General news

• Former drug executive Martin Shkreli calls fraud allegations 'baseless'

  19-12-2015 23:47
  
  Man reviled for raising price of life-saving HIV drug Daraprim to $750 per pill says he is confident he will ‘prevail’ after pleading not guiltyThe controversial former pharmaceutical company executive Martin Shkreli has said fraud allegations against him are “baseless and without merit”. Related: Homeless charity to return donation by notorious entrepreneur Martin ShkreliContinue reading...
  
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• Above and beyond: readers' photos on the theme of heaven

  19-12-2015 23:30
  
  For last week’s photography assignment in the Observer New Review we asked you to share your photos on the theme of heaven via GuardianWitness. Here’s a selection of our favourites Share your photos on this week’s theme ‘explore’ by clicking the button belowContinue reading...
  
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• Jay McGuinness wins Strictly Come Dancing 2015

  19-12-2015 23:23
  
  McGuinness, of boyband The Wanted, takes home the glitterball trophy despite placing third on the grand final leaderboard
  Jay McGuinness, of boyband The Wanted, has been crowned the winner of Strictly Come Dancing 2015.
  McGuinness and partner Aliona Vilani came bottom of the leaderboard at the end of the final show on Saturday night but triumphed in the public vote to take home the glitterball trophy. Continue reading...
  
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• Strictly Come Dancing 2015 – The Final!

  19-12-2015 23:10
  
  Who went home with the glitterball tonight? Join us as Jay McGuinness, Kellie Bright, Georgia May Foote and Katie Derham put their best feet forward 10.09pm GMTSo that is really is another year of Strictly over, and I’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has read and shared this blog, along with all of you who have turned up every week and been entirely hilarious and insightful in the comment box, or popped by and said hello on Twitter (@heidistephens, in case you haven’
  
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• Jimmy Hill: the punditry trailblazer who wore hostility as a badge of honour | Martin Kelner

  19-12-2015 23:01
  
  This pioneer against feudalism was qualified to do every job in the game. But he also knew television and his view was there was no point being mealy-mouthedWhile Jimmy Hill’s football career recedes into a monochrome era of Woodbines and reinforced toecaps – he was a wing half, which tells you everything you need to know – his later role as a TV football pundit will be more readily recalled.Hill was the first former professional to do the job, a trailblazer as he was in so man
  
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• Why the Eiffel Tower delivers a message of hope to French people

  19-12-2015 23:00
  
  Paris’s ‘iron lady’ has stood in celebration and solidarity for a century – and now it is speaking to the worldNothing says Paris like the Tour Eiffel. And, increasingly, France’s most recognisable attraction is being used to speak to the world.After the 13 November attacks, when terrorists killed 130 people, the city’s motto in Latin: Fluctuat nec mergitur (She is tossed by waves but does not sink) was projected on the celebrated Dame de Fer. For the followin
  
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• Pep Guardiola: a genius with a gift for coaching and a habit of arguing | Raphael Honigstein

  19-12-2015 23:00
  
  At Bayern Munich Pep Guardiola has shown tactical acuity and attention to detail without equal, but has fallen out with anyone who has whispered a complaintThe occasion was mundane, the opposition mediocre. But you wouldn’t have known either from the enormous, coffee table-sized dossier Pep Guardiola was carrying through the corridors of Bayern Munich’s Säbener Strasse headquarters before October’s home game against Cologne, the sort of game his club – the unassailab
  
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• Lazy, drunken, promiscuous, rude ... why the UK loves to hate young white men

  19-12-2015 23:00
  
  New poll results suggest white men in their 20s have become the most derided social group in BritainYoung British white men are in trouble, it seems. They are the most derided group in Britain, according to a series of polls into the public’s attitudes to each other.British people expect young white men to get drunk, be lazy, rude and to have several sexual partners. It also appears that young white men are the demographic group least likely to go to university. Dr Mary Curnock Cook, the c
  
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• San Bernardino shooter's visa approved despite problems, lawmaker says

  19-12-2015 22:31
  
  Congressman says US immigration officials failed and suggests Tashfeen Malik was the beneficiary of a lapsed government vetting processUS immigration officials failed to obtain required proof from the San Bernardino shooter Tashfeen Malik that she had met her US citizen fiance in person, but granted her a spousal visa anyway, a Republican congressman said on Saturday.Related: Obamas visit San Bernardino victims' families: 'Words aren't enough'Continue reading...
  
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• EU referendum: Set us free to campaign against Brussels, ministers tell David ... - Telegraph.co.uk

  19-12-2015 22:31 via
  Telegraph.co.uk
  EU referendum: Set us free to campaign against Brussels, ministers tell David ...
  Telegraph.co.uk
  David Cameron is facing demands from his own Cabinet ministers to set them free to campaign in the European Union referendum, as Eurosceptic Tories warn that forcing them to stay quiet would be “a catastrophic mistake”. Ministers on both sides of the ...
  Living wage will lead to new boom in migrants, claim EuroscepticsThe Guardian
  I'll vote to leave the EU, says for
  

• Chelsea fans have their say on José Mourinho's sacking – in pictures

  19-12-2015 22:27
  
  With Chelsea facing Sunderland at Stamford Bridge less than 48 hours after Mourinho was fired, the match gave Chelsea supporters an opportunity to air their views on Roman Abramovich’s decision Continue reading...
  
