General news

• Harrowing footage from the inside of Grenfell Tower has been released

  18-06-2017 22:51
  
  The investigations at Grenfell have led police to believe the “number of people missing, but as yet unaccounted for” has risen from 58.
  
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• 'Indescribable' damage inside Grenfell revealed

  18-06-2017 22:22
  
  Footage has been released which shows the "indescribable" damage caused by the Grenfell Tower blaze.
  
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• Footage emerges from inside fire-ravaged tower

  18-06-2017 22:20
  
  Video from the Metropolitan Police shows the extent of the damage inside Grenfell Tower, with entire flats left completely destroyed after the blaze.
  
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• Grenfell Tower tragedy: police expect number of missing to rise above 58

  18-06-2017 20:53
  
  The investigations at Grenfell Tower have led police to believe the number of people missing, but as yet unaccounted for has risen from 58, the Metropolitan police has confirmed.Releasing the first images from inside the burnt-out building, Commander Stuart Cundy said some of the victims may never be identified.The news came as Theresa May announced that all families left homeless by the Grenfell Tower fire would receive at least £5,500 to help them rebuild their lives.
  
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• Man arrested over murder of Wigan student Ellen Higginbottom

  18-06-2017 20:49
  Ellen Higginbottom died after being brutally attacked near Winstanley College, and her body was discovered at Orrell Water Park in the early hours of Saturday morning.Greater Manchester Police says the suspect was detained on Sunday afternoon in nearby Billinge, and is currently in custody for questioning.Detective Superintendent Howard Millington has stressed the investigation "is still in its early stages".
  
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• Girlfriend of missing Corrie McKeague announces birth of child

  18-06-2017 20:49
  
  The girlfriend of the missing RAF serviceman Corrie McKeague has given birth to a baby girl, she announced on Facebook.April-Louise Oliver posted a picture on Sunday – Father’s Day – of her cradling the newborn in a hospital bed.McKeague, from Fife, vanished after a night out with friends in Bury St Edmunds last year.
  
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• A democratic Brexit can only be achieved with cross-party consensus | Letters

  18-06-2017 20:37
  
  The favourite solution for a soft Brexit is now apparently the Norwegian model.Ian Rutledge (Letters, 14 June) reminds us that the Norwegian option will not satisfy the concerns of those who voted leave.
  
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• Queen’s speech must push housing reform | Letters

  18-06-2017 20:33
  
  The burnt-out remains of Grenfell Tower in London.The catastrophic fire in Grenfell Tower must have political repercussions profoundly affecting the homes of the poorest tenants.The Queen’s speech is immediately available.
  
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• Student loans are deeply unfair | Letters

  18-06-2017 20:27
  
  In your piece about the Open University (Jobs put at risk as Open University seeks £100m in savings, 14 June) you mention the impact of the introduction of tuition fees.In fact, OU students have always paid tuition fees and these increased, in line with inflation, for over 40 years.The sweetener offered in return was access to student loans.
  
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• See all the best pictures from this year's Tough Mudder event

  18-06-2017 20:14
  
  Because who doesn’t want to see people racing through 100,000 gallons of mud?
  
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• Sadiq Khan leads mourners at St Clements church service

  18-06-2017 20:05
  
  For days it has been a makeshift warehouse for the relief effort, a place of shelter for the traumatised, destitute and grieving and a focal point for visiting dignitaries and politicians.On Sunday, in the forbidding shadow of Grenfell Tower, the church of St Clements and St James became a place of worship once more.Local residents and people from elsewhere in London gathered to hug each other in welcome, children on their way to Sunday school laughed and babies cried in their parents’ arm
  
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• Grenfell Tower families to receive minimum of £5,500 from No 10

  18-06-2017 20:00
  
  Every family whose home was destroyed in the Grenfell Tower fire will receive a down-payment of at least £5,500 on Monday.The Prime Minister has confirmed that each affected household is going to receive £500 in cash, as well as £5,000 delivered through the Department of Work and Pensions.Theresa May, who has faced criticism for her response to the tragedy in North Kensington, said: "As we continue to respond to the needs of the community, our focus is on ensuring that all of t
  
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• Fire crews applauded as they leave Grenfell Tower

  18-06-2017 19:40
  
  Firefighters leaving Grenfell Tower after days of hard work have been brought to tears as local residents gave them a round of applause.
  
