General news

• Stagecoach says it has overpaid for East Coast rail contract as profitability plunges

  28-06-2017 23:53
  
  Brexit and terrorism meant franchise will ‘have to be reset’, says third private operator of London to Edinburgh line in 11 yearsThe London-to-Edinburgh rail line is facing its third crisis of private ownership in 11 years after Stagecoach clashed with the government over the terms of its East Coast franchise. Stagecoach has also admitted that in hindsight it overpaid for the £3.3bn contract, blaming factors including Brexit and terrorism for underperformance that punched an &p
  
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• Dirty Work (The Late Shift) review – Forced Entertainment face up to life and death

  28-06-2017 23:34
  
  Battersea Arts Centre, London
  The experimental troupe’s revival of their 1998 show catalogues disasters and failures to probe the ethics of entertainment“Nothing will come of nothing,” says King Lear, but Forced Entertainment know he was wrong. Absence is at the heart of Dirty Work (The Late Shift), a new version of the company’s 1998 show that presents a 75-minute catalogue of deaths, disasters and failures delivered in deadpan style by Cathy Naden and Robin Arthur. Almo
  
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• GRENFELL TOWER: Baby Leena found dead in mother's arms - Daily Star

  28-06-2017 23:18 via dailystar.co.uk
  
  Daily Star
  GRENFELL TOWER: Baby Leena found dead in mother's arms
  Daily Star
  Her father Omar Belkad and sister Malak also died in the blaze, Westminster Coroner's Court in central London was told. Play Video. Play. Mute. Current Time 0:00. /. Duration Time 0:00. Loaded: 0%. 0:00. Progress: 0%. 0:00. Progress: 0%. Stream TypeLIVE.
  Grenfell Tower: Six-month-old baby found dead in mother's armsEvening Standard
  Grenfell Tower fire: Six-month-old baby 'found dead in mother's arms'ITV News
  Baby girl
  
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• Government defeats Labour's bid to end public sector pay cap

  28-06-2017 22:51
  
  The Government has defeated a Labour bid to end the cap on public sector pay in the first parliamentary test of the Tory-DUP deal.Labour had attempted to push through an amendment to the Queen's Speech calling on ministers to recruit more police officers and firefighters and to end the 1% limit on annual pay rises for public sector workers.The result gave the Government a majority of 14.
  
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• Portugal 0-0 Chile (0-3 pens): Confederations Cup semi-final - as it happened

  28-06-2017 22:46
  
  Claudio Bravo saved all three of Portugal’s spot kicks in the penalty shoot-out after a goalless 120 minutes, with Chile set to play Germany or Mexico in the final 10.46pm BSTMatch report: Related: Claudio Bravo saves three penalties to send Chile to Confederations Cup final9.46pm BSTIt’s a painful exit for Portugal, but on the balance of play, it’s the right result. On paper, Chile should get nowhere near Portugal, but just as at the Copa America, Chile find a way. They should
  
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• Usain Bolt heads for check-up after labouring to narrow win in Ostrava

  28-06-2017 22:43
  
  • Jamaican runs 10.06sec and is pushed to the limit by Yunier Pérez
  • Mo Farah cruises to 10,000m win but personal best out of reachUsain Bolt’s preparations for the world championships received a jolt as he struggled to win his penultimate race before defending his 100m and 4x100m titles in London – and then admitted to having “some health issues” with a stiff back.The giddy crowd at the Golden Spike meeting in the Czech Republic were expecting the full
  
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• US unveils new airline security measures to avoid laptop ban

  28-06-2017 22:38
  
  Homeland security proposes enhanced screening of personal devicesCurrent restrictions to be removed if airports meet new requirementsUS Homeland Security secretary John Kelly on Wednesday unveiled enhanced security measures for foreign flights arriving in the United States in what officials said was a move to prevent an expansion of an in-cabin ban on laptops and other large electronic devices.“Inaction is not an option,” Kelly said, saying he believed airlines will comply with the n
  
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• Precious Metals And Other Alloys

  28-06-2017 22:32
  
  Breaking: the LSE, with a bronze ranking, rubs shoulders not only with other 'top' (AKA TEF bronze) universities but worryingly loads we've never heard of.
  
