General news

• Paris shooting: Everything we know so far

  20-04-2017 23:47
  
  A terrorism investigation has been launched after one police officer was killed and two wounded.
  
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• Labour focuses on pupils 'crammed into classrooms like sardines'

  20-04-2017 23:00
  
  Jeremy Corbyn will focus on education in his visit to the Cardiff North constituency.Jeremy Corbyn will switch the focus of Labour’s campaign to education on Friday with a speech in Wales, warning that too many schoolchildren are “crammed into classrooms like sardines”.The Labour leader will visit the Conservative constituency of Cardiff North where he will claim that “seven years of Tory failure and broken promises have left our schools in a terrible state” and tha
  
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• 'Don't put words in my mouth!' Nigel Farage LOSES IT at 'bitter loser' in AGGRESSIVE row

  20-04-2017 22:50 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  NIGEL FARAGE erupted in an angry debate with a seething caller who criticised him for spreading “lies” in the lead up to the Brexit vote.
  
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• Watch French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron show off his bottle-flipping skills

  20-04-2017 22:39
  
  Although the internet appears to be less than impressed.
  
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• Romanian migrant is jailed for brutal rape

  20-04-2017 22:25 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  A ROMANIAN committed a brutal rape just 11 days after arriving in Britain after his release from prison in his home country.
  
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• Mother left ‘sick to her stomach’ after two-year-old finds NEEDLE in giant Kinder egg

  20-04-2017 22:11 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  A MOTHER was left feeling "sick to her stomach" after watching her daughter break open her easter egg and finding a NEEDLE buried inside the chocolate.
  
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• Nigel Farage OPENS UP on General Election decision in new bid to 'pressure European MEPs'

  20-04-2017 22:08 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  FORMER UKIP leader Nigel Farage has opened up on his decision to not run in the 2017 General Election.
  
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• Labour's Emily Thornberry FUMES at Theresa May for pandering to 'EXTREME Brexit notions'

  20-04-2017 22:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  EMILY THORNBERRY has ripped into Theresa May over her Brexit strategy, accusing her of willing to “sacrifice our economy for all kinds of extreme Brexit notions”.
  
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• Stroke and dementia risk linked to low-sugar drinks, study finds

  20-04-2017 22:00
  
  Sales of diet versions of soft drinks have boomed in recent years, with full-sugar drinks now retaining just 38% of the market.Consuming a can a day of low- or no-sugar soft drink is associated with a much higher risk of having a stroke or developing dementia, researchers claim.“Drinking at least one artificially sweetened beverage daily was associated with almost three times the risk of developing stroke or dementia compared to those who drank artificially sweetened beverages less than on
  
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• Manchester United v Anderlecht: Europa League quarter-final – live!

  20-04-2017 21:46 via theguardian.com
  
  Live updates from the 8.05pm BST kick-offYou can email Jacob here or Tweet him hereMourinho looks beyond Anderlecht to the finalLive scoreboard: the latest from Thursday’s quarter-finals 8.46pm BST41 min: “I was mildly surprised to see Wayne Rooney on the bench, not because he doesn’t merit it but because he just seems to be such a semi-detatched member of the Man Utd squad that I’d forgotten he was still playing,” says Brian Russell. “It’s been quite a
  
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• Venezuela opposition launches new protests a day after three deaths

  20-04-2017 21:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Thousands of activists take to the streets in Caracas as opposition lawmakers say security forces have used excessive force to halt the marchesVenezuela’s opposition renewed nationwide protests on Thursday to pressure the government of President Nicolás Maduro to hold elections and improve a collapsing economy, a day after three people were killed in similar demonstrations. However, crowds were smaller than the hundreds of thousands of people who flooded the streets of Caracas and p
  
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• Aaron Hernandez family wants player's brain examined for signs of CTE

  20-04-2017 21:42 via theguardian.com
  
  Family to donate brain to CTE research unit at Boston UniversityPlayer’s lawyer declines to say if head trauma was contributing factor to deathAaron Hernandez’s family wants to donate his brain to science, but Massachusetts officials are refusing to release it despite turning over the rest of his body to a funeral home, the former NFL star’s lawyer said on Thursday.Hernandez, who was serving a life sentence for murder, killed himself in his prison cell on Wednesday. Continue re
  
