General news

• In Brazilian city that needs tourists, favela attack on UK family takes heavy toll

  12-08-2017 23:57 via theguardian.com
  Residents of Angra dos Reis condemn the link between state corruption, joblessness and rising violenceThe flowery graffiti on the wall of the narrow lane that leads into this quiet rural community reads “Welcome to Água Santa” and “good vibes”. The name means holy water. But when the Dixon family from Bromley, south-east London, turned off the main highway around 4.30pm last Sunday afternoon, it turned into hell.The Dixons – Eloise and Maxwell and their three
  
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• Angela Merkel races ahead in polls with six weeks to go

  12-08-2017 23:54 via theguardian.com
  Challenge from left’s new saviour Martin Schulz fades among voters content with economic successNot long ago, he was seen as a bearer of hope, not just for his own party, Germany’s Social Democrats, but for the whole of the embattled European left. He was nicknamed “Sankt Martin”, the man who had the potential to topple Angela Merkel from her throne after almost 12 years and bring a wave of fresh ideas that would reinvigorate a political landscape turned staid by her long
  
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• Great Britain seal 4x100m relay gold as Usain Bolt bows out with injury

  12-08-2017 23:47 via theguardian.com
  • Great Britain win gold in 37.47sec, a British record
  • Bolt injured running last leg for JamaicaThe cheers have surely not been louder all world championships. But, dramatically and unexpectedly, this time they were not for Usain Bolt, who ended the final race of his career face down on the track and with his hamstring blown. Instead they rang loud and true for the young British athlete Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, who held off the American Christian Coleman to take the home nation&rsqu
  
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• Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990 used by UK to boost weapon sales

  12-08-2017 23:42 via theguardian.com
  Thatcher government saw war on Saddam as an ‘unparalleled opportunity’ to sell arms, declassified secret memos revealThe British government saw Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait as an “unparalleled opportunity” to sell arms to Gulf states, according to recently declassified secret documents.The memos, released by the National Archives, reveal how in the build-up to the 1990 Gulf war ministers and civil servants scrambled to ensure Britain’s arms manufacturers could ta
  
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• Learner drivers to have lessons on motorways in move AA says will get rid of middle lane hoggers - Telegraph.co.uk

  12-08-2017 23:31 via telegraph.co.uk
  Telegraph.co.uk
  Learner drivers to have lessons on motorways in move AA says will get rid of middle lane hoggers
  Telegraph.co.uk
  Learner drivers will be able to have lessons on motorways after ministers pledged to lift a ban in a bid to improve road safety. The change will come into effect in 2018 when the drivers will be allowed onto motorways for the first time as long as they ...
  Learner drivers will be allowed to practise on motorways during lessons in bid to improve road safetyMirror.co.uk
  
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• Learner drivers to be allowed motorway lessons

  12-08-2017 23:30
  Learner drivers will be allowed on the motorway with a qualified instructor in a dual-control car.The move follows years of pressure from road safety groups over what they argued was a long-running safety omission.While motorways are the safest type of road to travel on, the bar on learners using them meant they tended to be tackled for the first time by newly qualified drivers, who would often be alone in the car.
  
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• Britain wins relay gold as Sir Mo Farah claims silver in 5,000m at world championships

  12-08-2017 23:27
  Britain has won gold in the men's 4x100 metres relay at the World Athletics Championships in London.The GB team, made up of Chijindu Ujah, Adam Gemili, Daniel Talbot and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake made a winning time of 37.47 seconds, beating Justin Gatlin's US team by .05 seconds.In team Jamaica, Sprint superstar Usain Bolt pulled up injured on the final leg of his last competitive race.
  
