General news

• Putin late to meet Pope: Russian leader keeps Holy See waiting for over an hour

  11-06-2015 23:51
  
  Seemingly not concerned with making up for the first time he was late meeting Pope Francis, Russian President Vladimir Putin has kept the Holy See waiting for over an hour.
  
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• Christopher Lee: Goodnight to cinema’s prince of darkness

  11-06-2015 23:35
  
  Sir Christopher Lee seems to have been around almost as long as his two most famous roles, Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster. His death at the age of 93 robs British cinema of one of its most enduring stars.
  
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• Tamir Rice: Judge finds probable cause to charge officer with murder over shooting of 12-year-old

  11-06-2015 23:24
  
  A judge in Ohio has announced he has found probable cause to charge a police officer with murder for the fatal shooting of 12-year-old Tamir Rice.
  
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• Developers to rebuild Shell Centre as activist loses 'battle of Waterloo'

  11-06-2015 23:23
  
  A long-running planning dispute dubbed the “battle of Waterloo”, in which an activist has gone head to head with some of London’s most powerful landlords over a £1.3bn property development, has come to an end.
  
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• Cadogan family see their London property portfolio rise to record £5.2bn

  11-06-2015 23:21
  
  The aristocratic family behind much of Chelsea and Knightsbridge in London has seen the value of its property portfolio rocket by 13.5 per cent to a record £5.2bn.
  
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• Liverpool reject City Sterling bid

  11-06-2015 23:12 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Liverpool reject a £25m bid from Manchester City for England forward Raheem Sterling.
  
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• Britain's Moody, famed for Fagin in 'Oliver!', dead at 91

  11-06-2015 23:07
  LONDON (Reuters) - British actor Ron Moody, who played Fagin in the movie version of "Oliver!" and on stage, died on Thursday at the age of 91, his agent said.
  
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• Christopher Lee, evil count of cinema, dies at age 93

  11-06-2015 23:06
  
  British master of the macabre Christopher Lee, who portrayed Dracula in outrageous horror classics but became known to later generations for roles in "Star Wars" and as the wizard Saruman in the "Lord of the Rings," has died at age 93. Lee died on Sunday in a London hospital, where he had been undergoing treatment for respiratory problems, according to his death certificate. The London native achieved fame from the late 1950s into the 1970s playing characters including Dracul
  
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• Researchers compile 'smell maps' of urban areas using the noses of thousands of volunteers

  11-06-2015 23:00
  
  How does your neighbourhood smell? That's not the set-up for a feeble joke; a group of people are genuinely interested. Perhaps your picturesque village has a light floral bouquet. Maybe you live near farmland where there's a whiff of manure if the wind changes direction. If, like me, you live in London, researchers have already plotted our "urban smellscape" onto a map based on data gleaned from exploratory "smell walks", combined with information mined from Flickr, Instagram and Twitter.
  
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• Tony Blair tells Labour to look to future – and blames Ed Miliband for looking backwards

  11-06-2015 22:50
  
  Tony Blair has appealed to Labour members to make the right choice when they elect their new leader, and criticised Ed Miliband for adopting backward-looking policies which did not address the problems of today’s world.
  
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• From bailout to sale: RBS’s traumatic seven years

  11-06-2015 22:48
  
  “The Government is not a permanent investor in UK banks. Its intention, over time, is to dispose of all the investments.”
  
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• Athlete, 15, badly hurt in collision

  11-06-2015 22:46 via bbc.co.uk
  
  An Austrian synchronised swimmer, 15, suffers "severe injuries" in a collision with a bus at the European Games.
  
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• Dick Costolo quits as Twitter chief

  11-06-2015 22:45
  
  The chief executive of Twitter has quit the social network.
  
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• Market Report: Short-sellers raid Edi Truell’s Tungsten Corporation

  11-06-2015 22:28
  
  Short-sellers continue to raid Edi Truell’s Tungsten Corporation.
  
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• Ritchie sings Diana song to William

  11-06-2015 22:24
  
  Lionel Ritchie performed his 1984 hit Hello for the Duke of Cambridge at a charity event tonight, telling the audience it was the favourite song of William's mother, Diana.
  
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• Queen's stadium tribute to troops

  11-06-2015 22:24
  
  The Queen took a walk down the Millennium Stadium tunnel t o present the Royal Welsh regiment with their new colours in a military ceremony full of pomp and grandeur.
  
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• Hats off to Queen curtsey girl

  11-06-2015 22:24
  
  A six-year-old girl had her hat knocked off by a saluting soldier just moments after presenting a posy to the Queen.
  
