General news

• The Earth is flat, Trump is a Democrat … and other great conspiracy theories of 2016

  21-12-2016 21:40 via theguardian.com
  
  If you believe Taylor Swift is a satanist, Ted Cruz is the Zodiac killer and Hillary Clinton died in September, this was your yearIf 2016 was the year facts didn’t matter, when Oxford Dictionaries declared we went “post-truth”, it makes sense that conspiracy theories flourished. These are some of the most outlandish (and, we feel fairly confident in saying, all untrue). Continue reading...
  
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• Stop holding sleepovers in our stores, Ikea warns pranksters

  21-12-2016 21:16 via theguardian.com
  
  ‘We do not see what it is fun about it,’ says Swedish shop firm after at least 10 incidents this year in various countriesIkea has warned people not to try to sleep over in its stores when they close, saying they would be considered trespassers and would only end up getting into trouble with the law.On Wednesday, the Swedish firm’s spokeswoman Johanna Iritz said the firm takes the matter seriously, adding: “we can’t guarantee safety”. Continue reading...
  
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• Multi-millionaire jailed for life for murder of escort girlfriend

  21-12-2016 20:42
  Peter Morgan, 54, will spend at least 25 years in prison for murdering Georgina Symonds, 25, at her home in Llanmartin, Newport. Newport Crown Court heard an increasingly paranoid Morgan had installed a listening device, disguised as a plug adapter, in the property in November 2015. Afterwards, Morgan made a list on his iPhone of the items he needed to murder her.
  
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• Former Marine Alexander Blackman refused bail ahead of murder appeal

  21-12-2016 20:05
  
  Alexander Blackman, the ex-Royal Marine serving a life sentence for murdering an injured Afghan fighter, has been refused bail ahead of an appeal. The 42-year-old from Taunton, Somerset, shot the insurgent in Helmand province in 2011 while serving with Plymouth-based 42 Commando, and was convicted in 2013. Blackman was watching proceedings via videolink from jail and there were gasps in court from his wife and family when the decision was announced.
  
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• Andy Burnham and Labour’s position in the immigration debate | Letters

  21-12-2016 19:27 via theguardian.com
  
  Andy Burnham (Let’s take back control of the immigration debate, 17 December) says that Labour activists have “had no answer” about free movement of labour for those (often prompted by the rightwing press) who expressed concern about pressure on jobs, wages, housing and schools. Some of us did. There were some jobs that local people would not take, not just low-paid jobs. In construction, or driving buses, firms had to recruit in eastern Europe. If wages are depressed, that&rsq
  
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• Wayne Rooney mansion intruder jailed after attempted burglary

  21-12-2016 18:50
  A former serviceman who tried to burgle footballer Wayne Rooney's mansion while he was playing in a club testimonial match has been jailed for two years and eight months. Robert McNamara, 25, admitted attempting to enter the Manchester United striker's family home in Prestbury, Cheshire, with intent to steal on 3 August. Chester Crown Court heard police searching the grounds later found a rucksack with cable ties, a head torch and a balaclava with McNamara's DNA on it.
  
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• Sgt Alexander Blackman refused bail pending new appeal

  21-12-2016 18:38
  
  Alexander Blackman, the ex-Royal Marine serving a life sentence for murdering an injured Afghan fighter, has been refused bail. The 42-year-old, from Taunton in Somerset, failed to convince two judges at the Court Martial Appeal Court in London that he should be set free from jail. Blackman was watching proceedings via videolink from jail.
  
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• There's a new extension that will fact check Donald Trump's tweets

  21-12-2016 18:28
  
  Arrived a few months too late…
  
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• Technology 'the way forward' to control UK borders after Brexit

  21-12-2016 18:24
  Policymakers have told Sky News that technology should mitigate any changes to UK borders resulting from Brexit. Chris Green MP, who voted Leave and sits on the influential Science and Technology Committee in the House of Commons, told Sky News: "There's a whole range of different technologies and building a physical wall isn't going to be enough. The UK currently has only one land border, the 310-mile boundary with Ireland.
  
