General news

• Aftershocks hit Italy just months after deadly earthquake

  26-10-2016 23:56
  
  The quakes were actually aftershocks of the magnitude 6.2 earthquake from two months ago.
  
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• Damon Smith charged over suspicious device on North Greenwich Tube

  26-10-2016 23:05
  A man has been charged with making or possessing an explosive substance after a suspicious device was found on the Tube last week. Damon Smith, 19, had the explosives with the intent to endanger life or cause serious injury, according to the police charge. A controlled explosion was carried out and North Greenwich station evacuated when the device was discovered on an eastbound Jubilee Line train on 20 October.
  
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• Michael Gove is back as he lands key role overseeing Brexit

  26-10-2016 22:43
  
  Michael Gove, sacked by Theresa May and told "go and learn about loyalty on the backbenches", is to make a comeback in a Brexit role. The former justice secretary, accused of "treachery" towards Boris Johnson, has been elected to a powerful new committee of MPs, which will scrutinise the Brexit process in Parliament. The Tory Leave campaigners elected also include the former culture secretary John Whittingdale, former junior minister Dominic Raab and the veteran Tory eurosceptic former cabinet m
  
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• Northern Ireland court to rule on Brexit challenge on Friday

  26-10-2016 22:38
  By Amanda Ferguson BELFAST (Reuters) - Northern Ireland's High Court will rule on Friday on a challenge against British plans to leave the European Union without a vote in parliament, the first judgment in legal cases that are being closely watched by politicians and markets. A cross-party group of politicians, including members of the British province's largest Irish nationalist parties, brought the challenge earlier this month, arguing that a vote in the Northern Ireland regional assembly shou
  
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• Man charged after suspicious item found on London tube train

  26-10-2016 22:32
  (Reuters) - British police said on Wednesday a man would appear in court on Thursday in connection with an incident last week in which a suspicious item was found on a London underground train. The Metropolitan Police website said Damon Joseph Smith, 19, had been charged with possession of an explosive substance with intent to endanger life or cause serious injury. British police carried out a controlled explosion on Oct. 20 at North Greenwich underground station, near the Canary Wharf financial
  
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• Candice Brown declared winner of BBC's final Bake Off series

  26-10-2016 22:25
  Candice Brown has been crowned champion of the Great British Bake Off, which aired for the last time on the BBC tonight.
  
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• Britain cannot have it all in Brexit deal - French agriculture minister

  26-10-2016 20:57
  Britain cannot have it all as it exits the European Union and cannot leave behind the bloc's problems while benefiting from its advantages, French agriculture minister Stephane Le Foll said on Wednesday. "You cannot say when exiting the EU you will keep all the advantages but leave behind anything that doesn't suit you," Le Foll said at a briefing in London before a bilateral meeting with his British counterpart Andrea Leadsom. "It's a choice which results in losing certain advantages which coul
  
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• RBS sets aside more funds as investor lawsuits near settlement

  26-10-2016 20:39
  The ghost of Fred Goodwin will return to haunt Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) again this week when his former employer is forced to set aside millions of pounds more to settle legal action brought by major City shareholders. Sky News has learnt that RBS has held fresh discussions with a group of institutional investors aimed at settling one of several outstanding cases against the bank that in total could cost it well over £4bn. The bank, then run by Mr Goodwin, raised £12bn from outsi
  
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• Two men questioned over London City airport chemical incident

  26-10-2016 19:54
  
  Officers from the Aviation Policing CID are continuing to investigate the incident.
  
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• A new scam on WhatsApp is luring victims with free Sainbury's vouchers

  26-10-2016 19:30
  
  The scam is disguised as a message from a familiar number and urges victims to click on a seemingly genuine link.
  
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• This campaign is demanding young people get a say in the Brexit negotiations

  26-10-2016 19:01
  
  The We Are Undivided campaign wants a seat at the Brexit negotiating table for young people.
  
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• Lottery app fault may have stopped people claiming their winnings

  26-10-2016 18:58
  People may have been throwing winning National Lottery tickets in the bin after a barcode scanner on Camelot’s official app developed technical issues. A customer who has used the app, Graham West, contacted Sky News to say he had encountered a problem - adding that Camelot, the lottery operator, had not, as far as he was aware, told users. Another user, Dai Haines, said on Twitter: "Used my national lottery app to scan my ticket.
  
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• Hillary Clinton just wished herself a happy birthday in the most awkward way

  26-10-2016 18:51
  Weirdo alert.
  
