General news

• Writer Alex Andreou‏ Was‏ Turned Down From Adopting A Cat Because He's Gay

  22-08-2017 23:56
  The RSPCA joined the chorus of disapproval after a gay writer and actor’s attempt to re-house a cat was rejected because of his sexuality.
  
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• Britain outlines plans to break free of European Court after Brexit

  22-08-2017 23:33
  By Elizabeth PiperLONDON (Reuters) - Britain will outline its plans on Wednesday to escape the "direct jurisdiction" of the European Court of Justice after Brexit, one of Prime Minister Theresa May's main aims in talks to unravel 40 years of European Union membership.In one of the most politically sensitive documents Britain has published this month to try to nudge negotiations with the EU forward, the government will show little compromise in what it calls a paper to "reinforce the message that
  
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• Theresa May accused of U-turn over EU court’s role after Brexit

  22-08-2017 23:30
  The shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, said European judges would have to be involved in a system to address Brexit issues.Theresa May was accused of a climbdown over the future sovereignty of British courts after a newly published government paper appeared to leave open the possibility that the European court of justice would influence UK law after Brexit.The latest of a flurry of Brexit policy papers, due to be published on Wednesday, will repeat the government’s insistence that the
  
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• German police have seized thousands of orange ‘Trump’ ecstasy tablets

  22-08-2017 21:53
  Officers said about 5,000 of the orange, Trump-shaped ecstasy tablets were found.
  
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• Met Police Mocked Over Notting Hill Carnival Drugs Tweet With Details Of Other Unrelated Events

  22-08-2017 21:02
  The Metropolitan Police faced a backlash on Tuesday after it tweeted to link a drugs crackdown in south London with this weekend’s Notting Hill Carnival - with critics finding very little in common between the two events.
  
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• Donald Trump's Afghanistan Strategy 'Inspired By Picture Of Women In Miniskirts'

  22-08-2017 19:46
  Donald Trump’s decision to change his longstanding views of the war in Afghanistan was partly inspired by a picture of women in miniskirts, reports The Washington Post.
  
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• Scottish, Welsh govt heads unite to stop "unashamed" power grab after Brexit

  22-08-2017 19:40
  The heads of devolved governments in Scotland and Wales agreed on Tuesday to work together to try to set a common strategy to thwart the threat of an "unashamed" grab of parliamentary power by London after Britain leaves the European Union.Wales and Scotland plan to reject legislation which severs Britain's legal ties with the European Union, once known as the Great Repeal Bill, when it is brought before the devolved chambers in Cardiff and Edinburgh.It would, however, worsen Britain's constitut
  
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• Fourth MP quits Bath University role over vice-chancellor’s pay

  22-08-2017 19:35
  Dame Glynis Breakwell has been urged to step aside.A fourth MP has resigned from his position on an advisory board at the University of Bath in protest against its vice-chancellor’s £451,000 pay package.Darren Jones, the Labour MP for Bristol North West, stood down from the university’s court, a statutory body representing the interests of its stakeholders, amid growing unhappiness about the amount awarded to Dame Glynis Breakwell.
  
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• Toppling Nelson risks importing US anger | Letters

  22-08-2017 19:32 via theguardian.com
  Nelson should be commemorated, says Alan Bailey. So should William Cuffay, suggests Keith Flett. Plus Mary Russell on how Dublin’s Nelson’s Pillar was blown up in 1966Afua Hirsch (Why not topple Nelson?, 22 August) has the argument back to front when she says the purpose of statues to “figures like Nelson” is to energise “white supremacist groups”. On the contrary, it is those agitating to remove such statues who are trying to import into the UK the US &l
  
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• Man walks away from UK land speed record attempt crash

  22-08-2017 19:32 via bbc.co.uk
  David Tremayne reached 296mph before losing control when the parachute was released.
  
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• Want to be funnier?

  22-08-2017 19:18 via bbc.co.uk
  The winner of the best joke award at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival gives five tips to be funnier.
  
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• Airports call for urgent post-Brexit deal on UK-EU flights

  22-08-2017 19:07
  Ryanair has been warning that flights between the UK and EU will be unable to operate without a deal.Airports have joined forces to press the government to urgently strike a post-Brexit deal on flights between the UK and the EU, warning that the current uncertainty alone would be enough to see bookings drop by up to 41%.The report, written by WPI Economics on behalf of the airports, found that almost half of passengers booking in the year ahead were likely to change their travel plans if there w
  
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• Women's Rugby World Cup

  22-08-2017 18:50 via bbc.co.uk
  Facts and figures about one of the biggest events in women's sport, which comes to a climax this weekend.
  
