General news

• Travel strikes

  19-12-2016 23:46 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Strike action across the UK is due to affect rail and air travel over the Christmas period.
  
  Read more

• 9 things we know so far about the Berlin Christmas market truck crash

  19-12-2016 23:25
  
  Witnesses have said the truck looked like it was deliberately driven into the busy market.
  
  Read more

• Harry Potter fan sent books by JK Rowling is evacuated from Aleppo

  19-12-2016 22:32
  
  Bana Alabed has been tweeting about the war.
  
  Read more

• Prisoner James Whitlock admits Pentonville jail escape

  19-12-2016 22:31 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A prisoner admits breaking out of a north London jail by removing the bars of his cell window.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Strikes show contempt says Downing Street

  19-12-2016 21:50 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A series of strikes called ahead of Christmas show "contempt" for ordinary people, says Downing Street.
  
  Read more

• 11 upsides to 2016 suggested by Twitter which may put things into perspective

  19-12-2016 21:42
  
  “I beat cancer!”
  
  Read more

• UK-made cluster bombs used in Yemen war, says Defence Secretary

  19-12-2016 20:18
  
  British-made cluster bombs have been used by a Saudi-led coalition in the Yemen conflict, the Defence Secretary says. Speaking in the Commons, Sir Michael Fallon said a "limited number" of BL-755 cluster munitions exported from Britain in the 1980s have been dropped in airstrikes. Amnesty International said a UK cluster bomb apparently malfunctioned in January, leaving scores of deadly unexploded small bombs over a wide area near a farm in Al khadhra village, six mi
  
  Read more

• Northern Ireland's Arlene Foster survives no confidence vote

  19-12-2016 20:03
  Northern Ireland's First Minister has survived a vote of no confidence but Sinn Fein, which shares power with her, could bring down the devolved government. Launched when she was Enterprise Minister, Arlene Foster is under pressure over a botched green energy scheme which could end up costing taxpayers £400m. Every member but her own Democratic Unionists walked out of the Assembly chamber when Mrs Foster stood to make a statement on the growing crisis.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Jedi 'faith' not a religion, ruling says

  19-12-2016 19:50 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Jedi, the worship of the mythology of Star Wars is not a religion, says the Charity Commission.
  
  Read more

• Rabbi Lionel Blue dies aged 86

  19-12-2016 19:40 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Rabbi Lionel Blue, the first openly gay British rabbi and a regular on BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day, dies.
  
  Read more

• Fifa fines England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland over poppies

  19-12-2016 19:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Fifa fines all four home nations for displaying poppies during World Cup qualifiers around Armistice Day.
  
  Read more

• British union says Weetabix workers vote for strike in new year

  19-12-2016 19:21
  Workers at British cereal company Weetabix, majority owned by China's Bright Food Group Co Ltd, have voted to strike in the new year over a dispute over proposed changes to working conditions. The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW) said on Monday that its members voted 91.7 percent in favour of industrial action, on a turnout of 69.5 percent. Weetabix said it was keen to continue discussions and had plans in place to minimise disruption to its operations.
  
  Read more

• Rose Polge inquest: Junior doctor had doubts over profession

  19-12-2016 19:19 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A junior doctor who killed herself at the time of a strike by colleagues had doubts over her career, an inquest hears.
  
  Read more

• FA to appeal FIFA fine for displaying poppies during England-Scotland game

  19-12-2016 18:46
  The FA says it plans to appeal against the fine handed down by FIFA after England players wore poppies on their shirts. The Scottish FA was also punished for a similar action by its team in the same game - a World Cup qualifier at Wembley Stadium. England was told to pay £35,000 for "several incidents" during the match, including displaying a "political symbol and several cases of spectator misconduct", FIFA said.
  
  Read more

• Mystery package delivered to Bradley Wiggins 'was decongestant'

  19-12-2016 18:39
  A mysterious package delivered to Sir Bradley Wiggins' doctor before the 2011 Tour de France contained a decongestant that is not subject to any anti-doping rules, according to Team Sky's general manager Sir Dave Brailsford. The content of the package is the subject of a UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) investigation, but appearing before a Parliamentary select committee Sir Dave revealed for the first time that he has been told it was Fluimucil. UKAD launched an investigation after the Daily Mail rep
  
  Read more

• Katie Hopkins apologises to family over al-Qaeda claims

  19-12-2016 18:37 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The columnist apologises for claiming a Muslim family who were refused entry to the US were extremists.
  