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• Liam Fox says CETA delays show need to reach UK-EU deal before Brexit

  26-10-2016 17:51
  By Kylie MacLellan LONDON (Reuters) - The difficulties in concluding an EU-Canada trade deal show the importance of Britain reaching an agreement over its future relationship with the EU before it leaves the bloc, British trade minister Liam Fox said on Wednesday. Fox told a committee of lawmakers the seven years it has taken to reach the CETA deal, and the delays in signing it after it was rejected by a Belgian regional authority, showed the difficulty of doing a deal with such a large number o
  
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• An UK-EU treaty would be debated by both parliamentary chambers - minister

  26-10-2016 17:03
  If Britain's renegotiation of its relationship with the European Union results in a new treaty, that will be examined by both houses of parliament, junior Brexit minister David Jones said on Wednesday. "At the end of the process, if in fact the negotiation culminates in a treaty (...) the treaty itself will be debated in both houses, and both houses will have the opportunity to debate on the outcome of the negotiations," he told a committee of lawmakers.
  
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• Missing RAF serviceman Corrie McKeague's mum 'desperate' to find him

  26-10-2016 16:37
  
  The mother of a missing RAF serviceman has told Sky News she is desperate for someone to come forward and say: "I've seen him."
  
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• Dad faces jail over child's force-feeding death

  26-10-2016 16:08
  A man is facing jail for killing his three-year-old son by force-feeding him a mixture of bread and cereal. The toddler "drowned in his food" after being made to lie across his father's lap as the porridge-like mixture was poured into his mouth.
  
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• Surge in British trips to Ireland eases after Brexit vote

  26-10-2016 16:07
  Trips by British tourists to Ireland grew at the slowest rate in over a year in the three months after Britons voted on June 23 to leave the European Union. Ireland attracted more visitors last year than in any year on record, recording a sharp rise in trips from the United States, Europe and neighbouring Britain, which accounted for 40 percent of all tourists. A near-20-percent plunge in sterling's value against the euro since the Brexit vote has made Ireland more expensive for Britons, and ope
  
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• How Baldrick became the unexpected star of PMQs

  26-10-2016 15:41
  
  But does anyone have a cunning plan for Brexit?
  
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• Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn's 'cunning' PMQ's plan backfires

  26-10-2016 15:29
  As a cunning plan it lacked just one thing - research. Jeremy Corbyn's big Prime Minister's Questions gag backfired on him when he quoted the Blackadder character Baldrick to ask Theresa May if she had a "cunning plan" for Brexit. Had they done so they might have discovered that Sir Tony Robinson recently referred to Mr Corbyn as a "**** leader" and supported Owen Smith in the leadership contest.
  
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• Kent University student union under fire after naming Zayn Malik and Sadiq Khan as faces of its Black History Month celebrations

  26-10-2016 15:27
  
  The union later issued an apology to anyone offended.
  
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• May's office plays down pre-referendum remarks to Goldman Sachs

  26-10-2016 15:23
  Prime Minister Theresa May's office played down the significance of comments she made before the referendum warning that companies would leave Britain if the country backed Brexit, after the Guardian newspaper published a recording of a private meeting she held with Goldman Sachs. At the time, she was interior minister and campaigning, albeit quietly, for Britain to remain in the EU. "I think if we were not in Europe, there would be firms and companies who would be looking to say, do they need t
  
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• Watch: UKIP MEP's furious row with EU President

  26-10-2016 15:06
  
  UKIP's Mike Hookem has become embroiled in a furious row in the European Parliament with its president Martin Schulz. The MEP threatened to sue Mr Schulz over claims the EU leader made that Mr Hookem had punched the UKIP MEP Steven Woolfe during an altercation in the parliament earlier this month.
  
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• Gender pay gap falls to 20-year low for full-time workers

  26-10-2016 15:02
  The gender pay gap for full-time workers has fallen to its lowest level since records began almost 20 years ago, according to official figures. The report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that the difference between men's and women's full-time median hourly pay is now 9.4% - down from 9.6% last year and 17.4% in 1997. "We need a labour market that works better for women," general secretary Frances O'Grady said.
  
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• Women in Iceland walked out of work 14% early to protest the 14% gender pay gap

  26-10-2016 14:45
  
  They took to the streets to demonstrate against the inequality.
  
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• TV weight loss ad banned for being irresponsible

  26-10-2016 14:20
  In the ad, "Cheryl" talks to her former self, two months after starting to use the meal delivery service Diet Chef. The former Cheryl appears distressed, her hair is messy and she is wearing a baggy shirt. The former Cheryl says: "You look, amazing.
  
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• Multiple fires have broken out in the Calais 'Jungle'

  26-10-2016 14:19
  
  The planned demolition of the camp is not going smoothly.
  
