General news

• Theresa May refuses to admit u-turn on Tory social care plans

  22-05-2017 23:58
  
  Theresa May has defiantly refused to admit to a social care u-turn and blamed Labour "scaremongering" for her change in policy.The Prime Minister denied that she had rewritten the Conservative manifesto.
  
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• What do voters think of the Tory u-turn?

  22-05-2017 23:40
  
  What do voters think of the Tory u-turn?
  
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• NHS hospital and ambulance trusts run up £700m deficit, sources reveal

  22-05-2017 23:40
  
  NHS hospital and ambulance trusts in England have recorded a total deficit of more than £700m for the financial year to April 2017, Sky News can reveal.NHS sources have confirmed the deficit figure to Sky News just days after the Department of Health ruled that official accounts for 2016-17 could not be published until after the election because of their political sensitivity.The expected deficit of £700m shows an improvement on the £2.4bn shortfall run up by trusts in 2015-16,
  
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• Ben Stokes happy for England to take precedence despite missing IPL finale

  22-05-2017 23:22
  
  The England all-rounder has no issue with being recalled and missing the tournament’s final and remains focused on the ODI series against South AfricaThere are 5,000 miles between England and India and for Ben Stokes, just back from the IPL, Leeds seems a world away from Pune. He is here to prepare for England’s ODI against South Africa on Wednesday and, though Yorkshire is one of the few places on earth aside from India where cricket could fairly be described, to borrow Stokes&rsquo
  
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• My reaction to the Times Square crash: I hoped his name wasn't Muhammad | Mona Chalabi

  22-05-2017 23:06
  
  When I heard about the car crash, I worried that it was a terrorist attack. My first thought should have been about the consequences, not the motivesWhen I got a news alert last week saying that a car had crashed into pedestrians in New York’s Times Square, my first thought was: “Please, say the driver’s name isn’t Muhammad.” That’s wrong. My first thought should have been about the consequences, not the motives. I should have thought “I hope no one was
  
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• Warren Gatland fears Lions will lose up to 10 players to injury

  22-05-2017 22:59
  
  • Coach tried to convince Billy Vunipola to have second medical opinion
  • Sam Warburton says he is ‘fully fit’ following his knee injuryWarren Gatland fears the Lions will lose up to 10 players to injury over the next month following Billy Vunipola’s withdrawal from the squad heading for New Zealand. The head coach has also revealed he asked the England No8 to come to Ireland for a second medical opinion on his injured shoulder before respecting Vunipola’s reque
  
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• A meme come true: Rihanna and Lupita Nyong'o to star in film based on tweet

  22-05-2017 22:49
  
  Selma director Ava DuVernay will direct film for Netflix after joke movie pitch about photo of stars goes viral, with a script from Insecure breakout Issa RaeRihanna and Lupita Nyong’o are set to star in a buddy movie for director Ava DuVernay after a tweet of the two went viral.The Grammy-winning singer and Oscar-nomimnated actor were pictured together at a Miu Miu fashion show in 2014, which was then used as part of a joke movie pitch on Twitter in April. Continue reading...
  
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• 'Unfinished business' of stolen generations puts more children at risk – report

  22-05-2017 22:31
  
  Call for action on the 54 Bringing Them Home recommendations, most of which have either not been adopted or have only been partly implementedThe failure to implement the recommendations of the Bringing Them Home report has prolonged the social burden of trauma caused by forced child removals and potentially exposed another generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to harm, a new study has said. Launched ahead of Friday’s 20th anniversary of the report, the study by the H
  
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• Texas to pass bill banning transgender students from choosing bathrooms

  22-05-2017 22:27
  
  Lawmakers inserted a bathroom amendment into an otherwise unrelated bill and Texas’s House gave final approval, paving the way for Senate backingTexas is to pass a “bathroom bill” that will ban transgender students from using the restroom that aligns with their gender identity.Conservative politicians in Texas have agitated strongly for the measure despite the backlash against such a law in North Carolina, which involved economic boycotts and attempts to repeal it after it was
  
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• People are thankful they'll never be interviewed by Andrew Neil after watching him challenge Theresa May

  22-05-2017 22:19
  
  He’s got a reputation for a reason.
  
