General news

• Queen Mary 2: British woman 'overboard'

  23-12-2016 22:46
  A search is under way for a British woman believed to have fallen overboard from the Queen Mary 2 cruise ship. The Queen Mary 2, the flagship of the Cunard company, is retracing its course in an effort to find the missing passenger. A spokeswoman for Cunard said: "We can confirm that Queen Mary 2 has altered course to search for a missing guest, presumed overboard.
  
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• Everything you need to know about the hijacking in Malta

  23-12-2016 22:44
  
  The hijacking ended peacefully and the perpetrators are now in custody.
  
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• Police unit removes 250,000 terror items from internet

  23-12-2016 22:39
  A police unit dedicated to scrubbing terrorist material from the internet says it will have removed 250,000 pieces of content by Christmas.
  
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• Martin Rowson on Trump and Putin's nuclear comments – cartoon

  23-12-2016 22:34 via theguardian.com
  
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• Trump has received 'very nice' Christmas wishes from Vladimir Putin

  23-12-2016 21:22
  
  The world’s scariest friendship continues to grow.
  
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• Tales from jail: Why UK prisoners are rioting and why there will be more

  23-12-2016 20:08
  
  A week on from the worst prison riot in a quarter of a century, the damage caused by hundreds of rampaging inmates at HMP Birmingham is still being repaired. Images of the riot filmed on mobile phones illegally smuggled into the prison may have shocked some, but former inmates from across the country have told Sky News the unrest came as no surprise to them. Painting a grim picture of prisons where drug-fuelled violence is part of everyday life, three young men told us their experiences and why
  
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• Homelessness on the rise, says British charity as Christmas shelters open

  23-12-2016 19:36
  More than 4,000 homeless people in Britain are expected to use temporary shelters set up over Christmas by charity Crisis, which said the number of people sleeping rough was rising sharply. Staffed by an army of around 13,000 volunteers, the charity will provide food, shelter, haircuts, massages and dentistry services at shelters until Dec. 30. "In the last year, (that...) has gone up by 30 percent," its Chief Executive Jon Sparkes told Reuters at a temporary centre opened in North London on Thu
  
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• Big Christmas getaway: So far, so good on the roads

  23-12-2016 19:26
  Traffic is moving "remarkably well" on what was expected to be the busiest day over the festive period, the Highways Agency says. Issues continue on the M48 due to Storm Barbara and parts of the A66, while there are reports that the Port of Felixstowe has had to close due to wind and rain. Storm Barbara could make travelling hazardous elsewhere, with gusts of 90mph in Scotland on Friday and Christmas Eve.
  
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• Co-op is recalling 165,000 chocolate Santas after batteries were found inside two of them

  23-12-2016 19:18
  Not a great start to Christmas for the supermarket.
  
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• Alec Baldwin offers to play inauguration of Trump: 'I wanna sing Highway to Hell'

  23-12-2016 19:07 via theguardian.com
  
  The actor, who has clashed with Trump on social media over his Saturday Night Live impression, made a tongue-in-cheek offer to perform the AC/DC classicAlec Baldwin has made President-elect Donald Trump an offer to play at his inauguration on 20 January. His song of choice? AC/DC’s Highway to Hell.Related: Saturday Night Live: 2016's best skitsContinue reading...
  
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• The Guardian view on Donald Trump: years of living dangerously | Editorial

  23-12-2016 18:41 via theguardian.com
  
  The president-elect has made America hate again. The consequences for the world are genuinely disturbingDonald Trump’s election shook the world as no other event of 2016. His presidency is still four weeks away, so it would be wrong to pass a verdict on it before there is any evidence. Yet the world can be justifiably fearful. Mr Trump’s cabinet picks, an overwhelmingly white male cohort of low tax and small government obsessives, climate change denying oilmen, and career soldie
  
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• The restaurateur on a mission to save Britain's curry houses