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• Jo Pavey: I will never get that moment back standing on the podium

  20-04-2017 21:40 via theguardian.com
  
  The 43-year-old, who will compete in the London Marathon, reveals her bittersweet feelings at being finally awarded a 2007 world championship medal“I am getting very old,” says Jo Pavey softly, acknowledging the wearily inevitable question about whether, at 43, it might be time to at least think about calling it quits. “But I love running and I am really enjoying keeping going. And now I have something fresh to aim for.”That something is Sunday’s London Marathon, an
  
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• Craig Whyte goes on trial accused of ‘fraudulent’ Rangers takeover

  20-04-2017 21:38 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  FORMER Rangers owner Craig Whyte has gone on trial charged with fraudulently taking over the Ibrox club.
  
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• 100 years for gang who blew up cashpoints in £500,000 raids

  20-04-2017 21:34 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  A JUDGE who jailed a gang for almost 100 years after they stole more than £500,000 by blasting ATMs in raids has warned it is only a matter of time before someone is killed.
  
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• Schoolgirl skips science class... to rescue stricken sailors in lifeboat debut

  20-04-2017 21:24 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  THE UK’s only schoolgirl RNLI volunteer had to leave a science class to rush to the aid of a stricken vessel.
  
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• PM warns of 'coalition of chaos'

  20-04-2017 21:20
  
  The Prime Minister seizes on confusion around Labour's stance on a second Brexit referendum. Follow all the GE2017 action live.
  
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• Toronto to impose 15% tax on foreign home buyers to regulate housing costs

  20-04-2017 21:17 via theguardian.com
  
  Measure part of initiative to make one of Canada’s most expensive housing markets more affordable for residents after Vancouver enacted similar legislationForeigners who buy homes in Toronto and its surrounding area now face an additional 15% tax – echoing a recent measure adopted in Vancouver – as part of a slew of measures aimed at tempering a heated housing market that ranks as one of Canada’s most expensive.The tax – part of proposed legislation unveiled on Thur
  
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• Theresa May restates pledge to cut net migration to tens of thousands

  20-04-2017 21:15
  Theresa May has repeated her commitment to cutting net migration to the tens of thousands amid speculation the pledge could be ditched.Doubt had been cast over whether the controversial target would feature in the Conservative election manifesto after a Cabinet minister told Sky News that immigration policy was "not about numbers".Culture Secretary Karen Bradley insisted it was about ensuring the UK had the skilled workforce it needed.
  
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• Argentina: Brexit could end Europe's support for UK control of Falklands

  20-04-2017 21:10 via theguardian.com
  
  Argentinian foreign minister, Susana Malcorra, says government is closely following case of disputed islands but ‘it is still quite early’Argentina believes Brexit might cost Britain the support of European allies for its control of the Falkland Islands and is watching developments closely, the Argentinian foreign minister said in Brussels. Visiting the EU capital for trade talks on Thursday, Susana Malcorra stressed it was too soon to say whether Britain quitting the bloc might soft
  
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• Readers recommend: share your songs about mathematics

  20-04-2017 21:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Make your nomination in the comments and a reader will pick the best eligible tracks for a playlist next week – you have until Monday 24 April Music and maths are in the formula for this week’s playlist. Keep an eye on the comments for more thoughts on the theme.
  You have until 11pm on Monday 24 April to post your nomination and make your justification. RR contributor Sarah Chappell (who posts as AFictionHabit in the comments) will select from your recommendations and produce a playl
  
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• I just don’t recognise Viktor Orbán as a ‘tyrant’ | Tibor Fischer

  20-04-2017 21:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The western media’s portrait of the Hungarian leader as an enemy of democracy and an antisemite isn’t just puzzling, it’s disgustingThe possible closure of the Central European University in Budapest has unleashed waves of denunciations directed at the Hungarian prime minister, Viktor Orbán, in western media. Orbán has been accused of leading an “assault on freedom” in the New York Times, while one Guardian writer has summoned up the spectre of Munich
  
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• No encounters: most ambitious alien search to date draws a blank

  20-04-2017 20:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Only intelligent signals Breakthrough Listen project detected in first year are from mobile phones and other Earthly devicesAstronomers who have been listening for signals from alien civilisations in the most intensive hunt for extraterrestrials yet have found no evidence of life in its first year in operation.The Breakthrough Listen project began to eavesdrop on the universe with the Green Bank observatory in West Virginia in January last year, but the most intelligent transmissions the telesco
  
