General news

• Act now to curb runaway bosses' pay and poor governance, MPs urge

  04-04-2017 23:49
  The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee is demanding radical measures - including worker representation on the committees which set executive pay - following a series of bruising battles between blue-chip companies including BP, the oil giant, and Thomas Cook, the tour operator.It also calls for a new code of corporate governance for major privately owned companies - such as Sir Philip Green's Arcadia Group, which owns TopShop - and a traffic light ranking system to assess
  
  Read more

• Theresa May: building Saudi ties better than 'sniping' from sidelines

  04-04-2017 23:30
  
  Theresa May has said building a relationship with Saudi Arabia is better than “standing on the sidelines and sniping” amid criticism of her decision to visit the region on her first trip to explore trade ties after triggering article 50.UK and Saudi foreign and trade ministers will have six-monthly strategic dialogues to lay the foundations for a post-Brexit trade deal, the prime minister said in Riyadh on Tuesday after bilateral meetings with meeting Saudi’s crown prince.
  
  Read more

• Westminster victim Les Rhodes' family: We wanted Khalid Masood to suffer

  04-04-2017 23:07
  The family of a retired window cleaner killed in the Westminster terror attack has told Sky News they wish the attacker had lived - so that he could suffer.In an exclusive interview, the close family of 75-year-old Les Rhodes told how they could never forgive Khalid Masood, who murdered four people and injured many others on 22 March.Mr Rhodes, from Clapham in south London, was one of dozens of pedestrians targeted by Masood, who drove along Westminster Bridge at 70mph.
  
  Read more

• Child has life-threatening injuries after being bitten by a dog in Chatham

  04-04-2017 23:06
  A child is being treated in a London hospital for life-threatening injuries after being bitten by a dog, police have said.Kent Police said they were called to the Jenkins Dale area of Chatham, Kent, at 5.26pm on Tuesday.Firearms officers were among those attending the scene and the animal was shot dead.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• New hope for Briton jailed in US for 30 years

  04-04-2017 23:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Man in prison for 30 years denies double murder, and hopes new evidence pins it on drug cartels.
  
  Read more

• Free movement could go on during post-Brexit transition, says May

  04-04-2017 23:00
  
  Theresa May greets Donald Tusk at Downing Street in September 2016.The European council president has made it clear that EU ‘core principles’ must be maintained during any transition period.Theresa May has signalled that free movement of EU citizens could continue during a transitional phase after the UK leaves the European Union in spring 2019.
  
  Read more

• Corbyn goes BERSERK as journalist questions him on Labour’s DECLINE during fiery interview

  04-04-2017 22:42 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  JEREMY CORBYN hit the ceiling after a journalist grilled him on Labour’s record-breaking lows in the polls.
  
  Read more

• Drugmaker GSK recalling nearly 600,000 asthma inhalers in U.S

  04-04-2017 22:25
  
  (Reuters) - GSK Plcis voluntarily recalling more than 593,000 Ventolin asthma inhalers from U.S. hospitals, pharmacies, retailers and wholesalers due to a defect that may cause them to deliver fewer doses of the medicine than indicated, the British drugmaker said on Tuesday.The recall involves three lots of the Ventolin HFA 200D inhalers manufactured at GSK's plant in Zebulon, North Carolina.The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the voluntary "Level 2" recall, which only affects pro
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Here's everything we know so far about the suspected chemical weapons attack in Syria

  04-04-2017 22:14
  
  Assad’s regime has denied responsibility for the attack.
  
  Read more

• Charlton Athletic paid tribute to PC Keith Palmer ahead of their League One game against MK Dons

  04-04-2017 22:06
  
  Palmer was stabbed to death as he guarded the Palace of Westminster.
  
  Read more

• Ken Livingstone avoids expulsion in row over remarks about Hitler and Zionism

  04-04-2017 22:00
  Ken Livingstone has been suspended from the Labour Party for another year after claiming Adolf Hitler supported Zionism in the 1930s.The former London mayor faced a disciplinary hearing for engaging in conduct which Labour officials said was "grossly detrimental" to the party.Earlier in the day, the veteran left-winger said he expected to be expelled by the national constitutional committee because the disciplinary panel was dominated by "right-wingers".
  
  Read more

• David Moyes 'slap' remark: How have people reacted?

  04-04-2017 21:11 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The Sunderland manager is in the spotlight after his comments to BBC reporter Vicki Sparks.
  