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• Greece crisis: IMF dramatically walks out of creditor negotiations

  11-06-2015 22:16
  
  The International Monetary Fund dramatically walked out of the Greek creditor negotiations and the president of the European Council has issued a stark warning to Athens that “there is no more time for gambling”.
  
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• Sainsbury's Basics range has cornered the market in self-deprecation

  11-06-2015 22:15
  
  Advertising usually tells us that we're worth it, that we were spoiling ourselves, that we're lovin' it. Occasionally, however, a brand comes along that knocks the whole thing on the head. Suddenly, instead of the lucky ones, we're all just basic bitches. A recent post for the Cambridge student site The Tab celebrated the "endearingly low self-esteem" of Sainsbury's Basics range. From trifle that's "less fruity" to pitta that's "a little bit smaller", bottled water that's "definitely not from t
  
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• E. coli found in hospital kitchen

  11-06-2015 22:10 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The E. coli bacteria is detected in a kitchen at Craigavon Area Hospital in County Armagh, the Southern Health Trust has confirmed.
  
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• Sir Christopher Lee dies aged 93

  11-06-2015 22:09 via bbc.co.uk
  
  British actor Sir Christopher Lee, who played Count Dracula and starred in The Lord of the Rings, has died aged 93.
  
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• Network Rail probed over punctuality as profits slide

  11-06-2015 22:08
  
  Network Rail could face hefty fines after the industry regulator opened an investigation into punctuality and reliability on some of the busiest commuter routes.
  
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• China releases wife of British investigator for GlaxoSmithKline

  11-06-2015 22:04
  
  The wife of a British corporate investigator who was working for the drug giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in China has been released early from jail.
  
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• Toxic Centipede Travels To UK In Dirty Laundry

  11-06-2015 22:01
  
  A giant venomous centipede that smuggled itself into the UK in a woman's dirty laundry is now settling down to a new life in Bristol Zoo. The 11cm-long insect hid away in Jennie Esler's suitcase when she packed her bags to return from a holiday in Antigua. The Peruvian giant centipede, which has been named Curtley, is one of the largest of its kind and is toxic to humans.
  
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• Tax take from North Sea oil to dry up after global price slump

  11-06-2015 22:01
  
  The Treasury’s official forecaster expects the Treasury to receive just £2bn in tax revenues from the North Sea oil industry over the 20 years after 2020 due to the collapse in the global oil price.
  
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• 'Shoes: Pleasure and Pain' at the V&A reveals how designers craft the perfect pair

  11-06-2015 22:00
  
  There is little in the canon of fashion that compares to shoes. Sleeves inflated and deflated to glove-like tightness, hats grew to gargantuan proportions, shrank and then disappeared entirely. Women took up trousers, men started to wear skirts, but shoes are a constant.
  
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• An Audience with Jimmy Savile, Park Theatre, review: Important, potent play sheds light on how the BBC DJ got away with it

  11-06-2015 22:00
  Cashing in on misery? Insensitive to the victims? Too soon after the traumatic revelations? In advance of its premiere Jonathan Maitland's play has been accused of all these things. But it emerges as a responsibly shocking, well-researched, and patently honourable piece. 
  
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• Government trying to fast-track fracking without public consent

  11-06-2015 21:57
  
  The Government is attempting to fast-track fracking by doing away with the need for the public to be consulted before test drilling goes ahead.
  
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• Philadelphia woman sentenced for lethal buttocks injection

  11-06-2015 21:55
  (Reuters) - A Philadelphia hip-hop artist was sentenced on Thursday to 10 to 20 years in prison for killing a British woman by illegally injecting silicone into her buttocks and for aggravated assault in another botched beauty case, court officials said.
  
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• After falling for nearly 20 years, recorded crime rates are edging back up again

  11-06-2015 21:46
  
  The next set of crime statistics could make for uncomfortable reading for Home Office ministers. For nearly 20 years, Britain, in common with much of the western world, has experienced a steady fall in numbers of offences. This has been variously attributed to better burglar alarms, more CCTV and fewer young men in the population.
  
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• Snoopers' Charter: The watchdog's criticism of Theresa May's plans shows it values privacy

  11-06-2015 21:30
  
  The thoughtful report by David Anderson has started a new political and public conversation about monitoring communications at home and abroad.
  
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• Donald Macintyre's Sketch: Theresa May's masterclass in the art of politics

  11-06-2015 21:26
  
  This was a masterclass in equivocation. When you’ve been around in a top job as long as Theresa May, you can make your response to a report you’ve asked for – but which has some conclusions you’re distinctly iffy about – look almost easy.
  