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• Top UK ministers: Brexit transition cannot be back door to staying in EU

  12-08-2017 23:15
  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain needs a transition period to soften its exit from the European Union, but it cannot be used to stop Brexit, two senior ministers said on Saturday. "We believe a time-limited interim period will be important to further our national interest and give business greater certainty - but it cannot be indefinite; it cannot be a back door to staying in the EU," Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond and trade minister Liam Fox wrote in a joint article for the Sunday Telegra
  
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• The growing gulf in life expectancy shows how austerity has deepened inequalities

  12-08-2017 23:00
  England’s most deprived citizens have become more likely to live a short life.Public health experts sometimes rework the map of a city’s train or underground system to illustrate the wide differences in life expectancy between wealthy areas and poor ones.For example, every one of the eight stops travelled on the London tube’s Jubilee line east from Westminster, the heart of government, to post-industrial Canning Town in the East End counts for up to a year in diminished life ex
  
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• Rafael Benítez baffled but unbowed by dysfunctional setup at Newcastle United | Louise Taylor

  12-08-2017 23:00 via theguardian.com
  Manager insists ‘we’ll do our best’ on return to Premier League, despite minimal transfer budget and a lack of communication from owner Mike AshleyThe mood inside the room had turned as gloomy as the dark clouds on view through the windows when someone attempted a joke. “It’s North Korea v the United States,” they said, deadpan. “Just without the nuclear weapons.”It got a laugh, yet Mike Ashley v Rafael Benítez is a little bit different; les
  
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• Health inequality gap ‘is still growing’ in England, new Department of Health data shows

  12-08-2017 23:00
  The poorest in the country face a double whammy of early death and poorer health while still alive.The health gap between rich and poor is growing in England, according to shocking figures compiled by the Department of Health.Despite government pledges to reduce inequalities in areas such as life expectancy and susceptibility to disability and disease, those living in the most deprived areas of the country run a greater risk of premature death, seeing a child die soon after it is born, and of en
  
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• Britons should be given second Brexit vote - David Miliband

  12-08-2017 22:52
  Former foreign secretary David Miliband called on Saturday for voters to be given a second referendum on whether Britain should leave the European Union.Writing in the Observer newspaper Miliband, foreign minister under a Labour government between 2007 and 2010, called Brexit an "unparalleled act of economic self-harm" and said there should be another public vote once the final terms of Britain's exit are known.Although no longer a serving British politician, Miliband - brother of former Labour
  
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• Trump: 'No Place' for Violence Seen in Virginia

  12-08-2017 22:45
  President Donald Trump said Saturday there was "no place" in the United States for the kind of violence that broke out at a white nationalist rally in Virginia and appealed to Americans to "come together as one." (Aug. 12)
  
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• Asia’s Harry Potter obsession poses threat to owls

  12-08-2017 22:44 via theguardian.com
  From Indonesia to India, wild birds are being sold as pets to families who want their own Hedwig. Ecologists call for protection to help species surviveThe Harry Potter phenomenon has broken publishing and cinema box-office records and spawned a series of lucrative theme parks. But wildlife experts are sounding the alarm over a sad downside to JK Rowling’s tales of the troubled young wizard. The illegal trade in owls has jumped in the far east over the past decade and researchers fear it c
  
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• Perseid meteor shower: everything you need to know to see it

  12-08-2017 22:40 via theguardian.com
  The annual meteor shower will fill the night sky with glowing streaks this weekend, as the Earth travels through debris shed by comet Swift-TuttleFrom piquing the interest of astronomers to fuelling the musings of poets, meteor showers have left a trail of inspiration in their wake since humanity first peered up into the sky. Now inspiration is set to strike once more. This weekend the night sky will be filled with glowing streaks as the annual Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak, with the be
  
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• Learner drivers to be allowed on motorways before test - The Guardian

  12-08-2017 22:31 via theguardian.com
  The Guardian
  Learner drivers to be allowed on motorways before test
  The Guardian
  Learner drivers are finally going to be allowed to have lessons on motorways after a government consultation, which itself followed years of pressure from road safety groups over what they argued was a long-running safety omission. While motorways are ...
  Motorway lessons for learner drivers confirmed for 2018BBC News
  Learner drivers set to have lessons on motorwaysNottingham Post
  Learner drivers to have lessons on
  
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• David Miliband: we need a second vote on Brexit deal