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• In pictures: Father's Day cards left for fire victims

  18-06-2017 19:26 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Cards and flowers mount up in tribute to the 58 people believed to have died in the Grenfell Tower fire.
  
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• Grenfell Tower families to get £5,500 government payout

  18-06-2017 19:17
  
  Families left homeless by the Grenfell Tower fire are to receive more than £5,000 to help them rebuild their lives, with £500 available immediately in cash, Theresa May has announced.The cash payments are already being distributed by Kensington and Chelsea council to affected households, and from Monday payments of £5,000 will be put into bank accounts.The money, which comes from the £5m emergency fund announced by Downing Street, may be increased if necessary.
  
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• Theresa May: safe for now, but credibility damaged beyond repair

  18-06-2017 19:12
  
  Theresa May leaving Downing Street to visit the Queen on Friday 9 June.Theresa May will face parliament this week reasonably confident that speculation about an imminent leadership challenge remains unfounded, but knowing that her long-term credibility with her party has been damaged beyond repair.The newspapers over the weekend carried stories saying that May is facing a “stalking horse” leadership challenge, or that she has been given just “10 days to save her premiership&rdq
  
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• Pain without gain: the truth about austerity | Phillip Inman

  18-06-2017 18:54
  
  There are few people in the developed world who still cling to the maxim that “home life ceases to be free and beautiful as soon as it is founded on borrowing and debt”.The government knows this only too well.Together with April’s shocker, when government borrowing was higher than the same month last year, the first two months of this financial year are forecast to show the borrowing requirement for the year is on track to be higher, not lower than last year.
  
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• Number of under-18s on antidepressants in England rises by 12%

  18-06-2017 18:38
  
  Some experts fear antidepressants are being overprescribed because of long waits for psychotherapy.Tens of thousands of young people in England, including children as young as six, are being prescribed antidepressants by their doctors.overprescribing strong medication because of stretched and underfunded mental health services.
  
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• Grenfell Tower fire: Watch the community break into song at Sunday service

  18-06-2017 18:31
  
  A number of Father’s Day cards have been left outside of churches in the area.
  
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• Wigan student killed in 'brutal' attack named as Ellen Higginbottom

  18-06-2017 18:17
  Friends have described Ellen Higginbottom as a "lovely and caring young girl" who will be remembered for her love of horses.Classmates said the 18-year-old student at Winstanley College was "taken far too young" after her body was found at Orrell Water Park in the early hours of Saturday morning.A post-mortem examination has concluded that Ellen had suffered multiple wounds to the neck.
  
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• Phillip Hammond damns the Maybot with faint praise

  18-06-2017 17:18
  
  Phillip Hammond blinked uneasily.Both Andrew Marr and Robert Peston appeared almost as surprised to see the chancellor as he was to see them.The exit poll must have been a bitter sweet moment, Marr observed.
  
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• Philip Hammond damns the Maybot with faint praise

  18-06-2017 17:18
  
  Philip Hammond blinked uneasily.Both Andrew Marr and Robert Peston appeared almost as surprised to see the chancellor as he was to see them.The exit poll must have been a bittersweet moment, Marr observed.
  
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• Ant McPartlin 'checks into rehab for prescription drug and drink problems'

  18-06-2017 17:12
  Declan Donnelly has thanked fans for their support for TV partner Ant McPartlin amid reports he has checked into rehab to fight prescription drug and alcohol problems.McPartlin says he has "let people down" and wanted to speak out about his issues so he could help others.The 41-year-old star, one half of presenting duo Ant and Dec, told The Sun on Sunday: "I feel like I have let a lot of people down and for that I am truly sorry.
  
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• London fire: Community claps and cheers firefighters

  18-06-2017 16:50 via bbc.co.uk
  
  People in the Grenfell Tower area applauded firefighters as they drove away.
  
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• Top bullfighter Ivan Fandino gored to death after tripping on cape

  18-06-2017 16:06
  
  A Spanish bullfighter has been gored to death during a festival in France, after stumbling on his cape.Ivan Fandino, 36, died on Saturday (17 June) as he was rushed to hospital reportedly suffering a heart attack, a result of a serious lung injury sustained from the bull.Fandino had already competed in bullfights earlier in the day.
  
