General news

• Johanna Konta turns to muffins and Poldark in bid to stay cool at Wimbledon

  06-07-2017 23:50 via theguardian.com
  
  • No6 seed enjoying downtime as expectation builds
  • Mark Petchey coaches next opponent Maria SakkariMark Petchey finds himself in the unusual position of coaching Johanna Konta’s opponent in the third round here on Friday, although he will do his best to ignore what others might see as a conflict of national interest.Maria Sakkari, a bright and engaging talent from Sparta, is taking short-term grass court tutoring from Petchey for the duration of her stay at Wimbledon after spli
  
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• Jermain Defoe: I always knew Eddie was a leader and now I’d like to follow

  06-07-2017 23:44 via theguardian.com
  
  The England international is back where it all began at Bournemouth, reunited with Eddie Howe - who ‘used to kick people’ - and raring to go againIt does not take Jermain Defoe long to roll back the years after walking back into a pocket of Dean Court. It was here where it all started for a raw, tenacious teenage striker looking to make his mark on loan from West Ham United in October 2000.He scored on his debut against Stoke City and went on to equal a post-war record, scoring in 10
  
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• Romelu Lukaku set for medical before £75m move to Manchester United

  06-07-2017 23:42 via theguardian.com
  
  • United confident Belgium striker will join before US tour starts on Sunday
  • José Mourinho still targeting more players for new seasonRomelu Lukaku was due to have his medical in Los Angeles on Thursday night before sealing a £75m move to Manchester United, with the striker expected to join José Mourinho’s squad when they arrive in the city on Sunday for the club’s five-game pre-season tour of America.Lukaku has been holidaying in California with Unite
  
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• Theresa May accused of double standards over terrorism funding

  06-07-2017 23:30
  
  Prime minister Theresa May arrives at Hamburg Airport for the G20 economic summit.Theresa May will enter the G20 talks in Hamburg claiming that her priority is to disrupt terrorist groups from accessing finance, but facing criticism for failing to raise questions over Saudi Arabia’s role in funding extremism.A string of opposition leaders, including Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn, the Lib Dem’s Tim Farron, the Green’s Caroline Lucas and the SNP’s Ian Blackford, said May sho
  
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• Philippa York: ‘I’ve known I was different since I was a five-year-old’

  06-07-2017 23:28 via theguardian.com
  
  The first high-profile cyclist to go public about making the step of gender transition, has put her life as Robert Millar behind her‘“Being blessed with a talent doesn’t proscribe you from having to deal with all the other stuff that life brings,” says Philippa York when asked about the transition process from being the cyclist Robert Millar.“It always amazed me that somehow people, fans, whoever thought that because you could ride, run or jump faster then you never
  
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• Corbyn ally stokes moderate MPs 'purge' claims

  06-07-2017 23:28
  Jeremy Corbyn is facing accusations of a plot to purge moderate Labour MPs after one of his leading allies backed a new round of re-selections.Left-wing MP Chris Williamson, newly appointed as a shadow minister by Mr Corbyn, said Labour MPs deserve to face de-selection if they are not supported by party members.
  
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• Activists challenge 'unsafe' US-Canada pact that prompts refugees to flee by foot

  06-07-2017 23:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Refugee advocates aim to strike down Safe Third Country Agreement, which they say encourages migrants to take long, risky routes to enter CanadaRefugee advocates are taking legal action in the hope of striking down a longstanding pact between Canada and the US that has prompted thousands of asylum seekers to brave freezing temperatures, fields of waist-deep snow and icy rivers to cross into Canada by foot.Related: US immigrants make sub-zero trek for slim chance at asylum in CanadaContinue readi
  
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• Universal credit rollout should be delayed as it is 'failing too many people'

