General news

• School spending on supply teacher agencies jumps by a fifth in three years

  21-02-2017 23:15
  
  School spending on supply teacher agencies has jumped by a fifth in three years, figures reveal, as MPs warn that the Government has no long term strategy to address staff shortages.The amount that schools spend on recruitment agency fees alone has increased by almost a fifth (18.5 per cent) in the past four years, from £469 million in 2012/13 to £556 million in 2015/16.
  
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• UK prisons 'holding child inmates in solitary confinement against UN torture rules'

  21-02-2017 23:09
  
  British prisons are holding child inmates in solitary confinement in an alleged breach of UN torture rules and British law, The Independent has found.More than a dozen examples uncovered by The Independent include a teenage prisoner with a serious mental health condition who, it is claimed, was placed in solitary confinement inside a number of different British jails during a period of six months, causing him considerable distress and psychological damage.Prison inspection reports suggest some c
  
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• Businessman dubbed 'Africa's youngest billionaire' told blatant lies about his assets in divorce hearing, judge says 

  21-02-2017 23:09
  
  A British-born businessman, dubbed "Africa’s youngest billionaire”, told a string of lies in a divorce battle with his estranged wife in a bitter row over the size of his fortune, a High Court judge has ruled.Mr Justice Moor concluded that Ashish Thakkar had given “thoroughly misleading” evidence to the court and complained that he had been “repeatedly lied to” by Mr Thakkar and members of his family.The judge’s ruling, made public on Tuesday, paves the
  
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• France's Macron meets PM May in London, vows to stand up for EU

  21-02-2017 23:00
  By Estelle ShirbonLONDON (Reuters) - French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron told British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday not to expect any favours from the European Union during Brexit talks, and drew big cheers for his pro-EU message from French nationals in London.Macron visited May at her Downing Street office and later met Britain's chancellor Philip Hammond, a public relations coup for the young ex-banker at a time when his campaign appears to be losing momentum."Brexit cannot
  
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• 'Clear evidence Russia interfered directly in UK elections', claims former Labour minister

  21-02-2017 22:37
  
  A former Labour minister has claimed there is “clear evidence” Russia interfered directly in UK elections.Fellow Labour former minister Ben Bradshaw has previously claimed it was "highly probable" Russia interfered in the EU referendum through cyber warfare, a claim the Government says there is no evidence for.
  
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• Brexit could prompt human rights crisis, lawyers warn

  21-02-2017 22:32
  
  The UK's departure from the European Union may go hand in hand with the removal of fundamental rights from British law, they said in a letter in the Observer, leaving its citizens with a similar level of protection to people in Europe's last dictatorship, Belarus.Theresa May has stated in the past that she would like to leave the European Convention on Human Rights — described as “the bedrock of peace in Europe since the Second World War” — but the EU could intervene, the
  
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• The 5 British jihadis who have died fighting for Islamic State in Syria and Iraq

  21-02-2017 22:29
  
  A British Islamic State fighter is thought to have carried out a suicide bombing near Mosul.Jamal al-Harith, a Muslim convert who used used the nom de guerre Abu-Zakariya al-Britani and was born Ronald Fiddler, is said to have detonated an explosives-filled vehicle in a village to the south of the Iraqi city.
  
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• Sussex University under fire over workshop on how to 'deal with right-wing attitudes in the classroom'

  21-02-2017 22:00
  
  Sussex University has been accused of undermining free speech after one of its leading professors held a workshop for academic staff of how to “deal with right-wing attitudes in the classroom”.The workshop, titled “Dealing with right wing attitudes and politics in the classroom" took place last week and had been advertised on posters around the university.
  
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• Students accused of 'cultural vandalism' after campaign to remove the legacy of Victorian polymath they claim 'invented racism'

  21-02-2017 22:00
  
  University students have been accused of "cultural vandalism" after launching a campaign to remove the legacy of a Victorian polymath they claim "invented racism".Academics have voiced their concern over the Galton Must Fall movement aimed at the removing the "poisonous legacy" of Sir Francis Galton at University College London.Dr Niall McCrae, a lecturer in nursing at King’s College London, called on the university to adopt a zero-tolerance approach to the campaign.
  
