General news

• Tony Blair blames Conservatives for Guantanamo Bay compensation payments 

  22-02-2017 23:44
  
  Tony Blair tried to distance himself from the row about the release of British detainees from Guantanamo Bay by blaming the Conservatives for the compensation payments they received.The former Labour prime minister responded to critics who have questioned whether Jamal al-Harith should have been released from Guantanamo Bay in 2004.
  
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• Theresa May accused of letting Isis suicide bomber Jamal al-Harith slip through the net

  22-02-2017 23:21
  
  Theresa May’s record as Home Secretary has been thrown into doubt over claims she weakened surveillance on an extremist who fled the country to become an Isis fighter and suicide bomber after his release from Guantanamo Bay.The Prime Minister’s official spokesman refused to discuss whether monitoring of Jamal al-Harith had stopped in 2014, at which point Ms May had been running the Home Office for four years.
  
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• British former Guantanamo Bay detainee who received share of £20m payout had links with Jihadi John

  22-02-2017 23:19
  
  One of 17 British men who shared a £20 million taxpayer-funded compensation payout after being released from Guantanamo Bay had links to the Isil terrorist known as Jihadi John.Tarek Dergoul travelled to Portugal with Mohammed Emwazi, in 2011, a year before Emwazi went to fight with jihadists in Syria, where he attained global notoriety for beheading western captives on camera.As many as a quarter of the Britons held at the US detention centre have been accused of links to Syria and Iraq,
  
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• Did UK Guantanamo payouts go to Isil? Government under pressure to prove some of £20m compensation did not fund terrorism

  22-02-2017 23:05
  
  The Government is under pressure to prove that none of the £20 million paid to British terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay ended up in the hands of Isil.The row was ignited following the death of Jamal al-Harith, who received up to £1 million of UK taxpayers’ money before travelling to Iraq where he blew himself up in a suicide bomb attack.Terror experts and senior politicians expressed their concern that money paid to al-Harith in compensation for two years spent
  
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• Third of manufacturing firms want to move some operations out of UK after Brexit, report warns

  22-02-2017 22:42
  
  Deep uncertainty caused by Theresa May's drive to Brexit has left one in three manufacturing firms planning to shift some operations out of the UK, a damning report reveals today.The risk of the UK failing to secure any sort of future trade deal with Europe - something Ms May has threatened if Parliament does not approve the deal she agrees with Brussels - was cited as a key potential fear.It comes just weeks before Philip Hammond gives his Budget, with the Government under pressure to help stru
  
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• Three schoolboys arrested after alleged acid attack at Dagenham school

  22-02-2017 22:23
  
  Three schoolboys have been arrested after an alleged acid attack at a school in east London left pupils in hospital.The boys, believed to be aged 12, 13 and 15, were arrested on suspicion of GBH following a fight involving a “noxious substance” at Sydney Russell School in Dagenham.A number of people were injured in the alleged attack and three teenage students had to be taken to an east London hospital for treatment.
  
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• Britain's curry houses disappearing because owners 'aren't innovative enough'

  22-02-2017 22:07
  
  One in two curry houses in Britain are set to close within 10 years, it was claimed on Wednesday.The gloomy forecast that approximately 17,000 Indian restaurants will disappear from high streets inside a decade came from Yawar Khan, chairman of the Asian Catering Federation (ACF).Despite two curry restaurants closing each week, the dining out sector as a whole is thriving with sales and new openings on the increase, said Mr Khan.
  
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• 26-year-old caretaker performed sexy dance on 100-year-old with dementia at care home

  22-02-2017 22:05
  
  A caretaker at an assisted living centre who police say was filmed performing a sexually provocative dance on a 100-year-old resident was doing it as a prank and trying to make the man feel good, her lawyer has said.Brittany Fultz, 26, pleaded not guilty to gross sexual imposition on Tuesday.Investigators said the man has dementia, but Fultz's attorney said the resident could have told her to stop but did not.
  
