General news

• Photos of a young, shirtless Justin Trudeau send the internet into a frenzy

  01-03-2017 23:42
  
  Newly emerged photographs of Justin Trudeau have sent the internet into a frenzy.
  
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• Jailed: Nigel Farage's ex-aide over posing as a money launderer to defraud criminals

  01-03-2017 23:36
  
  A former aide to Nigel Farage has been jailed for eight months after posing as a money launderer in a bid to defraud criminals.George Cottrell, 23, known as George Cotrel in federal court documents, has been in custody since his arrest in Chicago in July.At a district court in Phoenix, Arizona, judge Diane Humetewa sentenced Cottrell to eight months behind bars and ordered him to pay $30,000 (£24,350).
  
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• Giving Mary Berry her own TV shows demonstrates the BBC is tackling its diversity problems, corporation says 

  01-03-2017 23:30
  
  Giving Mary Berry her own cooking shows demonstrates that the BBC is tackling its problem with diversity, the corporation has said.Tony Hall, the director general, will on Thursday announce that the BBC will hire more women, disabled people and ethnic minorities to hit increased diversity targets.The corporation must "draw on all of the country’s diverse talent" in order to reach its full creative potential, Lord Hall will say at a speech in Thurrock.
  
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• Jailed: Two men who hammered nail into dog’s head in ‘barbaric’ act

  01-03-2017 23:15
  
  Two men have been jailed after they hammered a nail into a dog's head and buried it alive in an attempt to save on vet bills.The terrier, called Scamp, was discovered under a mound of earth by a couple walking in a wood but had to be put down due to its severe injuries.Michael Heathcock, 59, and Richard Finch, 60, both from Redcar, had pleaded guilty to offences under the Animal Welfare Act.
  
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• Oprah 2020: Winfrey hints at presidential run against Donald Trump

  01-03-2017 23:10
  
  Media mogul Oprah Winfrey has refused to rule out a presidential run against Donald Trump.Winfrey said that until the victory of Mr Trump, who had never held political office, she thought that she did not have the necessary government experience to run the country.
  
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• Billionaire property developer Christian Candy denies threatening family friend

  01-03-2017 23:10
  
  Billionaire Christian Candy has strongly denied using threats or illegal acts to recover a multimillion pound loan.Mr Candy described himself at the High Court in London as "a hard negotiator when I need to be" - but the accusations against him were "nothing short of preposterous".Mr Candy entered the witness box to fight off a claim by property developer Mark Holyoake for £132 million damages.
  
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• Auditors responsible for Oscars best film fiasco will not work with the awards again, Academy president says 

  01-03-2017 23:04
  
  Brian Cullinan and Martha Ruiz were the two PwC auditors privy to the Academy votes and responsible for the presenters' envelopes.Mr Cullinan handed Warren Beatty the wrong best picture envelope during Sunday night's ceremony, leading to La La Land incorrectly being announced as the winner rather than Moonlight.
  
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• Teachers who ignore extremism in the classroom are as bad as those who ignore victims of child sex abuse, terror minister says

  01-03-2017 23:00
  
  Teachers who fail to tackle extremism in the classroom are as bad as those who ignore victims of child sex abuse, the Government’s terror minister says.Ben Wallace, Minister for Security, said that opponents of the Government’s anti-radicalisation programme needed  to “get real” to the threat posed by terror groups such as the Islamic State, as he warned that union activists and teachers were attempting to derail safeguarding efforts in schools.Writing in today&rsquo
  
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• Nigel Farage: Carswell 'stopping Ukip becoming radical anti-immigration party'

  01-03-2017 23:00
  
  Ukip’s former leader Nigel Farage has accused the party’s only MP of preventing it from becoming a radical anti-immigration party.In an increasingly hostile war of words with Douglas Carswell, Farage said the Clacton MP, who defected from the Conservatives to Ukip in 2014, had undermined his attempts to equate EU membership with increased levels of immigration.
  