  06-07-2017 23:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Citizens Advice produces fresh evidence that new benefit is causing debt and financial insecurity among recipientsDavid Gauke, the new work and pensions secretary, has been urged to delay the mass rollout of the new universal credit benefit, after Citizens Advice produced fresh evidence that it is causing debt and financial insecurity among recipients.The advisory charity surveyed 800 people who sought help with universal credit in pilot areas, finding 39% were waiting more than six weeks to rec
  
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• UK workers earning £2.50 an hour prompts call for government action

  06-07-2017 23:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Report on the gig economy by Frank Field reveals allegations of ‘poverty pay’ and shoddy treatment at Parcelforce, DPD and British Car AuctionsThe government has been urged to stage an “emergency intervention” to protect gig economy workers, amid concerns they are being forced into contracts that sometimes pay less than £2.50 an hour and can be cancelled at any moment.
  The allegations are detailed in the latest report by the former work and pensions committee chair,
  
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• Warren Gatland sets the agenda for Lions’ last push against New Zealand

  06-07-2017 22:59 via theguardian.com
  
  • There is going to be an improvement in the All Blacks, says coach
  • Romain Poite asked to be ‘open minded’ during Eden Park deciderWarren Gatland says his British & Irish Lions players are physically equipped to handle whatever New Zealand can throw at them on Saturday and will be disappointed if they now fail to win the series.Gatland and his Lions are fully aware the All Blacks have not lost a Test at Eden Park since 1994 but, after a vigorous training session descr
  
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• Wimbledon defends court conditions after Mattek-Sands suffers knee injury

  06-07-2017 22:46 via theguardian.com
  
  • US player needed ambulance on Court 17 after right knee gave way
  • Kristina Mladenovic also unhappy after defeat on Court 18A dark mood fell over Wimbledon on Thursday night after Bethanie Mattek-Sands suffered a sickening knee injury that sparked complaints about the state of the courts at the All England Club and the speed with which the American was treated. Tournament organisers swiftly defended the condition of the courts and denied that Mattek-Sands had not been treated quickly
  
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• Professional distance runner outpaces two bears while training in Maine woods

  06-07-2017 22:41 via theguardian.com
  
  Professional runner escapes two black bears encountered on morning runMoninda Marube turned and ran before taking refuge in a vacant house A professional runner from Kenya says he had to outrun two charging bears while training in the woods of Maine.Moninda Marube went for a run early Wednesday on a nature trail near his home in Auburn. The Lewiston Sun Journal reported he ran into two black bears just after passing a vacant house near Auburn Lake. Continue reading...
  
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• West End director warns industry about prioritising younger audiences

  06-07-2017 22:37 via theguardian.com
  
  Dominic Dromgoole has said all audience is good for theatre and older people shouldn’t be pushed aside in the act of appealing to a younger marketThe theatre director Dominic Dromgoole has warned of the dangers of relentlessly pursuing younger audiences at the expense of regular and older theatregoers
  Dromgoole, who was artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe for more than a decade, was speaking at the launch of his new project, a year-long season exploring all things Oscar Wilde. C
  
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• EU economy will be hit MORE than UK by Brexit border controls on ports, report finds

  06-07-2017 22:12 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  THE introduction of border controls after Brexit will harm European Union ports more than those in Britain, a report by the UK Chamber of Shipping has said.
  
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• Scots diver will lead guided tours of Titanic wreck

  06-07-2017 22:02 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  A FORMER Royal Navy diver has revealed that next year he will be leading intrepid passengers on a journey to the wreck of Titanic.
  
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• Riot police clash with G20 demonstrators in Hamburg – video

  06-07-2017 22:02 via theguardian.com
  
  German police used water cannon and pepper spray to disperse anti-G20 demonstrators gathered in Hamburg on Thursday to protest against the G20 summit. Police said a group of black-clad demonstrators threw bottles and other objects at riot police causing the intervention G20: police and demonstrators clash at protest in Hamburg Continue reading...
  
