General news

• Has Scotland's attitude to EU changed?

  15-03-2017 23:49 via bbc.co.uk
  
  What do people in Glasgow think, ahead of a possible second referendum in independence?
  
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• Danielle McLaughlin murder: CCTV footage emerges of final movements

  15-03-2017 23:36 via bbc.co.uk
  
  CCTV footage emerges of the final movements of a Donegal woman murdered in the southern Indian state of Goa.
  
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• Buckingham Palace repairs funding approved by MPs

  15-03-2017 23:26 via bbc.co.uk
  
  MPs overwhelmingly approved changes to the Sovereign Grant to cover the 10-year refurbishment.
  
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• Queen ‘to sign Article 50 into law on Thursday morning’

  15-03-2017 23:09
  
  Theresa May will reportedly begin Brexit on Thursday morning when The Queen signs Article 50 into law.The Prime Minister told MPs on Tuesday that royal assent was expected within the "coming days" and promised to come to the Commons later this month to announce when she had triggered Article 50.Government sources indicated that royal assent was expected at 11am on Thursday.
  
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• Brexit: Queen to give Royal Assent to Article 50 bill

  15-03-2017 23:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Royal Assent on Thursday will clear the way for Theresa May to formally start talks to leave the EU.
  
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• Drugs costing 8p a day could be  hit by 'devastating' NHS rationing plan 

  15-03-2017 23:00
  
  Drugs costing just eight pence a day could be denied to NHS patients under “devastating” new rationing plans, charities have warned.Under the plans, health officials will be able to delay introducing life-extending treatments for up to three years, after they have been found to be effective.The cap is likely to affect one in five new treatments, with cheap drugs which could help large numbers of patients affected, as well as high cost drugs.
  
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• Philip Hammond's future in doubt as it emerges Chancellor first heard of Tory manifesto breach from BBC's Laura Kuenssberg

  15-03-2017 22:59
  
  Philip Hammond has abandoned plans to raise national insurance for self-employed workers in this Parliament after admitting that it breached the "spirit" of the manifesto.It represents a huge blow to Mr Hammondand is one of the most significant Budget u-turns in modern times.
  
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• Welsh teenager dies in luxury yacht fall

  15-03-2017 22:46 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A teenager who left the UK to sail around the world with her family 10 years ago falls to her death in Jamaica.
  
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• Teenager who left to sail around the world dies in accident

  15-03-2017 22:46 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A Denbighshire teenager who left to sail around the world with her family 10 years ago is killed in an accident in Jamaica.
  
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• 'We are reversing this, I don't care how bad it is for you' - what Theresa May is said to have told Philip Hammond over National Insurance U-turn

  15-03-2017 22:42
  
  Philip Hammond is fighting to save his career after being forced into the most humiliating Budget U-turn in a generation.Theresa May scrapped the Chancellor’s headline policy - a hike in National Insurance contributions for the self-employed - after a backbench rebellion over what amounted to a broken manifesto pledge.Tory MPs said the fiasco had been “hugely damaging” to Mr Hammond’s authority, with one saying he was now “on probation”.
  
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• Marine A's colleagues speak about Taliban fighter killing

  15-03-2017 22:12 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Men who were with Sgt Blackman on the day he shot dead an injured Taliban fighter talk about what happened.
  
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• Donald Trump stands by wiretap claim in first interview since accusing Barack Obama of spying on Trump Tower

  15-03-2017 22:08
  
  President Donald Trump on Wednesday stood by his explosive claim that Barack Obama ordered a wiretap of Trump Tower during the 2016 presidential campaign.In excerpts of the interview, to be broadcast in full on Wednesday night, he also said that "wiretap covers a lot of different things".Mr Trump has been under mounting pressure to provide evidence for the claims that his predecessor ordered a spying operation to be carried out on him in the run-up to November's election.
  