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• McDonnell: Labour would force rich to make their taxes public

  01-03-2017 23:00
  
  McDonnell said transparency was needed to avoid the kind of tax evasion uncovered by the Panama Papers.A Labour government would force all taxpayers who earn at least £1m a year to make their tax records public, shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said.As Philip Hammond prepares to deliver his first full budget next week, McDonnell told the Guardian he hoped more transparency about individuals’ tax affairs would cut down on tax avoidance and encourage a more open civic culture.
  
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• Paedophile who hid girl in hole behind fridge 'was no Josef Fritzl' 

  01-03-2017 22:50
  
  A violent paedophile who made a "hidey hole" in his home to conceal a girl he was abusing has been jailed for 27 years for a string of serious sex offences.Michael Dunn, 57, from Redcar, knocked through the wall behind his fridge to create a cavity which he used to hide the girl - who had run away from home - from the police.
  
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• Manchester City v Huddersfield: FA Cup fifth-round replay – as it happened

  01-03-2017 22:41 via theguardian.com
  
  Bunn fires Huddersfield into the leadCity stor back with a vengeance 9.39pm GMTThat was a highly entertaining duel from which both sides emerge with credit. City were deserving winners and produced some sparkling attacking play because Huddersfield forced them to.9.37pm GMTTanking achieved! It came via a fine flowing move, started by Fernandinho - and finished by Iheanacho from an offside position.Continue reading...
  
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• Brexit battle lines drawn as UK readies divorce papers

  01-03-2017 22:29
  By Alastair MacdonaldBRUSSELS (Reuters) - Brexit's phoney war is about to become real.Prime Minister Theresa May says she will file Britain's divorce papers this month.How the rest of the European Union responds will to some extent determine the future of 65 million Britons and citizens of the other 27 EU states for generations.
  
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• Lord Tebbit accuses peers of 'thinking of nothing but the rights of foreigners' during Brexit debate

  01-03-2017 22:25
  
  Norman Tebbit sparked anger in the House of Lords when he accused peers attempting to protect the rights of EU nationals of “thinking of nothing but the rights of foreigners”.The former Conservative Cabinet minister – renowned as Margaret Thatcher’s attack dog – drew loud gasps as he attacked the bid to give a post-Brexit guarantee to three million EU citizens living in Britain.“It seems to me the first duty of this Parliament, of the United Kingdom, is to car
  
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• Waiting for May, EU pencils April 6-7 Brexit summit

  01-03-2017 22:09
  By Francesco Guarascio and Alastair MacdonaldBRUSSELS (Reuters) - European Union leaders have been told to be ready for a Brexit summit at the end of the first week of April, EU sources said on Wednesday, although the final date will depend on British Prime Minister Theresa May.A summit of the other 27 national leaders to respond to May's formal notification of Britain's departure appears in an internal EU calendar seen by Reuters on Thursday, April 6, "to be confirmed".An EU source said summit
  
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• Touting companies that use 'bots' to buy tickets for resale at vastly inflated prices will face jail or heavy fines

  01-03-2017 22:04
  
  Ticket touts that use computer programs to buy concert tickets to sell on at vastly inflated prices face jail or heavy fines.Ministers are planning to change the law to stop companies using “ticket scalping” software to scoop up hundreds of tickets for concerts and sell them to fans for a large profit.
  
