General news

• Revealed: Labour’s secret 'script' orders MPs to say winning Copeland was an ‘uphill task’ 

  25-02-2017 23:28
  
  Labour MPs were ordered to claim that holding Copeland was always an “uphill task” just hours after their historic defeat, leaked briefing notes have revealed. 
  
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• Terror chief Max Hill warns risk of attacks in Britain is highest since dark days of IRA

  25-02-2017 23:00
  
  British citizens are facing a level of threat from terrorists not seen since the IRA bombings of the Seventies, the country’s new terrorism watchdog has warned.
  
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• Sky News to make first foray back to the head-to-head ratings war

  25-02-2017 23:00
  
  For years, the battle of the bongs has raged between the big beasts of ITV and the BBC, each vying to win viewers over to their flagship 10pm news slots.This week, Sky News is to make its first foray back to the head-to-head ratings war, as it launches its first appointment-to-view News at 10 in nearly 20 years in the space temporarily vacated by ITV.Insiders hope it will prove competition for the BBC's long-established version, as ITV experiments with moving its news out of the slot in favour o
  
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• Premature babies ‘smart pen’ to save NHS £1bn a year by revolutionising prevention of early birth

  25-02-2017 23:00
  
  A new test promises to revolutionise the prevention of premature birth by accurately predicting the chances of pre-term delivery up to three months in advance, scientists have said.The “pencil-looking” non-invasive device will save the NHS £1 billion a year and can alert doctors to tell-tale accumulations of moisture in the cervix, giving them the chance to intervene and artificially prolong pregnancy.The new test, which has been trialled at an NHS hospital in Sheffield, takes
  
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• Lewis Hamilton questions F1’s new regulations before first test session

  25-02-2017 23:00 via theguardian.com
  
  On the eve of tests in Barcelona the three-times world champion believes overtaking will be worse and drivers will face more powerful and turbulent dirty airReading anything into Formula One’s first testing session is a dangerous game – unless a radical interpretation of the rules has bestowed an obvious advantage, such as Jenson Button’s Brawn team enjoyed in 2009 – but there is one thing that may become clear in Barcelona on Monday, and it could be crucial to the succes
  
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• Labour faces catastrophic loss of working-class support

  25-02-2017 23:00
  
  Halifax has a proud place in Labour history, and its voters have duly dispatched Labour MPs to Westminster for the last 30 years.A textile town with a radical tradition, it was an early focal point for the Independent Labour Party, formed in 1893.On Saturday morning, two days after its disastrous byelection loss to the Tories more than 100 miles away in Copeland, Cumbria – an area that had been Labour since 1935 – there was little enthusiasm for the party or its leader, Jeremy Corbyn
  
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• Interview: Britain’s new terror watchdog Max Hill - ‘Getting justice for Damilola ranks as my proudest feat’

  25-02-2017 23:00
  
  Look back at Britain’s biggest terrorism cases since the millennium and one name will keep reappearing on the legal benches: Max Hill QC.It was Mr Hill who helped secure the last IRA prosecution in the UK after terrorists planted a car bomb outside the BBC’s White City studios in 2001.Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, praised his “wealth of experience and legal expertise” while terror experts dubbed him “formidable”.
  
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• Holiday tax: Families to face £10 flying tax on their Easter breaks 

  25-02-2017 23:00
  
  "British holidaymakers already pay the highest level of tax on long haul flights anywhere in the world and this will only make it more expensive for them to take the break they deserve.Air Passenger Duty is levied by central Government.
  
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• Fire chief jailed after being falsely accused of historic child sex abuse blames police for his wife’s death

  25-02-2017 23:00
  
  A fire chief jailed after being falsely accused of historic child sex abuse has blamed police for his wife’s death at the age of 54 because of the stress caused by his wrongful conviction.Lynn Bryant has died just six months after her husband was finally freed after spending almost three years in prison for a crime he did not commit.Mrs Bryant died on February 13 from sepsis, a potentially lethal condition which occurs when the body’s  immune system goes into overdrive during an
  
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• David Haye insists he must beat Tony Bellew if he is to continue boxing

  25-02-2017 23:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Former WBA champion Haye says there can be only one result in his comeback fight at the O2 Arena and predicted: ‘I can guarantee you Bellew is going to be retiring this year’Five years after David Haye said he would quit the fight game at 31, the Londoner is still making noise in the heavyweight division but he has said that this time, if he loses to Tony Bellew on Saturday night, half a mile from where he grew up, he really will walk away.There is no title at stake, but several mill
  
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• Broadband vouchers worth £3,000 for small businesses to help boost coverage

  25-02-2017 23:00
  
  Small businesses will be given up to £3,000 worth in broadband vouchers to help boost coverage across Britain, under plans being considered for the Budget. 
  
