General news

• Iain Duncan Smith Resigns Over Disability Cuts

  18-03-2016 23:54
  
  Iain Duncan Smith has quit the Cabinet as he branded proposed cuts to disability benefits in George Osborne's Budget as indefensible.
  
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• Iain Duncan Smith resigns over planned welfare cuts

  18-03-2016 23:11
  By William James LONDON (Reuters) - A senior British cabinet minister resigned on Friday citing concerns about the latest round of cuts to benefits announced earlier this week, in a surprise move that heaps pressure on finance minister George Osborne. Iain Duncan Smith, whose Work and Pensions department oversees the welfare system, said in his resignation letter to Prime Minister David Cameron that he had made the decision over cuts to disability payments. "I am unable to watch passively whilst
  
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• Pendleton's 'Special Achievement' At Cheltenham

  18-03-2016 21:43
  
  Olympic cycling champion Victoria Pendleton exceeded expectations and silenced sceptics at horse racing's Cheltenham Festival. She finished fifth on Pacha Du Polder in the Foxhunter Chase with an accomplished ride that made light of her inexperience. Her achievement came 40 minutes after the Gold Cup was won by favourite Don Cossack, ridden by jockey Bryan Cooper to deliver Irish trainer Gordon Elliott a win with his first ever runner in a Gold Cup.
  
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• Harry: Diana 'Longing' For Me To Have Kids

  18-03-2016 21:33
  
  Prince Harry says he is sure his late mother would be "longing" for him to have children so she "can be a grandmother again". The 31-year-old royal also said he hoped Diana, Princess of Wales, felt "proud" of his and brother William's work. The prince, who was just 12 when Diana died in a Paris car crash in 1997, said he thought about his mother every day.
  
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• Olympian Victoria Pendleton thrilled to come in fifth at Cheltenham

  18-03-2016 21:10 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  OLYMPIC cyclist Victoria Pendleton swapped two wheels for four legs today and rode a horse over 22 fences in a major race at the Cheltenham Festival.
  
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• George Osborne signals retreat on disabled benefit cuts amid Tory revolt

  18-03-2016 21:06
  
  George Osborne has signalled an embarrassing retreat over cuts to disabled benefits in the face of a major revolt by Tory MPs.
  
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• Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam wounded and captured in Brussels

  18-03-2016 20:58
  Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam has been wounded and captured in a huge anti-terror operation in Brussels after four months on the run.
  
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• Idiot prankster jailed for pretending to have a BOMB and staging heists at London landmark

  18-03-2016 20:26 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  AN IDIOT prankster who pretended to carry bombs around London at the height of the terror crisis has been jailed.
  
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• Departing boss at Admiral to give staff £1,000 as a thank you gift

  18-03-2016 20:20 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  THOUSANDS of workers at insurance giant Admiral are to get £1,000 from boss Henry Engelhardt as a thank you gift before he retires.
  
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• Sainsbury's set to win Home Retail as Steinhoff pulls out

  18-03-2016 20:15
  By James Davey and Tiisetso Motsoeneng LONDON/JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Sainsbury's, Britain's No. 2 supermarket, was given a clear run to buy Argos-owner Home Retail for 1.4 billion pounds after rival suitor, South Africa's Steinhoff International, withdrew from the race on Friday. Under UK takeover rules, both companies had until 1700 GMT to make a firm bid for Home Retail and investors had expected a raised offer from one or both in a rare contested bid situation. "Steinhoff now confirms that
  
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• Deepcut recruit's lover tells of his shock at her death

  18-03-2016 20:11 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  THE love-struck boyfriend of Private Cheryl James today described how he collapsed in a phone box after hearing the young squaddie had killed herself at Deepcut barracks.
  
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• Moves to scrap 'tampon tax' start next week after Tory MPs threaten revolt

  18-03-2016 20:06
  
  The Government will bring forward legislation to abolish the so-called "tampon tax" next week after Tory MPs threatened to stage a Commons revolt.
  