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• Will coal seam gas save Narrabri, or destroy it? – video

  22-05-2017 22:17
  
  In the first of a series of videos on critical issues confronting regional Australia, Gabrielle Chan investigates the proposed Narrabri gas project in New South Wales. The oil and gas company Santos proposes 850 wells in the Pilliga and some locals see the opportunity for jobs. But others warn of the potential damage to the land and the water supply. Now it’s up the NSW government to decideIn Narrabri, everyone has a stake in the farming v mining fight Continue reading...
  
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• May's election lead falls to 14 points as Labour draws support - ICM

  22-05-2017 22:10
  
  Britain's Labour Party has cut the lead of Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives to 14 points from 20 points a week ago, according to an ICM poll which showed Labour regaining ground in some of its most closely contested voting districts.Ahead of the June 8 election, the poll for the Guardian newspaper said support for the ruling Conservatives had fallen by 1 percentage point to 47 percent, while Labour jumped 5 points to 33 percent.Polls had put May's Conservatives on course for a big vict
  
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• Cannes 2017 day six: Nicole Kidman and Isabelle Huppert on the red carpet – in pictures

  22-05-2017 22:05
  
  The big premieres on the sixth day at Cannes film festival were The Killing of a Sacred Deer (from director Yorgos Lanthimos) and Michael Haneke’s Happy End Continue reading...
  
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• David Moyes needs the kiss of life after falling on his sword at Sunderland

  22-05-2017 22:02
  
  From the ‘chosen one’ at Manchester United to a footballing crossroads now that he has resigned at Sunderland the Scot needs to find his fire again
  David Moyes saw it as the high-point of his managerial career when chosen to succeed Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United by the man himself. He could never have imagined it would be the turning point, or that a reputation built so carefully could unravel so quickly. Related: David Moyes resigns as Sunderland manager without compensatio
  
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• Martin Rowson on Theresa May's 'dementia tax' U-turn – cartoon

  22-05-2017 22:00
  
  Continue reading...
  
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• Budget 2017 is a disaster for GPs. Unfreezing the Medicare rebate is not the cure | Dr Paul Mara

  22-05-2017 21:56
  
  The professional associations that are meant to advocate in our interests are not helping and patients are not being well served, either I’ll tell it like I see it and hang the consequences.The past three to four years, since the 2014 budget and before, have been a disaster for general practice. A litany of impoverished and discredited rhetoric from our professional associations has undermined the real opportunities to improve the professional standing, incomes and relevance of general pra
  
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• Theresa May struggles in Andrew Neil interview – video

  22-05-2017 21:49
  
  Speaking on BBC1’s The Andrew Neil Interviews, Theresa May struggles to defend her U-turn over the ‘dementia tax’. Last week, the Conservative manifesto rejected a cap on social care costs; now, May says there will be a capWatch the full interview on the BBC’s homepage
  Theresa May faces ‘chaos and confusion’ claimsContinue reading...
  
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• Theresa May faces 'chaos and confusion' claims after social care U-turn

  22-05-2017 21:44
  
  Prime minister spends day battling against accusations of indecision after change to policy outlined in manifestoTheresa May has been accused of “chaos, confusion and indecision” after announcing a U-turn on her plans to make people pay more for social care just days after they were first announced.
  The prime minister battled throughout Monday to defend her decision to put in place an “absolute limit” on the amount that people would have to pay despite no mention of the i
  
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• Theresa May faces 'chaos and confusion' claims after social care U-turn

  22-05-2017 21:44
  
  Theresa May comes under pressure at the launch of the Tory party’s manifesto for Wales in Cardiff.Theresa May has been accused of “chaos, confusion and indecision” after announcing a U-turn on her plans to make people pay more for social care just days after they were first announced.The prime minister battled throughout Monday to defend her decision to put in place an “absolute limit” on the amount that people would have to pay despite no mention of the idea in her
  
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• Politicians and protesters greet Trump in Israel – in pictures

  22-05-2017 21:39
  
  The next leg of Donald Trump’s first international visit saw him arrive in Israel greeted by politicians and religious leaders, but he was also met with protests. Palestinian demonstrators protested the visit, holding signs reading ‘US policy is shameful to humanity’ Continue reading...
  
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• Theresa May was grilled big time over her social care U-turn on The Andrew Neil Interviews

  22-05-2017 21:29
  
  He didn’t drop the topic.
  
