General news

• Boots sent charity BPAS legal warning over morning-after pill 'abuse'

  31-08-2017 23:59
  Boots issued a legal warning to a pregnancy charity over its public campaign for more affordable emergency contraception, it has emerged.The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) revealed the high street chain accused it of encouraging "personal abuse" and "harassment" of top Boots executives.In a formal complaint issued on 1 August through law firm Schillings - often employed by celebrities - Boots alleged that BPAS helped cause "immense personal distress" to senior executives.
  
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• Boots ' truly sorry' for pill comments

  31-08-2017 23:50
  Boots has said it is "truly sorry" for its response to calls to cut the cost of one of its morning-after pills.
  
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• Foster warns of return to direct rule in NI

  31-08-2017 23:30
  DUP leader Arlene Foster has warned Northern Ireland may return to direct rule from Westminster.
  
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• Only sing when you're winning? May says she has never done karaoke

  31-08-2017 23:00
  Karaoke originated in Japan in the 1970s.It is not likely to be seen as a diplomatic incident, but Theresa May has committed a minor faux pas on her trade-based charm offensive in Japan by admitting that she does not like karaoke.The typically alcohol-fuelled activity, in which participants enthusiastically belt out words projected on to a screen to a recorded backing track, originated in Japan in the 1970s and has since spread across the world.
  
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• Sir Philip Green threatening legal action against Frank Field MP

  31-08-2017 22:44
  Sir Philip Green, left, and Frank Field engaged in a war of words during last year’s parliamentary investigation.Sir Philip Green has threatened the MP Frank Field with legal action after the Labour politician claimed to have seen leaked details of the official investigation into the BHS pension crisis.
  
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• UK’s approach to Brexit is ‘nostalgic and unrealistic’, says EU negotiator

  31-08-2017 21:37
  The Brexit secretary, David Davis (left), listens to Michel Barnier on Thursday.The UK’s approach to Brexit is nostalgic, unrealistic and undermined by a lack of trust, the EU’s chief negotiator has said in his strongest criticism of the UK’s stance at the talks so far.In a tense press conference alongside his British counterpart David Davis after the third round of exit talks in Brussels, Michel Barnier was scathing about the UK’s approach to the financial settlement, ci
  
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• Oil rises, gasoline jumps 13 percent as U.S. refineries reel

  31-08-2017 21:34
  By Libby GeorgeNEW YORK (Reuters) - Gasoline futures surged more than 13 percent on Thursday, and crude oil settled nearly 3 percent higher, as almost a quarter of U.S. refining capacity remained offline and traders scrambled to reroute millions of barrels of fuel.U.S. gasoline futureshave rallied more than 28 percent from the previous week to a two-year high above $2 a gallon, buoyed by fears of a fuel shortage days ahead of the U.S. Labor Day weekend's traditional surge in driving.Hurricane Ha
  
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• Grenfell Tower Immigration Amnesty For Residents Slammed As 'Travesty' By BMELawyers4Grenfell

  31-08-2017 21:23
  The one-year immigration amnesty for undocumented residents of Grenfell Tower is a “travesty” and will jeopardise the public inquiry into the fire, lawyers said as the deadline for signing up was extended.
  
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• France's Macron says Barnier only negotiator on Brexit

  31-08-2017 21:09
  French President Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed on Thursday his support to EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier as the only point of contact for Brexit negotiations, dismissing talk in the British press that Paris was at odds with him."I want to be very clear and reiterate our willingness of having only one negotiator and only one mandate," Macron said in a joint news conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte."The only negotiator is Michel Barnier and I would like to clear up ambiguities regardi
  
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• Northern Ireland's DUP warns of 'speedy' return to rule by London

  31-08-2017 21:04
  By Ian GrahamBELFAST (Reuters) - Irish nationalists Sinn Fein must reach out and compromise if Northern Ireland is to avoid a "speedy" return to direct rule from London, the head of the Democratic Unionist Party said on Thursday.Irish nationalists Sinn Fein and the DUP have failed to reach agreement on reforming a power-sharing government since a March election and each has blamed the other for missing repeated deadlines.
  