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• Luis Enrique announces he will leave Barcelona at end of season

  01-03-2017 21:59 via theguardian.com
  
  • Manager confirms departure after 6-1 win over Sporting Gijón
  • ‘I won’t be at Barcelona next season. I need to rest’Luis Enrique will be stand down as Barcelona manager at the end of the season after watching his side thrash Sporting Gijón 6-1 on Wednesday night.Enrique, who has won two Liga titles, two King’s Cups and the 2015 Champions League since succeeding Gerardo Martino in 2014, has been under pressure since the 4-0 thrashing against Paris
  
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• Seven-year-old tenpin bowler stripped of title for wearing jeans

  01-03-2017 21:56 via theguardian.com
  
  Grayson Powell, seven, disqualified for sartorial breachGoverning body hits back: ‘Ignorance of a rule is not our fault’In tenpin bowling, it’s usually about the bowling. But sometimes it’s about the jeans.Seven-year-old Grayson Powell bowled the game of his life to win his team of three a youth bowling tournament in the Newfoundland city of St John’s on Saturday. But shortly after his 171-point game propelled Riverdale to the title, Grayson was disqualified, and wa
  
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• Row over mistreatment of models overshadows Paris fashion week

  01-03-2017 21:53 via theguardian.com
  
  Reports of racism and ‘sadistic and cruel’ treatment of models have provoked vigorous denials from major fashion houses A furore over the alleged mistreatment of dozens of models behind the scenes at fashion week has threatened to overshadow the glamour in Paris, where the world’s top designers presented their collections on Wednesday.On the same day that models took to the catwalk for brands including Maison Margiela and Lanvin, Balenciaga – one of the most influential l
  
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• Forced evacuation of east Aleppo was war crime, says UN

  01-03-2017 21:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Inquiry details ‘war crimes’ by pro-Assad forces and rebel groups in Aleppo – including use of chemical weaponsThe United Nations has accused the Syrian government of deliberately attacking an aid convoy near Aleppo last September, and labeled a forced evacuation of opposition-held parts of the east of the city as a “war crime”. Related: Syria aid convoy attack: ‘the bombardment was continuous’Continue reading...
  
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• Britain says EU trade deal would ease Irish Brexit border riddle

  01-03-2017 21:45
  By Alastair MacdonaldBRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain believes a post-Brexit free trade deal with the European Union would ease problems that its withdrawal from the EU will create on the Irish border, London's Northern Ireland minister said on Wednesday.Speaking to Reuters after meeting EU officials and lawmakers in Brussels, James Brokenshire echoed calls from Dublin and the EU for Brexit negotiations to ensure a new EU external land border across the island of Ireland would remain "frictionless"
  
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• Colindale murder: Elderly woman found dead in lock-up at allotments in north London

  01-03-2017 21:43
  
  Police have launched a murder investigation after an elderly woman was found dead at allotments in north London.Detectives discovered the body of an 80-year-old woman at a lock-up at the site in Colindale around 2am on Tuesday morning.A post-mortem examination took place at Northwick Park Hospital on March 1 however, Scotland Yard were unable reveal a cause of death.
  
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• Klimt sells for £48m as auction houses hope the good times return

  01-03-2017 21:41 via theguardian.com
  
  After Christie’s sells £137m of art on Tuesday, Sotheby’s looks to better £186.5m record for evening sale held in LondonA gorgeous, glad-to-be-alive flower garden scene by Gustav Klimt has sold for £48m, the highlight of London art sales regarded as a litmus test for the strength of the market.After a difficult 2016, the auction houses Sotheby’s and Christie’s are both desperate for a return to what was a booming market in 2015. Continue reading...
  
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• Trump starts to sound 'presidential' but critics warn he's still anything but

  01-03-2017 21:32 via theguardian.com
  
  President pivoted away from dark vision of ‘American carnage’ with an optimistic address to Congress that drew praise but Democrats say risks normalising him
  An annotated guide to Trump’s first address to Congress
  Donald Trump basked in the praise of political allies and some pundits on Wednesday after delivering his first speech to Congress with a more measured tone than usual, and the promise of a “new chapter of American greatness”.Related: Trump hails 'new chapt
  
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• New Strictly Come Dancing festival offers fans a photo - for £20

  01-03-2017 21:30
  
  Now the likes of Aljaz and Anton are preparing to get one step closer to their devoted fans, as a new live version of the show sells the chance for a photograph at £20 a pop.BBC Worldwide, the corporation's commercial arm, has launched Strictly Spectacular, a four-day-long live event which will see the Strictly judges, celebrities and dancers join members of the public for a celebration of the show.
  
