General news

• Filmmaker wins UK prize for a short about a Donald Trump pinata

  22-11-2016 23:57
  Definitely a film we want to see!
  
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• Hundreds brave long, cold lines to snap up Snapchat Spectacles in New York

  22-11-2016 23:53 via theguardian.com
  
  Enthusiasm for Snapchat’s pop-up sale of video-capturing sunglasses bubbled into a second day as people camped out in hats, scarves and sweaters As temperatures dipped and high winds whistled down Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue on Tuesday hundreds waited in line for the chance to snap up this season’s must-have tech toy – Snapchat Spectacles – and the possibility to make some extra money.This was the second day that tech company Snap Inc’s Spectacles pop-up store ha
  
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• Female authors dominate the Costa Book Awards

  22-11-2016 23:51
  Women feature highly across all literary categories.
  
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• Breitbart News blacklisted by ad tech company for violating hate speech rules

  22-11-2016 23:43 via theguardian.com
  
  AppNexus, which distributes online advertising, has blocked the increasingly popular rightwing media site helmed by Trump’s chief strategist Steve BannonMajor online ad technology company AppNexus will blacklist rightwing media outlet Breitbart, saying the company is in violation of its hate speech rules. Breitbart was run by President-elect Donald Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, until this summer. The site has become increasingly popular this year, with 19 million unique vis
  
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• The presidential medal of freedom awards ceremony 2016 – in pictures

  22-11-2016 23:08 via theguardian.com
  
  In his final ceremony granting the medal of freedom, the highest civilian honour, Barack Obama chose 21 people from the worlds of sports, entrepreneurship, philanthropy, activism, academia and entertainment. Recipients included Tom Hanks, Diana Ross, Michael Jordan and Bill Gates Continue reading...
  
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• Leicester City top dogs after Shinji Okazaki leads win over Club Brugge

  22-11-2016 22:53 via theguardian.com
  
  For Leicester City it was a night to savour even if they made hard work of it in the end. The club who won 2-1 at Scunthorpe eight years ago to the day to go top of League One, in front of 7,967 people at Glanford Park, will be among the select band of teams taking their seats in Nyon next month for the draw for the last 16 of the Champions League. It is easy to see why Claudio Ranieri keeps talking about fairytales.Leicester, the 5,000-1 title winners, who had not won a game in Europe since 196
  
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• Pochettino gamble falls flat in Monaco and Spurs crash out after five games

  22-11-2016 22:51 via theguardian.com
  
  It was the latest painful lesson Mauricio Pochettino and his Tottenham Hotspur players have been forced to endure on this Champions League journey and it was one that emphatically ruined their dream. The team poured blood, sweat and tears into qualifying for the competition but they will go no further.When the draw was made for Group E there had been the sense Tottenham had not done too badly regarding opponents. It was based, in part, on Monaco being beatable. Spurs, after all, had taken four p
  
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• Donald Trump says he 'might have brought up' wind farms in a meeting with Nigel Farage

  22-11-2016 22:39
  
  Trump has long been a critic of offshore wind farms, having fought against such a project near his Aberdeenshire golf resort.
  
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• Twitter tells Adam Thomas exactly why he is doing ANOTHER Bushtucker Trial

  22-11-2016 22:24
  
  Apparently colourful language and true fear earn you Bushtucker Trials
  
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• Ireland reluctant to host high-risk bank trading after Brexit - sources

  22-11-2016 22:13
  (This version of the story corrects title of IDA International Financial Services chief) By Anjuli Davies and Padraic Halpin LONDON/DUBLIN (Reuters) - Ireland has signalled to several large investment banks it would be reluctant to host large trading operations, banking sources told Reuters, despite Dublin's desire to attract financial sector jobs from London after Britain leaves the EU. This reticence, linked to Ireland's painful experience of a banking crash in 2008 and subsequent internationa
  
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• Hammond gets boost from October borrowing data

  22-11-2016 22:13
  By David Milliken and Andy Bruce LONDON (Reuters) - British finance minister Philip Hammond got some rare good news about the country's finances on Tuesday as he finalises his first budget statement, which is still likely to forecast a surge in borrowing as Britain prepares to leave the EU. Instead, economists predict Hammond could announce more than 100 billion pounds of extra borrowing on Wednesday, as Britain's independent budget office is likely to forecast slower growth, weaker tax revenues
  
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• A soft Brexit is best for Norway, trade minister says

  22-11-2016 22:13
  By Stine Jacobsen OSLO (Reuters) - Britain should stay as closely connected to Europe's single market as it can after it leaves the European Union, the trade minister of non-EU member Norway said on Tuesday. The Nordic country, which pays hundreds of millions of euros to access the European internal market from outside the bloc, has been held up by some, especially Brexit supporters, as a potential model for post-Brexit Britain to follow. "Britain is perhaps our most important economic partner.
  
