General news

• Queen's Speech clears Commons after abortion funding pledge

  29-06-2017 23:38 via bbc.co.uk
  
  MPs back the minority government's legislative plans for the next two years by 323 votes to 309.
  
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• Change we need: David Cameron vetoed plan to scrap 1p piece

  29-06-2017 22:59
  
  All of this would be obsolete by 2020 if Downing Street’s policy unit had its way in 2015.George Osborne came within weeks of announcing plans to take 1p and 2p pieces out of circulation but was stopped by David Cameron who feared the symbolism of the Conservative party scrapping the penny, the Guardian has been told.Osborne believed it would be a “modernising change”, according to insiders, but Cameron ruled that it was too risky for the party.
  
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• Sinkhole swallows a car while owner works out at the gym

  29-06-2017 22:53
  
  Woah…
  
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• Gayle Newland: Sex attacker who posed as man found guilty

  29-06-2017 22:37 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Gayle Newland impersonated a man for more than two years and tricked her female friend into sex.
  
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• Council issues brief apology for its slow response to Grenfell Tower tragedy

  29-06-2017 22:33
  
  Journalists wait to gain access to the Kensington and Chelsea council meeting about the Grenfell Tower fire.The embattled leader of Kensington and Chelsea council, Nick Paget-Brown, made a brief apology on Thursday for its response to the Grenfell Tower disaster at a tense meeting from which members of the public were barred and journalists allowed in only after a last-minute legal challenge.This first council cabinet meeting since the fire was initially intended to be held behind closed doors,
  
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• Gary Lineker Describes Feeling 'Politically Homeless' As Jeremy Corbyn Sacks Soft Brexit Backers

  29-06-2017 22:20
  
  Gary Lineker has described feeling “politically homeless” after both the Tories and Labour backed a hard Brexit tonight.
  
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• Gayle Newland found guilty of pretending to be a man to trick female friend into sex

  29-06-2017 22:12
  A woman has been found guilty of pretending to be a man to trick her female friend into having sex.A court heard how 27-year-old Gayle Newland, of Willaston, Cheshire, created an online persona to satisfy her sexual urges.Newland was found guilty of committing sexual assault using a prosthetic penis without the victim's consent during a retrial at Manchester Crown Court.
  
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• Honeybees in the UK have a 'bad diet'

  29-06-2017 21:54
  Scientists have discovered that honeybees in the UK suffer from a bad diet and ill-health.The £2.7m study, which analysed 50-60 hectares (120-150 acres) in the UK, Hungary and Germany, found bees were vulnerable to potentially harmful nicotine-based pesticides called neonicotinoids.German honeybees were found to be healthier than those in the UK and Hungary.
  
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• Gloucestershire councillors sleeping in child services meeting

  29-06-2017 21:36 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The deputy leader and others are caught napping during an important meeting.
  
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• Paris steps up efforts to attract US banks after Brexit

  29-06-2017 21:17
  
  French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire during a two-day visit to New York announced plans to attract US banks to Paris following Brexit
  
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• Police relax monitoring of sex offenders to focus on high-risk criminals

  29-06-2017 21:07
  
  Police forces have dropped measures designed to stop convicted sex criminals reoffending, the National Police Chiefs’ Council has said, in a bid to focus more on those who present a greater risk.The new approach will see some low-risk offenders no longer being subject to annual home visits or having the risks they pose reassessed as thoroughly as before.Michelle Skeer, the national police lead for managing sexual offenders, said hundreds may no longer be subject to proactive measures, prev
  
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• Scottish government abandons 1% pay cap on public sector workers

  29-06-2017 20:40
  
  Holyrood’s finance minister, Derek Mackay, said the Scottish government would take inflation into account in its future pay policy.The Scottish government has promised to unilaterally lift the cap on public sector pay in the face of threats by nurses to go on strike.Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, said the devolved Holyrood government would abandon the UK-wide pay deal that has restricted annual pay rises for about 500,000 staff, including nurses and firefighters, to 1%.
  
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• Grenfell Tower fire: Judge 'doubt' over inquiry scope

  29-06-2017 20:36 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The chairman of the tower fire probe meets survivors after travelling to the site in west London.
  
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• The public sector pay cap is nothing to cheer | Letters

  29-06-2017 20:31
  
  Society has to value the work of police officers such as London Bridge hero Wayne Marques (pictured), writes Richard Clubley.Government ministers should come clean on how they enforce the public sector pay cap of 1% (Confusion as No 10 denies possible end to public sector pay cap, 29 June).When they are on the retreat on the issue, as now, they say that pay increases should be determined by the independent pay review bodies.
  