  23-12-2016 18:37 via theguardian.com
  
  Enam Ali explains why so many people in his industry supported Brexit – and why he is launching a curry TV channelEnam Ali breaks off a small shard of poppadom in the dining room of his 94-seat, oak-panelled restaurant, Le Raj, in Epsom. The story behind this curry staple, and many others, has a uniquely British twist.“The poppadom does come from India, but it did not originate for the purpose used in Britain,” says the Bangladeshi-born restaurateur and champion of the UK curry
  
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• EU member states must work together to tackle migration flows | Letters

  23-12-2016 18:37 via theguardian.com
  
  Andy Burnham’s contribution (Let’s take back control of the immigration debate, 17 December) is sane and helpful but incomplete. The EU principle of freedom of movement is not incompatible with Britain’s interest in managing immigration. The issue is not mobility itself, but whether mobility involves entitlement to full citizenship rights – social security, residence, healthcare, employment, etc. Citizenship is a political, economic and social status, as the sociologist T
  
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• Barclays refuses to settle with US DoJ over 'craptacular loans'

  23-12-2016 18:37 via theguardian.com
  
  Department of Justice accuses bank of using loans from other mortgage lenders as basis of bonds it was sellingBarclays is refusing to settle with the US Department of Justice over allegations it deliberately sold mortgage bonds to investors that it knew contained “craptacular loans”.The DoJ’s legal filing outlines an array of colourful descriptions of the types of mortgages that it alleges were used by Barclays to package up in bonds – known as residential mortgage bond s
  
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• Libyan hijackers surrender after release of hostages from plane diverted to Malta

  23-12-2016 18:36 via theguardian.com
  
  Hostages freed without violence after hijackers claim to be in possession of hand grenades on board Afriqiyah Airways flightTwo men loyal to the late Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi hijacked a domestic flight with a hand grenade and pistols and forced the pilot to fly to Malta, reportedly claiming they wanted publicity for a new political party before letting passengers and crew leave the plane unharmed.The four-hour standoff with negotiators from Malta and Libya ended on Friday when the two men
  
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• 'Let it be an arms race': Trump appears to double down on nuclear expansion

  23-12-2016 18:28 via theguardian.com
  
  It was unclear who Trump was directing arms race threats against, but he said he received a letter from Putin calling for ‘collaboration on the international scene’The president-elect Donald Trump has stunned nuclear weapons experts by appearing to call for a renewed arms race on his Twitter feed and in a TV interview.Related: Trump calls on US to 'greatly strengthen and expand' nuclear weapons capabilityContinue reading...
  
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• This Amazon tribe lived without the outside world. They may be the last | Dan Collyns

  23-12-2016 18:18 via theguardian.com
  
  Ricardo Stuckert’s astounding images reminded me of my experiences meeting isolated indigenous people. With living space diminishing, their future is in perilThe remarkable photos taken by Ricardo Stuckert of an uncontacted Amazon tribe reminded me of my own experience with the indigenous people of nearby Peru. “The Nomole are here, they’ve come. The Nomole,” were the hushed whispers I heard outside my tent as I was roused from my dawn slumber. Nomole was a term meaning b
  
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• Liverpool will use progress, not money, to attract players – Jürgen Klopp

  23-12-2016 18:18 via theguardian.com
  
  • Existing squad may be sufficient to cover Sadio Mané’s African absence
  • Philippe Coutinho ‘more on less on track’ after ankle ligament injuryJürgen Klopp has said he will pursue signings who are interested in Liverpool’s progress more than financial might and his existing squad could cover Sadio Mané’s departure to the Africa Cup of Nations.The Liverpool manager is keen to strengthen his attacking options in January with Senegal&rsquo
  
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• Joey Barton charged by the Football Association over alleged bets

  23-12-2016 18:13
  Footballer Joey Barton has been charged by the FA for misconduct in relation to betting. The governing body said Barton is alleged to have placed 1,260 bets over a 10-year period, and he has until 5 January to respond to the charge. Barton, who signed for Premier League side Burnley until the end of the season earlier this week, is alleged to have placed the bets between 26 March 2006 and 13 May 2016.
  