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• Trump disavows the white nationalist 'alt-right' but defends Steve Bannon hire

  22-11-2016 22:12 via theguardian.com
  
  Speaking with New York Times journalists the president-elect said he wouldn’t have hired Bannon if he thought he was racist or part of ‘alt-right’ movementPresident-elect Donald Trump has disavowed the white nationalist movement which dubs itself the “alt-right” and which rallied around his candidacy, but vigorously defended his former campaign chairman and newly appointed White House chief strategist, Stephen Bannon, a man accused of fanning the flames of white sup
  
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• Hammond aims to ease UK living standards squeeze, focus on budget

  22-11-2016 22:12
  Britain's Chancellor will say on Wednesday that he is reducing a benefits squeeze for low-paid workers, but that fixing the public finances and improving productivity are the best ways to improve living standards. The Treasury said Philip Hammond, Britain's chancellor of the exchequer, would announce that low-paid workers would lose tax credits at a slightly slower pace as their earnings rise, softening some of the impact of a sharp rise in inflation caused by the Brexit hit to the pound. The go
  
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• 'Amazingly rare' dodo skeleton sells for more than £346k at auction

  22-11-2016 22:06
  An "amazingly rare" composite dodo skeleton has sold for more than £346,000 at auction. The skeleton, which is 95% complete, was meticulously constructed over several decades by an enthusiast who started buying bones from private collections and auctions in the 1970s. It is the first near-perfect skeleton of the extinct bird to come up for sale in almost 100 years and is one of just a handful in existence across the world.
  
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• England football team 'may miss out on talent from working class' – MP

  22-11-2016 21:32 via theguardian.com
  
  Stella Creasy told a Commons debate on social mobility a disproportionate number of the England team went to private schoolEngland’s football team may be missing out on talent because a disproportionately high number of the squad went to private schools, a Labour MP has claimed.Stella Creasy, a former deputy leadership contender and ex-shadow business minister, made the argument in a House of Commons debate about education and social mobility. Continue reading...
  
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• Case dropped against British tourist who reported 'rape' in Dubai

  22-11-2016 21:21
  A woman who was arrested for having extramarital sex after she claimed she was raped by two men in Dubai will not face trial. Dubai's public prosecutor's office said it had reached the decision after "careful" examination of the evidence, including footage from one of the suspects' mobile phones. All three are now in the process of getting them back and are free to leave Dubai, officials have said.
  
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• Scotland wins battle to end voluntary work programme sanctions

  22-11-2016 21:04 via theguardian.com
  
  Holyrood can exempt Scots taking part from having benefits stopped or cut thanks to newly devolved welfare powersUnemployed Scots taking part in newly devolved, voluntary work programmes will not face sanctions, after the Scottish government won its battle with Westminster to exempt those taking part from having their benefits stopped or reduced.The Scottish government’s minister for employability and training, Jamie Hepburn, welcomed this as “a great relief to individuals who have h
  
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• Theatre must speak to the nation – and listen to it

  22-11-2016 21:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The theatre world must connect with those who feel disaffected but it should also face some unpalatable truths about how the artform is perceived by the vast majority of peopleIt’s good to talk. Particularly in this post-truth world. Last weekend the cast of Hamilton on Broadway tried to have a conversation with vice-president elect Mike Pence, and were told they were rude and should apologise by Donald Trump. Yet Britain’s ex-culture minister Ed Vaizey has complained that the arts s
  
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• Nadiya Hussain and Attenborough part of BBC radio festive feast

  22-11-2016 21:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Christmas lineup peppered with big names including Bake Off star, Planet Earth narrator and Glenda JacksonGreat British Bake Off star Nadiya Hussain will invite listeners into her home while she cooks a family feast as part of a BBC radio Christmas lineup featuring David Attenborough, Glenda Jackson and Clare Balding.Hussain will be joined for the two-hour Radio 2 programme on 21 December by presenter and wine expert Olly Smith as she cooks dishes such as salmon kedgeree and gingerbread cake, ac
  
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• Autumn Statement 2016: Five big things to look out for

  22-11-2016 20:57
  If Philip Hammond has his way, the Autumn Statement might go back to being a bit like that in future - but this year's event promises to be a major one. In large part that's because this is the first fiscal event since the Brexit vote in June. After all, if the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which calculates the official government growth numbers, thinks the economy is heading for the sink, that will mean much less tax revenue, and much less money for the Chancellor to give away in futu
  
