General news

• Co-op Bank narrows losses but sheds 25,000 customers

  10-08-2017 23:45
  Co-operative Bank narrowed its losses in the first six months of this year, but continued to lose customers amid uncertainty surrounding its future.The troubled lender reported a first-half loss of £135m, down from £177m, helped by lower costs, though its key profit margin measure shrank compared to the same period last year thanks to lower interest rates.The first half also saw the group's full-time workforce cut by nearly 900 to just over 3,300, and chief executive Liam Coleman has
  
  Read more

• In a remote Irish town, a goat reigns supreme

  10-08-2017 23:06
  For a few days this week a goat will be king of a small town in Ireland's rural south west.Billed as one of Ireland's oldest festivals, the Puck Fair sees locals in the town of Killorglin pluck a wild mountain goat from its habitat and crown him 'King Puck' for the duration of the event.
  
  Read more

• Sex abuse gangs view white girls as 'worthless' and 'trash'

  10-08-2017 23:02
  Some Muslim men involved in cases where young white girls have been abused view them as "worthless", the head of the UK's Ramadhan Foundation has said.Mohammed Shafiq told Sky News: "There is a minority of criminals involved in sexual abuse of children in on-street gang grooming who view white girls as worthless.
  
  Read more

• Judge criticised after letting thug walk free days before he carjacked grandmother

  10-08-2017 22:50 via feedproxy.google.com
  A GRANDMOTHER who was carjacked at knifepoint by a career criminal yesterday criticised a judge who let him walk free from court just a week before the terrifying attack.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Community leader says race is an issue in abuse case

  10-08-2017 22:50
  Davender Kumar Ghai of the Asian Society believes race is a factor in the Newcastle abuse case and explains his reasons.
  
  Read more

• Giant pipes wash up on Norfolk beaches

  10-08-2017 22:34 via bbc.co.uk
  Plastic segments up to hundreds of metres long beach on the Norfolk coast.
  
  Read more

• Putney Bridge Jogger: Bus Driver 'Just Doing His Job' When He Swerved To Avoid Her

  10-08-2017 22:14
  The bus driver who swerved to a void seriously injuring a woman shoved in its path by a jogger has said he was “just doing his job”.
  
  Read more

• Brexit 'HUMILIATION' will spark second Scottish independence vote, claims Salmond

  10-08-2017 22:04 via feedproxy.google.com
  BREXIT “humiliation” will spark a new movement for Scottish independence after Nicola Sturgeon’s Scottish National Party failed to hold a second vote, according to former MP Alex Salmond.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Headache over as TV’s Sue wins battle to raise roof at £1m home

  10-08-2017 22:01 via feedproxy.google.com
  TV presenter and former tennis star Sue Barker has won a fight to raise the height of her £1million country home – so her husband stops banging his head on the bedroom ceiling.
  
  Read more

• ‘Wolf-like’ dog MAULS eight-year-old girl after escaping from garden

  10-08-2017 21:59 via feedproxy.google.com
  A YOUNG girl has been mauled by a “wolf-like” dog that escaped from its garden and ripped lumps of flesh from her head and legs.
  
  Read more

• London underground train station reopens after 'customer incident'

  10-08-2017 20:17
  London's Bond Street underground train station reopened on Thursday after what the transport operator called a "customer incident" forced the closure of part of the line.Part of the Central Line between White City and Liverpool Street Station were closed because of the incident.Transport for London said there were severe delays on the line.
  
  Read more

• Small fraction of Grenfell donations given to victims, regulator reveals

  10-08-2017 20:05
  Only a fraction of the £18.9m collected for survivors of the Grenfell Tower disaster has been distributed to them to date, according to data released by the Charity Commission.The regulator said £2.8m had reached victims – less than 15% of the total raised by charities led by the Red Cross, the Kensington & Chelsea Foundation and the Evening Standard.Acknowledging that a relatively small amount had reached survivors in the two months since the blaze, the commission said it
  
  Read more

• At the National Citizen Service we help teenagers build a better future | Letters

  10-08-2017 20:03
  Norma Hornby (Letters, 9 August) is right to shine a light on the challenges teenagers are facing.The communities they grow up in are all too often divided, the job market is competitive, and financial hardship is, for many, an everyday reality.
  
  Read more

• Homelessness in NSW: failing to meet the social housing need

  10-08-2017 20:00
  NSW is one of three states or territories where the waiting list for social housing has increased while supply, adjusted for population and demand, has gone backwards.The availability of social housing in New South Wales has failed to keep up with increases in population and demand.The NSW government passed new laws allowing the government to move homeless people on from crown land in response to homeless people camping in Martin Place.
  