  12-08-2017 22:30
  David Miliband makes an impassioned plea for the EU to be seen as more than an economic bloc.David Miliband makes a dramatic entry into the debate about Britain’s exit from the EU with an impassioned call for politicians from all parties to work together to avoid the Tory high command driving the country “off a cliff”.Labour’s former foreign secretary warns that Brexit is an “unparalleled act of economic self-harm” and suggests that it is up to MPs of all poli
  
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• Western museums try to forge deal with west Africa to return the Benin bronzes

  12-08-2017 22:25 via theguardian.com
  British Museum and other European institutions seek way to create a permanent exhibition of looted artefacts in NigeriaA bronze sculpture of a cockerel that adorned a Cambridge University dining room is among a huge haul of looted antiquities that may now be returned to west Africa.The British Museum will take part in a European summit to discuss the return of art seized from the Benin kingdom, now part of southern Nigeria, by a British punitive expedition in 1897 as “reparations” af
  
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• Wrong A-level choices prevent poorer students gaining elite university places

  12-08-2017 22:20 via theguardian.com
  Best degree courses snub vocational options popular with low-income pupilsStudents from poorer backgrounds may be held back by their A-level subject choices when applying for respected degree courses, such as law, at leading universities.New research suggests that those taking vocational A-levels in law, accounting or business are less likely to attend elite universities than students who opt for traditional academic subjects such as sciences, mathematics, languages, history and geography.
  
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• Danish inventor Peter Madsen whose submarine sank held over missing Swedish journalist Kim Wall - Evening Standard

  12-08-2017 22:11 via standard.co.uk
  Evening Standard
  Danish inventor Peter Madsen whose submarine sank held over missing Swedish journalist Kim Wall
  Evening Standard
  A Danish inventor whose submarine sank near Copenhagen has been arrested by police investigating the disappearance of a Swedish journalist who was last seen on board. Peter Madsen was arrested on Friday on preliminary manslaughter charges over ...
  Submarine owner detained over journalist's disappearanceStars and Stripes
  Danish submarine inventor accused of missi
  
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• Grouse shooting: half a million reasons why time’s up for this appalling Victorian ‘sport’ | Mark Avery

  12-08-2017 21:55 via theguardian.com
  Some 500,000 birds will have been shot by the end of another inglorious season as a select few continue to trample on the interests of the rest of usAfter 150 years of being treated as a quaint rural pastime, grouse shooting is now under the microscope – unless it reforms it is doomed, and it may drag other country sports down with it.On Saturday, the start of the grouse shooting season, the social media hashtag #inglorious12th was trending, and a social media message, “I want to see
  
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• David Davis linked to City trader fined for insider dealing

  12-08-2017 21:45
  David Davis, the Brexit secretary, hit out at the fine imposed on Ian Hannom after taking a job at his firm.David Davis backed a City high-flyer’s appeal against a huge fine for insider dealing a month after accepting a lucrative position at one of his companies, the Observer has established.The Brexit secretary has been a staunch ally of star banker Ian Hannam for many years.
  
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• Mo Farah takes world 5,000m silver to fall short of a farewell double

  12-08-2017 21:43 via theguardian.com
  • Briton fails to add to 10,000m success in final major run on the track
  • Farah, winner of four world and Olympic doubles, beaten by Muktar EdrisBlock by block the crowd inside the London Stadium rose like an advancing Mexican wave as Mo Farah sprinted past in pursuit of the Ethiopian duo ahead. So often they have seen him win from this position but after 10 straight global titles and four double golds, finally, he could not find a way.Body heaving with adrenaline and emotion, he curl
  
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• Motorcycle suicide bomber kills 15 people in Pakistan

  12-08-2017 21:39 via theguardian.com
  Twenty-five people wounded after 25kg bomb detonates in Quetta amid celebrations for forthcoming independence day A suicide bomber on a motorcycle has targeted a military truck with a bomb killing eight soldiers and seven civilians in the south-western city of Quetta, Pakistani officials have said.Kabeer Khan, an explosives expert who examined the site, said after collecting forensic evidence that it was a suicide attack and that the attacker had been carrying 25kg of “incendiary explosive
  
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• Antonio Conte denies team selection was a message to Chelsea hierarchy

  12-08-2017 20:57 via theguardian.com
  • Manager insists side wasn’t chosen to highlight lack of signings
  • ‘My choice was to put out the best players that we have’Antonio Conte denied that his team sheet was intended as any kind of message to the Chelsea hierarchy after a lineup stocked with kids on the bench and a 20-year-old making his first start lost to Burnley on the opening day of their title defence. Related: Nine-man Chelsea shocked by Sam Vokes double for BurnleyContinue reading...
  
