General news

• Catastrophe, series 1 episode 6 TV review: Sharon and Rob are great, but they're too darn nice and so's the show

  23-02-2015 23:41
  Who couldn’t love Catastrophe? Weeks before tonight’s series finale came to a close co-writers and co-stars Sharon ‘Pulling’ Horgan and Rob ‘good at Twitter’ Delaney could celebrate a second series commission and rave reviews galore (not least from the venerable Grace Dent). The cast is comedy crème de la crème. The conceit is marvellous. There are a loads of swear words. What’s not to like? Well…
  
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• Broadchurch series 3: David Tennant and Olivia Colman to return for third season

  23-02-2015 23:35
  
  ITV has confirmed that David Tennant and Olivia Colman are to return for a third series of Broadchurch.
  
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• George Osborne knew of HSBC tax dodge scandal before he became Chancellor - Mirror.co.uk

  23-02-2015 23:30 via mirror.co.uk
  
  Mirror.co.uk
  George Osborne knew of HSBC tax dodge scandal before he became Chancellor
  Mirror.co.uk
  George Osborne today admitted he found out about the HSBC tax dodge scandal as far back as 2009. The Tory Chancellor confirmed he had read a newspaper report telling how HMRC had been given the names of 1,100 clients who allegedly avoided tax by ...
  Budget 2015: George Osborne promises crackdown on tax evasionTelegraph.co.uk
  HSBC case: Osborne could include new tax rules in budgetCITY A.M.
  H
  
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• Kew Gardens launch science strategy

  23-02-2015 23:00
  
  Scientists at Kew Gardens are launching an annual "health check" of the world's plants to examine issues including wildlife loss, disease and invasive species.
  
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• Broadchurch, Series 2 finale, TV review: Inexplicable red herrings make for damp squib not even David Tennant can revive

  23-02-2015 23:00
  Underwhelmed by the silly conclusion to Broadchurch’s second series? At least no one can claim it took them by surprise.
  
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• There's a cure for the lobbying problem reignited by Jack Straw and Malcolm Rifkind sting, but you won't want to hear it

  23-02-2015 22:48
  Once again the UK’s elected MPs are in trouble. The current furore involves only two of them, two of the biggest in Parliament: former foreign secretaries caught out in another TV sting. But the voters’ disdain will extend well beyond the duo, who were filmed discussing potentially lucrative assignments. A lot of voters will feel renewed anger as they respond with those famous clichés, “They’re all the same”. “They’re all in it for themselves.”
  
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• Queen marks Magna Carta anniversary

  23-02-2015 22:36
  
  The Queen inspected a copy of the Magna Carta at a special reception at Buckingham Palace to mark its 800th anniversary.
  
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• Feeding Peanuts To Kids May Prevent Allergies

  23-02-2015 22:34
  
  Children with a high risk of developing life-threatening peanut allergies can be protected if given foods containing them when they are babies, according to new research. Almost one in 50 children is allergic to peanuts, double the rate of ten years ago, and the condition kills more people than any other food allergy. The Learning Early About Peanut Allergy study led by Professor Gideon Lack of King's College London involved 640 children who were considered at high risk of developing peanut
  
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• Eating peanuts 'can avoid allergy'

  23-02-2015 22:30
  
  Infants can be protected from peanut allergy by eating them, a study has found.
  
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• Egypt coup: Leaked tape proves defence minister tried to conceal Morsi’s true location in military prison, say forensic scientists

  23-02-2015 22:28
  Leaked tapes of Egyptian generals apparently plotting to persuade the world that arrested Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was in a civilian rather than a military prison – and thus not the victim of an army coup – have been sent by British lawyers to the UN, the African Commission on Human Rights and the UK police.
  
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• Abid Naseer Terror Trial: UK Warning To Judge

  23-02-2015 21:52
  
  A British government official has warned a New York judge of "grave" consequences if MI5 agents testifying in the trial of an alleged al Qaeda terrorist are identified from court illustrations. Several MI5 agents are due to give evidence in the coming days in the trial of Abid Naseer, a Pakistani student accused of plotting bomb attacks on the Arndale Centre in Manchester, the New York subway and targets in Copenhagen . The intervention from the unnamed British official came as US Dist
  
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• Andy McSmith's Diary: Motherhood proved no obstacle to the Iron Lady - so why should it for Rachel Reeves

  23-02-2015 21:39
  
  Andrew Rosindell, a Conservative MP best known as a bulldog-owning, Union Jack waving Thatcherite, has embarrassed the Conservative leadership by suggesting that Labour’s Rachel Reeves would be unfit to hold a cabinet job if Labour wins in May, because she is heavily pregnant.
  
