General news

• Steve Bell on Nicola Sturgeon's hopes for independence – cartoon

  02-05-2016 23:45
  
  The SNP leader is under pressure from her political rivals over her planned drive this summer to build support for a second independence referendum Continue reading...
  
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• Personalised Cancer Treatment Hope After Study

  02-05-2016 23:34
  
  Scientists have built up the most complete picture yet of genetic changes that cause breast cancer - providing "crucial" opportunities for new treatments. The results, published in Nature and Nature Communications, provide evidence that breast cancer genomes are "highly individual", researchers from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute said. They found that women with genes that leave them at a higher risk of developing breast and ovarian cancer, have entire genome profiles that are very differen
  
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• The season of the fearless Foxes, Leicester City – in pictures

  02-05-2016 23:22
  
  Claudio Ranieri’s opening match at Lincoln City, pizza night for a first clean sheet, Jamie Vardy’s goalscoring record, the late goals, player of the year Riyad Mahrez – all the most dramatic photographs from the foxes’ Premier League season
  Photographs by Tom Jenkins, Getty Images, PA and Reuters Continue reading...
  
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• Glastonbury festival may move in 2017, Michael Eavis says

  02-05-2016 23:08
  
  The festival’s founder suggested to the Oxford Union that this year could be the last in the current famously bucolic – if frequently muddy – settingIts huge natural amphitheatre and expansive green fields have arguably made the Glastonbury festival as famous as the bands it puts on. But according to its founder, this summer could be the last time in its current dairy farm location. Michael Eavis, who started the Glastonbury festival on his farm in 1970, told a crowd at Oxford
  
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• Fantastic Mr Foxes: Leicester claim title as Chelsea end Tottenham hopes

  02-05-2016 23:00
  
  Dreams have come true for thousands of Leicester City fans as the side were confirmed as Premier League champions.
  
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• VIDEO: Man dies during armed police raid

  02-05-2016 22:52
  
  A 36-year-old man has been shot dead by officers in Kent during a pre-planned police operation, as Simon Jones reports.
  
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• Orange is the New Black taught me about criminal justice reform. Congress must act | Matt McGorry

  02-05-2016 22:43
  
  As an actor on the show, I learned how urgently we need reform. I hope Mitch McConnell lets a key new bipartisan bill get to a vote Republicans and Democrats in the Senate have finally struck a deal on criminal justice reform. Following the announcement on Thursday, only Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell stands between us and a vote. You might wonder why I care, why I am out advocating for this issue so passionately.I filmed dozens of episodes of Orange is the New Black without understandin
  
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• 'Burning Man for the 1%': the desert party for the tech elite, with Eric Schmidt in a top hat

  02-05-2016 22:41
  
  Further Future is the tech-centric, unapologetically luxurious alternative to Burning Man, complete with personal assistants, spa treatments and fine diningA red Ferrari with the top down swerved past on the winding dirt road, heading to what looked like a small Mars encampment. Helicopters landed on the side of the road and greeters darted across. At a farmers’ market with overflowing baskets full of raspberries, watermelons, and focaccia, I asked for a mango, and the farmer started cutti
  
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• Sean Dyche tells promoted Burnley to win Championship title

  02-05-2016 22:34
  
  • Dyche will celebrate Burnley’s rise with coffee at service station
  • Brighton manager Chris Hughton looks to win at MiddlesbroughSean Dyche saw his Burnley side seal a £100m promotion to the Premier League but was happy to swap a champagne celebration for a service-station coffee.The Clarets secured a top-two finish in the Championship with a 1-0 victory against Queens Park Rangers, courtesy of Sam Vokes’s brilliant second-half header. That took their unbeaten run t
  
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• Astrologer Jonathan Cainer dies

  02-05-2016 22:07
  
  Producer of horoscopes for the Daily Mail dies of a heart attack Astrologer Jonathan Cainer has died from a heart attack aged 58, his assistant has said.
  Cainer was found by his wife, Sue, on Sunday night and pronounced dead at hospital. He was the Daily Mail’s astrologer between 1992 and 2000, then returned as a columnist in 2004 and regularly appeared on television to discuss astrology. Continue reading...
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn aiming for 'best result we can get' amid Labour anti-Semitism row

  02-05-2016 22:00
  
  Jeremy Corbyn has insisted there is not a "huge problem" with anti-Semitism in Labour and vowed to stay on as leader even if the party receives a mauling at the ballot box on Thursday.
  