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• EU children may have to apply to stay in UK after Brexit – leaked report

  28-06-2017 22:12
  
  Theresa May has said the 3 million EU citizens currently in the UK can apply for ‘settled status’.Theresa May’s proposal on citizens’ rights after Brexit does not offer EU citizens the certainty being sought by Brussels, and it would even force children to apply to stay in the UK, according to a leaked European commission analysis of the British government’s position.
  
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• EU children may have to apply to stay in UK after Brexit, leaked analysis says

  28-06-2017 22:12
  
  Theresa May has said the 3 million EU citizens currently in the UK can apply for ‘settled status’.Theresa May’s proposal on citizens’ rights after Brexit does not offer EU citizens the certainty being sought by Brussels, and it would even force children to apply to stay in the UK, according to a leaked European commission analysis of the British government’s position.
  
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• Academy invites record 744 new members amid effort to increase diversity

  28-06-2017 22:09
  
  The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 2017 class includes Gal Gadot and Barry Jenkins, attempting to make good on a promise to diversify The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Wednesday that it had invited a record 744 new members to its governing body, surpassing the 683 invitations issued in 2016. The Academy has been under pressure to diversify its membership for several years, reaching a crescendo in 2015, when all 20 acting nominees were white, prompting
  
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• Teenager urinated on 72-year-old woman in Pret A Manger after Parklife festival

  28-06-2017 22:08
  
  A university student on a mixture of drink and drugs after the Parklife music festival pleaded guilty to urinating on a 72-year-old pensioner and slapping an employee at a Pret A Manger in Manchester.Mason Hudson, 19, was given a 20-week suspended prison sentence and ordered to pay £250 court costs and compensation.The Manchester Evening News reported that the prosecutor told Manchester Magistrate's Court that the store's manager saw Hudson acting strangely around 7:15am on Monday 12 June.
  
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• Steve Bell on the Conservative public sector pay U-turns – cartoon

  28-06-2017 22:01
  
  Continue reading...
  
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• US claims warning over possible Syria chemical attack averted strike

  28-06-2017 21:58
  
  Russia warns US of proportional response to any preemptive measures against Syrian forces as US official calls intelligence behind warning ‘far from conclusive’US defence secretary James Mattis has said that Syria appears to have heeded a warning from Washington not to carry out a chemical weapons attack. Meanwhile Russia, the main backer of President Bashar al-Assad, warned that it would respond proportionately if the US took preemptive measures against Syrian forces. Continue readi
  
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• Arsenal fire blanks in transfer bids as they fail in attempts to sign Arsene Wenger's two top targets - report - Independent.ie

  28-06-2017 21:53 via independent.ie
  
  Independent.ie
  Arsenal fire blanks in transfer bids as they fail in attempts to sign Arsene Wenger's two top targets - report
  Independent.ie
  Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger appears to have failed in his attempts to sign Lyon striker Alexandre Lacazette and Monaco winger Thomas Lemar, according to a report from Sky Sports. Lacazette appeared to be closing in on a move to Arsenal last week, ...
  Alexandre Lacazette: Arsenal in negotiations to sign French striker from LyonBBC Sport
  Arsenal Trans
  
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• Patriot, or government plant? Rumors fly over Venezuela helicopter attack - The Guardian

  28-06-2017 21:50 via theguardian.com
  
  The Guardian
  Patriot, or government plant? Rumors fly over Venezuela helicopter attack
  The Guardian
  It seemed like a scene from an action movie: the extraordinary tale of a stolen aircraft, a rogue intelligence agent and a daring attack on the symbols of state power in a beleaguered tropical nation.
  Stop Totalitarianism in VenezuelaNew York Times
  Amid Venezuela's chaos, protesters ask: Was helicopter 'attack' rebellion or ruse?Washington Post
  Nicolas Maduro denounces 'terrorism' as manhunt cont
  