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• Jürgen Klopp says Philippe Coutinho’s Liverpool future is out of his hands

  12-08-2017 20:50 via theguardian.com
  • Manager says his ‘bosses’ have the final say over players leaving and arriving
  • Brazilian has submitted a transfer request but Liverpool want him to stayJürgen Klopp has made it clear that any decision about Philippe Coutinho leaving Liverpool is out of his hands, with the manager claiming his “bosses” have the final say on any players going in or out of the club.Coutinho is desperate to join Barcelona and the Brazilian submitted a transfer request on Fr
  
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• Flying rocks, teargas and a dead child: the grisly aftermath of the Kenya election

  12-08-2017 20:50 via theguardian.com
  Human rights groups say at least 24 people have been killed in violence following the presidential vote, which opposition supporters claim was rigged
  Mid-afternoon, and black smoke trails above the grey tenements. Broken glass, burned tyres, rubble and makeshift barricades block roads. Charred spars mark where a stall once stood, incinerated in confused clashes overnight. Police, armed with batons and assault rifles, cluster around their trucks. Angry men shout slogans and wave fists.The morning
  
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• Rescue ship suspends work after 'threats by Libyan coastguard'

  12-08-2017 20:37 via theguardian.com
  Doctors Without Borders told by Italian authorities that increasing aggression by Libyan ships poses a security riskDoctors Without Borders has said that it is temporarily suspending the activity of its rescue ship owing to alleged threats from Libya. The Libyan coastguard has increasingly become more aggressive in patrolling the waters off its coasts where human traffickers launch boats crowded with migrants desperate to reach Europe.The humanitarian group said the rescue coordination centre op
  
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• Momentum training activists in how to win marginal seats at next election

  12-08-2017 20:26
  Whether it was in Croydon or Cardiff or Crewe, Labour managed to win dozens of marginal constituencies in the election two months ago.On an cloudy August Saturday in north London, I travelled to a disused office block to watch Momentum activists be schooled in how to win an election.The grassroots, left-wing movement, founded two years ago to help Jeremy Corbyn as leader has announced it is embarking on training members in more than 160 marginal constituencies over the next year.
  
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• 15 apps to power up your productivity

  12-08-2017 20:00 via theguardian.com
  If your working day is being ruined by distractions or admin errors, try these apps to improve your focus, time management and output Continue reading...
  
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• Auschwitz survivor who was world's oldest man dies at 113

  12-08-2017 19:54 via theguardian.com
  Israel Kristal, who was only member of his family to survive war, described as ‘very hardworking’ by grandsonIsrael Kristal, the world’s oldest man who lived through both world wars and survived the Auschwitz concentration camp, has passed away just a month short of his 114th birthday, his family have said. Related: Maximum human lifespan could far exceed 115 years – new researchContinue reading...
  
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• Football League: Cardiff City sweep aside Aston Villa as Blackburn lose again

  12-08-2017 19:46 via theguardian.com
  • Nottingham Forest beat Brentford 4-3, Hull thrash Burton• Oxford beat Portsmouth, Coventry fly high in League Two• Aston Villa continue to search for their first win of the season after they were well beaten 3-0 by Cardiff City in south Wales. Kenneth Zohore powered down the wing brilliantly before crossing for Junior Hoilett to slam in on the hour, a goal which came between two Nathaniel Mendez-Laing strikes on his full debut to leave Neil Warnock’s side with maximum poin
  
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• Permian dies after Secretariat Stakes and jockey William Buick in hospital

  12-08-2017 19:29 via theguardian.com
  • Colt breaks leg after stumbling at end of Arlington race, unseating Buick
  • At Ascot, Britain and Ireland secure Shergar Cup after timely Berry doubleWilliam Buick was injured and his mount, Permian, had to be destroyed after a nasty incident at the end of the Secretariat Stakes in Chicago on Saturday night. The colt, trained in Yorkshire by Mark Johnston, had just crossed the line at Arlington International Racecourse in a disappointing last of six when he stumbled, unseating Buick.
  