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• Mother's Letter To Truck Crash Victim Mitzi

  23-02-2015 21:37
  
  The mother of a four-year-old killed in a tipper truck crash in Bath has written a poignant letter to her beloved daughter. Mitzi Rosanna Steady was killed after a 32-tonne tipper truck crashed into her and her grandmother in Bath on 9 February. Robert Parker, 59, Philip Allen, 52, and Stephen Vaughan, 34, were also killed when the truck overturned onto their Volvo at the bottom of a hill. More than 800 mourners gathered in Bath Abbey as Mitzi's coffin was brought in - painted in the styl
  
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• 'Cash for access' scandal sketch: Two men, one message - 'I did nothing wrong'

  23-02-2015 21:34
  
  The differences in the two rejections were noticeable. Jack Straw ruefully acknowledged that having once castigated other Labour MPs for being “suckered” by such a “sting”, he was “mortified” after “falling into the skilful trap” set by the undercover journalists, clouding what should have been his pleasantly “valedictory” last few weeks in the Commons.
  
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• Shakespeare anti-Semitic - Rylance

  23-02-2015 21:03
  
  British actor Mark Rylance has said he has to cut out parts of Shakespeare's plays because they are "anti-Semitic".
  
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• Apple's new diverse emoji include black Santa Claus

  23-02-2015 20:58
  
  In a bid to make sure absolutely everyone is represented in emoji form, Apple and Unicode have teamed up to make the increasingly popular symbols more racially diverse.
  
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• Oscars 2015: The alternative winners, from best accessory to creepiest attendee

  23-02-2015 20:51
  
  Best accessory: Benedict Cumberbatch's hipflaskForget Cate Blanchett's statement Tiffany turquoise necklace; with the ceremony's running time of more than four hours, surely the finest accessory of the evening was the Best Actor nominee's hipflask which he flashed to the camera during Neal Patrick Harris's opening skit. You can't blame him for wanting to be drunk; after all, the evening included a performance from Adam Levine. Great shout, Sherlock.
  
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• 'Birdman' and 'Bullets Over Broadway': Homage or plagiarism?

  23-02-2015 20:45
  
  TV adverts based on stolen ideas are so commonplace that Private Eye has a regular item devoted to the phenomenon. This endless recycling of ideas reached a peak of blatancy when artist Gillian Wearing complained that a Saatchi TV advert for VW was based on one of her artworks that she had sold to Charles Saatchi. This habit is perhaps not too surprising in such an ephemeral and profuse medium. Blatant idea theft is, however, more startling when you see it in a feature film that has won four Os
  
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• Columba Bush's $42,000 shopping spree could damage husband Jeb's nomination hopes

  23-02-2015 20:41
  
  Jeb Bush’s planned campaign for the Republican presidential nomination has suffered a setback with revelations that his wife Columba spent $42,311 (£27,369) in a single day on jewellery including a Bulgari diamond bracelet.
  
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• Profile: Jack Straw

  23-02-2015 20:40
  
  Having served as a Cabinet minister through the entire 13 years of Labour rule, Jack Straw spent his first few months in opposition shadowing Nick Clegg, the Deputy Prime Minister, while Labour was choosing a new leader. He gave that up in autumn 2010, and became a backbench MP for the first time in more than 30 years.
  
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• Profile: Malcolm Rifkind

  23-02-2015 20:38
  
  In a recently published list of the top 10 private earners in the House of Commons for 2014, Gordon Brown came top with a cash total of £962,516 and David Blunkett held the bottom spot with £178,945. Sir Malcolm Rifkind, who has regularly starred in the top five with annual side earnings close to a quarter of a million pounds, came in at position 30.
  
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• 'Cash for access' scandal: MPs could be banned from outside work

  23-02-2015 20:37
  
  MPs were facing the prospect of a total ban on making money from outside consultancy work tonight, after two former cabinet ministers were exposed negotiating cash-for-access deals.
  