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• Sniper's record kill shot in Iraq 'should be celebrated', Trudeau says

  28-06-2017 21:49
  
  PM says lethal shot from 3,540m within Canada’s advise-and-assist missionOpponents say Canadians deserve truth about Canada’s true role in IraqA record-shattering lethal shot fired by a Canadian sniper in Iraq has reignited a longstanding debate over Canada’s role in the region, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau telling reporters it was “entirely consistent” with the country’s non-combat mission and should be celebrated. Last week, the defence department conf
  
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• Labour loses vote on UK austerity, pay cap

  28-06-2017 21:39
  
  By Elizabeth PiperLONDON (Reuters) - The opposition Labour Party lost a vote to try to force Theresa May to change her austerity agenda and increase public sector pay on Wednesday, in the first of many expected challenges to the prime minister's ability to govern.May won by 323 votes to 309 in the first parliamentary vote since she secured the backing of a small Northern Irish party to give her a narrow majority in parliament.May has come under fire from inside and outside her Conservative party
  
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• Dave Brailsford defends Team Sky credibility and says ‘I’m going nowhere’

  28-06-2017 21:34
  
  • Brailsford dismisses talk of his future before Tour de France
  • Sky’s general manager denies team’s reputation is tarnishedSir Dave Brailsford has attempted to brush away questions about his future and the credibility of his Team Sky squad three days from the start of their attempt to win a fifth Tour de France in six years.Brailsford was also forced to deny that his team have a credibility issue. “I’m very focused on the race,” he said. “I’v
  
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• Govt defeats Labour's bid to end pay cap

  28-06-2017 21:20
  
  The Government has defeated a Labour bid to end the cap on public sector pay in the first parliamentary test of the Tory-DUP deal.
  
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• Boy, 5, saves brother from choking on meatball

  28-06-2017 21:19 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Five-year-old Oliver Bevans came to the aid of his young brother who was choking on a meatball.
  
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• Dead heads: Turkish site reveals more evidence of neolithic 'skull cult'

  28-06-2017 21:06
  
  Fragments of three skulls found at Göbekli Tepe have hallmarks of being carved with flint after being scalped and defleshed firstFragments of carved bone unearthed at an ancient site on a Turkish hillside are evidence that the people who spent time there belonged to a neolithic “skull cult” – a group that embraces rituals around the heads of the dead.The remains were uncovered during field work at Göbekli Tepe, an 11,000-year-old site in the south-east of the country,
  
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• Researchers find 'culture of nepotism' in British film industry

  28-06-2017 21:00
  
  Report shows striking lack of diversity and ‘significant obstacles’ for outsiders looking to break into industryNepotism, word-of-mouth employment practices and the widespread use of unpaid work experience have created a “pandemic lack of inclusion” in the British film industry, a report backed by movie producers Barbara Broccoli and Kathleen Kennedy says.Broccoli, producer of James Bond movies, and Kennedy, president of the Star Wars film-maker Lucasfilm, are throwing th
  
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• Patriot, or government plant? Rumors fly over Venezuela helicopter attack

  28-06-2017 20:57
  
  Some speculate that Oscar Perez’s actions were an orchestrated distraction from the Maduro regime’s further consolidation of powerIt seemed like a scene from an action movie: the extraordinary tale of a stolen aircraft, a rogue intelligence agent and a daring attack on the symbols of state power in a beleaguered tropical nation.Related: What do we know about the Venezuela helicopter attack?Continue reading...
  