  Read more

• The year of the mixtape: the 15 greatest releases of 2016

  19-12-2016 18:24 via theguardian.com
  
  From Chance the Rapper to Future to Noname it’s been a vital year for hip-hop, and the lines between mixtape and album have blurred 2016 was the year the mixtape nearly became obsolete, with releases growing more and more polished and less and less like mixtapes. They also fell prey to streaming service subscriptions that value all music equally, blurring the distinction between “mixtape” and “album” and making the distinction itself meaningless. Yet it was somehow
  
  Read more

• Glastonbury Festival 2019 move to protect Worthy Farm

  19-12-2016 18:19 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Plans to hold the 2019 Glastonbury Festival "at a site 100 miles from Worthy Farm" are revealed.
  
  Read more

• Pound stumbles to month low after latest Brexit deal jitters

  19-12-2016 18:15
  The pound has suffered a wobble as markets experience a fresh bout of jitters over Brexit.
  
  Read more

• British royals join Christmas party for mental health charity's volunteers

  19-12-2016 18:13
  Prince William, his wife Kate and his brother Harry joined in with a mental health charity's Christmas party on Monday, helping to make decorations. The trio launched the "Heads Together" campaign earlier this year to work with charities to help tackle the stigma of mental health in Britain.
  
  Read more

• Saudi Arabia to stop using UK-made cluster bombs in Yemen

  19-12-2016 17:28
  Saudi Arabia has said it will stop using British made cluster bombs in Yemen. The development comes ahead of an expected similar announcement by Defence Secretary Michael Fallon in the House of Commons. A Saudi-led Arab coalition fighting in Yemen has used British-made BL-755 cluster munitions, which scatter bomblets across a wide area, in a limited way to protect its borders, said a Saudi statement.
  
  Read more

• Fish washed up on Marazion beach in Cornwall

  19-12-2016 17:16 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Thousands of fish wash up on a beach a fortnight after a similar mass stranding on a nearby stretch of coastline.
  
  Read more

• Strikes show 'contempt' for 'ordinary people', Downing Street says

  19-12-2016 17:12
  
  Striking railworkers, post office employees and airline staff are showing "shared contempt" for "ordinary people", Downing Street has said. In a robust response to a wave of winter strikes, the Prime Minister's spokesman condemned the trade unions accusing them of trying to cause "maximum damage" during the Christmas period. It comes as 3,500 post office workers went out on strike for five days in protest over job cuts and pension changes, hitting hundreds of Crown Post Offices.
  
  Read more

• Edlington boy torturer 'now a different person'

  19-12-2016 17:10 via bbc.co.uk
  
  One of two teenage brothers who tortured two boys in South Yorkshire tells a judge he is now "the opposite of that person who did the crimes".
  
  Read more

• Man admits stabbing couple to death outside Cardiff Matalan shop

  19-12-2016 17:06
  Andrew Saunders, 20, pleaded guilty at Cardiff Crown Court to killing Zoe Morgan, 21, and Lee Simmons, 33. The couple were found dead close to the Matalan store in Cardiff city centre on 28 September. Miss Morgan, who worked as a window dresser, had just graduated from the University of South Wales with an honours degree in fashion marketing and retail design.
  
  Read more

• Murdoch denies pressuring prime ministers ahead of Sky submission

  19-12-2016 16:58
  Rupert Murdoch said on Monday he had never asked a British prime minister for anything, seeking to play down his influence ahead of what is likely to be a politically charged approval process for his $14.6 billion (11.75 billion pounds) bid for pay-TV group Sky . The 85-year-old's Twenty-First Century Fox made a formal approach to take full control of the British-based Sky last week, reigniting a row over whether the media mogul controls too much of Britain's media and had too much sway over pol
  
  Read more

• Briton Nicholas Lazareff freezes to death after Moscow robbery

  19-12-2016 16:53
  A British man has frozen to death after reportedly being drugged and robbed during a night out in Russia. The body of Nicholas Lazareff, 22, was discovered on Sunday after he died of hypothermia, his mother said. Mr Lazareff, a dual British and French national,  was separated from the other two and staggered into a forest.
  
  Read more

• Telling mum 'broke her heart'

  19-12-2016 16:45 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Football abuse victim Paul Collins has told BBC 5 live of the ‘heart-breaking’ moment he finally revealed his ordeal to his 82-year-old mother.
  
  Read more

• Ed Miliband blowing his nose is appearing as a stock news photo in the US

  19-12-2016 16:40
  
  A picture of the politician appeared on and NBC segment about the flu season.
  
