General news

• Coldplay and Wolf Alice big winners at NME Awards

  17-02-2016 23:52
  Wolf Alice were double winners at the NME Awards, on the night Coldplay were honoured for their contribution to music.
  
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• 'Crunch Time' For Cameron Over EU Reforms

  17-02-2016 23:49
  
  David Cameron is heading to Brussels for an EU summit which will be the defining moment of his political career and which his own officials are admitting is "crunch time". The Prime Minister is battling to win agreement from European leaders for a new deal on Britain's EU membership which he hopes to put to voters in a referendum on 23 June. If he secures a deal and then a vote to remain in the EU, he will claim his strategy has been a triumph and hope the Conservative Party can stop "banging on
  
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• Good progress made on EU negotiations, says David Cameron

  17-02-2016 23:21
  David Cameron has insisted "good progress" has been made on his EU negotiations on the eve of crunch talks with state leaders in Brussels.
  
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• Matt Dawson reveals son's fight against meningitis B

  17-02-2016 23:01
  
  Former England rugby player posted images on Twitter of two-year-old Sami recovering in hospital after defeating diseaseFormer England rugby star Matt Dawson has revealed his toddler son has survived “two weeks of hell” battling meningitis.The former England captain shared a series of distressing images of his two-year-old son recovering in Great Ormond Street hospital in London from the deadly disease, which can kill in a matter of hours. Continue reading...
  
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• Southern Poverty Law Center affixes Trump as face of 'year in hate' report

  17-02-2016 22:58
  
  The annual report focuses on how hate speech, mostly from Donald Trump, has pervaded mainstream politics, as well as the 14% increase in US hate groupsThe Southern Poverty Law Center anchored its annual report on hate in America with a picture of the leading Republican presidential candidate: Donald Trump. The image underscores a theme laid out by the report’s author, about how hate speech has invaded mainstream political discourse in a way that might have shocked many even a year ago.Cont
  
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• Cristiano Ronaldo on target as Real Madrid take control against Roma

  17-02-2016 22:57
  
  Related: Roma 0-2 Real Madrid: Champions League – as it happened Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 12th Champions League goal of the season as Real Madrid took a firm grip on their last-16 tie with a 2-0 first leg win at Roma on Wednesday. Continue reading...
  
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• Zero Days review – a disturbing portrait of malware as the future of war

  17-02-2016 22:42
  
  Alex Gibney’s new documentary argues that cyber-attack is the next big thing in war, offering not just the ability to spy, but to launch a complete offensive The title of Alex Gibney’s new documentary about cyberwarfare has something apocalyptic about it: a digital version of the Book Of Revelations, perhaps. It’s actually a technical term relating to a sophisticated piece of weapons-grade malware developed in the last decade by the US and Israeli security services: it can begi
  
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• Gent v Wolfsburg: Champions League – live!

  17-02-2016 22:40
  
  Live updates on the first leg of the last-16 tieEmail [email protected] or tweet @alansmith90Nick Ames: Gent put attitude above talent in search for miracle 9.38pm GMT90 min +3: Rodriguez wins a free-kick at the back post after being nudged in the back by Nielsen. And that is the end of what ended up being quite compelling. Wolfsburg return to Germany with three away goals but they will be disappointed by how things ended. Cruising 3-0 thanks to Draxler and Kruse prompted talk of a cric
  
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• Roma 0-2 Real Madrid: Champions League – as it happened

  17-02-2016 22:38
  
  A fairly easy - and surely decisive - win for Real in an uneventful match at the Stadio Olimpico. 9.37pm GMTAnd that’s that. It wasn’t much of a match, truth be told, but Real won’t care. They were clinical where Roma were wasteful - an away goal for Cristiano Ronaldo! - and take what is surely a decisive win back to the Bernabeu. Unless something very dramatic happens in Spain, Roma’s long wait for another Champions League quarter-final goes on.9.33pm GMT90 min: There wi
  
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• Heart attack, stroke risk 'higher among women who give birth after 40'

  17-02-2016 22:30
  Women who delay motherhood until they are 40 or older are more likely to have a heart attack or a stroke in later life than women who have children at a younger age, new research suggests.
  