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• Britain’s first cut-price private school will charge parents just £52-a-week

  21-02-2017 22:00
  
  The Independent Grammar School: Durham will charge parents £2,700-a-year for a “traditional private education without the frills”.This is not necessarily for lower income families, it is for anyone who says private education is far too expensive.“They often include Olympic size swimming pools, rugby pitches and so on - we are saying that these are not necessary for private education.
  
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• Anti-terror police given more time to quiz five London teens over 'plan to fight for Isis in Syria and Iraq'

  21-02-2017 21:59
  
  Detectives have been given more time to question five teenagers held on suspicion of planning to flee Britain to fight for Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.The five males – including a 15-year-old schoolboy - were arrested at homes across London on Monday on suspicion of the preparation of terrorist acts.The Met’s counter terror detectives are investigating alleged plans by the teenagers, four of whom are schoolchildren, to travel to join the jihadist terror group after communicating
  
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• Who is Milo Yiannopoulos? The ultra-conservative 'provocateur' and Donald Trump fan who has resigned from Breitbart News over Paedophilia comments

  21-02-2017 21:49
  
  Milo Yiannopoulos, the ultra-conservative British "provocateur", has resigned as editor of Breitbart Tech after coming under fire from other conservatives over comments on sexual relationships between boys and older men.A past video emerged earlier this week of Yiannopoulos defending sexual relationships between men and boys as young as 13 years old.The 32-year-old former journalist, who is a prominent figure of America's "alt-right" movement, is a passionate Donald Trump sup
  
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• 65 of the world's leading authors and artists campaign against Donald Trump's Muslim immigration ban

  21-02-2017 21:33
  
  Sixty-five of the world's leading authors and artists have written a joint letter criticising Donald Trump's immigration ban and have urged him to reconsider it.The letter, which was organised by the PEN America advocacy group, was signed by Zadie Smith, Martin Amis, J.M. Coetzee, Patrick Stewart Margaret Atwood, Jonathan Franzen, Siri Hustvedt, Jhumpa Lahiri, Azar Nafisi, Anish Kapoor, Orhan Pamuk and Philip Roth, among many others.
  
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• Milo Yiannopoulos resigns as an editor at Breitbart amid paedophilia comments scandal

  21-02-2017 21:16
  
  Milo Yiannopoulos the "alt-right" "provocoteur" has resigned from his role as an editor at the far-Right news organisation Breitbart.Breitbart used to be run by White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon.Yiannopoulos, who is British, was earlier disinvited to this year's Conservative Political Action Conference in the wake of the scandal.
  
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• Vast majority of 11 million illegal immigrants in US subject to deportation under new Trump administration guidelines

  21-02-2017 21:08
  
  The vast majority of the 11 million illegal immigrants living in the US are at risk of deportation under new guidelines released on Tuesday by the Trump administration.Under Barack Obama, the department of homeland security only targeted people who had been convicted of serious crimes or were considered threats to national security for deportation.President Donald Trump has broadened the criteria to include any illegal immigrant who is even suspected of a crime, in addition to those who have bee
  
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• Nigeria's Buhari needs further rest as is deputy launches action plan

  21-02-2017 21:01
  By Felix OnuahABUJA (Reuters) - Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari needs further rest in Britain following medical tests but there is no need to worry about him, his spokesman said on Tuesday, as his deputy launched a 60-day plan to improve the recession-mired economy.Buhari, 74, went to London a month ago for medical tests for an unspecified illness, putting Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, 59, in charge."The president needs to rest for some further time," Buhari's spokesman Femi Adesina told rep
  
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• Is Jeremy Corbyn responsible for all Labour’s troubles? | Letters

  21-02-2017 21:01
  
  Jeremy Corbyn finds fans for a selfie in Stoke Central. ‘If Labour fails in Stoke or Copeland, I’ve no doubt we will read that it was ‘Corbyn’s fault’, writes David Rosenberg.The facts are crystal clear.
  
