General news

• Northern Ireland spirals towards worst crisis since 1998 peace deal

  10-09-2015 23:41
  
  By Padraic Halpin BELFAST (Reuters) - Northern Ireland’s power-sharing administration was on the brink of collapse on Thursday after a murder linked to the IRA plunged the province towards the gravest crisis since a 1998 peace deal ended years of sectarian violence. In a day of high drama in Northern Ireland, First Minister Peter Robinson stepped aside with all but one of his unionist party allies, a step that leaves the power sharing agreement between Catholic Irish nationalists and their
  
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• Obama directs US government to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees

  10-09-2015 22:48
  
  With the White House under pressure to join European nations in addressing the global crisis, President Barack Obama will make a “significant” push to accept 10,000 refugees in the next fiscal year.
  
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• Gloucester Services: Are people really forgoing seaside breaks in favour of the M5 destination?

  10-09-2015 22:48
  
  Autumn whispers along Winnycroft Lane, the odd chill gust whisking away a leaf. A pale September sun has accompanied me from the market town of Stroud, over the last ridge of the Cotswolds before Gloucestershire flattens and slides towards the Severn.
  
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• Citizen Smith is back: Classic 1970s BBC comedy starring Robert Lindsay set to return

  10-09-2015 22:45
  
  The glorious day has finally arrived for the Tooting Popular Front. The classic BBC comedy Citizen Smith is to return – and now the South London Che Guevara is taking over the Labour party.
  
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• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to be republished with illustrations

  10-09-2015 22:20
  
  When the first fully illustrated version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone hits the nation's bookshops on 6 October, some readers might be forgiven for thinking they've seen the pictures already. The first of JK Rowling's world-conquering novels about a wizard school and its inhabitants has been given such visual solidity through the movies, the merchandising and the Potterworld website (not to mention the maturing faces of the three main characters seen on press and television), it's
  
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• NI Facing Uncharted Territory Over Crisis

  10-09-2015 21:55
  
  Northern Ireland's devolved government was already in the throes of an economic crisis over its failure to agree welfare reform. Unionists only agreed to share power with Sinn Fein on the basis of a republican commitment to "exclusively peaceful means". First Minister Peter Robinson, who leads the Democratic Unionists, said his ministers would resign unless parties agreed to voluntarily adjourn.
  
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• Assisted dying: Hearing arguments for and against a Bill that's divided Britain

  10-09-2015 21:53
  
  Today marks a watershed moment in an emotive argument that divides Britain, with MPs debating a change in the law which would allow doctors to help people to die.
  
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• Labour leadership contest: After 88 days of campaigning, how did Labour's candidates do?

  10-09-2015 21:41
  
  After 88 days, nearly two dozen debates and countless meetings to woo the party faithful, by midday on 12 September Labour will have a new leader.
  
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• British, French, German leaders defend Iran nuclear deal

  10-09-2015 21:35
  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The leaders of Britain, France and Germany on Thursday defended the Iran nuclear deal agreed in July between Iran and major powers as the debate in U.S. Congress heated up due to fierce opposition to the agreement among Republican lawmakers.
  
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• Natasha McKenna: Police release video of fatal encounter between officers and mentally ill inmate

  10-09-2015 21:31
  
  Police in Virginia have released video footage showing a confrontation between officers and a mentally ill inmate they were trying to restrain and who later died after being tasered four times.
  
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• Refugee crisis: We know about the problem - but how do we address it?

  10-09-2015 21:29
  
  The two most important things to remember about the refugee crisis facing Europe are as follows. First, it is not going to end of its own accord: 350,000 people have been registered on the continent’s borders so far this year, more than in the whole of 2014. War, and poverty, will send more over for years to come. Second, Europe has the capacity to take the sting out its tail. What Lebanon faces, with 25 per cent of its population now Syrian refugees, is an emergency.
  
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• Boost for care staff as EU court rules time travelling to and from job is work

  10-09-2015 21:09
  
  Workers including care staff, sales reps and tradespeople should have the time they spend travelling to and from their first and last jobs of the day classed as work, the European Court of Justice has ruled.
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn: I've sounded out MPs on shadow cabinet jobs

  10-09-2015 21:07
  
  Jeremy Corbyn has confirmed he has sounded out fellow-MPs about forming a frontbench team if he wins the Labour leadership, and has names in mind for shadow chancellor and shadow foreign secretary.
  