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• Western leaders urge Libyan factions to allow bombing of Isis fighters

  19-12-2015 22:00
  
  Two opposing governments told to forget differences – or risk Islamic State fighters winning control of strategic oil townWestern officials are scrambling to get authorisation for Libya airstrikes in the coming days before Islamic State captures the strategically important town of Ajdabiya, gateway to the country’s oil wealth.Fierce fighting is raging in the town, which sits on a rocky plateau dominating the eastern oil ports. Capture will give Isis command of the Sirte basin, home t
  
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• Ab Fab and David Brent to lead way as British movies battle TV box set culture

  19-12-2015 22:00
  
  BBC television comedy hits heading for the big screen after box office success of quality dramasIt’s time to fight back against the tyranny of the TV box set, says the woman who brings many of Britain’s most successful films to cinema screens. In a challenge to the widespread belief that the best-quality entertainment is now to be found in lengthy television drama series, producer Christine Langan, the head of BBC Films, has issued a rallying call to Britain’s leading actors an
  
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• No rise in anti-Muslim sentiment in UK after Paris attacks – poll

  19-12-2015 21:51
  
  Despite rising fears of western hostility toward Muslims, new research shows British liberal views have strengthened since last month’s events in FranceLast month’s terrorist attacks in Paris did not lead to a rise in anti-Muslim sentiment in Britain, a new study has shown. The new research, conducted by Rob Ford and Maria Sobolewska of the University of Manchester, comes amid growing concerns about western hostility to Muslims after the Front National’s strong performance in r
  
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• England land Steve Borthwick after RFU agrees compensation with Bristol

  19-12-2015 21:22
  
  • Forwards coach free to begin work with new national head coach Eddie Jones
  • Bristol owner Steve Lansdown criticises RFU for being ‘totally unprofessional’Steve Borthwick is free to start work as England’s forwards coach after the club he walked out on last Tuesday, Bristol, finally agreed a compensation package with the Rugby Football Union.Borthwick handed in his resignation a few hours before the RFU announced he would be joining the management team of the new En
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn: 30% of Labour voters do not think he will lead party at next election – poll

  19-12-2015 21:09
  
  100 days into his leadership, a new Opinium/Observer poll has found a majority of likely voters do not expect Corbyn to be in charge in 2020
  Almost a third of Labour supporters do not think that Jeremy Corbyn will lead Labour into the next general election, according to a new Opinium/Observer poll to mark the Labour leader’s first 100 days in office.A majority of likely voters (57%) – including 30% of Labour supporters – said they did not expect Corbyn to be in charge at the 20
  
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• Team effort paying off as Ed Slater leads determined Leicester drive

  19-12-2015 20:59
  
  With a recent impressive win away against Munster and a fine home record, reinforcing success in Europe is key for the Leicester captainLeicester have got their roar back this season. They go into Sunday’s Champions Cup match against Munster at Welford Road on the back of last weekend’s handsome victory at Thomond Park and an unbeaten home run in the league and Europe that stretches back to September last year. But the Tigers are not purring.Their captain, Ed Slater, has called on hi
  
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• Aston Villa boosted as Jordan Ayew earns draw with Newcastle United

  19-12-2015 20:46
  
  For quite a while the torrential rain seemed Newcastle United’s biggest enemy but then, after an hour, Rémi Garde brought Rudy Gestede off the bench. To say Gestede shook things up a bit would be an understatement and, equally important, the substitute striker brought the previously slumbering Jordan Ayew to life. Related: Bournemouth’s Charlie Daniels spot-on as nine-man West Brom sufferContinue reading...
  
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• Newcastle United v Aston Villa: Premier League – as it happened

  19-12-2015 20:43
  
  Jordan Ayew’s fine finish saved a point for Villa after Fabricio Coloccini’s opener at a sodden St James’ Park but they remain bottom with only seven points 7.26pm GMTSiem de Jong should have put the game to bed, and was made to pay for his terrible miss a couple of minutes later by Jordan Ayew’s wonderful goal. Rudy Gestede might have pinched the winner for Villa but Newcastle finished on the attack in a helter-skelter second half, so maybe a point each was about right.
  
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• Putin says Russia ready to increase military role in Syria - The Guardian

  19-12-2015 17:25 via
  The Guardian
  Putin says Russia ready to increase military role in Syria
  The Guardian
  Vladimir Putin has warned that Russia is ready to to scale up its military intervention in Syria, less than a day after Moscow signed off on an ambitious UN plan to end the war. The peace roadmap lays out a two-year path to elections for a new ...
  L. Todd Wood: Why Putin respects TrumpWashington Times
  Donald Trump says of Vladimir Putin 'He's right I am brilliant'Daily Mail
  Trump's Bromance with Putin: He Likes
  

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