General news

• Helicopter goes missing over Irish Sea with five people on board

  29-03-2017 23:45
  The Coastguard is searching for a helicopter which has gone missing over the Irish Sea with five people on board.The operation was launched after the twin squirrel red helicopter went missing on Wednesday afternoon.The privately owned helicopter is understood to have left Milton Keynes on Wednesday en route to Dublin, via Caernarfon Bay.
  
  Read more

• People praise Andrew Neil for taking no prisoners on his Britain and the EU: The Brexit Interviews show

  29-03-2017 23:00
  
  Though some thought he did let Theresa May get away with not saying very much.
  
  Read more

• Lloyd's set to choose Brussels as new EU base, according to reports

  29-03-2017 22:15
  Lloyd's of London is reportedly poised to name Brussels as its new base in Europe.The announcement by the world's largest insurance market will come less than 24 hours after Theresa May's triggering of Article 50, with the timing first reported by Sky News.Lloyd's is shifting some operations to the continent in order to protect revenues generated within the European Union as the UK heads for the exit.
  
  Read more

• Helicopter goes missing over the Irish Sea with five people on board

  29-03-2017 21:55
  The coastguard is searching for a helicopter which has gone missing over the Irish Sea with five people on board.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• 'No turning back' - May triggers 'historic' Brexit

  29-03-2017 21:30
  
  By Guy Faulconbridge and Elizabeth PiperLONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May formally began Britain's divorce from the European Union on Wednesday, declaring there was no turning back and ushering in a tortuous exit process that will test the bloc's cohesion and pitch her country into the unknown.In one of the most significant steps by a British leader since World War Two, May notified EU Council President Donald Tusk in a hand-delivered letter that Britain would quit the club it joined
  
  Read more

• BlackBerry, freed of handsets, looks to software for return to glory

  29-03-2017 21:20
  
  By Alastair SharpTORONTO (Reuters) - Although BlackBerry Ltd has extricated itself from the smartphone handsets that weighed on its recent fortunes, the Canadian firm faces a tough slog to convince sceptics it can return to its glory days through an enlarged software business.The company, which will report fourth-quarter and full-year results on Friday, says it has no major gaps in its software portfolio, thanks to the integration of a string of recent acquisitions."The bottom line is: BlackBerr
  
  Read more

• There's no going back – May has burned the boats of a divided nation | Martin Kettle

  29-03-2017 20:59
  
  On Wednesday Theresa May burned hers.For good or ill on both sides of the channel, Britain will not be returning to the European Union.As 1973 dawned, the Guardian reported that Britain had embarked on its membership of Europe without fireworks.
  
  Read more

• Scottish independence: Sturgeon to press on with referendum

  29-03-2017 20:49
  
  Nicola Sturgeon in the Scottish parliament on the day Theresa May triggered article 50.Nicola Sturgeon has pledged to press on with a fresh independence referendum after dismissing Theresa May’s promise of substantial new powers for Scotland after Brexit.The first minister said May’s decision to trigger article 50 on Wednesday, beginning the UK’s divorce from the EU, was one of the most destructive acts by a British leader in modern history, threatening hundreds of thousands of
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Imam: 'Any attack against this country is an attack on ourselves'

  29-03-2017 20:45 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Imam of a London mosque describes why he joined a vigil on Westminster Bridge.
  
  Read more

• Westminster attack: Family says victim Aysha Frade was 'ripped away' from them

  29-03-2017 20:43
  The family of Westminster attack victim Aysha Frade says she was "ripped away" from them in the "cruellest and most cowardly of ways".Mrs Frade was one of four people killed by terrorist Khalid Masood in his 82-second rampage last Wednesday.In a statement, her relatives told of their "crushing pain" and the "eternal void" which has been left in their hearts following her death.
  
  Read more

• UK police arrest two on "suspicion of terrorism", not related to Westminster attack

  29-03-2017 20:42
  (Reuters) - Two people were arrested in the British city of Birmingham on "suspicion of terrorism offences" on Wednesday, West Midlands police said in a statement.The man and woman who were arrested, aged 21 and 23, were detained under "terrorism legislation" on suspicion of preparing for "terrorist acts".
  
