General news

• Conservative election expenses charging decision due

  09-05-2017 23:47 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Prosecutors have been examining files from several police forces relating to the 2015 general election.
  
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• 800 jobs to go in Standard Life's £11bn merger with Aberdeen Asset Management

  09-05-2017 23:33
  
  The planned £11bn merger between Standard Life and Aberdeen Asset Management will result in 800 job cuts, it has been disclosed.Standard Life set out the numbers in a prospectus for the the tie-up between the Scottish-based companies, two of the UK's biggest fund managers - plans for which were first revealed by Sky News in March.The prospectus said some of the savings would come from natural turnover of employees while other steps would be taken "to minimise the number of compulsory redun
  
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• Who should take the bins out? All the reaction to Theresa May's appearance on The One Show

  09-05-2017 23:17
  
  The Prime Minister appeared with her husband Philip – and their marriage was a hot topic.
  
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• Funds merger creates 'global champion'

  09-05-2017 23:00
  
  Standard Life chairman Sir Gerry Grimstone says its £11bn merger with Aberdeen Asset Management will create a global champion - but admits there will be some job losses
  
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• Theresa May deploys weapon of mass domesticity

  09-05-2017 22:53
  
  Theresa May deployed a weapon of mass domesticity on Tuesday - her husband of 37 years, Philip - in a bid to show the public this particular iron lady has a softer side.The credits had barely rolled before the Prime Minister revealed that Philip put the bins out because that was a "boy's job".
  
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• PM: Philip takes out the bins - it's a boy job

  09-05-2017 22:50
  
  The Prime Minister says that her husband, Philip, takes out the bins because it's a boy job as she paints a picture of life chez May.
  
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• Bins, cooking, the bedroom - May offers glimpse of private life

  09-05-2017 22:44
  
  By Elizabeth PiperLONDON (Reuters) - He takes the garbage out, she cooks at weekends and work never enters the bedroom - British Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip offered a glimpse of their private lives in a television interview on Tuesday.In the run up to her first election as prime minister, May is trying almost every tack to win the votes she says she needs to strengthen her hand in divorce negotiations with the European Union and cement her standing as Britain's leader.After
  
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• Paul Pogba's £89m Manchester Utd transfer 'to be investigated'

  09-05-2017 22:43
  Paul Pogba's world record £89m football transfer to Manchester United is to be investigated, according to a FIFA source.
  
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• British holiday rep injured in Portugal acid attack

  09-05-2017 22:38 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Eleanor Chessell is being treated at a specialist burns unit in Lisbon after the attack on Saturday.
  
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• Supreme leader produces pure TV Valium on The One Show | John Crace

  09-05-2017 22:27
  
  ‘I get to choose when to put the bins out.’ Philip May is clearly a man whose sense of humour doesn’t get many chances to shine.Philip looked relatively happy to be on the sofa chatting to Matt Baker and Alex Jones.Theresa could hardly have appeared more awkward if she tried.
  
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• Labour leader on why nobody can be happy

  09-05-2017 22:10
  
  Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has told Sky News that there is "a lot of anger" in the country and "rightly so".
  
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• Schoolgirl dies in theme park tragedy

  09-05-2017 22:00
  
  Emergency services arrived at Drayton Manor Park to find a girl with serious injuries and airlifted her to hospital.
  
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• Liverpool man admits charges after girl badly injured in dog attack

  09-05-2017 22:00
  A Liverpool man had admitted being in charge of four dangerously out-of-control dogs after an attack that left a two-year-old girl seriously injured.Andrew McGowan, 35, of Cockburn Street, Toxteth, was conditionally bailed at Liverpool and Knowsley Magistrates' Court.The youngster was playing in the garden of a house in Toxteth on Sunday afternoon when she was attacked.
  
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• Philip May: 'I take the bins out'

  09-05-2017 21:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Theresa May and her husband tell the One Show there's no negotiation over the domestic chores.
  