  Read more

• Ed Miliband appears on US news as TV flu guy

  19-12-2016 16:36
  Had things been different, he could have been Prime Minister - instead Ed Miliband has been relegated to TV flu guy. A picture of the former Labour leader blowing his nose has been used by US TV channel NBC to illustrate a feature about cold and flu season. Despite meeting with Barack Obama at the White House in 2014, it seems Mr Miliband is so anonymous in America that the image from the picture agency Getty was used as a stock image without anyone realising who he is.
  
  Read more

• UK lender Nationwide sees house price growth slowing to around 2 percent in 2017

  19-12-2016 16:21
  British house price growth is likely to slow to around 2 percent next year against a backdrop of a weaker economy, Nationwide Building Society, the country's second largest mortgage lender, said on Monday. Nationwide said economic growth was likely to slow next year due to greater than normal uncertainty following Britain's vote to leave the European Union, but that an outright fall in house prices was not the most likely scenario. "We continue to think a small gain - around two per cent - is mo
  
  Read more

• 'Meaningless': readers on Sajid Javid's British values oath

  19-12-2016 15:50 via theguardian.com
  
  Commenters argued communities secretary’s proposed oath of allegiance for public officials would do little to aid social integrationEvery public office-holder will have to swear an oath of allegiance to “fundamental British values”, if proposals by the communities secretary are adopted. Related: Sajid Javid proposes 'British values oath' in wake of Casey review of social integrationContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• NUS 'does not represent students'

  19-12-2016 15:48 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A National Union of Students delegate candidate is elected with an unusual video pitch
  
  Read more

• 'It's all about perception': director and cast on Oscar contender Moonlight – video

  19-12-2016 15:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Moonlight is the surprise contender in this year’s Oscar race; directed by Barry Jenkins, and adapted from a play by Tarell Alvin McCraney, it’s the story of a black gay man at three different stages of his life. Jenkins and two of his male cast, Trevante Rhodes and André Holland, talk about the issues surrounding black gay identity, while Naomie Harris explains how she got to grips with playing a crack addict. •Moonlight is released on 26 January in Australia and 17 Febr
  
  Read more

• Thought for the Day contributor Rabbi Lionel Blue dies aged 86

  19-12-2016 15:38
  Rabbi Lionel Blue, who became famous as a contributor to BBC Radio 4's Thought for the Day, has died. Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain described the 86-year-old as "God's best PR man in Britain" and said he had been unwell. "It was a tribute to the way he bridged religious differences that it was often quipped that Rabbi Blue would have been a wonderful choice as the next Archbishop of Canterbury.
  
  Read more

• May slams strike wave as showing "contempt" for ordinary people

  19-12-2016 15:26
  Prime Minister Theresa May criticised a wave of strikes sweeping Britain as unacceptable action that showed "contempt" for ordinary people in the run-up to Christmas. Among planned strikes this month are walkouts by airline cabin staff, baggage handlers, rail conductors and Post Office counter workers. "If these strikes share one thing in common, it's a shared contempt for ordinary people who are just trying to go about their daily lives," May's spokesman said on Monday, adding that parties shou
  
  Read more

• Sadiq Khan appoints Lord Mandelson to advise on Brexit

  19-12-2016 15:16
  London Mayor Sadiq Khan has hired Lord Mandelson as part of a team to help him make sure the capital gets the best EU exit deal. Lord Mandelson, one of the architects of New Labour, will be advising Mr Khan on risks and challenges London may face throughout Brexit negotiations. Mr Khan has been clear he wants the capital to push for its own Brexit deal, claiming that ministers are not listening to businesses.
  
  Read more

• FIFA fines home nations for displaying poppies

  19-12-2016 15:05
  FIFA has fined England and Scotland after players wore poppies on their shirts during the World Cup qualifier at Wembley Stadium. England was told to pay £35,000 for "several incidents" during the match, including displaying a "political symbol and several cases of spectator misconduct", FIFA said. Scotland, who lost 3-0 in the game on 11 November, was fined around £15,000 for allowing players to display the poppy.
  
  Read more

• Weetabix workers vote to go on strike in dispute over shifts

  19-12-2016 14:55
  Weetabix workers are to go on strike in the new year in a dispute over shift patterns, trade union USDAW said. It comes amid a wave of industrial action which has also been affecting airports, the Southern rail network and the Post Office. USDAW said workers at Weetabix backed industrial action by a 9-1 majority on a 70% turnout.
  
  Read more

• Woman guilty of Letchworth casserole dish murder

  19-12-2016 14:17 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A woman who disguised herself as a man before killing her half-sister with a casserole dish is found guilty of murder.
  