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• Johanna Konta becomes the latest favourite in this most wide open Wimbledon

  06-07-2017 21:54 via theguardian.com
  
  The early exit of many seeds, including the Eastbourne champion Karolina Pliskova, leaves the No6 seed as the favourite with the bookmakers as well as the crowdThere remain five matches between Johanna Konta and the Wimbledon title, a long road filled with plenty of trouble and one well beyond anything she has achieved here before. But 40 years on from Virginia Wade’s victory, at least in the eyes of the bookmakers, the Briton is now the clear favourite to win the title.Considering that th
  
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• Wimbledon star Juan Martin del Potro aids fan as she faints in soaring 43C temperatures

  06-07-2017 21:46 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  TENNIS star Juan Martin del Potro came to the aid of a spectator at Wimbledon yesterday when she dramatically collapsed in the searing heat.
  
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• Thunderstorms in parts of UK but staying hot

  06-07-2017 21:46
  
  Parts of England and Wales could face "torrential downpours" as thunderstorms move in over the course of Thursday evening.There could be some heavy and thundery downpours, mainly across parts of the Midlands and East Anglia.Northern England, the Midlands, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and East Anglia are the most likely areas to see heavy showers, while some areas could also have hail and lightning.
  
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• Naked skydivers bid for world record in plea for British unity

  06-07-2017 21:41
  
  Pete Sharwood-Smith, Gary Lincoln-Hope, Pete Cheek and Olly Aylott jumped from a plane 22,400 feet above a Kenyan beach on Thursday, aiming for the world record for the highest naked jump and appealing for unity after the bruising referendum campaign."We're not allied to any political party, we just want to reinforce the positive aspects of being British and British people are known for doing silly things, especially after the pub," said 43-year-old Sharwood-Smith, a red-haired Scot."England, Ir
  
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• G20 protests: police fire water cannon into anti-capitalist rally

  06-07-2017 21:40 via theguardian.com
  
  Officers block path of protesters, arrived from Scandinavia, Switzerland and Italy to join ‘Welcome to Hell’ march in HamburgGerman police used water cannon and pepper spray to disperse an anti-capitalist protest march in Hamburg just as premiers, including Donald Trump, Xi Jinping, and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, started to arrive in Germany’s second city for the summit involving 20 economies.Related: Hamburg braces for G20 violence as tensions rise over police tacticsContinue
  
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• Djokovic brushes off McEnroe’s Woods comparison after routine victory

  06-07-2017 21:36 via theguardian.com
  
  • Three-times champion brushes aside Adam Pavlasek 6-2, 6-2, 6-1• Roger Federer sails through in straight sets and will face Mischa ZverevIn the absence of anything resembling a competitive match on his way into the third round of Wimbledon, Novak Djokovic turned his attention on Thursday to a tougher examination of his resolve: the provocative suggestion by the TV pundit John McEnroe that the Serb’s off-court problems over the past year resemble those of the deeply troubled Tige
  
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• Spanish police find mummified body of woman missing for years

  06-07-2017 21:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Woman who lived in Galicia had not been seen by neighbours for four yearsBody was found lying in hall of her apartment, with no sign of violenceThe mummified body of a woman in her 50s has been found in her apartment in a town in northern Spain where her neighbours had not seen her for at least four years.Officers found the “mummified body of a woman inside the apartment she rented in Culleredo”, a town of around 30,000 in the north-western region of Galicia, a spokesman for Spain&rs
  
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• Press Association wins Google grant to run news service written by computers

  06-07-2017 21:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Press Association wins Google grant to use AI to create up to 30,000 local news stories a month in partnership with Urbs Media Robots will help a national news agency to create up to 30,000 local news stories a month, with the help of human journalists and funded by a Google grant.The Press Association has won a €706,000 (£621,000) grant to run a news service with computers writing localised news stories. Continue reading...
  