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• May's Brexit plan suffers hitch in parliament

  01-03-2017 21:23
  By William James and Kylie MacLellanLONDON (Reuters) - Britain's upper parliamentary house dealt a defeat to Theresa May's government on Wednesday, voting for a change to her Brexit plan that says she can only trigger divorce talks if she promises to protect EU citizens' rights.The defeat is a blow to the Prime Minister, who had hoped to pass her Brexit bill without changes, and it will push back the earliest date she can formally launch the process of Britain's departure from the European Union
  
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• Rise of fireblight: incurable disease which ravages apple and pear trees doubles in past year, RHS reveals 

  01-03-2017 21:18
  
  Mild weather has caused an incurable disease which ravages apple and pear trees to double in the last year.Bacterial plant diseases now rank among the worst problems spotted by gardeners last year, figures from the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) have revealed.Experts dealt with twice as many inquiries about fireblight, which kills the shoots of apples and pears and ornamental relatives, than in 2015.
  
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• Theresa May plans to trigger Brexit in two weeks despite defeat by 'posturing' Lords over rights of EU citizens

  01-03-2017 21:11
  
  Theresa May has defiantly insisted her timetable for triggering Brexit will not be blown off course despite suffering her first Parliamentary defeat over the Article 50 bill.The House of Lords voted to amend the Bill to force the Government to guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in the UK.
  
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• Theresa May defiantly insists her timetable for triggering Brexit will not be blown off course despite suffering first defeat in House of Lords

  01-03-2017 21:11
  
  Theresa May has defiantly insisted her timetable for triggering Brexit will not be blown off course despite suffering her first Parliamentary defeat over the Article 50 bill.The House of Lords voted to amend the Bill to force the Government to guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in the UK.
  
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• Property tycoon denies threatening business partner’s pregnant wife

  01-03-2017 21:09 via theguardian.com
  
  Christian Candy is in court facing accusations of using blackmail and threats to extort repayment of a loanLuxury property tycoon Christian Candy has denied making threats against a business partner’s pregnant wife, saying he was “expressing genuine concern” for her wellbeing.The developer and his brother Nick Candy, who is married to the soap star Holly Valance, were in the high court this week to deny accusations of using blackmail and threats to extort repayment of a loan. C
  
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• Leaving review – unique view of care-home teens stepping into adulthood

  01-03-2017 21:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Northern Stage, Newcastle upon Tyne
  This moving verbatim piece about young people in care shows playwright Paddy Campbell’s fine ear for absurdityPaddy Campbell’s first plays, Wet House and The Day of the Flymo, were hilarious, heartbreaking and life-affirming accounts of life within the care system. Their success has enabled the author finally to give up his day job as a key worker in a Tyneside children’s home. His parting gift is a study of the perilous transition when young
  
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• Farewell to the golfing hacker as new rules are devised to speed up the ancient game

  01-03-2017 21:00
  
  It is the bane of every amateur golfer’s life, watching a player hacking around the undergrowth in search of a lost ball.In what is being described as the biggest shake-up of the rules of golf "in a generation" players will only be given three minutes to search for a lost ball, down from the current five minute allowance.As if that wasn’t enough the protocols for taking free or penalty drops will be changed, with players allowed to drop the ball from only an inch above the ground, ra
  
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• Douglas Carswell stands to lose right to £200,000 annual research grant for Ukip Parliamentary office if he is thrown out of the party

  01-03-2017 21:00
  
  An annual windfall worth hundreds of thousands of pounds of public money is at the heart of a row about the future of the party’s sole MP Douglas Carswell.Mr Carswell’s future is in doubt after former Ukip leader Nigel Farage and other senior Ukip figures called on him to quit over claims that he tried to deny Mr Farage a knighthood.Paul Nuttall, the Ukip leader, has now ordered a formal investigation into the row that could end in his membership of the party being cancelled.
  