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• York Minster bells to chime again next month after year's silence

  22-08-2017 18:46
  York Minster’s bells are regarded as some of the best in the country.The bells of York Minster, which have been silent for almost a year since the controversial dismissal of 30 campanologists, will chime again next month with a fresh team of ringers in place.The new band, which includes some former volunteers, has been selected by the minster and a new head bellringer, Angela Mitchell, who was appointed in June.
  
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• At-risk London youths sent on holiday over Notting Hill weekend

  22-08-2017 18:33
  Young people deemed to be at risk of getting caught up in crime and disorder during the Notting Hill carnival this weekend are being removed from the area and invited to a watersports weekend at a cost of more than £1,000 each, the Guardian has learned.Fifteen young people aged from 13 to 17 have been selected for the trip, which is costing the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea £20,000.
  
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• Edinburgh fringe's funniest jokes, from 2012 to 2017 – video

  22-08-2017 18:22 via theguardian.com
  Chuckle at officially the best gags from the Edinburgh fringe festival in recent years. From Stewart Francis’s one-liner in 2012 to Ken Cheng’s 2017 triumph, all were voted winner of the Dave funniest joke of the fringe award Ken Cheng’s pound coin gag voted Edinburgh fringe’s funniest jokeContinue reading...
  
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• US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin’s Wife Goes Full Marie Antoinette In Instagram Rant

  22-08-2017 18:14
  Donald Trump swept to power last year on the back of the promise to ‘drain the swamp’, a commitment to rid Washington of the kinds of politicians who are out-of-touch with ordinary Americans.
  
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• Equality In The Workplace Needs To Go Beyond Gender

  22-08-2017 18:11
  The way we work is out of step with the way we live.
  
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• Why Britain's Still Great, By Someone Who's Leaving

  22-08-2017 17:59
  It's fair to say 2017 has been, to quote our monarch in her 1992 speech, an "annus horribilis".
  
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• How 'Brit hero' helped Las Ramblas victim

  22-08-2017 17:43 via bbc.co.uk
  Tourist Harry Athwal rushed to help a child hurt in the Barcelona attack.
  
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• Cannibal killer Brizzi was found dead in cell after being taken off suicide watch

  22-08-2017 17:37
  Cannibal murderer Stefano Brizzi was found dead in his cell a month after being taken off suicide watch, a court has heard.The Italian national, 50, died at Belmarsh high-security jail in southeast London on 5 February.Brizzi, who was HIV positive, had been put on a programme for prisoners considered at risk, a pre-inquest review hearing at Southwark Crown Court was told.
  
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• Prison healthcare so bad it would be shut down on outside, say doctors

  22-08-2017 17:32
  England and Wales has the highest imprisonment rate in western Europe.NHS doctors working in prisons have warned that the conditions in which they operate are so unsafe that the services would be closed down had they been outside the prison system, the Guardian has learned.The warnings have been issued in emails from an internal prison doctors’ email group seen by the Guardian.
  
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• What festivals look like from a wheelchair | Penny Pepper

  22-08-2017 17:29 via theguardian.com
  It was a joy to participate in the explosion of creativity that is the Edinburgh festival. But there are still obstacles in the way of disabled peopleI’m wearing a fetching lilac rain poncho which deftly covers most of me and my wheelchair as it starts to drizzle. There are four more emergency ponchos in my backpack. I’m very grumpy – but it’s not because of the weather. It’s more that I’m cross with myself, on my sixth visit to Scotland’s capital for th
  
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• Let's Talk About 9 To 1 And The New GCSEs...

  22-08-2017 17:11
  This year's GCSE results day, on Thursday 24 August, will be a little different.
  
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• Why the solar eclipse caused such fascinating shadows to appear on the ground

  22-08-2017 17:06
  The eclipse made some beautiful shapes on the ground as well as in the sky.
  
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• Notting Hill Carnival 2017 Dates, Route Map And How To Get There

  22-08-2017 17:03
  The Notting Hill Carnival - London’s bank holiday summer street party will be going ahead as planned this year on August 27-28.
  
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• UK air travel could slump if no early Brexit aviation deal - report

  22-08-2017 16:47
  By Alistair SmoutLONDON (Reuters) - Britain's airports could see passenger numbers plunge by as much as 40 percent unless the government strikes an interim aviation deal with the European Union by October 2018, according to an industry report seen by Reuters on Tuesday.The study, commissioned by leading British airports including London's Heathrow and Gatwick, said flights could be grounded and Britain's economy would be hit without a guarantee of future access to the EU's single aviation market
  
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• Fourth MP quits Bath University role over vice-chancellor's pay

  22-08-2017 16:44
  Lord Adonis has called for the vice-chancellor to resign.Another MP has resigned from his role at the University of Bath in protest against its vice-chancellor’s £451,000 pay package.Darren Jones, Labour MP for Bristol North West, became the fourth politician to step down from the university’s court, a statutory body representing the interests of the university stakeholders, in protest over Dame Glynis Breakwell’s pay deal.
  