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• Tycoon Green's lawyers warn Field over BHS pension disclosure

  31-08-2017 21:03
  The bitter fight between Sir Philip Green and the veteran Labour MP Frank Field escalated on Thursday when the tycoon threatened legal action over potential disclosures relating to his £363m BHS pension bailout.Sky News has learnt that Sir Philip and his lawyers warned Mr Field that The Pensions Regulator had been alerted over what they allege would be a contravention of pension and data protection laws by the parliamentarian.The latest salvo in a months-long row between the two men follow
  
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• Arlene Foster says she does not think Irish language is threat to union

  31-08-2017 21:01
  Unionists will only accept legislation for the Irish language if it also includes protections for British culture and the Ulster Scots identity, Arlene Foster has said.In a keynote speech ahead of negotiations between the main parties represented in the Stormont assembly, the former first minister of Northern Ireland told the DUP ruling executive on Thursday night that despite holding the balance of power at Westminster her party was still committed to bringing back the regional government in Be
  
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• Arlene Foster says Irish language is not a threat to the union

  31-08-2017 21:01
  Arlene Foster: ‘What we cannot and will not do is simply to agree to one-sided demands.Unionists will only accept legislation for the Irish language if it also includes protections for British culture and the Ulster Scots identity, Arlene Foster has said.In a keynote speech ahead of negotiations between the main parties represented in the Stormont assembly, the former first minister of Northern Ireland told the DUP ruling executive on Thursday night that despite holding the balance of powe
  
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• DUP leader Arlene Foster calls for parallel process to break Stormont deadlock

  31-08-2017 21:00
  Democratic Unionist leader Arlene Foster has called for the immediate restoration of Northern Ireland's devolved government alongside a parallel process to deal with outstanding areas of disagreement.Addressing her party executive for the first time since the General Election, she dismissed claims that the DUP did not want a return to devolution because of "the unprecedented position" it now finds itself in Westminster.Mrs Foster said: "As appealing as it first appears, that view fails to take a
  
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• Aberdeen joins councils raising money by selling bonds as cuts bite

  31-08-2017 20:59
  Aberdeen’s economy is largely reliant upon the oil industry.Aberdeen city council has taken the unusual step of appointing economic advisers to assess its prospects for the bond market, as a growing number of local authorities turn to the world of high finance amid central government cuts.
  
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• St Olave’s grammar school is tip of iceberg in a system all about delivering results | Letters

  31-08-2017 20:34
  St Olave’s grammar school in Orpington, Kent. ‘St Olave’s needs to rethink this shameful policy before it damages more of the young people in its care,’ writes Mark Crane.This behaviour has to be widespread at the top of the league tables: in any cohort of teenagers there will be some whose adolescence is not plain sailing, and the proportions of A-star and A grades published by “top” schools are simply unrealistic, unless they are the result of ruthlessly thr
  
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• Britain 'going backwards' on rights of disabled, says UN committee

  31-08-2017 20:33
  By Tom MilesGENEVA (Reuters) - The U.N. Committee on the rights of disabled people said on Thursday it had more concerns about Britain - due to funding cuts, restricted rights and an uncertain post-Brexit future - than any other country in its 10-year history.The committee, which reviews states' compliance with the 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, published a 17-page report with recommendations about how Britain could do better."The UK is at the moment going backwards
  
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• Surrey cricket boss on arrow landing on pitch

  31-08-2017 20:30
  Surrey CCC chief executive Richard Gould says it is very hard to prevent a crossbow bolt being fired into the ground.
  
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• Armed police alert as crossbow bolt lands on Oval pitch during match

  31-08-2017 20:25
  Armed police were called to The Oval after a crossbow bolt landed on the pitch during a county cricket match.More than 1,000 fans were advised to take cover and evacuated from the central London cricket ground after the projectile fell to the ground.Play between Surrey and Middlesex was suspended as players were told to go inside, before the game was later abandoned.
  
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• EU keeps up Brexit talks pressure, Davis signals cash offer

  31-08-2017 20:08
  By Alastair Macdonald and Gabriela BaczynskaBRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain's withdrawal negotiations with the European Union failed to make the kind of progress needed to move into a new phase in October, chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier said on Thursday after four days of talks."We have made no decisive progress on the main topics," Barnier told reporters.
  