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• Grenfell Tower fire: Kensington council halts meeting

  29-06-2017 20:31 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The cabinet had hoped to hold the meeting behind closed doors but was forced to admit the public.
  
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• School holds assembly for five students lost in Grenfell Tower fire

  29-06-2017 20:30
  
  A schoolgirl writes a message on a wall for the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire.A secondary school situated next to Grenfell Tower lost four pupils in the disaster, plus a fifth who had only recently left, it has emerged.Special assemblies have been held for students at Kensington Aldridge academy (KAA) to remember the pupils who are missing, presumed dead.
  
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• Survivors tell Grenfell inquiry chair the remit is too narrow

  29-06-2017 20:28
  
  Sir Martin Moore-Bick, who will lead the Grenfell Tower fire public inquiry.Residents and survivors of the Grenfell Tower fire have told the judge heading the inquiry they are unhappy with its narrow remit and want a broader investigation into the causes and aftermath of the disaster that killed at least 80 people.Sir Martin Moore-Bick, who was named as inquiry chairman on Thursday, cautioned that he was doubtful it would be as wide-ranging as many residents hope.
  
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• Government survives Queen's speech vote

  29-06-2017 20:15
  
  The government has survived a vote on the Queen's Speech in the House of Commons - it passed with a majority of just 14.
  
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• PM survives Queen's Speech vote in first test of thin majority

  29-06-2017 20:12
  Theresa May has secured a majority for her Queen's Speech in her first Commons test of the new Parliament.The House voted 323 to 309 to support the Government's legislative agenda for the next two years, with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) giving the Conservatives their backing following the "confidence and supply" deal struck earlier this week.Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn faced a rebellion as 49 Labour MPs defied the party leadership to back an amendment by former shadow business secretary
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn sacks three frontbenchers after single market vote

  29-06-2017 20:09
  
  Andy Slaughter joined dozens of Labour backbenchers in backing the Queen’s speech amendment.Jeremy Corbyn has sacked three Labour frontbenchers who voted against the party in favour of a Queen’s speech amendment calling for Britain to remain within the customs union and single market.The Labour leader, who has been emboldened by the election result, decided to take a tougher approach than after the vote to trigger article 50, when shadow ministers who rebelled were allowed to remain
  
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• NHS prescribed record number of antidepressants last year

  29-06-2017 20:06
  
  Prescriptions for 64.7m items of antidepressants were dispensed in England in 2016.The NHS prescribed a record number of antidepressants last year, fuelling an upward trend that has seen the number of pills given to patients more than double over the last decade.The figures raised questions over whether the rise shows doctors are handing out the drugs out too freely or whether it means more people are getting help to tackle their anxiety, depression and panic attacks.
  
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• DUP Come To Theresa May's Rescue As Queen's Speech Squeaked Through Parliament

  29-06-2017 19:40
  
  The DUP has saved Theresa May’s Government from collapse as the Queen’s Speech was finally voted through Parliament tonight.
  
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• East London acid attack: Image of suspect released

  29-06-2017 19:26 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Two people have "life-changing" injuries after a corrosive substance was thrown on to them.
  
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• Freewheelin' Phil emerges from captivity as a man with no plan

  29-06-2017 19:22
  
  Philip Hammond told the Commons the Tories would not be afraid of taking hard decisions.Philip Hammond hasn’t reacted well to his period in captivity during the election, and has used every subsequent opportunity to show he isn’t suffering from Stockholm syndrome.It is possible, though, that the new all-smiling, Freewheelin’ Phil is suffering from memory lapses as he gave every sign of believing that the election had yet to take place.
  
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• May wins major test in parliament over government plan

  29-06-2017 19:16
  
  By Elizabeth Piper and David Milliken LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May won backing for her policy programme with a slender parliamentary majority on Thursday in the first test of her authority after an election setback and growing pressure on her Brexit and austerity agenda. May cut short a visit to Berlin and her defence minister, Michael Fallon, left Brussels to dash back to Britain for the vote, underlining her precarious position after she lost her Conservative Party's parliamen
  
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• Police apologise to Exeter woman stabbed by stalker she reported 125 times

  29-06-2017 19:11
  
  Helen Pearson’s injuries which she suffered at the hands of her stalker, Joseph Willis.A police force has apologised for failings in the case of a woman who was stabbed by a stalker after she had reported him 125 times.Devon and Cornwall police admitted there had been individual and organisational failings before Helen Pearson was attacked by her neighbour Joseph Wills.
  