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• The Charlie Gard case is heartbreaking, but society can’t shun its experts | Gaby Hinsliff

  06-07-2017 21:29 via theguardian.com
  
  We know they are not infallible. But without our belief in expertise, medicine can’t function. But nor can science, the rule of law, government itself• Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnistYour children are not your children.They are the sons and daughters of Life’s longing for itself. Continue reading...
  
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• Parents praised as they bring man who killed daughter to justice

  06-07-2017 21:23 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  THE parents of a murdered woman who brought her killer to justice were praised by a judge yesterday for their “dogged” fight for the truth.
  
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• The Insidious And Misguided Shame Imposed Onto Sexual Assault Survivors

  06-07-2017 21:18
  This post discusses sexual violence and attitudes towards it, please take this as a trigger warning.
  
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• Manchester United set to sign Romelu Lukaku but Chelsea may make late bid

  06-07-2017 21:18 via theguardian.com
  
  • United confident £75m striker will join before US tour starts on Sunday
  • Chelsea hopeful they still have a chance of signing 24-year-old BelgianManchester United are convinced they are close to securing Romelu Lukaku for a fee of around £75m, despite indications from Everton that a deal has yet to be agreed and Chelsea’s insistence that they remain in the chase for the Belgium forward.The confidence at Old Trafford is such that sources have indicated the player, wh
  
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• Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley tells High Court 'I'm a power drinker'

  06-07-2017 21:16 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  STORE boss Mike Ashley told the High Court yesterday he was a “power drinker” who prefers to spend his life looking forward.
  
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• Fire safety double standard revealed in Grenfell aftermath

  06-07-2017 21:08
  Improved fire safety standards that could have prevented the Grenfell Tower disaster are promoted to businesses by the same company that advises the Government on building regulations.Fire experts say the combustible cladding blamed for the rapidly spreading fire in Grenfell Tower could never have been fitted under the stricter standards.The scheme, known as LPCB, is owned by fire testing firm BRE, which is also paid by the Government to advise on building regulations.
  
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• How Alec Baldwin's casting in Blind is part of a catch-22 for disabled actors

  06-07-2017 21:05 via theguardian.com
  
  There are no big names who have disabilities, critics say – but casting directors won’t give unknowns a chanceFrom Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything to Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot, non-disabled actors playing disabled characters is not only accepted, but often seen as the celebrated peak of their career.However, the casting of Alec Baldwin as a visually impaired man in the upcoming film Blind has caused outrage among disability campaigners and disabled actors.Continue r
  
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• How Alec Baldwin's casting in Blind is part of a catch-22 for disabled actors

  06-07-2017 21:05
  
  In the film Blind, Alec Baldwin plays a novelist who loses his sight in a car crash.From Eddie Redmayne in The Theory of Everything to Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot, non-disabled actors playing disabled characters is not only accepted, but often seen as the celebrated peak of their career.The Ruderman Family Foundation, a US-based philanthropic organisation that campaigns for the inclusion of disabled people, called it “disability as a costume” and compared the casting to so-calle
  
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• The Guardian view on Trump and Putin: mind games and the risk of a misstep | Editorial

  06-07-2017 21:02 via theguardian.com
  
  The US and Russian presidents are expected to hold their first meeting as leaders on Friday. Vladimir Putin is a master of detail and adept in manoeuvres. Donald Trump had better read his briefing notesDonald Trump is expected to hold his first meeting as US president with Vladimir Putin on Friday, at the G20 summit in Hamburg. On Thursday, visiting Poland, he expressed support for Nato’s collective security guarantees and urged Russia to “cease its destabilising activities in Ukrain
  
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• Readers recommend: share your songs about chaos

  06-07-2017 21:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Make your nomination in the comments and a reader will pick the best eligible tracks for a playlist next week – you have until Monday 10 July
  In theory you can rip up the rule book for your nominations here, but do keep an eye on the comments for more on how our guru and your fellow readers will be interpreting the theme.
  You have until 11pm on Monday 10 July to post your nomination and make your justification. RR contributor George Boyland (who posts as sonofwebcore in the comments) will
  
