General news

• Nicole Kidman named best actress in London stage awards

  22-11-2015 23:33
  
  Nicole Kidman won the best actress award for her performance as a DNA researcher in the play "Photograph 51" at the London Evening Standard Theatre Awards on Sunday. James McAvoy won best actor for a revival of "The Ruling Class" while Imelda Staunton took the award for best performance in a musical for her portrayal of Momma Rose in a revival of the 1959 Broadway musical "Gypsy". The Oscar-winning Kidman, performing on the London stage for the first time since 1998, has won rave reviews for her
  
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• Weather disrupt efforts to recover New Zealand helicopter crash bodies

  22-11-2015 23:03
  
  Bad weather continues to hamper efforts to recover the bodies of the victims of a helicopter crash in New Zealand as tributes were paid to the four British tourists killed.
  
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• Osborne To Heed Banks' Call With Funding Move

  22-11-2015 21:31
  
  George Osborne will this week offer an olive branch to banks angered by recent tax moves, extending a flagship programme aimed at bolstering lending to small businesses. Sky News understands that Treasury officials are looking to prolong the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS) beyond its intended expiry in January. The move will pave the way for the Bank of England to provide tens of billions of pounds to banks to pass on in the form of loans to small and medium-sized companies (SMEs).
  
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• Security tight in Brussels as world powers consider response to Islamic State

  22-11-2015 19:48
  
  The desperate manhunt for terrorists involved in the Paris atrocities will see Brussels in lock-down for a third day as the international community prepares to intensify action against Islamic State.
  
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• Relatives of Shoreham air crash victims commemorate loved ones

  22-11-2015 15:53
  
  Relatives of the 11 men killed in the Shoreham air crash joined in sombre remembrance with 999 service members at a memorial service exactly three months on from the disaster.
  
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• Lord's Prayer ad cinema ban 'rather chilling in terms of limiting free speech'

  22-11-2015 15:43
  
  The Church of England has said the policy preventing them from showing an advert featuring the Lord's Prayer did not exist at the time they were trying to get the video into cinemas.
  
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• Former TV host John Leslie 'being questioned over sexual assault'

  22-11-2015 15:02
  
  Former television host and radio presenter John Leslie is being questioned by police in connection with a sexual assault on a 22-year-old woman, it has been reported.
  
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• Cameron to push for war with case for joining Syria air strikes

  22-11-2015 14:37
  
  By Kylie MacLellan LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron will this week set out the case for joining air strikes against Islamic State militants in Syria, his finance minister said on Sunday, in a bid to persuade a parliament loath to embark on another war in the Middle East. Britain is already bombing IS in Iraq but Cameron has said he believes Britain should be doing more to fight the militants, who claimed responsibility for this month's attacks in Paris in which 130 people died. Fr
  
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• Tributes For Britons Killed In Helicopter Crash

  22-11-2015 14:33
  
  Tributes have been paid to Britons who lost their lives in a "devastating" New Zealand helicopter crash. Cambridge couple Katharine Walker, 51, and Andrew Virco, 50, were also among the seven people - four of them British - who died in the crash at Fox Glacier off the South Island. The 28-year-old pilot, Mitchell Gameren, was from Queenstown.
  
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• Mourners arrive for Shoreham air crash memorial service

  22-11-2015 14:29
  
  Hundreds of guests have started to arrive at a memorial service to remember the 11 men killed in the Shoreham air crash - exactly three months since the disaster.
  
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• Church of England criticises cinemas for banning Lord's Prayer advert

  22-11-2015 14:22
  
  The Church of England said on Sunday it was "bewildered" by the refusal of some of Britain's biggest cinema chains to show an advert featuring the Lord's Prayer. Digital Cinema Media, which provides 80 percent of cinema advertising through chains including Cineworld, Odeon and Vue, said in a statement it had a policy of not accepting political or religious advertising in case they caused offence. The Lord's Prayer is prayed by billions of people across the globe every day and in this country has
  
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• MPs To Vote On IS Strikes When PM 'Confident'

  22-11-2015 14:16
  
  MPs will get to vote again on whether Britain can proceed with airstrikes on Islamic State in Syria - but not until the Government is "confident" of getting a majority. George Osborne said losing such a vote for a second time - after a previous defeat in 2013 - would be a "publicity coup" for the extremist group. The Chancellor was speaking amid reports that David Cameron is launching a final attempt to win backing for airstrikes in Syria – with MPs expected to vote in the Commons wit
  
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• Tributes paid to British victims of New Zealand helicopter crash

  22-11-2015 13:43
  
  Tributes have been paid to the British victims of a helicopter crash in New Zealand which killed seven people.
  