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• Slave trader Edward Colston faces defenestration from Bristol Cathedral 

  21-02-2017 21:00
  
  Bristol Cathedral may take the significant step of removing a giant stained glass window dedicated to the prominent slave trader Edward Colston after coming under growing pressure from anti-racism campaigners.The Dean of the Cathedral, Very Rev David Hoyle, has said he is open to considering the idea of removing its largest window because of its links to the notorious slaver.It comes after The Telegraph revealed that campaigners have intensified calls for Bristol’s Colston Hall, one of the
  
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• Bristol Cathedral may remove slave trader Edward Colston's window 

  21-02-2017 21:00
  
  Bristol Cathedral may take the significant step of removing a giant stained glass window dedicated to the prominent slave trader Edward Colston after coming under growing pressure from anti-racism campaigners.The Dean of the Cathedral, Very Rev David Hoyle, has said he is open to considering the idea of removing its largest window because of its links to the notorious slaver.It comes after The Telegraph revealed that campaigners have intensified calls for Bristol’s Colston Hall, one of the
  
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• Vladimir Putin told to keep out of Stoke by election after pro-Russia Twitter accounts target Ukip and Paul Nuttall

  21-02-2017 20:59
  
  Vladimir Putin has been told by the UK Independence Party to keep out of the Stoke by-election after usually pro-Russian Twitter accounts started to target the party and its leader Paul Nuttall.The Russian President - who has been accused by the White House of trying to influence the US Presidential elections - was given the warning after dozens of Twitter accounts, which are usually the source of pro-Russian messages, started publishing critical tweets about Ukip ahead of tomorrow’s Stoke
  
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• SNP unveils business rates 'sticking plaster' for hospitality sector and North East

  21-02-2017 20:48
  
  Scotland’s Finance Minister has been accused of using a “sticking plaster” to deal with crippling rises in business rates after announcing a one-year deal to cap the increases for the hospitality sector.Derek Mackay unveiled a 12.5 per cent cap on increases for restaurants, pubs, hotels and cafes across Scotland, and for office premises in the North East, which has been hit hard by the oil downturn.The olive branch was warmly welcomed by the industry bodies representing license
  
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• Milo Yiannopoulos resigns from Breitbart following 'paedophile' comments

  21-02-2017 20:48
  
  Milo Yiannopoulos has resigned from his role as a senior editor at Breitbart news, over apparently pro-paedophilia remarks he made in a recently surfaced podcast.Mr Yiannopoulos, a vocal Donald Trump supporter who rose to fame for his far-right views, has sparked outrage since footage emerged of him appearing to endorse sexual relationships between “younger boys and older men”.
  
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• Peter Mandelson: I try to undermine Jeremy Corbyn 'every single day'

  21-02-2017 20:46
  
  Peter Mandelson, the architect of New Labour, has said he is working every day to undermine Jeremy Corbyn, as Blairite peers stood up in the House of Lords to lambast their party’s leadership for backing Brexit.Mandelson, a former cabinet minister under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, told an event for the Jewish Chronicle that he was actively working to bring an end to Corbyn’s leadership.
  
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• Top NHS doctor 'investigated by police' and forbidden from contacting patients

  21-02-2017 20:42
  
  The doctors’ regulator, the General Medical Council, has restricted Dr Fielden from interacting with patients and told him to inform it of any changes to his bail conditions.The high profile anaesthetist and intensive care specialist joined the NHS England leadership at the start of 2016, having previously been medical director at University College London Hospitals Foundation Trust.
  
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• British man who launched Isil suicide attack was Guantanamo Bay detainee awarded £1m compensation

  21-02-2017 20:40
  
  ABritish Islamic State fighter who is believed to have carried out a suicide bombing in Iraq was a former Guantanamo Bay detainee, according to reports.The bomber - named by the group as Abu Zakariya al-Britani - is said to have detonated an explosives-filled vehicle in a village to the south of Mosul.The 50-year-old, also known as Jamal al Harith or Jamal Udeen, was suspected of terrorism by the Americans but freed from the US detention centre in 2004 after lobbying by the British government.
  
