General news

• Theresa May sacks Lord Heseltine as Government adviser over Brexit rebellion

  07-03-2017 23:57
  
  Conservative former Cabinet minister Lord Heseltine has been sacked as a Government adviser after rebelling over Brexit.
  
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• Adults 'having less sex than 20 years ago'

  07-03-2017 23:49
  
  Adults are having sex less often than they were 20 years ago, according to a scientific study in America of almost 27,000 people.Married couples or those living together also saw a marked drop, having sex 16 fewer times per week compared with a decade earlier.Jean Twenge, the study’s lead author and professor of psychology at San Diego State University, said: “These data show a major reversal from previous decades in terms of marriage and sex.
  
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• Budget: Philip Hammond sets out plan to steel Britain for Brexit

  07-03-2017 23:37
  
  Philip Hammond will set out a Budget to steel Britain for Brexit as he admits the public has deep-seated concerns over the country’s future.In his first full Budget statement, the Chancellor will concede ministers must work to convince worried voters their children can thrive once Britain quits Europe.Mr Hammond will also accept many families are still struggling 10 years on from the financial crash that crippled the county’s economy, even though seven of them have been under a Conse
  
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• Donald Trump is probably in love with me, says Arnold Schwarzenegger

  07-03-2017 23:35
  
  Arnold Schwarzenegger believes that President Donald Trump is “in love” with him, given the president’s obsession with his reality television successor.Schwarzenegger took over from Mr Trump in the hot seat of The Apprentice, but has announced that he is only doing one series.Mr Trump – who remains as executive producer of the reality show - took to Twitter this week to describe Schwarzenegger's ratings as “pathetic”.
  
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• Billy Vunipola returns? Has Eddie Jones accidentally revealed his England team?

  07-03-2017 23:35 via theguardian.com
  
  • Whiteboard on side of pitch appears to show starting XV for Scotland
  • Jonathan Joseph apparently in line for a recall at TwickenhamEddie Jones appears ready to put Billy Vunipola straight back into England’s side for the Calcutta Cup match against Scotland, with Jonathan Joseph also apparently in line for a recall after pictures emerged that seemed to show his intended starting XV.Vunipola and Joseph, along with Ben Youngs and Jack Nowell, who also appear poised to return to J
  
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• Philip Hammond braces Britain for tax rises and spending cuts in his first Budget

  07-03-2017 23:30
  
  Philip Hammond will on Wednesday use his first Budget to raise taxes and lay the foundations for a "stronger and fairer" Britain outside the European Union.The Chancellor will say that he will not "shirk" difficult decisions on taxes and public spending as he seeks to balance the books ahead of Brexit.Significant spending in the Budget - expected to include a £1.3billion for social care and relief for those worse affected by rising business rates - will be funded by cuts and tax rises else
  
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• Manchester United need to beat Rostov to make José Mourinho ‘smell the final’

  07-03-2017 23:30 via theguardian.com
  
  • Mourinho: ‘Europa League last 16 we are far … last eight you smell the final’
  • Rostov manager Ivan Daniliants warns United of problem pitch in RussiaJosé Mourinho has stated Manchester United will focus seriously on the Europa League if they knock out Rostov and reach the quarter-finals owing to the Champions League qualification that winning the competition secures.Mourinho takes his side to Russia for Thursday’s last-16 first leg with United also ch
  
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• Hammond faces Tory pressure to put more tax revenues into public services

  07-03-2017 23:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Chancellor faces pressure from MPs to ease strain on NHS, social care and education, with some Tories saying raising taxes could be an optionPhilip Hammond is facing growing pressure from within the Conservative party to plough the proceeds of growing tax revenues into shoring up beleaguered public services.The Treasury has indicated that the chancellor will not shirk difficult decisions on tax as the government aims to steady the public finances before triggering article 50 and starting the for
  
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• Leaked recording reveals Surrey Council leader admit a 'gentleman's agreement' with Government over funding