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• Labour's Corbyn says voted 'No' to Britain's EU membership in 1975 vote

  10-09-2015 20:52
  
  The man expected to win control of Britain's opposition Labour Party said on Thursday that he voted 'No' to Britain's membership of the forerunner to the European Union in a 1975 referendum. Labour supporters are selecting a leader whose first major test will be to steer the 115-year-old party through a referendum on Britain's EU membership by the end of 2017 ahead of a national election in 2020. In 1975, Britons were asked "Do you think the United Kingdom should stay in the European Community (
  
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• Heineken buys 50% stake in independent California brewery Lagunitas for $1bn - but the state's craft beer community is up in arms

  10-09-2015 20:50
  California’s craft beer community is up in arms. Its values – and the product it consumes – will be watered down by its association with “Big Beer”, it says.
  
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• Heineken buys 50% stake in independent California brewery Lagunitas - but the state's craft beer community is up in arms

  10-09-2015 20:50
  California’s craft beer community is up in arms. Its values – and the product it consumes – will be watered down by its association with “Big Beer”, it says.
  
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• Stormont Turmoil As First Minister Steps Down

  10-09-2015 20:48
  
  Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson has stepped down and most of his Democratic Unionist ministers have quit over a crisis sparked by a murder linked to the IRA. However, Mr Robinson's party colleague and Finance Minister Arlene Foster will remain in post and take over as acting First Minister. The continuing presence of a DUP member appears to have staved off the immediate collapse of the devolved government.
  
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• Donald Macintyre's sketch: It ends in a bit of a Blur for Liz Kendall and her supporters

  10-09-2015 20:45
  
  She didn’t actually say “Some of us will fight, fight, and fight again for the party we love.” But Liz Kendall ended her leadership campaign much in the spirit of Hugh Gaitskell’s speech just before the Labour conference voted for unilateral nuclear disarmament in 1960.
  
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• NFL Kickoff 2015: New England Patriots will probably shred the Pittsburgh Steelers secondary

  10-09-2015 20:42
  
  The Pittsburgh Steelers will travel to Foxborough, Boston to face the defending Super Bowl Champions the New England Patriots on Thursday night. The 2015 NFL Kickoff will host a number of story lines, highlighting on and off-the-field issues for both teams.
  
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• Concentrix: Controversial US firm to be sole collector of court fines for Ministry of Justice

  10-09-2015 20:38
  
  An American outsourcing giant criticised for its controversial pursuit of benefit recipients on behalf of the tax office is set to become the Ministry of Justice’s debt collector, The Independent can reveal.
  
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• Labour moderates plot fightback aimed at regaining control of party in the event of a Jeremy Corbyn victory

  10-09-2015 20:29
  
  Labour moderates are plotting a fightback aimed at regaining control of the party and its policies from the left after Jeremy Corbyn’s expected election as leader.
  
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• How the Blitz shaped Britain's future: A new country arose from destruction caused by the aerial assault launched 75 years ago

  10-09-2015 20:25
  Ida Rodway was an ordinary, law-abiding woman in her late sixties from east London. In early October 1940, she went to fetch her blind husband, Joseph, his morning cup of tea. But as the water boiled, Ida changed her mind. She picked up an axe and a carving knife instead. Returning to her husband, she attacked him with the axe.
  
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• Gaza doctor Tarek Loubani creates 3D printed stethoscopes to alleviate medical supply shortages caused by blockade

  10-09-2015 20:17
  A doctor in the Gaza Strip who was faced with the fallout of an eight-year blockade in the territory has taken matters into his own hands and created a low-cost stethoscope with a 3D printer.
  
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• Gang of paedophiles groomed pregnant women to secure babies for sexual abuse, hearing told

  10-09-2015 20:06
  
  A gang of paedophiles who groomed pregnant women to secure their babies for later sexual abuse used one victim as a prop to advertise an online chatroom about child rape, a sentencing hearing has been told.
  