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• Storm Barbara causes power cuts on busiest day for Christmas travel

  23-12-2016 18:08 via theguardian.com
  
  High winds leave thousands in Scotland without electricity as millions take to the roads amid rail engineering worksMore than 10,000 houses have been left without power as millions took to the roads amid storm weather and rail engineering works in an effort to make it home for the Christmas weekend.Storm Barbara caused power cuts and travel misery, with winds of 60mph to 70mph expected across the west and north-west of Scotland. Gusts up to 120mph were recorded on the summit of Cairn Gorm. Prope
  
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• Israeli official accuses Barack Obama of 'shameful move at UN'

  23-12-2016 18:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Unnamed official says US president colluded with Palestinians over planned security council vote on settlementsAn Israeli official has accused Barack Obama of colluding in a “shameful move against Israel at the UN” over a planned security council vote on Israeli illegal settlements.In striking language underlining the long-running depth of hostility between the government of Benjamin Netanyahu and the Obama administration, the unnamed official accused Obama and his secretary of state
  
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• The weekend cook: Thomasina Miers’ recipes for slow-cooked shin of beef, and doughnuts with armagnac

  23-12-2016 18:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Simple food that’s big on flavour ticks all the boxes for the Christmas holidaysThe Christmas holidays are a perfect opportunity to catch up with friends in the best possible way: over a table of good food. Choose dishes that deliver on flavour, look great and are also deceptively simple: today’s stew, for instance, almost cooks itself. The doughnuts, meanwhile, need a little time to prove, but the kneading is easy and the boozy cream a deliciously decadent alternative to jam. So end
  
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• Cocktail of the week: orange and ginger barley water – recipe

  23-12-2016 18:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A refreshing, alcohol-free thirst-quencher that’s a welcome break from all that festive boozingInexpensive, thirst-quenching and very old-fashioned: keep a jug in the fridge as a pick-me-up for when you can’t face yet another boozy Christmas drink. Keep the cooked barley and use as pearly ballast in savoury wintry salads. And use lemon instead of orange, if you prefer. Serves four.2 oranges, washed, zested and juiced65g pearl barley
  1.5 litres cold water
  1cm piece ginger, peeled and
  
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• Camber Sands deaths blamed on victims' 'culture' by council

  23-12-2016 18:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Incident log warned of increasing numbers of ‘non-British visitors’ to beach where seven men died this summerThe council that did not provide lifeguards at Camber Sands beach has blamed drownings over the summer on the limitations of “non-swimming persons of a certain culture”, according to an internal document seen by the Guardian.
  Seven men – one of Asian heritage, one Brazilian teenager, and five of Tamil origin – died at the popular seaside resort of Cambe
  
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• Forces on standby to oust Gambian president Yahya Jammeh

  23-12-2016 17:58 via theguardian.com
  
  Head of Ecowas says ‘if he loves his people’ Jammeh will negotiate a peaceful exit after losing election this monthWest African troops will oust the Gambian president if he does not step down when his term ends in January, the chair of the regional bloc has said.Marcel de Souza, the head of the Ecowas commission, said that “if he loves his people”, Yahya Jammeh would negotiate a peaceful exit but if not, Senegal would lead the charge to remove him, according to Radio Fran
  
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• If Theresa May can't trust the Queen, it bodes ill for their future relationship | Stephen Bates

  23-12-2016 17:47 via theguardian.com
  
  Her Majesty tends to get on best with PMs confident enough to gossip with her. May’s silence on Brexit even to famously discreet monarch speaks volumesWhen a leak emerges from Buckingham Palace, and especially when that leak tells us what the Queen supposedly thinks, interest is unsurprisingly intense. Regal unknowability – as exemplified in the recent Netflix series The Crown, where the young Elizabeth II is portrayed as learning that she must stay publicly above the fray at all tim
  
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• Boys in the Trees by Carly Simon review – singer’s witty self-analysis

  23-12-2016 17:40 via theguardian.com
  
  From showbiz anecdotes to illness and exploitation, this autobiography gives us Bohemia with the petals falling offA study of a traumatic childhood, a portrait of a troubled marriage, a string of showbiz anecdotes: one autobiography can’t contain Simon’s volatile life. Students of A-list gossip will be titillated as the singer candidly recalls encounters with Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty (partial inspiration for her hit “You’re So Vain”) and Mick Jagger, not to men
  
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• Who will win the Copeland byelection?