  07-03-2017 23:18
  
  A leaked recording reveals the leader of Surrey Council saying he struck a "gentleman’s agreement" with the Government over funding before scrapping a proposed 15 per cent council tax hike, despite previous denials.In the recording obtained by BBC Surrey, Councillor David Hodge said he had obtained written and verbal assurances from ministers, including from Local Government Secretary Sajid Javid.Last month, Prime Minister Theresa May denied Conservative-run Surrey was given a so-called &l
  
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• Theresa May heads for battle with Tory MPs over Brexit bill

  07-03-2017 23:15
  
  Michael Heseltine speaks in the House of Lords on the Brexit bill.Theresa May is heading for a fresh battle with Conservative MPs over her Brexit bill next week, after peers voted to give parliament the right to veto the final outcome of her EU talks.Downing Street said it would seek to overturn the amendment passed by the House of Lords on Tuesday by 366 to 268, arguing that giving parliament a blanket right of veto was against the national interest and would weaken May’s negotiating hand
  
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• The Liberal Democrats should learn to respect democracy, even if they don't like the Brexit result

  07-03-2017 23:00
  
  Is there any party less aptly named than the Liberal Democrats?Instead, the Lib Dems want to stop Brexit.With only nine MPs, the Lib Dems can do little harm in the House of Commons, but there are over 100 of them in the House of Lords, many rashly given peerages by David Cameron to placate his Coalition allies.
  
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• SNP 'not disciplining' senior councillor for anti-English remarks

  07-03-2017 23:00
  
  Nicola Sturgeon has been accused of making “worthless” claims about having zero tolerance to racism in the SNP after it emerged the party is not punishing a prominent councillor who made anti-English remarks.When his comments emerged last week, the First Minister told MSPs that she condemned “any” anti-English comments but did not state whether Mr Doogan would be disciplined by the party.The councillor, who previously worked for Deputy First Minister John Swinney, this we
  
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• Patients are not priority, warn half of staff at scandal ambulance service 

  07-03-2017 23:00
  
  Almost half of staff at a scandal-hit ambulance trust do not think their patients are put first, with almost one quarter too frightened to raise safety concerns with managers, research shows.The NHS staff survey shows that South East Coast Ambulance trust is the worst in the country across a host of rankings.Almost 1,300 staff from the trust - which is on special measures - responded to an NHS survey, which tracks the views of employees across the whole of the health service.
  
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• NHS chief 'pushed out' after exposing a sex ring involving consultants and doctors, hospital staff say

  07-03-2017 23:00
  
  The NHS's longest serving chief executive has been “pushed out” of his job after he suspended senior consultants who used hospital premises to have sex, according to hospital insiders.Sir Leonard Fenwick, Newcastle and Tyne Hospital Trust's chief executive, was put on "extended leave" from the hospital under mysterious circumstances earlier this year, a decision which angered a number of staff and governors.Sir Leonard, 69, who has been at the helm of hospitals in the North East for
  
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• Headteachers write to parents over school funding and job cuts

  07-03-2017 23:00
  
  Schools in London and other urban areas are set to lose out to rural and coastal towns.Headteachers are writing to parents highlighting the budget crisis facing their schools and warning that teachers’ jobs will be cut under the government’s school funding plans for England.The letters, sent out to parents in the run-up to the budget on Wednesday, are part of an increasingly organised campaign against the revised national funding formula in which schools in London and other urban are
  
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• 'Parents have been asked to help clean': how budget cuts are affecting schools

  07-03-2017 23:00
  
  Hands raised in classroom Photograph: FangXiaNuo/Getty Images/iStockphoto
  
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• Reading hold firm to earn a point and slow down Newcastle’s promotion push

  07-03-2017 22:59 via theguardian.com
  
  Only at the end of the season might Rafael Benítez and Newcastle United realise the importance of this goalless draw. They ended a testing run of three away matches having taken seven points in what could prove a defining period in their quest for automatic promotion to the Premier League.“If we finish in the top two, yes,” said Benítez, asked if he would look back on the past three matches come May. “If we do not, then I will be thinking about other things.&rdquo
  