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• Government's suicide expert withdraws from speech over censorship row

  23-02-2015 20:34
  
  The Government’s leading expert on suicide prevention pulled out of giving the Ministry of Justice a presentation on rising suicide rates in custody yesterday, claiming he had been told not to mention a possible link with falling prison staff numbers.
  
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• Tories accused of trying to bribe pensioners with pre-election handouts

  23-02-2015 20:29
  
  David Cameron has been accused of trying to “bribe” pensioners while saddling younger people with government debt, after he promised to maintain state benefits for all old people.
  
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• London Fashion Week: Clothes - and shows - for the masses from Topshop Unique, Burberry and Christopher Kane

  23-02-2015 20:27
  Fashion is a business. That’s even emphasised in London these days, where young designers rub shoulders with - and occasionally get squashed by - corporations pulling multi-billion pound punches. Fashion Inc. is all well and good. It pays the bills. But sometimes you wonder what you’re applauding: designers’ innovation, or their ability to harness said innovation for commercial means?
  
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• Greek bailout: Syriza dissenters accuse government of reneging on election promises in new eurozone deal

  23-02-2015 20:24
  
  Fractures began to appear in the Greek government today as Athens prepared to hand over a key proposed list of structural economic reforms to the country’s European creditors.
  
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• 14 best boys' shirts

  23-02-2015 20:16
  
  Boys' shirts not only create a smarter look than t-shirts but they tend to be in fabrics that will last and last. Browse through our favourites for spring - put through their paces by our mini testers - so you can find the ideal shirt for the young man in your household.
  
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• Best new crime dramas: From David Walliams' Agatha Christie reboot to mismatched cops from the creator of 'Breaking Bad'

  23-02-2015 20:10
  So how was the second series of Broadchurch for you? Did you join the backlash – the "Broad-lash", as it's been dubbed – led by the Mail on Sunday ("Ten reasons why Broadchurch has totally lost the plot")? Or perhaps you were thrilled by the way in which writer Chris Chibnall managed to deftly switch the first series on its head without turning the fictional Dorset coastal town into "Midsomer-on-Sea"?
  
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• Eric Garner death: Most cops say training following Garner’s death was a ‘waste of time’

  23-02-2015 20:05
  
  After being retrained following the controversial death of Eric Garner last summer, about 80 per cent of New York police officers gave the program negative reviews and many fell asleep during the training, according to the New York Post.
  
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• Missing Syria girls: Headmaster claims 'no evidence’ that girls were radicalised at school

  23-02-2015 20:02
  
  The headteacher of the school attended by three British schoolgirls who are believed to have flown to Turkey to join Isis in Syria reiterated today that police have no evidence the missing pupils had been radicalised there.
  
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• Funeral for tipper truck girl held

  23-02-2015 19:59
  
  More than 800 mourners have attended the funeral of a four-year-old girl who died after being struck by a 32-tonne tipper truck.
  
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• HSBC scandal: George Osborne to announce huge fines for banks involved in tax evasion

  23-02-2015 19:56
  
  Huge fines for banks, accountants and companies that help people evade tax will be announced in next month’s Budget following the scandal at HSBC’s Swiss division.
  
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• US jury rules that Palestinian Authority is liable for $600m damages to families of Americans killed in terrorist attacks

  23-02-2015 19:50
  A New York jury ruled tonight that the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation are liable for harm caused to American families by terror strikes inside Israel between 2002 and 2004, a precedent that could open the way for others to seek similar financial redress.
  
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• 'Cash for access' scandal: Lobbying clean-up law that failed to stop MP scandals

  23-02-2015 19:46
  
  On the eve of becoming Prime Minister, David Cameron promised to tackle the under-the-radar industry of ministers, former ministers and special advisers using their political influence in return for cash. He described this “lobbying industry” as “out of control.”
  
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• Auschwitz suspect: 94-year-old man charged with 3,681 counts of accessory to murder over allegations he served as death camp medic

  23-02-2015 19:40
  German prosecutors have charged a 94-year-old man with 3,681 counts of accessory to murder on allegations he served in the Nazis' Auschwitz death camp.
  
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• Israel cuts off electricity to two Palestinian cities in 'collective punishment' over unpaid debts

  23-02-2015 19:24
  
  Israel’s state-owned electricity company briefly cut power to two Palestinian cities today to press for payment of what it said was £305m owed by the Palestinian government.
  