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• Vintage Amos Oz vies with feverish Argentinian debut on Man Booker International prize shortlist

  20-04-2017 20:40 via theguardian.com
  
  Novels from Israel, Norway, Denmark, France and Argentina in running for £50,000 prize, to be split between writer and translatorA “hallucinogenic, feverish” Argentinian debut novel is up against big-hitters from Israel’s Amos Oz and France’s Mathias Énard, for the Man Booker international prize for fiction in translation.Two novels from Israel were revealed to have made the shortlist, alongside books from Argentina, France, Norway and Denmark, at a ceremony
  
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• Nigel Farage says he won't stand in election

  20-04-2017 20:37
  Nigel Farage has said he will not stand as a candidate in the snap General Election.
  
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• Seven men jailed for total of 92 years for ATM explosion raids

  20-04-2017 20:34 via theguardian.com
  
  Gang jailed for stealing more than £550,000 from cash machines in England and ScotlandA gang of seven men that caused explosions at cash machines around England and Scotland has been jailed for a total of 92 years.The group stole more than £550,000 and caused more than £160,000 worth of damage in attacks on ATMs at 13 banks and supermarkets, Merseyside police said. Continue reading...
  
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• Nigel Farage says he will not stand in June general election

  20-04-2017 20:29
  
  The former Ukip leader Nigel Farage will not stand as a candidate in the general election, although he has admitted he had been tempted to stand for Douglas Carswell’s seat in Clacton.Farage, who had a high-profile split with Carswell, which saw the MP quit Ukip a few weeks ago, said the constituency would have been an “easy win” but his attention was focused on the European parliament.
  
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• Uefa slams Wada over incorrect handling of Mamadou Sakho’s drug test

  20-04-2017 20:27 via theguardian.com
  
  • Liverpool defender tested positive for substance not on Wada banned list
  • Report describes ‘gaps in communication’ at world anti-doping agencyUefa has heavily criticised the World Anti-Doping Agency for wrongly flagging up a positive drug test by the Liverpool defender Mamadou Sakho after he took a fat-burner without the club’s knowledge last year.Sakho, who is now on loan at Crystal Palace, was suspended at the end of April 2016 after testing positive for higenami
  
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• Surrey Labour could defy national party over progressive alliance

  20-04-2017 20:21
  Local Labour leaders have been canvassing support for a progressive deal with local Greens and Lib Dems.Surrey Labour party could vote to back a Liberal Democrat candidate next week to try to unseat the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt, defying the national party which has said it will not entertain any “progressive alliance”.The Conservative minister has a majority of more than 28,000 in his South West Surrey constituency but local Labour leaders have been canvassing support for a prog
  
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• The most important election for Britain is the one in France | Martin Kettle

  20-04-2017 20:17 via theguardian.com
  
  A victory for Emmanuel Macron would be the best outcome for the French, and the least worst option for us too with Brexit negotiations loomingBritain’s political class has a long and damaging record of not taking politics in continental Europe seriously. A collective insularity tempered only by a worship of all things American ensures that a minor event like this week’s congressional byelection in the suburbs of Atlanta is more likely to register inside the British bubble than, say,
  
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• Green Investment Bank sell-off: only time will tell how green it is

  20-04-2017 20:16 via theguardian.com
  
  The government has secured green ‘commitments’ after the £2.3bn sale. In reality it has secured only ‘good intentions’The charge that Macquarie is a ruthless asset-stripper that, given half a chance, would dismember the Green Investment Bank clearly stung. As the government unveiled the inevitable sale, for £2.3bn, to a consortium led by the Australian finance house, all sides were anxious to emphasise the buyer’s long-term enthusiasm for its new purchas
  
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• Former UKIP leader Farage says won't stand in 2017 election - Telegraph

  20-04-2017 20:16
  
  (Reuters) - Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage said he will not be standing in Britain's 2017 election, in a opinion piece for the Daily Telegraph.Farage said he wanted to focus on getting Britain's exit from the European Union on the right terms."I believe I can use my profile in European politics to put real pressure on MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) to vote for a sensible deal," Farage said.
  