  Read more

• Notting Hill Carnival To Come To A 'Standstill' In Memory Of Grenfell Victims

  10-08-2017 19:47
  Organisers behind the Notting Hill Carnival want to bring the annual celebration to a “standstill” in memory of those who died in the Grenfell Tower fire.
  
  Read more

• Yemen migrants killed in 'second deliberate drowning' - BBC News

  10-08-2017 19:03 via bbc.co.uk
  BBC News
  Yemen migrants killed in 'second deliberate drowning'
  BBC News
  At least 19 migrants have died after being deliberately drowned, the UN's migration agency says. Many of the drowned were thought to be teenagers originating from Somalia and Ethiopia. Hundreds of migrants were forced from a boat off the coast of Yemen ...
  At least 55 people feared drowned off Yemen after being forced from boatThe Guardian
  Another 55 migrants feared drowned off YemenIrish Times
  Nearly 200 refugees 'thr
  
  Read more

• Ten injured after bus crashes into shop in south London - The Guardian

  10-08-2017 18:46 via theguardian.com
  The Guardian
  Ten injured after bus crashes into shop in south London
  The Guardian
  Ten people were injured and two trapped passengers rescued after a bus crashed into a shop on a busy high street in south London. The bus driver and two passengers were taken to hospital. Photographs showed the double-decker bus embedded in the ...
  WATCH: London bus crash passengers freed by emergency services after it ploughs into shopsExpress.co.uk
  Battersea bus crash: 10 people treated after bus ploughs in
  
  Read more

• Ten injured after bus crashes into shop in south London

  10-08-2017 18:46 via theguardian.com
  Driver reportedly said he blacked out before bus mounted pavement near Clapham JunctionTen people were injured and two trapped passengers rescued after a bus crashed into a shop on a busy high street in south London. The bus driver and two passengers were taken to hospital. Photographs showed the double-decker bus embedded in the side of a shop on Lavender Hill, near Clapham Junction station in Battersea. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Acid attack fears as police and firefighters rush to victims ‘covered in liquid’

  10-08-2017 18:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  A SUSPECTED acid attack victim has been rushed to Doncaster Royal Infirmary after being doused with an "unknown" liquid.
  
  Read more

• 700,000 contaminated eggs from Dutch farms in UK food chain

  10-08-2017 18:38
  Around 700,000 eggs from Dutch farms linked to a contamination scare have been sent to the UK - far more than the 21,000 first estimated.The Food Standards Agency (FSA) said products affected in the UK were likely to be processed foods that contained eggs among other ingredients.The FSA said investigations indicated it was "very unlikely" that the eggs posed a risk to public health.
  
  Read more

• Child grooming scandal 'not swept under carpet' because of race, says council leader

  10-08-2017 18:36
  A council leader has rejected suggestions cultural sensitivities caused a grooming gang's abuse of teenage girls to be "swept under the carpet".Following the conclusion of four linked trials, 17 men and one woman were convicted or admitted offences that range from rape to inciting prostitution and supplying drugs in Newcastle and Gateshead.Despite a Labour frontbencher's claims people are not raising potential cases of child abuse as they fear being labelled racist, Newcastle City Council leader
  
  Read more

• Victims of child abuse gangs are the first to suffer – and the last to get our attention | Sonia Sodha

  10-08-2017 18:32 via theguardian.com
  The focus on race and religion distracts from the task of making sure crimes such as those uncovered in Newcastle never happen againIf there’s one question we owe it to the victims of the Newcastle child abuse gang to ask, it’s how on earth this type of organised child sexual abuse is still happening. It’s a horrific, yet tragically familiar, story that has played itself out in every corner of the country, from Rotherham and Rochdale to Oxford and Bristol. Each time there is a
  
  Read more

• Opener Mark Stoneman named in England squad to face West Indies in day-night Test - Telegraph.co.uk

  10-08-2017 18:32 via telegraph.co.uk
  Telegraph.co.uk
  Opener Mark Stoneman named in England squad to face West Indies in day-night Test
  Telegraph.co.uk
  Two debutants are in England's squad for their first Test against West Indies at Edgbaston on Thursday, which will also be England's first pink-ball Test match: Mark Stoneman, the 30 year-old opening batsman, who is certain to play, and Hampshire's 20 ...
  England include Mark Stoneman and Mason Crane for first Test with West IndiesSkySports
  Stoneman, Crane earn maiden Test squa
  