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• British art establishment 'painted American buyer as a villain' says lawyer for Pontormo case

  25-02-2017 23:00
  
  It was not the likeliest source of gossip, intrigue and calls to change the very law: an unassuming portrait of a young man in his red cap described as a masterpiece of Florentine mannerism.The case led to calls for the UK's export system to be overhauled, with critics including the Art Fund calling it a "great cultural loss to the nation”.
  
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• Brexit minister tells peers: Don't tie Theresa May's hands

  25-02-2017 23:00
  
  Like many other members of the House of Lords, having weighed up the arguments I voted to Remain in last summer's referendum.My sense is that this is what the majority of people want: however they voted, they accept the result and want the Government to get on with the job.The legislation discussed in the Lords - the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill - is only 137 words long.
  
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• Jamie Vardy denies Leicester players plotted to oust Claudio Ranieri

  25-02-2017 22:36 via theguardian.com
  
  • ‘Speculation I was involved in his dismissal is completely untrue’
  • ‘The only thing we are guilty of as a team is underachieving,’ says strikerJamie Vardy has joined Kasper Schmeichel in denying any involvement in Claudio Ranieri’s sacking as Leicester manager as senior players broke their silence on the Italian’s departure from the Premier League champions. Related: Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester exit a tale of deceit and discourtesy | Daniel
  
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• Senior Tories plot ‘ruthless’ push for 30 Labour seats in North after Copeland victory

  25-02-2017 22:30
  
  Senior Tories are plotting a “ruthless strategy” to target 30 northern Labour seats in a copycat plan of their 2015 “decapitation” of the Liberal Democrats. 
  
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• Media organisations including BBC, New York Times challenge 'unprecedented' White House briefing ban

  25-02-2017 22:25
  
  Leading news organisations including the BBC and New York Times led backlash against the White House for banning media outlets from a recent press briefing.The BBC, which Mr Trump derisively labelled "a real beauty" during a recent press conference, was among the organisations barred from Friday's daily press briefing.Paul Danahar, BBC Americas Editor, released a statement saying it was "not clear" what led to the ban.
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn vows he will 'finish the job' as Labour leader despite Copeland defeat

  25-02-2017 22:22
  
  Jeremy Corbyn has said he will “finish the job” as Labour leader despite the party’s humiliating by-election defeat in Copeland.The Labour leader accepted he has not done enough to rebuild voters’ trust in Labour but insisted he will continue despite warnings the party will face a “catastrophic” defeat in the next general election.An opinion poll this week revealed 34 per cent of Labour party voters said they were more likely to vote for the party if the Islin
  
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• Number of EU care workers in UK surges

  25-02-2017 22:07 via theguardian.com
  
  MPs call for key workers to have right to stay, as figures show number of European staff has risen by 40% in three yearsThe number of non-British EU nationals working in the UK’s crisis-stricken social care system has shot up by more than 40% in three years, according to official figures – prompting fears that Brexit will lead to a catastrophic staffing crisis across the sector.The data released in answer to a parliamentary question by the Liberal Democrat MP Tom Brake shows the tota
  
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• Thousands of children and teenagers with anorexia forced to wait months for help

  25-02-2017 22:00
  
  Thousands of children and teenagers with anorexia are being forced to wait months for help, amid a growing crisis in services to treat eating disorders.An investigation by The Telegraph reveals a dramatic fall in provision of hospital appointments for the condition, forcing patients to wait longer, with some in need of inpatient care travelling hundreds of miles.The NHS data shows that in just two years, there has been a 36 per cent reduction in the number of hospital appointments for eating dis
  
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• Poachers threaten Exmoor's red deer with extinction

  25-02-2017 22:00
  
  Poachers are travelling to Exmoor National Park in increasing numbers, armed with rifles and powerful lamps to stun the animals in the darkness.There are even reports of the deer being chased off the moors at night and butchered in the streets of the nearby Somerset town of Minehead by the poachers.A spokesman for the National Wildlife Crime Unit said the influx of organised gangs is transforming poaching from a cottage criminal activity into an industrial scale operation.
  
