General news

• Abdul Basit: Disabled Pakistani man convicted of murder in 2009 faces being hanged in his wheelchair as final hearing approaches

  20-08-2015 23:36
  A disabled man in Pakistan faces the possibility of being hanged in his wheelchair, after he lost the use of his legs due to tuberculosis.
  
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• Alexis Tsipras resigns: Greek PM steps down and thrusts nation into yet more political instability

  20-08-2015 23:31
  
  Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has resigned, paving the way for a new general election and thrusting the beleaguered country into another period of political instability.
  
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• Big Blue Live: BBC's Springwatch offshoot swaps back gardens for California's Monterey Bay

  20-08-2015 23:30
  
  For the telly folk who work in a small but growing genre, the dream is to find the next Spineless Simon. The male stickleback, one of the countless "tiddlers" that swim about British waterways and lay nests in riverbeds, was the little fishy star of the latest series of Springwatch, the BBC's wildly popular live nature series.
  
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• Weather: Weekend Hotter Than Spain At 30C

  20-08-2015 23:16
  
  Parts of Britain could see temperatures rise to 30C (86F) at the weekend because of a so-called "Spanish Plume", say forecasters.
  
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• Hot and humid air brings 'Spanish Plume' to UK

  20-08-2015 23:02
  
  Hot and humid air is expected to be pushed into northern Europe this weekend, including Britain, creating a "Spanish Plume", forecasters said.
  
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• Thousands are asking Jon Stewart to moderate a 2016 presidential debate

  20-08-2015 22:45
  
  Jon Stewart may have recently ended his 16-year run as the host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, but his fans are ready for him to return to the spotlight.
  
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• Austin Bidwell: The Victorian fraudster who shook the Bank of England with the most daring forgery the world had known

  20-08-2015 22:30
  The two Americans who were jammed into the cramped cell of Havana's military jail had been adversaries for years – but only now, in the spring of 1873, had they finally caught up with each other. And the circumstances were extraordinary.
  
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• Kos migrants resentment at 'special treatment' afforded to Syrian refugees

  20-08-2015 22:18
  
  In the shade of the thick stone walls of Kos Castle, the walkway to the ferry terminal was lined with new arrivals, many from Syria – some of the thousands of refugees and migrants on Kos waiting for a way off the Greek island. Some tried to get clean by washing in the sea, and draped nearby railings with wet clothing and towels.
  
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• Kos migrants resentful at 'special treatment' afforded to Syrian refugees

  20-08-2015 22:18
  
  In the shade of the thick stone walls of Kos Castle, the walkway to the ferry terminal was lined with new arrivals, many from Syria – some of the thousands of refugees and migrants on Kos waiting for a way off the Greek island. Some tried to get clean by washing in the sea, and draped nearby railings with wet clothing and towels.
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn compares actions of Isis to US military and says 'some of what they have done is quite appalling'

  20-08-2015 22:18
  
  A video has emerged of Jeremy Corbyn equating the actions of Isis with those of the US military, and saying that "some of what they have done is quite appaling."
  
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• Car hacking scandal: Security designed to stop thieves hot-wiring almost every modern motor has been cracked

  20-08-2015 22:09
  
  Hackers have cracked security on devices designed to stop thieves hot-wiring almost every modern car, with every major make of immobiliser defeated, it can be revealed.
  
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• Car hacking scandal: Security designed to stop thieves hot-wiring almost every modern car have been cracked

  20-08-2015 22:09
  
  Hackers have cracked security on devices designed to stop thieves hot-wiring almost every modern car, with every major make of immobiliser defeated, it can be revealed.
  
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• Suspended Swimming Pool Plan For London

  20-08-2015 22:05
  
  Plans have been revealed to build a 115-feet high suspended swimming pool in the heart of London. Nicknamed the 'Sky Pool', it will link two 10-storey blocks at the Embassy Gardens development in Barn Elms. It is part of a sky deck on the roof of the buildings that will give residents stunning views of London, including the Houses of Parliament and the US embassy next door.
  
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• Talks On Barring Sinn Fein Over IRA-Linked Murder

  20-08-2015 21:51
  
  The First Minister of Northern Ireland is to hold talks about the potential exclusion of Sinn Fein from the Northern Ireland Assembly after police said members of the Provisional IRA may be involved in a ruthless murder. Peter Robinson said his Democratic Unionists entered government with republicans on a commitment to exclusively peaceful and democratic means through support for the police, the courts and the rule of law as well as the dismantling of the structures of their terrorist organisati
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn defends Islamic State comments

  20-08-2015 21:51
  
  Jeremy Corbyn has been forced to defend comments in which he appeared to compare the actions of Islamic State (IS) militants in Iraq with those of the US military during and after the 2003 invasion.
  
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• Record levels of immigration to Britain: David Cameron should take the increase as a compliment

  20-08-2015 21:48
  
  In six days’ time, David Cameron is likely to be presiding over a most unwelcome achievement: record levels of migration to Britain.
  