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• How 'mermaiding' is helping Laura manage her anxiety

  22-08-2017 16:30 via bbc.co.uk
  Laura Evans says she has had anxiety for as long as she can remember, but being in the sea helps her feel at ease.
  
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• Civil dispute cooperation post-Brexit 'would benefit all'

  22-08-2017 16:25
  Justice Minister David Lidington says intense cooperation on civil judicial matters has worked well for everybody so far.
  
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• No longer an also-ran, Corbyn hits campaign trail

  22-08-2017 16:15
  By Emma RumneyREDRUTH, England (Reuters) - British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn is back on the campaign trail just weeks after losing an election, betting that Prime Minister Theresa May's minority government will soon collapse.Long written off by opponents and many members of his Labour Party as an old-fashioned socialist incapable of winning power, Corbyn has been galvanized by the June election, in which Labour made gains and May's Conservatives lost their majority.With May's authority sev
  
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• UK seeks closer civil dispute cross-border collaboration post-Brexit

  22-08-2017 16:06
  Britain wants to keep its close cooperation with civil courts in the EU on cases involving divorce, child custody and business disputes after Brexit, the Government has said.Its proposals aim to provide a framework for cross-border legal disputes after Britain's withdrawal from the European Union in March 2019.
  
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• Facebook came to the rescue when a woman got stuck in her swimming pool

  22-08-2017 15:36
  When the ladder broke on her pool, Leslie Kahn had no way to get out but managed to summon help online.
  
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• Bradley Walsh rumoured to play Doctor Who sidekick

  22-08-2017 15:30
  Bradley Walsh has been rumoured to play Doctor Who's new sidekick in the first female-led version of the show.According to reports in the Mirror, the 57-year-old actor and comedian will star alongside Jodie Whittaker, who was recently unveiled as the first female Time Lord.Although reports have not been confirmed by the BBC, Walsh or Whittaker, fans have already expressed their excitement online.
  
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• Brace for Brexit: UK air traffic faces slump without deal, airports warn

  22-08-2017 15:03
  Sky News has obtained a confidential report submitted to Government by Gatwick, Heathrow, London City, Manchester and Stansted airports, which urges the EU and the UK Government to target October next year as the deadline for an interim aviation arrangement.The report, written by consultancy WPI Economics, is understood to have been sent to ministers in recent weeks.
  
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• Nederlands Dans Theater review – reach for the moon

  22-08-2017 14:53 via theguardian.com
  Edinburgh Playhouse
  Pairs of dancers push together and pull apart in this thrilling triple bill from choreographers Sol León, Paul Lightfoot and Gabriela CarrizoWith a near 60-year history and a world-class reputation, Nederlands Dans Theater are no strangers to Edinburgh’s 70-year-old festival. In this week of the eclipse, the moon scans across their triple bill of dance. Shoot the Moon (2006), with its black-and-white silent-movie savvy, uses the angular, arcing, ballet-based chor
  
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• Two more MPs quit Bath University roles over vice-chancellor's pay

  22-08-2017 14:47
  Lord Adonis has called for the vice-chancellor to resign.Two more MPs have resigned from their roles at the University of Bath in protest over the vice-chancellor’s pay package, which is the highest in the UK at nearly half a million pounds and three times the salary of the prime minister.Kerry McCarthy, the Labour MP for Bristol East, and David Drew, the Labour MP for Stroud, said they were stepping down from the university’s court, a statutory body representing the interests of the
  
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• Mayweather v McGregor: the Money Fight explained – video

  22-08-2017 14:45 via theguardian.com
  Undefeated boxing great Floyd Mayweather Jr will fight mixed martial arts superstar Conor McGregor on 26 August. Both fighters are expected to earn upwards of $100m each but beyond that why are they fighting? Both fighters stand to risk a lot in this one-off bout, so we take a fair look at the ins and outs of the match up Continue reading...
  
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• Lidl overtakes Waitrose in Britain's supermarket wars

  22-08-2017 14:36
  By James DaveyLONDON (Reuters) - Discounter Lidl [LIDUK.UL] has leapfrogged upmarket Waitrose [JLP.UL] in Britain's competitive food retail market, industry data showed on Tuesday, a sign that cash-strapped shoppers are still having to count their pennies.Lidl and rival German discounter Aldi [ALDIEI.UL] have steadily cut into the market shares of Britain's big four supermarket chains - leader Tesco , Sainsbury's , Asdaand Morrisons- with aggressive store openings fuelling their sales growth.The
  
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• Snakey behaviour: Taylor Swift to slam rivals Katy Perry and Kim Kardashian on new album?