  Read more

• Hammond: UK immigration cuts are no barrier to trade deal with India

  04-04-2017 20:53
  
  Philip Hammond and Indian finance minister Arun Jaitley hold a joint press conference in Delhi on Tuesday.Britain’s pledge to sharply reduce immigration will not impede the UK from negotiating a free trade agreement with India, the chancellor has said during a visit to Delhi to promote British business.Phillip Hammond said on Tuesday that the brunt of the government’s pledge to shrink net migration to the “tens of thousands” would be felt by countries with less-skilled la
  
  Read more

• Vodafone set for naming rights deal with London Olympic Stadium owners

  04-04-2017 20:21
  Vodafone is close to agreeing a £20m naming rights deal for the London Olympic Stadium, Sky News can reveal.Negotiations between the telecoms giant and the stadium owners, the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC), have been ongoing for several months.The deal, which will begin this summer in time to capitalise on the new football season, is a major boost to the stadium and the LLDC, which has been searching for a high-profile partner for the arena since the 2012 Olympics.
  
  Read more

• Canada posts February trade deficit

  04-04-2017 20:17
  
  Canadian exports of canola were down 34 percent following a three month surge in sales to China
  
  Read more

• Germany: No Brexit deal with the EU would be bad for Britain

  04-04-2017 20:12
  The German Foreign Minister has publicly disagreed with Boris Johnson on how bad no Brexit deal would be for the UK.On a visit to London, Sigmar Gabriel said Britain will come off worse if it leaves the European Union without any agreement, despite the Foreign Secretary reiterating it would be perfectly OK.Berlin's Foreign Minister said: "Having no deal is not the best idea for Britain and the European Union.
  
  Read more

• A positive case for collectively provided benefits | Letters

  04-04-2017 20:06
  
  1943: British economist Sir William Beveridge delivering his report on social security which became the basis for the welfare state.The Guardian’s editorial (Mean and arbitrary: this is not the future Mrs May promised, 3 April) is right to point to the brutal cuts to benefits.Theresa May’s government is not enforcing policies driven by a desire to be spiteful or miserly to particular groups (although that is how it may seem).
  
  Read more

• UK pledges £100m to Prince Harry’s campaign against landmines

  04-04-2017 20:00
  
  Prince Harry – seen visiting a mine clearance site in Angola – has continued to champion his mother’s cause as patron of the Halo Trust.Twenty years after Prince Harry’s mother helped bring the lethal scourge of landmines to global attention, the government has pledged £100m to the campaign supported by the prince to make the world landmine-free by 2025.The international development secretary, Priti Patel, announced that the UK was tripling its backing for de-mining
  
  Read more

• Collahuasi copper mine sees output rise this year, mine CEO says

  04-04-2017 19:59
  The Collahuasi copper mine in Chile, which is among the world's biggest, expects 2017 output to beat last year's, and could ramp up production that was frozen in 2015 if the price of copper keeps rising, the mine's chief executive told Reuters Tuesday.The mine, a joint venture between Anglo Americanand Glencore , is also expecting to begin maintenance on a milling plant in April that should last around two months, said Jorge Gomez, on the sidelines of the CRU World Copper Conference in Santiago.
  
  Read more

• Brexit doesn't mean tight immigration, minister tells scientists

  04-04-2017 19:35
  
  Britain's decision to quit the European Union and reassert control over its borders does not mean the country will tighten immigration for the world's best brains, junior business minister David Prior said on Tuesday."Be in no doubt, whatever you might have heard or read in the papers, that Brexit should not be considered synonymous with a tight immigration policy," he told an audience of scientists at a synthetic biology conference at Imperial College London."We absolutely know we need to attra
  
  Read more

• No official Brexit economic forecast carried out since EU referendum

  04-04-2017 19:32
  The Treasury has not carried out a detailed economic forecast of Britain's Brexit options since the referendum, Sky News has learnt.In an interview with Sky News, the Chancellor Philip Hammond repeatedly refused to say whether he had produced another such assessment since the vote on 23 June.Last month the Brexit Secretary, David Davis, admitted that his department had produced no such analysis.
  
  Read more

• Spanish gunship in illegal incursion into UK waters off Gibraltar

  04-04-2017 19:19
  A Spanish gunship has made an illegal incursion into British waters off Gibraltar amid rising Brexit tensions over the territory.The Gibraltan government said the ship entered territorial waters on Tuesday.A spokesman for Spain's foreign ministry denied the claim, saying the ship was in fact in Spain's own territorial waters.
  
  Read more

• Spain denies ship made illegal incursion into disputed waters off Gibraltar

  04-04-2017 19:10
  A spokesman for Spain's foreign ministry denied on Tuesday that a Spanish naval vessel had made an illegal incursion into disputed waters off the British enclave of Gibraltar.The government of Gibraltar, on the southern tip of Spain, said earlier on Tuesday that a navy patrol ship entered Gibraltar's territorial waters without permission.
  