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• The West is seeing price of not getting involved in Syria, warns Osborne

  22-11-2015 12:27
  
  Western nations are seeing "the price of not getting involved" in Syria, George Osborne warned as the Government stepped up efforts to win the support of MPs for British airstrikes against Islamic State.
  
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• Osborne fails to rule out cuts to frontline policing

  22-11-2015 12:08
  
  George Osborne said counter-terrorism funding would be increased by 30% in the wake of the Paris atrocities - but failed to rule out cuts to frontline police numbers.
  
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• Five years into austerity, Britain prepares for more cuts

  22-11-2015 12:02
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - After laying off nearly half its staff over the last five years, scaling back street cleaning and relying on volunteers to work at some of its libraries, the London borough of Lewisham is getting ready for what could be much more painful spending cuts.
  
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• Security alert on housing estate after police find 'explosives'

  22-11-2015 11:56
  
  A security alert was put in place on a housing estate after a possible explosive find was made by police.
  
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• Cinema ban on Lord's Prayer advert 'extraordinary' says Archbishop

  22-11-2015 11:56
  
  The Archbishop of Canterbury has said it is "extraordinary" that Britain's biggest cinema chains have banned an advert featuring the Lord's Prayer.
  
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• Church 'Bewildered' By Cinema Ban On Prayer Ad

  22-11-2015 11:48
  
  The Church of England has said it is "bewildered" by the refusal of the country's biggest cinema chains to screen a 60-second advert featuring the Lord's Prayer. The Church produced the ad and planned for it to be shown in cinemas from 18 December before Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which is tipped to smash box office records. The short film features Christians from all walks of life - including the Archbishop of Canterbury, weightlifters, a police officer, a commuter, refugees, schoolchildren
  
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• British Couples Killed In NZ Helicopter Crash

  22-11-2015 11:46
  
  The victims of a helicopter crash in one of New Zealand's best-known tourist spots have been named – with four Britons among the dead. It is believed Nigel Charlton, 66, and his wife Cynthia, 70, both from Hampshire, were on board the aircraft when it went down at Fox Glacier off the South Island. Andrew Virco, 50, and his partner Katharine Walker, 51, of Cambridge, were the other two Britons on the flight.
  
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• UK to buy more F-35 jets, boost anti-terror budget - Osborne

  22-11-2015 11:29
  
  Britain plans to increase the number of fighter jets it can launch from aircraft carriers and boost anti-terrorism spending, finance minister George Osborne said on Sunday. The government is due to set out a new five-year defence strategy on Monday and a broader budget plan on Wednesday. "We are going to step up the aircraft carrier punch of the United Kingdom.
  
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• Two British couples die in New Zealand helicopter crash

  22-11-2015 10:35
  
  Two British couples were among seven people killed when a helicopter crashed in to a glacier in New Zealand.
  
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• After talks, EU officials see no quick December fix with Britain

  22-11-2015 10:15
  
  By Jan Strupczewski BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders are not only unlikely to reach a deal next month with Britain on its demands for reform of the bloc but may not even narrow differences at a pre-Christmas summit, officials and diplomats said. After a week of "confessional" meetings between aides to summit chairman Donald Tusk and other member state envoys in turn, which should conclude on Monday, people involved told Reuters many opposed some of the demands British Prime Minister D
  
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• Analysis - Britain needs to start doing favours to win EU friends

  22-11-2015 10:10
  
  By Paul Taylor BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The British used to be past masters in the art of trading favours to secure their interests in the European Union. Partly as a result, London's influence in the corridors of Brussels has diminished. Cameron may pay a high price in the coming weeks when he needs to call in all the favours he can to achieve a successful outcome to his renegotiation of Britain's membership terms before holding a referendum on whether to stay in the bloc.
  
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• David Cameron to outline plan for defeating IS as he seeks air strikes support

  22-11-2015 08:35
  
  David Cameron is expected to outline his plan for defeating Islamic State (IS) to MPs this week as he seeks to bolster support for UK air strikes in Syria.
  
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• Temperatures plummet as Britain shivers through wintry weekend

  22-11-2015 08:29
  
  Temperatures dropped as low as minus 6C in places as Britain shivered through a wintry weekend.
  