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• Gordon Ramsay's father-in-law charged with computer hacking

  21-02-2017 20:39
  
  Gordon Ramsay with his wife Tana, who is understood to have cut off contact with her father and his family some years ago.Gordon Ramsay’s father-in-law and three of his family members have been charged over allegations of computer hacking dating back seven years to the time of a bitter dispute involving the celebrity chef, Scotland Yard said.The Met police on Tuesday charged Chris Hutcheson, who was for years the chief executive of Ramsay’s company which ran his restaurants and other
  
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• MPs pass bill allowing police to seize UK assets of human rights abusers

  21-02-2017 20:38
  
  Tory Dominic Raab said the government’s amendment was not as robust as one he led.MPs have passed a bill that would allow British law enforcement agencies to seize the UK assets of dictators and rights abusers, even for offences committed overseas.The Commons unanimously passed the third reading of the criminal finances bill, a wider measure that adapts the earlier Proceeds of Crime Act, allowing police to target “unexplained wealth”.
  
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• Convicted murderer escapes from prison with help from 'armed gang' after a hospital visit 

  21-02-2017 20:32
  
  A murderer who was serving a minimum of 30 years in prison is on the run after two armed men helped him escape during an escorted hospital visit.Shaun Colin Walmsley, 28, fled from outside Aintree University Hospital as he was getting into a car with prison officers.Merseyside Police said two men believed to be armed with a gun and a knife, threatened the officers and demanded they release Walmsley, before making off in a gold-coloured Volvo.
  
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• Convicted murderer escapes from prison after 'armed gang' helped him get away after a hospital visit 

  21-02-2017 20:32
  
  A murderer who was serving a minimum of 30 years in prison is on the run after two armed men helped him escape during an escorted hospital visit.Shaun Colin Walmsley, 28, fled from outside Aintree University Hospital as he was getting into a car with prison officers.Merseyside Police said two men believed to be armed with a gun and a knife, threatened the officers and demanded they release Walmsley, before making off in a gold-coloured Volvo.
  
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• Manhunt underway for escaped murderer in Liverpool 'freed by armed gang on hospital visit'

  21-02-2017 20:21
  
  A convicted murderer is on the loose in Liverpool after an armed gang reportedly helped him escape from custody during a hospital visit.Drug dealer Shaun Walmsley, 28, was leaving Aintree University Hospital after an appointment when two men are said to have threatened prison officers with a gun and a knife.Merseyside Police said an urgent investigation had been launched to find Walmsley, who was serving at least 30 years in prison for murder.
  
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• Multibillion-pound Westminster repairs could cost more than first estimated, commons clerk warns

  21-02-2017 20:13
  
  David Natzler said there are "known unknowns" in the Houses of Parliament, which faces a growing risk of a "catastrophic event" unless ageing mechanical and electrical services are renovated.The proposals, which would have to be approved by Parliament and the Government, could see a temporary Commons chamber in the courtyard of the Department of Health's current offices in Whitehall, while the Lords would sit in the nearby Queen Elizabeth II conference centre.The Joint Committee on the Palace of
  
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• Right-wing student at Sussex? Your professors think you're a problem that needs 'dealing with'

  21-02-2017 20:00
  
  Being on the political Right at an institution like the University of Sussex – famous for its banner-waving, blue-haired, lip-ringed protesters – I know that I’m in a minority.This is why I was shocked to find a poster, put up for all to see, but aimed at staff and PhD students, advertising an "informal discussion" organised by the Sussex Centre for Conflict and Security Research.The discussion would be centred around, "dealing with right-wing attitudes and politics in the
  
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• Britain told there will be no 'caveats or concessions' from French after Brexit - just an unbreakable 'Franco-German position' under Emmanuel Macron