  23-12-2016 17:30 via theguardian.com
  
  A byelection in Cumbria triggered by the resignation of Labour MP Jamie Reed presents an opportunity for the Conservatives and Ukip – but Jeremy Corbyn’s party might have more of a chance than they are being given credit forWhere is Copeland, and why is there going to be a byelection there?Copeland is a large constituency on the Cumbrian coast, taking in Whitehaven (the old name of the constituency), part of the Lake District National Park and the Sellafield nuclear power plant. Labo
  
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• Cadbury Roses fans get in a Christmas twist over wrapper changes

  23-12-2016 17:29 via theguardian.com
  
  For some, company’s tinkering with wrapping, weight and even shape of festive favourite has just added to misery of 2016For many sweet-toothed Britons, Christmas wouldn’t be complete without a tub of Cadbury Roses chocolates to dip into over the festive period. But fans have expressed horror at the discovery that company has changed the wrappers from sweetie-style twist-wraps to uniform “flow wraps” that have to be torn, rather than twisted, open. Some consumers went as f
  
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• What does Hope not Hate actually do?

  23-12-2016 17:20 via theguardian.com
  
  The anti-racism group hit back at Nigel Farage after he accused it of being violent and ‘extremist’ this week. This is what really happens at their workshops
  This week, former Ukip leader Nigel Farage accused the widower of the Labour MP Jo Cox of having links to extremism. The “extremists” in question are the anti-racist group Hope not Hate, an organisation supported by Brendan Cox through his wife’s memorial fund. “He backs organisations like Hope Not Hate,
  
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• Joey Barton’s Burnley move in doubt following FA misconduct charge

  23-12-2016 17:14 via theguardian.com
  
  • Barton alleged to have placed 1,260 bets over 10-year period
  • Burnley to speak with former player before re-signing himBurnley may decide not to re-sign Joey Barton after it was revealed the midfielder is facing a hefty fine and suspension having been charged by the Football Association for misconduct after allegedly placing 1,260 bets over a 10-year period. Related: Joey Barton back at Burnley and in the last-chance saloon | Barry GlendenningContinue reading...
  
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• Save Santa's Sherry, say British lovers of fortified wine

  23-12-2016 17:06
  A worrying slump in sales of Father Christmas's favourite tipple, sherry, has prompted a British trade group to start a campaign to ensure the fortified wine doesn't fall off menus. 'Save Santa's Sherry' was set up by the Wine and Sprit Trade Association to try to boost sales in Britain which fell to 7 million litres (almost 10 million bottles) last year, down from 16 million litres in 2005. The group blame an increase in alcohol tax, which has increased by 53 percent for fortified wine in Brita
  
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• ‘We had silver suits specially made’: performing at the Beatles Christmas shows

  23-12-2016 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  John Beecham on appearing with the Fab Four at Hammersmith Odeon, London, December 1964
  This wasn’t the first time we’d shared a bill with the Beatles. A few years earlier, they were our warm-up band, when we headlined the Cavern in Liverpool. We really admired them.I was the trombonist in the Mike Cotton Sound, a footnote to the 1960s music scene. On this occasion, we were their support band; we are pictured here at the press call for Another Beatles Christmas Show, a follow-up to t
  
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• The TV binger's guide to surviving the 2016 holidays

  23-12-2016 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  From the Man in the High Castle to Twin Peaks, the new seasons and reruns essential for tuning out until the new yearAt the end of a long (very, very long) year, all we want to do is switch our brains off, disengage from reality and escape to a fictional TV world. Luckily, there are some pretty good worlds to escape to this festive period. Here’s our pick of the best TV to binge over the holidays. Continue reading...
  