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• Arsenal and Arsène Wenger humiliated again by ruthless Bayern Munich

  07-03-2017 22:49 via theguardian.com
  
  If one were to be kind on Arsenal, they did at least have 45 minutes when Arsène Wenger could argue that his team had the better of one of Europe’s real superpowers. That, however, would be exceedingly kind – a sympathy vote, one could call it – bearing in mind the full story of their latest ordeal. Once again they came up dreadfully short and this time the question has to be asked about whether it will be Wenger’s last involvement with this club in the Champions L
  
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• Dad used shoelace to tie the umbilical cord of his newborn baby after his wife went into labour at the side of a road 

  07-03-2017 22:41
  
  A father has described how he used his shoelaces to tie his newborn baby's umbilical cord after she arrived sooner than expected in the back of a car.Paul Doherty was taking his wife Georgina to hospital in Londonderry, northern Ireland, when she asked him to pull over.
  
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• Burgess Park stabbing: Teenager knifed in chest in front of horrified joggers

  07-03-2017 22:31
  
  Police are appealing for witnesses after a teenager was stabbed in the chest in front of horrified joggers in a south London park.The 19-year-old man was seriously injured after he was knifed during a broad daylight attack in Burgess Park in Southwark.DC Rebecca Whiteley from the Met Police’s branch in Southwark, said: “This attack happened in a busy park when people were around exercising and walking through this public space.
  
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• Mysterious ‘beast’ believed to be roaming Scottish Highlands stripping all the flesh off sheep and eating them

  07-03-2017 22:28
  
  The mysterious beast's latest catch is a hefty and healthy ewe of about 50kg.The ewe belonged to Susan Mackay, who is not the first crofter to fall victim of the unknown animal.Jim Johnston, 66, who lives in the village of Bettyhill, has developed a particular interest in the story and photographed Mrs Mackay with the carcass of her sheep.
  
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• Donald Trump’s St Patrick’s Day cap ridiculed for featuring clover instead of shamrock

  07-03-2017 22:15
  
  The shamrock has been the national symbol of Ireland ever since Saint Patrick used its three leaves to illustrate the Holy Trinity.#Fakefacts#Trump store sells Patrick's Day green hat with 4-leaf clover not #shamrock.The Trump Store’s website offers the green “Make America Great Again” cap for $50.
  
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• Donald Trump has 'no regrets' about accusing Barack Obama of wiretapping, says Sean Spicer

  07-03-2017 22:00
  
  Spicer gives 90 minute press conference Spells out why Republicans are pleased with their healthcare bill Says Trump has no regrets about accusing Obama of wiretapping First press conference since Trump accused Obama of being "bad (or sick)" Trump believes Obama ordered wiretapping of Trump Tower Trump on Monday unveiled new travel ban
  
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• British backpacker kidnapped and raped in Australia: everything we know about the suspected attacker

  07-03-2017 21:42
  
  The man who allegedly kidnapped and raped a British backpacker during a brutal road trip in Australia was a lean, tattooed 22-year-old who apparently had previous brushes with the law.Until late last year, he was living in the state of New South Wales but turned up recently back in Cairns, which is in Queensland.A friend of  the backpacker said the alleged kidnapper had become obsessed with the woman and  changed his Facebook profile to 'married' shortly after meeting her.
  
