General news

• Ice cream roll meltdown sees Ugne Bubnaityte booted out of Bake Off tent

  02-09-2015 23:39
  
  The Great British Bake Off's Ugne Bubnaityte has confessed she was so devastated to be booted off the show, she could not bake for a week.
  
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• Two women arrested over alleged child 'fight club' at a New Jersey nursery

  02-09-2015 23:26
  
  Two women have been arrested in New Jersey for allegedly staging a child 'fight club' at the nursery where they worked.
  
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• Migrant crisis pressure mounts on Europe's leaders

  02-09-2015 23:20
  
  Pressure on Europe's leaders to act in the migrant crisis ratcheted up after shocking pictures emerged of the body of a Syrian boy washed up on a Turkish beach.
  
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• 60 years of Scalextric: Model cars are now stuffed with as much tech as real ones

  02-09-2015 23:19
  
  Real FX
  
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• President Obama visits Alaska to raise climate change awareness and purchase cinnamon rolls

  02-09-2015 22:59
  
  President Barack Obama just became the first sitting US president to visit a community north of the Arctic Circle.
  
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• Who is Oliver Bonas and how has he captured middle-class hearts?

  02-09-2015 22:46
  
  Are you the kind of person who would part with £14 for a yuzu and green tea-scented candle in the shape of an owl? If so, you're probably well acquainted with Oliver Bonas. If not, picture one of those kitsch gift shops you tend to find in upmarket seaside towns – an eclectic mix of homeware, furniture, cards, clothes and the downright baffling (Keep Calm Nipple Balm, anyone?)
  
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• Patients should be able to use Fitbit to feed information to their GP, says Jeremy Hunt

  02-09-2015 22:29
  Patients should be able to use wearable exercise monitors such as Fitbit to feed information about their activity levels to their GP, Jeremy Hunt, the Heath Secretary, has said.
  
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• Transgender teen Lila Perry 'just wants to be respected' by her classmates

  02-09-2015 22:28
  
  When Lila Perry decided in February to start living publicly as a woman, she knew the decision would not be easy.
  
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• Refugee crisis: Aylan's life was full of fear – in death, he is part of 'humanity washed ashore'

  02-09-2015 22:14
  
  There are no beaches in Kobani, just bombs. From the Syrian town besieged by Isis, Aylan Kurdi and his brother fled. For the three short years of his life, Aylan had apparently only known fear. 
  
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• 'Evil' Ex-Boyfriend Guilty Over Acid Attack

  02-09-2015 22:10
  
  Anthony Riley, 26, was found guilty of plotting to "horrifically disfigure" his partner of seven years, Adele Bellis. The 23-year-old victim was sitting at a bus stop in her home town of Lowestoft, Suffolk, in August last year when a man threw sulphuric acid over her before running off. Riley, of Lowestoft, was found guilty of false imprisonment, conspiracy to apply a corrosive liquid and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm with intent.
  
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• 'She was shouting with pain and said she wanted to die': Why the son of a woman who died as a result of care home neglect is still angry

  02-09-2015 22:06
  One of the most disturbing cases uncovered by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism was the death in April last year of Barbara Cooke, aged 84.
  
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• Tunisia fears its Arab Spring could be reversed as the new regime becomes as intolerant of dissent as its predecessor

  02-09-2015 22:05
  The crowd does not get far. In Tunisia, the birthplace of the Arab Spring, authorities are increasingly disdainful of dissent.
  
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• EU referendum rule changes tabled by Government amid backbench revolt fears

  02-09-2015 21:50
  
  David Cameron has sought to head off a damaging backbench revolt over Europe as the Government tabled changes to the rules on the promised referendum on Britain's EU membership.
  
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• Elderly people put at risk as watchdog fails to act on warnings of 'fatally negligent' care homes

  02-09-2015 21:48
  The lives of vulnerable care home residents were put at risk because England’s healthcare regulator failed to act promptly on official warnings about fatally negligent standards, an investigation for The Independent reveals.
  
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• Refugee crisis – analysis: Europe is paralysed by its own indecision

  02-09-2015 21:42
  
  As tired, poor, huddled masses arrive tempest-tossed on Europe’s teeming shores, the response from the capitals has been one of panic and paralysis.
  
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• Tourism in Iran: The country will soon be opening up again after years of isolation

  02-09-2015 21:30
  
  As the British embassy reopens in Tehran and its Iranian counterpart unlocks its doors in South Kensington, it's clear that the geopolitical sands are shifting. Iran, viewed with suspicion and held under sanctions for years, is apparently a friend again – and soon you may be seeing ads in the travel pages for adventurous holidays there.
  
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• Refugee crisis: David Cameron faces mounting pressure to reverse Britain's hard-line stance

  02-09-2015 21:28
  
  David Cameron is facing growing public and political condemnation or his refusal to open Britain’s doors to thousands of desperate refugees fleeing war and persecution.
  
