General news

• Government accused of obstructing the homeless from voting while spending millions on helping rich expats register

  10-03-2017 23:42
  
  Ministers have been accused of deliberately making it hard for 400,000 predominantly young and poor people to vote – while spending millions on helping rich expats to cast their ballots.Election chiefs have protested over rules which prevent those without a permanent home from registering to vote online, a process quicker than “boiling an egg” the Government boasts.Meanwhile, the Government is changing the law to allow Britons living abroad to easily register and vote in UK ele
  
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• UN says world faces largest humanitarian crisis since 1945 with 20 million at risk of starvation

  10-03-2017 23:29
  
  The United Nations has warned that the world is facing the largest humanitarian crisis since 1945 with starvation and famine in Yemen, South Sudan, Somalia and northeastern Nigeria.Stephen O'Brien, the British UN humanitarian chief, stated on Friday that more than 20 million people across those four countries could die."Without collective and coordinated global efforts, people will simply starve to death," he said at the UN Security Council, adding that "many more will suffer and die from diseas
  
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• Streatham attack: Man fighting for life in hospital after 'road rage fight' in south London

  10-03-2017 23:28
  
  A man is fighting for his life in hospital after being attacked in what witnesses described as a “road rage” argument in south London.Shafaq Hassan, a speech and language therapist who lives nearby, said: “We heard people outside our house and went to investigate.
  
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• Amazon bestseller draws blank on Reasons to vote for Democrats

  10-03-2017 23:14
  
  A new political book topping Amazon’s bestseller list either explains how the Democratic Party lost the presidential election or offers no answers at all, depending on your point of view.Reasons To Vote For Democrats: A Comprehensive Guide contains no words, just 266 pages of white space, with a few headings and a bibliography.Michael Knowles, a conservative journalist, said he “wrote” the book to illustrate the party’s lack of direction.
  
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• Road tax rises

  10-03-2017 23:07 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Buyers of small cars could face the biggest hikes from imminent changes to UK road tax.
  
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• Donald Trump 'did not know' that Michael Flynn was a 'foreign agent', Sean Spicer says

  10-03-2017 23:07
  
  President Donald Trump was unaware that the man he appointed his national security adviser was a “foreign agent,” the White House spokesman has said – raising questions about the vetting for members of Mr Trump’s team.Michael Flynn voluntarily filed documents with the justice department on Tuesday, at their Foreign Agent Registration Unit, stating that he has been paid $530,000 for lobbying before the election that may have helped the Turkish government.Lawyers for Mr Fly
  
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• Domestic violence victim asks West Midlands Police to release video of brutal attack

  10-03-2017 23:07
  
  Police have released disturbing footage of a domestic violence attack at the request of the victim.In the video, Mark Power, 37, can be seen dragging the 47-year-old victim, who was his girlfriend at the time, along a staircase landing by her hair and throwing her to the bottom of the stairs.The woman lies motionless before getting up and being attacked by Power once again.
  
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• UK at risk from ships covertly sailing into Europe after docking at terror strongholds, say security analysts

  10-03-2017 22:49
  
  Ships from conflict zones and terrorist strongholds are covertly sailing into European waters on suspected smuggling missions while attempting to evade detection, security analysts have warned.Research by the Windward maritime data company found that in the first two months of 2017, 50 vessels with invalid registration numbers entered the UK, and 245 more with “suspicious” gaps in tracking data.Another 40 ships sailed into Europe from near Isis-controlled territory in Libya after une
  
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• UK at risk from ships covertly sailing into Europe after 'suspicious stops' near terror strongholds, say security analysts

  10-03-2017 22:49
  
  Ships from conflict zones and terrorist strongholds are covertly sailing into European waters on suspected smuggling missions while attempting to evade detection, security analysts have warned.Research by the Windward maritime data company found that in the first two months of 2017, 50 vessels with invalid registration numbers entered the UK, and 245 more with “suspicious” gaps in tracking data.Another 40 ships sailed into Europe from near Isis-controlled territory in Libya after une
  
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• Met police officer sacked after 'tirade of racist abuse' at 999 call operator

  10-03-2017 22:34
  
  A Met police officer has been sacked after he subjected a 999 call operator to a tirade of racist abuse.PC Seni Gulati, who was based in Hounslow borough, called for an ambulance after his fiancée had injured herself at a golf venue in Surrey in July last year.A complaint was made to Surrey Police and Gulati pleaded guilty at Staines Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, January 11 to one count of Malicious Communication.
  