  22-08-2017 14:32
  Taylor Swift appears to be ready to launch her new music.The Bad Blood singer has returned to Instagram and Twitter with a cryptic video that suggests she may fire back at her celebrity rivals, such as Katy Perry and Kim Kardashian, on her next album.Comments beside the video have been turned off on Swift's Instagram but that has not stopped fans from running wild on Twitter with theories about the mystery snake.
  
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• Stormzy Slams Met Police For Linking Drugs And Gang Raids To Notting Hill Carnival

  22-08-2017 14:19
  MePolice have been criticised for linking the Notting Hill Carnival to a series of raids officers launched across London on Tuesday to preemptively “disrupt” gang and drug crime at the event.
  
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• Brexit uncertainty could see 41 percent fall in UK air traffic - Sky News, citing report

  22-08-2017 14:19
  Uncertainty over the status of flights between Britain and the European Union once the UK leaves the bloc could cause a huge slump in air travel from Britain's airports, Sky News said on Tuesday, citing an industry report.The report says that in the most pessimistic scenario, there could be a 41 percent fall in passenger demand from Britain's biggest airports between March 2018 and March 2019.
  
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• Britain posts first July budget surplus in 15 years, outlook darker

  22-08-2017 14:16
  By Andy Bruce and Paul SandleLONDON (Reuters) - Britain unexpectedly posted its first budget surplus for any July since 2002 according to official data on Tuesday, welcome news for finance minister Philip Hammond in what still looks likely to be a difficult financial year for the government.The surplus in July stood at 184 million pounds, compared with last year's 308 million pound deficit, the Office for National Statistics said, citing figures that exclude state-controlled banks.Total borrowin
  
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• UK not yet planning to increase troop numbers in Afghanistan

  22-08-2017 14:10
  The UK will rethink how its military resources are deployed in Afghanistan but Michael Fallon is not yet mulling an increase in troop numbers like Donald Trump, a senior defence source has said.The UK government source said it was premature to talk about raising the level of military personnel in Afghanistan and no direct requests had been made by the US, despite Trump’s suggestion that Nato countries should follow his lead.
  
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• 'Foolish' level crossing-hopping learner driver convicted

  22-08-2017 14:03 via bbc.co.uk
  A learner driver jumped a level crossing and then reversed back through it.
  
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• Ahir Shah review – a call to arms against political complacency

  22-08-2017 14:01 via theguardian.com
  Laughing Horse @ Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh
  The astute standup drills into the divided, dysfunctional state of our world in a combative hour of coruscating comedy “I’m left, I’m liberal and I’m losing,” says Ahir Shah, but with this new show, Control, he’s not going down without a fight. It’s a piledriver hour about the rise of authoritarianism, and the eclipse of the liberal values many of us took for granted. It’s not uplifting: those looking fo
  
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• Fake UK lawyer jailed for conning dying woman out of life savings

  22-08-2017 13:38
  Michael Cremin falsely claimed to have a law degree from the University of London.A “fantasist” who posed as a barrister to trick a woman with terminal cancer out of her life savings has been jailed for eight years.Michael Cremin conned Sandra Burch out of £92,000 in a property deal and also committed other frauds to buy a fleet of cars worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.
  
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• Flamefest Sex Festival Horror As Man Dies And Woman Is Hospitalised

  22-08-2017 13:34
  A man has died and woman has been airlifted to hospital after being found unconscious at a campsite hosting a sex festival in Tunbridge Wells.
  
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• The battle over Confederate statues – video explainer

  22-08-2017 13:21 via theguardian.com
  Statues of Confederate leaders are being removed from public spaces in several US cities. Hundreds of monuments honouring the losing side in the civil war could soon be moved or destroyed, prompting an outcry from far-right groups Toppling statues? Here’s why Nelson’s column should be next
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• Locker Room Talk review – toxic catalogue of misogyny reveals men's fears

  22-08-2017 13:03 via theguardian.com
  Traverse, EdinburghIn Gary McNair’s uncomfortable show – staged at the Edinburgh fringe for one performance – four women repeat the sexist ‘banter’ of anonymous menFour women stand on stage wearing earpieces. They hear the words of real men interviewed by playwright Gary McNair and relay them back to us. Those men – doctors, cabbies, gym bunnies and manual workers – spring into life as their words spew across the stage. Related: Locker-room banter is not
  
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