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• Teargas, trees and oil: my life in the greatest job on earth | John Vidal

  23-12-2016 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  In 27 years as environment editor at the Guardian, I have seen both devastation and progress. Now I’m retiring – but I still have hope for the future of the planetIn September 1989, Guardian editor Peter Preston took me to one side. “Environment? Your idea. You do it,” he said. I was on the arts desk and had quite forgotten that, two years earlier, I had proposed that we cover this fast-emerging issue in more depth and with new pages.We had a great correspondent in Paul B
  
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• Wasps hope to complete year of home wins but new laws cause anxiety

  23-12-2016 16:35 via theguardian.com
  
  Introduction of stricter interpretations on high and dangerous tackles has left players fretting that one false move will have major implicationsThe Aviva Premiership is reaching its halfway point with players from every team braced for an unrelaxing Christmas and new year. Not only do three key league weekends await but stricter interpretations regarding high and dangerous tackles have left everyone fretting that one false move will have major implications for club and country.At first glance s
  
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• Study of UK comedy panel shows finds just one all-female episode

  23-12-2016 16:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Data scientist’s analysis of 4,700 UK radio and TV episodes showed 1,488 since 1967 had been made with a solely male castThe most comprehensive analysis ever carried out of comedy panel shows has found that only once in the history of British TV and radio has a programme had an all-female lineup.Of more than 4,700 individual episodes examined by data scientist Stuart Lowe, 1,488 programmes since 1967 have been made up solely of men. But only on one occasion in 49 years has there been a pro
  
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• Is the £300 Dyson Supersonic the hairdryer king? Join our (festive) live look at the week

  23-12-2016 16:30 via theguardian.com
  
  We will be here from 12pm to 4.30pm discussing the week’s news and comment, with input from journalists. Take part below the line3.30pm GMTKarl Whitney is the author of Hidden City: Adventures and Explorations in Dublin (Penguin).A few months ago, I heard that Andy Martin, a photographer from Sunderland, was leaving the city after many years documenting its streets and buildings. It felt like the time to write about his work. Martin’s photos have a haunting quality that, to my mind,
  
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• Berlin attack suspect pledged allegiance to Isis in video – live coverage

  23-12-2016 16:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Anis Amri was stopped during a ‘routine check’He was shot dead after opening fire One officer was shot by Amri and is recovering in hospitalGerman interior ministry speaks of ‘relief’ 3.21pm GMTA German security official said the Berlin truck attack suspect has been linked to an extremist recruitment network allegedly run by a preacher arrested last month.From AP:Holger Münch, the head of the federal criminal police office, said that Anis Amri’s name ‘has
  
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• How did women fare in 2016?

  23-12-2016 16:25 via theguardian.com
  
  Over the past 12 months, women caused an NHS meltdown, wore too many clothes to the beach and just didn’t smile enough. We look back at the year’s most sexist momentsThe new year got off to an impressive start with a headline that managed to blame childless women for the struggling economy, NHS meltdown and shorter life expectancies. Plague of locusts soon expected to follow.Continue reading...
  
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• Arkansas man arrested in fatal road rage shooting of three-year-old boy

  23-12-2016 16:25 via theguardian.com
  
  US Marshals in Little Rock say Gary Eugene Holmes was taken into custody without incident in connection with the shooting death last week of Acen King Boy, 3, killed in Arkansas road rage shooting over slow driving, police sayA Little Rock man accused of fatally shooting a three-year-old boy in what police called a road rage incident has surrendered to federal and local authorities, the US Marshals Service said Friday.Gary Eugene Holmes, 33, was taken into custody without incident on Thursday, i
  
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• Two men convicted of involvement in funding Syrian extremists

  23-12-2016 16:21 via theguardian.com
  
  Syed Hoque found guilty of using aid convoys to smuggle money to his nephew fighting with an al-Qaida-linked groupTwo men have been convicted of involvement in funding extremists in Syria by smuggling supplies in aid convoys, including the convoy that took the taxi driver Alan Henning to the region before he was kidnapped and murdered by Islamic State.The Old Bailey heard that convoys led by members of the British Muslim community had become unwitting vehicles for funds and supplies used in the
  
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• Vladimir Putin: defeated Democrats' blame game 'not very dignified'

  23-12-2016 16:04 via theguardian.com
  
  In annual press conference, Russian leader says he always believed Trump would win and denies claims of election interferenceVladimir Putin used his annual press conference to launch a stinging attack on the outgoing Obama administration and the Democratic party and to claim he had always known Donald Trump would win the US election.“Nobody believed he’d win. Except us, of course. We always believed,” said Putin, to applause from some of the 1,400 journalists gathered. Continue
  