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• Labour's London Mayoral candidate to be announced amid close-run result between Tessa Jowell and Sadiq Khan

  10-09-2015 19:59
  
  Labour’s candidate for Mayor of London is set to be announced, with a close-run result expected between Dame Tessa Jowell and Sadiq Khan.
  
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• Kevin McGuigan murder: senior Sinn Fein member Bobby Storey released

  10-09-2015 19:58
  
  Sinn Fein's northern chairman Bobby Storey has been released by detectives investigating a killing by suspected members of the IRA, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said.
  
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• Ulster power-sharing on the brink as First Minister Peter Robinson stands down

  10-09-2015 19:48
  
  Power-sharing in Northern Ireland stands on the brink after First Minister Peter Robinson stepped down and the majority of his Executive ministers resigned amid a crisis sparked by a murder linked to the IRA.
  
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• PM Cameron 'gravely concerned' by crisis in Northern Ireland

  10-09-2015 19:47
  
  British Prime Minister David Cameron is gravely concerned about the political crisis in Northern Ireland, his spokeswoman said on Thursday. Northern Ireland is facing its biggest political crisis in more than a decade, with the British government likely to be asked to suspend the province's power-sharing administration after a murder that police said was linked to the disbanded IRA. "The PM is gravely concerned about the situation... we want to see all politicians in Northern Ireland working tog
  
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• DUP Leader Peter Robinson Quits Over Crisis

  10-09-2015 19:45
  
  Northern Ireland's First Minister Peter Robinson has quit along with most of his Democratic Unionist ministers over the Stormont crisis. However, Mr Robinson's party colleague and Finance Minister Arlene Foster will remain in post and take over as acting First Minister. Stormont has been on the brink following a murder linked to the IRA.
  
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• The refugee crisis is more of a threat to new Europe

  10-09-2015 19:42
  
  There are those who maintain that the European Union is just one giant illusion, a product of wishful thinking that bears no relation to reality. I am not among them. But there is one respect in which the EU countries, collectively and individually, have been wilfully deluding themselves, to the detriment of the enterprise as a whole.
  
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• David Cameron orders three ministers to pay back taxpayers' money they had wrongly claimed

  10-09-2015 19:41
  
  Three ministers have been ordered by David Cameron to pay back taxpayers’ money which they had wrongly claimed, after they were “named and shamed” by the parliamentary expenses watchdog.
  
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• Japan floods: Record rainfall sees new 'wall of water' sweep across Honshu causing rivers to burst their banks and landslides

  10-09-2015 19:40
  Record rainfall in Japan has burst riverbanks, ripped houses from their foundations and forced over 100,000 people to flee their homes. The aftermath of Typhoon Etau has also washed tons of radioactive water from the ruined Daiichi nuclear power plant into the Pacific.
  
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• Private landlords urged to provide quality housing to UK-bound refugees

  10-09-2015 19:33
  
  Thousands of private landlords will need to step forward to provide accommodation for refugees if the Government is to have any hope of resettling up to 20,000 refugees, campaigners have warned.
  
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• Northern Irish Unionists fail in bid to adjourn parliament

  10-09-2015 19:32
  
  DUBLIN (Reuters) - Northern Ireland's largest pro-British party failed in its attempt to win support from rival parties to adjourn parliament on Thursday, paving the way for a request for the British government to suspend the province's power-sharing administration. After a senior member of Sinn Fein was arrested on Wednesday in relation to an IRA-linked murder, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) said its ministers would resign immediately if its call for an adjournment was not backed or London
  
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• Migrant crisis: Britain should do much more, says UN chief Ban Ki-moon

  10-09-2015 19:31
  
  Britain should "do much more" to assist in the current migration crisis, the Secretary General of the United Nations has said.
  
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• James Blake: Tennis star receives apology from New York police after being slammed to ground by white cops

  10-09-2015 19:30
  
  The police and civilian leadership of New York City sought on Thursday to apologise to a black former tennis star who was slammed to the floor by five white officers who mistook him as a suspect.
  
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• Israel 'knows who burned Palestinian family alive – but is hiding them'

  10-09-2015 19:29
  
  The Israeli government has identified the men who carried out an arson attack that killed three members of a Palestinian family - but has opted not to press charges, the country’s defence minister has reportedly said.
  