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• Air Crash Victims Were Trainee RAF Pilots

  02-05-2016 21:52
  
  Two men who died when the light aircraft they were in came down on Saturday have been identified as RAF students. Cameron James Forster, 21, from Sussex, and Ajvir Singh Sandhu, 25, from Essex, were killed as the civil plane crash-landed in a field in Ryedale, North Yorkshire. Station commander at Royal Air Force Linton-on-Ouse, Group Captain Ian Laing, paid tribute to the trainee pilots.
  
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• Study points toward personalised treatment for breast cancer

  02-05-2016 21:29
  
  Research indicates that cancers are highly individual and would therefore respond best to individualised treatmentsPersonalised treatment for breast cancer patients could become commonplace, as scientists reveal that they have compiled the most detailed picture yet of which genetic mutations are involved in the disease.Published in the journals Nature and Nature Communications, the research involved the analysis of the genomes of cancerous tissue from 560 breast cancer patients, four of whom wer
  
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• Alton Towers Visitors Stuck On Galactica Ride

  02-05-2016 21:08
  
  Thrillseekers at Alton Towers were left dangling from a rollercoaster after it stopped in heavy rain. In an incident with echoes of the Smiler accident that left five people seriously injured last year, 28 people got stuck on the Galactica ride after it ground to a halt when heavy rain obscured a sensor. Alton Towers said it took 19 minutes to get 28 people down from the ride after it stopped shortly before 2pm - although some witnesses said they were stuck for between 30 and 40 minutes.
  
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• Threats to shift Strictly are just part of the plan to sabotage the BBC | Polly Toynbee

  02-05-2016 21:04
  
  John Whittingdale called the licence fee ‘worse than the poll tax’. The forthcoming charter renewal will undermine the corporation and remove its independence“BBC faces charter ban on Saturday Strictly”, splashed the Mail on Sunday, with similar front pages in the Sunday Times and Telegraph. The Tory press was briefed that the BBC charter would bar the corporation from competing with ITV and others in primetime. No Strictly up against X Factor, no Night Manager up ag
  
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• Harry puts the 2017 Invictus Games on ice as he drops puck to start hockey game

  02-05-2016 21:00
  
  Prince Harry has marked the launch of next year's Toronto Invictus Games by dropping a puck to symbolically start a sledge hockey game - but quickly said he would not be joining in.
  
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• 'Highly individual' DNA analysis forms basis of new approach to breast cancer

  02-05-2016 20:41
  
  The latest breast cancer research could lead to more personalised care for patients and help further understanding of the causes of the disease, scientists said.
  
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• Thousands Support First School Kids' Strike

  02-05-2016 20:36
  
  Nearly 40,000 people have signed up in support of the action what parents claim is "over-testing" at the expense of children’s happiness. The Let Our Kids Be Kids campaign, which is coordinating the kids’ strike, has written to Education Secretary Nicky Morgan calling for an "end to SATs now".
  
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• Singer Nelly Furtado hits out at 'underpaying' YouTube over royalties

  02-05-2016 20:27
  
  Singer Nelly Furtado has cited late musician Prince as she called on YouTube to raise its royalty payments to music artists.
  
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• RAF station commander leads tributes to pilots killed in light aircraft crash

  02-05-2016 20:27
  
  Two "exceptionally talented" RAF student pilots died when their plane crashed into a remote field in Ryedale during a civilian incident.
  
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• Princess Charlotte showered with birthday gifts from around the world

  02-05-2016 20:27
  
  A blanket made from Tasmanian merino wool, hand-knitted bootees, and a book of fairy tales were just some of the presents sent to Princess Charlotte by well-wishers across the world on her first birthday.
  
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• Liberty House confirms formal bid to buy Tata Steel's UK assets

  02-05-2016 20:27
  
  Liberty House has confirmed it will put in a formal bid to buy Tata Steel's UK assets.
  
