General news

• George Michael: Former partner 'heartbroken' at star's death

  26-12-2016 21:40
  
  George Michael's former partner Kenny Goss has spoken of his heartbreak following the pop star's sudden death. The 53-year-old musician, who was discovered dead at his Oxfordshire home on Christmas Day, was described by Goss as "an extremely kind and generous man". Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley has joined members of the musical world in expressing heartache following the death of George Michael.
  
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• Police arrest two people on suspicion of using cannabis plants as a Christmas tree

  26-12-2016 20:50
  
  They were decorated and everything.
  
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• Storm Conor brings Boxing Day gusts of more than 90mph

  26-12-2016 18:32
  
  Storm Conor has brought heavy snow showers and winds of more than 90mph to parts of the UK.
  
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• Shoppers up early for Boxing Day bargains but numbers down on 2015

  26-12-2016 18:24
  Shoppers have been up early to grab Boxing Day bargains in an expected £4bn spending spree but there were signs that stores are quieter overall than last year.
  
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• UK Boxing Day online sales up 11.5 percent, footfall down 6 percent

  26-12-2016 17:47
  (Reuters) - The number of Britons who hit the shops on Boxing Day morning, a traditional shopping day, fell 6 percent versus the same period last year, while online transactions rose 11.5 percent year-on-year, retail data company Springboard said. British retail sales grew at the fastest rate in more than a year in late November and early December, which may have taken some of the buzz out of the period around the Christmas holiday. Boxing Day sales have traditionally been an indicator of the st
  
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• Status Quo's Rick Parfitt was 'archetypal rock star' says bandmate

  26-12-2016 17:44 via theguardian.com
  
  Frontman Francis Rossi pays tribute to guitarist, who died aged 68 on Christmas Eve, saying he ‘lived life at high speed’Status Quo frontman Francis Rossi has paid tribute to his bandmate, Rick Parfitt, who died aged 68 on Christmas Eve.Rossi describing Parfitt as “the archetypal rock star”, “one of the originals” who “never lost his joy, his mischievous edge and his penchant for living life at high speed, high volume, high risk”.Continue reading..
  
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• Tributes flow for soulful British pop idol George Michael, dead at 53

  26-12-2016 16:40
  By Edward Baran LONDON (Reuters) - Madonna, Elton John and Paul McCartney paid tribute on Monday to British pop idol George Michael, who has died age 53 after a career of soulful ballads and dance songs that provided a soundtrack to much of the 1980s and 1990s. Michael burst to stardom with “Wham!, one of the most successful pop duos ever, with singles like “"Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" and “"Careless Whisper", before reinventing himself as a solo artist with sexually daring l
  
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• Singer George Michael of Wham! fame dies at 53

  26-12-2016 16:40
  By Guy Faulconbridge LONDON (Reuters) - Singer George Michael, who became one of the pop idols of the 1980s with Wham! and then forged a career as a successful solo artist with sometimes sexually provocative lyrics, died at his home in England on Sunday. "It is with great sadness that we can confirm our beloved son, brother and friend George passed away peacefully at home over the Christmas period," his publicist said in a statement. British police said Michael's death was "unexplained but not s
  
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• George Michael had his own cultural revolution in China

  26-12-2016 16:40
  By Cate Cadell BEIJING (Reuters) - It was strangely muted when George Michael, as part of the British pop duo Wham!, took the stage at the Workers Gymnasium in Beijing in April 1985, recalled one of those who attended that now legendary first Western pop act in Communist China. Around 15,000 concert-goers watched Michael and bandmate Andrew Ridgeley sing hits such as "Careless Whisper" and "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go" – as police grimly stared at them. "I'd never seen so many police in my
  
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• Ex-BoE chief says Britain staying in EU single market makes no sense

  26-12-2016 16:39
  (Reuters) - Britain should decide its own immigration policy and stop pretending Brexit is compatible with staying in the European Union's single market, a former governor of the Bank of England said on Monday. Mervyn King, who steered UK monetary policy for 10 years to 2013, told the BBC that supporters and detractors of the EU should start to look at Britain's vote to leave it as an opportunity. "I don't think it makes sense for us to pretend that we should remain in the single market, and I t
  
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• Fox hunting is proving an emotive topic once again as support for the ban 'reaches an all time high'

  26-12-2016 16:03
  
  Fox hunting with dogs has been illegal since 2004.
  