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• May says Brexit vote will not undermine N.Ireland peace deal

  26-10-2016 13:44
  There is no reason Britain's June vote to leave the European Union should undermine a 1998 Northern Irish peace deal, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday. Northern Ireland voted to remain in the EU and Irish nationalist parties oppose Brexit, saying it could undermine the 1998 Belfast Agreement and reinstate a hard border with the Republic of Ireland. "I don't believe there's any reason to believe that the outcome of the referendum will do anything to undermine the absolute rock-solid c
  
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• UK watchdog allows energy bills charge to repay customers of bankrupt providers

  26-10-2016 13:21
  Energy users could see a small increase in energy bills if a supplier goes bust as a rule change implemented by regulator Ofgem now allows a rescue supplier to add a charge to bills that will help it reimburse customers of the bankrupt supplier. Ofgem said on Wednesday the change would protect consumers' credit balances when a supplier became insolvent and would give customers more confidence when signing up with a smaller provider. "It's important that people are fully protected in the unlikely
  
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• The gender pay gap for full-time workers is the lowest it's been for almost 20 years

  26-10-2016 13:20
  
  But before you get too excited, it’s only dropped by 0.2%.
  
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• The world's most generous country has been named and it might not be your first guess

  26-10-2016 13:06
  
  Burma is top dog for the third year in a row.
  
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• Labour MPs want party to back Lib Dems against Zac Goldsmith

  26-10-2016 13:02
  
  Labour should not put up a candidate to oppose Zac Goldsmith in a by-election to stand the best chance of "kicking him out of parliament", three of the party's MPs have said. The election battle will come down to a straight fight between Mr Goldsmith and the Liberal Democrats, who had previously held the seat and who are popular in the area. Theresa May has said she will not field a Conservative candidate against Mr Goldsmith, who is standing as an independent.
  
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• EU parliament refers scuffling UKIP MEPs to police

  26-10-2016 13:02
  French police will look into a scuffle in the European Parliament between two members from the UK Independence Party, which left one in hospital with a head injury, the speaker of the EU legislature said on Wednesday. President Martin Schulz said an internal inquiry he commissioned had been unable to reconcile the accounts of Mike Hookem, UKIP's defence spokesman, and Steven Woolfe, who collapsed after the incident. "Given the seriousness of the reported facts and their possible criminal implica
  
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• London police cordon off streets near St Paul's Cathedral in brief security alert

  26-10-2016 12:42
  LONDON (Reuters) - Police in the City of London cordoned off several streets near St Paul's Cathedral on Wednesday after finding what a spokeswoman called a suspicious vehicle. The lockdown lasted about an hour before roads were reopened and the area declared safe. Police have been on high alert in recent days after a "suspicious item" was found on an underground train near the Canary Wharf financial district last week, leading to the arrest of a teenager under terrorism laws. Britain is on its
  
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• EU parliament refers scuffling UKIP lawmakers to police

  26-10-2016 12:25
  French police will look into a scuffle in the European Parliament between two members from the UK Independence Party, which left one in hospital with a head injury, the speaker of the EU legislature said on Wednesday. President Martin Schulz said an internal inquiry he commissioned had been unable to reconcile the accounts of Mike Hookem, UKIP's defence spokesman, and Steven Woolfe, who collapsed after the incident. "Given the seriousness of the reported facts and their possible criminal implica
  
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• Brexit will not cause UK trade 'disruption' - WTO boss

  26-10-2016 12:08
  
  The head of the World Trade Organisation has vowed to ensure Britain will not face a trade "vacuum or a disruption", however tough its exit from the European Union. Roberto Azevedo said that he did not believe the Brexit vote was "anti-trade" and dismissed fears that Britain could suffer a sudden seizure of trade during or after its negotiations with the EU. In an exclusive interview with Sky News, the WTO director-general also said that while Britain would have to renegotiate its membership of
  
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• Inquiry launched into high price of NHS drugs

  26-10-2016 11:59
  The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an inquiry into suspected breaches of competition law by pharmaceutical firms. Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt called in the CMA in June after an investigation by The Times suggested companies were exploiting a loophole in NHS rules to raise prices of medicines. The paper alleged that companies were able to charge the high prices because they faced limited competition on long-established, off-patent drugs, bought from large pharmaceutical fir
  
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• UKIP MEPs reported to police over European Parliament fight

  26-10-2016 10:57
  
  Two UKIP MEPs have been reported to the police over a fight in the European Parliament that left one of them in hospital. European Parliament President Martin Schulz has reported Steven Woolfe and Mike Hookem to the French authorities over their altercation in the European Parliament building in Strasbourg earlier this month. Mr Woolfe claims he fell backwards and hit his head after he was punched by Mr Hookem but Mr Hookem has denied hitting him during the row.
  