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• Tories no longer seen as low-tax party after Philip Hammond's Budget raid – exclusive Telegraph poll

  10-03-2017 22:33
  
  The Conservatives are no longer seen as a party of low taxation following Philip Hammond’s tax raid on the self-employed, a new poll for The Telegraph shows.Just one in four voters now regards the Tories as a low-tax party, while almost half of those polled say they trust the Conservatives less as a result of Mr Hammond’s Budget.More than half of voters – 55 per cent – say Theresa May should have honoured the party’s manifesto pledge not to raise taxes.
  
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• Labour Party makes last-ditch plea to PM Theresa May to approve peers' Brexit bill changes

  10-03-2017 22:32
  
  Labour has made a last-ditch direct appeal to Prime Minister Theresa May to allow two major changes to the Government’s Brexit bill.In a letter addressed to the PM, the Labour party called on the PM to guarantee the rights of EU nationals living in Britain and also give Parliament a vote on the final exit deal.The letter, sent by shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer and Baroness Smith, shadow leader of the Lords, said the changes would not damage the PM's plans to trigger Article 50 by
  
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• One in three terror suspects in UK now white amid rise in far-right extremism

  10-03-2017 22:31
  
  A record number of white people were arrested last year on suspicion of terrorism, amid a rise in far-right extremism.Official statistics show that 91 out of a total 260 people held on suspicion of terrorism offences were white - a rise of 20 from 2015 and the highest number since 2003.Although they still made up the largest ethnic group for arrests, the largest drop was among Asian people, which fell 24 to 125 arrests in 2016.
  
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• Poll analysis: one in seven Conservative voters less likely to support party at next election as a result of the Budget

  10-03-2017 22:30
  
  If the Conservatives are no longer the party of low tax, what are they for? 
  
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• Police release CCTV images of escaped convicted murderer 

  10-03-2017 22:15
  
  A CCTV image of escaped prisoner Shaun Walmsley has been released by police as they continue to search for him.Convicted murderer Walmsley, 28, went on the run on February 21 when two men armed with a knife and a gun confronted prison officers guarding him at Aintree University Hospital in Liverpool during a visit from HMP Walton.A silver Hyundai i10 which was seen in the Fazakerley area that detectives say could provide vital clues in the search of escaped prisoner Shaun Walmsley.
  
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• School bans pupils from spending too much time in the toilets as police called to rowdy protest

  10-03-2017 22:05
  
  A school which has banned pupils from spending too much time in the toilets was forced to call the police after female students staged a rowdy protest.
  
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• Rationing rules restricting surgery to those in most pain must be axed, NHS officials rule 

  10-03-2017 22:00
  
  “Arbitrary” rationing measures restricting NHS surgery to those in most pain must be lifted, health officials have ruled.NHS England has warned clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) to stop denying hip and knee operations to patients using criteria which only allow surgery to those in the worst discomfort.Health officials intervened after warnings from the Royal College of Surgeons of “alarming” restrictions on surgery, with patients told they could only have surgery on th
  
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• Diktat for every hospital to change NHS logo ignored objections from chief executives and PR experts

  10-03-2017 22:00
  
  Hospitals were ordered to change their logo despite warnings from health service executives that the move would “cost an absolute fortune,” a leaked report reveals.Every hospital has been issued with instructions to alter their publicity materials, moving the “NHS” lozenge so it is above the name of the trust, instead of beside it.Health officials said the changes would reduce “confusion and concern” among the public, claiming that current inconsistencies in u
  
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• BBC interview crashed by professor's children becomes early frontrunner for viral video of the year

  10-03-2017 21:53
  
  A BBC interview in which a professor was interrupted by his two children has gone viral, sparking a jubilant reaction on social media.Professor Robert Kelly, a Political Science expert at Pusan National University, was being interviewed from his home on the issue of South Korean politics when his two young children walked into the room.First came a young girl wearing sunglasses.
  
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• Article 50 'could be triggered on Tuesday' if Brexit bill passes

  10-03-2017 21:43
  
  Theresa May could trigger article 50, the formal process for leaving the European Union, as early as Tuesday if the Brexit bill passes late on Monday, government sources say.The legislation, which passed through the House of Commons unamended, is due to be debated by MPs on Monday.Rebel Conservative MPs have urged the Brexit secretary, David Davis, to give firm promises on both issues when he addresses the Commons.
  