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• Social mobility is the wrong goal – what we need is more equality | Letters

  28-06-2017 20:56
  
  ‘The remorseless focus on aspiration and bettering oneself results in … large numbers of graduates from working-class backgrounds who are unable to find graduate employment.’ points out Prof Diane Reay.Time to Change, the latest Social Mobility Commission report, states that radical reform is needed to repair a divided Britain, arguing that decades of policy failures have left the poor behind (Report, 28 June).Effective social mobility leaves the poor even further behind, as i
  
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• Blame the nasty party for our nursing crisis | Letters

  28-06-2017 20:54
  
  Nurses on an NHS hospital ward. ‘This government and its Tory predecessors are deliberately starving the service of essential funds,’ writes Linda Rhead. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA
  
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• Paddington Bear Creator Michael Bond Dies, Prompting Tributes To 'Father Of Immigrant Everyone Loved'

  28-06-2017 20:46
  
  The death of Paddington Bear creator Michael Bond has prompted people to fondly remember his creation as a symbol of refuge and compassion, as the country argues over how to deal with refugees.
  
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• Maximum human lifespan could far exceed 115 years – new research

  28-06-2017 20:40
  
  Five research teams say there is no compelling evidence there is an upper limit on mortality, disputing claim in NatureThe maximum human lifespan could far exceed previous predictions, according to work that challenges the idea that humans are approaching a hard limit on longevity.The latest research comes in response to a recent high-profile paper that concluded “maximum longevity has hit a ceiling of 114.9 years” – a claim that prompted extraordinary levels of criticism from
  
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• NHS staff taking more sick days than ever

  28-06-2017 20:38
  
  NHS staff are taking more time off work because of illness, with the total now close to 17m days a year.The upward trend has coincided with hospitals, GP surgeries, mental health care and ambulance services coming under intense pressure as patient demand for treatment has risen.Health service personnel in England took a total of 16,866,471 sick days off work between them in 2016, according to a House of Commons written answer from the health minister Philip Dunne.
  
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• Police on the frontline bear the brunt of cuts to their service and others | Letters

  28-06-2017 20:36
  
  Police officers on duty at the Trooping the Colour ceremony in London earlier this month. ‘All reasonable people know that the cuts have gone too far,’ write Willy Bach and Simon Cole.Photograph: SilverHub/REX/Shutterstock
  
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• The Guardian view on pricing the Great Barrier Reef: a dangerous absurdity | Editorial

  28-06-2017 20:35
  
  There are things that money just can’t measure, and nature is valuable because it can’t have a priceThere are some things that money can’t buy; there are others that it can but shouldn’t. The boundary between these two categories isn’t fixed and is in any case constantly disputed. Some things can’t be bought because they seem impossible, like a return ticket to the moons of Jupiter, or a live woolly mammoth. But it’s perfectly possible that technology wi
  
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• Grenfell Tower death toll may not be known until end of year – police

  28-06-2017 20:34
  
  Scotland Yard has warned it could take until the end of the year or longer to be sure how many people died in the Grenfell Tower disaster, as police raised the number of people presumed dead to 80.Police warned that the death toll could rise further and said there were 23 flats in the tower where they had not been able to trace anyone alive.The detective leading the criminal investigation added it had identified 60 firms involved in the refurbishment of Grenfell Tower, up from 12 last week, and
  
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• Teachers at school in Walsall strike over fears for safety from pupils

  28-06-2017 20:32
  
  The teachers, who also have concerns over the management of the E-Act academy chain, intend to take prolonged periods of industrial action over the next two weeks if matters do not improve.Teachers at a West Midlands secondary school have begun industrial action because of fears for their safety from disruptive pupils and concerns about management, as staff spoke of violent behaviour after a critical report by school inspectors.Teachers from the National Union of Teachers and the NASUWT unions s
  
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• PMQs returns – with a spot of role reversal for Corbyn and the Maybot | John Crace

  28-06-2017 20:30
  
  At the first prime minister’s questions of the new parliament, Jeremy Corbyn had asked serious and probing questions about the Grenfell Tower fire and the Maybot had more or less applied herself to answering them in intelligible sentences.Corbyn then asked if part of the problem might not be that local authorities had failed to overhaul building regulations.The regulations were just fine.
  