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• Friends Pay Tribute To Teen Killed By Pellet Gun

  02-05-2016 20:22
  
  Friends of a 13-year-old boy who died of a pellet gun injury have been paying tribute to him on social media.
  
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• Feast of cat shown on eagle cam scares feline owners: 'Nature isn't pretty'

  02-05-2016 20:06
  
  Footage from a live web camera nest shows bald eagles serving up a cat to eaglets – but the Audubon Society determines dead cat was not preyed uponCat owners have been warned of the dangers their feline companions face when venturing outdoors after video emerged of bald eagles feasting on the body of a dead cat near Pittsburgh.
  Footage from a live web camera mounted at the Hays bald eagle nest, located a few miles from the center of Pittsburgh, showed the eagles serving up the cat to hungr
  
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• Iceland president's wife linked to offshore tax havens in leaked files

  02-05-2016 20:00
  
  HSBC files appear to show that Dorrit Moussaieff had links to offshore companies and trusts registered outside UKThe president of Iceland is expected to come under pressure this week after leaked documents appeared to show that part of his wife’s considerable fortune was held in offshore tax havens.Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, who has been in office for 20 years, last month surprised many by declaring he would stand for re-election again after serving five terms. His decision was
  
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• Blue is the colour! Leicester fans cheer for Chelsea in must-win match for Spurs

  02-05-2016 19:55
  
  Fans of Leicester City are facing an anxious wait to see if their side will be crowned Premier League champions.
  
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• 'The end of an era': Ringling Bros circus closes curtain on elephant shows

  02-05-2016 19:21
  
  Final show for the pachyderms comes after local government actions made touring with the animals difficult, as activists herald ‘victory’ for animal rightsAfter the last-ever circus to feature elephants, capping 145 years of elephant shows and decades of pressure from animal activists, two professional clowns walked into a bar to reflect on the state of the circus industry.“It’s the end of an era,” said Crickett McGrath, sipping a gin and tonic. “It’s ol
  
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• Lewis Hamilton hits out at F1 stewards over ‘ridiculous’ reprimands

  02-05-2016 19:03
  
  • Mercedes driver given second warning at Russian Grand Prix
  • World champion now under threat of 10-place grid penaltyLewis Hamilton has criticised what he considers are unduly harsh decisions by Formula One race stewards. The Mercedes driver and reigning champion, who finished second in the Russian Grand Prix, was given his second reprimand of the season after qualifying and will face a 10-place grid penalty should he receive a third.“I’m just aware there’s most lik
  
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• Disney pins its merchandise designs on an adult audience

  02-05-2016 19:01
  
  Animation giant is raiding its archives to help designers build fashion lines based on its fabled characters and stories, from £3,000 Cinderella slippers to Captain America outfitsIts high street stores are meccas of overpriced tat with piles of cuddly Nemo fishes, plastic lightsabres and polyester princess outfits that send girls into a frenzy.With recent cartoon blockbusters such as Frozen, Disney has tightened its hold over children’s hearts but now it is targeting their parents t
  
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• Louis CK: 'Two human babies have never fought ... I Google it occasionally'

  02-05-2016 18:56
  
  Louis CK, Gilbert Gottfried, Vanessa Bayer and Jim Gaffigan proved at the David Lynch Foundation comedy benefit that laugher, along with transcendental meditation, is the best medicine“People think I’m dumb,” said comedian Jim Gaffigan on stage at the New York Center on Saturday night. “I may look dumb, but I know what TM is – it’s Ticketmaster.” While TM could stand for Ticketmaster, on stage at the David Lynch Foundation’s benefit show, it stood
  
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• Which Batman villains should Affleck bring back – and who should play them?