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• Theresa May's responses to Andrew Neil's five toughest questions

  22-05-2017 21:24
  
  Theresa May struggles in Andrew Neil interview – video
  
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• County cricket round-up: Sangakkara and Trescothick show class in draws

  22-05-2017 21:21
  
  • Kumar Sangakkara hits two centuries for Surrey at Middlesex
  • Marcus Trescothick sets Somerset record against WarwickshireKumar Sangakkara fell early on the final morning of Surrey’s draw with Middlesex, tempted into wafting at James Franklin, but by then his work was done; the baton was picked up by young players – Ben Foakes and the Curran brothers, Sam and Tom – whose games he has so profoundly influenced, who manoeuvred Surrey into a position Middlesex would not
  
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• Team May takes a hit to dampen 'dementia tax' backlash

  22-05-2017 21:17
  
  “Thank God, what a relief.” That was the verdict of one Tory candidate in a marginal seat on Monday upon hearing that while he’d been out knocking on doors, Theresa May had announced a crucial “clarification” of her social care policy by adding a cap on overall care costs.May and her tight group of close aides, including campaign supremo Sir Lynton Crosby, had decided to take the political hit of a U-turn rather than allow the “dementia tax” to go on dom
  
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• The violence of Erdoğan’s bodyguards in Washington DC is Turkey's new normal | Ahmet A Sabancı

  22-05-2017 21:14
  
  The violent scenes in the US capital were typical of Turkey, where anyone who criticizes the government is labeled a terrorist and treated with brutalityOn 17 May, a slice of Erdoğan’s Turkey found its way to Washington DC. That day, a group of Kurdish Americans gathered outside the Turkish ambassador’s residence to protest against the Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. There, they were beaten, threatened and attacked by the Turkish leader’s bodyguards. A total o
  
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• NHS trusts overspend by £770m despite bailout funding

  22-05-2017 21:11
  
  Trusts fail to limit overspending to £580m but make inroads into previous year’s £2.45bn figureNHS trusts overspent by £770m last year in the latest sign that hospitals are finding it impossible to meet fast-rising demand for care while their finances are facing an unprecedented squeeze. That total is £190m more than the £580m maximum that health service bosses had sought from England’s 236 NHS trusts in 2016-17.Continue reading...
  
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• Parents of sick baby Charlie Gard set for Court of Appeal hearing over ruling to end life support

  22-05-2017 21:08
  Chris Gard, 32, and Connie Yates, 31, were left devastated after High Court judges ruled that doctors can withdraw life support from their nine-month-old son.The couple are challenging the High Court decision and three judges at the Court of Appeal are listed to consider the case on Tuesday morning.Charlie is currently being treated for a rare genetic condition at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London as the legal fight over his care continues.
  
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• Space sperm produces healthy mice, raising prospect of future human settlement

  22-05-2017 21:00
  
  Scientists say success of freeze-dried mouse sperm stored on international station could be significant for human reproduction when ‘space age’ arrivesReproduction may be possible in space, Japanese researchers have said, after freeze-dried sperm stored on the International Space Station for nine months produced healthy offspring.The scientists said their findings could have significant ramifications for human settlements in space, which they consider “likely”. Continue r
  
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• Cyberattack fixer: 'I'm not a hero'

  22-05-2017 21:00
  
  Marcus Hutchins, who registered the domain name that took down the virus, says he shouldn't take all of the credit.
  
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• A Premier League season of soap opera where football felt like background music | Barney Ronay

  22-05-2017 21:00
  
  The 2016-17 season still had its drama – moments of brilliance and booming narrative arcs to be resolved – but it was less title race than well-ordered title jogFarewell, then, to the year that almost was. This was a Premier League season that sparked with a controlled excitement, never quite caught fire but still dished up another digestible slice of high-end product.Things kept on almost happening. Leicester City almost completed the most dramatic title-plus-relegation act of
  
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• RBS could rob us of the chance to see Fred Goodwin grilled in court | Nils Pratley

  22-05-2017 20:57
  
  The case would give valuable insight into the biggest failure in UK banking history – but now the bank is attempting to settleWhat spoilsports they are at Royal Bank of Scotland. We’ve waited years to hear again from Fred Goodwin and Sir Tom McKillop, chief executive and chairman of the bank when it sank in 2008. Now the board wants to kill the legal case that could see the duo, plus two other former directors, cross-examined in court.RBS’s attempt to settle with the 9,000 shar
  
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• Big energy firms lobby Theresa May to water down price cap pledge