  Read more

• Injured three-week-old baby dies after two arrested for attempted murder

  29-03-2017 20:27
  A three-week-old baby at the centre of a police investigation has died in hospital.The infant from Gosport, South Hampshire, died yesterday, a week after being taken to Queen Alexandra Hospital, in Cosham, with serious injuries.A man and a woman, both in their 20s, were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and have been released on bail until September.
  
  Read more

• Fifth Bristol university student takes own life this academic year

  29-03-2017 20:21
  
  A third-year languages student is understood to have killed herself in the fifth case this year of suspected suicide involving students at the University of Bristol.Elsa Scaburri, who was studying for a degree in French and Italian, was halfway through her year abroad.According to a statement released by the university, she died last week near her home, which is understood to be in Wiltshire.
  
  Read more

• Brexit comes with conditions but can be reversed- EU parliament

  29-03-2017 20:21
  By Francesco Guarascio and Gabriela BaczynskaBRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Parliament said on Wednesday that Brexit could be reversed, but if Britain pursued divorce from the EU it should first settle its bill and protect citizens' rights before a new trade deal with the bloc can be discussed.In a draft resolution published on the day that Britain formally triggered the two-year process to leave the European Union, senior EU lawmakers said there could be transitional arrangements to smooth t
  
  Read more

• Roses and banners

  29-03-2017 20:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Schoolchildren carrying yellow roses led tributes to victim of the Westminster attack.
  
  Read more

• Special delivery - Brexit letter makes history

  29-03-2017 19:51
  By Alastair Macdonald and Yves HermanBRUSSELS (Reuters) - It's been two centuries since a British emissary arrived in Brussels bearing a dispatch of such historic portent but Sir Tim Barrow, Britain's new envoy to the EU, took it in his diplomatic stride.The ambassadorial Jaguar in which he rode to the European Council on Wednesday morning bearing Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit notification was certainly more comfortable than the warhorse that brought the Duke of Wellington's messenger to t
  
  Read more

• Cheap housing gives Frankfurt and Brussels edge as alternative to London

  29-03-2017 19:44
  
  The accommodation costs in Frankfurt were found to be 65% cheaper overall than London.Frankfurt and Brussels are emerging as tempting alternatives to London as European financial hubs in part because they have cheaper accommodation costs than Paris.The British and French capitals are the most expensive cities for housing employees, costing businesses an average of €85,000 (£74,000) and €72,000 per worker per year respectively in residential and office rent.
  
  Read more

• King George V was murdered, not euthanised | Letters

  29-03-2017 19:42
  
  Professor Bryant has not adequately explored the nuances of the death of King George V (Letters, 20 March).What in fact happened was that Queen Mary and her son, soon to be Edward VIII, explicitly told the king’s physician, Lord Dawson, that they did not want King George’s life needlessly prolonged if his condition was fatal.
  
  Read more

• Prescription changes will help the NHS | Letters

  29-03-2017 19:41
  
  The NHS does not prescribe them, and will cease to prescribe other medication for erectile dysfunction as affordable non-branded options are available from your pharmacy.The news that the NHS is to remove certain medications from its list of prescribed items (Report, 28 March) may come as a shock to some, but for anyone working in healthcare the step is an obvious one, which may act as a much-needed pressure release valve.Now compare that with the price of purchasing one of the items listed, dir
  
  Read more

• HS2 derailed after engineering firm CH2M pulls out of £170m deal

  29-03-2017 19:39
  An engineering firm has pulled out of a £170m deal to develop a section of the HS2 rail link amid concerns over alleged conflicts of interest.US-based CH2M had been chosen by HS2 last month to deliver phase 2b of the high-speed line, running from Crewe to Manchester and Birmingham to Leeds.CH2M has been involved with HS2 Ltd since 2012 and was awarded a £350m deal to develop Phase 1 of the line from London to Birmingham.
  