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• Viagogo ticket rip-off concerns prompt May to promise crackdown

  01-03-2017 20:58 via theguardian.com
  
  Prime minister vows to fix ticket resale market after a surge in complaints against resellers over inflated prices and refundsTicket resale sites such as Viagogo and StubHub are facing a crackdown, after the prime minister said they cause problems for genuine fans and vowed to fix markets that do not work for consumers.Theresa May said the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) would shortly address secondary ticketing firms, which have been accused of flouting consumer laws and inflatin
  
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• Golf law-makers hope radical shake-up will make game easier to understand

  01-03-2017 20:48 via theguardian.com
  
  • Moves described as ‘great work to benefit the game’ by Tiger Woods
  • None of the proposals will be implemented before 2019It may be stretching things to suggest March 2017 witnessed the onset of golf’s great revolution, but the sport is in the midst of fascinating times. Final preparations for the first World Golf Championship of the year, the biggest golf event to take place in Mexico, were partly overshadowed by proposals to overhaul the rules of the game to an ex
  
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• IPCC to investigate if police missed chance to stop paedophile

  01-03-2017 20:45 via theguardian.com
  
  Force faces questions over ‘failure to stop’ Michael Dunn, who has been jailed for 27 years, more than two decades agoThe police watchdog is to investigate whether a force missed a string of opportunities to stop a violent paedophile more than two decades before he was finally convicted.Michael Dunn, described by some as the “British Josef Fritzl”, was jailed for 27 years on Wednesday after almost five decades of sex attacks on children as young as 10. Continue reading...
  
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• Jaguar Land Rover pledges 'heart and soul' to UK as new model debuts in Solihull

  01-03-2017 20:40 via theguardian.com
  
  Range Rover Velar is third model in two years to be launched at West Midlands plant, which employs about 10,000 people
  Jaguar Land Rover’s latest model is to be built exclusively at its plant in Solihull as the luxury carmaker pledged its “heart and soul” to the UK.The Velar is be the fourth member of the 47-year-old Range Rover family and will be be available to order from this summer. The model will be sold in more than 100 markets globally. Continue reading...
  
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• Theresa May defiantly insists her timetable for triggering Brexit will not be blown off course despite suffering her first Brexit Bill defeat

  01-03-2017 20:36
  
  Theresa May has defiantly insisted her timetable for triggering Brexit will not be blown off course despite suffering her first Parliamentary defeat over the Article 50 bill.The House of Lords last night voted to amend the Bill to force the Government to guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in the UK.
  
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• Taxi scandal puts the case for Lords reform | Letters

  01-03-2017 20:35
  
  This time, it is revelations from the former Lord Speaker Baroness D’Souza that a peer left a taxi waiting outside parliament while he went inside to register for his daily £300 allowance.Baroness D’Souza has exposed a truly scandalous situation.The behaviour of the Lords is damaging for trust in democracy and does huge disservice to the standing and legitimacy of the mother of all parliaments.
  
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• Nuttall Hillsborough story raises questions | Letters

  01-03-2017 20:35
  
  Ian Cobain quotes my former colleague at Edge Hill University, history lecturer David Renton, recalling that in 1999 Paul Nuttall submitted an undergraduate essay in which he “cited the notorious Holocaust denier David Irving” as an authoritative source (Report, 25 February).There is a further, significant question about Paul Nuttall’s time as an undergraduate, regarding his much publicised claims to have “survived” Hillsborough.
  