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• UK prepares tighter laws on drones after air safety scares

  21-12-2016 18:22
  The British government is preparing to tighten drone regulations after a series of near-misses with passenger planes over the last two years and growing concern about their use near prisons. A consultation on drone safety will discuss introducing new safeguards such as the compulsory registration of new drones, mandatory safety tests and whether to introduce a new criminal offence for drone misuse around “no-fly zones.” "Our priority is the safe operation of drones and we cannot unde
  
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• Coca-Cola didn’t invent Santa ... the 10 biggest Christmas myths debunked

  21-12-2016 18:15 via theguardian.com
  
  Are you still boring your relatives with stories about Prince Albert’s tree and the origin of mistletoe kisses. Stop! The truth is much more interestingChristmas is a strange time of the year, when people merrily do all sorts of bizarre things. Try explaining to a judge in June that you were allowed to kiss somebody without warning because there was a parasitic shrub hanging from the ceiling, and call me when you’re on the register. But, just as often, people confidently claim that t
  
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• The 50 best podcasts of 2016

  21-12-2016 18:13 via theguardian.com
  
  From Making Oprah to Trumpcast and My Dad Wrote a Porno, here are the most brilliant, essential listens of the year Continue reading...
  
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• Reeperbahn rendezvous: the glorious dive bar photos of Anders Petersen

  21-12-2016 18:10 via theguardian.com
  
  Cafe Lehmitz is one of the most revered photobooks of all time, capturing life in a Hamburg dive at the fag-end of the 1960s. The Swede behind it explains why he is releasing new shots of its characters“Lehmitz was the first thing I did seriously. It filled me up,” says Anders Petersen. “I really identified with these people and their situation, this group who were outside society. I respected them. I felt very strongly about them.”
  Petersen’s photographs of Cafe Le
  
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• Stonehenge winter solstice celebrated by a crowd of thousands

  21-12-2016 17:52 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Thousands gathered at Stonehenge in Wiltshire to watch the sun rise on the shortest day of the year.
  
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• Tilda Swinton releases Margaret Cho emails about film role diversity

  21-12-2016 17:38 via theguardian.com
  
  White actor, cast as character in Doctor Strange originally written as Tibetan man, criticised by Asian-American comedian The Hollywood actor Tilda Swinton has published the full text of an email exchange she shared with the American comedian Margaret Cho, after the comic said Swinton had treated her “like her house servant” during a discussion about diversity in the Marvel film Doctor Strange.Swinton released the email conversation to a US website after Cho told a US podcast that sh
  
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• Here's what you need to know about Storm Barbara

  21-12-2016 17:29
  
  The top winds may even top those from Storm Angus in November.
  
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• Thousands gather at Stonehenge for winter solstice

  21-12-2016 16:58
  More than five thousand pagans, druids and revellers gathered at Britain's ancient monument Stonehenge on Wednesday to celebrate the winter solstice. The sun rose at the site of the famed standing stones in the southwest English county of Wiltshire at 08:09 GMT (9.09 a.m. BST), beginning the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere. People played musical instruments, while others sang and took photographs of the rising sun which will provide just under eight hours of sunlight on Wedne
  
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• Best photos of the day: Santa window cleaners and grazing camels

  21-12-2016 16:26 via theguardian.com
  
  The Guardian’s picture editors bring you a selection of photo highlights from around the world, including colourful ice in China and the Aquabike World Championships Continue reading...
  
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• Council can launch last-ditch appeal over term-time holiday case

  21-12-2016 16:12
  Justices at the Supreme Court have given a council permission to bring a last-ditch appeal over the case of a father who successfully challenged a conviction for taking his daughter on an unauthorised holiday during school term time. Jon Platt was originally fined £120 for taking his daughter to Florida. Isle of Wight Council, the local education authority, then took the case to London's High Court, but senior judges backed the magistrates' ruling in favour of Mr Platt.
  