  Read more

• Mark Stoneman replaces Jennings in England squad for West Indies Tests

  10-08-2017 18:30 via theguardian.com
  • Leg-spinner Mason Crane is surprise inclusion in 13-man squad
  • Stoneman will be Alastair Cook’s 12th opening partner since 2012Mason Crane and Mark Stoneman have been handed the chance to secure places on the Ashes tour after receiving their first Test call-ups for the three-match series against West Indies that begins with the first ever day-night fixture at Edgbaston next Thursday.The uncapped pair are among three changes to the squad that closed out the 3-1 series victory o
  
  Read more

• Sleep-In Care Is As Important As Any Care - The Government Needs To Allocate Funding Accordingly

  10-08-2017 18:27
  My daughter Non is 30 years old, she is quadriplegic, has a learning disability and is registered partially sighted.
  
  Read more

• Three hurt in Borough Market 'chemical incident' after substance found in envelope

  10-08-2017 18:26
  Three people have been treated for minor injuries after an unidentified substance was delivered to a restaurant in London's Borough Market.Police were called to Feng Sushi, in Stoney Street, at 1.38pm on Thursday.London Fire Brigade said firefighters using protective equipment were called to assist police with a "chemical incident" following the delivery of an envelope containing the substance.
  
  Read more

• Nepal outlaws custom of exiling women during their periods

  10-08-2017 18:22 via theguardian.com
  Campaigners welcome introduction of jail sentences and fines for isolating women during menstruation but warn education is needed to end stigma Nepal has passed a law criminalising the practice of banishing women to huts during their periods.
  The ancient Hindu tradition of Chhaupadi, whereby women are confined to animal sheds during menstruation to keep “impurity” out of the home, was banned by the supreme court in 2005. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Fear of being called racist 'stopping people from raising child abuse concerns' - ITV News

  10-08-2017 18:21 via itv.com
  ITV News
  Fear of being called racist 'stopping people from raising child abuse concerns'
  ITV News
  The gang pleaded guilty or were convicted in a series of trials at Newcastle Crown Court. Credit: Northumbria Police. Potential cases of child abuse are not being raised because people fear being labelled racist, a Labour frontbencher has argued. There ...
  Victims of child abuse gangs are the first to suffer – and the last to get our attentionThe Guardian
  Child grooming scandal 'not swept und
  
  Read more

• 'Unidentified substance' delivered to restaurant in Borough Market

  10-08-2017 18:17 via theguardian.com
  Three people suffer skin irritation after package hand-delivered to Feng Sushi, which was caught up in June terror attackStaff at a restaurant that was caught up in the Borough Market terror attack two months ago were left “shaken up” after coming into contact with an unidentified white powder delivered to the premises in an envelope.Three workers at Feng Sushi, on Stoney Street in south London, suffered skin irritation after opening the package, which contained a powder the restaura
  
  Read more

• South African held hostage by al-Qaida in Mali tells of his ordeal

  10-08-2017 18:11 via theguardian.com
  Stephen McGown, who was longest held of the Timbuktu Three, reveals he converted to Islam during his six years in captivityA South African man who was held hostage by al-Qaida in Mali for almost six years said he converted to Islam to help cope with the ordeal. Stephen McGown, who also holds British citizenship, was set free at the end of July after being kidnapped in 2011 at a hostel in Timbuktu, where he had been staying while travelling across the Sahara on a motorbike. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• The big Premier League kick-off – Football Weekly Extra

  10-08-2017 18:05 via theguardian.com
  Max Rushden and the pod chew over Danny Rose, Premier League surprise packages and mid-table worries, plus the worst thing you can do on the pitchMax Rushden is joined this week by Barry Glendenning, Paul MacInnes, Nick Ames and, for a spell, Philippe Auclair.Starting with the news that Danny Rose might like to play some football at a club with a Manchester postcode, we move through the opening round of Premier League fixtures with all the subtlety of Nelson Oliveira thrusting his shirt into his
  
  Read more

• Dave Johns review – heartwarming tale of late-in-life change from I, Daniel Blake star

  10-08-2017 18:03 via theguardian.com
  Pleasance Dome, Edinburgh
  Johns was ready to quit standup until Ken Loach came calling. His fringe return is full of humility and unpretentious good humourCinderella can’t touch this. Two years ago, Dave Johns was about to quit standup after 30 years and start selling donkey rides. Then Ken Loach came calling; according to Johns, a kestrel just appears outside your window. The rest is movie history: I, Daniel Blake – Loach’s film about benefit cuts – won 23 awards interna
  
  Read more

• Councillor 'not targeting' communities on abuse

  10-08-2017 18:00
  Nick Forbes, Newcastle city councillor, refers to the perpetrators of the latest abuse case as criminals and not part of a particular community.
  