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• Brexit healthcare deal is ‘good news for pensioners’

  31-08-2017 19:54
  The deal applies to British retirees living in other EU countries, and people from those states who have retired in the UK.British pensioners who have retired to other EU countries will continue to have their healthcare paid for by the NHS post-Brexit, after a deal in principle was agreed by negotiators in Brussels.In one of the few advances made in discussions about EU citizens’ future rights, the Brexit secretary, David Davis, said there had been agreement on four key areas, including re
  
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• Statistics chief criticises leak of Home Office student migration report

  31-08-2017 19:48
  Amber Rudd, the home secretary, to whom Sir David Norgrove has voiced strong concerns over leaks.The Home Office has launched a leak inquiry into how a “seriously misleading” ­account of an official report into student migration appeared in the press on the morning of the report’s publication.The UK Statistics Authority chair has written to the home secretary, Amber Rudd, voicing strong concerns over the partial leak of the report to the Daily Telegraph last week, pressing
  
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• NHS to spend £100m bringing in up to 3,000 GPs from abroad

  31-08-2017 19:47
  The NHS plans to spend £100m bringing in up to 3,000 GPs from abroad to help alleviate serious shortages that have left surgeries struggling to run properly.Recruitment agencies will earn about £20,000 for each GP they succeed in placing in a family doctor practice in England as part of the NHS England initiative.The scheme will have to persuade significant numbers of doctors working overseas to relocate to England if the government is to fulfil its pledge to boost the number of GPs
  
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• South Western Railway workers to be balloted over strike action

  31-08-2017 19:15
  The dispute over guards on trains, which has wreaked havoc on Southern and will result in more strikes in the coming days, is threatening to spread to another rail franchise, South Western Railway.The RMT union said it was in formal dispute and was preparing to ballot members for a strike over what it called the failure of the new franchise owner, First MTR, to give “clear, cast-iron assurances” over the future of guards on South Western trains.
  
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• London's Oval cricket stadium evacuated after crossbow bolt lands on pitch

  31-08-2017 19:15
  The Oval cricket stadium in London was evacuated on Thursday after a crossbow bolt was fired onto the pitch during a match.Around 2,500 spectators were urged to take cover and armed police arrived shortly afterwards, a BBC reporter at the scene said."At this early stage it is believed that the object came from outside of the ground," London's Metropolitan police force said in a statement.
  
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• Princess Diana's Death: Tributes Left At Kensington Palace On Twentieth Anniversary Of Her Death

  31-08-2017 19:11
  Twenty years after Diana’s death, thousands of people have descended on Kensington Palace to remember the princess who, for those there, brought “hope” and “compassion” to a previously “untouchable” royal family.
  
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• Police issue description of ‘Croydon cat killer’

  31-08-2017 18:55
  The charity Snarl is urging people not to let their cats out at night, when most of the killings have taken place.The first description has been released of a suspected serial cat killer who has eluded police for almost two years.The culprit is behind the death and mutilation of about 250 cats, as well as dozens of foxes and rabbits, since October 2015, according to South Norwood Animal Rescue and Liberty (Snarl).
  
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• 'There's an important job to be done'

  31-08-2017 18:40
  The Prime Minister has insisted she will not be stepping down any time soon.
  
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• 'Strong' Franco-British defence relationship won't be hit by Brexit: Fallon says

  31-08-2017 18:36
  By John IrishPARIS (Reuters) - Britain's exit from the European Union will not have an impact its defence ties with France despite concerns they could be harmed by tough divorce talks, Defence Minister Michael Fallon said.In an interview with Reuters, Fallon sought to stress the close relationship between Europe's two largest military powers, who agreed in Paris on Thursday to hold joint exercises in September and November in eastern Europe and Kenya.
  
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• Britain’s cake-and-eat-it Brexit routine wears thin with Barnier

  31-08-2017 18:27
  It was hard not to conclude, watching David Davis and Michel Barnier during a tense joint press conference at the end of the third round of Brexit talks in Brussels, that these were two men – and two sides – largely talking past each other.For the ever-upbeat Brexit secretary, “concrete progress” had been made – he listed some smaller, discrete areas to do with citizens’ rights – and the UK was being “substantially more flexible and pragmatic&rdquo
  
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• PM 'swanning around Japan drinking tea and sake'

  31-08-2017 18:20
  Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary tells Sky News the UK economy is heading for crisis because the Prime Minister and Brexit Secretary are failing in the EU divorce negotiations.
  