  02-05-2016 18:54
  
  A new report suggests Ben Affleck wants the full ‘rogues gallery’ of Batman foes for his confirmed standalone film, which he’ll be the star of and directBatman’s “rogues gallery” of villains is the classic comic book coterie of evil. So why have so many of them been absent from the big screen for so long? Penguin has been missing since Danny DeVito’s freaky turn in 1992’s Batman Returns, while The Riddler hasn’t been wheeled out since Jim Car
  
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• Colonial ruins are a fitting epitaph for the British empire | Chibundu Onuzo

  02-05-2016 18:47
  
  Commonwealth countries have little interest in preserving colonial buildings – who can blame them?In Lagos, the city I grew up in, there are not many signs that Nigeria was once a British colony. There are some unusual street names such as Bourdillon Road, named after the popular governor general, Bernard Bourdillon. There’s the Ikoyi Club, formally opened to Africans in 1947 and now the preserve of the black bourgeoisie.There are a few weathered colonial buildings on prime property.
  
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• Man shot dead by police 'on bail amid OAP murder investigation'

  02-05-2016 18:38
  
  A man shot dead by police during a pre-planned operation was on bail in relation to a murder investigation after a pensioner was believed to have been bludgeoned to death during a burglary six weeks ago.
  
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• Ghosting on Freud: why breaking up with a therapist is so tricky

  02-05-2016 18:38
  
  The therapist-client relationship is an intimate one and yet we often end them abruptly or just drop off. Alana Massey learns about a different kind of breakupMy last therapist always told me that if I was considering ending our sessions, we would need to talk about it for at least four sessions before deciding. But when I decided to walk away, I didn’t give him any warning. After what I felt was an unprofessional response to a traumatic life event, I canceled my standing appointment throu
  
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• Edinburgh Zoo giant panda artificially inseminated

  02-05-2016 18:38
  Edinburgh Zoo bosses have embarked on a fresh attempt to see if the UK's only female giant panda can produce a cub.
  
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• Labour’s antisemitism row may be drama, but it’s no crisis | Steve Richards

  02-05-2016 18:32
  
  Never-ending headlines about Naz Shah and Ken Livingstone are damaging, but this is hysteria based on flimsy evidenceIn a crowded field, the saga of Labour and antisemitism is a case study in hysterical conflation. All the familiar ingredients are there – from the imprecision of the deadly allegation to a series of hugely significant issues becoming lost in a foggy assault on a party leader. “Blair lied over WMD” comes to mind. Last week’s events top the lot.Let us begin
  
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• My family was traumatised first by a murder, then by the TV serialisation | Lauren Bradford

  02-05-2016 18:30
  
  The makers of The Secret exploited our tragedy for entertainment. The murder-bereaved do not deserve to have their voices ignored and their stories trivialisedAfter discovering in 2009 that my beautiful mum, who died in 1991, was in fact murdered by my father and the woman he had formerly had an affair with, I was propelled into a new world of trauma.Loss of any form is distressing. But the intentional and often violent killing of another brings about a complex grieving process that is interrupt
  
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• Labour suspends three councillors over social media messages about Israel

  02-05-2016 18:15
  
  Labour has suspended three councillors in a day over a series of controversial messages posted on social media.
  
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• Canada's Justin Trudeau hails Prince Harry's 'worthy' Invictus Games

  02-05-2016 18:09
  
  Prince Harry has been praised for his "leadership" of the Invictus Games by Canada's Justin Trudeau as the two men met ahead of launch of next year's Toronto Games.
  
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• Man Shot Dead By Armed Police In Murder Hunt

  02-05-2016 18:02
  
  A 36-year-old man has been shot dead during an operation by armed police in Kent. The pre-planned operation was linked to the murder of 73-year-old Roy Blackman in Biddenden, Kent, on 21 March. Mr Blackman died from multiple blunt force injuries.
  