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• Backpacker Accused: I Was Tortured Naked

  02-09-2015 21:25
  
  Burmese migrant worker Zaw Lin, 22, claims police also tried to extract a confession by blindfolding him and suffocating him with plastic bags until he collapsed. He and co-accused Wei Phyo are alleged to have murdered Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, on 14 September last year on the island of Koh Tao. Zaw Lin told the court in neighbouring Koh Samui how he was woken in the early hours of 2 October, 2014, to find 10 men gathered in the dormitory he shared with oth
  
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• This woman wants to give birth underwater, surrounded by dolphins

  02-09-2015 21:15
  
  A woman has decided to take the concept of water births even further - by choosing to have her baby surrounded by dolphins.
  
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• Refugee crisis: While the EU gropes for a coherent response, Britain just turns its back

  02-09-2015 21:14
  
  He was someone’s precious child. The little boy’s family was fleeing the savagery of the conflict in Syria and seeking a new life in the European Union. Their small boat capsized as they made the two-mile sea crossing from Turkey to the Greek island of Kos.
  
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• Saido Berahino: Spurs chairman defends his club's pursuit of West Brom striker claiming it was nothing 'personal'

  02-09-2015 21:08
  The recriminations between Tottenham Hotspur and West Bromwich Albion over the Saido Berahino saga continued this evening with a rare public statement from Spurs chairman Daniel Levy who claimed that his club had done nothing wrong in pursuing the player.
  
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• Polio in Ukraine: Two children paralysed as first cases of virus in Europe since 2010 recorded

  02-09-2015 21:08
  
  In the first outbreak of polio in Europe for half a decade, two children in Ukraine have been paralysed by the highly contagious disease.
  
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• Labour leadership: Andy Burnham urges Jeremy Corbyn voters to think again in last-minute plea

  02-09-2015 21:00
  
  Andy Burnham has issued a last-minute plea to Labour members and supporters tempted to vote for Jeremy Corbyn to think again, warning that electing the left-winger would put the Conservatives in power for 20 years.
  
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• The bookshop where you pay what you want

  02-09-2015 20:58
  
  A bookshop has opened on a street in China - with no staff and where customers can pay whatever they want for the books.
  
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• Refugee crisis: 'It's time David Cameron found his humanity. It's time he led by example, not making excuses' - pressure grows on PM to act

  02-09-2015 20:52
  David Cameron has been told he must "find his humanity" rather than "shirking and making excuses" in his refusal to open Britain's doors to more than just a few hundred Syrian refugees.
  
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• Theme parks continue to draw in thrill-seekers despite the risks - so why are we so addicted?

  02-09-2015 20:46
  
  The only thing that I've ever won was a family pass to Pleasurewood Hills, at the 1987 Spixworth Village Hall raffle. Put this on my tombstone – life will never get sweeter. For a child living in East Anglia in the 1980s, it was the equivalent of a golden ticket to the Chocolate Factory. For anyone who isn't au fait with the charms of Pleasurewood Hills, it's a few scrappy acres on the fringes of Lowestoft that is, forever, a homage to an idealised version of Midwestern America – wit
  
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• Make your voice heard: Sign The Independent's petition to welcome refugees

  02-09-2015 20:44
  
  The Second World War started 76 years ago this week. What followed in the years from 1939 was death and the displacement of people on a scale never before seen.
  
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• China's forgotten Second World War veterans who don't toe the Communist Party line

  02-09-2015 20:44
  
  Sun Yibai does not have much time for the Communist Party’s claim to have led China to victory against Japan in the Second World War.
  
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• California prisons to end unlimited solitary confinement for gang members

  02-09-2015 20:39
  
  Almost 2,000 California prison inmates in solitary confinement, some for decades, are to be released into general prison populations in a landmark settlement.
  
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• Leftover coffee 'can help fight global warming'

  02-09-2015 20:20
  
  Whether flat white, skinny latte or straight black Americano, a cup of coffee is the morning drink of choice for millions needing a power-up at the start of the day.
  
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• Murdoch favourite Brooks returns to UK job in remarkable comeback

  02-09-2015 20:10
  
  By Kate Holton and Paul Sandle LONDON (Reuters) - Rebekah Brooks, the Rupert Murdoch protegee cleared last year of orchestrating a criminal campaign that damaged the British establishment, will return to her old job running the tycoon's British newspapers next week in a stunning comeback. Brooks, who worked her way up from the lowest rung on a newsroom ladder to become one of the most influential people in Britain, will resume oversight of the Sun and The Times of London papers on Monday followi
  
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• UK could learn from German policy on foreign students, report says

  02-09-2015 20:07
  
  The UK Government could learn from the Germans, who understand the value of international students to the economy, according to a major report.
  
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• American nuns' abortion message to Pope Francis: 'You don't quite get it'

  02-09-2015 20:00
  
  Their message to Pope Francis was quite simple: you don’t quite get it.
  
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• Family living next to Area 51 rejects Air Force’s $5.2m offer for their property

  02-09-2015 19:57
  
  A Las Vegas family living near Area 51 rejected a multi-million dollar offer to purchase their property.
  