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• Alzheimer's could be flagged by sleeping in late

  22-02-2017 22:00
  
  Around 7 per cent of people over 65 develop Alzheimer’s or another form of dementia, and the risk is thought to double every five years people gain in age.It is unlikely people will be able to reduce their risk by getting up earlier, however, as the researchers behind the new study said the inability to get out of bed is probably a symptom rather than a cause of the illness.The Boston University team also found that those in the study without a high school degree who slept for more than ni
  
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• Bald Men Club of Japan hold competition - to celebrate baldness

  22-02-2017 21:56
  
  More than 30 bald men gathered at a hot spring facility in Tsuruta City, Japan, on Wednesday to show off their hairless heads and have fun.Members of the city's Bald Men Club took turns competing in a unique game of tug-of-war by sticking a suction cup, which is attached to a single red rope, to each of their heads.Masatomo Sasaki, 64, a first-time participant at the tournament, said he used to feel insecure about his baldness but now feels differently.
  
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• Refugees seeking a new life stream across Canadian border due to 'anti-immigrant feeling' in Donald Trump's America

  22-02-2017 21:41
  
  It is just a 12 foot wide ditch at the end of an unmade road in rural Quebec where the border between the US and Canada is marked by an orange wooden stake and a five feet high stone obelisk.This ditch at St Bernard de Lacolle, about an hour’s drive south of Montreal, is just one of the unmanned border crossings along the 5,000 mile long border that has seen a surge in the number of asylum seekers since Donald Trump won the White House.What was once a slow trickle is becoming a steady
  
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• Hillary Clinton takes a swing at Donald Trump over time spent on the golf course

  22-02-2017 21:24
  
  Hillary Clinton has taken a swing at Donald Trump, by retweeting a data project that claims he spent 25 hours playing golf during his first month in office.The former Democratic presidential nominee shared a graph with her millions of Twitter followers that claimed to show that Mr Trump had spent more than four times longer playing golf than receiving intelligence briefings.
  
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• Police accidentally sent invitations to a survivors party to seven dead victims of Croydon tram crash

  22-02-2017 21:15
  
  Bungling police sent letters to the seven dead victims of the Croydon tram crash inviting them to a survivors party.The family of one victim, 52-year-old Philip Logan, are "fuming" after one of the letters from the British Transport Police was posted through his door earlier this month.The heartfelt letter, sent by the BTP, was written by the wife of a survivor asking if other survivors would like to meet and discuss their experience.
  
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• Nasa astronomers discover new solar system called TRAPPIST-1 where life may have evolved on three out of seven of its planets

  22-02-2017 21:15
  
  Life may have evolved on at least three planets in a newly discovered solar system just 39 light years from Earth, Nasa has announced.​
  
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• Cressida Dick: 'Beyond my wildest dreams' to be Met's first female Commissioner

  22-02-2017 21:15
  
  The first female has been appointed Scotland Yard Commissioner in the force's 188 year history.Cressida Dick, a former acting Deputy Commissioner at the Metropolitan Police, will take over from Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, who has held the post since 2011.Ms Dick was one of the UK's most senior female police officers before leaving Scotland Yard to take up a highly sensitive security-related post within the Foreign Office in 2014.
  
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• British tourists face US-style electronic visa scheme when travelling to EU after Brexit

  22-02-2017 21:07
  
  The EU is considering the adoption of a US-style electronic travel permit scheme – a move which could create a new administrative hurdle for British tourists after Brexit.Immigration minister Robert Goodwill told Parliament the EU was discussing the possibility of introducing a version of America's Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA).“British people are now used to the US ESTA scheme and, therefore, we view with interest how the European scheme might develop and what si
  
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• Samurai swords and deadly throwing blades  among hundreds of knives handed into the police in leafy stockbroker-belt

  22-02-2017 21:05
  
  An incredible array of dangerous weapons has been removed from the leafy streets of stockbroker-belt Surrey as part of an amnesty into knife-crime.Samurai swords and deadly throwing blades were among hundreds of knives which were handed into the police from one of the country's most affluent counties.An average of one weapon was handed in every three hours for a month as part of a Surrey Police amnesty campaign which ended this month.
  