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• Recipe swap: share your blue cheese recipes

  21-12-2016 16:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Share your blue cheese recipes with us for a chance to have them printed in CookWe’ll name the Guardian home cook of the year on 31 December. In the meantime, you can start the ball rolling for 2017 by sharing your recipes for blue cheese. Email [email protected], upload them to theguardian.com/witness or post them on Instagram @guardian_cook #RRS #bluecheese by noon on Wednesday 4 January. Selected recipes will appear in Cook and online on 14 January. You can share your blue cheese
  
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• The Queen and Prince Philip suffering heavy colds; delay travel

  21-12-2016 15:57
  Queen Elizabeth, 90, and her husband Prince Philip, 95, delayed their Christmas travel plans on Wednesday because they are both suffering from heavy colds, Buckingham Palace said. Elizabeth, the world's longest-reigning living monarch, and Philip had been due to catch a train from London to their Sandringham country residence in Norfolk, eastern England, where they traditionally spend Christmas. The couple, who have been married for 69 years, were well enough on Tuesday to host members of the ro
  
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• Brexit threatens 10 percent of London financial jobs - lobby group

  21-12-2016 15:55
  By Huw Jones LONDON (Reuters) - Up to 10 percent of jobs in London's financial district may be lost if Britain fails to secure adequate access to European Union markets after Brexit, a City of London official said on Wednesday. Bankers first called for full access after June's vote to leave the European Union but such hopes have now faded, leaving the sector to call for a transitional deal to ensure a smooth switch to Britain's new trading terms with the bloc. Jeremy Browne, the City of London c
  
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• The little Syrian girl with a big Twitter following meets Turkey's President after escaping Aleppo

  21-12-2016 15:46
  
  Bana Alabed began tweeting from inside Aleppo a few months ago.
  
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• 'Heavy colds' delay Queen and Duke's Christmas travel plan

  21-12-2016 15:42
  The Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh have "heavy colds" and have decided not to travel today for the start of their Christmas break. The Queen and Duke normally take the same first-class service every year from the capital to King's Lynn, from where they travel on to the royal estate.
  
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• Headaches, insects and yachts; excuses for not filing British tax returns

  21-12-2016 15:41
  LONDON (Reuters) - "My tax return was on my yacht ... which caught fire" - just one of the dozens of unusual excuses the British government's tax collector said it receives each year from customers who fail to complete their returns on time. "A wasp in my car caused me to have an accident and my tax return, which was inside, was destroyed," was another, while several blamed children, partners or colleagues for inadvertently destroying their forms. "It's easy to see that some excuses for not comp
  
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• Corbyn critic Jamie Reed to quit as MP for job in nuclear industry

  21-12-2016 15:35
  One of Jeremy Corbyn's most persistent backbench critics has said he will stand down from Parliament to take up a job in the nuclear industry. Jamie Reed will quit as Labour MP for Copeland in west Cumbria at the end of January, when he becomes head of development and community relations at the Sellafield plant in his constituency. Mr Reed has held the seat since 2005, but saw his majority over the Conservatives shrink to 2,564 in last year's general election.
  
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• Michael Barrymore could get £2.5m in damages from Essex Police

  21-12-2016 15:24
  Comedian and TV presenter Michael Barrymore could receive £2.5m in damages if his fight against Essex Police is successful. Lawyers representing Mr Barrymore and Essex Police appeared on Wednesday at a preliminary High Court hearing in London.
  
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• Battle of the Bastards to San Junipero: what was the best TV episode of 2016?

  21-12-2016 14:41 via theguardian.com
  
  Game of Thrones’ notorious mud’n’blood fest had stiff competition this year from Black Mirror, Atlanta, Mr Robot, Horace & Pete and that Westworld finaleAnyone who watches Game of Thrones knows what to expect from a season’s penultimate episode. It’s given us notorious executions, the Red Wedding and the Battle of Blackwater Bay to name a few. Even forearmed with this expectation of greatness, Battle of the Bastards was a stone-cold classic, setting a new high-w
  
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• Football sexual abuse victims could be as young as four years old

  21-12-2016 14:32
  
  Children as young as four are among the potential victims in the football sex abuse scandal, police have revealed. The ages of the 429 potential victims are from four to 20 years old, according to new figures on Operation Hydrant. Earlier this month, there were 350 potential victims.
  