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• Ireland says dozen City firms and banks to set up in Dublin over Brexit

  29-06-2017 19:09
  
  Irish authorities have said they have clinched deals with more than a dozen London-based banks and finance houses to move some of their operations to Dublin in preparation for Brexit.As Dublin continues to battle with Frankfurt, Luxembourg and Paris for the Brexit spoils, the head of international financial services at Ireland’s Industrial Development Authority said definitive decisions had now been taken on an Irish location by these firms.Kieran Donoghue told the Guardian these included
  
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• Brussels ponders deadly smoke after Grenfell Tower blaze

  29-06-2017 19:04
  By Barbara Lewis and Julia FiorettiLONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - EU policymakers are unlikely to agree to Europe-wide rules on toxic smoke from burning building materials despite years of lobbying from fire fighters and safety experts, according to a draft report ordered by the region's executive seen by Reuters.The debate has been going on in Brussels for at least four years, but this month's deadly fire at the Grenfell Tower apartment block in London has highlighted a lack of fire safety regulat
  
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• 'Fake Grenfell victim' held on suspicion of fraud

  29-06-2017 19:03
  A 52-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of fraudulently claiming to have lost family members in the Grenfell Tower disaster.Scotland Yard said he attempted to claim financial support after stating he had lost all his property.
  
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• EU wants joint committee with Britain to oversee divorce deal

  29-06-2017 18:53
  
  By Jan StrupczewskiBRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union wants to set up a joint committee with Britain to oversee the management, implementation and enforcement of the yet-to-be-reached divorce agreement with London, documents by EU negotiators showed on Thursday.The documents, published on the European Commission's website, said, however, that when it came to citizens' rights and the continued application of EU law in Britain, the Brexit deal should establish a separate regime.
  
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• Grenfell Tower Fire: Man Arrested After 'Pretending To Have Lost Family In Blaze For Money'

  29-06-2017 18:50
  
  A 52-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of fraudulently attempting to gain money and housing by pretending he lost family members in the Grenfell Tower fire.
  
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• UK government defeats opposition motion that criticises EU plans

  29-06-2017 18:44
  Prime Minister Theresa May's government defeated an amendment to her programme of legislation on Thursday, voting down an attempt to force her to drop her aim of leaving the EU's single market and customs union after Brexit talks.The government defeated the motion by 322 votes to 101 votes.
  
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• Plane kept in London during Buhari's medical leave not costing great amount - spokesman

  29-06-2017 18:41
  
  The cost of keeping a Nigerian presidential jet at a London airport while President Muhammadu Buhari is in Britain on medical leave will not exceed $1,300, his spokesman said on Thursday, denying media reports of much higher costs.The 74-year-old president, whose ailment has not been disclosed, travelled to Britain on May 7 and has not been seen in public since, stirring speculation about his condition.Buhari took office in May 2015 after an election in which he vowed to crack down on corruption
  
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• MP dress code relaxed: Does anyone need to wear a tie?

  29-06-2017 18:40 via bbc.co.uk
  
  If male MPs no longer need to wear ties in the House of Commons chamber, do people in other jobs?
  
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• Ties off as House of Commons eases dress code for male MPs

  29-06-2017 18:32
  It is a fashion revolution in a place steeped in tradition - male MPs will no longer be required to wear a tie in the House of Commons.Speaker John Bercow has said MPs have to be dressed in "business-like attire" but ties are no longer essential.The surprise announcement was met with both concern and celebration, with some saying the Commons had finally entered the 21st century, but others joking: what next?
  
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• British government to give 'space' to Northern Ireland parties for deal

  29-06-2017 18:29
  
  The British government will give Northern Irish parties "some space" over the next few days to continue their talks to restore the province's power-sharing executive, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Theresa May said on Thursday."We believe that very good progress has been made.
  
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• Head of London tower block fire inquiry doubts he will answer all questions

  29-06-2017 18:25
  
  The newly-appointed head of an inquiry into the London tower block inferno believed to have killed at least 80 people said on Thursday his investigation was unlikely to answer all the questions raised by residents and local people.The fire on June 14 gutted the 24-story Grenfell Tower social housing block in west London, trapping families as they slept, in Britain's deadliest fire since World War Two."I am well aware residents and the local people want a much broader investigation and I can full
  
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• UK government defeats opposition motion on austerity criticism

  29-06-2017 18:24
  
  Prime Minister Theresa May's government defeated an amendment to her programme of legislation on Thursday, voting down an attempt to force her to drop austerity measures.The government defeated the motion by 323 votes to 297 votes.
  
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• Manhunt as man dies following M25 service station fight in Surrey

  29-06-2017 18:24
  A manhunt has been launched after a 20-year-old man died following "a horrifying attack" at a motorway service station in Surrey.Quhey Saunders, 20, was left with "substantial head injuries" following a fight between two groups of people on the forecourt of Cobham petrol station, between junctions nine and 10 of the M25, on Monday.
  