  Read more

• French firm Engie backs out of Moorside nuclear plant venture

  04-04-2017 19:00
  Crisis-hit Toshiba is being forced to buy out a French firm's stake in the venture behind a proposed new nuclear power station in Cumbria - throwing its future into further doubt.Engie, a utility company, had a 40% holding in NuGen - the vehicle led by Toshiba to create the Moorside plant.
  
  Read more

• Credit Suisse scandal threatens Swiss efforts to clean up reputation

  04-04-2017 19:00
  
  By Joshua FranklinZURICH (Reuters) - An anonymous tip to Dutch authorities on thousands of suspicious accounts at Credit Suisse could hardly have come at a worse time for Switzerland and its banks.The information that triggered raids in five countries raises new doubts about the effectiveness of Switzerland's efforts to shed its decades-old reputation as one of the world's major tax havens.
  
  Read more

• UK's Moorside nuclear project in turmoil as Toshiba's French partner backs out

  04-04-2017 18:55 via theguardian.com
  
  Troubled tech giant forced to take sole ownership of NuGen after Engie sells stake, adding to uncertainty over plan for three reactorsToshiba has been forced to buy out the French utility Engie from a project to build three nuclear reactors in Moorside, northwest England, further straining the Japanese company’s finances and adding to uncertainty over the project. Engie said on Tuesday it was exercising its right to sell its 40% stake in the NuGen venture to Toshiba following the bankruptc
  
  Read more

• Jacob Zuma urged to quit after South Africa credit rating downgrade

  04-04-2017 18:49 via theguardian.com
  
  Currency falls after Standard & Poor’s downgrades outlook, blaming political risks arising from cabinet reshuffleSouth Africa’s president, Jacob Zuma, on Tuesday faced calls from the country’s biggest union, a key ANC ally, to stand down after his cabinet reshuffle cost the country one of its investment-grade credit ratings and deepened splits within the ruling party. Related: Jacob Zuma: his exit might be anything but dignified | Jason BurkeContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• Ken Livingstone says he expects to be expelled by Labour - Politics live

  04-04-2017 18:46 via theguardian.com
  
  Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happenIs Corbyn right about life expectancy “falling”?Lunchtime summaryAfternoon summary 5.46pm BSTHaving no deal is not the best idea for Britain and the European Union. It would bring a burden on both sides, for the Brits as well as the Europeans. My personal opinion is that the burden for the Brits is higher than for the Europeans.The May doctrine of foreign policy is that everything we do is in our British nationa
  
  Read more

• Murder accused Ming Jiang 'went on £180,000 gambling spree after cutting up friend'

  04-04-2017 18:24
  A man accused of murdering his wealthy friend and dismembering his body went on an £180,000 gambling spree a few days later, a court has heard.Ming Jiang, who was heavily in debt and being sought by creditors, bought £178,000 in chips at a casino two weeks after allegedly killing Yang Liu, a jury was told.After severing Mr Liu's head and limbs, Jiang stuffed the torso in a suitcase, set it on fire and dumped it by a roadside, hoping police would not be able to identify the victim, sa
  
  Read more

• Leicester hope Matt O’Connor can calm club as Cockerill takes Toulon reins

  04-04-2017 18:18 via theguardian.com
  
  • Geordan Murphy believes Matt O’Connor can steer club to playoffs
  • Mike Ford sacked at Toulon having taken over in OctoberAt the start of the season you would have got long odds indeed on Richard Cockerill finishing it in charge of Toulon but while it is indicative of the upheaval at Leicester, Geordan Murphy believes the returning Matt O’Connor can steer them towards their traditional place in the playoffs.O’Connor takes the reins on Wednesday – 24 hours afte
  
  Read more

• Melania Trump framed – a history of first lady portraits

  04-04-2017 18:17 via theguardian.com
  
  From the soft-focus sheen of the current Flotus to Nancy Reagan’s fashion-forward style, official White House photos reveal more than you might think Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• 'Extreme vetting' would require visitors to US to share contacts and passwords

  04-04-2017 18:16 via theguardian.com
  
  Trump administration’s proposed changes may mean travelers from countries including UK, France, Australia and Japan have to share digital informationTourists from Britain and other countries visiting the US could be forced to reveal mobile phone contacts, social media passwords and financial data under “extreme vetting” practices being considered by the Trump administration, according to the Wall Street Journal.Travellers who want to enter the US could also face questioning ove
  
