General news

• Stephen Hawking warns AI could be 'worst thing to happen to humanity'

  19-10-2016 23:50
  Artificial Intelligence could be the "worst thing to happen to humanity" if it is not properly managed, Professor Stephen Hawking has warned. It is not the first time Professor Hawking has warned about the potential dangers, having previously said that AI could end mankind if it is misused. Professor Hawking said the potential benefits were great and that AI could "finally eradicate disease and poverty".
  
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• Missing RAF serviceman's family: How can he vanish in digital age?

  19-10-2016 23:20
  
  The family of an RAF serviceman missing for a month has made a fresh appeal for information about his disappearance. Corrie McKeague, 23, has not been seen since early on Saturday 24 September following a night out with friends in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. Speaking to Sky News, his uncle Tony Ringe said his disappearance was "so out of character" and there was "no evidence" he went missing "out of choice".
  
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• Scots ready to pay into EU budget to keep single market access

  19-10-2016 22:32
  By Alastair Macdonald BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The Scottish government believes that contributing to the EU budget might be a price worth paying for keeping Scotland in Europe's single market if the broader British state leaves as part of its Brexit deal. Fiona Hyslop, the external affairs minister, told Reuters during a visit to Brussels on Wednesday to meet EU politicians that the devolved administration in Edinburgh had already calculated that remaining in the single market would mean Scotland be
  
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• Iceland would welcome Britain into EFTA after Brexit - Iceland foreign minister

  19-10-2016 20:57
  By Helen Reid LONDON (Reuters) - Iceland would welcome Britain, its biggest trading partner, back into the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), Icelandic Foreign Minister Lilja Alfredsdottir said on Wednesday in London. "The EFTA countries might make an agreement with the UK," she said. "We are chairing the EFTA right now and I put it as a priority to analyse the possibilities that EFTA had on this front." Alfredsdottir emphasised the importance of Iceland's trade ties with Britain.
  
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• British QE to give 300 billion-pound boost to spending - BoE's Haldane

  19-10-2016 20:45
  The Bank of England's 435 billion-pound ($534 billion)government bond-buying programme is likely to bring about a 300 billion-pound increase in overall spending in Britain, equivalent to three times annual public health spending, the BoE's chief economist said on Wednesday. Andy Haldane also said the quantitative easing programme would lead to the central bank holding around a third of the stock of British government bonds by 2018. The BoE announced an expansion of its QE programme in August, al
  
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• Finland wants security cooperation to be part of Brexit talks - PM

  19-10-2016 19:50
  By Tuomas Forsell and Jussi Rosendahl HELSINKI (Reuters) - Finland hopes that security cooperation will be part of the negotiations for Britain's exit from the European Union, Finnish Prime Minister Juha Sipila said on Wednesday. Militarily non-aligned Finland is worried about increased East-West tensions in the Baltic Sea and supports a more common defence policy in the EU, which is about to lose its biggest-spending military force following Britain's vote to leave the bloc. Britain, which has
  
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• London borough council admits immigration has pushed social house waiting time to 50 YEARS

  19-10-2016 19:10 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  A COUNCIL chief in London’s poorest borough has admitted that the waiting time for social housing is now 50 years in the latest evidence that immigration levels have got out of control.
  
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• Prisoner 'mourning loss of hamster' took part in £12,000 jail protest

  19-10-2016 18:54
  
  Kyle Blackie was spared further jail time by a judge over the incident.
  
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• British Muslim cleric tells government ‘BAN the burka’ claiming head scarf is ‘un-Islamic’

  19-10-2016 18:49 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  A BRITISH Muslim cleric has called on the Government to ban religious headscarves including burkas and niqabs, claiming veiled clothing worn by Islamic women is “un-Muslim” and “sexist”.
  
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• Minister in Japan for talks with car makers after Brexit warnings

  19-10-2016 18:23
  Business Secretary Greg Clark is visiting Japan to meet car industry executives as the Government seeks to protect thousands of jobs after warnings about the impact of Brexit. Mr Clark is due to meet bosses at Nissan, Honda and Toyota to assure them that Britain remains "open for business". Nissan, which operates Britain's biggest car plant at Sunderland, wants the UK to pledge compensation for any tax barriers that may be raised as a result of Brexit.
  
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• Frankie TREETTORI! Incredible tree that looks like jockey and his racehorse

  19-10-2016 18:18 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  IT could be champion jockey Frankie Dettori steering his mount over Bechers Brook But in fact it is a bizarre looking tree at the side of the A528 in Shropshire.
  
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• INFORMATION BLACKOUT: The Calais child migrant questions the Home Office REFUSE to answer

  19-10-2016 18:16 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  THE HOME OFFICE is at the centre of a growing storm over a concerted information blackout as immigration officials REFUSE to confirm whether Britain will take in ANY girl refugees, as well as answers to a number of other questions.
  