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• Liverpool star Firmino charged with drink driving

  26-12-2016 15:27
  Liverpool striker Roberto Firmino has been charged with drink driving after being pulled over on Christmas Eve. The Brazil international was arrested after being stopped in Liverpool city centre. A police spokesman said: "Merseyside Police has charged a 25-year-old man with drink driving after his car was stopped in Liverpool city centre in the early hours of Saturday, 24 December 2016.
  
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• Rossi calls Status Quo's Rick Parfitt 'the archetypal rocker'

  26-12-2016 15:22
  Francis Rossi has described his Status Quo bandmate, Rick Parfitt, as "the archetypal rock star". The pair first met while performing in different bands at Butlins holiday camp in Minehead in 1963. Parfitt died in a Spanish hospital from a severe infection on Christmas Eve.
  
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• Singer, songwriter, pop superstar: George Michael dies aged 53 – video obituary

  26-12-2016 15:11 via theguardian.com
  
  George Michael, one of Britain’s biggest pop stars, has died aged 53 from heart failure at his Oxfordshire home. Michael, who rose to fame with the pop duo Wham! in the 1980s, ‘passed away peacefully’.
  George Michael obituary: ‘a full-scale phenomenon’Continue reading...
  
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• RBS draws up secret plan to slash boss McEwan's maximum payout

  26-12-2016 13:56
  The chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is to see his maximum pay pot slashed under plans being drawn up by its remuneration committee, reflecting directors' conviction that the lender will remain in majority taxpayer ownership for years to come. Sky News has learnt that RBS has begun consulting with leading City shareholders on proposals to reduce the long-term incentive plan award available to Ross McEwan from £3m to £1.75m from next year. The move is part of a package
  
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• These pictures of shoppers hunting for bargains in the Boxing Day sales will make you glad you stayed at home

  26-12-2016 13:55
  
  Elbows at the ready, it’s sales time…
  
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• George Michael: Paul Young pays tribute

  26-12-2016 13:44 via bbc.co.uk
  
  This video has been removed for right reasons
  
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• Troubled personal life of pop superstar George Michael

  26-12-2016 13:18
  Michael - born Georgios Panayiotou in north London - found fame as a teenager in the early 1980s after forming Wham! with school friend Andrew Ridgeley. Michael went on to enjoy a massively successful solo career and his album Faith was a huge international success following its release in 1987. Then there was his sexuality. Michael had always refused to be drawn on speculation that he was gay and so suffered privately when his partner Anselmo Feleppa died of AIDS.
  
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• How the world of music reacted to George Michael's death

  26-12-2016 13:09
  
  Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley has led the musical world in expressing heartache following the death of George Michael. Ridgeley said he was "heartbroken at the loss of my beloved friend Yog", referencing a nickname that stuck after he heard Michael's mum calling him by his Greek name. Michael found fame as a teenager in the early 1980s after forming Wham! with school friend Ridgeley.
  
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• If I told you that

  26-12-2016 12:56 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Newsbeat presenter Chris Smith remembers his small part in one of George Michael's biggest hits.
  
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• 'Ridiculous' Christmas outfits raise £1,500

  26-12-2016 12:52 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A woman raises more than £1,500 for charity by wearing "ridiculous" festive outfits every day leading up to Christmas Day.
  
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• Watford v Crystal Palace: Premier League – live!

  26-12-2016 12:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Minute-by-minute updates from the early kick-off at Vicarage RoadLive scores: keep up to date with all of Monday’s goalsEd Aarons: Some Palace fans will be alarmed by arrival of AllardyceEmail [email protected] | Tweet @michaelbutler18 11.37am GMTWatford: Gomes, Kaboul, Prodl, Britos, Janmaat, Behrami, Guedioura, Holebas, Amrabat, Capoue, Ighalo.Subs: Deeney, Cathcart, Doucoure, Zuniga, Sinclair, Kabasele, Pantilimon. Remember that bit in the preamble about where I said Sam Al
  
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• Pop superstar George Michael dies peacefully at home aged 53 – live reaction

  26-12-2016 12:44 via theguardian.com
  
  Pop superstar famous for hits including Last Christmas, Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go and Careless Whisper sold more than 100m albums• Full report: George Michael, pop superstar, dies at 53
  • Out and proud: a champion of gay rights
  • Obituary: Britain’s biggest pop star of the 80s
  • George Michael – a life in pictures
  • Share your tributes and memories
  • His songs were more than simple tales of lust and longing 11.44am GMTMany readers have been telling us
  
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• The snow finally arrived... but just too late for a white Christmas

  26-12-2016 12:17
  
  After a mild Christmas Day, it was a different story on Boxing Day.
  