  Read more

• Westminster attack: PC Keith Palmer stabbed to death despite body armour

  29-03-2017 19:19
  The police officer killed in the Westminster terror attack died from a single stab wound to the chest, despite wearing protective body armour.An inquest into the deaths of the four victims of the attack has heard how PC Keith Palmer, 48, was killed by Khalid Masood outside Parliament last Wednesday.Scotland Yard has confirmed the father-of-two was wearing one of the stab vests routinely issued to Metropolitan Police officers, but it was not enough to save him and he died at the scene.
  
  Read more

• UK court dismisses Unaoil case against anti-fraud agency

  29-03-2017 19:10
  The English High Court on Wednesday dismissed an attempt by oil and gas services group Unaoil and the wealthy Ahsani family to force the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO) to return or destroy material collected during raids in Monaco last year.Unaoil, run by chairman Ata Ahsani and his sons Cyrus and Saman, alleged the SFO had relied on misstatements and omissions when it asked Monegasque authorities to raid properties, seize material and arrest the men for questioning.The SFO, which announced last
  
  Read more

• Photos: Thousands link hands on Westminster Bridge in a show of defiance a week after terror attack

  29-03-2017 19:02
  
  Organisers said the vigil sought to show that “we will not be divided”.
  
  Read more

• UK triggers Article 50: Here's what happened

  29-03-2017 18:46 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Formal proceedings to divorce the UK from the EU have begun.
  
  Read more

• George Michael's funeral: Singer laid to rest at private ceremony

  29-03-2017 18:27
  George Michael's family and close friends have attended his funeral in a small, private ceremony.The service was believed to have been at Highgate Cemetery, near the singer's north London home.Among the reported mourners were former Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley, Helen 'Pepsi' DeMacque-Crockett, who sang with them as part of Pepsi and Shirley, and ex-Spandau Ballet star Martin Kemp.
  
  Read more

• End of the affair: May finds breaking up with EU is hard to do | John Crace

  29-03-2017 18:26
  
  Theresa May is left with a gnawing sense of emptiness. Photograph: Reuters
  
  Read more

• End of the affair: May finds breaking up with EU is hard to do

  29-03-2017 18:26
  
  Theresa May is left with a gnawing sense of emptiness. Photograph: Reuters
  
  Read more

• Police and public join forces to remember London victims

  29-03-2017 18:23
  
  Hundreds of people joined together on Westminster Bridge on Wednesday to remember the four killed in last week's London attack.A large crowd, which included police, hospital staff and relatives of victims, stretched across the bridge where Khalid Masood drove a car into pedestrians last Wednesday.The crowd included members of the Islamic charity organisation Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association, who held up banners reading "Love for all, hatred for none", "Islam means PEACE" and "Islam says NO to
  
  Read more

• UK likely to leave Europol and might "take our information with us" - interior minister

  29-03-2017 18:19
  Britain is likely to leave the European Union police agency Europol after Brexit and could "take our information" away if no future security deal is struck with the bloc, interior minister Amber Rudd said on Wednesday.Hours after Prime Minister Theresa May formally kicked off Britain's divorce from the EU beginning two years of negotiations with the bloc, Rudd warned a failure to reach an agreement over security would weaken cooperation in the fight against crime and terrorism.Rudd did admit tha
  
  Read more

• Children struggling to concentrate at school due to lack of sleep, MPs told

  29-03-2017 18:17
  
  Sleep deprivation is a growing problem in schools, with pupils struggling to concentrate in lessons due to lack of sleep, MPs have been told.Edward Timpson, minister for children and families, highlighted the issue while being questioned by MPs who are investigating the role of education in preventing mental health problems in children and young people.Lack of sleep has been linked to children’s use of mobile phones and tablets late into the night, MPs sitting on the joint inquiry by the C
  
  Read more

• Hit-and-run suspect Aidan McAteer urged to return by his mother after girl dies

  29-03-2017 18:12
  Aidan McAteer, 23, is thought to have fled the country hours after a stolen black Ford Fiesta hit four-year-old Violet-Grace Youens while she was walking in St Helens, Merseyside, with her grandmother on Friday afternoon.McAteer's mother, Alicia McAteer, 41, pleaded with her son, saying: "I need him to come home.Merseyside Police released CCTV images of two men fleeing the scene of the crash shortly afterwards.
  