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• Shaun Lunt double sinks Leigh to keep Hull KR on track for Super League return

  12-08-2017 19:09 via theguardian.com
  • Leigh 16-20 Hull KR
  • Captain seals victory with late try after Leigh dominate early onThe Qualifiers may be only two games old but there is already a familiar pattern developing for Hull Kingston Rovers. As the wild celebrations ensued in the sunshine among the travelling supporters after this nerve-jangling victory, it was hard not to cast one’s mind back 12 months when the club were relegated in scarcely believable fashion.That day, in the Million Pound Game against Salford,
  
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• Leeds United fail to take advantage after Preston’s Ben Pearson sees red

  12-08-2017 18:53 via theguardian.com
  A point earned with 10 men at a bloodthirsty Elland Road would normally be a source of pride but Alex Neil, the Preston North End manager, left West Yorkshire with a scowl on his face for a variety of reasons on Saturday.On the pitch, his ire was reserved for Ben Pearson, whose brainless second-half dismissal opened Preston up to a last half an hour that they somehow survived and Pearson certainly owes Chris Maxwell, the goalkeeper, a rather large drink after a succession of brilliant late saves
  
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• North Korean Regime Must Fix Nuclear Crisis Themselves, Says Boris Johnson

  12-08-2017 18:41
  Boris Johnson has said the regime of Kim Jong Un is responsible for the crisis over North Korea’s nuclear programme and must now “fix it”.
  
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• Pyeongchang 2018: growing North Korea fears dim hopes for Olympic unity

  12-08-2017 18:37 via theguardian.com
  Next year’s Winter Games in South Korea were cast as a potential refuge from the specter of war – but in the current climate, can they still offer respite?
  The Olympics have traditionally been cast as a respite from from politics, danger and strife, an opportunity for the world to come together in the spirit of peaceful competition and a reminder that what brings us together as a union of five continents is stronger than what deigns to pull us apart.Those noble ideals have been at th
  
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• Taylor Swift: judge dismisses DJ’s case against pop singer

  12-08-2017 18:31 via theguardian.com
  Judge rules David Mueller failed to prove Taylor Swift personally set out to have him fired after 2013 photo opportunityA judge on Friday threw out a Denver radio host’s case against Taylor Swift in a trial that delved into their duelling lawsuits over whether he groped her during a backstage meet-and-greet and whether she and her team ruined his career.US District Judge William Martinez determined that the pop star could not be held liable because David Mueller failed to prove that she pe
  
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• Calvin Harris knocks Despacito off UK chart top spot

  12-08-2017 18:30
  Daddy Yankee and Luis Fonsi's 11-week reign at the top of the UK charts with Despacito has been ended by Calvin Harris' Feels.The Scottish DJ's new track, featuring Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams and Big Sean, has reached the summit of the UK Official Singles Chart, it was announced on Friday.Feels rose from number three, while Despacito fell to number four, after an impressive run at the helm.
  
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• 7 Syrian rescue volunteers killed in shooting - Eyewitness News

  12-08-2017 18:26 via ewn.co.za
  Eyewitness News
  7 Syrian rescue volunteers killed in shooting
  Eyewitness News
  The attackers stole two vehicles and other equipment in the incident targeting a civil defence office in the town of Sarmin at dawn. FILE: A picture taken in 2015 shows a general view of the town of Ariha, in the north-western province of Idlib ...
  7 White Helmet volunteers killed by unknown persons in SyriaRudaw
  Seven White Helmet volunteers shot in the head at baseSky News
  Gunmen kill 7 White Helmets volunteers in S
  
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• Burnley stun nine-man Chelsea

  12-08-2017 18:20 via bbc.co.uk
  Champions Chelsea have Gary Cahill and Cesc Fabregas sent off as Burnley claim a dramatic win at Stamford Bridge.
  