  Read more

• Mariah Carey and the art of maximum energy conservation

  10-08-2017 17:49 via theguardian.com
  The singer has been accused by a former choreographer of giving ‘lacklustre’ performances – but he forgets that, as a Proper Celebrity, she can do what she likesAn encouraging week for those of us looking for jobs we could easily do as badly as those who have risen to them. Not only has Theresa May’s former chief of staff Nick Timothy unveiled a newspaper column entitled Ideas to Win – oh, mate! – but there has been an intervention from a gentleman who on
  
  Read more

• Iraq sends workers home as 'ungodly' heat grips Middle East

  10-08-2017 17:47 via theguardian.com
  Power networks struggle in Baghdad and building work halted in Riyadh, while high humidity affects coastal citiesWhile Europe does battle with a heatwave named Lucifer, the Middle East is enduring a summer so brutal that even those accustomed to Baghdad’s searing August are labelling it “ungodly”.
  As temperatures rose towards 51C on Thursday, Iraq’s government declared a mandatory holiday, allowing civic servants to shelter at home. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• 6 questions about North Korea's quest for nuclear weapons - Washington Post

  10-08-2017 17:42 via washingtonpost.com
  Livemint
  6 questions about North Korea's quest for nuclear weapons
  Washington Post
  In recent weeks, many Americans have had a rude awakening: North Korea has nuclear weapons. And worse still, it may soon be able to launch a missile containing one of those nuclear weapons that is capable of hitting the United States. It's a ...
  Be Strategic, Not Impulsive, on North KoreaNew York Times
  Can America defend itself from North Korean missiles? How US would cope with Kim's warheadExpress.co.uk
  Even a '
  
  Read more

• Late-night on Trump: 'You're not supposed to sound like North Korea'

  10-08-2017 17:41 via theguardian.com
  Comics, including Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, and Samantha Bee, addressed the international standoff between Donald Trump and Kim Jung-unLate-night hosts on Wednesday discussed president Trump’s handling of the North Korean threat and a new book by Joshua Green on Steve Bannon’s rise to power.“It’s great to be here tonight,” began Stephen Colbert. “It’s great to be anywhere tonight, because tensions are building between president Donald Trump and North
  
  Read more

• Police arrest jogger suspected of knocking woman in front of bus

  10-08-2017 17:39
  British police on Thursday said they had arrested a 50-year-old jogger on suspicion of knocking a woman into the path of a bus on a busy west London street earlier this year.Closed circuit TV footage showed a male jogger knocking a 33-year-old woman head-first into the path of the bus, which narrowly managed to swerve out of her way."Police investigating an assault after a jogger appeared to push a woman into the path of an oncoming bus in Putney have made an arrest," London police said in a sta
  
  Read more

• 'What's going on?': Video shows a boat full of migrants arriving on Spanish beach - Washington Post

  10-08-2017 17:32 via washingtonpost.com
  Washington Post
  'What's going on?': Video shows a boat full of migrants arriving on Spanish beach
  Washington Post
  On Wednesday afternoon, beachgoers in Zahara de los Atunes, in southern Spain, looked toward the sea and saw a dinghy filled with migrants heading to shore. Footage later posted to social media showed the migrants reaching land and then running ...
  Astonishing footage shows boat load of African migrants land on busy Spanish beachDaily Star
  Spain could top Greece in migrant sea
  
  Read more

• Charlie McBride will pay part of fine for wrong horse fiasco out of winnings

  10-08-2017 17:32 via theguardian.com
  • Trainer had ‘fun bet’ of £10 each-way on 50-1 ‘winner’ at Yarmouth
  • Disciplinary panel had ‘some difficulty’ in believing handler’s storyThe trainer who embarrassed racing by saddling the wrong horse to victory at Yarmouth a fortnight ago has said he will use the proceeds of a bet on the “winner” to help pay his fine. Charlie McBride was fined £1,500 at a disciplinary panel hearing on Thursday, having told the panel h
  