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• Government defeats Labour's bid to end public sector pay freeze

  28-06-2017 20:27
  The Government has defeated a Labour bid to end the cap on public sector pay in the first parliamentary test of the Tory-DUP deal.Labour had attempted to push through an amendment to the Queen's Speech calling on ministers to recruit more police officers and firefighters and to end the 1% freeze on public sector pay.The result gave the Government a majority of 14.
  
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• A winning smile avoids showing too many teeth, researchers say

  28-06-2017 20:24
  
  US scientists have investigated the makeup of the perfect smile, saying the findings could be useful for clinicians working to restore facial movementIf you want your smile to appear pleasant, you might want to avoid a dazzling beam, research suggests. A study by scientists in the US has found that wide smiles with a high angle and showing a lot of teeth are not the best at creating a positive impression.“A lot of people don’t understand how important their smiles are and how importa
  
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• Authorities to investigate Jay Sekulow nonprofit after 'troubling' revelations

  28-06-2017 20:21
  
  Attorney generals of North Carolina and New York to examine Case’s filings‘The reports I’ve read are troubling. My office is looking into this matter’Trump lawyer’s firm steered millions in donations to relatives, files showAuthorities in two states are looking into a nonprofit led by an attorney to Donald Trump, after the Guardian reported it had steered tens of millions of dollars to the attorney, his family and their businesses.Josh Stein, the attorney general of
  
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• British police officer tells how he took on London Bridge attackers

  28-06-2017 20:19
  
  A police officer who tried to stop three militants as they attacked people on London Bridge earlier this month described on Wednesday how he took on the men armed with just his baton despite being repeatedly stabbed and temporarily blinded.The three attackers rammed a hired van into pedestrians on the bridge late on June 3 before going on the rampage through the bustling Borough Market area, where they slit throats and stabbed people, killing eight.Police Constable Wayne Marques said he had hear
  
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• Cockatoos impress opposite sex with Phil Collins-style drum solos

  28-06-2017 20:00
  
  Scientists find male birds performing alone with small sticks before female audience, with calls, periodic blushing, and raising feathers on their crestsResearchers have captured the first footage of cockatoos bashing out drum solos with little sticks and seedpods in what are believed to be musical displays to impress the opposite sex.Scientists took the extraordinary footage after stalking the shy and elusive Cape York palm cockatoos for seven years through the unspoilt wilderness of the penins
  
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• Scotland’s indyref2 may have been delayed. But expect it by 2021 | Ruth Wishart

  28-06-2017 19:59
  
  Those who think Nicola Sturgeon’s statement this week means the end of the independence movement don’t understand her, or the SNPDoubtless the verb was carefully chosen. Nicola Sturgeon would “reset” the timetable for a second independence referendum, she told the Scottish parliament in Holyrood this week. Having, in March, demanded another poll between autumn 2018 and spring 2019, Sturgeon now indicated that another date with destiny would wait till after Brexit. She wou
  
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• Fifa lets Qatar 2022 sail on, its moral lines in the sand still on the horizon | Marina Hyde

  28-06-2017 19:59
  
  War fears, deaths, slavery … the main lesson of the Garcia report appears to be that there is no conceivable dealbreaker that could derail Qatar’s World CupThanks to the long overdue publication of the Garcia report into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, we now know that England’s efforts to secure the 2018 tournament amounted to “a form of bribery”. Obviously, the only thing less surprising than the fact that England break the rules is how bad
  
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• Italy considers closing its ports to boats carrying migrants

  28-06-2017 19:58
  
  Government reportedly seeking EU approval of drastic changes to asylum procedures after surge in refugee arrivalsThe Italian government is considering blocking boats carrying migrants from landing at its ports after nearly 11,000 refugees arrived on its shores in five days.It has been reported that the government has given its ambassador to the EU, Maurizio Massari, a mandate to raise the issue formally with the European commission to seek permission for a drastic revision of EU asylum procedure
  
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• Game on

  28-06-2017 19:54 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Old school consoles are well and truly back, and far from Game Over.
  