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• New Zealand mealybugs invading Britain and destroying gardens 

  25-02-2017 22:00
  
  Many gardeners are plagued by mealybugs in their greenhouses, feasting on the roots of their prized plants.Golden root mealybugs have already devastated two gardens in Scotland, with the owners understood to be so upset that they do not want their plight publicised.Gardeners have little ammunition against the bugs as they are resistant to pesticides and can survive outside all year round, unlike native mealybugs which need warmth.
  
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• Commonwealth trade negotiators being seconded to Britain to help train civil servants ahead of Brexit

  25-02-2017 22:00
  
  Ministers are recruiting the “best” trade negotiators from across the Commonwealth to help train civil servants in securing trade deals ahead of Brexit. 
  
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• Hi-tech financial firms flee UK amid doubts over Brexit

  25-02-2017 21:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Leading ‘fintech’ player says ‘the exodus is beginning’ as members of £6bn industry start seeking other bases in Europe
  An exodus of “fintech” companies from Britain has begun, the chief executive of a leading firm has said, dashing the government’s hopes of building the UK into a world leader for the industry.Every reasonably-sized company in the flourishing financial technology sector – involving e-lending, money transfers and the banking m
  
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• He’s 93 and frail, but Mugabe pledges to carry on ruling

  25-02-2017 21:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Marking his birthday with a 93kg cake and a rally with loyal fans, the president is in no hurry to quit despite the chaos of his ruleThere were dancers, musicians, singers and flag-waving students – and, astonishingly, a break in the belts of rain that had been sweeping in across the sodden plains from the Matopo hills for days.On the podium raised above a muddy school sports field in south-west Zimbabwe, Robert Gabriel Mugabe stepped up to the microphone. Wearing a white shirt, black tie,
  
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• Gina Miller demands Lords show 'backbone' in changing Theresa May's Brexit Bill on eve of critical debate

  25-02-2017 21:53
  
  The campaigner who forced Theresa May to ask Parliament’s permission to trigger Article 50 has demanded the House of Lords show “backbone” and push the Government into concessions on Brexit.Speaking exclusively to The Independent, Gina Miller said those debating Ms May’s Article 50 Bill this week must take the lead because the House of Commons had shown “cowardice” in failing to win any compromise.Peers may use sittings on Monday and Wednesday to push for vote
  
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• Police shoot man who 'drove into people' in German city of Heidelberg leaving one dead and two injured 

  25-02-2017 21:42
  
  A man drove a car into pedestrians in the German city of Heidelberg on Saturday, killing one person and injuring two others, then fled on foot brandishing a knife before being intercepted and shot by police officers.Dramatic video footage posted on Twitter showed the alleged attacker surrounded by officers with their guns drawn, who shouted orders at him and then opened fire after a tense standoff on a footpath next to a restaurant.
  
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• Biologists say half of all species could be extinct by end of century

  25-02-2017 21:37 via theguardian.com
  
  Scientists at Vatican conference are searching for a solution to the manmade ‘major extinction event’One in five species on Earth now faces extinction, and that will rise to 50% by the end of the century unless urgent action is taken. That is the stark view of the world’s leading biologists, ecologists and economists who will gather on Monday to determine the social and economic changes needed to save the planet’s biosphere.“The living fabric of the world is slippin
  
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• Deported gay Afghans told to ‘pretend to be straight’

  25-02-2017 21:21
  
  The guidelines appear have put the Home Office at odds with the UN, Stonewall, and its own Afghanistan unit.Gay Afghans can be deported to their home country, where homosexuality is illegal and “wholly taboo” and they must pretend to be straight, under new British government guidelines for handling asylum applications.The new guidance for a country where not a single citizen lives an openly gay life has been denounced by human rights groups as a violation of international law, and cr
  
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• Woman charged over death of three-year-old boy attacked by dog in Essex

  25-02-2017 21:05
  
  Jade Dunne, 29, has been charged with owning a dog dangerously out of control that resulted in the death of three-year-old Dexter Neal, Essex Police said.Dexter was bitten at Ms Dunne's home in Halstead on August 2016, when he visited for a playdate with one of her four children.Neighbours said at the time they heard agonising screams from the property, and saw a man drag the dog outside, covered in blood.
  