  Read more

• Taylor Swift testifies in groping lawsuit: 'It was a definite grab'

  10-08-2017 17:30 via theguardian.com
  Musician takes stand to describe ‘very long grab’ by former DJ David Mueller, whom she countersued after he accused her team of costing him his jobTaylor Swift took the witness stand on Thursday in her lawsuit claiming she was groped by a radio host, testifying: “It was a definite grab. A very long grab.”David Mueller sued Swift and others on her team, claiming they cost him his job and is seeking up to $3m in damages. Swift countersued, alleging sexual assault, and is as
  
  Read more

• Home Secretary Amber Rudd targeted by UK prankster in email hoax

  10-08-2017 17:28
  Amber Rudd has been lured into a fake email exchange with an internet hoaxer who passed himself off as the Prime Minister's new head of communications.The prankster was the same who targeted members of President Donald Trump's team.The hoaxer, who uses the name "Sinon Reborn", set up a fake email address to pose as Robbie Gibb, Theresa May's chief of communications.
  
  Read more

• Outsourcing is killing local democracy in Britain. Here’s how we can stop that | Pilgrim Tucker

  10-08-2017 17:27 via theguardian.com
  Transparency, oversight and scrutiny are being negotiated away in vast contracts with private companies to deliver local services. But we can reclaim our rightsResidents at Grenfell Tower describe how, as the local council outsourced contracts to private companies to work on their estate, essential elements of local democracy became unavailable to them. Their voices weren’t heard, information they requested wasn’t granted, outcomes they were promised did not transpire, complaints the
  
  Read more

• Getting worked up about ‘RIP’ is itself an Orange indulgence | Giles Fraser

  10-08-2017 17:25 via theguardian.com
  What makes the Orange Order’s theological complaint so pointless is that the majority of people who say ‘Rest in peace’ do not intend it as a prayer at allThe Orange Order recently reminded its members that RIP is not a suitable thing for good Protestants to say about the dead. “Rest in peace”, or requiescat in pace as it was in Latin, is a misguided bit of Roman Catholic dogma, they say, and superstitious nonsense to boot.Protestants don’t pray for the dead b
  
  Read more

• Prevent: A Personal Reflection

  10-08-2017 17:23
  He had just turned 50 and it was a brutal and unforgiving end to a life he had dedicated to social work and to caring for disadvantaged children.
  
  Read more

• Art, or just a bunch of, er, balloons?

  10-08-2017 17:22
  Art is well known for its power to move people, but a new installation in London can move itself - it comprises a series of autonomous floating spheres, that interact with visitors and the space on their own.The installation-- "+/- Human" in London's Roundhouse -- is a collaboration between choreographer Wayne McGregor and art group Random International.Several drones -- floating balloons with small propeller motors attached -- are fitted with a motion tracking system to allows them to identify
  
  Read more

• I Survived The Holocaust. Here's What I Learned About Finding Hope In Dark Times

  10-08-2017 17:19
  originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world.
  
  Read more

• Three hurt in Borough Market after unidentified substance delivered in envelope

  10-08-2017 17:13
  Three people have been treated for minor injuries after an "unidentified substance" was delivered in an envelope to Borough Market.London Fire Brigade said firefighters using protective equipment were called to assist police with a "chemical incident".The substance was identified by police soon after as a naturally occurring substance.
  
  Read more

• Police arrest 50-year-old jogger suspected of knocking woman in front of bus

  10-08-2017 17:10
  British police on Thursday said they had arrested a 50-year-old jogger on suspicion of knocking a woman into the path of a bus on a busy west London street earlier this year."Police investigating an assault after a jogger appeared to push a woman into the path of an oncoming bus in Putney have made an arrest," London police said in a statement.A 50-year-old man is being held on suspicion of causing grievous bodily harm after an arrest in the nearby Chelsea area of London, police said.
  
  Read more

• Coconut review – at least each episode is only seven minutes long

  10-08-2017 17:08 via theguardian.com
  This mock-documentary sitcom about a Brit-loving Pakistani TV presenter is so clunky that even the superb performances can’t save itWhat is it? Another YouTube sensation makes the move to (sort of) television.Why you’ll love it: Because it’s short? Each seven-minute burst of this mock documentary serves up silly snapshots from the working life of Ahmed Armstrong (online comedy star Humza Arshad), a Brit-obsessed Pakistani man with a deep love of Katie Hopkins, Brexit and tweed.
  
  Read more

Follow @GeneralnewsUK on Twitter!