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• These new worlds are just the start. There are many more life-supporting planets out there waiting to be discovered

  22-02-2017 21:02
  It's exciting news that a Belgian-led team of astronomers (with UK involvement) has discovered a new planetary system 39 light years from Earth, with seven Earth-sized worlds.Of all the so-called exoplanets we have found, these are in the category most likely to be able to support life.Detecting an exoplanet is no easy thing.
  
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• Nasa announces discovery of seven Earth-sized planets – video report

  22-02-2017 21:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Nasa announced the discovery of seven Earth-like planets orbiting a star called Trappist-1, about 39 light years away, on Wednesday. The find has widely excited the astronomy community because of its implications in the hunt for alien life beyond the solar system. Three of the planets in the Trappist-1 system are in the habitable zone near the star and so could have water on their surfacesThrilling discovery of seven Earth-sized planets orbiting nearby star Continue reading...
  
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• 'She inspires confidence': Cressida Dick, the Met's first female commissioner

  22-02-2017 20:57
  
  Cressida Dick, who has just been announced as Metropolitan police commissioner.Cressida Dick’s 31-year-long police career shows she has the ability to impress those around her, as she did with the home secretary and London mayor to win the job of Met commissioner.Former Met chief constable Andy Trotter, who later led British Transport police, said: “I have seen her operate in a counter-terrorism environment, working at the very highest levels, and remain calm.
  
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• Trading off costs and benefits of Brexit and the EU | Letters

  22-02-2017 20:56
  
  ‘The fall in sterling and WTO tariffs will increase the price of our imports, creating opportunities for UK producers,’ argues Michael Gold. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA
  
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• A clearer picture of the Green party surge in Solihull | Letters

  22-02-2017 20:55
  
  Labour must work hard to retain support in its heartlands, argues Nick Stephens.In fact he was – I was that Labour councillor! The Greens only started fighting elections seriously in Chelmsley Wood in 2010, playing on discontent with a local regeneration programme, which was mismanaged by Tory-run Solihull council before 2010 and was the victim of swingeing cuts by the coalition government after 2010.The Greens established a foothold in Chelmsley Wood by bringing in swaths of supporters (a
  
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• Man, 24, arrested on suspicion of encouraging terrorism

  22-02-2017 20:44
  
  A young man has been arrested on suspicion of encouraging terrorism.In a separate case, detectives were yesterday given more time to question five teenagers held on suspicion of planning to flee Britain to fight for Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.
  
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• British Isis suicide bomber ‘did not receive £1m from UK government’, family says

  22-02-2017 20:40
  
  The family of a former Guantanamo Bay detainee reportedly killed in an Islamic State suicide bomb attack in Iraq has denied he received £1 million compensation from the British government.Jamal al-Harith, from Manchester, was identified by family members from a photograph issued by Isis showing him at the wheel of a truck packed with explosives which he was said to have driven into a military base near Mosul.The disclosure that the 50-year-old - previously known as Ronald Fiddler before co
  
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• Oliver Dearlove trial: Banker's mother hits out at women who 'walked away' as her son lay unconscious

  22-02-2017 20:31
  
  The heartbroken mother of a young banker killed with a single punch after a night out has hit out at the “young mothers who walked away” as her son was being given CPR on the side of the road.Oliver Dearlove collapsed after being punched during an altercation with unemployed plasterer Trevor Timon on a night out with friends in Blackheath.Timon, who has a history of violence, pleaded guilty to manslaughter but was cleared of murder on Wednesday after the jury deliberated for three ho
  
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• Nasa discovers new solar system where life may have evolved on three planets

  22-02-2017 20:29
  
  Astronomers have detected no less than seven Earth-sized worlds orbiting a cool dwarf star known as TRAPPIST-1.TRAPPIST-1 is an ultracool dwarf star that is approximately 8 per cent the mass of and 11 per cent the radius of our  Sun.No other star system known contains such a large number of Earth-sized and probably rocky planets.
  