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• Wales unveils means-tested university grants of up to £11,000 a year

  22-11-2016 20:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Assembly will replace universal tuition grant with benefits and loans system from September 2018 to help poorest studentsWelsh undergraduates from the poorest families will receive maintenance grants of up to £11,000 a year in return for taking on the full cost of university tuition fees, as Wales overhauls its student funding.Kirsty Williams, Wales’s education secretary, announced that the country’s universal £5,100 tuition grant is to be scrapped and replaced with a mix
  
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• Pensions Regulator demands information from Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia

  22-11-2016 20:46 via theguardian.com
  
  Watchdog to examine Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge owner’s scheme after launching legal action over BHSThe Pensions Regulator has expanded its examination of Sir Philip Green’s business empire by demanding information from Arcadia – the owner of Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge – about the state of its pension scheme.Lesley Titcomb, the chief executive of the Pensions Regulator (TPR), revealed in a letter to Labour MP Frank Field that the organisat
  
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• Facebook executive accuses UK parents of flouting age restrictions

  22-11-2016 20:46 via theguardian.com
  
  Simon Milner, network’s policy director, tells Lords committee parents are helping children aged under 13 to sign upA senior Facebook boss has accused parents in the UK of helping their children to open an account before they are 13, flouting the minimum age restriction for signing up to the social media giant.Facebook’s policy director, Simon Milner, was giving evidence on Tuesday before a parliamentary committee looking into issues surrounding children’s use of the internet.
  
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• Beware, Black Friday is spreading | Tim Dowling

  22-11-2016 20:46 via theguardian.com
  
  Now it spans at least a week, you could easily pick any other day, or colour – but at least the name captures the event’s heedless, bushfire rapacityBlack Friday is almost upon us, or rather it’s already upon us: many retailers launched their annual sales on Tuesday or even earlier. After playing it down last year – after some violence the year before – everybody is now seeking to spread it out, hoping to maximise profits while minimising chaos. Morrisons is adverti
  
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• I’m a doctor, not a gatekeeper turning ‘health tourists’ away | Rachel Clarke

  22-11-2016 20:40 via theguardian.com
  
  Passports for patients is an idea that revives the old lie that migrants are ruining the NHS, not £22bn of government cutsWhat better way of diverting attention from the government’s failure to address NHS underfunding ahead of the autumn statement than to turn up the heat on immigrants? You know, those hordes of NHS-clogging health tourists who come over here, steal all the GP appointments and make you wait half the night in A&E. Makes you sick, doesn’t it? No wonder our p
  
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• Nepal's earthquake-hit Boudhanath stupa reopens after restoration

  22-11-2016 20:39 via theguardian.com
  
  Private donations pay for repair to historic site, as criticism grows over government’s response to rebuilding nation after quakeEighteen months after an earthquake destroyed hundreds of historical sites across Nepal, the country has celebrated the restoration of the first major one, the Buddhist monument topped in gold that towers above Kathmandu.One of the largest of its kind and a popular tourist attraction, the Boudhanath stupa was repaired, not with government funding, but with privat
  
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• The Guardian view on the NHS cash crisis: social care comes first | Editorial

  22-11-2016 20:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Hospitals in England are so short of cash that it seems obvious to give them an emergency bailout. But helping vulnerable people stay home is a better use of the health poundAs a matter of good administrative practice, it makes sense to charge non-UK residents for non-urgent health treatment (there is no suggestion that anyone in urgent need would be turned away). Reclaiming patients’ costs from other European countries, under the existing reciprocal arrangement, is also sensible. But doin
  
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• Costa book award 2016 shortlists dominated by female writers

  22-11-2016 20:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Rose Tremain, Maggie O’Farrell and Sarah Perry lead contenders for the £30,000 top prizeWomen dominate this year’s Costa book award shortlists, with Rose Tremain, Sarah Perry and Kate Tempest among 14 female writers of the 20 nominated across the awards’ five categories.Three previous Costa winners are in the running for the best novel award: Maggie O’Farrell for This Must Be the Place, Rose Tremain for The Gustav Sonata and Sebastian Barry for Days Without End. Bar
  
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• 'Stolen car' driven into Carr Mill Dam during police chase

  22-11-2016 20:28
  A man has been rescued - and then arrested - after driving a suspected stolen car into a reservoir "at speed".
  