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• Man and children in 'miraculous escape' after car plummets off flyover

  18-06-2017 15:55
  A man and two children, aged five and six, have had an incredible escape after their car shot off a flyover and plunged into the road below.Pictures of the accident on Saturday evening show a silver Lexus lying on its side on the road with its bonnet smashed.West Midlands Ambulance Service, which took the pictures, said the three people in the car had an "almost miraculous escape".
  
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• David Lammy: 'This demands a proper criminal investigation'

  18-06-2017 15:45
  
  Labour MP David Lammy calls for a criminal investigation into the Grenfell Tower fire.
  
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• Grenfell Tower cladding is banned in UK, Government says

  18-06-2017 15:39
  
  The cladding used to insulate Grenfell Tower, widely blamed for spreading the devastating blaze, is banned in Britain, Philip Hammond has said.The Chancellor said a criminal investigation would examine whether building regulations had been violated when the block underwent an extensive renovation that was concluded last year.The Chancellor's comments came as the political fallout from Britain's most deadly peacetime disaster showed no sign of letting up.
  
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• Pamela Anderson pens love letter to Julian Assange calling for him to be freed

  18-06-2017 15:04
  Pamela Anderson has penned an online love letter to Julian Assange calling on world leaders to intervene to set the WikiLeaks founder free.Mr Assange has been holed up in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London for almost five years after seeking asylum as he feared he would be extradited to Sweden to answer allegations of sexual assault which he denied.In the letter, Anderson said Theresa May was the "worst prime minister in living memory" but praised Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
  
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• Labour claims Brexit 'disarray' on eve of talks in Brussels

  18-06-2017 14:30
  
  Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has accused the Government of being in "disarray" over Brexit on the eve of talks in Brussels.
  
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• Government in 'disarray' on Brexit

  18-06-2017 14:20
  
  Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has accused the Government of being in 'disarray' on Brexit ahead of talks in Brussels.
  
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• Heartbreaking Father's Day cards left to victims of Grenfell Tower

  18-06-2017 14:09
  
  The tributes appeared as Father’s Day celebrations took place elsewhere across the UK.
  
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• Labour says emergency house seizure laws could ease Grenfell Tower crisis

  18-06-2017 13:37
  
  Labour has urged the government to consider emergency legislation to ensure property can be requisitioned to house the families made homeless by the Grenfell Tower fire.John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, said councils already had the power to requisition property, using compulsory purchase orders, to find places for people to live.Last week Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, suggested these powers should be used in Kensington following the fire tragedy.
  
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• Passenger films slapping of 'asylum seeker' on London to Turkey flight

  18-06-2017 13:25
  
  Ahtzaz Ali said he saw a person “physically abusing” the passenger, who shouted that he did not feel safe in his native Afghanistan.
  
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• Cladding on Grenfell Tower is banned on UK high-rises, says Philip Hammond

  18-06-2017 13:15
  
  The cladding used on Grenfell Tower, which has been widely blamed for spreading the blaze, is banned in the UK on buildings of that height, Philip Hammond has said.Hammond said a criminal investigation would examine whether building regulations had been breached when the block was refurbished, while the public inquiry set up by the government would also examine if rules had been broken.Although Hammond said that the material used in the Grenfell Tower refurbishment, containing flammable polyethy
  
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• Cladding on Grenfell Tower banned on high buildings in UK, says Philip Hammond

  18-06-2017 13:15
  
  The cladding used on Grenfell Tower, which has been widely blamed for spreading the blaze, is banned on such a high building, the chancellor Philip Hammond has said.The chancellor told BBC1’s Andrew Marr Show: “My understanding is the cladding in question, this flammable cladding which is banned in Europe and the US, is also banned here.Hammond said a criminal investigation would examine whether building regulations had been breached when the block was refurbished, while the public i
  
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• Fire safety: repeated calls for retrofitting sprinklers to high-rises were ignored

  18-06-2017 13:08
  
  Two firefighters died at the 2010 blaze at Shirley Towers.Damning new evidence has emerged of ministers’ failure to take steps to improve tower block safety after a series of fatal fires.Despite repeated calls for sprinklers to be retrofitted in high-rise blocks by coroners and by local fire and rescue services, ministers did not compel social housing providers to do so.
  