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• Photographic paper: crafted cameras by Lee Ji-hee – in pictures

  12-08-2017 18:00 via theguardian.com
  The latest project for paper artist Lee Ji-hee, who has crafted everything from life-sized dogs to mouthwatering food out of paper, is a series of paper antique cameras. Meticulously assembled over five months, the sculptures were sparked by the 45-year-old’s frequent visits to the Korean Camera Museum, near Seoul.Of the painstakingly precise works, Lee says: “Though they’re based on reality, I like to express my own sense of colour and pattern.” A former graphic designer
  
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• Emily Scarratt back and captain for England, along with nine other changes

  12-08-2017 17:48 via theguardian.com
  • Simon Middleton keen to rotate squad before World Cup knockout stages
  • Vicky Fleetwood is the only player still to miss outTen tries to kick off the competition but 10 changes for England’s second match of the Women’s World Cup against Italy – the head coach, Simon Middleton, proving as good as his word after pledging to rotate his squad before the knockout stages.Emily Scarratt comes into the side at outside-centre and assumes the captaincy with Sarah Hunter dropp
  
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• East Harling murder: Man held over Peter Wrighton stabbing

  12-08-2017 17:46 via bbc.co.uk
  The suspect, in his 20s, has been held on suspicion of murdering Peter Wrighton, 83.
  
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• Alex Salmond Thinks Scotland Will be Independent Within Four Years

  12-08-2017 17:39
  Alex Salmond believes Scotland will be independent within four years and vowed to play “whatever part is necessary” in a second referendum campaign.
  
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• Phoebe Walsh: 'We've all spent five minutes looking for the right emoji'

  12-08-2017 17:07 via theguardian.com
  She self-eviscerates in the style of tragic Instagram feeds and harvests jokes from unsent tweets. But comedian Phoebe Walsh’s twitchy social-media spin is revitalising singleton standup at Edinburgh this yearDuring her debut solo show, I’ll Have What She’s Having, comic Phoebe Walsh rattles off an onslaught of self-eviscerating one-liners in the style of a pointy-fingered club comic. She is the “sassy best-friend character in her own life story”. She is “Poca
  
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• Glen Campbell's Galveston: politics of nostalgia echo amid faded grandeur

  12-08-2017 17:00 via theguardian.com
  After the singer’s passing – and amid calls to ‘make America great again’ – the Texas town’s entwining of death, destruction and the seaside remains poignantGlen Campbell scored a huge hit with the song Galveston in 1969, yet he did not play a gig in the Texas town that inspired the song until 2004. Or so it was thought.Maureen Patton arranged for the country-pop great to perform at the Grand 1894 Opera House 13 years ago and picked him up from his hotel. Cont
  
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• Boom or bust: what’s the truth about UK house prices?

  12-08-2017 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Reports of low prices and slow sales suggest the property market has been hit by uncertainty following the Brexit vote. But how bad might it get?Britain’s housing market has hit the buffers as political uncertainty, stamp duty changes and squeezed household incomes all dampen buyer demand.Over the past week, Britain’s biggest mortgage lender, Halifax, said that annual house price growth had slowed to the weakest rate in four years and the official surveyors’ body said that acti
  
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• Bristol hospital 'pauses' maternity ward fox removal plan

  12-08-2017 16:37 via bbc.co.uk
  Southmead Hospital came under fire after it called in pest controllers to deal with foxes near its maternity unit.
  
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• Danny Glover and Bernie Sanders seek France's help after Nissan union vote

  12-08-2017 16:22 via theguardian.com
  After United Auto Workers’ defeat in effort to unionize Mississippi plant, actor and senator turn to government with stake in Nissan-allied RenaultThe actor Danny Glover and Senator Bernie Sanders are preparing to lobby the French government for help in the heated attempt to unionize a Nissan car plant in Mississippi.The United Auto Workers suffered a historic defeat of the Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi, this month after a long campaign marred by allegations of bribery and intimidati
  
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