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• Hunt for shotgun maniac who gunned down rare mother bird from the skies

  19-10-2016 17:56 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  A SHOTGUN maniac blasted one of Britain’s most precious birds from the skies.
  
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• Jimmy Savile's penthouse flat in Leeds demolished

  19-10-2016 17:46
  The penthouse flat where disgraced broadcaster Jimmy Savile lived for more than 30 years has been demolished. It is thought he may have abused at least one of his many victims at the apartment in the six-storey Lakeview Court but an inquiry could not prove the allegation. The former BBC radio and TV presenter bought the Roundhay Park property in the 1970s at the height of his fame and he lived there until he died aged 84 in 2011.
  
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• British conman wanted for £850,000 fraud

  19-10-2016 17:33
  
  A prolific British conman is on the run in Spain, suspected of romancing a businesswoman and fleecing her of her life savings. Mark Acklom - once an infamous schoolboy fraudster - is said to have left his victim financially and emotionally devastated after promising to marry her. Police in Avon and Somerset began investigating him two years ago after Carolyn Woods, 55, alleged he had posed as an MI6 agent and conned her into lending him her £850,000 savings during a year-long romance in Ba
  
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• Philip Hammond ditches gloomy Treasury forecasts on Brexit

  19-10-2016 17:31
  
  Chancellor Philip Hammond has told MPs that doom-laden Treasury forecasts about Brexit earlier this year have proved to be invalid. Mr Hammond's predecessor, George Osborne, warned in April that households would end up £4,300 a year worse off as a result of a Leave vote. The current Chancellor was grilled by the Commons Treasury Select Committee on whether this remained Government policy.
  
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• Girl, 7, is killed by 'slow-moving' skip lorry in Coventry

  19-10-2016 17:20
  A seven-year-old girl has died after she was hit by a skip lorry while crossing the road with her mother. The youngster was struck by what police have described as a "slow-moving red skip lorry". The driver of the lorry stopped at the scene and is assisting with the police investigation.
  
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• Russian military expert mocks Britain's 'tiny' navy as Putin's fleet sails through Channel

  19-10-2016 17:16 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  A TOP Russian military expert has poured scorn on Britain’s “tiny” navy fleet as Vladimir Putin prepares to sail his waterborne armoury down the Channel.
  
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• Boney M singer's brother hired hitman to kill mosque rival

  19-10-2016 16:49
  The brother of a Boney M singer has been jailed for life after hiring a hitman to kill his rival following a bitter dispute over control of a mosque. Muslim convert Khalid Rashad, 63, is the brother of Liz Mitchell, lead singer in the 1970s band famous for disco hits such as Rivers of Babylon, Rasputin and Daddy Cool. Rashad's rival, Abdul Hadi Arwani, 48, was found slumped in the driver's seat of his VW Passat in a street in Wembley, North London, with the engine still running and a b
  
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• Home Office says no to 'unethical' child migrant tooth tests

  19-10-2016 15:59
  
  A Tory MP's demand for tooth checks to verify the age of child migrants has been rejected by the Home Office as "unethical". David Davies called for checks after seeing pictures of Monday's arrival of 14 teenagers from the notorious 'Jungle' camp in Calais. Mr Davies, chairman of the Commons' Welsh Affairs committee, demanded mandatory dental checks for child migrants to reassure the public the system was not being exploited.
  
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• Hammond says won't change monetary policy after BoE spat

  19-10-2016 15:50
  Chancellor Philip Hammond said the government did not plan to change the independence of the Bank of England to set monetary policy after the prime minister criticised the side-effects of low interest rates earlier this month. "There will be no change in monetary policy," Hammond told lawmakers on Wednesday. "Monetary policy is independently determined, that will continue to be the case.
  
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• Theresa May used an innuendo in PMQs and Twitter is still trying to recover

  19-10-2016 15:37
  
  Wait … what did she just say?
  
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• Dame Lowell Goddard: I was never warned over allegations of racism

  19-10-2016 15:36
  
  Dame Lowell Goddard has told Sky News no concerns were raised with her before her resignation from the Independent Inquiry into Child Sex Abuse in August, and that she was never warned, officially or otherwise, about the alleged use of racially derogatory language. The New Zealand judge is alleged to have said Britain had so many paedophiles "because it has so many Asian men", according to a report in The Times. The newspaper report included a number of allegations made by what it said were "wel
  
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• FCA says 750,000 mortgage customers could get compensation payout

  19-10-2016 15:29
  Hundreds of thousands of mortgage customers could be in line for compensation. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said its work with an industry group had identified a "likely" breach of industry rules.
  