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• UK mortgage approvals pick up from 19-month low - BBA

  26-10-2016 10:51
  British banks approved more mortgages last month after the number of approvals fell to a 19-month low in August, while consumer lending grew at its fastest rate in nearly a decade, industry figures showed on Wednesday. The British Bankers' Association said its members approved 38,252 mortgages for house purchase in September, down 15 percent on a year earlier but up from 37,241 in August, which was the lowest level since January 2015. "Mortgage approvals picked up slightly this month but the hou
  
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• BoE's Carney says some global bank capital reforms will be cut

  26-10-2016 10:41
  A key element of new bank rules, widely criticised by the finance industry for unnecessarily bumping up capital requirements, will be radically cut back, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said on Tuesday. This new capital requirement covers so-called operational risk, such as big fines for misconduct that could eat into a bank's main capital reserves. "One of core recommendations had the effect of substantially increasing the capital for so-called operational risk," Carney told a committee in
  
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• Bristol top of the league for property sales - study

  26-10-2016 10:07
  Property in Bristol and Edinburgh is sold in half the time of other less popular cities, according to a study.
  
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• Lloyds to set aside another £1bn to cover PPI costs

  26-10-2016 09:27
  Lloyds Banking Group has set aside a further £1bn to meet compensation claims for the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI). The bank, which is 9% owned by the taxpayer, has already been forced to fork out more than £16bn over the issue - by far the biggest share of PPI policies. Earlier this year, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) put a June 2019 deadline on all claims to draw a line under the scandal, which has already cost the banking industry a
  
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• Breakthrough offers hope for parents of autistic children

  26-10-2016 09:24
  An experimental autism therapy that helps parents communicate with their children has had record levels of success in reducing symptoms. Experts found planned communication and play sessions showed benefits that lasted six years after the treatment finished - the first time such results have been demonstrated. The study looked at long-term outcomes for the Pre-school Autism Communication Trial (PACT), which involved 152 autistic children aged two to four.
  
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• Vodafone fined £4.6m over customer complaints

  26-10-2016 09:17
  
  Ofcom has fined Vodafone £4.6m over a series of failures in its UK business, including its handling of customer complaints. As first revealed by Sky News City Editor Mark Kleinman, the ruling comes after the conclusion of two investigations into the communications giant. One probe concluded that Vodafone's customer service representatives "were not given sufficiently clear guidance on what constituted a complaint".
  
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• Leaked recording reveals Theresa May's Brexit views

  26-10-2016 08:48
  
  Theresa May privately warned a month before the EU referendum that companies would leave the UK if the country voted for Brexit, according to a report in The Guardian. The paper claims a recording of her remarks to bankers at Goldman Sachs reveals that despite her more guarded public comments she had concerns about Britain leaving the European Union. It is reported she told staff it was time the UK took a lead in Europe and that she hoped voters would look to the future rather than the past.
  
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• Brother and sister among four dead in Australia theme park ride accident

  26-10-2016 08:36
  
  Police said two young children were fortunate to be alive after a river rapids ride malfunctioned at Dreamworld.
  
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• See Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton as you've never seen them before - in pumpkin form

  26-10-2016 08:25
  
  Trump looks scarier (and more orange) than usual.
  
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• Scientists fly high to tackle rising air pollution levels

  26-10-2016 07:21
  
  Scientists have taken to the skies as part the most comprehensive ever assessment of Britain's air pollution. Researchers from the Natural Centre for Atmospheric Science are flying through the plume of pollution billowing from major cities to calculate exactly how many tonnes of sooty particulates and toxic gases are being emitted. Sky News joined them for the first flight in a specially adapted aircraft to measure pollutants in a cross-section of the plume blown downwind of Manchester and Liver
  
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• Six face trial in France over topless photos of British royal Kate

  26-10-2016 07:03
  Six people including photographers and senior media industry officials are to face trial in France under privacy laws over the publication of photographs of Britain's Duchess of Cambridge topless in 2012, according to French media reports. The reports, citing French national news agency Agence France Presse and a judicial source, said those covered by the case would include senior staff at French regional newspaper La Provence, Closer Magazine, and Closer's parent company - Silvio Berlusconi's A
  
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• Theresa May slams SNP's calls for ANOTHER referendum & says Scotland MUST remain in the UK

  26-10-2016 05:57 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  THERESA May has rubbished Angus Robertson's calls for another referendum, saying the deputy SNP leader should look at Scotland's own balance sheet with Britain before jumping ship and joining the EU.
  
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