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• All the feel-good photos from people gathered at Stonehenge for the winter solstice

  21-12-2016 14:25
  
  It’s officially the start of winter for astronomers and scientists – although you’ve probably felt like it has been for a while.
  
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• Former Cabinet minister Lord Jenkin dies aged 90

  21-12-2016 14:21
  Conservative former Cabinet minister Lord Jenkin of Roding has died at the age of 90. The peer was one of the best-known figures of the Margaret Thatcher era, serving as a secretary of state for social services, industry and the environment during the 1980s. A statement said Lord Jenkin, the father of Tory MP Bernard Jenkin, died peacefully at home in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, with his family at his bedside.
  
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• Santa faces struggle as jet stream boost brings wet, windy Christmas

  21-12-2016 14:15
  It will be anoraks and cagoules this Christmas weekend, rather than winter coats and mittens, as a strong jet stream helps stir up wet and windy weather.
  
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• EU judges rule against UK Government's 'snooper's charter'

  21-12-2016 14:00
  EU member states cannot force internet companies to keep email data on a "general and indiscriminate" basis, the European Court of Justice has ruled. The EU's highest court found that only targeted retention aimed at fighting serious crime could justify serious interference by the state. The judgement, which was made in response to a complaint by deputy Labour leader Tom Watson, could have major implications for the Government's controversial Investigatory Powers Act - labelled th
  
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• These pictures of the first snow in the Sahara for almost 40 years are stunningly beautiful

  21-12-2016 13:48
  
  The snow formed spectacular patterns on the steep sand dunes.
  
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• Costs paid by UK firms escalate as inflation pressure builds - BoE survey

  21-12-2016 13:47
  By Andy Bruce LONDON (Reuters) - British companies' costs for materials and imports rose at the fastest pace in around five years in the during the past three months, which will boost inflation noticeably next year, a Bank of England survey showed on Wednesday. Growth in both services and the manufacturing sector improved a little in the fourth quarter, helped by the strongest reading for factory exports since the third quarter of 2014, according to the BoE survey, which is based on the findings
  
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• The winter tradition of 'mummering', Newfoundland, Canada – in pictures

  21-12-2016 13:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The custom of ‘mummering’ – in which groups of friends go from house to house, disguising their faces and playing the fool – has sprung back to life in Newfoundland. It even has its own festival Continue reading...
  
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• Millionaire and the escort

  21-12-2016 13:14 via bbc.co.uk
  
  As a millionaire is found guilty of murdering his escort, how did he claim Asperger syndrome made him do it?
  
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• Destruction of Aleppo: then and now – in pictures

  21-12-2016 12:52 via theguardian.com
  
  Aleppo was Syria’s most populous city when the civil war arrived in July 2012, but the conflict has taken a huge toll, with Russian airstrikes since September 2015 causing intense devastation, as these before and after images show Aleppo’s citadel photographed on 9 August 2010 and 13 December 2016.Continue reading...
  
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• Football's goals of 2016: our writers pick their favourites – video

  21-12-2016 12:42 via theguardian.com
  
  2016 was a great year for the little guy, with Leicester winning the Premier League, Chile winning the Copa América Centenario and Portugal drawing and boring their way to the European Championship. With that glut of football came a glut of great goals – here are some of our writers’ favourites of the yearThe amazing world of sport in 2016 – video reviewContinue reading...
  
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• Zika, drought, conflict: what 2016 meant for the world's poorest – podcast

  21-12-2016 12:21 via theguardian.com
  
  The Global development team looks back at some of the issues that affected millions of people in developing countries in the past year, and considers the challenges for 2017With the population of seven southern African countries on the brink of starvation, warnings of potential genocide in South Sudan, and emerging health crises such as Zika taking a heavy toll, 2016 has been a devastating year for some of the world’s poorest countries. Lucy Lamble hears from John Vidal about the Paris cli
  
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• House price growth to halve in 2017 - surveyors

  21-12-2016 11:02
  
  The pace of average house price growth will more than halve in 2017, according to a report highlighting a series of challenges for the market. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said it expected a 3% increase next year - down from 6.5% in 2016. The report also forecast weaker demand from buy-to-let investors following stamp duty hikes imposed in April this year.
  