  Read more

• Skoda reveals the Vision E – an electric SUV concept to rival Tesla

  29-03-2017 18:07
  
  The Vision E produces 302bhp from its lithium-ion batteries and can travel up to 310 miles on purely electric power
  
  Read more

• Brexit request can be revoked, draft EU Parliament position paper says

  29-03-2017 17:59
  By Francesco GuarascioBRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Parliament said in a draft position paper on Wednesday that Brexit can be revoked.The draft, seen by Reuters on the day that Article 50 on Britain's leaving the European Union was invoked also said there should be transitional arrangements to smooth the divorce but no more than three years.London-based EU agencies, the European Banking Authority and the European Medicines Agency, must move as soon as practicably possible must move, the draf
  
  Read more

• European parliament aims for general deal on future ties with Britain in 2 years

  29-03-2017 17:58
  The two-year Brexit negotiations should produce a divorce deal as well as an "agreement on general terms" of the future relationship between the EU of 27 and London, the European Parliament's chief negotiator said on Wednesday.While a detailed trade agreement between Britain and the EU would not be possible in such a short time, a "general framework", giving an idea of what a more detailed deal could look like, was something the EU would pursue, he said."What is needed in the framework of these
  
  Read more

• Pernod to raise spirits prices in Britain, cites Brexit impact

  29-03-2017 17:37
  
  By Dominique VidalonPARIS (Reuters) - Pernod Ricard is raising the prices of its spirits and wines in Britain to protect margins against a slide in the pound stemming from the country's vote to leave the European Union.The owner of Absolut vodka, Martell cognac and Mumm champagne told its British trading partners this month and made the announcement as Prime Minister Theresa May filed Britain's formal Brexit divorce papers on Wednesday.It is being negotiated," Christian Porta, who manages Pernod
  
  Read more

• Allow judiciary to work until 75, says Britain's most senior judge

  29-03-2017 17:22
  
  Judges should be allowed to sit beyond the age of 70 to ease the growing problem of judicial recruitment, the UK’s most senior judge, Lord Neuberger, has said.Giving evidence to the Lords constitution committee, the president of the supreme court revealed that he had been lobbying for the upper age limit for the judiciary to be increased to 75.Neuberger said: “I have been for some time pressing for changes to age limit.
  
  Read more

• 'No turning back' - PM May triggers 'historic' Brexit

  29-03-2017 17:16
  
  By Guy Faulconbridge and Elizabeth PiperLONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May formally began Britain's divorce from the European Union on Wednesday, declaring there was no turning back and ushering in a tortuous exit process that will test the bloc's cohesion and pitch her country into the unknown.In one of the most significant steps by a British leader since World War Two, May notified EU Council President Donald Tusk in a hand-delivered letter that Britain would quit the club it joined
  
  Read more

• US heroin use has increased almost fivefold in a decade, study shows

  29-03-2017 17:00
  
  Heroin use among American adults has increased almost fivefold in the last decade, according to a study based on a survey of almost 80,000 people.“There are more people in the US using heroin, there are more people that meet criteria for heroin addiction, and we are seeing increases in all different social strata, in different age groups, in both sexes,” said Silvia Martins, lead author of the research from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.The study also highlights
  
  Read more

• London attack: Tribute paid to Westminster bridge victims

  29-03-2017 17:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Police officers have led a tribute to the victims of the Westminister attack.
  
  Read more

• Car maker Vauxhall to end England sponsorship deal

  29-03-2017 16:57
  Vauxhall has announced it will end its sponsorship of the England football team - just weeks after a deal was agreed to sell the car maker to the French company behind Peugeot.The deal will end following the 2018 World Cup after seven years and the company will also stop being the main sponsor for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.A Vauxhall spokesman said the decision had been made before the agreement to sell the company, currently owned by America's General Motors, to France's PSA - and wa
  
  Read more

• May offers EU fine words, but pushes British interests

  29-03-2017 16:32
  
  By Alastair MacdonaldBRUSSELS (Reuters) - Theresa May's Brexit letter to European Union President Donald Tusk will please EU leaders by sounding constructive and acknowledging Britain must settle obligations before leaving.In the six-page document delivered on Wednesday to the EU summit chair to trigger a two-year countdown to withdrawal, she called for parallel negotiations on not just divorce terms but a new trade pact and special deals in key sectors.
  