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• The Great Sport Relief Bake Off, episode three – as it happened

  17-02-2016 22:04
  
  Will this week’s star baker be former Spice Girl Geri Horner, John Simpson, Louise Redknapp or Jermaine Jenas?8.58pm GMTSo that’s it for another week! Many thanks for keeping me company – I’ll be back next Wednesday for the final show in this series. In the meantime you can find me on Twitter @heidistephens, so do come and say hello. Enjoy the rest of your week! Hx 8.58pm GMTAnd it’s GERI who wins the Star Baker apron – her tart was one of the best Paul has se
  
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• Climber Dies After Highlands Avalanche

  17-02-2016 22:03
  
  A search and rescue operation was launched after the avalanche in the Creag Meagaidh area of north Lochaber, northeast of Fort William. A coastguard helicopter, several mountain rescue teams and search and rescue dogs were all scrambled to the area, around 19 miles northeast of Ben Nevis. Two injured men were flown out by the helicopter and picked up by ambulances in Fort William.
  
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• Labour will stop MPs vetoing leadership candidates, says Ken Livingstone

  17-02-2016 21:55
  
  The former London mayor thinks the NEC will resolve the situation in which candidates need to get support from 15% of Labour MPs to make the ballotLabour’s ruling body will look at changing its rules to stop its MPs being able to veto party leadership candidates so easily, according to one of its members, Ken Livingstone.The former London mayor said he thought the national executive committee would resolve the situation in which candidates currently need to get support of 15% of Labour MPs
  
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• Search suspended for missing climbers after bad weather

  17-02-2016 21:38
  The search for two experienced climbers missing on Britain's highest mountain has been suspended after further bad weather.
  
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• Climber dies after avalanche in Scottish Highlands

  17-02-2016 21:38
  A climber has died following an avalanche in the Scottish Highlands.
  
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• Manny Pacquiao’s Nike contract terminated after homophobic slurs

  17-02-2016 21:25
  
  • Nike: We find Manny Pacquiao’s comments abhorrent
  • Filipino boxer hit out at same-sex couplesNike has terminated its contract with the boxer Manny Pacquiao after he claimed people in same-sex relationships are “worse than animals”.Nike released a statement on Wednesday that read: “We find Manny Pacquiao’s comments abhorrent. Nike strongly opposes discrimination of any kind and has a long history of supporting and standing up for the rights of the LGBT c
  
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• RAF fighters intercept two Russian bombers nearing UK airspace

  17-02-2016 21:18
  
  Typhon jets escort pair of Russian supersonic bombers across North SeaRAF combat aircraft were scrambled after reports that Russian bombers were heading towards UK airspace. The Typhoon jets were dispatched from RAF Coningsby in Lincolnshire on Wednesday afternoon following the security alert. The two Russian supersonic bombers were escorted across the North Sea. Continue reading...
  
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• Wayne Rooney setback will hit Louis van Gaal harder than Roy Hodgson | Daniel Taylor

  17-02-2016 21:10
  
  Time was when an injury to Rooney would have been a national emergency but England look equipped to cope – while a thin Manchester United attack may toilAt another point in Wayne Rooney’s career, the news of his knee ligaments being damaged with a major international tournament looming in the distance might immediately have spread panic among followers of the England national team. Rooney’s preparation for these events is rarely straightforward and Roy Hodgson could have been f
  
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• Steve Bell on David Cameron, Boris Johnson and the EU – cartoon

  17-02-2016 21:08
  
  Continue reading...
  
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• Sanders campaign defends Killer Mike using 'uterus' quote about Clinton

  17-02-2016 21:06
  
  The Run the Jewels rapper was accused of sexism after Sanders rally in which he quoted activist Jane Elliott: ‘A uterus doesn’t qualify you to be president’A spokesman for Bernie Sanders has dismissed charges of sexism against Sanders supporter Killer Mike, an Atlanta-based rapper in Run the Jewels, as “gotcha” politics.Speaking at a rally for the leftwing Democratic presidential candidate at Morehouse College in Atlanta on Tuesday, Killer Mike argued against Hillar
  
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• This EU referendum doesn’t matter. But the next one will | Simon Jenkins

  17-02-2016 21:05
  
  A no vote could precipitate the sort of reform Europe is crying out for. Surely that’s what everyone wantsIn 532AD the city of Constantinople was torn between two parties, the blues and greens. Everyone, aristocrat or slave, belonged to one or other. In January a chariot race between the two erupted into riots. Destruction was appalling. Half the city was gutted by fire, including the great church of Hagia Sophia. A green emperor was chosen to replace Justinian, who backed the blues and bu
  
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• Lionel Messi’s landmark goal sets up Barcelona win at Sporting Gijón

  17-02-2016 20:57
  
  Lionel Messi passed 300 Primera División goals as Barcelona extended their lead at the top to six points with a 3-1 victory over Sporting Gijón. Related: Lynsey Hipgrave hits out at sexist abuse after criticising Lionel MessiContinue reading...
  