  21-02-2017 19:59
  
  Emmanuel Macron has warned British leaders that the UK can expect no concessions in Brexit negotiations if he is elected French president, vowing to take a rigid line on access to the EU’s single market and the powers of the European Court.Macron, a frontrunner in France's increasingly fraught presidential race, stood on the steps of Downing Street and also vowed to lure bankers and talented professionals from Britain.Mr Macron vowed to push for an unbreakable “Franco-Germa
  
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• Storm Doris could blow away Labour byelection hopes, MPs fear

  21-02-2017 19:39
  
  Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, left, campaigning on Saturday in Stoke, where some party sources are concerned about voter apathy.Gale-force winds and heavy rain could have a dramatic effect on turnout in the Copeland and Stoke byelections, Labour sources have said, with some fearing any negative effect could hand victory to the Conservatives in Cumbria.Some Labour MPs said they were becoming increasingly concerned about the effects of Storm Doris on turnout in Copeland and Stoke and those that had
  
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• Farmers deliver stark warning over access to EU seasonal workers

  21-02-2017 19:37
  
  The industry has said it may require 90,000 seasonal workers a year by 2021.Farmers have warned that food will “rot in the fields” and Britain will be unable to produce what it eats if the government cannot guarantee that growers will continue to have access to tens of thousands of EU workers after Brexit.Meurig Raymond, president of the National Farmers’ Union, told the body’s annual conference in Birmingham that farmers and food processors, particularly in horticulture
  
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• A week's holiday 'could cost pensioner £2,500 in health insurance' post Brexit

  21-02-2017 19:31
  
  A week in France could cost a pensioner with common health problems up to £2,500 a week in insurance after Brexit, a public health professor has claimed.If Britons lose their European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) older people with multiple conditions could be forced to fork out hundreds, if not thousands, for a week in France, the Health Select Committee was told.When questioned on current reciprocal agreements on health care between EU member states, Martin McKee, professor of European pu
  
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• Article 50 is actually reversible, author of the Brexit treaty clause says

  21-02-2017 19:11
  
  The author of Article 50 has ridiculed the Government’s claim that the treaty clause cannot be stopped after it is triggered.Lord Kerr urged the House of Lords to amend the Brexit Bill, launching a fierce attack on the “Bullingdon Boys” who have left others to suffer the pain of EU withdrawal.At the weekend, Justice Secretary Elizabeth Truss sparked criticism by suggesting Article 50 cannot be revoked while Downing Street has insisted the argument is irrelevant.
  
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• Police dig in garage once owned by murderer Christopher Halliwell

  21-02-2017 19:07
  
  Christopher Halliwell lived at one of the properties in Broad Street.Police search teams appear to be carrying out digging work inside a garage that was once owned by the double murderer Christopher Halliwell.Wiltshire police said the search of two garages and two gardens in Swindon is expected to take five days.
  
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• Boris Johnson cuts a dash in eye-catching running clothes

  21-02-2017 19:03
  
  For the serious running enthusiast, knowing what clothes to buy can be a bit of a daunting prospect.
  
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• Paris, Frankfurt, Vilnius: how EU cities are vying for London's bankers

  21-02-2017 19:00
  
  Frankfurt is one of the EU cities hoping for a slice of the City pie if Britain leaves the single market.Continental competition to benefit from Brexit is rapidly heating up as half a dozen EU cities vie to attract London-based banks and financial services companies worried about losing their access to the single market.From Paris to Vilnius, Milan to Madrid and Frankfurt to Valletta, regulators, local authorities and sometimes national governments are clearing a path for the exodus many feel is
  
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• Baltic politicians lobbied by David Davis: we will only negotiate as one

  21-02-2017 18:53
  
  Senior European politicians lobbied by the Brexit secretary, David Davis, during a whistlestop tour of the Baltic states have insisted they will negotiate with the UK as a unified bloc, and questioned the realism of Britain’s negotiating goals.Britain has been accused by the three leaders of the main political groups in the European parliament of employing a strategy of “divide and rule” by appealing to the individual member states’ interests prior to talks, and seeking t
  
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• Oliver Dearlove murder trial: Court told accused has a 'history of violence'

  21-02-2017 18:45
  
  The man accused of murdering banker Oliver Dearlove with a single punch had a history of violence, including hitting a woman in the face so hard he knocked her unconscious, jurors were told.Trevor Timon, 31, is accused of becoming so angry when Mr Dearlove spoke to his female friends after a night out that he threw the deadly punch.On Tuesday the court heard that Timon - an unemployed plasterer - had previously pleaded guilty to battery after an incident in May 2010.
  