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• 'Parasitic' personal assistant swindled £565,000 from celebrity photographer while using his reputation to meet the Rolling Stones and Beckhams

  10-03-2017 21:43
  
  A "parasitic" personal assistant swindled £565,000 from an acclaimed celebrity photographer while using his reputation to rub shoulders with the Rolling Stones and the Beckhams.Serial fraudster Caron Westbrook, 53, spent years funding a lavish lifestyle by forging vast cheques from showbusiness photographer David Hogan, leaving him in financial ruin and suicidal.Mr Hogan, 56, built an award-winning career from decades of photographing A-listers including The Rolling Stones, the Beckha
  
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• Family of child actor and aunt slam 'disappointing' 12 year prison sentence of killer driver Joshua Dobby

  10-03-2017 21:32
  
  The family of a child actor and his aunt who were mowed down and killed by an “out of control” millionaire’s son as he fled police have criticised his “disappointing” jail term.Dobby, who had 53 previous convictions, dating back to the age of 13, admitted two counts of manslaughter and injuring the girl in August last year.In a statement released after the sentencing, the family of Makayah, who had just earned his big break as a child actor in a production of the Wi
  
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• "This stupid, ugly man has crushed my life": Eight-year-old girl tells court how millionaire's son killed two in crash

  10-03-2017 21:29
  
  Convicted car thief Joshua Dobby, 23, was out on licence when he ploughed a stolen car into Makayah McDermott, 10, and his aunt Rosie Cooper, 34, as they walked for ice-cream in south London.Makayah McDermott, 10, was killed when Joshua Dobby drove into him.Dobby, who had 53 previous convictions dating back to the age of 13, admitted two counts of manslaughter and injuring the girl in August last year.
  
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• Prince Charles' former tailor says Savile Row being ruined by 'half-baked brands' peddling fake Chinese suits

  10-03-2017 21:17
  
  Prince Charles's former tailor says Savile Row is being ruined by “half-baked brands” selling fake Chinese suits.In the old days you didn’t even have suits in the shops, everything was made by the tailors," he said in an interview with the Evening Standard.
  
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• War graves lost as court gives council permission to bury civilians on top of World War I soldiers

  10-03-2017 21:00
  
  A London council is to be allowed to bury people in land on top of war graves after a Church of England court gave it permission.
  
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• The British should talk about the weather more, says academic as he attempts to revive dead words 

  10-03-2017 20:59
  
  The British are famously obsessed with talking about the weather - but one expert claims that we still don't do it enough.
  
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• Shreep and witches' knickers? Call for revival for Britain's quirkiest weather words

  10-03-2017 20:59
  
  The British are famously obsessed with talking about the weather - but one expert claims that we still don't do it enough.
  
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• Is Sean Spicer trying to send out a warning to us that he’s in trouble?

  10-03-2017 20:38
  
  Sean Spicer marched into his daily briefing with reporters on Friday afternoon ready to update them on all things Donald Trump - but all was not quite as it should be.Mr Trump's press secretary was wearing his flag pin upside down.Social media users were quick to point out that  an upside down American flag is officially recognised as a signal of distress.
  
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• Rapists are preying on drunk women like burglars on unlocked doors, says senior female judge

  10-03-2017 20:37
  
  Lindsey Kushner QC said the "disinhibited" behaviour of women who have been drinking places them in danger of predators who "gravitate" towards drunken females.If she wants to go out on the town and meet somebody and have sex with them with in an hour that’s up to her, it’s her privilege.
  
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• State department 'unaware' that Mexican foreign minister visited White House

  10-03-2017 19:59
  
  The state department was unaware that Mexico’s foreign minister was visiting Washington, it has admitted, in an embarrassing break with tradition that lays bare the teething problems in the fledgling administration.Luis Videgaray went straight to the White House on Thursday, skipping the meeting at the state department.
  
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• Theresa May could trigger Article 50 as early as Tuesday after EU leaders begin preparations for Brexit

  10-03-2017 19:49
  
  Theresa May could formally trigger Brexit as early as Tuesday after European leaders revealed that they are already making preparations for an announcement.Ministers are increasingly confident that Mrs May's Article 50 bill could clear both the Commons and the Lords on Monday.The swift passage of the legislation would clear the way for Mrs May to trigger Brexit negotiations in the Commons on Tuesday.
  