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• Nicola Jennings on grammar schools – cartoon

  07-03-2017 21:36 via theguardian.com
  
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• East London gang who stole £3m in high-end cars caught on camera at McDonald's drive thru in stolen car

  07-03-2017 21:34
  
  The eight-person gang broke into peoples’ homes during the night to steal car keys before making off in expensive Range Rovers, BMWs and Mercedes.The criminals also drove about in minicabs emblazoned with Transport for London’s “private hire” stickers to steal keyless cars by using technology to spoof the unlocking of the car.Police caught the gang after raiding a pub in east London’s Manor Park belonging to the father of the gang’s ringleader, Manjit Sandhu,
  
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• Sinn Fein cut short negotiations to save power-sharing in Northern Ireland, accusing British government of 'waffling'

  07-03-2017 21:23
  
  Sinn Féin has cut short negotiations to save power-sharing in Northern Ireland, after criticising the British government’s representative to the region.The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, James Brokenshire, is currently chairing urgent talks in a bid to restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland, after snap elections resulted in stalemate between nationalist and unionist politicians.
  
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• Corrie McKeague: Police probe whether bin lorry carried RAF gunner to landfill site

  07-03-2017 21:14
  
  Police investigating the disappearance of Corrie McKeague are probing whether a bin lorry carried the RAF gunner to a landfill site.Mr McKeague, 23, from Fife, vanished on a night out with friends on September 24 in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.CCTV shows a waste lorry made a collection in the area he was last seen shortly after the last confirmed sighting of him, while the vehicle's route appeared to coincide with the movements of his phone.
  
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• In Paris, Chanel lights the rocket under a new space race

  07-03-2017 21:10 via theguardian.com
  
  A rocket launch at climax of Paris fashion week demonstrated that no one can match Karl Lagerfeld’s creative firepowerSpace travel stands for many things – the future, bravery, wonder, touching the very edges of what it means to be human – but, on the last day of Paris fashion week, what it represented above all was supremacy. Just as the space race was a way for superpowers to flex their muscles with the world watching, a 35-metre-tall rocket – which launched 10 metres i
  
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• François Fillon in fresh controversy over 'failure to declare €50,000 loan'

  07-03-2017 21:08
  
  François Fillon faced fresh controversy on Tuesday over reports he failed to declare a €50,000 (£43,000) loan from a friend, a day after France's mainstream Right unanimously decided to back the conservative presidential candidate despite a damaging financial scandal.According to Le Canard Enchaîné, the satirical and investigative weekly, Mr Fillon, the candidate for the conservative Les Républicains party, received the "zero-interest" loan from busines
  
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• Taxes for self-employed likely to rise in Hammond's budget

  07-03-2017 21:05
  
  Much of the growth in self-employment has been in high-paid sectors rather than low-paid taxi drivers and couriers.Philip Hammond is likely to close loopholes in Wednesday’s budget that mean many self-employed workers pay less tax than their salaried counterparts – but he will come under pressure to ensure they receive better rights in return.The Treasury is concerned that the growing prevalence of self-employment is not just driven by entrepreneurialism in the “gig economy&rdq
  
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• May defeated as lawmakers demand power to reject final Brexit terms

  07-03-2017 21:00
  By William JamesLONDON (Reuters) - Britain's upper house of parliament voted on Tuesday to give lawmakers more power to reject the final terms of the country's exit from the European Union, ignoring pleas from Prime Minister Theresa May's government not to hamstring their negotiations.The vote, which passed by 366 to 268, attaches an extra condition to the "European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill" -- legislation which will give May the power to trigger divorce talks.The amended bill now
  
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• Met Police still don't know where FGM is happening after 32 years without a conviction

  07-03-2017 20:55
  
  The police inspector in charge of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) investigations in London said the Metropolitan Police still does not know where young women and girls are being cut and disfigured.Inspector Allen Davis’s comments came as the NHS revealed there were nearly 5,500 new FGM cases reported to hospitals, clinics and GPs in 2016.No one has ever been convicted of carrying out female genital mutilation in the UK despite it being illegal in the country since 1985.
  
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• Dakota Access pipeline could open next week after activists face final court loss

  07-03-2017 20:47 via theguardian.com
  
  Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Sioux lose argument to prevent pipe from being laid under a stretch of the Missouri river, the last piece of constructionA federal judge declined Tuesday to temporarily stop construction of the final section of the disputed Dakota Access pipeline, clearing the way for oil to flow as soon as next week. Related: Private investor divests $34.8m from firms tied to Dakota Access pipelineContinue reading...
  