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• PC GONE MAD? No age tests for foreign migrants but ‘hugely intrusive’ tests for Brits

  19-10-2016 15:12 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  DISABLED people in Britain are put through "inhumane" "degrading" tests just to get vital funds to live on - while basic checks on even the ages of foreign migrants are ruled out as "intrusive".
  
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• Unclear if May will say anything new on Brexit at EU summit - Germany

  19-10-2016 15:08
  European Union leaders are interested to hear from British Prime Minister Theresa May on Thursday how she sees Britain's future relations with the EU but are not sure she will say anything new on her Brexit thinking, a senior German official said. May is due to speak to EU leaders on Thursday evening at a summit in Brussels.
  
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• Germany hopes May will spell out Brexit vision at EU summit

  19-10-2016 14:26
  BERLIN (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May will inform European Union leaders on her thinking about Britain's exit from the bloc at a summit later this week and Germany hopes she will set out a Brexit vision, a senior German government official said. The official added that the other 27 members of the EU agreed there could be no Brexit negotiations before Britain triggers the Article 50 mechanism to leave the bloc. ...
  
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• UK job creation slows and wage increase dented by inflation- ONS

  19-10-2016 14:22
  
  Official employment figures have revealed a slowdown in job creation and impact on average wage increases. The data - from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) - was being closely watched for evidence of a post-Brexit vote impact but the body said a "small" increase of 10,000 in unemployment was down to more people looking for work. The pace of consumer price increases was adding pressure to household budgets but the ONS said on Wednesday that average earnings, excluding bonuses, w
  
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• May admits she knew about child abuse inquiry concerns

  19-10-2016 14:17
  
  Theresa May said there were "stories" around about Dame Lowell Goddard's leadership of the inquiry but said as Home Secretary she was not able to intervene on the basis of "suspicion" or "hearsay". Speaking at Prime Minister's Questions Mrs May admitted that complaints about Dame Lowell's behaviour had been made to the Home Office in confidence months before she left the post. Dame Lowell stepped down from her role as the fourth person to chair the inquiry into historic child sexual ab
  
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• May says no decision taken on the site of airport expansion

  19-10-2016 14:10
  The government has not yet made a decision about where to allow airport expansion in southeast England but will do so this month, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday. It is due to decide between plans for a new runway west of London at Heathrow, the busiest airport in both Britain and Europe, or at Gatwick to the south. "No decision has been taken on the site of airport expansion in the southeast," May told parliament.
  
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• Tony Blackburn to return to BBC after being sacked

  19-10-2016 14:09
  Tony Blackburn will return to Radio 2 next year, after being taken off air in February following a review into sex abuse at the BBC. Blackburn was taken off air because his evidence to the Jimmy Savile sex abuse inquiry "fell short" of the standards demanded by the broadcaster, BBC director general Tony Hall previously said. Dame Janet Smith's report criticised the BBC for failing to properly investigate allegations made by the teenager.
  
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• Passengers were stuck on the Eurostar for hours - but don't worry, they got free Mars bars

  19-10-2016 14:09
  
  Would you be happy with a chocolate bar if you’d been stuck on a train for hours?
  
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• May says will ensure best possible access to European market

  19-10-2016 13:56
  British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday she would ensure Britain has the best possible access to trade with and operate within the European market after it has left the European Union. "What we are doing as we go through the negotiations for leaving the European Union, will be ensuring that this country has the best possible access to trade with and operate within the European market," May told parliament.
  
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• Corbynites 'launched homophobic attacks' on Angela Eagle

  19-10-2016 13:37
  Labour's Angela Eagle has been the target of hundreds of "abusive, homophobic and frightening" messages sent by the party's members, an internal report has found. The former shadow business secretary also had the window of her office in Wallasey bricked after she announced her challenge to Jeremy Corbyn for the leadership. The findings of an internal investigation into the abuse lays bare the way the increasingly unpleasant rift within the party is playing out at grassroots level.
  
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• Inquiry calls after inmate dies in stabbing at Pentonville Prison

  19-10-2016 13:32
  The Prison Governors Association (PGA) has renewed calls for a public inquiry into the state of jails in England and Wales following the death of an inmate. Emergency services were called to Pentonville Prison in north London at 3.30pm on Tuesday, where they found three male prisoners suffering from stab wounds.
  
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• Tony Blackburn set to return to BBC Radio 2

  19-10-2016 13:17
  Tony Blackburn will return to Radio 2 next year, after being taken off air in February following a review into sex abuse at the BBC. Blackburn will present an hour-long show on Radio 2 on Fridays at 7pm, and will also return to local radio. According to BBC director general Tony Hall, Blackburn was taken off air "because his evidence on the Jimmy Savile sex abuse inquiry fell short" of the standards demanded by the broadcaster.
  