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• North Carolina 'bathroom' bill blocking anti-discrimination laws likely won’t see repeal

  23-12-2016 16:03 via theguardian.com
  
  HB2, which restricts bathroom options for transgender people and overrides local laws to protect LGBT people from bias, has left residents furiousNegotiations to repeal North Carolina ‘bathroom bill’ fall apartProspects for North Carolina repealing its divisive “bathroom bill” in the near future are fading rapidly as the year draws to a close, amid a fresh outbreak of anger and recrimination reflecting anything but a seasonal spirit of peace and reconciliation in the stat
  
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• Screen gods, guilt and glamour: actor Claire Bloom on her life in the limelight

  23-12-2016 16:00 via theguardian.com
  
  She was given her big break by Charlie Chaplin and worked with Richard Burton and Laurence Olivier. Claire Bloom talks about her rise to fame and reading her ex-husband Philip Roth’s work‘Terror! Vice! Violence!” howls the poster for Claire Bloom’s 1953 film The Man Between, co-starring James Mason as Ivo Kern, shadowy smuggler of secrets and people in postwar Berlin. In the poster, he is putting the moves on Bloom, whom the artist has depicted reclining in rumpled sheets
  
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• My brother, who lives at home, is abusive to my mum. I worry he’ll hit her

  23-12-2016 16:00 via theguardian.com
  
  He is 40, has no money or friends, but won’t take any responsibility for his life, always playing the victim. Annalisa Barbieri advises a readerI am the eldest of four children of a single mother. I have two sisters and a brother, who is the second child. He is now 40, but does not have a career, friends or money. He still lives at home with our mother and does not contribute to bills.Our mother worked hard for us and we never went without. There were money problems, but the rest of u
  
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• Messi Christmas, the seasonal gift from Barcelona with a dusting of nutmeg | Barney Ronay

  23-12-2016 16:00 via theguardian.com
  
  His amazing dribble against Espanyol was my moment of the week, festive season and possibly year, conveying a feeling of goodwill and childish wonderOne of the most remarkable things about Christmas is its basic reach, the layers of ritual and habit, the way this very special time of year manages to smear itself like a basting of goose fat across every one of the vital senses. Overwhelmed by these ruddy-cheeked riches, it can be a tricky choice. We all have our preferences. But in the end it&rsq
  
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• 'I couldn't take anything except dignity': stories of the leaving of Aleppo

  23-12-2016 16:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Evacuees from the Syrian city tell how life continued through years of bombing – until it was impossible to stayThe Aleppo Thaer al-Halabi left behind was a ghost town filled with the shadows of friends lost to war and the shattered dreams of a different Syria.Still, the parting resembled physical pain. He was born in Aleppo, in a house in the old town with a courtyard shaded by vines, where his family had lived for over a century. He raised a family and built a career there, and then, for
  
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• Certain family court hearings to take place in public in radical trial

  23-12-2016 16:00 via theguardian.com
  
  James Munby, head of high court’s family division, to continue far-reaching reforms to bring more transparency to the systemFamily court hearings are to be held in public for the first time, in a radical trial being pursued by the leading family judge for England and Wales, the Guardian understands.Sir James Munby, the president of the family division of the high court, is to continue far-reaching reforms to bring more transparency to the system in 2017 by launching a trial in which some t
  
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• Oscar's £52m move to Shanghai is worrying for Chelsea FC – and China

  23-12-2016 15:58 via theguardian.com
  
  Paying silly prices, like Shanghai SIPG has for the Brazilian midfielder, is a sign of a bubble economy about to burstFine wines. Fast cars. Old masters. To the list of luxury goods that have been snapped up by China’s new rich, add Premier League footballers after Shanghai SIPG struck a deal to buy Oscar, Chelsea’s Brazilian midfielder.A transfer fee of some £52m meant the west London club made a tidy profit on a player they bought for £19m four-and-a-half years ago, but
  
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