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• Calais crisis: Britain set to pay for migrants to be returned to home countries

  20-08-2015 21:40
  
  Britain is to pay for migrants in Calais to be returned to their home countries as part of a £7m drive to ease the crisis in the French port.
  
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• Northern Ireland leader Peter Robinson to hold talks on excluding Sinn Fein

  20-08-2015 21:33
  
  The First Minister of Northern Ireland is to hold talks about the potential exclusion of Sinn Fein from the Northern Ireland Assembly after police said members of the Provisional IRA may be involved in a ruthless murder.
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn poised to challenge Labour leadership voter 'purge'

  20-08-2015 21:23
  
  Jeremy Corbyn is ready to challenge Labour over a so-called "purge" in which voters in the leadership election are being barred from casting a ballot supposedly because they support another party.
  
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• Ashley Madison hack: Leaking personal email addresses puts gay lives at risk around the world

  20-08-2015 21:17
  
  Gay and bisexual users of the Ashley Madison infidelity website have been left in fear for their lives after it emerged that the identities of users living in countries where homosexuality is illegal and even punishable by death have been posted online.
  
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• Provisional IRA Members Suspected Over Murder

  20-08-2015 21:10
  
  Members of the Provisional IRA are suspected of being involved in the murder of a former IRA member, according to police in Northern Ireland. Father-of-nine Kevin McGuigan was shot dead in front of his wife Dolores outside their east Belfast home last week. If it is proved there was organisational involvement of the PIRA in the McGuigan killing, it would have major significance for the political process in Northern Ireland.
  
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• WHSmith could have pocketed £100m from airport VAT ruse in just five years

  20-08-2015 21:09
  
  WHSmith may have banked around £100m over the last five years by failing to hand over VAT discounts to passengers passing through its airport stores, an analysis by The Independent suggests.
  
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• Airport VAT scam: WHSmith could have pocketed £50m from ruse in just five years

  20-08-2015 21:09
  
  WHSmith may have banked around £50m over the last five years by failing to hand over VAT discounts to passengers passing through its airport stores, an analysis by The Independent suggests.
  
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• Caitlyn Jenner should be charged with manslaughter, say accident investigators

  20-08-2015 21:04
  
  Sheriff's investigators plan to recommend prosecutors file a vehicular manslaughter charge against Caitlyn Jenner for her role in a fatal car crash on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu last February.
  
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• Self-serving stance on emails is doing Hillary Clinton no favours

  20-08-2015 20:58
  
  The personal email server that Hillary Clinton used as US Secretary of State is beginning to look like an aircraft’s “black box”. The FBI is examining its every silicon synapse for details of every email she sent, received, saved and trashed. Did any constitute a breach of national security? Democrats are afraid.
  
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• Woman, 92, banned from church she has attended for 50 years for not paying tithes

  20-08-2015 20:54
  
  Josephine King cannot remember precisely how long she has been a member of the First African Baptist Church in the Georgia town of Bainbridge. It may be fifty years.
  
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• Morrissey: Suicide is admirable and everybody thinks about it

  20-08-2015 20:51
  
  Morrissey believes suicide is “admirable” and that everyone thinks about it – even people who “mistakenly assume they are happy”.
  
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• Ukraine crisis: Both sides accused of concealing weapons from inspectors and discreetly shifting them to the front line in violation of ceasefire

  20-08-2015 20:42
  The international watchdog monitoring the conflict in eastern Ukraine is increasingly powerless to act in the face of escalating hostilities as its officials become the targets of death threats, violent attacks and a systematic campaign of intimidation, its deputy chief has revealed.
  
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• Two tourists may have contracted the plague at Yosemite National Park

  20-08-2015 20:40
  
  Two American tourists are believed to have contracted the plague after visiting California’s Yosemite National Park.
  
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• Climate change: July was the hottest month recorded on Earth – and 2015 could set a new global temperature record, scientists say

  20-08-2015 20:30
  It is almost certain 2015 will be the hottest year on record, scientists have said after it was revealed that July was the warmest month ever recorded on Earth.
  
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• Bin Lorry Driver Recalls Moment He Blacked Out

  20-08-2015 20:30
  
  The bin lorry driver who lost control of his truck In Glasgow said the moment he blacked out was "like a light switch". Six people were killed when Harry Clarke's lorry veered onto the pavement on December 22 last year. Mr Clarke, 58, gave an account of the day of the accident during evidence at an inquiry into the tragedy.
  
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• Zygmunt Bauman: World's leading sociologist accused of copying his own work

  20-08-2015 20:24
  
  The world’s “greatest living sociologist” has been accused by academics of committing serial “self-plagiarism” that involved recycling his previous writings and “passing off his old scholarship as new for around 25 years”. 
  