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• Trans actress Candis Cayne reveals she walked out of a Curb Your Enthusiasm audition over an offensive joke

  02-09-2015 19:54
  
  Transgender actress Candis Cayne has revealed that she walked out of an audition for sitcom Curb Your Enthusiasm over a joke about transgender women using men's toilets.
  
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• Rebekah Brooks made News UK chief executive

  02-09-2015 19:53
  
  Rebekah Brooks is returning as chief executive of Rupert Murdoch's British newspaper empire - a year after she was cleared of all charges in the phone-hacking trial.
  
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• Zero-Hours Contracts Jump 19% In A Year

  02-09-2015 19:51
  
  The revelation, from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), prompted a fierce response from unions, which have campaigned to have them banned. The contracts give no guarantee of weekly working hours and are said to offer flexibility to employers and employees. The ONS said its Labour Force Survey showed that 2.4% of the UK workforce between April and June reported that their main job came under a zero-hours contract.
  
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• Yemen mosque bombing: At least 20 killed by 'Islamic State' blasts in Sanaa

  02-09-2015 19:34
  
  At least 20 people have been killed at a mosque in Yemen’s rebel-held capital of Sanaa, in a twin bomb attack which a group affiliated with Isis has claimed responsibility for.
  
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• Yemen mosque bombing: At least 20 killed by blasts in Sanaa

  02-09-2015 19:34
  
  At least 20 people have been killed at a mosque in Yemen’s rebel-held capital of Sanaa, after a suicide bombing was followed by a car bomb.
  
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• Isis profits from destruction of antiquities by selling relics to dealers - and then blowing up the buildings they come from to conceal the evidence of looting

  02-09-2015 19:34
  So why is Isis blowing to pieces the greatest artefacts of ancient history in Syria and Iraq? The archeologist Joanne Farchakh has a unique answer to a unique crime. First, Isis sells the statues, stone faces and frescoes that international dealers demand. It takes the money, hands over the relics – and blows up the temples and buildings they come from to conceal the evidence of what has been looted.
  
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• King Arthur: Legendary figure was real and lived most of his life in Strathclyde, academic claims

  02-09-2015 19:12
  
  He was married to Guinevere, held court over the Knights of the Round Table, wielded the sword Excalibur and, following his final battle with the traitor Mordred, was laid to rest at Avalon. At least that is how the mythological story of King Arthur goes.
  
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• The truth about pornography's race problem

  02-09-2015 19:11
  
  Some of the leading figures in the pornography business have spoken out about the need to discuss racism in the adult industry and how it can be overcome.
  
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• Shot ex-violin teacher Chris Ling was to be charged with 77 sex offences

  02-09-2015 19:09
  
  A former violin teacher who shot himself dead as officers came to arrest him at his US home was set to be charged with 77 historical sex offences.
  
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• Scientists reveal there are 3tn trees in the world in latest count

  02-09-2015 19:00
  
  Most accurate count to date is over seven times higher than last estimate – but almost half have been cut down since the start of civilisation, say scientistsScientists have already calculated how many fish there are in the sea (230,000 species), and how many species there are on the planet overall (8.7m). Nowthey have had a crack at counting all of the world’s trees.Using a combination of satellite and ground measurements, researchers estimated that there are just over 3tn trees on
  
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• Number of trees 'halved' since dawn of human civilisation

  02-09-2015 19:00
  The number of trees on Earth has almost halved since the beginning of human civilisation, a new assessment has found.
  
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• Earth has 'lost more than half its trees' since humans first started cutting them down

  02-09-2015 19:00
  
  The planet of the trees has given way to the planet of the apes. The Earth has lost more than half of its trees since humans first learned how to wield the axe, scientists have found.
  
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• Carlos Fernández Guerra: Spain's 'chief constable of Twitter' stands down after increasing Policía Nacional's followers to 1.75m

  02-09-2015 18:58
  He has every claim to be Spain’s most effective policeman – despite never having made a single arrest, nor cracking a single cold case.
  
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• Deleon Alonso Smith: 19-year-old fatally shoots himself as he takes selfie with gun

  02-09-2015 18:52
  
  A teenager in the US state of Texas has died after he fatally shot himself as he posed for a selfie with a gun.
  
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• Eyesore or grand design: what the occupants of the Walkie Talkie think of Britain’s worst building

  02-09-2015 18:51
  
  Building Design magazine has awarded 20 Fenchurch Street its annual Carbuncle cup. Do people who work there agree? Or is the best thing about being in the Walkie Talkie not being able to see the Walkie Talkie?It’s been dubbed the Walkie Talkie because of its distinctive shape, but now the skyscraper at 20 Fenchurch Street, London has a new title: the worst building in Britain. Judges from the Carbuncle Cup – an annual award bestowed by Building Design magazine – called it a &ld
  
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• Warning over child-friendly apps and websites collecting personal data

  02-09-2015 18:50
  
  Websites and apps used by children are collecting an alarming amount of personal data, an international investigation has revealed.
  
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