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• Anti-Semitic road sign seen on North London lamppost

  15-03-2017 21:52
  
  An anti-Semitic road sign was found in Stamford Hill, home to the largest community of Charedi Jews in Europe. Video block text
  
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• Philip Hammond defends scrapping national insurance rise for the self-employed

  15-03-2017 21:26
  
  Philip Hammond was criticised by Tory backbenchers over the national insurance rise.Philip Hammond ditched plans to increase national insurance contributions for the self-employed yesterday, in a humiliating U-turn just a week after the measure formed the centrepiece of his first budget.The chancellor signalled the abrupt change of heart in a letter to Conservative MP Andrew Tyrie, the chair of the treasury select committee, following a revolt by backbench MPs that Hammond had proved unable to q
  
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• Ivana Trump to write a memoir of 'motherhood, resilience and strength' - raising three children with Donald Trump

  15-03-2017 21:25
  
  Ivana Trump, the first wife of President Donald Trump, is writing a memoir that will focus on the couple's three children.Raising Trump will be published on September 12, Gallery Books told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
  
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• MPs approve £369 million funding for ten-year Buckingham Palace refurbishment

  15-03-2017 21:18
  
  MPs have voted overwhelmingly in favour of spending £369 million on a major 10-year refurbishment of Buckingham Palace.Two Labour MPs - Rushanara Ali (Bethnal Green and Bow) and Dennis Skinner (Bolsover) - were among those who opposed the move, including 46 from the SNP.The Scottish National Party said it opposed the extra money being allocated for the Palace during a time of austerity.
  
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• Theresa May's Budget U-turn over National Insurance hike prompts accusations of incompetence and recklessness

  15-03-2017 21:10
  
  Theresa May has suffered her worst day since becoming Prime Minister after a series of blunders, including a humiliating budget U-turn, saw her Government accused of chaotic incompetence and recklessness.The Prime Minister was jeered in the House of Commons as she explained why she now wants to completely scrap a plan to hike taxes for the self-employed that she was doggedly defending just days ago.The “safe hands” reputation of her Chancellor Philip Hammond was also sullied as he un
  
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• Dutch election exit polls: Mark Rutte's VVD party on track to win most seats after support for Geert Wilders drops off

  15-03-2017 21:09
  
  Geert Wilders has pledged to take the Netherlands out of the EU He is running  on an anti-immigration platform Mark Rutte calls on country to 'make a point' to the world Dutch election 2017: everything you need to know 8:05PM Exit polls: Prime Minister Mark Rutte wins most seats in the parliamentary election
  
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• Dutch elections: Prime minister Mark Rutte calls for a 'stand against Geert Wilders' populism' as Netherlands goes to the polls

  15-03-2017 20:46
  
  Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, last night called on his country to “make a point” to the world and turn back the rising tide of populism in Europe and America by rejecting the campaign of the far-Right demagogue Geert Wilders in the country’s general election.In a vote being watched nervously in Brussels and major European capitals for fear of another anti-establishment victory after Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, Mr Rutte said it was up to the Netherlands to h
  
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• Police warning after tiny pinhole cameras discovered hidden in central London cash machines

  15-03-2017 20:45
  
  Tiny pin-prick holes on cash machines are the latest way fraudsters are trying to cheat unsuspecting Londoners out of their bank details.Mini cameras have been discovered by police in four cash machines in the City, with the latest found within the last week.The recording device is hidden inside a false cover to the cash dispensing slot, with the aim to record the victim putting in their pin number.
  
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• Red-faced minister Rory Stewart left to defend Budget tax increase live on BBC as U-turn was announced - and then had swiftly to welcome rethink

  15-03-2017 20:44
  
  A Government minister was left red-faced by Philip Hammond’s Budget U-turn by finding himself defending the measure live on television as details of the change emerged.Rory Stewart, an international development minister, was defending the National Insurance Contributions increase on the BBC’s Daily Politics programme after the programme started at 11.30am.The programme then moved on to discuss Labour taxation policy before AAndrew Neil, the programme’s presenter, saod that 
  
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• Katie Hopkins 'very likely' to challenge Jack Monroe libel ruling

  15-03-2017 20:03
  
  Monroe said the Twitter exchange had led to abuse from others, including death threats.The MailOnline columnist Katie Hopkins has said it is “very likely” she will challenge a court ruling that she libelled food blogger Jack Monroe on Twitter.Monroe was awarded £24,000 in damages last week in a row over tweets suggesting the writer approved of defacing a war memorial during an anti-austerity demonstration in Whitehall.
  