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• Theresa May had wanted to be prime minister for years, husband says

  09-05-2017 21:27
  
  Theresa May’s husband has let slip that she had wanted to be prime minister for at least seven yearssince she was an established member of the shadow cabinet.Philip May made the admission during a joint interview with his wife on BBC1’s The One Show, in which the pair talked about their life together.The banker said his wife had first mentioned wanting to lead the country when she was “well established in the shadow cabinet”, which she first entered in 1999.
  
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• Cumbrian zoo where 500 animals died granted new licence

  09-05-2017 21:08
  
  A zoo in Cumbria where nearly 500 animals died in less than four years has been granted a new licence by the local authority.In February a damning report on conditions at South Lakes Safari zoo in Dalton-in-Furness said 486 animals died of causes including emaciation and hypothermia between December 2013 and September 2016.The founder of the zoo, David Gill, was refused a licence to run the zoo in March after handing responsibility for the business to a new company, Cumbria Zoo Company Ltd, in J
  
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• What we can learn from the French election | Letters

  09-05-2017 20:52
  
  Emmanuel Macron celebrates at the Louvre in Paris on Sunday evening.To read your depressing editorial (8 May) and the surprisingly negative piece by your normally brilliant columnist Timothy Garton Ash (This is only a reprieve, 8 May), one would have thought Emmanuel Macron had actually lost the French presidential election instead of winning by a near-record margin.Macron’s 65.5% of the poll (comparable with our EU referendum in 1975) was very much higher than those achieved by De Gaulle,
  
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• Justin Welby: 'moment of opportunity' near in Middle East conflict

  09-05-2017 20:39
  
  Justin Welby spoke to several key leaders in Israel and Palestine.The archbishop of Canterbury has said a “moment of opportunity” could be within reach in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after he met political leaders from both sides during a trip to the Holy Land.Justin Welby held separate talks with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in which both spoke positively about the possibility of reviving peace talks in the coming
  
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• Whitehall suspect charged with terror and explosives offences

  09-05-2017 20:26
  A man arrested close to Downing Street last month has been charged with preparing terrorist acts and explosives offences.Khalid Mohammed Omar Ali, 27, of north London, is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.The first charge relates to 27 April, the day he was arrested in Whitehall, and accuses him of preparing to commit acts of terrorism "on or before" that date.
  
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• Time to get real about grammatical terminology | Letters

  09-05-2017 20:26
  
  ‘Heaven preserve us from adverbials and those who want to introduce them into the curriculum,’ writes Ruth Baden.How sad to see the waste of time that is grammatical terminology making a comeback (Experts on the frontline in fight over ‘fronted adverbials’, 9 May).More talk in the classroom and more encouragement to use language clearly and accurately is what is needed not the parlour game of name this grammatical construction.
  
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• South Lakes Safari Zoo allowed to stay open after nearly 500 animal deaths

  09-05-2017 20:26
  South Lakes Safari Zoo in Dalton-in-Furness was denied a licence in March after it emerged 486 animals died between January 2013 and September 2016, including three which were run over by a miniature railway train.Despite this, the zoo will remain open after new operator Cumbria Zoo Company Ltd had its application for a licence approved by councillors in Barrow.
  
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• Austerity, inequality and debt still a threat | Letters

  09-05-2017 20:22
  
  More and more cars are only available on personal contract deals, writes Maureen Panton.Larry Elliott’s attack on economic policy (Falling wages show the economy is still struggling, 8 May) does not go far enough.Real GDP per head just crept back in 2015 to the level it was in 2007.
  
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• Ex-football coach Barry Bennell charged with 21 more sex offences

  09-05-2017 20:21 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The 63-year-old former coach at Crewe Alexandra is accused of a total of 41 sex abuse offences
  
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• Girl dies after accident on Drayton Manor's Splash Canyon ride

  09-05-2017 20:09
  An 11-year-old girl on a school trip has died after falling into the water from a river rapids ride at a Staffordshire theme park.The girl, thought to be from the Leicester area, was flown to Birmingham Children's Hospital but died shortly after arriving.West Midlands Ambulance Service said it had been called at 2.18pm, with an emergency response team on the scene within seven minutes.
  