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• Britain scrambles fighters to intercept Russian bombers

  17-02-2016 20:56
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - British Typhoon fighter jets intercepted two Russian Tu-160 bomber planes heading towards British airspace on Wednesday, a spokeswoman from the Ministry of Defence said.
  
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• The Oregon standoff is over but militia left something on the refuge: their poop

  17-02-2016 20:44
  
  The militia left behind ‘significant amounts of human feces’ and dug trenches filled with waste on grounds that contained sensitive Native American artifactsThe armed militia in Oregon left behind “significant amounts of human feces” and dug trenches filled with waste on wildlife refuge grounds that contained sensitive Native American artifacts, according to the FBI. One week after the final four anti-government protesters surrendered at the Malheur national wildlife refu
  
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• Police Academy's George Gaynes made silliness an artform

  17-02-2016 20:40
  
  As the father on Punky Brewster and the doddering police commander Eric Lassard, famous for a scene in which he attempts to make a speech while being orally pleasured, the actor always threw himself into the material Versatile character actor George Gaynes died in his daughter’s home in North Bend, Washington, at age 98 on Monday, leaving behind an enormous body of work that stretched across numerous sitcoms, made-for-TV movies, features films, theater and even opera productions all around
  
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• Orthodox Jewish schools 'erased or changed pictures of women in books'

  17-02-2016 20:37
  
  Pupils at two north London schools had ‘very narrow views about women’s role in society’ and were unprepared for reality of life in Britain, Ofsted saysImages of women were obscured or altered in reading books given to pupils at two orthodox Jewish schools in north London and children in one of them held “very narrow views about the role of women in society,” according to Ofsted inspectors.Yetev Lev, which is one of the largest Jewish schools in Stamford Hill with 7
  
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• Two dead and three injured on Scottish hills and mountains

  17-02-2016 20:27
  
  One dead, another rescued after avalanche, one of three walkers dies after going missing, and search for Ben Nevis couple is haltedTwo men have died and three people are in hospital following a devastating day on Scotland’s hills and mountainsides.Four mountain rescue teams were scrambled to Creag Meagaidh in the Highlands on Wednesday afternoon, following reports of an avalanche by a group of climbers who spotted equipment believed to belong to those trapped underneath. Continue reading..
  
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• Oil prices get boost as Iran praises Saudi plan to freeze output

  17-02-2016 20:26
  
  Cost of Brent crude soars 6.7% as Iran gives verbal support for an output ceiling, even though it is unlikely to freeze its own productionIran has given a significant boost to oil prices by unexpectedly praising a plan put forward by Saudi Arabia and Russia to freeze production.
  The cost of Brent crude soared by 6.7% to $34.35 as Iran gave its verbal support for a production ceiling, even though it avoided making any immediate commitment to rein in its own growing output. Continue reading...
  
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• Tusk: 'No Guarantee' On UK Deal At Summit

  17-02-2016 20:08
  
  There is "still no guarantee" that a new EU deal for Britain will be reached at the crucial Brussels summit, Donald Tusk has warned. The European Council President told EU leaders there would be difficulties during talks on Thursday and Friday, and that failure "would be a defeat for the UK and the European Union". David Cameron is still trying to galvanise support for the deal before EU leaders decide whether to green-light the changes.
  
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• Two People 'Serious' After Highlands Avalanche

  17-02-2016 20:05
  
  Two people are in a serious condition after being taken to hospital following an avalanche in the Highlands. A search and rescue operation was launched after the avalanche in the Creag Meagaidh area of north Lochaber, northeast of Fort William. A coastguard helicopter, several mountain rescue teams and search and rescue dogs were all scrambled to the area, around 19 miles northeast of Ben Nevis.
  
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• Rotherham child sexual exploitation trial jury retires for the day

  17-02-2016 20:00
  A jury considering verdicts of five men and two women charged with offences relating to alleged child sexual exploitation in Rotherham has retired for the day.
  
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• Ed Miliband postpones talk at Oxford University Labour Club over 'anti-Semitism'

  17-02-2016 20:00
  Ed Miliband has said he is "deeply disturbed" by reports of anti-Semitism within the Oxford University Labour Club - postponing a talk until an investigation has been carried out.
  