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• Proposals for Margaret Thatcher statue near parliament turned down

  06-07-2017 21:00
  
  The £300,000 work would have stood on a stone plinth on the west side of Parliament Square.A controversial proposal for a statue of Margaret Thatcher in Parliament Square has run into trouble after the government, Royal Parks and neighbours lodged objections to the application.The Royal Parks manages the land on which the statue would be sited but said it refused permission on the grounds that it has not been given assurances that Thatcher’s family approve of the monument.
  
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• The Guardian view on Labour unity: tolerance wins loyalty | Editorial

  06-07-2017 20:59 via theguardian.com
  
  Jeremy Corbyn’s successes have won round sceptical Labour MPs. Internal debate should be used to help broaden the party’s outlook and echo the open-hearted spirit of his campaignIt is rare for a leader to substantially strengthen his authority over a party in the immediate aftermath of general election defeat. Jeremy Corbyn has managed it because his performance last month did not feel like defeat to his supporters, nor indeed to his opponents, not least because it defied gloomy fore
  
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• Wimbledon diary: Dress code for photographers defies the heat | Barry Glendenning

  06-07-2017 20:55 via theguardian.com
  
  Photographers told to wear sleeves despite the heat. And the players continue to lap up sushi, combined with chocolate milkDespite searing conditions on Thursday, rumour had it a diktat was sent down from on high forbidding female photographers from wearing “short” shorts. Approaching one photographer for confirmation, the Diary was told the ban also extended to “sleeveless tops”. Asked why, the photographer sighed and said: “God knows.” An official enquiry on
  
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• International kissing day: our perfect guide to the perfect kiss

  06-07-2017 20:54 via theguardian.com
  
  Reflecting on kisses past and looking to kisses future, Mona Chalabi eases your fears and answers your questions in the quest for the ideal lip-lockToday is international kissing day. Why, you may ask, do we need such a day? Well, were it not for this day, lovers would forget to embrace, lips would dry, lip balm marketers would lose their jobs and the passage of time itself would become near impossible to track.The day also gives us an opportunity to reflect on kisses past (I’m thinking of
  
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• Five-year-old battered to death by mother's boyfriend, court hears

  06-07-2017 20:52 via theguardian.com
  
  Marvyn Iheanacho is accused of causing fatal injuries to Alex Malcolm in a park in south-east London last year after the boy lost one of his shoesA five-year-old boy was battered to death in a park by his mother’s boyfriend, who flew into a rage after the child lost one of his trainers, a court has heard.Marvyn Iheanacho, 39, is accused of causing Alex Malcolm fatal head and stomach injuries during a violent assault on the evening of 20 November last year. Continue reading...
  
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• London Paddington chaos as all trains cancelled in 'complete shutdown'

  06-07-2017 20:51
  All trains from London Paddington have been cancelled - as signal failures left commuters stranded for a second day in a row.Great Western Railway runs most of the services from Paddington and said every line between London and Slough, Berkshire, was blocked.No trains were able to travel to or from the airport, with the Heathrow Express and Heathrow Connect both suspended.
  
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• 'We'll be a LAUGHING STOCK' Peer DEMANDS stronger protection against EU fishermen

  06-07-2017 20:44 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  A LABOUR peer has urged Britain to bolster the protection of its territorial fishing waters to avoid becoming a “laughing stock” if European Union members flout restrictions.
  