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• 'My life has felt self-destructive'

  26-12-2016 12:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  In 2007, George Michael gave a rare interview to Kirsty Young on BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, describing his life as "self-destructive".
  
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• Satire won’t rid us of Trump, but it will make us feel better | Anne Karpf

  26-12-2016 11:59 via theguardian.com
  
  In times of bigotry and prejudice, we need humour not just for escapism, but also to poke fun at the powerfulThe world’s natural resources may be at risk of depletion, but there’s one that’s still plentiful and has never been more vital: humour. Not the laughter that provides a temporary escape from the nastiness of the present, welcome though that is. No, the kind I’m talking about is humour that skewers the lies, boasts and taunts of those who claim to have “won&r
  
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• Mervyn King: Britain better off going for hard Brexit

  26-12-2016 11:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Former Bank of England governor says despite political difficulties there will be many opportunities once UK leaves EUBritain may be better off going for a hard Brexit that would mean leaving the single market and customs union, Mervyn King, the former governor of the Bank of England, has suggested.Lord King, who has been more optimistic about leaving the EU than many economic commentators, acknowledged that Brexit would bring great political difficulties and would not be a “bed of roses&r
  
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• Russia plane crash: massive search for bodies in Black Sea

  26-12-2016 11:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Rescuers work through the night as president orders national day of mourning following crash of Syria-bound military jetThousands of rescuers were searching for bodies in the Black Sea as Russia marked a day of mourning following the crash of a Syria-bound military plane carrying 92 people.The Tu-154 jet, which was carrying more than 60 members of the internationally renowned Red Army Choir to entertain Russian troops in Syria for the new year, went down off the resort city of Sochi shortly afte
  
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• Storm Conor to bring Boxing Day gusts of 95mph

  26-12-2016 11:28
  
  Storm Conor is expected to bring Boxing Day gusts of up to 95mph to northern parts of the UK. The Met Office has issued an amber "be prepared" warning for Orkney, Shetland and the most northerly part of the Highlands. It follows an exceptionally mild Christmas Day when the mercury rose to 15.1C in Dyce, Aberdeenshire - pushing the record of 15.6C registered in Devon in 1920.
  
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• Tupac Shakur's Hail Mary makes surprise appearance at carol service

  26-12-2016 11:16 via theguardian.com
  
  Rapper’s lyrics appear mistakenly on programme of one of Sri Lanka’s largest services in place of Christmas prayerA Christmas carol service in Sri Lanka surprised churchgoers by mistakenly supplying the lyrics to the Tupac Shakur song, Hail Mary, instead of those of the traditional Christian prayer. Pictures of the programme from Joy to the World 2016, one of Sri Lanka’s largest carol services, were shared widely across social media over the Christmas weekend. Continue reading.
  
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• Owen Smith: frustrated and disappointed but hopeful for the future

  26-12-2016 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Since losing the Labour leadership contest, the Pontypridd MP has withdrawn from the spotlight. But now he’s preparing to return to the frayOwen Smith still receives death threats following his unsuccessful challenge to Jeremy Corbyn for the Labour leadership last summer but, as the Pontypridd MP reflects on 2016, he has no regrets. “I’m proud that I showed the leadership to challenge and to seek to revive the Labour party,” he says, sitting bolt upright at the table in h
  
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• Mallorca’s mystery festive pastry

  26-12-2016 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The origins of the island’s coiled ensaïmadas Mallorquina are unknown – is it Moorish, is it Jewish? Well, it can come with pumpkin jam or spicy sausage and is certainly moreishAt Palma airport, sharp-eyed visitors may be perplexed by the mysterious hexagonal boxes many people are carrying. They’re not for odd-shaped hats, but ensaïmadas Mallorquina, the Balearic island’s unique pastry.This spiral of dough is thought to date back to the 17th century when it was
  