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• Claudio Ranieri’s Leicester exit a tale of deceit and discourtesy | Daniel Taylor

  25-02-2017 21:05 via theguardian.com
  
  The Foxes’ title-winning manager deserved better from Leicester’s players and the club’s ungracious ownersIt was the headline in Gazzetta dello Sport that jumped out from the news stands on the morning after the kind of newsflash that made it easy to understand what Gareth Southgate meant when he talked about loving the sport but not necessarily liking it. Claudio Ranieri had become another managerial statistic and it was quickly becoming apparent there were players at Leiceste
  
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• British stars enter debate about using Oscars to criticise Donald Trump

  25-02-2017 21:00
  
  Now, with cinema royalty gathering in Los Angeles for the Oscars, the British contingent has weighed into the debate of whether to use the Academy Awards ceremony to make a stand against President Donald Trump.At a pre-Oscar’s party held in honour of this year’s British nominees several UK stars and industry figures urged their colleagues to speak out against Mr Trump’s policies.David Harewood, who starred as the director of the CIA in Homeland and went on to appear in the accl
  
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• ‘We can beat anyone,’ says John Barclay as Scotland eye England scalp

  25-02-2017 20:36 via theguardian.com
  
  • ‘It’s been a while,’ says Vern Cotter after 29-13 win over Wales
  • Barclay: ‘We’ve beaten Ireland and Wales – we can mix it with anyone’The 10-year wait is over and the relief was fairly oozing from Vern Cotter’s every pore. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it,” he said after Scotland’s sparkling 29-13 win over Wales at Murrayfield, their first since 2007. Related: Tim Visser’s heroics help Scotland end Six
  
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• Nurse sues trampoline park after shattering her spine jumping into a foam pit from a four metre tower

  25-02-2017 20:27
  
  A nurse plans to sue a trampoline park after she jumped four metres into a foam pit and fractured her spine.Liza Jones, who also burst a vertebrae, is taking legal action against Flip Out in Chester after two other people reported "incidents" on the same day.The 26-year-old was treated in the foam pit, and after a CT scan in hospital, says she was told she had fragments of bone sticking out that could have paralysed her.
  
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• Top chefs 'refusing to move to London because of Brexit'

  25-02-2017 19:59
  
  London is struggling to attract the world’s best chefs because of Brexit, the Government has been warned.The British Hospitality Association (BHA) says EU withdrawal is already making it impossible for restaurants to hire leading chefs from the likes of France and Italy, threatening the capital’s crown as the “gastronomy capital of the world”.Some owners have been forced to delay or abandon plans to open new restaurants, said the organisation that represents 46,000 hospit
  
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• Woman who fell down stairs was fat, drunk and careless, judge rules

  25-02-2017 19:56
  
  A woman lost a civil case against Ronnie Scott’s jazz club after a judge ruled her treacherous fall down two flights of stairs occurred because she was drunk, obese and careless.Eren Hussein was seeking thousands in damages from the world famous club after breaking her wrist and elbow after a party at the venue in 2012.“Mrs Hussein, at 115kg, must have taken up much of the width of the stairway.
  
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• German man, 73, dies after car driven into pedestrians in Heidelberg

  25-02-2017 19:55 via theguardian.com
  
  Man being treated in hospital after being shot by police while attempting to escapeA 73-year-old man died and two others were injured after a man drove a car into pedestrians in a square in the centre of Heidelberg.The attacker, who was armed with a knife, fled before being surrounded by police near a swimming pool in the south-western German town. Continue reading...
  
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• Liberal Democrats to try to kill Government's bill to restrict disability benefits

  25-02-2017 19:07
  
  The Liberal Democrats have tabled a motion in the House of Lords to kill a Government bill that will severely restrict disability benefits.It follows a written statement to the House of Commons by Conservative disability minister Penny Mordaunt that the Government will introduce emergency legislation to tighten the criteria of Personal Independence Payments (PIP) to disabled people after they were told to cover a broader spectrum of claimants, including those with mental health problems.
  
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• Liberal Democrats to try kill Government's bill to restrict disability benefits

  25-02-2017 19:07
  
  The Liberal Democrats have tabled a motion in the House of Lords to kill a Government bill that will severely restrict disability benefits.
  
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• French farmers hope Marine Le Pen will free them from EU 'straitjacket'

  25-02-2017 19:00
  
  Bertrand Hourdel proudly pats one of his plump pigs, but the Brittany farmer is painfully aware that when he sells them, his profits, if any, will be slim.Brittany’s verdant pastures and ancient stone farmhouses are a picture of bucolic bliss, but anger and desperation in France’s leading agricultural region, and other rural areas, are shifting the political winds in favour of Marine Le Pen’s anti-EU Front National.“If France left the EU, I hope things would get better,&r
  
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• CCTV captures vicious hit and run attack in Birmingham

  25-02-2017 18:39
  
  CCTV footage shows a dark BMW car emerge from a side street before wildly overturning, mounting the pavement and running the girl down.The teenager was taken to hospital in a serious condition, where she is still recovering from her injuries.West Midlands Police want to trace the BMW 5 series car involved in the hit-and-run and are appealing for anyone with information to call police on 101.
  