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• Labour leader promises good EU deal, won't say he would lead Britain out

  09-05-2017 20:05
  Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Tuesday his Labour Party would negotiate a divorce deal with the EU to secure tariff-free trade if it won power next month, but declined to say whether he would lead Britain out of the bloc no matter what.In an interview with the BBC, Corbyn criticised British Prime Minister Theresa May for her "megaphone diplomacy" and "threats", suggesting that she was poisoning the Brexit talks with the European Union before they had begun in earnest.
  
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• Man arrested after UK 'hostage' incident shown live on Facebook

  09-05-2017 19:50
  
  A still from the video shot in Spalton Road, Rotherham, which was viewed more than 60,000 times.A man has been arrested following a “hostage” negotiation that was broadcast live on Facebook and watched more than 60,000 times.South Yorkshire police said a 42-year-old man was arrested following the siege in Spalton Road, Rotherham, on Monday night.
  
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• Liverpool mayor says Labour party is 'not always a meritocracy'

  09-05-2017 19:50
  
  Labour’s longstanding mayor of Liverpool complained that the party is “not always a meritocracy” after he was defeated in the race to be selected as the candidate for a safe seat in the city.Joe Anderson spoke out after he lost out to Dan Carden, a relatively unknown adviser to Len McCluskey, the general secretary of Unite, for the party’s nomination in the seat of Liverpool Walton.
  
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• Man jailed for attempted rape in Oxford in 1986

  09-05-2017 19:44 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Philip Spriggs jumped out of bushes and grabbed a 13-year-old girl as she walked home 31 years ago.
  
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• South Lakes Safari Zoo wins new licence after takeover

  09-05-2017 19:33 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Council backs application after staff-backed company takes reins from under-fire founder.
  
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• Girl, 11, dies after Drayton Manor theme park fall

  09-05-2017 19:08 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Police say the girl was on a school trip when she fell into the water on the Splash Canyon ride.
  
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• Girl dies after UK theme park accident

  09-05-2017 19:04
  A girl died after she fell into water at a theme park in central England on Tuesday, emergency services said.Paramedics and firefighters were called after the 11-year-old was reported to have fallen into the water at the Splash Canyon ride at the family-owned Drayton Manor park in Staffordshire.The girl, believed to be from Leicester, central England, was airlifted to hospital.
  
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• Westminster operation: Man charged with preparing terrorist acts

  09-05-2017 19:03 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Khalid Mohamed Omar Ali, from north London, has been charged with preparing terrorist acts.
  
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• Speedboat victims were suspected puppy smugglers

  09-05-2017 19:02 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Sandy Hamilton and Kevin James McKinley died after the accident off the Galloway coast on Sunday.
  
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• Tory MPs plot to water down Theresa May's energy price cap pledge

  09-05-2017 19:00
  
  Theresa May refused to confirm whether bills would definitely go down as a result of an energy price cap.Theresa May will face a battle within her own party as well as with the energy companies if she decides to go ahead with a cap on gas and electricity prices.A number of Tory MPs favouring free market policies, including some at senior ministerial level, feel the plan is far too interventionist for a Conservative government, and are aiming to water down the proposal in the next parliament.
  
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• Southern Health faces Connor Sparrowhawk drowning charges

  09-05-2017 18:51 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Connor Sparrowhawk drowned after suffering an epileptic fit in July 2013.
  
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• May says she will hold free vote on allowing foxhunting if elected

  09-05-2017 18:47
  
  Theresa May has said she will hold a free vote on overturning the foxhunting ban in England and Wales if she is returned as prime minister at the general election.Speaking in Yorkshire, May said she was personally in favour of foxhunting and would want to keep the Conservative party’s commitment to letting parliament have another say on the issue.“As it happens, personally I have always been in favour of foxhunting and we maintain our commitment,” May said.
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn: People are angry and 'rightly so'

  09-05-2017 18:47
  Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has told Sky News that there is "a lot of anger" in the country and "rightly so".Speaking on the day he officially launched his party's General Election campaign, he said communities were being "diminished" and there were "greater levels of poverty".Labour has pledged to increase income tax for people earning more than £80,000 if elected.
  