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• Sajid Javid says his shopkeeper father would have lobbied him over business rates

  22-02-2017 20:23
  
  Sajid Javid has said that his shopkeeper father would have lobbied him about business rate rises as he vowed to help small businesses that have been hardest hit.The Local Government Secretary confirmed that Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, will use his Budget to "provide further support" to businesses facing steep increases.It came as an alliance of retailers and business leaders warned that Britain business rates are the highest in Europe and risk acting as a "barrier to investment" after Brexit
  
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• US 'nuclear sniffer' plane deployed in Europe amid mysterious spike in radiation

  22-02-2017 20:22
  
  A ‘nuclear sniffer’ plane has been sent to monitor radioactivity levels in Europe following the detection of mysterious spikes of radiation across the continent.The US military plane, called the WC-135 Constant Phoenix, landed at an air base in Surrey, a spokesperson at RAF Mildenhall confirmed to The Independent.It is now on its way towards Norway and the Barents Sea north of Russia in the arctic circle, according to The Aviationist.
  
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• Police officers who went to McDonalds en route to 999 call to face misconduct hearing

  22-02-2017 19:45
  
  A pair of police officers who stopped at McDonald’s for a cup of tea on their way to a 999 call will face a gross misconduct hearing, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said.PCs Gavin Bateman and Tony Stephenson had been directed to attend an address in Poplar, east London after concerns were raised about a woman’s welfare.Fahima Begum was later found hanged in the early hours of 16 April 2015, a few hours after sending a suicidal text message to a friend who alerted
  
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• Nasa finds seven new Earth-sized planets: how the internet reacted

  22-02-2017 19:45
  When Nasa announced it would be holding a press conference today to present new findings on planets that orbit stars other than our sun, Twitter reacted much as it always does whenever Nasa announces a press conference.
  
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• UK weather latest update: Storm Doris set to bring gale-force winds and blizzard-like conditions

  22-02-2017 19:39
  
  The worst storm of winter is set to bear down on the UK, bringing with it gales and blizzard-like conditions.Winds of up to 80mph and heavy snow were likely to disrupt travel, damage buildings and send debris flying, forecasters warn.Severe weather warnings have been put in place for much of the UK, and amber alerts – telling people to “be prepared” – stretched across the much of the North and the Midlands.
  
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• Polish teenager who took her own life was 'victim of bullying', coroner told

  22-02-2017 19:28
  
  A 16-year-old Polish girl who took her own life at school was bullied at school, police told a coroner's court.Dagmara Przybysz, who moved to Britain with her family nine years ago, was found dead last May.Now a coroner has been told that detectives found evidence she was bullied and pushed in a school corridor.
  
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• Emmanuel Macron forges alliance with 'kingmaker' centrist François Bayrou in boost to French presidential hopes

  22-02-2017 19:14
  
  Emmanuel Macron's campaign for the French presidency received a key boost on Wednesday when he accepted to forge an "alliance' with veteran centrist François Bayrou against conservative and far Right rivals."I have decided to offer Emmanuel Macron an alliance."We are in an extremely risky situation, and to tackle this exceptional situation, I think we need an exceptional response," said the staunchly pro-European Mr Bayrou.
  