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• Why won't Labour MPs cheer Jeremy Corbyn, their most successful leader in 20 years? - The Independent

  28-06-2017 19:51 via independent.co.uk
  
  The Independent
  Why won't Labour MPs cheer Jeremy Corbyn, their most successful leader in 20 years?
  The Independent
  As the majority-detonating, Brexit-imperilling Theresa May arrived to her customary whoops of delight, could the Labour leader have wondered whether he'd joined the wrong party? Tom Peck Political Sketch Writer; @tompeck; 6 hours ago ...
  UK's fragile government faces challenge over austerityDaily Mail
  Tory government in chaos as it shuts down talk of a public sector pay rise.
  
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• Police officer describes how he took on all three London Bridge terrorists with just a baton - The Independent

  28-06-2017 19:51 via independent.co.uk
  
  The Independent
  Police officer describes how he took on all three London Bridge terrorists with just a baton
  The Independent
  'Three of them were standing together almost shoulder-to-shoulder in like a little wolf pack, and they're staring at me. And that's when I get to size them up'. Aine Fox; Wednesday 28 June 2017 17:59 BST ...
  London Bridge attack officer fought 'to keep people alive'BBC News
  Policeman blinded in one eye by London Bridge attackers fought off all threeBelfast Telegraph
  
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• Hillsborough: Relatives welcome CPS decision to pursue charges against six including David Duckenfield - The Independent

  28-06-2017 19:51 via independent.co.uk
  
  The Independent
  Hillsborough: Relatives welcome CPS decision to pursue charges against six including David Duckenfield
  The Independent
  After a 28-year battle for justice, the families of the 96 men, women and children killed in the Hillsborough disaster have hailed the “beginning of the end” of their long struggle. Relatives of the victims broke into applause as the Crown Prosecution ...
  Hillsborough: The six men facing charges over the disasterBBC News
  Hillsborough: Police chief am
  
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• Northern Ireland power-sharing talks on course for failure

  28-06-2017 19:47
  
  Talks to restore a power-sharing devolved government in Northern Ireland are on course to fail after Sinn Féin accused the Democratic Unionist party of refusing to budge in its opposition to an Irish language act.
  
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• Fake news! The magazine covers Donald Trump couldn't make up - The Guardian

  28-06-2017 19:43 via theguardian.com
  
  The Guardian
  Fake news! The magazine covers Donald Trump couldn't make up
  The Guardian
  The president is in trouble for creating his own imaginary Time magazine cover. Where else might he imagine himself as a cover star? selection of fake Trump magazine covers. Just a few of the magazine covers you'll never see on the shelves. Composite: ...
  Faking a Time magazine cover is the most Trump thing everCNN
  Trump Unloads on Media AgainU.S. News & World Report
  Fake news: Five Donald Trump golf
  
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• Fake news! The magazine covers Donald Trump couldn’t make up

  28-06-2017 19:43
  
  The president is in trouble for creating his own imaginary Time magazine cover. Where else might he imagine himself as a cover star?In 2010, the Peruvian graphic designer Leonardo Leamoretti posted a Photoshop tutorial, in which he explained how to make a fake Time magazine cover. You know – if you are mucking about for your mate’s birthday. Or, you are a future president who wants to radiate status by displaying it as real in many of your resorts. Continue reading...
  
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• Waisake Naholo starts on right wing for All Blacks against Lions in second Test

  28-06-2017 19:41
  
  • Naholo and Anton Lienert-Brown in for injured Smith and Crotty
  • Steve Hansen has made two enforced changes for second TestThe All Blacks have made two changes to their team for the second Test, both necessary because of injuries sustained last weekend. But it does not mean Lions supporters will be sleeping any easier on Friday night.Waisake Naholo has come in on the right wing, so Israel Dagg can replace Ben Smith at full-back, and Anton Lienert‑Brown has taken over from Ryan
  
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