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• Aine Davis guilty of being senior Islamic State member

  09-05-2017 18:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Londoner Aine Davis, suspected of being associate of man known as Jihadi John, is jailed in Turkey.
  
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• Walthamstow stabbing victim was at anti-knife crime rally hours earlier

  09-05-2017 18:17
  
  The victim, found injured on Walthamstow High Street in north-east London, died in hospital.A 17-year-old boy who died after being stabbed in north-east London on Sunday night had attended an anti-knife crime rally earlier that day, one of the protest organisers has said.Elijah Dornelly was found injured on Walthamstow High Street at about 11.30pm and died later in hospital.
  
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• A teen's plea for a year's supply of chicken nuggets is officially the most retweeted tweet of all time

  09-05-2017 18:13
  
  The 16-year-old’s #NuggForCarter call has been retweeted over 3.4 million times.
  
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• Farmers fear for their crops after the driest April on record

  09-05-2017 17:55
  
  Farmers have warned crops could be ruined if it does not rain soon.One of the driest Aprils on record could ruin crops in the most arid parts of the country if it does not start raining soon, farmers have warned.Whisky and beer production could be affected if May and June prove similarly dry, with crops such as malting barley particularly vulnerable if not given enough water when they sprout in spring, according to Guy Smith, the vice-chair of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU).
  
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• 'Manipulated' drug test data probe extended - police

  09-05-2017 17:52 via bbc.co.uk
  
  "Scores" of convictions could be overturned after data manipulation claims, police chiefs warn.
  
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• Dingle toddler dog attack: Owner pleads guilty to charges

  09-05-2017 17:52 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The dogs involved were American bully dogs which are not a banned breed.
  
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• Theresa May wants to bring back fox hunting

  09-05-2017 17:51
  The Prime Minister says she has "always been in favour of fox hunting" and will recommit to the 2015 Conservative Manifesto promise to give Parliament the chance to make a decision."As it happens, personally I have always been in favour of fox hunting, and we maintain our commitment, we have had a commitment previously as a Conservative Party, to allow a free vote.The Labour government banned fox hunting in England and Wales in 2004 but the issue has remained highly divisive.
  
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• London exhibition celebrates 50 years of Pink Floyd

  09-05-2017 17:51
  
  The Victoria and Albert Museum hosts "The Pink Floyd Exhibition: Their Mortal Remains", to mark the 50th anniversary of the release of the British band's debut album, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn"."It's not just about nostalgia," said Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason, who worked with the designers behind some of the band's most legendary album artwork, Aubrey "Po" Powell and Storm Thorgerson, to conceive and develop the exhibition.
  
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• Thief steals Daventry tortoises in trouser pockets

  09-05-2017 17:44 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The man broke into a vivarium before putting the tortoises in his pockets and making off with them.
  
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• Can this Troubles-scarred city make peace with Prince Charles?

  09-05-2017 17:43
  Unionists, who call it "Londonderry", warmly welcome the heir to the throne.Forty-five years ago, the Regiment shot 14 people dead here.It began with a civil rights march and ended with a day forever labelled "Bloody Sunday".
  
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• Girl airlifted to hospital after UK theme park accident

  09-05-2017 17:41
  A girl was airlifted to hospital after she fell into water at a theme park in central England on Tuesday, emergency services said.Paramedics and firefighters were called after the 11-year-old was reported to have fallen into the water at the Splash Canyon ride at the family-owned Drayton Manor park in Staffordshire.Superintendent Carl Ratcliffe from Staffordshire Police said the girl, believed to be from Leicester, central England, had been airlifted to hospital.
  
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• Banksy 'EU star' mural vandalised

  09-05-2017 17:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The words "the Clash" have been added to the artwork since it appeared near Dover's ferry terminal.
  
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• Thousands of convictions 'may be unsafe' due to concerns over forensic evidence

  09-05-2017 17:23
  
  Thousands of criminal investigations are being re-examined after suspicions that lab staff tampered with forensic tests.Some 6,000 blood samples are being retested after two scientists working for Randox Testing Services since 2014 were arrested for "manipulating data".Randox is one of six companies licensed to carry out toxicology tests for various police forces in England and Wales.
  
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