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• Dusseldorf attacks: Man, 80, assaulted with machete hours after nine hurt in station axe rampage by asylum-seeker

  10-03-2017 19:47
  
  An elderly man was attacked with a machete in Dusseldorf on Friday, hours after a similar attack by a mentally ill asylum seeker wielding an axe left nine people injured at the city's train station.The 80-year-old machete victim, who has not been named, was rushed to hospital after being assaulted in a car park on the northern outskirts of Dusseldorf.Hours before he was attacked, a 36-year-old man from Kosovo wounded nine passengers with an axe at Dusseldorf train station bef
  
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• Where next for Ed?

  10-03-2017 19:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The singer has broken a truckload of records with his latest album ÷ (Divide).
  
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• Seven nuns at Seven Sisters: the story behind the divine photo

  10-03-2017 18:54
  
  Dedicating their lives entirely to prayer, silence and solitude and leaving their cloisters only for medical appointments, the Carmelite nuns may seem to be the antithesis of the modern age. 
  
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• Grey’s Anatomy star Melissa George faces kidnap charges in bitter custody battle with French partner

  10-03-2017 18:45
  
  It was a fairytale romance for the Grey’s Anatomy star Melissa George and her dashing French lover. But it has ended in “hell”, with convictions for assault, a bitter custody battle and an alleged kidnap plot to spirit the couple’s two small children out of France in a borrowed private jet.The 40-year-old Australian actress met entrepreneur Jean-David Blanc at a Bafta awards party in London in 2012 and the pair quickly became a couple, producing two so
  
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• Tumble drier scandal: Whirlpool 'sold out' of popular replacement machines 

  10-03-2017 18:44
  
  Faulty Whirlpool tumble dryer owners are struggling to swap them for a safer machines as a number of popular replacement models are "out of stock", it has emerged.The supply issues come after Whirlpool warned around 3 million customers not to use the devices, leading to a surge in demand for replacement tumble dryers.Previously Whirlpool had said the machines were safe to use, as long as the owner was at home and not asleep.
  
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• Striver? Tory architect of austerity George Osborne banks £1m fortune

  10-03-2017 18:41
  
  Former British chancellor George Osborne will become the highest-paid sitting MP ever.George Osborne has been accused of dragging the reputation of politicians “deeper into the gutter” by trading his insider knowledge of government to Donald Trump’s favourite investment firm – and pulling in the highest-ever earnings of a sitting MP.As his successor Chancellor Philip Hammond delivered the government’s latest austerity budget on Wednesday, the register of MPs’
  
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• Solicitor headbutts EastEnders star's property developer father inside High Court during £100m legal dispute

  10-03-2017 18:41
  
  A top property solicitor headbutted a property developer during a £100m legal battle at the High Court.Philip Saunders, 69, assaulted Mohammad Reza Ghadami after a hearing in the Royal Courts of Justice, London, leaving him with a fractured nose.Philip Saunders has been convicted of headbutting businessman Mohammad Reza Ghadami inside the Royal Courts of Justice.
  
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• West London man who plotted to fake passport and join ISIS in Syria is jailed for nine years

  10-03-2017 18:37
  
  A young west Londoner who plotted to travel to Syria and join Isis has been jailed for nine years.Jabed Hussain, 22, from Acton, changed his name by deed poll in a bid to evade officials in his quest to join the terrorist group.Commander Dean Haydon, of the Met’s Counter Terrorism unit, said: “Hussain made a concerted effort to get to Syria and intended to join Isis.
  
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• Katie Hopkins’ legal bills to top £300,000 after losing High Court battle to Jack Monroe

  10-03-2017 18:34
  
  Katie Hopkins’ legal bills are to top £300,000 after she lost a High Court battle to poverty campaigner and food blogger Jack Monroe, The Independent understands.The judgement ordered Hopkins pay Monroe compensation of £24,000 for defamatory comments made on Twitter in May 2015.The row between the food blogger and the MailOnline columnist erupted after Hopkins implied Monroe had defaced or vandalised war memorials during protests following the 2015 general election.
  
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• Presenter Dermot Murnaghan reveals his injuries after hit-and-run attack

  10-03-2017 18:24
  
  Sky News presenter Dermot Murnaghan has shared a picture of his injuries after being involved in a hit-and-run attack.
  