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• A dozen police forces send files to the CPS amid concerns over Tory election expenses after two MPs questioned 

  15-03-2017 20:02
  
  The forces are understood to have conducted interviews and investigations into possible breaches of election law relating to how campaign funding was declared by the party.Over 20 Conservative MPs could be involved and the CPS will decide whether the cases should be heard in court by the end of May.Will Quince, the MP for Colchester, said in a statement that the complaint against him had been "vexatious and politically motivated".
  
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• The Telegraph's guide to the favourites to replace Philip Hammond as Chancellor 

  15-03-2017 19:58
  
  Philip Hammond's future as Chancellor of the Exchequer is highly uncertain after he embarrassingly had to drop the increase in National Insurance Contributions.
  
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• ‘Far-right’ gallery in London forced to close because it 'keeps getting attacked'

  15-03-2017 19:57
  
  A gallery in North London which has been accused of spreading alt-right propaganda has been forced to close because of attacks from protesters.The owners of LD50 gallery in Hackney, which held exhibitions displaying alt-right propaganda and a conference hosting a number of far-right speakers, said it has had to remain closed for a month due to “constant attacks” against the building.Lucia Diego, who has been running LD50 gallery since the start of 2015, told The Independent “an
  
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• Watch live: Michael Gove debates top academic over the value of 'experts' 

  15-03-2017 19:55
  
  MP Michael Gove, the former education and justice secretary, is going head-to head with a top economics and immigration academic to thrash out their differences in the role of "experts".Mr Portes is professor of economics and public policy at King’s College London, and a senior fellow of the UK in a Changing Europe programme.
  
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• Five things we learned from Donald Trump's 2005 tax release

  15-03-2017 19:42
  
  Donald Trump has flip-flopped on policy positions and performed about-turns in his political views.Mr Trump based his presidential bid on his talents as a businessman, without revealing the details of his financial affairs.
  
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• Ipads and smartphones could soon by rolled up and put in your pocket

  15-03-2017 19:41
  
  Engineers at the University of British Columbia have designed a flexible gel-like material embedded with sensors which pick up touch even when squished out of shape.The material could be allow electronics devices to become bendable, or be used for clothing or smartwear, laid on roads and pavements to detect accidents or wrapped around steering wheels.“The technology we are working on is a flexible, stretchable touch sensor that can also detect proximity of a finger and that will allow hand
  
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• Wandsworth crash: Woman fighting for life after car ploughs into two pedestrians in early morning ‘hit-and-run’

  15-03-2017 19:39
  
  A young woman is fighting for life after a car ploughed into two pedestrians in an alleged hit-and-run in south west London.One woman suffered serious injuries and remains in a critical condition, while the other sustained minor injuries.
  
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• Theresa May: investigations into troops during the Troubles is 'unbalanced'

  15-03-2017 19:33
  
  Theresa May has criticised the investigations into hundreds of soldiers over killings in Northern Ireland during the Troubles as "unbalanced".In an intervention in the growing row, Mrs May has sent a letter of support to veterans who believe they are being unfairly targeted.
  
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• Independent Scotland 'would face tax hikes and spending cuts to fill gap worth £1,700 per person'

  15-03-2017 19:32
  
  An independent Scotland would face difficult choices over higher taxes, lower spending or further borrowing to help close a financial black hole of around £1,700 per person, a detailed economic analysis warned yesterday.Experts have warned this would happen under Ms Sturgeon’s plan to stay in the EU single market.
  