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• 'We are the lucky ones': Young refugees plead for ministers to protect unaccompanied minors

  22-02-2017 18:51
  
  A group of young refugees and asylum seekers who embarked on perilous journeys as children to reach safety in the UK have urged the Government not to end the transfer of unaccompanied minors to Britain.In an open letter following the controversial closure of the Dubs scheme - which aimed to bring vulnerable lone refugee children to Britain - 17 former unaccompanied minors accuse ministers of failing to listen to the voices of those affected and subsequently putting young lives at risk.The young
  
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• Theresa May’s closure of child refugee scheme ‘creates £20m windfall for people traffickers’

  22-02-2017 18:35
  
  Theresa May’s decision to close down the Government’s child refugee scheme early could net people-smuggling gangs as much as £20m in fees from desperate unaccompanied children, MPs have been told.At the start of this month the Government announced that the so-called “Dubs amendment” scheme would take just 350 unaccompanied child refugees instead of the 3,000 promised by David Cameron.The U-turn came shortly after bad publicity surrounding the child refugees in a num
  
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• Theresa May’s closure of child refugee scheme ‘creates £20 million windfall for people traffickers’

  22-02-2017 18:35
  
  Theresa May’s decision to close down the Government’s child refugee scheme early could net people-smuggling gangs as much as £20 million in fees from desperate unaccompanied children, MPs have been told.At the start of this month the Government announced that the so-called “Dubs amendment” scheme would take just 350 unaccompanied child refugees instead of the 3,000 promised by David Cameron.The U-turn came shortly after bad publicity surrounding the child refugees i
  
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• Judge in 'crash for cash case' dismisses jury and takes case on himself after jurors were offered bribes outside the courtroom

  22-02-2017 18:32
  Ajudge used a rare legal power to dismiss a jury and take the case on himself after jurors said they were offered bribes outside the courtroom.Driver Sabbir Hussain, 25, and alleged passengers, Raja Hussain, 30, and Shahrear Islam-Miah, 26, deny manslaughter and a second charge of conspiracy to commit fraud by false representation between September 1-11, 2014. A fourth man has already pleaded guilty.Three jurors in a group together were approached by a woman in the city centre and
  
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• Oliver Dearlove: Man who killed banker with one punch cleared of murder charge

  22-02-2017 18:29
  
  Trevor Timon had already pleaded guilty to manslaughter, but was today found not guilty of the more serious murder count by a jury, after delivering a "powerful" left hook to Mr Dearlove's head and knocking him unconscious.Mr Dearlove, who worked as a relationship manager at Duncan Lawrie Private Bank and previously at Couttes, the bank used by the Queen, was eating and drinking with old Portsmouth University friends in Blackheath, south-east London, on 27 August last year.Mr Dearlove's friend A
  
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• May to speak to Peugeot CEO later on Wednesday - spokesman

  22-02-2017 18:28
  LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May will speak to the head of French carmaker PSA GroupCarlos Tavares later on Wednesday, May's spokesman said. Peugeot manufacturer PSA is in talks to take over General Motors'European brands, generating concerns in Britain, where GM operates a car plant and a van facility under the Vauxhall brand, that a takeover deal could prompt job losses and site closures. The spokesman told reporters that the call, which had been arranged because a face-to-face me
  
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• Brexit negotiations might take 10 years - if we're lucky | John Crace

  22-02-2017 18:25
  
  Sir Ivan Rogers tells MPs that all they really need to know is it is all hideously complicated and is going to end badly.Sir Ivan Rogers, Britain’s ambassador to the EU up until his resignation in January, was in his element, however.
  
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• British suicide bomber in Iraq had won compensation for Guantanamo stay

  22-02-2017 18:18
  By Guy Faulconbridge and Ali AbdelatyLONDON/CAIRO (Reuters) - An Islamic State suicide bomber from Britain who blew himself up in an attack on Iraqi forces this week had been given compensation for his detention in the Guantanamo Bay military prison, Western security sources said on Wednesday.Islamic State militants said Abu-Zakariya al-Britani, a British citizen who was originally known as Ronald Fiddler and then cast himself as Jamal Udeen al-Harith, detonated a car bomb at an Iraqi army base
  
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• UK weather: Storm Doris warnings upgraded as forecasters say 80mph winds are on the way

  22-02-2017 18:09
  
  Weather warnings have been upgraded ahead of Storm Doris' arrival, with heavy snow and winds of up to 80mph forecast.Storm Doris is likely to cause travel disruption, damage buildings and send debris flying when it hits on Thursday morning, the Met Office has warned.Amber warnings predict strong winds and heavy rain in parts of North Wales, the Midlands, and east and north-west England, while winds as fast as 60mph are also expected to batter southern England.
  