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• Hours after cancelling on New York Times reporters, Trump meets them

  22-11-2016 20:26 via theguardian.com
  
  President-elect reportedly says he has ‘tremendous respect’ for paper despite earlier calling it ‘failing’ and ‘not nice’Hours after cancelling a scheduled meeting with the New York Times and claiming on Twitter that the newspaper had changed the “terms and conditions” of the meeting, Donald Trump attended a lunchtime discussion with a group of reporters and editors at the newspaper’s headquarters on Tuesday. Related: Trump v the media: did h
  
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• Autumn Statement 2016: The five big things to look out for

  22-11-2016 20:12
  If Philip Hammond has his way, the Autumn Statement might go back to being a bit like that in future - but this year's event promises to be a major one. In large part that's because this is the first fiscal event since the Brexit vote in June. After all, if the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), which calculates the official government growth numbers, thinks the economy is heading for the sink, that will mean much less tax revenue, and much less money for the Chancellor to give away in futu
  
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• Taxing questions for the chancellor to consider | Letters

  22-11-2016 19:59 via theguardian.com
  
  How is “helping low-income families to save” a measure to help the “just about managing” (Hammond told to help families ‘just managing’, 18 November)? On a low income you don’t have money to save. With low savings rates, saving doesn’t confer much benefit. On a modestly good income when I was young, it was very difficult to save the amount recommended for my pension.Our politicians should have experience of the real world. Maybe we should raise the
  
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• Aldi and Lidl hike milk and banana prices as pound's fall bites

  22-11-2016 19:55 via theguardian.com
  
  Move marks step change in price war between German discounters and Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco Discount chains Aldi and Lidl have begun putting up the price of basic groceries, including milk and bananas, as the squeeze from the Brexit-driven fall in the value of the pound hits.The two supermarket companies have raised the price of a four-pint bottle of milk to 99p, from 95p – a 4% lift, which puts them on a par with Asda and just 1p behind Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and
  
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• Adele tells US concert audience she is having another baby

  22-11-2016 19:52 via theguardian.com
  
  Singer suggests she may be extending her family, in comment at end of show in Phoenix, Arizona Adele has hinted that she may be extending her family, as she concluded her sellout world tour this week. Related: Adele: 'I'd be happy never to tour again'Continue reading...
  
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• UK accused of lack of transparency over rise in aid funding to private sector

  22-11-2016 19:35 via theguardian.com
  
  Critics say proposal to give more support to DfID’s controversial investment arm undermines pledges to improve aid accountabilityThe British government has been accused of undermining its own commitment to transparency on aid spending after it emerged that it plans a dramatic increase in the funding it channels through the controversial private sector arm of the UK’s aid programme.A draft bill from the Department for International Development (DfID) proposes to increase the limit on
  
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• Dubai prosecutors drop extramarital sex case against rape claim Briton

  22-11-2016 19:28 via theguardian.com
  
  Prosecutor’s office concludes woman who said she was attacked by two men had consensual sexA British woman charged with having extramarital sex in Dubai after claiming she was raped no longer faces legal proceedings after the case against her was dropped.The 25-year-old tourist from Cheshire said she was attacked by two men while on holiday in the United Arab Emirates and reported the incident to police. Officers charged her with extramarital sex and confiscated her passport. Continue read
  
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• Nato and Kremlin in war of words over Russian missile deployment

  22-11-2016 19:21 via theguardian.com
  
  Putin spokesman says Kaliningrad move is merely defending Russia’s security after Nato accuses it of ‘military posturing’Nato and the Kremlin have traded accusations over the Russian deployment of state-of-the-art missiles in its Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad. Nato on Tuesday accused Russia of “aggressive military posturing”, while Vladimir Putin shot back that Russia was merely responding to Nato aggression.Continue reading...
  
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• Three men criminally responsible for Bath truck deaths, court told

  22-11-2016 19:15 via theguardian.com
  
  Philip Potter, Matthew Gordon and Peter Wood deny charges over February 2015 incident in which girl and three men diedA four-year-old girl and three men were killed when the brakes on a 32-tonne tipper truck with almost 450,000 miles on the clock failed on a steep hill, a jury has heard.Bristol crown court was told that Mitzi Steady died instantly when the eight-wheeled HGV, which was heavily loaded with aggregate and driven by an inexperienced young man, hit her as she crossed a road in Bath wi
  
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• Hello yellow! The future of power dressing is bright

  22-11-2016 19:15 via theguardian.com
  
  As worn by Alicia Vikander at the Oscars, Beyoncé in Lemonade and now Emma Watson as a feisty new Belle, the yellow dress is a curveball piece for a curveball eraThis has been a year in which supposedly well-informed people have turned out to be woefully wrong in their predictions about many things, some of them really quite important, which makes me feel slightly better about what I am about to admit. OK, here goes: I was wrong, in February, about Alicia Vikander’s Oscars dress. I
  
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• Woman arrested for reporting Dubai 'rape' has case dropped after prosecutors say evidence shows consent

  22-11-2016 19:12
  
  Investigators arrested and questioned both suspects before examining the evidence.
  