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• Israel ‘knows who burned Palestinian family alive – but is hiding them’

  10-09-2015 19:29
  
  The Israeli government has identified the men who carried out an arson attack that killed three members of a Palestinian family - but has opted not to press charges, the country’s defence minister has reportedly said.
  
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• Syria civil war: The Russians are coming to President Assad's aid – or are they?

  10-09-2015 19:26
  
  Russian soldiers have joined the ground war in Syria. More Russian supplies are being rushed to Syria to prop the weakening regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Greater Russian involvement will prolong the war in Syria, warns US Secretary of State John Kerry. Russia is reported to be planning to strengthen a Syrian naval base at Tartous.
  
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• Refugee crisis: Cutting Britain's overseas aid to help pay for taking in refugees will exacerbate the problem

  10-09-2015 19:14
  
  The refugee crisis must be tackled at source: this has been a mantra repeated many times by politicians as accusations and recriminations fly across a Europe divided over how to deal with the thousands of dispossessed people arriving at its shores.
  
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• Ulster power-sharing on the brink as Peter Robinson stands down

  10-09-2015 19:09
  
  Power-sharing in Northern Ireland stands on the brink after First Minister Peter Robinson stepped down and the majority of his Executive ministers resigned amid a crisis sparked by a murder linked to the IRA.
  
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• Jose Maria Ruiz-Mateos: Spanish tycoon who was no stranger to court appearances facing paternity lawsuit - despite being dead

  10-09-2015 18:58
  During his life, he was already embroiled in an estimated 1,500 court cases over his shady financial dealings. And even after dying earlier this week aged 84, one of Spain’s most controversial business personalities, Jose Maria Ruiz-Mateos, is back on trial again – over a paternity lawsuit.
  
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• Global warming causing record rock falls in the Alps, warns expert

  10-09-2015 18:53
  
  A French expert is predicting a record number of rock falls in the Alps this year as rising temperatures, thought to be a result of climate change, cause the permafrost to melt.
  
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• Northern Irish First Minister resigns amid political crisis

  10-09-2015 18:46
  
  Northern Ireland First Minister Peter Robinson said he will step aside and that all bar one of his Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) ministers will also resign amid a crisis over an IRA-linked murder. The DUP, the province's largest pro-British party, failed to win support from rival parties to adjourn the power-sharing administration earlier on Thursday and Robinson had said his ministers would resign if London did not agree to suspend parliament. "In light of the decision to continue with busine
  
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• Donald Trump would ‘love to help’ with the refugee crisis, but says US has its own problems

  10-09-2015 18:42
  
  The refugee crisis has moved the public and politicians globally, with leaders in Britain, Germany and other countries vowing to accept a quota of those fleeing death and persecution.
  
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• Singapore election: Opposition leader Sylvia Lim hopes to bring reform by riding an anti-establishment wave

  10-09-2015 18:40
  
  As the day turned into night, around 30,000 gathered to hear Singapore’s opposition leader, policewoman-turned law teacher-turned-politician, Sylvia Lim.
  
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• Government invites regimes with 'appalling' human rights records to London arms fair

  10-09-2015 18:37
  
  Regimes criticised for “appalling” human rights records have been extended official invitations by the Government to attend the world’s largest arms and security fair in London, The Independent can reveal.
  
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• Cherie Blair's stepmother in court accused of stealing neighbour's bin.

  10-09-2015 18:29
  Cherie Blair's stepmother has appeared in court accused of stealing a neighbour's bin.
  
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• DUP Leader Peter Robinson To Quit Over Crisis

  10-09-2015 18:27
  
  Northern Ireland's First Minister and Democratic Unionist leader Peter Robinson is to quit over the Stormont power-sharing crisis. His party colleague Arlene Foster is to take over as temporary First Minister. Sky's Ireland Correspondent David Blevins said it indicated the devolved government would not collapse given the continuing presence of the DUP on the executive.
  
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• Women's rights charities publish free sex education guide for schools

  10-09-2015 18:26
  
  Women's rights charities have said they are filling the "huge hole" left by Government in sex and relationship education by publishing their own free guide for schools.
  
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