  Read more

• St Petersburg explosion: Russian media wrongly names man as attacker

  04-04-2017 18:05 via theguardian.com
  
  Ilyas Nikitin goes to police station to clear name after his photograph appears on TV and online hours after metro attackIn the hours after Monday’s bomb attack on the St Petersburg metro, Russian media ran photographs of the man believed to be responsible. Captured on closed circuit television, the man wore all black, what looked like an Islamic prayer cap and had a long dark beard. The photographs were circulated widely, both on social media and by television and online media. But the ma
  
  Read more

• Thousands of British children exposed to illegal levels of air pollution

  04-04-2017 18:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: More than 2,000 schools and nurseries close to roads with damaging levels of diesel fumes, joint investigation by Guardian and Greenpeace revealsCheck whether you child’s school is affected
  How have you been affected by air pollution?Hundreds of thousands of children are being exposed to illegal levels of damaging air pollution from diesel vehicles at schools and nurseries across England and Wales, a joint investigation by the Guardian and Greenpeace’s investigations unit
  
  Read more

• Will populist leaders stifle the global recovery – or vice versa?

  04-04-2017 17:52 via theguardian.com
  
  Politicians such as Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen and Beppe Grillo are wildcards that could kill off gathering growthAfter nine dreary years of downgrading their GDP forecasts, macroeconomic policymakers around the world are shaking their heads in disbelief: despite a populist-propelled wave of political tumult, global growth is actually set to outperform expectations in 2017.It’s not just American exceptionalism. Although US growth is very strong, Europe has been outperforming expectations
  
  Read more

• Trump's authoritarian instincts ruin US credibility on human rights, activists say

  04-04-2017 17:51
  
  Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. ‘There is something in Xi that Trump will find attractive.Donald Trump’s embrace of authoritarian tactics – and leaders – has dealt a body blow to activists struggling against repressive regimes across the globe, campaigners have warned, as the US president prepares to welcome China’s strongman ruler, Xi Jinping, to his Florida estate.Xi, the architect of a severe political clampdown at home, will be the second authoritarian Trump leader
  
  Read more

• Cambridge homes covered with Latin graffiti in protest at rising prices

  04-04-2017 17:42 via theguardian.com
  
  Vandalism of houses on market for £1.25m each points to discontent in area where average home costs 12 times salaryA new luxury development in Cambridge has been found vandalised with graffiti. In a surprising move the culprits decided to use Latin, painting the words “loci populum!” and “locus in domos” in large letters across the front and sides of the houses in Water Street, Chesterton.Mary Beard, professor of classics at Cambridge University, told the BBC: &ldqu
  
  Read more

• Drivers call off April strikes on London Night Tube

  04-04-2017 17:28
  Planned strikes by drivers on London's Night Tube this Saturday and three weeks later have been called off, ASLEF has said.Union members were set to walk out on the nights of 8 and 29 April over concerns they were going to be "blocked" from applying for full-time roles on the Tube in favour of new recruits.Explaining the decision ASLEF official Finn Brennan said London Underground had clarified its position.
  
  Read more

• The Fiver | Fifth place, baby! Can you even begin to fathom it?

  04-04-2017 17:23 via theguardian.com
  
  In today’s Fiver: Manchester United, the FAI and a special on Dacia DustersThe Fiver has spent a long time trying to think of a more magnificent, more dashing, more swashbuckling football team than Plucky Little Manchester United. Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona, Rinus Michels’ Ajax, Arrigo Sacchi’s Milan and John Gregory’s Aston Villa all came to mind. But they all fell short. This United team is impossible to resist. Not for nothing do their supporters wake up every mor
  
  Read more

• Gibraltar says Spanish navy patrol ship made illegal incursion into its waters

  04-04-2017 17:22
  
  A Spanish navy patrol ship entered Gibraltar's territorial waters without permission on Tuesday, the government of the British outpost on the southern tip of Spain said.The future of Gibraltar has become the first big dispute of Brexit since Prime Minister Theresa May filed formal divorce papers last week, with the EU draft position on negotiations saying the application of any EU-UK trade deal to Gibraltar had be agreed between Spain and Britain."Illegal incursion into British Gibraltar Territo
  
  Read more

• India isn’t buying Britain’s trade charm offensive. We should take the hint | Vince Cable

  04-04-2017 17:18 via theguardian.com
  
  The government is ardently pursuing bilateral deals with the subcontinent and other non-EU countries – but why not just do business with our neighbours?I still recall the stinging rebuffs I received as a teenager pursuing some beautiful young woman with whom I was besotted: “Can’t you take a hint?” The British government is similarly failing to take the hint that the Indian authorities are not going to succumb to ardent wooing for a bilateral trade deal. A few months ago
  