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• Street artist Banksy's 'Dismaland' is 'escape from mindless escapism'

  20-08-2015 20:13
  
  By Paul Sandle WESTON-SUPER-MARE, England (Reuters) - Britain's newest theme park, "Dismaland", opens on Friday, with a decrepit castle, a merry-go-round horse set to be cooked and model boats on a pool full of refugees, all courtesy of British street artist Banksy. The "Bemusement Park" in Weston-super-Mare, an English seaside town near Banksy's home city of Bristol, is tagged as "The UK's most disappointing new visitor attraction!" and features work by other artists including Damien Hirst. The
  
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• Driver of bin lorry which killed six people refuses to answer crucial questions of history of fainting and dizziness

  20-08-2015 20:09
  The driver of a bin lorry which killed six people in Glasgow has refused to answer crucial questions about his history of fainting, heart problems and dizziness.
  
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• Two brothers allegedly beat a homeless Hispanic man, urinated on his face and said they were inspired by Donald Trump

  20-08-2015 20:05
  Police claim that two brothers beat a homeless man in South Boston on Wednesday and targeted him because he is Hispanic.
  
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• Protein switch may explain brainy mammalians

  20-08-2015 20:00
  
  A single molecular event may be the reason why humans are cleverer than chickens, scientists believe.
  
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• Humans are 'wickedly efficient super-predators'

  20-08-2015 20:00
  
  Humans have been branded "wickedly efficient" super-predators that do not play according to nature's rules.
  
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• Forget Jaws, it is humans who are the world's top predator, say scientists

  20-08-2015 20:00
  
  Humans are a unique “super-predator” that hunts and kills other species many times more efficiently than the other top predators both on land and sea, scientists have found.
  
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• England vs Australia report: Michael Clarke quickly dismissed but tourists make strong start at The Oval in Fifth Test

  20-08-2015 19:59
  It is advisable to avoid messing with the cricketing gods, wherever they might be. Alastair Cook, the England captain, was no doubt feeling pretty pleased with life when he won the toss under overcast skies.
  
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• Human Skull Found On M54 Motorway

  20-08-2015 19:57
  
  Forensic experts are investigating after a human skull was found on a motorway sliproad, police have said. The gruesome discovery was made during a "survey" of the embankment of the M54 at junction four in Telford, Shropshire. In a statement, the West Mercia force said: "Police can confirm a human skull was uncovered at the roundabout at junction four of the M54 in Telford.
  
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• Chilcot and his team confirm they have no plans to abandon inquiry into Iraq war

  20-08-2015 19:55
  
  Sir John Chilcot and his team have no plans to abandon their examination of the war in Iraq, they insisted, after The Independent revealed the inquiry panel had discussed resigning en masse in protest against the pressure it has been put under to speed up publication.
  
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• War with Isis: Is Turkey's buffer zone in Syria a matter of self-defence – or just anti-Kurd?

  20-08-2015 19:52
  
  Turkey has taken the first step towards setting up a buffer zone in northern Syria by assisting Turkmen militia to enter the country and set up base near the border.
  
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• Deceased Arsenal fan has dig at Alexander Hleb with memorial outside the Emirates

  20-08-2015 19:51
  
  Alexander Hleb might not have been the greatest player Arsenal have ever had, but neither was he the worst to have pulled on the red and white jersey.
  
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• Provisional IRA members suspected over Kevin McGuigan killing, says PSNI

  20-08-2015 19:50
  
  Police in Northern Ireland suspect current members of the Provisional IRA of involvement in the murder of a father-of-nine in Belfast.
  
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• London to open first major theatre in 20 years

  20-08-2015 19:37
  
  The former artistic director of the National Theatre, Nicholas Hytner, has announced plans for London’s first new playhouse in 20 years, in a move that will see the centre of the capital’s theatreland shift east along the Thames.
  
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• Mental Health Nurse Jailed For Raping Patients

  20-08-2015 19:30
  
  A mental health nurse who raped and sexually assaulted vulnerable patients has been jailed for life. Vijay Bundhun will serve a minimum of 11 years in prison for the attacks on six women. Detective Constable Rebecca Taft, who led the investigation for Kent Police, said the victims' ordeals "rendered their mental health treatment pointless and in fact sent them backwards in their progress".
  
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• Britain to reopen embassy in Iran as Phillip Hammond becomes first Foreign Secretary to visit country in over a decade

  20-08-2015 19:28
  Philip Hammond will become the first Foreign Secretary to visit Iran for more than a decade when he reopens Britain’s embassy in Tehran four years after it was ransacked by a mob.
  
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• Calais crisis: Theresa May admits migrants may move to other ports in effort to reach UK

  20-08-2015 19:24
  
  Theresa May has insisted that new security measures are starting to take effect at Calais, but admits the migrant crisis could shift to other ports.
  
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• Record levels of immigration to Britain set to become major headache for David Cameron

  20-08-2015 19:18
  
  In seven days’ time, David Cameron is likely to be presiding over a most unwelcome achievement: record levels of migration to Britain.
  
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• Blind man tasered by police who mistook walking stick for samurai sword wins compensation

  20-08-2015 19:11
  
  A blind man Tasered by a police officer who mistook his white stick for a samurai sword has been awarded compensation nearly three years after the bungled operation.
  
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