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• Charles presents equipment to Montenegro to help tackle cigarette smuggling

  18-03-2016 20:06
  The Prince of Wales has presented authorities in Montenegro with specialist equipment that will help tackle the illegal cigarette trade that costs the UK in lost duty and tax.
  
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• Virgin unveils its ‘Azuma’ trains to cut journey times

  18-03-2016 19:40 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  A NEW high speed train that will cut journeys from London to Edinburgh to four hours were unveiled today.
  
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• Death of young rugby player sparks increase in organ donations

  18-03-2016 18:57 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  THE death of a young woman who died of injuries from a rugby tackle has led to an increase in organ donations.
  
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• Paris terror suspect Salah Abdeslam captured in Brussels police raid

  18-03-2016 18:43
  Paris attacks suspect Salah Abdeslam has been wounded and captured in a huge anti-terror operation in Brussels after four months on the run.
  
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• PM pledges disability benefit cuts discussion 'to make sure we get this right'

  18-03-2016 18:12
  Prime Minister David Cameron has said the Government will consult with disability charities over controversial plans to cut benefits "to make sure we get this right".
  
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• Medical drama at car park as MORE THAN 40 doctors and nurses rush to deliver a baby

  18-03-2016 18:12 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  MEDICAL drama erupted at a hospital multi-storey car park when more than 40 doctors and nurses rushed to deliver a baby.
  
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• Musician Guilty Of Murdering Pianist Wife

  18-03-2016 18:09
  
  A classical musician has been found guilty of murdering his world-renowned pianist wife Natalia Strelchenko. Norwegian national John Martin, 48, showed no reaction at Manchester Crown Court as he was found guilty of beating and strangling her. Ms Strelchenko was found with serious head and neck injuries at their home in Newton Heath, Manchester, on their second wedding anniversary.
  
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• Sainsbury's offers 1.4 billion pounds for Argos-owner Home Retail​

  18-03-2016 18:08
  Sainsbury's, Britain's second biggest supermarket, on Friday made a formal 1.4 billion pounds offer for Argos owner Home Retail, after a rival suitor withdrew from the process. Under British takeover rules both Sainsbury's and the South African company Steinhoff International had until 1700 GMT on Friday to make a firm offer for Home Retail. Sainsbury's cash and shares offer values each Home Retail share at 173.2 pence and was on the same terms as an earlier, though not formal, proposal.
  
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• EU deal with Turkey 'a plan to bust the smugglers' business model', says PM

  18-03-2016 17:43
  
  David Cameron has welcomed an EU deal with Turkey, which he said could "significantly" reduce numbers of migrants crossing the eastern Mediterranean to enter Greece by boat.
  
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• Cheltenham Festival: Don Cossack wins Gold Cup as Pendleton lands fifth-place finish – live!

  18-03-2016 17:22
  
  Don Cossack wins Cheltenham Gold Cup under Bryan CooperIvanovitch Gorbatov wins the Triumph Hurdle Uknowhatimeanharry boxes clever in Albert Bartlett Victoria Pendleton – from novice rider to Cheltenham jockey
  [email protected] on email or tweet @bglendenning 4.22pm GMT1 On The Fringe (Ms N Carberry) 13-8 Fav2 Marito (Mr N McParlan) 14-13 Paint The Clouds (Mr S Waley-Cohen) 9-224 ranAlso: 14-1 Current Event 4thCSF: 24.73Tricast: 99.744.21pm GMTOn The Fringe wins the Foxhunt
  
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• South Africa v England: World Twenty20 cricket – live!