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• Missing Mother's Friend 'Told String Of Lies'

  11-06-2015 21:24
  
  A family friend of missing mother Rebecca Minnock has been warned he faces a prison sentence after a judge ruled he had been "utterly untruthful" about her disappearance. Andrew Butt initially told police the last time he had seen the 35-year-old mother was on 26 May - the day before she went missing with her three-year-old son Ethan Williams. The judge added: "I don't believe him when he says he does not know where Rebecca Minnock went that morning.
  
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• Snoopers' Charter: Watchdog deals blow to plans and calls for Theresa May to lose wide-ranging powers

  11-06-2015 21:22
  
  Theresa May’s plans to reintroduce the “snooper’s charter” have suffered a setback after a major government-commissioned report into surveillance powers raised doubts over moves to store every person’s web-browsing history.
  
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• Mixmag is still in the house: Former electronic dance music bible has reinvented itself in LA

  11-06-2015 21:00
  
  On a Friday evening in May, in an office near the top of a tower in Hollywood, a few dozen fashionable, attractive folks are enjoying what might be the trendiest after-work drinks in town. With a view of the sun setting over the Hills and a DJ set by Chicago producer duo Christian Rich, this is the weekly LA Lab Session , hosted by Mixmag for a select group of friends and guests, and then beamed live to the world via YouTube.
  
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• Delta Air Lines creates new 'paparazzi-proof' terminal in Los Angeles Airport

  11-06-2015 20:58
  
  As if jet lag, baggage claim and the long hunt for the right limo driver weren’t enough to contend with, celebrities arriving at Los Angeles airport (LAX) have always had one more challenging obstacle to negotiate: the swarm of paparazzi ready to greet them in the arrivals hall.
  
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• Is science sexist?

  11-06-2015 20:56 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Women describe life in the lab
  
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• Police probe over fox cubs video

  11-06-2015 20:50 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Police are investigating after footage of 16 fox cubs held in a barn near to hunt kennels in North Yorkshire emerges.
  
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• Andy McSmith's Diary: John Healey’s submission fuels Caroline Flint's paranoia

  11-06-2015 20:48
  
  John Healey’s decision to pull out of the Labour deputy leader contest will fuel the paranoia of some who are backing Caroline Flint. They could not understand why he put his name forward in the first place. Flint represents a seat in Yorkshire. So does Healey. Was it all a plot, masterminded by the Blofeld-like frontrunner, Tom Watson, to prevent Flint getting the nominations she needed?
  
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• VIDEO: Fox cubs held in barn near hunt kennels

  11-06-2015 20:46 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Police in North Yorkshire are investigating after video footage showed sixteen fox cubs being held in a barn near hunt kennels.
  
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• RealDoll: US firm developing sex doll that can talk back

  11-06-2015 20:38
  
  It’s a question that one should think about a little bit before answering.
  
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• Dominique Strauss-Kahn verdict: Court to announce whether former IMF chief is guilty of 'aggravated pimping'

  11-06-2015 20:33
  
  A French court is set to decide whether former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is guilty of “aggravated pimping” following a series of orgies.
  
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• Boston now has gender-neutral bathrooms at City Hall

  11-06-2015 20:31
  
  The bathrooms on the fifth floor of Boston City Hall is now open to everyone. Literally everyone.
  
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• Dusty Rhodes dead: WWE legend and Hall of Fame wrester dies at the age of 69

  11-06-2015 20:18
  
  WWE legend Dusty Rhodes has died at the age of 69, the wrestling company has confirmed.
  
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• Prince Harry unveils Bastion Memorial

  11-06-2015 20:17 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Prince Harry joins the family and friends of those who lost their lives during the conflict in Afghanistan at a service at the National Memorial Arboretum.
  
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• EU referendum: Lords set to defy David Cameron’s refusal to give vote to 16-year-olds

  11-06-2015 20:17
  
  David Cameron faces defeat in the House of Lords over his attempt to prevent 16 and 17 year-olds voting in the referendum on whether Britain should remain in the European Union.
  
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• Tony Abbott brags that he halted the spread of 'visually awful' wind farms

  11-06-2015 20:08
  
  With a 22,300-mile coastline, offshore winds and almost perpetual sunshine, Australia could be leading the world in replacing carbon-spewing fossil fuels with renewable-energy sources.
  
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• 'Clean slate' urged on surveillance

  11-06-2015 19:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Clear new laws are needed to cover security services' powers to monitor people's online activity, the UK's terror watchdog says.
  
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• Tasered man 'took one step too far'

  11-06-2015 19:50
  
  A police officer shot an unarmed man with his Taser because he was worried he might have a knife and took "one step too far" towards him, an inquest has heard.
  
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