  22-05-2017 20:57
  
  Electricity and gas suppliers push for compromise that would see price caps for 6m rather than 17m householdsEnergy companies are lobbying the Conservative party to water down its policy of a price cap on bills, with proposals that would protect millions fewer UK households from tariff rises.Theresa May has promised to cap electricity and gas costs for 17 million families on default energy deals, called standard variable tariffs, after five of the big six suppliers increased prices. But under a
  
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• The Guardian view on the Green party: useful and necessary | Editorial

  22-05-2017 20:53
  
  The Greens should be praised for wanting to flatten inequalities. The Conservatives’ plans to change the electoral system in England are a cynical act to silence their voiceBritain’s political parties are bundles of opinion, yet this diversity is often submerged by party unity. Even worse, the distance between parties shrinks because of Britain’s first-past-the-post electoral arrangement. It’s an unforgiving system that disadvantages smaller parties, which tend to re
  
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• NHS trusts run up £700m deficit, Sky News sources reveal

  22-05-2017 20:53
  
  NHS hospital and ambulance trusts in England have recorded a total deficit of more than £700m for the financial year to April 2017, Sky News can reveal.NHS sources have confirmed the deficit figure to Sky News just days after the Department of Health ruled that official accounts for 2016-17 could not be published until after the election because of their political sensitivity.The expected deficit of £700m shows an improvement on the £2.4bn shortfall run up by trusts in 2015-16,
  
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• FA asks bookmakers for observations on John Terry substitution send-off

  22-05-2017 20:52
  
  • Punters wagered bets at odds of 100-1 on specific time player was to exit field• No suggestion it was anything other than Chelsea wanting fitting tributeThe Football Association has contacted bookmakers seeking their observations after payments were apparently made to punters who had wagered bets at odds of 100-1 on the specific time of John Terry’s substitution against Sunderland.Paddy Power had accepted the bets on Terry being replaced between 26:00 and 26:59, matching his sh
  
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• Sinkhole in one? Mysterious pit appears outside Trump's Mar-a-Lago club

  22-05-2017 20:51
  
  Repair crews conduct ‘exploratory dig’ to find the cause of a sudden sinkhole outside the president’s Palm Beach resort, as the jokes began pouring inThe latest crisis threatening to swallow Donald Trump’s administration has surfaced at the US president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida: a 4ft-wide sinkhole that has mysteriously opened up in the roadway outside.Officials said repair crews were conducting an “exploratory dig” on Monday to find the cause of t
  
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• May says has support for long-held immigration target - BBC

  22-05-2017 20:43
  
  Prime Minister Theresa May denied on Monday that her top ministers did not support a target to bring down immigration to the tens of thousands, rejecting reports of a split in her cabinet over one of the issues that drove Britain's Brexit vote.
  
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• Blooming into action

  22-05-2017 20:40 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Take a look around the Chelsea Flower Show, a day before doors open to the general public.
  
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• Racing news and tips: Photo-finish punters slayed by Carlisle’s Dragon

  22-05-2017 20:31
  
  • Big wins and losses on betting exchange after three-way photo-finish
  • Punters risk large sums at 999-1; £43,000 changes hands in one marketAt least one punter backed a winner at 999-1 after it had already crossed the line on Monday while others lost a combined total of nearly £43,000 at short odds after a three-way photo-finish at Carlisle in which the winner appeared to many observers to have finished second at best.Ventura Dragon, the 5-4 favourite for the five-furlong
  
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• Human rights activists criticize US praise for lack of Saudi Arabia protests

  22-05-2017 20:18
  
  US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross suggested no protesters was a sign of Saudi Arabia’s goodwill, but laws there strictly forbid any demonstrationsThe US commerce secretary Wilbur Ross’s praise for the lack of protests during Donald Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia has been criticized by civil rights activists who pointed out that protesting in Saudi Arabia is illegal.Ross travelled with the US president to Saudi Arabia in the first stage of his first international tour since takin
  
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• Judge calls Michael Barrymore evidence 'double double hearsay'

  22-05-2017 20:16
  Some of the evidence used by police to arrest TV star Michael Barrymore for rape and murder over the death of Stuart Lubbock has been branded "double double hearsay" by a High Court Judge.Mr Barrymore is suing Essex Police for compensation after he was unlawfully arrested and detained in 2007, six years after Mr Lubbock was found unconscious in the TV star's pool following a house party.Mr Lubbock died at Mr Barrymore's home in March 2001.
  