  Read more

• Post Office counter workers begin strike over job security

  19-12-2016 14:04
  UK Post Office counter workers began a two-day strike over job security and pensions on Monday, one of the busiest weeks of their year in the run-up to Christmas. The action will affect almost 300 Crown Post Offices, the larger branches usually found on high streets, but the rest of the Post Office's network of 11,600 branches is not involved. "Any action will affect fewer than three hundred of our branches, and many of these will be open to maintain services for customers preparing for Christma
  
  Read more

• England and Scotland fined for wearing poppies in football qualifier

  19-12-2016 13:47
  FIFA has fined England and Scotland for wearing poppies on their shirts during the football qualifier at Wembley Stadium last month. England has been fined £35,000 for "several incidents" during the match, including displaying a "political symbol and several cases of spectator misconduct", according to a FIFA statement. Scotland, who lost the game on 11 November 3-0, was also fined around £15,000 for wearing the poppy during the game.
  
  Read more

• British Airways says it will operate full Christmas schedule despite strike plan

  19-12-2016 13:46
  British Airways said on Monday it planned to operate a full schedule over Christmas despite a planned strike by cabin crew. "We are making sure that this attempt to ruin Christmas for thousands of our customers fails," said Alex Cruz, BA's chief executive. "Over the weekend we have been working on detailed contingency plans to ensure that we are able to operate our normal flight programme from all our airports on both Christmas Day and Boxing Day." The announcement comes as BA holds talks at the
  
  Read more

• Ralph Clarke: 101-year-old paedophile jailed for child sex offences

  19-12-2016 13:45
  A 101-year-old man thought to be the oldest person convicted by a British jury has been jailed for child sex offences. Ralph Clarke is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison after being sentenced to 13 years. Clarke, from Erdington in Birmingham, was convicted of 21 offences of indecency with a child and indecent assault committed against two young girls.
  
  Read more

• UK's oldest convict, 101-year-old child-sex offender, jailed for 13 years

  19-12-2016 13:44
  A 101-year-old man, who last week became the oldest Briton to be convicted of a criminal offence, was jailed for 13 years on Monday for a string of historical sex crimes against two young sisters and their brother. Retired lorry driver Ralph Clarke was found guilty of raping and abusing the sisters in the 1970s and early 80s, having earlier admitted indecently assaulting their brother and attempting to rape him when he was a schoolboy. Police said Clarke was the oldest person to have been found
  
  Read more

• Dreaming of a white Christmas? Weather forecasters say it's unlikely

  19-12-2016 13:36
  
  The chances of Britons waking up to a white Christmas are looking slim, but stormy weather could be on the way. Forecasters are predicting unsettled but mild weather for much of the country. Sky weather producer Chris England said: "It's a bit early for any detail, but currently it looks as if Christmas Day will be fairly mild, but it'll be windy with rain in the south and a scattering of blustery showers in the north.
  
  Read more

• Saudi Arabia using UK-made cluster bombs in Yemen, Fallon to confirm

  19-12-2016 13:30
  
  The Government is to confirm Saudi Arabia is using British-made cluster bombs in Yemen, Sky sources say. Defence Secretary Michael Fallon is expected to make a statement on the issue in the House of Commons later. A spokesman for No. 10 said that the Government was taking allegations that British cluster bombs were being used "very seriously" and that the issue had been raised with the Saudi-led coalition.
  
  Read more

• Man admits stabbing overs to death outside Cardiff Matalan shop

  19-12-2016 13:10
  Andrew Saunders, 20, pleaded guilty at Cardiff Crown Court to killing Zoe Morgan, 21, and Lee Simmons, 33. The couple were found dead close to the Matalan store in Cardiff city centre on 28 September. Miss Morgan, who worked as a window dresser, had just graduated from the University of South Wales with an honours degree in fashion marketing and retail design.
  
  Read more

• Are you taking part in or affected by the UK strikes?

  19-12-2016 13:05 via theguardian.com
  
  Post office workers have joined Southern rail staff on strike, while British Airways and Virgin Atlantic face industrial action over ChristmasA wave of industrial action over pay, closures and safety standards is expected to bring widespread disruption to Britain’s railways, airports and post offices over the Christmas period. Related: Wave of UK strikes could bring chaos to railways, airports and post officesContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• All the strikes you need to know about right now

  19-12-2016 13:03
  
  Rail, post and airline industries are all being hit in the run-up to Christmas.
  
  Read more

Follow @GeneralnewsUK on Twitter!