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• Jewish bartender confronts large group of suspected Nazis at Portland beer hall

  15-03-2017 19:31
  
  A staff-member at a bar in Portland, Oregon, has been praised for his actions after he challenged a table of customers who had been overheard making antisemitic remarks.Ilan Moskowitz, who is Jewish, works at the Lucky Labrador Beer Hall on Portland's Northwest Quimby Street.As reported by Corey Pein of local newspaper Willamette Week, staff at the bar have recently been finding cards left on the premises listing links for neo-Nazi websites.
  
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• Why I, editor of the Jewish Chronicle, think anti-Semites should be allowed on YouTube

  15-03-2017 19:25
  
  Should you choose to believe what has been written about me on social media, you will think I am a paedophile who threatens to rape women who disagree with me. I suppose I should point out that these are lies.
  
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• Tommee Tippee probes 'mould' in Perfect Prep machine

  15-03-2017 19:24 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The firm says it suspects a build-up in its Perfect Prep machines is due to "harmless" carbon residue.
  
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• Twelve police forces across Britain send files to prosecutors as Tory battle bus investigation enters new phase

  15-03-2017 19:15
  
  Twelve police forces around the country have sent files to the Crown Prosecution Service relating to general election expenses as an investigation into a Tory ‘battle bus’ scheme enters a new phase.Officers have been looking into the Conservative Party’s battle bus campaign at the 2015 election to determine whether the party broke spending limits in target seats key to the party winning its narrow parliamentary majority.A spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service said it h
  
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• Husband of police sergeant speaks of his devastation at claims she had sex with chief inspector while on duty 

  15-03-2017 19:11
  
  The husband of a police sergeant under investigation over allegations she had sex while on duty with a chief inspector has spoken of his devastation at claims of the extra-marital affair.Nick Porter, 46, himself a retired police officer, said his life had been turned upside down after he learned of the allegations that his wife Sarah, 41, had been involved in a close relationship with senior officer, Chief Inspector Rob Leet.Sussex Police has said it is in the "early stages" of a gross misc
  
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• Manhunt after woman 'repeatedly sexually assaulted' on two buses in west London

  15-03-2017 19:07
  
  Police are hunting a man who allegedly sexually assaulted a woman repeatedly on two different buses in west London.When the Route E3 bus stopped outside Acton High School the victim exited, but the suspect followed her.
  
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• Doctors missed 11 chances to treat boy, nine, before he died of asthma, coroner hears

  15-03-2017 19:06
  
  Michael Uriely collapsed in the early hours of 25 August and never regained consciousness.There were 11 opportunities to treat a nine-year-old chess champion in the months before he died of chronic asthma, an inquest has heard.Michael Uriely, the national chess champion from St John’s Wood, London, was taken to the Royal Free hospital twice in the days before his death after he suffered violent coughing and vomiting fits which left him struggling to breathe.
  
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• Climate change could shrink animals, warn scientists

  15-03-2017 19:04
  
  Animals could start shrinking because of global warming, scientists have predicted, after discovering that mammals became ‘dwarfed’ in a similar episode of climate change 50 million years ago.The teeth revealed that during Eocene Thermal Maximum 2, a warming event of around 3C that occurred approximately 53.7 million years ago, the animals shrank in size by 14 per cent.Evidence of mammalian dwarfing during the largest warming event on record, the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PET
  
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• Type 2 diabetes can be reversed in just four months, trial shows 

  15-03-2017 19:00
  
  Type 2 diabetes can be reversed in just four months by cutting calories, exercising and keeping glucose under control, a trial has shown.Although the condition is considered to be chronic, requiring a lifetime of medication, Canadian researchers proved it was possible to restore insulin production for 40 per cent of patients.The participants also met regularly with a nurse and dietician to track progress and continued to take medication and insulin to manage their blood sugar levels.
  