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• The far right is weaselling into the mainstream, dressed up in suits | Paul Mason

  02-05-2016 17:54
  
  It may be Austria’s democratic right to elect a cleaned-up fascist as president, but it is our right to suspend the country from the EU
  One of the genius touches in Wes Anderson’s film The Grand Budapest Hotel was to set it, not in Budapest, but in a generic eastern European country from central casting, between the wars. The fictional state of Zubrowka starts out as a decadent monarchy, becomes a mafia state, goes fascist, gets conquered, is absorbed into the Warsaw Pact and then, a
  
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• All surprises: Radiohead and the art of the unconventional album release

  02-05-2016 17:53
  
  As the rumours of an imminent Radiohead LP grow, we look back at some of the novel ways in which the band have previously put out their musicRadiohead have become the kings of the unexpected album release. Not only does the album itself often come as a bit of a shock, but the method of its delivery tends to be a surprise. Put it this way: the first person to buy a new Radiohead album isn’t someone at their local Tesco with a crisp new tenner in their hand.So how have their releases evolved
  
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• Wigs, wit and an all-female last supper: Marjorie Salvaterra's theatrical portraits

  02-05-2016 17:47
  
  The photographer’s book Her shows women of all ages being ‘joyfully imperfect’I am a 41-year-old woman and I recognise that the older I get, the more invisible I become and the less cultural value I hold. We are all part of a culture that is desperately inhospitable to women at any age. We are told our lives don’t matter unless, of course, we are wives or mothers, and then we only matter insofar as we adequately perform those roles.I am getting older. I suppose I am losin
  
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• Pistols reloaded: the pick of the summer of punk

  02-05-2016 17:47
  
  Forty years after they first shocked the world, Britain’s angry young punks are being remembered in films, shows, photographs – and a £5m bonfire• Beyoncé and beyond: the sounds of summer 2016It seems fitting that the extensive celebrations planned for the 40th anniversary of punk have caused controversy, even if it’s not the kind of controversy that punk caused 40 years ago. Chief among the critical voices has been that of Joe Corré, son of Malcolm McL
  
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• Beyoncé and beyond: the hottest sounds of summer 2016

  02-05-2016 17:46
  
  Bob, Beyoncé and the Boss top a summer that sees Kendrick Lamar play Hyde Park and Axl Rose front AC/DC. Plus the return of Dexys, ABC – and Adam AntPistols reloaded: Alexis Petridis on how to celebrate punk’s 40th birthday
  Summer culture: Film | Dance | Theatre The thrilling revival of Skepta has mirrored that of UK grime itself. Before the Tottenham rapper was owning 2015 with his track Shutdown, his career had become derailed by the lure of major label money, and he was mak
  
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• Buncrana Pier tragedy mother completes Belfast Marathon

  02-05-2016 17:40
  
  A mother who lost five members of her family when their car plunged off a pier has run a marathon in memory of her son just weeks after the tragedy.
  
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• Curtain-raisers: the best theatre of summer 2016

  02-05-2016 17:30
  
  Branagh channels Olivier, Isabelle Huppert lusts after her stepson and Ralph Fiennes gets the royal hump. Meanwhile there’s magic in the air as Harry Potter grows up – and Groundhog Day is reborn as a musicalSummer culture: Dance | Music | Film
  Political satire, long dormant, returns with five angry pieces from Caryl Churchill, David Hare, Mark Ravenhill, Alistair Beaton and Stella Feehily, all directed by Max Stafford-Clark. Let’s hope it puts a rocket under the current ruinou
  
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• 17-year-old girl dies after taking 'MasterCard' ecstasy pill

  02-05-2016 17:21
  
  A 17-year-old girl has died after taking a "MasterCard" ecstasy pill, prompting police to urge anyone else who may have taken the drug to seek urgent medical attention.
  
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• UK Firm's Exec Slapped During Deaths Apology

  02-05-2016 17:18
  
  A top executive from British consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser has been slapped and called a "murderer" as he made an apology over deadly lung injuries linked to one of its products. Ata Safdar, the head of the company in South Korea and Japan, faced angry relatives of the victims at a highly-charged press conference in Seoul. He bowed deeply several times as he admitted the firm's humidifier sterilisers had caused harm and accepted "fullest responsibility".
  
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• Tightrope walker crosses gap between Jerusalem's ancient towers – video

  02-05-2016 17:06
  
  US slackliner Heather Larsen makes history as she walks a narrow web line stretched between Jerusalem’s ancient towers, 30 metres above the ground, on Monday. Larsen crossed a 35 metre line and then a 20 metre line inside the courtyard of the ancient museum of Jerusalem’s Tower of David. She said the experience was overwhelming Continue reading...
  
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