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• Torture victims in high court challenge to Home Office over detentions

  07-03-2017 20:40
  
  The seven cases include an Afghan man who was kidnapped and recruited by the Taliban at the age of five.Seven victims of torture who have been locked up in immigration detention are at the high court, challenging as unlawful a government policy that allows some torture survivors to be imprisoned.The seven, who include victims of trafficking, a man kidnapped by the Taliban, and two men tortured because of their sexuality, say the government should no longer be able to routinely incarcerate people
  
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• François Fillon faces fresh allegation over undeclared €50,000 loan

  07-03-2017 20:38 via theguardian.com
  
  Rightwing presidential candidate failed to report interest-free loan from billionaire Marc Ladreit de Lacharrière, French newspaper saysThe scandal-hit French presidential candidate François Fillon received an interest-free, undeclared loan of €50,000 (£43,000) from a billionaire businessman in 2013, according to the latest revelations by the French weekly Le Canard Enchainé.Fillon “did not deem it necessary” to report the loan from the French business
  
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• E.ON price rise branded 'monstrous' as users face £97 a year extra

  07-03-2017 20:38 via theguardian.com
  
  Electricity and gas supplier blames increase, which affects 2.5 million people, on rising cost of government policiesAbout 2.5 million E.ON customers will pay an extra £97 a year on energy bills in what consumer groups have branded a “monstrous” and “crippling” blow for householders.The company’s 8.8% price rise for customers on a dual-fuel standard tariff from the end of next month is the second highest increase among several announced recently by rivals, inc
  
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• Surrey council boss tells of 'gentleman's agreement' with ministers over social care funding

  07-03-2017 20:35
  
  The Conservative leader of Surrey Council council told colleagues he had secured a "gentleman's agreement" with the Government over funding for social care, a secret recording appears to show. 
  
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• Withington crash: Two women killed after car ploughs into pedestrians outside hospital in Manchester

  07-03-2017 20:34
  
  Two women have died after a car ploughed into a group of pedestrians outside a hospital.Officers were called to reports of a serious collision at Withington Community Hospital shortly after 2.05pm on Tuesday.An 89-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and serious injury by dangerous driving.
  
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• Ministers should invest in existing grammar schools rather than create new ones, head teachers say

  07-03-2017 20:31
  
  Ministers should invest in existing grammar schools rather than create new ones, head teachers have said.Grammar school leaders have hit out at the Prime Minister for setting aside millions in the Budget to build a new generation of selective schools, as they warn that existing institutions are on the “cusp of viability”.Head teachers said they are already having axe subjects such as Latin and Music, and double their class sizes in order to cope under budget const
  
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• CPS weighs prosecution of far-right activist on eve of legal challenge

  07-03-2017 20:21 via theguardian.com
  
  Campaign Against Antisemitism challenges CPS decision not to charge Jeremy Bedford-Turner The Crown Prosecution Service is reconsidering whether to prosecute a far-right activist for alleged antisemitism on the eve of a highly unusual legal challenge to its decision to let the case drop.Government lawyers were due at the high court in London on Wednesday for judicial review proceedings brought by the Campaign Against Antisemitism. The case challenged the CPS decision not to charge a prominent fa
  
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• SNP forced to gut powers of 'state guardians' after Supreme Court defeat

  07-03-2017 20:20
  
  John Swinney, the SNP Education Minister, announced that a new Bill would be tabled before the end of June to completely rewrite the Named Person’s powers after the UK Supreme Court ruled parts of the original proposal breached parents’ human rights.It will introduce a named person for every child under 18, with health visitors assuming the role for pre-school children and teachers and councils for older youngsters.
  