  18-03-2016 17:21
  
  Updates from the match at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai
  Email [email protected] | Tweet @niallmcveigh
  McClanagan stars as New Zealand beat Australia by eight runs4.21pm GMT6th over: England 89-3 (Morgan 1, Root 2) Morgan heads to the crease, with England needing to steady the ship. They are still ahead of South Africa at this stage, by six.“It’s good to see England, for once, getting the boundaries in while the fielding restrictions are still on. About time they cottoned on&
  
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• Young people don’t have tribes any more. We have smartphones instead | Jack Jones

  18-03-2016 17:19
  
  Once there were mods, rockers, punks and skinheads. Now, online possibilities are infinite and we can curate our own individual worldsWe hunt in packs. It’s human nature. We do it to protect ourselves from the threat of attack, loneliness and to gather food. And while we are at it, our packs develop their own cultures, beliefs and ways of behaving. That includes ways to amuse ourselves when not much is happening. Thankfully, we don’t have to go out and kill yaks any more, but while t
  
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• Pianist Vadym Kholodenko finds slain daughters at estranged wife's home

  18-03-2016 17:14
  
  Award-winning musician found two daughters dead in their beds in TexasSofya Tsygankova suffered stab wounds and is facing mental evaluationTexas police said an award-winning concert pianist arrived at his estranged wife’s home to pick up their two daughters and found the girls slain in their beds.The Benbrook police commander, David Babcock, said on Friday that Vadym Kholodenko was not a suspect and that his spouse, who was being treated for multiple stab wounds, faced a mental health eval
  
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• Manchester police reissue witness call over Wythenshawe Hall fire

  18-03-2016 17:09
  
  Blaze at 16th-century Tudor mansion was deliberate say officers, during appeal for anyone who may have used grounds as late-night shortcut to come forwardDetectives in Manchester have issued a fresh appeal for witnesses and said they were positive a devastating fire at a 16th-century Tudor mansion was started deliberately.Singed items from inside Wythenshawe Hall have been seized for forensic testing, although at this point police are unable to say what these are. Continue reading...
  
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• UN envoy warns of environmental activist murder ‘epidemic’

  18-03-2016 17:08
  
  Expert on indigenous rights demands consumers boycott ‘blood-tainted’ products from land grabs amid weak state response, Climate Home reportsThe killings of indigenous activists in Honduras signal a growing “epidemic” around the world, a UN envoy has declared.Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, urged governments to give protection to forest defenders in an interview. Continue reading...
  
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• Radovan Karadžić's lawyer 'preparing for worst' in war crimes trial

  18-03-2016 17:05
  
  Adviser to ex-Bosian Serb leader to launch appeal if UN tribunal finds his client guilty of war crimes next weekRadovan Karadžić’s lawyer says he expects a UN tribunal to find the former Bosnian Serb war leader guilty of war crimes and is planning to launch an appeal after it delivers its verdict in The Hague next week.Peter Robinson said Karadžić’s five-year trial for genocide and crimes against humanity was dogged by problems because of the politically motivated
  
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• Hemingway’s forgotten Spanish civil war play to be produced for only second time ever

  18-03-2016 17:00
  
  The Fifth Column, now revived for the first time in 70 years, is fascinating for what it reveals about the authorNext week the Southwark Playhouse in London will host what will be only the second production in Britain of Ernest Hemingway’s 1937 play, The Fifth Column (the first, produced by Michael Powell, toured in early 1944). Hemingway wrote the play while in Madrid covering the Spanish civil war for the North American Newspaper Alliance. Although the main fighting w
  
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• Ask Alanis Morissette: my accidental email has created a family rift

  18-03-2016 17:00
  
  The only way is to apologise and express your regret, and to tell the truth about how you see her daughter’s behaviourI have created a family rift by accidentally forwarding an email to my sister-in-law that was meant for my daughter. The email was critical of my niece, who is in her 20s and very spoilt. My sister-in-law was outraged, and although I sent her a grovelling apology I’m wondering if she’ll speak to me again. What can I do? She’s the sister of my ex-husband an
  
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• Have millennials given up on democracy?