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• Believe it or not, Brits are becoming less materialistic | Peter Ormerod

  26-12-2016 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  It is commonly assumed that we are consuming more and more stuff. But not only is the opposite true, we’re also becoming better sharersModern Britain, eh? What a soulless, consumerist, materialistic society we’ve become, buying more and more stuff to fill our spiritual void, equating belongings with status and success, obsessed with owning things and showing them off to impress our peers.It’s a common observation. But it’s also looking increasingly outdated. Because one o
  
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• Beatrix Potter's landscape inspirations – in pictures

  26-12-2016 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  With her keen observation and a deep appreciation of nature, Beatrix Potter found much inspiration in her surroundings. Her watercolours, ink drawings and holiday sketches have been compiled in The Art of Beatrix Potter, which looks at the influence of the British landscape in Potter’s books Continue reading...
  
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• Afghanistan funds abusive militias as US military 'ignores' situation, officials say

  26-12-2016 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Foreign donor money goes to Afghan spy agency, which arms groups intended to fight Taliban – but some militia leaders instead target local officialsThe US military and the CIA are turning a blind eye as Afghanistan’s spy agency spends foreign donor money on militias which are committing human rights abuses that help destabilise the fragile country, according to local and western officials. The Afghan national directorate of security (NDS) arms strongmen ostensibly to fight the Taliba
  
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• Why George Michael turned his back on America

  26-12-2016 10:50 via theguardian.com
  
  Star scored success across the pond but relationship was soured by row with label and arrest that forced him to come outFans, critics and stars pay tribute – live reactionShare your tributes and memoriesGeorge Michael found success quickly in the US, briefly eclipsing even superstars such as Michael Jackson and Madonna at the tail end of the 1980s.But his experience and life in America were soured by a fight with his record label and arrest in a public bathroom that forced him to come out
  
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• Relatives of missing people call for new financial powers law to be speeded up

  26-12-2016 10:01
  Thousands of families whose loved ones have disappeared are still waiting for a new law that will allow them to take control of their missing relatives' financial affairs. From banking, mortgages and insurance, to benefits and dealing with utilities, families report various problems and, in the worst cases, the missing person's finances may be damaged beyond repair and homes may be lost. Peter Lawrence, the father of missing chef Claudia Lawrence, is angry that the Government has failed to
  
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• Michelle Obama, Barb and Donald Glover: our style icons of 2016

  26-12-2016 10:01 via theguardian.com
  
  This was the year of Barb from Stranger Things doing Gucci and a return to minimal via Georgia O’Keeffe. Here are our style icons of the past yearThe great pop songs, rather than the merely good ones, are the ones that make you want to smile or dance or cry. Likewise the great style icons – the ones who will be remembered beyond their red carpet moment – are the ones who make you feel something. Marilyn Monroe does this. Beyonce does this. And Michelle Obama did this, all year.
  
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• Why we're still baroque-ing around the Christmas tree

  26-12-2016 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  We think of Christmas decorations as a Victorian invention, but they actually link us back to the baroque age – when bling and glitz formed a stairway to heavenIt’s the time of year when the baroque makes a comeback. Angels are everywhere, garlands are festooned about the place, and everything that can be decorated, is.We tend to think of Christmas decorations as a 19th-century idea. In Britain, the first Christmas tree was installed by Queen Charlotte in 1800, and the definitive Vic
  
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• The secret life of an extra: don’t talk, don’t eat and don’t go home till 2am | Anonymous

  26-12-2016 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Working as a supporting artiste is not as glamorous as it sounds. At the mercy of the weather, you might not make the final cut – or much moneyI was on the set of a television drama that aired recently, and during a break in the filming I gravitated towards the table of refreshments. It was a cold spring day, and the hot coffee and biscuits beckoned me towards them, not to mention the oversized bakewell tarts and miniature packs of Haribo sweets. As I reached this sticky oasis however, I w
  
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• Search Party: high-stakes mystery meets laugh-out-loud satire

  26-12-2016 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Listless millennial Dory finds her calling as a private investigator in this beautifully observed, unashamedly weird dramedyWhat is it? Girls, if the characters from Girls had purpose.Why you’ll love it: Search Party is two shows in one. The first is a tightly wound thriller about Chantal, a young woman who goes missing in mysterious circumstances. The second, the padding around this thrusting narrative, is a self-mocking portrait of millennials in crisis. Continue reading...
  