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• London nurse set himself on fire after being sacked for gross misconduct

  17-02-2016 19:42
  
  Amin Abdullah died after dousing himself in petrol outside Kensington Palace two days before hearing into his dismissalA man who died after setting himself on fire outside Kensington Palace was an award-winning nurse who had been sacked, it has been revealed.Amin Abdullah was fired from his job at Charing Cross hospital just before Christmas. It is understood the 41-year-old, from Notting Hill, had depression and was suicidal after losing his job as a junior nurse. He was admitted to St Charles
  
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• Humanitarian aid convoys enter some besieged towns in Syria

  17-02-2016 19:39
  
  Food and medicine packages being provided to starving civilians in seven besieged locations including Madaya and ZabadaniAid convoys loaded with food and medicine to relieve starving civilians have entered besieged towns in Syria, the government of Bashar al-Assad has said.The convoys, announced by the UN special envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, on Tuesday night, entered the Damascus suburb of Moadamiyah, which is under siege from forces loyal to Assad, as well as Fua and Kefraya, which are
  
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• Roma v Real Madrid: Champions League – live!

  17-02-2016 19:30
  
  Live updates on the last-16 first leg at the Stadio OlimpicoEmail [email protected] with your thoughtsCristiano Ronaldo walks out of press conference 11.40am GMTHere’s the scale of Roma’s task in this Round of 16 tie. Since losing to Villarreal just before Christmas, Real Madrid have embarked on a nine-match unbeaten run. In the process of totting up seven wins and a couple of draws, they’ve scored 37 goals, a rate of just over four per game. Cristiano Ronaldo has sc
  
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• Paul McCartney was turned away from a club. He should be glad | Luke Holland

  17-02-2016 19:29
  
  The doorman who refused the former Beatle entry to a Grammys after-party did us all a favour. No one need take these refuges for D-listers seriously again“How VIP do we gotta get?!” Upon being refused entry to the rapper Tyga’s Grammy aftershow party, an indignant Paul McCartney peers at the faces of his companions, baffled. The doorman, with a doorman’s unique and innate infallibility, won’t budge. Paul wrote Eleanor Rigby. He wrote Yesterday – while actually
  
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• Asda removes food bank donation points from UK stores

  17-02-2016 19:22
  
  Supermarket chain ceases scheme, which allowed customers to donate food bought in store or brought from home, without announcing to mediaAsda has removed permanent collection points for food banks from stores across the UK, in a move that has caused alarm among charities and the supermarket chain’s customers.Following reports on social media that collection trolleys and boxes haddisappeared from stores across Scotland, as well as in Hampshire, Lancashire, Norwich and Newcastle, the Guardia
  
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• Oldest known case of Neanderthal-human sex revealed by DNA test

  17-02-2016 19:20
  
  Traces of DNA found in remains Neanderthal woman show date of first human-Neanderthal couplings is tens of millennia earlier than previously thoughtA Neanderthal woman who lived and died in a Siberian cave 50,000 years ago has led researchers to the oldest known case of sex between modern humans and their beefy, thick-browed cousins.Tests revealed that the female, whose remains were recovered from the Altai mountains on the Russia-Mongolia border, carried traces of DNA from Homo sapiens who appe
  
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• Labour opens inquiry into antisemitism allegations at Oxford student club

  17-02-2016 19:18
  
  Decision by university’s Labour society to support Israeli Apartheid Week prompts MPs to call for party to sever ties with clubThe Labour party’s national student organisation has launched an inquiry into allegations of antisemitic behaviour and intimidation at Oxford University Labour Club.A co-chairman of the club, Alex Chalmers, resigned earlier this week, claiming a large proportion of members “have some kind of problem with Jews”. He alleged that some members have ex
  
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• Facebook cracks down on marijuana firms with dozens of accounts shut down

  17-02-2016 19:17
  
  Social networking site points to violations of community standards as companies take a hit in an industry to which social media is essentialFacebook has recently launched an aggressive campaign to rid its sites of some cannabis-related material, deleting or suspending dozens of accounts operated by marijuana businesses, most of which had operated for years without so much as a warning about offensive material. “We tried to log into Instagram, and a message said we violated their policy, bu
  
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• Donald Trump and the Central Park Five: the racially charged rise of a demagogue

  17-02-2016 19:15
  
  In 1989 five young black men were wrongfully convicted of raping a woman jogging in New York City. Leading the charge against them was a real estate mogul whose divisive rhetoric can be found in his presidential campaign todayYusef Salaam was 15 years old when Donald Trump demanded his execution for a crime he did not commit.Nearly three decades before the rambunctious billionaire began his run for president – before he called for a ban on Muslims entering the United States, for the expuls
  
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• Do women really hit ‘chic peak’ at age 30?