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• Ed Miliband: Labour will put arts at 'the heart' of government

  23-02-2015 19:22
  
  Ed Miliband has pledged to move the arts “to the heart” of a Labour government with the creation of a permanent committee overseen by the Prime Minister himself and a guarantee that all young people will have access to a creative education.  
  
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• Award-winning director who collaborated on a trilogy of films that shone light on a child murder case

  23-02-2015 19:20
  
  Bruce Sinofsky was an Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning documentary film-maker who gained prominence for works that shone a spotlight on a child murder case. Sinofsky and his long-standing collaborator Joe Berlinger drew praise for their Paradise Lost trilogy about three teenage boys convicted in 1994 of killing three boys in West Memphis, Arkansas. The films (1996, 2004 and 2011), raised questions about evidence used to convict the teens, who became known as the West Memphis Three.
  
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• Shakespeare antisemitic - Rylance

  23-02-2015 19:18
  
  British actor Mark Rylance has said he has to cut out parts of Shakespeare's plays because they are "antisemitic".
  
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• John McCabe: Composer and pianist who wrote ballets, symphonies and chamber pieces as well as film and television scores

  23-02-2015 19:17
  John McCabe, who has died from a brain tumour, was outstanding in the British music of his time: he was a composer and pianist of international reputation.
  
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• Daniel Topolski: Flamboyant rower and coach who led Oxford to Boat Race supremacy and beat his own men in the 'True Blue' mutiny

  23-02-2015 19:13
  When Daniel Topolski first coached an Oxford crew for the Boat Race in 1973 it was assumed by many that rugby, cricket and rowing were conducted in their respective Varsity matches at national or international level. It is only in rowing that leading universities still compete at world level – and that is thanks to him.
  
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• Teen 'Played Dead To Survive Taliban Attack'

  23-02-2015 19:13
  
  A 14-year-old boy pretended to be dead to survive a Taliban attack on his school in one of Pakistan's worst atrocities, his father has said. Ahmed Nawaz is comfortable and stable at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital after an operation on his arm at the weekend. "He was shot in the head and was brutally murdered and there were bullets coming out of his mouth", his father Muhammad told Sky News. Mr Nawaz said Ahmed, his eldest son, "played dead".
  
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• Obama administration asks to allow illegal immigration plan to go ahead

  23-02-2015 19:13
  
  The US Justice Department on Monday requested an emergency stay that would allow President Barack Obama’s executive order on illegal immigrants to move forward after a Texas judge last week blocked the action.
  
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• Public money ‘wasted on EU students at private colleges’

  23-02-2015 19:13
  
  Millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money was wrongly paid out to alternative higher education colleges run by private companies and charities for EU students who failed to attend or complete courses, MPs have said.
  
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• Kayla Mueller: Family of murdered aid worker says US government puts no ransom policy 'in front of American citizens' lives'

  23-02-2015 19:08
  The family of aid worker Kayla Mueller have spoken of the pain of feeling unable to help their daughter and suggested that the US government put its policy of not paying ransoms “in front of American citizens' lives”.
  
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• Isis crisis: British soldier who left UK to fight with peshmerga against extremist group, returned to unit

  23-02-2015 19:06
  
  A serving British soldier who left his army base to join Kurdish fighters battling against Isis has been found and is being returned to his unit, according to the Defence Secretary. 
  
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• Isis crisis: British soldier who left to join peshmerga fight against returned to unit

  23-02-2015 19:06
  
  A serving British soldier who left his army base to join Kurdish fighters battling against Isis has been found and is being returned to his unit, according to the Defence Secretary. 
  
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• Isis crisis: British soldier returned to unit after leaving UK to fight with peshmerga

  23-02-2015 19:06
  
  A serving British soldier who left his army base to join Kurdish fighters battling against Isis has been found and is being returned to his unit, according to the Defence Secretary. 
  
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• Inventor Marc Koska’s one-use syringe is endorsed by WHO

  23-02-2015 19:02
  
  A British painter and decorator who turned inventor has spoken of his pride as his one-use syringe, which has been 30 years in the making, has been endorsed by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
  
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• 20p minimum wage rise recommended

  23-02-2015 18:57
  
  The national minimum wage should be increased by 20p an hour to £6.70, the Low Pay Commission is recommending.
  
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