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• Tennis coach verbally and physically assaulted daughters, court told

  07-03-2017 20:19
  
  John De’Viana denies charges of cruelty and assault, ill-treatment and neglect of a child under 16.Monaei and Nephe De’Viana, now 21 and 19, claim their father, John De’Viana, 55, made them practise from 5.30am until they went to bed, swore at them, and refused to give them their packed lunches when he was dissatisfied with their efforts.David Povall, prosecuting at Snaresbrook crown court, said: “John De’Viana behaved in a way that went so far as child cruelty as t
  
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• The Guardian view on the Lords and Brexit: this is not the peers versus the people | Editorial

  07-03-2017 20:18 via theguardian.com
  
  Last night’s Lords amendment to require parliament to have a meaningful vote on any Brexit deal is politically and constitutionally the right thing. It should not be overturnedThe House of Lords will be pilloried by the anti-European press this morning. They will be dismissed as enemies of the people, because on Tuesday they had the temerity to pass, by a clear majority of 98, a vital and impeccably traditionalist amendment to the government’s bill to begin negotiations on Brexit. In
  
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• Bank of England deputy's slip-up was astonishing – but its reaction was predictable | Nils Pratley

  07-03-2017 20:18 via theguardian.com
  
  Charlotte Hogg will survive her failure to declare a conflict of interest, but the Bank has revealed it remains a cosy clubCharlotte Hogg, a week ago, could not have been clearer. “I am in compliance with all of our codes of conduct. I know that. I helped to write them,” declared the Bank of England’s new deputy governor to the Treasury select committee.Now comes the excruciating apology. Actually, no, she was not in compliance because she didn’t declare to the Bank when
  
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• The Guardian view on domestic abuse: cuts cost lives | Editorial

  07-03-2017 20:13 via theguardian.com
  
  The prime minister has shown a laudable commitment to tackling domestic abuse. But austerity has slashed the funding for essential servicesTomorrow a patchwork quilt with 598 squares will be displayed in Westminster Hall to mark International Women’s Day. Each square on that quilt represents a woman who will never have the chance to celebrate the incremental but important steps towards gender equality, or take part in the fight for the further change needed to make it a reality. Each squar
  
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• Sean Spicer gives first press conference since Donald Trump accused Barack Obama of tapping Trump Tower

  07-03-2017 20:11
  
  Spicer due to give press conference at 1:30pm (6:30pm UK) First press conference since Trump accused Obama of being "bad (or sick)" Trump believes Obama ordered wiretapping of Trump Tower Republicans unveil healthcare plan; want to move away from Trump accusations Trump on Monday unveiled new travel ban
  
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• Nestlé to remove 10% of sugar from all snacks in UK and Ireland by 2018

  07-03-2017 20:10 via theguardian.com
  
  Corporation vows to cut equivalent of 7,500 tonnes of sugar from confectionery without resorting to artificial sweetenersNestlé, one of the world’s biggest chocolate manufacturers, will take 10% of the sugar out of its confectionery in the UK and Ireland by 2018.The corporation says the cut is from the levels existing in its sugary products in 2015 and will amount to about 7,500 tonnes. It makes several well-known brands, including Aero, Dairy Box, Drifter, KitKat, Lion, Milkybar, M
  
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• UK's May defeated as lawmakers demand power to reject final Brexit terms

  07-03-2017 20:09
  By William JamesLONDON (Reuters) - Britain's upper house of parliament voted on Tuesday to give lawmakers more power to reject the final terms of the country's exit from the European Union, ignoring pleas from Prime Minister Theresa May's government not to hamstring their negotiations.The vote, which passed by 366 to 268, attaches an extra condition to the "European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill" -- legislation which will give May the power to trigger divorce talks.The amended bill now
  
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• Queensland kidnap shows darker side of backpacking – as I found out travelling in Vietnam

  07-03-2017 20:06
  
  For most women, travelling to far-flung destinations can be a hugely rewarding and positive experience.Backpacking, for instance, is often a rite of passage, the first exciting steps to making one’s own way in the world.At Nội Bài International Airport, around a dozen young Vietnamese men in black suits approached us and offered taxis.
  
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