  Read more

• Sleeping with baby

  29-03-2017 16:23 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Dawn Barclay fell asleep on the sofa with her baby daughter, but woke to find the child was not breathing.
  
  Read more

• Merkel says aiming to cushion Brexit impact on EU citizens in UK

  29-03-2017 16:20
  Germany will strive in Brexit negotiations to make sure there is as little disruption as possible to the lives of European Union citizens living in Britain, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday.Stressing that she hoped Britain and the EU would remain close partners, Merkel told members of her conservative party that the prospect of Brexit made many people in Europe worried about their own personal future."This is the case especially for the many Germans and European citizens in Britain.
  
  Read more

• The Negotiators - the six people who will decide how Britain will leave the EU

  29-03-2017 16:14
  
  Today is Brexit Day.
  
  Read more

• BP says plans to stop Shah Deniz gas platform for maintenance in 2017

  29-03-2017 16:12
  BAKU (Reuters) - British oil major BP , which operates the Shah Deniz offshore gas condensate field, plans to halt work of the on-site platform for maintenance in the second half of this year, Gordon Birrell, BP's regional president for Azerbaijan, said. In 2016, the field produced about 10.7 billion cubic metres of gas and 2.5 million tonnes of condensate. (Reporting by Nailia Bagirova; writing by Katya Golubkova; Editing by Andrew Osborn)
  
  Read more

• Brexit's cliff edge - 'business as usual' not an option

  29-03-2017 16:06
  By Tom MilesGENEVA (Reuters) - Failure to strike a trade deal with the European Union by a two-year deadline would force Britain to adopt World Trade Organization arrangements, bringing with it a host of new negotiations and complications.In a nutshell, Britain would have to treat everyone the same, whether it wanted to or not, from Russian exporters to Brazilian lawyers and U.S. advertising firms.The British government sees the WTO as a default fall-back position if it cannot forge a new deal w
  
  Read more

• EU's Tusk says Brexit will be damage control for both sides

  29-03-2017 15:22
  European Council President Donald Tusk told reporters on Wednesday that Britain's formal exit notification made it an unhappy day for London and Brussels and that difficult talks would simply be about limiting damage for both sides.Tusk, a former Polish prime minister who chairs meetings of EU leaders, waved papers as he began a short statement.The notification from Prime Minister Theresa May triggering Article 50 and formally starting negotiations for the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the Eu
  
  Read more

• Article 50 triggered: Formal Brexit process begins

  29-03-2017 15:18
  The Prime Minister has triggered Article 50 after her letter to European Council President Donald Tusk was delivered by Ambassador Sir Tim Barrow in Brussels.Mr Tusk immediately responded on Twitter: "After nine months the UK has delivered.Kicking off the two-year process of withdrawal from the European Union, Theresa May told MPs: "This is a historic moment from which there can be no turning back.
  
  Read more

• Delight, regret, despair: how voters feel as article 50 is triggered

  29-03-2017 15:17
  
  Article 50 has now been triggered, beginning a two-year process that will see the UK leave the European Union and sever a 44-year political relationship.The first official response from the EU institutions is to stress that the bloc will stridently protect its political, financial and social interests, and that the position for the UK even during the transition period will not be as positive as it is today.
  
  Read more

• UK financial sector proposes untested system to keep EU access

  29-03-2017 15:06
  
  By Huw JonesLONDON (Reuters) - Britain's financial sector is drawing up proposals on how it could still serve EU clients after Brexit, even as firms begin establishing new operations on the continent to keep access to the European market.Regulatory and banking experts working for the City of London and lobby group TheCityUK are basing their ideas on a 'mutual recognition' system.Under this, the European Union and Britain would broadly accept firms in each other's financial markets because their
  
  Read more

Follow @GeneralnewsUK on Twitter!