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• Housing crisis: more than 200,000 homes in England lie empty

  20-04-2017 20:15 via theguardian.com
  
  Birmingham is the city outside London with the most unused properties, followed by Bradford and Liverpool, new figures showMore than 200,000 homes in England with a total value of £43bn were empty for at least six months during 2016 despite the desperate shortage of properties to rent and buy.According to official figures, Birmingham was the worst affected city outside London with 4,397 empty homes worth an estimated £956m, followed by Bradford and Liverpool. Continue reading...
  
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• How Donald Trump was silenced | Emma Brockes

  20-04-2017 20:03 via theguardian.com
  
  Debating vaccination with a parent who’s against inoculation is always going to be a contentious issue. But this mother’s arguments shocked meDespite living in the US in Trump end times, I’m not often shocked. Scandalised, depressed, outraged, yes; but not really shocked. But I was at the weekend, standing in the playground with another mother when she said something so outlandish I couldn’t believe what I’d heard: that she’d had a tough month, what with
  
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• Sweet? Naked mole rats can survive without oxygen using plant sugar tactic

  20-04-2017 20:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The subterranean rodents are able to switch to a fructose-based metabolic system previously only observed in plants, a new study revealsThey feel no pain, don’t get cancer and look like baggy-skinned sausages with teeth: the naked mole rat is already famously weird. Now scientists have discovered what could be the subterranean rodents’ strangest trait yet: they can survive without oxygen by switching to a metabolic strategy normally used by plants.By switching from a glucose-based me
  
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• Unite leadership candidate Gerard Coyne suspended from job

  20-04-2017 19:57
  Len McCluskey is being accused of "panic and desperation" after his rival in the bitter Unite leadership election was suspended from his post in the union.Supporters of Gerard Coyne, who is bidding to replace Mr McCluskey - known as "Red Len" - as general secretary, claim the leader and his supporters fear defeat or a close result.The election has been one of the most bitter in the trade union movement in recent years, with both candidates trading insults about the lifestyle and conduct of their
  
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• Billy Monger: Formula 4 driver who lost legs in crash wants to get back behind wheel

  20-04-2017 19:44
  
  A teenage racing driver who lost both legs after a "horrific" crash is already trying to work out how he can get back behind the wheel.Billy Monger was left in a critical condition after colliding with a stationary car at 120mph during a Formula 4 event at Donington Park, Derbyshire, on Sunday.The 17-year-old driver was trapped for over 90 minutes before being flown to Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham, where doctors put him in an induced coma.
  
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• Team GB Olympic high jumper Germaine Mason dies in motorbike crash

  20-04-2017 19:42
  Olympic high jump silver medallist Germaine Mason has been killed in a motorbike crash in Jamaica.The Team GB athlete, 34, finished second in the event at the Beijing games in 2008.Jamaican police said Mason apparently lost control of his bike and crashed before dawn in St Andrew Parish, southeast of the capital, Kingston.
  
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• Teenager stabbed to death in Blackheath, south London

  20-04-2017 19:41
  
  The Metropolitan police have launched a murder investigation after a teenager was stabbed and killed in south-east London.Police and paramedics were called to Hervey Road, Blackheath, at about 8.10pm on Wednesday, where they found 19-year-old Jordan Wright with stab wounds.“We sent a paramedic in a car, an ambulance crew, an incident response officer and an advanced paramedic to the scene,” a London ambulance service spokeswoman said.
  
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• Racing news and tips: Frankel's son Eminent puts down 2,000 Guineas marker

  20-04-2017 19:36 via theguardian.com
  
  • Martyn Meade’s runner wins Craven Stakes by a length and three-quarters
  • Eminent installed as third favourite at 10-1 for the season’s first ClassicEminent, a son of the extraordinary Frankel, established himself as a contender for both the 2,000 Guineas and the Derby at Newmarket on Thursday with a decisive success in the Group Three Craven Stakes, over the same straight mile which will stage the season’s first Classic next month. Eminent is now the 10-1 third fav
  
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• Bereaved families attend widowed parents' allowance protest

  20-04-2017 19:36 via theguardian.com
  
  Westminster demonstration takes place after change in rules dramatically reduces amount paid out after a deathWidowed parents have attended a protest outside parliament after ministers pressed ahead with cuts that will leave some bereaved families more than £50,000 worse off.One of the attendees said the decision, which came into place earlier this month, was equivalent to “punishing those who are living out most families’ worst nightmares”. Continue reading...
  