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• Britons Killed In NZ Helicopter Crash Named

  22-11-2015 06:58
  
  The victims of a helicopter crash in one of New Zealand's best-known tourist spots have been named – with four Britons among the dead. It is believed Nigel and Cynthia Charlton, both from Hampshire, were on board the aircraft when it went down at Fox Glacier off the South Island. Andrew Virco and Katharine Walker, of Cambridge, were the other two Britons on the flight.
  
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• British couples die in New Zealand helicopter crash

  22-11-2015 05:15
  
  Two British couples were among seven people killed when a helicopter crashed into a glacier in New Zealand.
  
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• Stroke patient has stem cell brain injection to help arm movement

  22-11-2015 04:15
  
  A 66-year-old woman has become the first in England to undergo a stem cell brain injection to help recover the use of her arm after she suffered a stroke.
  
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• Paris Attacks Made Me Doubt, Says Archbishop

  22-11-2015 02:51
  
  The Archbishop of Canterbury has said the terror attacks in Paris caused him to "doubt" the presence of God - but warned against a potentially damaging instant reaction. Justin Welby said he reacted with "profound sadness" at the events and was left asking where God was in the French victims' time of need. When asked what his reaction to the attacks was, he said: "Like everyone else - first shock and horror and then a profound sadness - and in my family's case, that is added to because my wife a
  
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• Buddhist meditation 'can combat racial prejudice'

  22-11-2015 02:18
  
  A Buddhist meditation technique designed to spread love and kindness can combat racial prejudice, a study has found.
  
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• George Osborne to bring forward fighter jets purchase

  22-11-2015 02:10
  
  The purchase of new fighter jets is to be speeded up , Chancellor George Osborne said, as he promised funding to ensure the Royal Navy can deploy one if its new aircraft carriers at all times by 2023.
  
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• Youngest MP Mhairi Black issues call on teenage votes in EU referendum

  22-11-2015 02:09
  
  The UK's youngest MP has called for 16 and 17-year-olds to be given the vote in the forthcoming referendum on European Union (EU) membership.
  
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• Police name New Zealand helicopter crash victims

  22-11-2015 02:08
  
  Police have released the names of seven people - including four Britons - who were killed when a helicopter crashed into a glacier in New Zealand.
  
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• PM 'Wants Syria Airstrikes Within Two Weeks'

  22-11-2015 01:54
  
  David Cameron is launching a final attempt to win backing for airstrikes in Syria – with MPs expected to vote in the Commons within the next fortnight. The first bombing raids against Islamic State would begin within hours of a "yes" vote, The Sunday Times reported. Mr Cameron is to start privately warning MPs that the UK needs to act like "Churchill not Chamberlain" if it wishes to defeat terrorism.
  
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• X Factor dream is over for Mason Noise

  22-11-2015 01:06
  
  The X Factor's Mason Noise has been voted out of the competition after receiving the fewest votes from the public.
  
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• Shoreham air crash memorial service to remember 11 victims

  22-11-2015 01:06
  
  A memorial service will be held today to remember the 11 men killed in the Shoreham air crash - exactly three months since the disaster.
  
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• Mortgage lenders move to simplify charges

  22-11-2015 01:06
  
  Mortgage lenders have launched a new drive to simplify how they display their fees, following concerns that people were at risk of paying over the odds due to complex charges.
  
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• Labour must stop verbal fisticuffs, warns Unison's Dave Prentis

  22-11-2015 01:06
  
  A senior union leader has urged Labour politicians to stop their "damaging squabbling" or the party has little chance of winning back popular support.
  
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• John Swinney urges George Osborne to change course on 'unacceptable' cuts

  22-11-2015 01:06
  
  George Osborne's plan to raise more money than he needs to spend is "unacceptable" when he is cutting benefits, taxing Scotland's police force and doing little to support the faltering North Sea energy sector, according to Scotland's Deputy First Minister.
  
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• Georgia May provides Blackpool illumination for Strictly judges

  22-11-2015 01:06
  
  Georgia May Foote was the star of week nine of Strictly Come Dancing after recording a high score of 38 in Blackpool.
  
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• Drug bid to boost bone healing after fractures

  22-11-2015 01:06
  
  A new drug is being developed to help bones heal faster and better to help older people recover more quickly after suffering a fracture.
  
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• David Duchovny: I'll never have another success like The X-Files

  22-11-2015 01:06
  
  David Duchovny has said he will not have another television success like The X-Files.
  
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• Archbishop 'doubted' presence of God after Paris attacks

  22-11-2015 01:06
  
  The Archbishop of Canterbury has admitted the terror attacks in Paris made him "doubt" the presence of God.
  
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