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• Al Gore at Cannes: 'Trump cannot stop the solutions to the climate crisis'

  22-05-2017 20:10
  
  The former US vice-president and environmental activist said there was hope in the fight against climate change – but the world and the US had to actAl Gore believes that Donald Trump will not halt the momentum of the climate movement even if he withdraws the US from the Paris agreement.Speaking at a press engagement for his new documentary An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power, the former US vice-president and environmental activist said that he was confident Trump would commit to the hi
  
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• Premier League 2016-17 review: flop of the season

  22-05-2017 20:00
  
  From two underwhelming managerial stints in the north-east to a struggling goalkeeper at a leading contender. Now post your suggestionsWelcome to theguardian.com review of the 2016-17 Premier League season. Now that the campaign has ended we would like you to help us choose your favourite goal, the best referee and the best manager, and other winners in a total of 10 categories. We have nominated some contenders but this is just to get the discussion going: we would like your suggestions so that
  
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• Online top ranking: what does Amazon Charts mean for the book industry?

  22-05-2017 19:41
  
  Amazon’s new rating system for the book market is seeking to challenge the decades-long dominance of the New York Times bestseller statusFor nine decades, the New York Times bestseller lists have been the industry gold standard when it comes to obtaining a seal of approval that will make readers sit up and pay attention. But like most things in the book industry, it’s something Amazon has in its sights.Last week the online retailer launched Amazon Charts, which complements the site&r
  
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• Britain won't accept EU's 'obsession' with ECJ in Brexit talks - minister

  22-05-2017 19:38
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain will not accept the "one-sided" powers of the European Court of Justice as part of a deal to leave the European Union, Brexit minister David Davis said on Monday, criticising what he called an "ideological obsession" with the court in Brussels. The EU's plan for negotiating Britain's departure from the bloc was set on Monday, giving chief negotiator Michel Barnier the green light to launch talks in June. "The deal we reach will need independent and impartial enforcemen
  
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• David Moyes quits as Sunderland manager after Premier League relegation

  22-05-2017 19:36
  David Moyes has resigned as manager of Sunderland following the club's relegation from the Premier League.The former Manchester United and Everton manager led the Black Cats during a disastrous campaign in which they finished bottom of the table, with just six wins from their 38 games.Moyes advised the Sunderland chairman and chief executive of his decision to leave the club at a meeting in London on Monday morning.
  
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• May's election lead falls 14 points as Labour draws support - ICM

  22-05-2017 19:34
  
  Britain's Labour Party has cut the lead of Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives to 14 points from 20 points a week ago, according to an ICM poll which showed Labour regaining ground in some of its most closely contested voting districts.Ahead of the June 8 election, the poll for the Guardian newspaper said support for the ruling Conservatives had fallen by 1 percentage point to 47 percent, while Labour jumped 5 points to 33 percent.Polls had put May's Conservatives on course for a big vict
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn plans to speak to families of IRA Hyde Park bombing victims

  22-05-2017 19:34
  
  It is understood Labour leader has expressed interest in campaign of families and supports their efforts to get justice Jeremy Corbyn would like to speak to the families of victims killed in the IRA Hyde Park bombing, the Guardian has learned, as accusations surrounding the Labour leader’s past links to the organisation continue to dog the party.Relatives of the four soldiers killed in the IRA attack in July 1982 are engaged in a fundraising campaign to finance a legal action against the o
  
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• Theresa May says Corbyn hates Britain but she is the one who doesn't understand it | Paul Mason

  22-05-2017 19:18
  
  It’s good to love your country but it’s also fine to sometimes dislike and criticise itThe first time I left Britain on my own I was 19. I got the ferry to Dieppe and a train to the Val d’Oise, where a French miner handed me a badge saying “Nationalité: proletaire”.I’ve lost that badge, but a part of my psyche still wears it. Because, in the 20th century, to be opposed to the excesses of capitalism meant being opposed to nationalism. It was something th
  
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• L'Atelier review – words become weapons in Laurent Cantet's study of a writing workshop

  22-05-2017 19:16
  
  The Palme d’Or winner (for The Class) returns with a drama that throws together disparate aspiring writers, in a film that suggests debate can be as exciting as actionLaurent Cantet’s L’Atelier shares a highly effective central device with his 2009 Palme d’Or winner The Class: the social and economic issues of a place – in L’Atelier’s case the once-thriving port town of La Ciotat, near Marseille in the south of France – are explored through the med
  
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