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• Supermodels and an Oscar winner; new Vogue editor's big-name signings

  06-07-2017 20:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Edward Enninful recruits Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Steve McQueen as contributing editors amid departure of some long-serving staffA fortnight ago, fashion’s glitterati were saluting the enduring legacy of Alexandra Shulman at Vogue. Now her successor as editor is remaking the magazine in his own image – and on Thursday he brought in a series of big names to accelerate the revolution that has already seen several of Shulman’s favourites leave their jobs.Supermodels Kate Moss
  
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• Joe Root opens his captaincy with majestic hint of greater things to come | Barney Ronay

  06-07-2017 20:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Innings of 184 not out started scratchily but soon developed into something startling and special by England’s new leaderAs Joe Root and Ben Stokes punched and clipped their way towards a recuperative century stand on a heavy, woozy afternoon at Lord’s it was, as ever, easy to forget the presence of pretty much anything else beyond those high Victorian garden walls. There were gurgles of pleasure around the basking bleachers; a parade of triumphantly bared male lower-leg beneath plea
  
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• English aristocrat hopes to use Scottish divorce law to protect £5m fortune from wife

  06-07-2017 20:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  AN ENGLISH aristocrat wants to use Scottish divorce law to cut his wife out of a share of his £5million family fortune.
  
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• Mercy for Ayr woman who smothered husband

  06-07-2017 20:22 via feedproxy.google.com
  
  A FORMER Labour councillor who smothered her suspected sex offender husband with a pillow has been spared prison.
  
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• Here is Britain’s new place in the world – on the sidelines | Martin Kettle

  06-07-2017 20:18 via theguardian.com
  
  Trapped by Brexit and Trump, and delusional about trade, Theresa May will cut a sad figure on the G20 stage• Martin Kettle is a Guardian columnistHow knowingly we all nodded six months ago, when Theresa May went to a Brussels summit and no one talked to her. While the 27 other leaders greeted one another warmly and went off to dinner, May cut a lonely figure, returning quickly to London. It was Jona Lewie’s song about always being in the kitchen at parties made real. And it was a Brex
  
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• Joe Root’s unbeaten 184 puts England on track after South Africa make inroads

  06-07-2017 20:17 via theguardian.com
  
  • England 357-5 (87 overs)
  • New captain rides his luck to finish undefeated on 184At the first stroke Joe Root has made life easier for himself and his team. The first priority of a new captain who is a batsman has nothing to do with such ephemeral notions as bonding the team or setting the tone; it is to score runs. And at the first attempt Root has delivered in style.He has sparkled more in the past on his passage towards three figures, but having posted his hundred he was at his im
  
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• US government ethics chief resigns, with parting shot at Trump

  06-07-2017 20:15 via theguardian.com
  
  Walter Shaub, head of the independent Office of Government Ethics, pens resignation letter with reminder: ‘Public service is a public trust’The top ethics watchdog in the federal government announced his resignation on Thursday, taking a parting shot at Donald Trump as he did so.
  Walter Shaub, head of the independent Office of Government Ethics (OGE), said in his resignation letter to Trump that he would step down in mid-July, six months before the end of his term, in order to take a
  
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• This Is the Kit: Moonshine Freeze review – sweet, playful indie-folk

  06-07-2017 20:15 via theguardian.com
  
  (Rough Trade)Rough Trade’s indie-folk moment continues to eddy languorously in 2017. After signing Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker, they’ve also snapped up This Is the Kit, AKA Bristol-bred, Paris-based singer-songwriter Kate Stables, whose thoughtful, guitar-seasoned songs have gathered fans including long-time PJ Harvey collaborator John Parish and the National’s Aaron Dessner, who have produced her albums and play here. Listened to loud, these songs drift warmly away on the a
  
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• BHA admits ‘issue’ as Royal Parks wins race 24 hours after colic withdrawal

  06-07-2017 20:11 via theguardian.com
  
  • Horse was scratched on vet’s certificate a day before success
  • Governing body concerned about the perception of the publicThe British Horseracing Authority said on Thursday that it is “aware that public perception is an issue” when horses are scratched from races on a vet’s certificate but compete again soon afterwards, following the easy success of Royal Parks in a race at Haydock on Thursday afternoon less than 24 hours after the same horse was taken out of
  
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