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• British students killed in Iraq after joining Isis

  01-03-2017 20:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Ahmad Sami Kheder, from south London, and Hisham Fadlallah, from Nottinghamshire, abandoned medical degrees in Sudan to join Isis in SyriaTwo British students who abandoned medical degrees in Sudan a couple of years ago to work as doctors helping Isis in Syria have been killed in fighting, it has emerged.Ahmad Sami Kheder , 25, originally from Carshalton in south London, is understood to have died last weekend when a convoy he was travelling with leaving Mosul, Iraq, was hit by gunfire.Continue
  
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• Martin Rowson on Theresa May's defeat in the Lords – cartoon

  01-03-2017 20:29 via theguardian.com
  
  Continue reading...
  
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• Woman to be exhumed from parents' grave after family rift 

  01-03-2017 20:27
  
  A daughter is to be removed from the grave of her parents just five months after she was buried there because of a family rift.Evelyn Julier, Mrs Joyce's sister, and Robert Haynes and David Julier, her sons and grandsons of the late Mr and Mrs Haynes, argued that she should not have been buried there.
  
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• Boots, Walkers crisps and Greggs cost cutting puts 1,400 UK jobs at risk

  01-03-2017 20:27 via theguardian.com
  
  Pharmacy chain plans to shut 220 of 320 photo labs, while snack manufacturer and bakery restructure production operationsNearly 1,400 UK jobs are at risk as pharmacy chain Boots, Walkers crisps and bakery Greggs all cut costs.Both Walkers and Greggs are restructuring their manufacturing operations in an attempt to improve efficiency. The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers’ Union said more than 600 jobs were at risk at nine Greggs bakeries around the UK. Continue reading...
  
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• What happens now peers have voted to amend the Brexit Bill?

  01-03-2017 20:26
  
  Peers in the House of Lords have today voted to amend European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill, which if passed by Parliament will allow the UK to start formal talks about leaving the EU.Why are the Lords amending the Brexit Bill?Peers feel they have a "moral" duty to step in to change the terms of Britain's negotiating stance on leaving the European Union, despite MPs voting  by a clear majority to pass the legislation unamended.
  
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• Oxford University launches summer school aimed at white working class British boys

  01-03-2017 20:25
  
  Oxford University has launched a summer school aimed at white British boys, in an effort to increase its intake of working class students.Under a new partnership with the Sutton Trust, a social mobility charity, male students from rural and coastal communities will be recruited for summer schools hosted at Oxford University.
  
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• Northern Ireland assembly elections: Can Thursday’s vote save power-sharing?

  01-03-2017 20:22
  
  Northern Ireland is in full election mode, on the eve of polling day.Northern Ireland is facing its second election in less than twelve months.This election, however, is no mere re-run of elections past, but rather a last ditch attempt to save power-sharing between Protestant and Catholic parties.
  
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• Paris fashion week: Alek Wek comes out of catwalk retirement for Dries van Noten

  01-03-2017 20:21 via theguardian.com
  
  The Belgian designer’s 100th show was a blockbuster that saw a troupe of supermodels take to the catwalk for a greatest hits paradeStanding ovations don’t come along that often in fashion but there was one on Wednesday afternoon in Paris as Dries van Noten celebrated his 100th show.It was much deserved. This was a blockbuster of an event in a huge sports stadium with 1,000 guests. Supermodels including Alek Wek, Liya Kebede and Nadja Auermann, all of whom have appeared in Van Noten s
  
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• Miracle baby becomes youngest to survive major abdominal surgery

  01-03-2017 20:21
  
  Louise Peters brings baby Abiageal home after she becomes what's believed to be the youngest person ever to survive major abdominal surgery after being born 17 weeks prematurely. Video block text
  
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• Organ donation breakthrough promised after new tissue warming discovery

  01-03-2017 20:19
  
  A groundbreaking new method of safely freezing organs promises to save millions of lives by ending the donor shortage crisis, scientists have said.Researchers have discovered how to successfully rewarm heart valves and blood vessels that had been preserved for a long periods at very low temperatures.It means hospitals should be able to create banks of donated organs, to which patients can travel at their convenience, rather than frantically trying to find suitable recipients when a donor dies.
  
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