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• Hits and misses: indie publishers pick their books of 2016

  21-12-2016 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Small and independent houses share the books they enjoyed and envied this yearThe annual Guardian “hits and misses” feature, canvassing publishers about their high points and regrets of the year, always makes me wonder about what my friends and allies in the small-press world think about their own successes and failures. About whether they’d lament the same missed books and share the same triumphs as those in the corporate world. Or whether the small-press universe is entirely
  
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• Police to close some roads around Buckingham Palace after Berlin attack

  21-12-2016 10:54
  British police said they would temporarily close roads around Queen Elizabeth's London residence Buckingham Palace during a military ceremony on Wednesday, bringing forward plans to do so in response to a truck attack in Berlin. London's Metropolitan Police said that they would trial a two-hour road closure plan for three months to protect the large crowds that gather on days when the Changing of the Guard ceremony is held outside Buckingham Palace. The road closures started earlier than had bee
  
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• Police identify 155 potential suspects in football abuse probe

  21-12-2016 10:52
  
  The number of potential suspects in the child sexual abuse in football investigation has risen to 155, say police. Some 819 referrals have so far been made from police forces and from the NSPCC helpline - at the start of the month there had been 639. The investigation ballooned after several former professional footballers came forward to say they were abused as youngsters by people working for clubs as coaches or scouts.
  
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• UK public's long-term inflation expectations edge up - Citi/YouGov

  21-12-2016 10:40
  Britons' long-term expectations for inflation hit a more than two-year high this month, as consumers braced for a bout of higher prices after the pound's post-Brexit vote fall, a survey showed on Wednesday. The British public expected inflation in the next five to 10 years will reach 3 percent, the highest forecast since September 2014 and up from a November reading of 2.8 percent, Citi and pollster YouGov said. The Citi/YouGov survey chimed with other gauges of inflation expectations from busin
  
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• UK house prices likely to rise by around 3 percent in 2017 - RICS

  21-12-2016 10:23
  British house prices are likely to rise on average by 3 percent next year as a shortage of new homes coming to the market continues to push up prices, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said on Wednesday. Britain's property market slowed immediately after the vote in June to leave the European Union. "Although recent announcements by the government on housing are very welcome, the ongoing shortfall of stock across much of the sales and lettings markets is set to continue to unde
  
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• Deloitte 'won't bid for Government contracts' after Brexit memo row

  21-12-2016 10:04
  
  A major accountancy firm will temporarily stop bidding for contracts to try to mend relations with the Government following a row over a Brexit memo, according to reports. Deloitte said it had "put forward a plan" for working with Number 10 that was intended to "put this matter behind us". This includes a six-month moratorium on pitching for lucrative Government work, The Times reported.
  
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• Brexit deal should encompass 'whole economy' approach - CBI

  21-12-2016 09:17
  The CBI has urged the Government to embrace a "whole economy" approach to Brexit, releasing a Christmas wish list of demands on behalf of businesses. The employers' organisation, which opposed the prospect of the UK leaving the EU before June's vote, said it was important that no individual sectors lost out in the final negotiations - with a "smooth exit" guaranteed to help firms adjust. Its consultation also called for "barrier-free" access to European markets to be maintained and a m
  
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• Watch the moment a fireworks explosion hit a market in Mexico, killing at least 29 people

  21-12-2016 08:47
  
  The explosion has completely destroyed Mexico’s most famous fireworks market.
  
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• Women of Las Patronas get fast food to migrants on Mexico’s Beast train – video

  21-12-2016 08:30 via theguardian.com
  
  For a quarter of a century, a group of women in eastern Mexico has provided food and water to the hundreds of Central American migrants who pass by on top of the infamous freight train known as The Beast. The women, known as Las Patronas, or the Bosses, distribute about 300 parcels a day – a life-saving act of kindness towards those risking life and limb to reach the US and finally escape violence and poverty at home Continue reading...
  
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