  18-03-2016 16:53
  
  A poll shows less than half of young adults think democracy is the best form of government – but protest parties show many can still be won overChief among the accusations levelled at millennials is that of political apathy. But the real problem could be even worse than disengagement: it seems many members of Generation Y could be ready to back a despot.A large-scale survey of political attitudes conducted by the Lowy Institute for International Policy in Sydney found that just 42% of Aust
  
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• Gordon Buchanan: from Springwatch to wrestling giant anacondas

  18-03-2016 16:50
  
  He’s spent 20 years filming the world’s wonders, but the presenter has just faced his toughest challenge yet: living with hunters in the Amazon and KalahariGordon Buchanan has just got out of hospital. With malaria. Yes, the man who makes his living chasing lions, wrestling giant anaconda and hauling crocodiles has been brought down by that most tiny of beasts – the mosquito. “I’m not going to say I think I was dying,” he tells me, “but I imagine people
  
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• Don Cossack wins Cheltenham Gold Cup under Bryan Cooper

  18-03-2016 16:49
  
  • Owner Michael O’Leary celebrates second victory in the race
  • Cue Card fell three fences out when still in with every chanceDon Cossack has won the Cheltenham Gold Cup, providing a new peak to the career of his jockey, Bryan Cooper, who chose to ride him instead of the eventual third, Don Poli, and who has also had to deal with regular bouts of criticism since taking the job as first jockey to the owner, Michael O’Leary. But fans of Cue Card were left to wonder what might
  
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• Man arrested as tributes paid to teenage victim of Birmingham shooting

  18-03-2016 16:45
  
  A man has been arrested on suspicion of murdering an 18-year-old who was shot dead in Birmingham - the fourth such killing in the city since autumn last year.
  
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• Pianist Natalia Strelchenko's husband guilty of her murder

  18-03-2016 16:42
  
  Classical musician John Martin found guilty of killing wife on second anniversary after assault in Greater Manchester home
  The husband of the classical concert pianist Natalia Strelchenko has been found guilty of murdering her on their second wedding anniversary.Strelchenko, 38, who used the stage surname Strelle, died shortly after being assaulted in her home by John Martin in August last year. Continue reading...
  
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• Canadian company to buy 26 tin mines in Cornwall

  18-03-2016 16:41
  
  Strongbow Exploration will take over South Crofty Tin Project near Redruth, which shut down in 1998New life could be breathed into Cornwall’s once-proud tin industry after a Canadian company announced plans to acquire 26 mines in the far south-west of Britain.Strongbow Exploration is set to take over the South Crofty Tin Project, which includes mines in and around the towns of Redruth and Camborne.Continue reading...
  
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• Shell hospitality tour for EU diplomats branded 'PR exercise' by campaigners

  18-03-2016 16:35
  
  Dutch diplomat denies tour, offered to 28 energy attaches and organised by the energy giant and Dutch presidency of the EU, is a ‘lobby exercise’A tour for EU diplomats jointly organised by Shell and the Dutch presidency of the EU has been branded a “blatant PR exercise” by campaigners.An email seen by the Guardian invites energy attaches from the EU’s 28 countries to visit the Shell technology Centre, take an ‘oil majors and oil paintings’ tour of the V
  
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• Stars gather for Coronation Street creator Tony Warren's funeral

  18-03-2016 16:29
  Bill Roache, Julie Goodyear and Barbara Knox were among current and former cast members who gathered to say a final goodbye to Coronation Street creator Tony Warren.
  
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• Travellers who pleaded poverty at illegal site exposed as 'cash-rich tax-dodger crooks'

  18-03-2016 16:23 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  A TRAVELLER family who claimed for years they illegally developed green belt farmland into a caravan site because they could not afford to pay for an official pitch have been exposed as cash-rich, tax-dodging pub owners.
  
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• Poppi Worthington Father 'In Real Danger'

  18-03-2016 16:23
  
  A father who "probably sexually assaulted" his 13 month-old-daughter would be "in real danger" if he was called to give evidence at a second inquest into her death, a coroner has been told. Lawyers for Paul Worthington told a hearing he is being intimidated on a daily basis and that if he is requested to appear it should be via video-link. Toddler Poppi Worthington was found with serious injuries at her home in Barrow, Cumbria in December 2012.
  