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• APOLOGY

  15-03-2017 19:00
  
  In our reporting of the public debate surrounding the decision to prosecute two  former British Soldiers for the alleged murder of Joe McCann, we published inaccurate statements concerning Barra McGrory QC, the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland, including allegations that the decision by him was in revenge for the murder of IRA terrorists and/or was politically motivated. We accept that this was incorrect and that the decision was made in accordance with&nb
  
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• Philip Hammond digs deep as he explains his NICs U-turn

  15-03-2017 18:58
  
  The phone call had come through just after eight in the morning while Phil “The Undertaker” Hammond was eating breakfast.It was the prime minister ordering him to bury Class 4 NICs.Six hours later The Undertaker rather sheepishly arrived in the Commons to try to explain how it was that, though he still absolutely stood by his budget because it was his budget that was his, he now wanted to fundamentally change it because although he hadn’t broken any promises in the Conservative
  
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• Southern reaches new agreement with train drivers' union Aslef

  15-03-2017 18:57
  
  The RMT union is also in dispute with Southern over staffing and driver-only operated trains.A fresh deal aimed at resolving the long-running row between Southern and the biggest train drivers’ union has been agreed, the two sides said on Wednesday.Aslef leaders said they would recommend their members accept the new agreement following weeks of talks over a row about driver-only trains.
  
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• Police forces pass election spending files to CPS

  15-03-2017 18:56 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Twelve police forces ask prosecutors to consider charges over Conservative campaign spending.
  
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• Nunes: No Evidence of Trump Tower Wiretapping - U.S. News & World Report

  15-03-2017 18:54 via usnews.com
  U.S. News & World Report
  Nunes: No Evidence of Trump Tower Wiretapping
  U.S. News & World Report
  The Republican lawmaker's House intelligence committee also is seeking the names of Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton campaign associates who may have been caught on surveillance. By Gabrielle Levy, Political Reporter | March 15, 2017, at 1:52 p.m..
  Donald Trump wiretapping claims: House Intelligence Committee says it does not have 'any evidence'The Independentall 323 news articles »
  
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• Jailed: Man caught travelling to London with sawn-off shotgun and drugs stash worth thousands

  15-03-2017 18:48
  
  A man caught with a sawn-off shotgun and thousands of pounds worth of cannabis on a train heading towards London has been jailed.Tyrel Thompson, 20, was attempting to smuggle the illegal weapon and £4,000 worth of the drug with a friend while travelling on a train between Birmingham and London.After checking several trains, officers eventually caught up with Thompson and his friend Kareem Dawkins, who was 17 at the time.
  
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• 'Everyone wanted him dead'

  15-03-2017 18:47 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Troops who fought alongside jailed sergeant speak for the first time about the 2011 killing.
  
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• Driver paralysed his friend while 'showing off' then took selfies as the pair lay in the wreckage, court hears

  15-03-2017 18:45
  
  Tom Johnson, 21, decided to take his 27-year-old passenger along a known bumpy road in Cambridgeshire and to film the journey on his phone, but lost control of his white Toyota Yaris and hit a tree at about 61mph.Afterwards, Johnson used his phone to "take selfies of himself and his passenger, who was trapped and covered in blood", Cambridgeshire Police said.Johnson, of Lophams Close, Haverhill, was sentenced to 18 months in prison at Cambridge Crown Court on Friday, police said.
  
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• Downing Street and Liam Fox fall out over student immigration statistics

  15-03-2017 18:35
  
  Downing Street has rushed to shut down yet another cabinet row about overseas students, after Liam Fox indicated he thinks they should be removed from official immigration statistics.Theresa May’s spokesman said her decision to keep recording foreign students within the figures remains in place, following the International Trade Secretary’s comments this morning.Dr Fox said to MPs at a hearing in Parliament that he had told Home Secretary Amber Rudd the country should not “unde
  
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• British Airways and Unite union to seek end to pay dispute - ACAS

  15-03-2017 18:26
  British Airways and Britain's biggest trade union Unite will meet to seek an end to a dispute over the wages of some of itscabin crew staff, industrial dispute conciliator ACAS said on Wednesday.Mixed fleet crew - who fly long and short-haul destinations and make up around 15 percent of the total BA cabin staff - have gone on strike several times in recent months over their pay.British Airways owner IAG has said the strikes did not stop customers reaching their destinations.
  
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