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• Liam Neeson: is the Silence star wasting his very particular set of skills?

  26-12-2016 10:00 via theguardian.com
  
  After a standard run of action fare, could the actor’s festive trio signal a return to form? Related: Silence review: the last temptation of Liam Neeson in Scorsese's shattering epic How many other 64-year-old actors will have three feature films opening over the Christmas season? Or is Liam Neeson the only one? The man works a lot – three or four movies per year for the last couple of decades, and this year his films all arrive in the same two-week period: first the South Korean war
  
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• UK's first Muslim astronaut aims to put focus on mental health

  26-12-2016 09:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Contest winner Hussain Manawer says it was not an ambition to go to space, he just wanted to be taken more seriously For most people who go into space it is a dream come true, but for the man set to be the UK’s first Muslim astronaut his priority is making the world a better place. Hussain Manawer, 25, from Ilford, Essex, is due to blast off in 2018 after seeing off thousands of other entrants from more than 90 countries in a competition.Continue reading...
  
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• Protein hype: shoppers flushing money down the toilet, say experts

  26-12-2016 09:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Consumers fuelling demand for high-protein products unlikely to see any benefits as people already eat more protein than they need, say dietitiansThe UK’s rocketing demand for high-protein products is being fuelled by consumers buying foods unlikely to deliver the benefits they are seeking, experts have said. Weetabix, Shreddies, Mars, Snickers and Batchelors Cup a Soup were among the brands that launched enhanced protein versions this year as the trend hit the mainstream.Continue reading.
  
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• Will the latest Agatha Christie adaptation be a Boxing Day hit?

  26-12-2016 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  An early short story by the queen of crime, The Witness for the Prosecution, will be broadcast on 26 and 27 December on BBC1All over the country, Agatha Christie fans are facing a festive dilemma: how to make sure their relatives go to bed before 9pm on Boxing Day ahead of the first episode of The Witness for the Prosecution, the BBC’s new version of Christie’s brilliant short story that she later rewrote as a play.Why not watch it with one’s relatives, who might also be Christ
  
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• Why is it called Boxing Day? You asked Google – here’s the answer | Stephen Moss

  26-12-2016 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Every day millions of internet users ask Google life’s most difficult questions, big and small. Our writers answer some of the commonest queriesThe first thing to say about Boxing Day is that its origins have nothing to do with boxing, or with putting used wrapping paper into boxes, or with boxing up all your unwanted presents, or indeed with football, horse racing, hunting, shopping, going for icy mass swims in the sea, or any of the other activities that now characterise the day after Ch
  
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• Why I'm optimistic about 2017 | Paul Mason

  26-12-2016 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  If we adapt quickly to the reality of the new world order, we can continue to fight for human rights and social justiceThis Christmas break, for anybody steeped in the assumptions that have underpinned non-mainstream political thinking, needs to be a moment of realisation. Brexit will happen. Globalisation will fall apart. Freedom of movement as an unconditional right in the EU will end. The concept of the west as upholder, and occasional enforcer, of human rights across the world is, at the ver
  
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• 'This is possible. We did it': the week Portugal ran on renewables

  26-12-2016 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Campaigners say the 107 hours when the country was powered by wind, sun and water show they can replace fossil fuels If you can keep your gaze off the hilltops, imagine away the pylons and forget the occasional tractor of an uncertain vintage coughing along the narrow roads, little appears to have changed in the valleys of north-eastern Portugal for decades, perhaps even centuries.The gnarled alvarinho vines have been relieved of their fruit to make vinho verde, an old woman in black herds her s
  
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• Anna Jones’s vegetarian recipes for Christmas leftovers | The Modern Cook

  26-12-2016 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Some would argue that the leftovers from Christmas lunch are the very best bit. With a clever makeover, green veg, nuts and fruits can be turned into something new and equally celebratory the next day ...For me, the joy of a Christmas dinner – or indeed any roast – are the leftover roots and greens, that can be fried up until deeply golden and crisp, then served topped with a fried egg and a spoonful of a punchy chutney.I love a Christmas-dinner sandwich, too: stuffing, greens, roast
  
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• Lyrics of a life

  26-12-2016 08:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Six key songs that shed light on the life and career of singer George Michael.
  
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