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• Northern Ireland parties miss deadline to restore power-sharing

  29-06-2017 18:21
  
  Political leaders have missed a deadline to restore power-sharing in Northern Ireland.Downing Street said talks over a new power-sharing deal will now be allowed to continue until Monday, when Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire will make a statement on the Government's intended action.A scheduled Assembly sitting to nominate ministers was axed, with Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) negotiators announcing that there will be "no breakthrough" in the talks on Thursday.
  
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• Grenfell smoke was 'like fog'

  29-06-2017 18:15
  
  Antan Nguyen lost everything in the Grenfell Tower fire and is still searching for his wife and 12-year-old son.
  
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• Ruling that Northern Irish abortion laws breach human rights overturned

  29-06-2017 18:13
  By Amanda FergusonBELFAST (Reuters) - A ruling that Northern Ireland's restrictive abortion laws breach human rights in certain cases was overturned by a Belfast court on Thursday, the same day Britain pledged to fund terminations for Northern Irish women who travel to England.Unlike in other parts of the United Kingdom, abortion is banned in Northern Ireland unless the life or mental health of the mother is in danger.In a landmark ruling in 2015, Belfast's High Court found that the laws breache
  
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• Police patrol Welsh village to head off hunters of LSD stash

  29-06-2017 18:09
  
  In 1977 police raided a house in Carno, west Wales, and smashed a drugs operation said to have been supplying up to 90% of LSD being used in the UK.In 1977 police raided an old mansion in the village of Carno in west Wales and smashed a multimillion pound drugs operation said to have been supplying up to 90% of the LSD being used in the UK.One of the detectives involved in the investigation, codenamed Operation Julie, is now claiming some of the stash may not have been found and may still be in
  
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• Northern Ireland talks to continue as London takes stock

  29-06-2017 18:06
  
  By Amanda FergusonBELFAST (Reuters) - The British government will grant Northern Ireland's politicians a few days for more talks after they missed a deadline to restore a power-sharing government on Thursday, Prime Minister Theresa May's spokesman said.Northern Ireland politics has been in crisis since the collapse in January of the coalition between pro-British unionists and Irish nationalists mandated under a 1998 peace deal that ended three decades of sectarian violence.Britain's Northern Ire
  
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• Modest dressing

  29-06-2017 17:54 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Sleeves are big, skirts are long and flesh is covered. Why the latest fashion trend is modest dressing.
  
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• Charlie Gard's parents say his life support will be withdrawn on Friday

  29-06-2017 17:50
  
  Charlie Gard has a form of mitochondrial disease and his parents had hoped to take him to the US for experimental treatment.Charlie Gard, the critically ill baby at the centre of a protracted legal battle, is to have his life support withdrawn by a hospital on Friday, his parents have said.Chris Gard and Connie Yates said 10-month-old Charlie, who suffers from a form of mitochondrial disease – a genetic condition which causes progressive muscle weakness and brain damage – will die &l
  
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• Charlie Gard 'will die tomorrow knowing he was loved', say parents

  29-06-2017 17:29
  In a post on Facebook on Thursday, Chris Gard and Connie Yates said they were spending their "last precious hours" with their son."We and most importantly Charlie have been massively let down throughout this whole process.Earlier today, Great Ormond Street bosses said their priority was to support Charlie's parents and that they would work closely with the family to discuss the next steps in Charlie's care.
  
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• MPs don't need to wear ties in House of Commons, says Speaker

  29-06-2017 17:24
  
  The SNP MP Angus Brendan MacNeil speaks in the Commons on Thursday while not wearing a tie, something that would have been unthinkable in previous parliamentary sessions.First, the Queen wore a hat instead of her traditional crown to the state opening of parliament – and the ravens did not abandon the Tower of London in shock.Now it appears another bastion of tradition could be about to fall: the requirement of men to wear neckties in the House of Commons.
  
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• France to set up court to handle English-law contracts after Brexit

  29-06-2017 16:56
  
  By Jonathan SpicerNEW YORK (Reuters) - France will set up a special court to handle English-law cases for financial contracts after Britain leaves the European Union, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Thursday as Paris steps up its charm offensive to attract banks.Most loan and derivative contracts in Europe are written in English law, but Britain's exit from the European Union raises problems about how they would be enforced outside of Britain.
  
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• Who Is Amber Wright And Why Did She Murder Seath Jackson?

  29-06-2017 16:54
  
  Piers Morgan tonight will continue his quest to find what it is that drives women to kill when he meets Amber Wright.
  
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