01-2015 20:53
  Cameron, Miliband, Clegg, Farage, Bennett, Sturgeon - just about all of Britain's main party leaders turned up the heat today, challenging each other to take part in televised election debates during the General Election.
  
  Read more

• NHS staff are working unpaid to help avert a winter A&E crisis

  14-01-2015 20:52
  
  NHS staff have been coming into work voluntarily and unpaid to help their hospitals cope with extreme winter pressures, MPs were told today, as the country’s top emergency doctor warned over a dramatic increase in A&E visits.
  
  Read more

• Charlie Hebdo: Dieudonné arrested as copies of survivors' edition of magazine sell out in minutes

  14-01-2015 20:47
  
  After seven days of terror and defiance, France lapsed into the surreal. Today people queued at 7am to buy a magazine while President François Hollande went up in the polls, and the previous night the Prime Minister Manuel Valls was cheered by his political enemies in the National Assembly. Parliamentarians all sang “La Marseillaise” together for the first time since the First World War.
  
  Read more

• Jason Rezaian detention: Iran says Washington Post reporter will stand trial

  14-01-2015 20:39
  
  A Washington Post journalist detained in Iran for months has been indicted and will stand trial, Iran's state news agency reported on Wednesday, without elaborating on what charges he faced.
  
  Read more

• Charlie Hebdo: #WhoIsMuhammad trending as Muslims discuss what the Prophet taught

  14-01-2015 20:38
  
  Muslims have taken to Twitter to positively reclaim the image of the Prophet Mohamed, which has been subject to fierce debate in the wake of the tragic terror attacks in Paris last week.
  
  Read more

• VIDEO: Muslims call for calm over magazine

  14-01-2015 20:36 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Muslim leaders in the UK have called on their fellow Muslims to "remain calm and peaceful" when the English edition of Charlie Hebdo is published.
  
  Read more

• No 'Spot The Ball' Jackpot Winner In A Decade

  14-01-2015 20:15
  
  A football fan who has been playing the 'Spot the Ball' competition for 10 years has revealed that no-one has won the £250,000 jackpot in that time.
  
  Read more

• New York struck by wave of 'virtual kidnappings'

  14-01-2015 20:13
  
  A new breed of self-professed kidnappers in New York are not actually kidnapping anyone, says the FBI.
  
  Read more

• Soldier feared for career - inquest

  14-01-2015 20:11
  
  A soldier may have died fearing a fitness supplement he had taken would end his Army career, an inquest heard.
  
  Read more

• Police camera plea by tragic mother

  14-01-2015 20:11
  
  The mother of a murdered woman has called on David Cameron to address Britain's "unjust" justice system after a man who confessed to the killing avoided conviction.
  
  Read more

• Andy McSmith's Diary: Some parties do have 'em... the travails of Ukip hopefuls

  14-01-2015 20:11
  
  After all the trouble Ukip has had selecting a candidate in Basildon South it has good reason to be pleased with its eventual choice of Ian Luder, a former Lord Mayor of London.
  
  Read more

• Romney vs Bush? It’s more thrilling than what the Democrats are offering

  14-01-2015 20:08
  
  A cocktail at the home of Sir Peter Westmacott, Britain’s envoy to Washington, with most of this town’s political scribes on hand, seemed a decent place to gauge sentiment toward the emerging Republican presidential field. Some points of consensus fizzed from the champagne chit-chat, but not many.
  
  Read more

• Battle in cyberspace: Nato plans to help the West win the information war with Russia

  14-01-2015 20:06
  
  Like many residents of Latvia, the people glued to their screens in a Soviet-era building tucked behind the Ministry of Defence in Riga have spent countless hours watching Russian television. But while most of their compatriots were engrossed in the plot lines of slick Russian soap operas, the analysts working for a Nato research centre had more cerebral intentions.
  
  Read more

• Inactivity 'deadlier than obesity'

  14-01-2015 20:00
  
  Lack of exercise is twice as likely to lead to an early grave than obesity, research has shown.
  
  Read more

• Physical inactivity kills twice as many as obesity, new study claims

  14-01-2015 20:00
  
  Physical inactivity is a cause of twice as many deaths as obesity, according to a major new study.
  
  Read more

• Italian pharmacists likely to defy EU's ruling on over the counter morning-after pill

  14-01-2015 19:58
  
  Italy’s pharmacists are expected to flout an EU call to make the latest emergency contraceptive pill available to women without the need for a prescription.
  
  Read more

• Israel's Labour party seeks tough-talking general to prove its security credentials ahead of elections

  14-01-2015 19:52
  
  Isaac Herzog, who according to polls has a chance to unseat the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in March’s election, has a job opening for a tough-talking general after his party’s primary produced a list of cabinet candidates that is strong on economic issues but perhaps less than robust on security.
  
  Read more

• West Hollywood's move to ban gender specific toilets welcomed by transgender community

  14-01-2015 19:48
  
  It’s goodbye to the stick-man – and to the stick-woman. A Los Angeles suburb has introduced a measure demanding that single-stall loos in businesses, restaurants and public places be designated gender-neutral.
  
  Read more

• Pegida movement's marches attract thousands as hatred of Islam and immigrants sweeps across Germany in the wake of Paris attacks

  14-01-2015 19:41
  The controversial anti-Islamic Pegida movement and terror attacks in neighbouring France have polarised Germany, bringing thousands on to the streets in protest against racism and in support of press freedom. But there are disturbing signs that anti-immigrant xenophobia is on the increase.
  
  Read more

• Juicing guru whose austere diet sparked a storm admits a soft spot for tacos and Creme Eggs

  14-01-2015 19:41
  
  A “juicing guru” who attracted global mockery after revealing her austere daily diet of nuts, kale salad and ginger tea last night defended her eating habits – insisting she sometimes enjoys a Creme Egg.
  
  Read more

• Paris attacks: Ukip MEP Gerard Batten renews calls for Muslims to sign charter against violence

  14-01-2015 19:36
  
  A Ukip MEP who sparked controversy for suggesting Muslims in Britain must sign a declaration against violence, has renewed his proposal in the wake of the terror attacks in Paris.
  
  Read more

Follow @GeneralnewsUK on Twitter!