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• Manager praises teen crash driver's 'resilience'

  20-04-2017 19:25
  
  Steven Hunter, manager of Billy Monger's team, JHR developments, has been visiting the 17-year-old each day since the crash.
  
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• EU leader: UK would be welcomed back if voters overturn Brexit

  20-04-2017 19:24
  
  The president of the European parliament has said Britain would be welcomed back with open arms if voters change their minds about Brexit on 8 June, challenging Theresa May’s claim that “there is no turning back” after article 50.Speaking after a meeting with the prime minister in Downing Street, Antonio Tajani insisted that her triggering of the departure process last month could be reversed easily by the remaining EU members if there was a change of UK government after the ge
  
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• Time for an honest conversation about trade unions | Letters

  20-04-2017 19:23
  
  Unite leader Len McCluskey takes part in a demonstration to demand more funding for the NHS. ‘Unions have consistently been portrayed as old-fashioned and clueless,’ writes Martin Spence.It was welcome to see space given to comment on the government’s so-called proposed industrial strategy (Built to last, 17 April) together with an article the same day on a TUC call for workers’ rights being central to Brexit. But Zoe Williams’ comment that “distribution of pr
  
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• World Bank chief echoes Bill Gates's warning to Theresa May on aid

  20-04-2017 19:22 via theguardian.com
  
  Jim Kim says reneging on the UK’s commitment to spend 0.7% of GDP on aid could lead to a rise in conflict and migrationThe president of the World Bank has told Theresa May that cutting the UK’s aid budget could lead to an increase in conflict, terrorism and migration and would damage Britain’s international reputation.In a strongly worded response to reports that the government was considering dropping its commitment to devote 0.7% of national income to aid each year, Jim Kim s
  
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• Electoral alliance ruled out too soon | Letters

  20-04-2017 19:22
  
  Gina Miller, the pro-EU campaigner behind a successful court challenge over article 50, is planning to launch a tactical voting initiative to support election candidates opposed to hard Brexit.One of the reasons why so many people voted in the EU referendum was that, for once, they felt their vote would count, as indeed it did.Millions of adults in this country have spent their whole lives in constituencies where, for the most part, their votes have never counted.
  
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• Sarah Palin, Ted Nugent and Kid Rock use White House visit to mock Clinton

  20-04-2017 19:21 via theguardian.com
  
  Nugent celebrates ‘glowing all American over the top time’ with Donald Trump after Palin says she extended invitation to controversial musiciansSarah Palin has finally made it to the Oval Office.The former governor of Alaska and vice-presidential nominee visited Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday night, along with the controversial musicians Ted Nugent and Kid Rock.Continue reading...
  
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• Tata Steel offers £520m pensions payment in bid to secure future

  20-04-2017 19:14 via theguardian.com
  
  Indian-owned company needs to hive off historic liabilities before merger with German company ThyssenKruppTata Steel could pay more than £500m into its UK pension scheme as part of a deal with regulators that involves the Pension Protection Fund taking a stake in the business.The Indian-owned company needs to find a solution to its pension scheme to secure the future of its UK operations, which employs 8,000 workers and includes the Port Talbot steelworks in south Wales. Tata Steel is tryi
  
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• Proms 2017: Pickard hasn't messed with an established formula

  20-04-2017 19:12 via theguardian.com
  
  This year’s BBC proms might be the first David Pickard can truly call his own, but the director has not risked changing a successful formula – and there’s plenty to savour in a season that fits in Reformation, revolution, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and HullThis year’s Proms programme is the first that director David Pickard can really claim as his own work. It suggests that Pickard isn’t going to be a radical innovator. His shifts of emphasis in what’s long esta
  
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• Russia bans Jehovah's Witnesses and labels group as extremists

  20-04-2017 19:02 via theguardian.com
  
  Religious organization can no longer operate in country, supreme court rulesHeadquarters and local chapters ordered to close and property will be seizedRussia’s supreme court has banned the Jehovah’s Witnesses from operating in the country, accepting a request from the justice ministry that the religious organization be considered an extremist group. Related: In Russia, the persecution of Jehovah’s Witnesses begins all over again | Giles Fraser: Loose canonContinue reading...
  
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