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• Police shoot man who 'drove into people' in German city of Heidelberg

  25-02-2017 18:22
  
  German police say a man who apparently drove a vehicle into people in a central square in the city of Heidelberg was shot after being tracked down by officers.Three people were injured outside a bakery in the square on Saturday afternoon.The suspect fled and was then found by a police patrol.
  
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• Sadiq Khan tones down attack on Scottish nationalism

  25-02-2017 17:48
  
  Sadiq Khan arrives for Scottish Labour’s spring conference, where he will deliver an amended version of his speech on nationalism.Sadiq Khan has qualified his attacks on Scottish nationalism after provoking a torrent of criticism for claiming it was equivalent to racism and bigotry.The London mayor amended a controversial speech to Scottish Labour’s spring conference asserting there “was no difference” between those who wanted to divide Scottish and English people and the
  
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• Woman charged over death of three-year-old boy mauled by American Bulldog

  25-02-2017 17:39
  
  A woman will appear in court over the death of a three-year-old boy attacked by an American Bulldog in her home.Jade Dunne has been charged with owning a dog dangerously out of control that resulted in the death of Dexter Neal on Thursday, Aug 18, 2016.Neighbours described hearing "terrible screams" as a man tried to save the three-year-old and described a woman distraught in the front garden.
  
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• Woman charged over Essex dog attack that killed three-year-old boy

  25-02-2017 17:28
  
  Dexter Neal was airlifted to Addenbrooke’s hospital in Cambridge but later died from his injuries.A woman has been charged with owning a dangerously out-of-control dog that mauled a three-year-old boy to death last year.Jade Dunne, 29, was arrested following the death of Dexter Neal at her home in Halstead, Essex, in August.
  
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• Sounds of the Sixties' Brian Matthew hints at a comeback

  25-02-2017 17:25
  
  The much loved Radio 2 presenter Brian Matthew has hinted he could soon be back on the airwaves despite leaving the station yesterday.Matthew said he is "saddened to leave" as he signed off as host of the long-running Sound Of The Sixties programme.The 88-year-old presented the Saturday morning show for 27 years and the BBC faced criticism after it announced he would be leaving the station as a regular host.
  
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• Ukip threat to Labour heartlands is as dangerous as ever, shadow cabinet member warns

  25-02-2017 17:07
  
  The Ukip threat to Labour’s heartlands has not gone away in the wake of the eurosceptic party’s defeat in Stoke, a shadow cabinet member has warned.John Healey said the by-election result which humbled Ukip leader Paul Nuttall, did not alter Labour’s precarious position in “large swathes of midlands and northern England and Wales”.The shadow Secretary of State for Housing said that despite Ukip’s apparently waning electoral fortunes, the “structural, eco
  
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• Revealed: 20 of the toughest interview questions you could face 

  25-02-2017 16:58
  
  The list was released by jobs website Glassdoor, who have analysed tens of thousands of interview questions shared by UK job candidates in the past year.More challenging interviews are associated with higher employee satisfaction later on, Glassdoor added.Could you answer the toughest interview questions?
  
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• Whale watchers warned to stay away from humpback spotted off south Devon coast

  25-02-2017 16:18
  
  Crowds have been drawn to the area, but a police spokesman said: "Please do not go anywhere near it on a boat".Wildlife expert Linda Hingley, from Brixham Seawatch, said she believes the mother whale is is lost."I was really hoping it was a Minke whale, as we occasionally see them off the coast here, and they move through and they're fine.
  
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• Pele's son to start 12-year drug trafficking sentence

  25-02-2017 16:10
  
  The son of the acclaimed Brazilian footballer Pele has handed himself in to police to complete a sentence for drug trafficking and money laundering.
  
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• Sadiq Khan sparks row with SNP after claiming there is ‘no difference’ between Scottish nationalism and racism

  25-02-2017 16:02
  
  Sadiq Khan was forced to backtrack and amend a speech to the Scottish Labour conference after an earlier version sparked a row with the SNP for suggesting that nationalism can be as divisive as racism and religious hatred.A draft of the Mayor of London's speech, made public before his appearance at Perth Concert Hall, included the line: “The last thing we need now is to pit different parts of our country or sections of our society against each other – or to further fuel division or s
  
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