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• 'He changed music for ever': readers' tributes to Sir George Martin

  18-03-2016 16:17
  
  Following the recent death of Sir George Martin, we asked you for your tributes and memories of the music producerIn the 80s a Gramophone Magazine award was presented to Abbey Road studios for its contribution to music. It was presented by Sir George Martin. I was the producer of the awards ceremony, so I went up to him during the meal and said; “l can honestly blame you for both my taste in music and my sense of humour. Please sign my copy of Sgt Pepper?” He smiled and did so. He ch
  
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• Arsenic was their poison – we have tobacco, guns and sugar | David Shariatmadari

  18-03-2016 16:17
  
  The 19th-century fight to restrict access to poisons echoes every struggle to protect the public from danger in the face of powerful vested interests
  In the spring and summer of 1871, Brighton was gripped by a series of mysterious poisonings. Chocolate creams from Maynard’s, a local sweet shop, had made several people ill. A metallic taste in the mouth was the first sign that something was wrong, followed by a burning sensation in the throat, vomiting and muscle spasms.The symptoms quickly
  
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• Billionaire arms deal fixer Wafic Saïd weighs up Barclays lawsuit

  18-03-2016 16:14
  
  Philanthropist and Conservative party donor demands to know why bank forced him to close his personal, charity and business accounts Wafic Saïd, the billionaire philanthropist and arms deal fixer, is considering legal action against Barclays after the bank forced him to close his personal accounts and those associated with his charities and business ventures.
  Saïd, who fled Syria in 1963 to escape a military coup, accused Barclays of using him as a scapegoat to improve its own reputati
  
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• Three serving officers held in Police Federation fraud probe

  18-03-2016 16:11
  
  Three serving policemen have been arrested on suspicion of fraud in an investigation that centres on the organisation which represents rank-and-file officers.
  
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• Knives are out for Jacob Zuma as South Africa's Guptagate grows

  18-03-2016 16:10
  
  Fresh allegations of corruption and cronyism emerge ahead of crucial ANC executive meeting When South Africa’s ruling party no longer wanted Thabo Mbeki to be head of state after allegations he had abused his power, the former president had the “decency” to exit gracefully, senior ANC sources say. But no one expects Jacob Zuma to do the same. “Zuma will cling on by his fingernails because of all these people who stand to lose out if he leaves,” said one party leader
  
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• Omer Fast: Present Continuous review – teasing takes on sex, death and trauma

  18-03-2016 16:09
  
  Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead
  This mesmerising collection of film and video work by the Israeli artist is full of dangling clues and subliminal messages, playing fast and loose with our credulity“Everything is wrong: askew, false, unfamiliar or unaligned,” writes novelist Tom McCarthy in an essay on Omer Fast, the Israeli-born, Berlin-based artist whose work is now being presented in a travelling European survey at Baltic in Gateshead. Filling two floors in a series o
  
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• Government Committed To Disability Benefits Cut

  18-03-2016 16:05
  
  The Government has said it remains committed to making "much needed reforms" to disability benefits in the face of a Conservative rebellion against the cut. Tory rebels have written to Chancellor George Osborne, warning him of a Commons defeat if he tries to push through changes to Personal Independence Payments (PIPs). Mr Osborne has said he will consult with disability charities to make sure the reforms are "absolutely right", and insisted the Government would "protect the most vulnerable
  
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• Website and app operator 'pushed boundaries' in cricket copyrights case

  18-03-2016 15:48
  Cricket's governing body for England and Wales and Sky have won a High Court copyrights case against a website and app operator.
  
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• Unions and businesses would be at Westminster top table - John McDonnell

  18-03-2016 15:44
  A future Labour government would have both trade unions and businesses at the "top table" at Westminster, the shadow chancellor has said.
  
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• UK faces new legal action over air quality

  18-03-2016 15:41
  New legal proceedings have been launched against the British government by environmental law firm ClientEarth over what it says is a failure to tackle air pollution, the firm said on Friday. ClientEarth has taken action against the government before, which resulted in a Supreme Court judgement last year ordering it to submit new air quality plans to the European Commission.
  
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