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• One-punch deaths

  22-02-2017 18:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  How do one-punch deaths happen and can anything be done to stop them?
  
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• Oliver Dearlove trial: Trevor Timon cleared of banker's murder after admitting manslaughter

  22-02-2017 18:07
  
  The violent plasterer who killed banker Oliver Dearlove with a single punch has been cleared of murder by a jury after he admitted to manslaughter.Jobless Trevor Timon, 31, delivered a "powerful" left hook to Oliver Dearlove's head, knocking him unconscious, a court heard.Timon, of Plumstead, south-east London, admitted manslaughter but was cleared of murder after a jury deliberated for three hours.
  
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• First case dropped since forensic science blunders as CPS says it cannot proceed against drug driver following intervention from 'Mr Loophole'

  22-02-2017 18:00
  
  The first case linked to allegations of a forensic science blunder has been dropped after the CPS said it cannot proceed against a drug driver.It was revealed hundreds of criminal cases may be reviewed after two scientists, aged 47 and 31, at Randox Testing Services (RTS) in Manchester were arrested.Police use RTS to analyse prosecution samples but there were fears that more than 484 test results might be unreliable.  Questions have been raised over the alleged deliberate manipulation
  
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• Video of female cyclist exacting revenge on van-driving catcaller 'was faked'

  22-02-2017 17:57
  
  Footage of a female cyclist being catcalled by workmen in a van went viral after it was shared online - but eyewitnesses to the incident are now claiming it was staged.The footage, apparently captured by a motorcyclist with a dashcam, sees the cyclist slapping the man’s hands away as he attempts to grab her, shouting: “That’s not very ladylike is it, eh?The footage was shared thousands of times on Wednesday, with many people taking to social media to voice their disapproval.
  
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• Family of Jean Charles de Menezes slam Cressida Dick's appointment as Met Police commissioner

  22-02-2017 17:46
  
  The family of Jean Charles de Menezes have slammed Cressida Dick’s appointment as the Met’s new commissioner – claiming it’s proof that “police officers can act with impunity”.Mr de Menezes family have released a statement saying they have “serious concerns” over the appointment of Ms Dick, who becomes the Met’s first female commissioner in its 188-year history."At the helm of the police on that fateful day when Jean was killed was Cressida D
  
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• Britain's curry houses feeling the heat because owners 'aren't innovative enough'

  22-02-2017 17:34
  
  One in two curry houses in Britain are set to close within 10 years, it was claimed on Wednesday.The gloomy forecast that approximately 17,000 Indian restaurants will disappear from high streets inside a decade came from Yawar Khan, chairman of the Asian Catering Federation (ACF).Despite two curry restaurants closing each week, the dining out sector as a whole is thriving with sales and new openings on the increase, said Mr Khan.
  
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• Prime Minister's Questions: Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May's claims fact checked

  22-02-2017 17:31
  
  The Telegraph has teamed up with Full Fact to check the claims made by the Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition.Corbyn argued that nine out of 10 NHS Trusts are unsafe, while the Prime Minister responded with figures saying that 54 per cent of hospital trusts are considered good or outstanding.On the condition of NHS trusts“Her Government has put the NHS and social care in a state of emergency.
  
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• Cressida Dick appointed first female Met police commissioner

  22-02-2017 17:28
  
  Cressida Dick won a reputation as being cool under pressure when she led Operation Trident, the unit policing gun crime.Cressida Dick will be the next commissioner of the Metropolitan police, it has been announced.Dick, 56, now works at the Foreign Office and was formerly the Met’s head of counter-terrorism.
  
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