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• Vicar Cyril Rowe, 78, jailed for sexually abusing choirboy who gave evidence by blinking

  10-03-2017 18:22
  
  A former vicar has been jailed for sexually abusing a choirboy who made British courtroom history by giving evidence using eye-tracking technology which turned his blinks into words.Cyril Rowe, 78, was sentenced to four years in prison at Bournemouth Crown Court after being convicted of three counts of indecent assault at a Tower Hamlets church in the late 1970s.Judge Peter Johnson said: "The victim was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in 2015 and he wished to see justice done.
  
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• Nick Candy paid Katy Perry £1.2m to sing at his wedding, court told

  10-03-2017 18:00
  
  Katy Perry was paid £1.2m to sing at property tycoon Nick Candy’s wedding to Holly Valance, the high court has heard.Candy married Valance, a singer and TV celebrity, in 2012 at a lavish four-day event in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, during which the pop star performed a 45-minute set.Billionaire brothers Nick and Christian Candy are being sued for £132m in damages by former business associate Mark Holyoake.
  
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• BBC loses Songs of Praise to independent production company 

  10-03-2017 17:58
  
  The BBC has lost the right to make Songs of Praise, in what a senior Church of England figure has warned could be “another nail in the coffin of the religious literacy of the nation”.Nine Lives Media, which has made editions of Panorama, Channel 4’s Dispatches and a documentary entitled Holiday Love Rats, was the successful bidder alongside Avanti Media, a Welsh company that has produced several Songs of Praise episodes set in Wales.Mark Linsey, director of BBC Studios, said: &
  
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• Jailed for 12 years: millionaire's son Joshua Dobby who killed child actor and aunt while fleeing police

  10-03-2017 17:54
  
  An "out of control" millionaire’s son who killed a child actor and his aunt while fleeing from police in a stolen car has been jailed for 12 years with a further three years on licence.With a police car in hot pursuit, Dobby lost control of the car as he took a left turn at 55mph, the vehicle striking a bollard and being propelled into the air, landing on Ms Cooper and Makayah as they walked to the park to go on the swings and have ice cream.Dobby, who fled from the scene but was quickly c
  
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• Drug addict jailed for killing child actor in London car chase

  10-03-2017 17:54
  
  A drug addict with more than 50 previous convictions has been jailed for 12 years for killing a child actor and his aunt when he hit them with a stolen car.Joshua Dobby, a convicted car thief, was being pursued by police when the stolen Ford Focus he was driving struck a bollard, was launched into the air and landed on 10-year-old Makayah McDermott and Rosie Cooper, 34, killing them both as they walked in Penge, south London.Dobby, 23 – who last month pleaded guilty to manslaughter, grievo
  
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• Veteran solicitor who headbutted Eastenders star's father inside Royal Courts of Justice is spared jail

  10-03-2017 17:37
  
  A veteran solicitor who headbutted an EastEnders star’s father at the High Court in a "moment of madness" as they faced off over a bitter £100 million legal battle has been spared jail.Philip Saunders, 69, lunged forward at businessman Mohammad Reza Ghadami during an angry confrontation on the first floor landing of the Rolls Building at the Royal Courts of Justice.Shocking CCTV footage shows the two men, who had been on opposite sides in court that day, exchange words before Mr Ghad
  
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• Women who get drunk must 'protect themselves' against rapists, judge says 

  10-03-2017 17:32
  
  In an impassioned sign-off, Lindsey Kushner QC warned girls' "disinhibited behaviour" put them in danger of being raped by men who "gravitate" towards drunken females.The 64-year-old, who has sat as a senior circuit judge since 2002, said judges have often been criticised for putting emphasis on "what girls should and shouldn't do".
  
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• Retiring judge warns women who get drunk they are putting themselves in danger of being targeted by rapists

  10-03-2017 17:32
  
  In an impassioned sign-off, Lindsey Kushner QC warned girls' "disinhibited behaviour" put them in danger of being raped by men who "gravitate" towards drunken females.The 64-year-old, who has sat as a senior circuit judge since 2002, said judges have often been criticised for putting emphasis on "what girls should and shouldn't do".
  
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• Former NHS chief collapses in court after being spared jail for £11,000 payment to husband

  10-03-2017 17:28
  A disgraced NHS chief who admitted to fraudulently paying £11,000 in health service funds to her husband collapsed in court yesterday as she was spared jail.Paula Vasco-Knight, the former leader of NHS equalities, required medical treatment and an ambulance after she was given a suspended sentence for a ruse that saw taxpayers’ money pocketed by her husband Stephen.The drama unfolded as the Vasco-Knights were both spared jail for a scam which siphoned off £11,072 in funds inten
  
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