  Read more

• Union officials face allegations of collusion with blacklisted workers

  04-04-2017 17:15 via theguardian.com
  
  Files revealed during high court action show some employees were labelled ‘troublesome’ by union staff and were denied work by companiesBritain’s biggest trade union, Unite, is facing calls to set up an inquiry into claims that union officials gave information to a clandestine blacklisting operation funded by major firms and enabling them to deny jobs to certain workers.Details of the alleged complicity have emerged in documents prepared for a high court action following which
  
  Read more

• Union officials face allegations of collusion over blacklisted workers

  04-04-2017 17:15
  
  Unite’s acting general secretary Gail Cartmail supports a full public inquiry into the alleged collusion.Britain’s biggest trade union, Unite, is facing calls to set up an inquiry into claims that union officials gave information to a clandestine blacklisting operation funded by major firms and enabling them to deny jobs to certain workers.Details of the alleged complicity have emerged in documents prepared for a high court action following which construction firms apologised and pai
  
  Read more

• The property billboards that reveal the truth about Britain’s luxury housing market

  04-04-2017 17:12 via theguardian.com
  
  The glossy advertising around high-end building sites in major cities show expensive developments bustling with white thirtysomethings. Who are they aimed at, exactly?‘We don’t do ordinary,” declares the billboard at the entrance to the Battersea power station building site in London, where cranes are busy conjuring up a new world of 3,500 homes, 150 shops and 15,000 jobs from the mud. After standing derelict for decades, Giles Gilbert Scott’s majestic temple to electrici
  
  Read more

• Spotify to host top stars' albums for premium subscribers only

  04-04-2017 17:11 via theguardian.com
  
  Deal with Universal Music is first time users of music streaming service’s ad-supported free tier won’t have full access to catalogueNew albums from some Universal Music artists will be available only to premium Spotify subscribers for the first two weeks of release, the two companies have announced.The deal means that for the first time ever, users of Spotify’s ad-supported free tier will not have access to the full catalogue of music on the streaming service. Instead, they wi
  
  Read more

• Le Mans: Ex-military hope to become first all-disabled team

  04-04-2017 17:10 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A team of former military personnel hope to become the first all-disabled team to compete in Le Mans.
  
  Read more

• Samantha Baldwin: Detective issues 'mother to mother' plea for missing mum to return with two boys

  04-04-2017 17:08
  A detective has issued a 'mother to mother' appeal to a missing mum accused of abducting her two young sons.Samantha Baldwin, 40, from Newark, is wanted on suspicion of abducting Dylan Madge, six, and Louis Madge, nine, and is considered to "pose a risk of harm".In a new appeal on Tuesday, Detective Superintendent Helen Chamberlain urged Miss Baldwin to get in touch with police, saying she understood it was a "very difficult time" for her.
  
  Read more

• Jeremy Corbyn sparks life expectancy row with local election launch speech

  04-04-2017 17:07
  Jeremy Corbyn's claim the Conservatives have caused life expectancy to drop has sparked a row between the Labour leader and the Tory party chairman.In a speech to launch Labour's local elections campaign, Mr Corbyn claimed life expectancy had fallen by a year for 65-year-old women and six months for 65-year-old men since 2013.Patrick McLoughlin hit back after extracts of the speech were disclosed on Monday evening, telling the Labour leader he "couldn't even get his basic facts right".
  
  Read more

• Hammond says government looking at range of Brexit outcomes

  04-04-2017 17:07
  
  Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond said on Tuesday that the government was looking at a range of potential outcomes for forthcoming Brexit talks, but declined to say if his department had conducted a detailed economic analysis.Earlier on Tuesday a parliamentary committee said the government should justify Prime Minister Theresa May's view that "no deal is better than a bad deal" by offering an economic impact assessment.
  
  Read more

• ‘He would do anything for anyone’: the life of Westminster attack victim Les Rhodes

  04-04-2017 17:01 via theguardian.com
  
  The former window cleaner lived alone but neighbours who watched over him as he died in hospital say they will never forget their quiet, kind friendIt’s the little things that Phil Williams says he’ll miss about Leslie Rhodes. The sight of the spry 75-year-old arriving home from his daily bike ride. The copies of the London Evening Standard that he would always bring back to hand out to his neighbours. The way he regularly, ritually cleaned his blue Ford Focus in the car park outside
  
  Read more

Follow @GeneralnewsUK on Twitter!