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• Dutch MPs vote in favour of regulated cannabis cultivation

  21-02-2017 18:39
  
  Dutch lawmakers on Tuesday voted in favor of tolerating the cultivation of cannabis, a move that could bring to an end a key paradox of the relaxed Dutch policy on marijuana and hashish.Buying small amounts of pot at so-called coffee shops has long been tolerated in the Netherlands, but cultivating and selling the drug to the coffee shops themselves has remained illegal.A narrow majority in the lower house of the Dutch Parliament voted in favor of the new law that would extend tolerance to growe
  
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• World leader announces he wants to ban pineapple on pizzas 

  21-02-2017 18:31
  
  A world leader has weighed into the great pineapple pizza debate by insisting he would like to ban the controversial topping.After a discussion with pupils about the school’s famous alumni, Johannesson’s visit reached a light-hearted conclusion when he answered questions from students about pizza and football.
  
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• UK farmers hold onto cash, cut investment on Brexit uncertainty

  21-02-2017 18:31
  By Mariana IonovaLONDON (Reuters) - British farmers are holding back on big investments as they brace for the UK's exit from the European Union, their largest market and a vital source of subsidies.Agriculture enjoyed a brief boost after Britain voted to leave the bloc last June, when a weaker pound lifted profits by about 12 percent and subsidy payments by roughly 15 percent, the National Farmers' Union (NFU) estimates.UK food and drink exports rose nearly 10 percent to a record 20 billion poun
  
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• Nigel Farage says young generation 'have become fascists'

  21-02-2017 18:31
  
  Nigel Farage has claimed young people who call right-wing pundits “fascist” have become fascists themselves.The former Ukip leader delivered a speech on the significance of the Brexit vote and Donald Trump’s victory at Hillsdale College in Michigan, where he attacked liberal-minded university students who protested against right-wing speakers.
  
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• After meeting May in London, France's Macron still firm on Brexit

  21-02-2017 18:25
  By Estelle ShirbonLONDON (Reuters) - French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron told British Prime Minister Theresa May on Tuesday that her country should not receive preferential treatment from the European Union after quitting the bloc."Brexit cannot lead to a kind of optimisation of Britain's relationship with the rest of Europe.
  
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• Who is Lt General H. R. McMaster? Donald Trump's new national security adviser is a 'warrior-thinker' known for challenging convention

  21-02-2017 18:23
  
  A graduate of West Point military academy, Lt General McMaster commanded troops during the first Gulf War, receiving the Silver Star for fighting in one of the biggest tank battles since World War II.In Tal Afar especially he sought to get to know the local population, and gain the trust of some, with a view to weeding militants and winning over hearts and minds.
  
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• 'Vile' trio stalked victim through Southwark streets before beating him to death

  21-02-2017 18:18
  
  Three “vile” men who stalked their victim through the streets of Southwark before beating him to death in broad daylight have been convicted of manslaughter.Mr Ofei-Berko, from Southwark, eventually sat down with two men on a bench in Penrose Grove.After running off to a waiting car, one of the attackers returned yet again to kick the defenceless victim in the stomach.
  
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• Emmanuel Macron vows to lure British bankers, academics and other 'talented people' to France after Brexit

  21-02-2017 18:12
  
  Emmanuel Macron, a frontrunner in France's increasingly fraught presidential race, met Theresa May on Monday in a coup for the young candidate and just days after he promised to be "pretty tough" with the British government in Brexit negotiations if elected.After the meeting Mr Macron admitted he intended to lure banks and talented professionals from Britain after its exit from the European Union if he becomes president of France.Asked if he wanted banks to move to France after Brexit,
  
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