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• What do we know about the Grenfell Tower tragedy so far?

  18-06-2017 12:30
  
  Police say up to 58 people are thought to have died, although the number may rise.
  
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• Theresa May 'welled up' at meeting with Grenfell fire survivors

  18-06-2017 11:21
  
  Grenfell fire survivors were "angry" and "passionate" during a meeting with Theresa May, as their harrowing accounts moved her to well up, say people who were present.At Downing Street on Saturday afternoon, the Prime Minister met 16 people, including victims, residents, community leaders and volunteers, following the devastating blaze at the west London tower block."I saw the Prime Minister welling up," the Rev Mark O'Donoghue told Sky News.
  
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• May's admission fails to impress Grenfell heckler

  18-06-2017 11:11
  
  The man who heckled a Tory minister over the Prime Minister's lack of action at the Grenfell Tower says that, despite Theresa May's admission that more should have been done to help victims , nothing has changed.Nadir, who is a member of the local mosque, made headlines when he joined a live interview with Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom on Friday.
  
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• Everything you need to know about Refugee Week

  18-06-2017 11:01
  
  Here’s how to get involved in the one the UK’s biggest festivals this June.
  
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• What the sale of the Times to Murdoch can teach us today

  18-06-2017 08:00
  
  1981: Harold Evans, editor of Sunday Times, left, with William Rees-Mogg, editor of the Times, right, and their new owner, Rupert Murdoch.Sir Gordon Brunton, dead at 95, was consigliere to Roy Thomson as the genial Canadian bought the Times and Sunday Times.When Thomson died in 1976, his son Ken wanted industrial peace and the chance to catch up with the digital typesetting strides made around the world.
  
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• The pain of some disasters is just too great

  18-06-2017 08:00
  
  A woman kneels beside a message wall near the scene of the fire which destroyed the Grenfell Tower block, in north Kensington, west London. Photograph: Stefan Wermuth/Reuters
  
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• Humble pie on the menu for press after election defies opinion polls

  18-06-2017 08:00
  
  Opinion polls predicted bigger gains for Prime Minister Theresa May’s Conservative party in the general election. l Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA
  
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• Senegal's corner shops go digital to track trade

  18-06-2017 06:43
  
  Marieme Assietou Diagne, who manages a health food delivery business, says she has gained "more free time and better sales" since using the Weebi app
  
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• PM's response should have 'been done in the beginning'

  18-06-2017 06:40
  
  Nadir heckled a Tory minister and has criticised the Prime Minister's response to the Grenfell Tower fire.
  
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• PM's admission fails to impress Grenfell heckler

  18-06-2017 05:34
  
  The man who heckled a Tory minister over the Prime Minister's lack of action at the Grenfell Tower says that, despite Theresa May's admission that more should have been done to help victims , nothing has changed.Nadir, who is a member of the local mosque, made headlines when he joined a live interview with Leader of the House of Commons Andrea Leadsom on Friday.
  
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• Britain basks in hottest day of year so far - and it's going to get hotter

  18-06-2017 04:46
  Britain has basked in the hottest day of the year so far - and temperatures are expected to rise.Met Office forecaster Charles Powell said: "We have seen the hottest day of the year so far."Sunday and Monday will see repeat performances of Saturday, with a lot of England and Wales seeing dry, sunny, warm, humid weather with high UV, high pollen.
  
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• Battersea Power Station development: Will it help London?

  18-06-2017 03:04
  The cage that hoists you to the top of the north west chimney of Battersea Power station, 102 metres high, stops with a shudder.One of the conditions for redeveloping the power station was keeping the power station."It's an absolutely massive, iconic project for the location," says Mike Grice, chief construction officer of Battersea Power Station.
  
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• Thousands flock to Great Get Together events celebrating life of Jo Cox

  18-06-2017 01:11
  
  Brendan Cox, husband of the late MP Jo, with her sister, Kim Leadbeater, at at Great Get Together event in Heckmondwike, yesterday.People gathered in parks for fun days and picnics, shared a drink and a chat on benches outside pubs, set up stalls for parties in their street or retreated inside for tea parties in libraries and churches, mosques and synagogues for The Great Get Together.
  
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