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• PMQS: Theresa May makes brilliant Mrs Bone joke - and parliament explodes at innuendo

  19-10-2016 13:12 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  THERESA MAY brought Prime Minister’s Questions to a brief pause after a joke about Peter Bone's wife brought the remainder of the House of Commons to a standstill in fits of laughter.
  
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• Lord Of The Rings star Elijah Wood joins list of Hollywood stars criticising Donald Trump

  19-10-2016 13:06
  
  The actor said he was disturbed by the race between Mr Trump and Hillary Clinton ahead of the final presidential debate in Las Vegas.
  
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• Aren’t there ANY girls? Questions over 'child' refugees as more 'hulking males' come to UK

  19-10-2016 12:57 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  QUESTIONS continued to rage over Britain’s child refugee policy today after a third group of apparently all-male migrants made their way across the Channel from Calais.
  
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• Welfare campaigners on red carpet for new Ken Loach film I, Daniel Blake

  19-10-2016 11:43
  
  Welfare reform campaigners have shown their support for Ken Loach's latest film at its London premiere. Comedian Dave Johns, who stars as Daniel Blake, said: "I think Dan feels that everything will work out alright and when it doesn't he thinks someone down the road will help out. "Whereas me, if it was David Johns, I'd be much more bolshy, you know what I mean".
  
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• UK mortgage lenders face compensation bill for mishandling arrears

  19-10-2016 11:37
  The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said lenders were sometimes automatically adding arrears to the capital sum of the mortgage and also asking for a separate arrears payment. This meant customers already in financial difficulties were temporarily overpaying on their home loans, facing extra fees and charges, and further damaging their credit rating. The FCA published draft guidance on Wednesday for firms to work out compensation for customers by the end of June 2017.
  
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• German World War One U-boat wreck found off Scottish coast

  19-10-2016 11:24
  The wreckage of a German U-boat that sank almost a century ago has been discovered off the Scottish coast. Sonar images show the World War One submarine largely intact after it was found by engineers laying undersea power cables. Although experts believe the vessel is a UB-85 sunk by HMS Coreopsis in 1918, naval folklore says it may have been attacked by a "sea monster".
  
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• UK job growth slows but labour market withstanding Brexit shock - ONS

  19-10-2016 11:19
  Job creation in Britain slowed in the three months to August although there was little sign of a big hit to the labour market from the country's decision to leave the European Union, official data showed on Wednesday. The data follows previous signs that Britain's labour market has largely weathered the initial shock of the referendum decision to leave the EU. "These figures show that employment continued to grow over the summer and vacancies remain at high levels, suggesting continuing confiden
  
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• 26 times Donald Trump looked like he smelled a fart

  19-10-2016 11:17
  
  We guarantee these photos will put a smile on your face.
  
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• UK job creation slows but wage rises pick up - ONS

  19-10-2016 11:15
  
  Official employment figures show a slowdown in job creation but a pick-up in average wage increases. The data - from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) - was being closely watched for evidence of a post-Brexit vote impact but the body said a "small" increase of 10,000 in unemployment was down to more people looking for work. The pace of consumer price increases was adding pressure to household budgets but the ONS said on Wednesday that average earnings, excluding bonuses, were ri
  
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• Dentists condemn MP's calls for child migrant tooth age checks

  19-10-2016 10:25
  A Tory MP who called for tooth tests to check the age of child migrants from Calais has been condemned by dentists. David Davies called for checks after seeing pictures of Monday's arrival of 14 teenagers from the notorious 'Jungle' camp. Mr Davies, chairman of the Commons' Welsh Affairs committee, demanded mandatory dental checks for child migrants to reassure the public the system was not being exploited.
  
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• Travis Perkins to axe 600 jobs and close dozens of branches

  19-10-2016 10:18
  Travis Perkins is cutting 600 jobs and closing more than 30 branches as it warns of "uncertain" trading in the year ahead.
  
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• Worst thief ever? Suspect 'hides stolen blind in trousers'

  19-10-2016 09:33
  Police have released an image of a man suspected of stealing a Venetian blind by stuffing it down one trouser leg and up the back of his jacket. The alleged theft took place between 2pm and 2.25pm on 16 October at the Dunelm Mill store in Northampton's St James Mill Road.
  
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• This might be the world's most obvious crime: Suspect sought over 'theft of venetian blind' hidden very badly in coat

  19-10-2016 09:31
  
  Can you guess what he’s hiding?
  
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• Hammond told May he will not quit - Telegraph

  19-10-2016 09:20
  Chancellor Philip Hammond has told Prime Minister Theresa May that he will not quit the government after media reports of a split among senior ministers over Brexit, the Daily Telegraph said, citing an unidentified Hammond ally. The Daily Telegraph newspaper earlier reported that Hammond could resign after displeasing colleagues by urging caution over measures aimed at controlling immigration. The Telegraph said Hammond had told the prime minister that he would continue to make clear the "econom
  
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