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• Helen Marten: from a Macclesfield garage to artist of the year

  22-11-2016 19:10 via theguardian.com
  
  She’s tipped for the Turner and has just won the first Hepworth sculpture prize. The 31-year-old talks about escaping an essay farm to create a parallel world out of matchsticks, pipes, spoons and threads Related: Helen Marten wins Hepworth prize for sculpture Helen Marten is having quite a year and, indeed, quite a career. Her first solo show in Britain was in 2012, at the Chisenhale in London, the seeding ground of bright young artists. Her work has twice been shown at the Venice Biennal
  
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• UK ambassador to US meets May after Trump backs Farage for job

  22-11-2016 19:09
  
  Britain's ambassador to the US has met Theresa May for talks, after the Prime Minister rejected Donald Trump's call for him to be replaced by Nigel Farage. Downing Street did not comment on the contents of Sir Kim Darroch's conversation with Mrs May, but made it clear the PM regards him as "an excellent ambassador who is doing a fantastic job". The US President-elect had earlier suggested Nigel Farage should be appointed as Britain's man in Washington, saying he would do "a great job".
  
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• Turkey: Erdoğan rule could extend until 2029 under proposal

  22-11-2016 19:03 via theguardian.com
  
  AKP likely to table referendum bill to amend constitution and nationalist support would now allow motion to passRecep Tayyip Erdoğan has been given a major boost in his quest to transform Turkey into a president-led republic, after nationalists in parliament signalled their support for a controversial proposal to amend the constitution and allow him to stay in office until 2029. In a move that lays the groundwork for a possible historic national referendum in the spring, Devlet Bahçe
  
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• Torrential rain and floods continue to disrupt travel across UK

  22-11-2016 18:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Woman dies after being pulled from sea off Kent and fears mount for 69-year-old man from Neath who went missing on SundayA woman has died after being pulled from the sea and concerns are growing over 69-year-old man feared drowned as rough seas, flash floods and swollen rivers continued to cause problems across swaths of the UK.Although drier, colder weather is expected, the Environment Agency warned homes and businesses that have escaped so far may still be hit by flooding as water makes its wa
  
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• Care homes in crisis as revised figures reveal surge in insolvencies

  22-11-2016 18:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Chancellor urged to offer financial support in autumn statement as data shows 380 businesses have collapsed since 2010The care home industry is in an even worse financial state than feared after a revision of government data revealed that nearly 100 more such businesses than previously thought have collapsed since 2010.The release of the figures has heightened calls for Philip Hammond, the chancellor, to offer financial support to care homes in the autumn statement. Continue reading...
  
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• Machinery firm Hewden collapses weeks after Brexit warning

  22-11-2016 18:43
  Heavy machinery firm Hewden has collapsed into administration with the immediate loss of 251 jobs and hundreds more in the balance weeks after warning it had been badly hit by the Brexit vote. Administrators at EY said 133 jobs have been saved after rival Ashtead snapped up three divisions of the group for £29m, as well as the Hewden brand name. The announcement comes days after Sky News reported that Hewden was teetering on the brink of collapse.
  
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• Flooding around the UK – in pictures

  22-11-2016 18:34 via theguardian.com
  
  The cleanup begins after a combination of Storm Angus and continued heavy rain have contributed to widespread flooding around the UK since Sunday Continue reading...
  
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• Inspiral Carpets drummer Craig Gill dies, aged 44

  22-11-2016 18:24 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘He was the beating heart of the Inspirals,’ says band in tribute to their drummerMadchester band Inspiral Carpets have paid tribute to their drummer Craig Gill, who has died at the age of 44. A statement on the group’s Facebook page said they were announcing his death “with heavy hearts”.Continue reading...
  
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• Jo Cox murder trial: jury set to start deliberations on Wednesday

  22-11-2016 18:18 via theguardian.com
  
  Judge is expected to finish summing up a day after jury hears that accused Thomas Mair would not be giving evidenceThe jury in the Jo Cox murder trial is expected to begin its deliberations on Wednesday morning.Thomas Mair, the man accused of murdering the Labour MP, opted not to give evidence at his trial at the Old Bailey in London. Continue reading...
  
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