  17-02-2016 19:15
  
  A study suggests the zenith of a woman’s fashion sense comes at the end of her 20s. Two writers talk about finding their own sense of style – in their 30s and beyond
  So, apparently women hit their chic peak at 30, according to a study; within a year their style and confidence comes tumbling down, dramatically hurtling towards what I assume is a gutter full of cardigans and Crocs. I’m very glad nobody told me this at 29, when I finally began to realise the confide
  
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• What was it like to grow up with Girls?

  17-02-2016 19:12
  
  Lena Dunham’s show was billed as a generation’s take on sex, angst and the recession. As it begins its penultimate series, one twentysomething considers if it lived up to her own life
  It has been almost four years since Hannah, Marnie, Jessa and Shoshanna first appeared on our screens in HBO’s Girls, and at the beginning of this year Dunham issued a statement saying that series six, due to air next year, would be the last.“I conceived of Girls when I was 23,” said D
  
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• Organ stem cells 'have sexual identity'

  17-02-2016 19:11
  Stem cells that make up our organs have a "sexual identity", scientists have said.
  
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• Boris Johnson tells Cameron he must do more to win his support on EU

  17-02-2016 19:11
  
  Mayor of London says PM’s pledge to ensure sovereignty of parliament needs more work if he is to back pro-EU campaignBoris Johnson has told David Cameron that he needs to do more to win his support for the campaign to keep Britain in the EU.The London mayor, who has kept Downing Street and the Conservative party guessing over which side he will support in the referendum, warned the prime minister that he needs to strengthen his plans to reassert the sovereignty of the UK parliament. Contin
  
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• At least 18 dead in Ankara car bomb targeting military personnel

  17-02-2016 19:07
  
  Officials confirm explosion in heart of the Turkish capital was aimed at military personnelAt least 18 people have been killed and as many as 60 injured in a rush-hour car bombing targeting military personnel in the heart of the Turkish capital.Mehmet Kiliçer, the Ankara governor, said the explosion was aimed at a convoy of military vehicles as it passed through the administrative centre of the Turkish state, close to parliament, government buildings and Turkey’s military headquarte
  
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• Saoirse Ronan to star in adaptation of Ian McEwan's On Chesil Beach

  17-02-2016 19:05
  
  Ronan, who was nominated for an Oscar for her role in the 2007 adaptation of McEwan’s Atonement, is to star in film of author’s Booker-shortlisted novelSaoirse Ronan, Oscar nominated for her role in 50s-set romance Brooklyn at the Academy Awards next week, is to star in an adaptation of Ian McEwan’s 2007 book, On Chesil Beach. The novel, which was shortlisted for the Booker prize, takes place in 1962, during a young couple’s honeymoon in Dorset. It will mark Ronan’s
  
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• Charlotte Edwards still standard-bearer for England as Robinson era takes shape

  17-02-2016 19:00
  
  Tash Farrant, who was not born when Edwards first played internationally, is the only new face in England’s World T20 squad but Mark Robinson, the recently appointed coach, has brought a fresh outlook Charlotte Edwards was playing cricket for England before the side’s latest recruit, Tash Farrant, was born. Here is an anomaly that may well occur again as Edwards has no immediate plans of calling it a day as England captain, after 10 years at the helm. Moreover her bosses, the new coa
  
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• Bombardier to cut workforce by 7000 - Financial Times

  17-02-2016 18:56 via
  Financial Times
  Bombardier to cut workforce by 7000
  Financial Times
  Canada's Bombardier on Wednesday outlined plans to cut its global workforce by almost 10 per cent, as the aircraft maker announced the latest significant loss stemming from its C Series passenger jet programme. The 7,000 job losses — out of a ...
  Bombardier wins Air Canada order for CSeries jets; shares surgeReuters
  Bombardier to cut up to 7000 jobs but signs jet deal with Air Canada for 45 CSeriesCBC.ca
  Bombardier to cut
  

• UK wage growth slows to lowest since February, unemployment rate unchanged

  17-02-2016 18:53
  Britain's unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.1 percent in the final quarter of 2015, matching the three months to November which was the lowest since early 2006. Total annual wage growth slowed as expected to 1.9 percent, its lowest since February, from 2.1 percent in the three months to November, the Office for National Statistics said. "While the employment rate continues to hit new highs and there are more job vacancies than ever previously recorded, earnings growth remains subdued and
  
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