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• Oval cricket match suspended as crossbow bolt lands on pitch

  31-08-2017 18:11
  Armed police are on the scene at The Oval after a crossbow bolt was fired into the ground during a cricket match.Fans were evacuated from stands in the central London cricket ground, while players were ordered off the pitch.
  
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• Oval Cricket Match Abandoned After Crossbow Bolt Fired Onto Pitch From Outside Ground

  31-08-2017 18:11
  A cricket match at the Oval has been suspended after a projectile - apparently a crossbow bolt - was fired into the ground from the outside.
  
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• UN panel criticises UK failure to uphold disabled people's rights

  31-08-2017 17:37
  The UK government is failing to uphold disabled people’s rights across a range of areas from education, work and housing to health, transport and social security, a UN inquiry has found.The UN committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities examined the government’s progress in fulfilling its commitments to the UN convention on disabled people’s rights, to which the UK has been a signatory since 2007.Its report concludes that the UK has not done enough to ensure the conven
  
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• Sinn Fein says Ireland should block EU talks from moving to future ties

  31-08-2017 17:24
  Northern Ireland's main nationalist party urged Ireland on Thursday to block talks on future ties between Britain and the European Union as not enough progress had been made on agreeing the status of the Irish border once London exits the EU.The EU has said that talks on its future relations with Britain can start only after all 27 EU governments are satisfied "sufficient progress" has been made on three issues: citizens' rights, an EU-UK financial settlement and Northern Ireland.Sinn Fein, the
  
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• A GoFundMe set up for a three-year-old girl who lost her mum to Storm Harvey has gone viral

  31-08-2017 17:02
  Jordyn Grace was found clinging onto her mother in the Texas floods but, sadly, mum Collette did not make it.
  
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• Manchester bomber's brother should be tried in UK, mayor urges May

  31-08-2017 16:56
  Hashem Abedi after he was detained in Tripoli.The Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, has expressed grave concerns after it emerged that the brother of the Manchester Arena suicide bomber will be tried in Libya.Hashem Abedi, 20, is alleged to have played a key role in the suicide bombing carried out by his older brother, Salman Abedi, which killed 22 people and injured more than 200 in May.
  
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• Cash ISA saving falls by a third as tax rules change

  31-08-2017 16:47
  There has been a dramatic drop in the number of Cash ISAs being opened and in the amount saved in the wake of the Brexit vote.It represents a reduction of 33% on the previous tax year, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) said, at a time when other data has shown household saving rates hitting all-time lows during 2017 as prices rise at a higher rate than wages.Financial analysts blamed the introduction of the personal savings allowance last year, which allows basic rate taxpayers to receive only &po
  
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• The Latest: Elton John pays tribute to Princess Diana

  31-08-2017 16:37
  LONDON (AP) — The latest on the 20th anniversary of the death of Princess Diana (all times local):
  
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• City workers: what are attitudes to cocaine use in your industry?

  31-08-2017 16:35
  A view of the London skyline shows the City of London financial district, seen from St Paul’s Cathedral.Cocaine use among the middle classes is once again an issue after comments by Tony Saggers – former head of drugs strategy at the National Crime Agency – who spoke about the prevalence and acceptance of cocaine use in some industries, particularly in the City, and the need for corporate social responsibility schemes.Are you a worker in the City of London?
  
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• Despite derision, May might well be able to carry on... for now

  31-08-2017 16:27
  By Elizabeth PiperLONDON (Reuters) - It was meant to silence her critics, but by pledging to lead the Conservative Party into the next election, British Prime Minister Theresa May instead unleashed a wave of derision from her foes.The London Evening Standard, now edited by George Osborne, the Conservative sacked by May as finance minister when she became prime minister last year, described her pledge to run again as "Like the Living Dead in a second-rate horror film".Party grandee Michael Heselt
  
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• EU's Barnier says Brexit talks far from shifting to future ties

  31-08-2017 16:04
  By Alastair Macdonald and Gabriela BaczynskaBRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain's exit negotiations with the European Union this week failed to make the kind of progress needed to open talks on their future relationship in October, the bloc's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said on Thursday.Britain would "rigorously" question how much it had to pay the EU when it leaves, Davis said.
  
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• These award-winning drone photographs offer an amazing bird’s eye view of the world

  31-08-2017 15:59
  The pictures have scooped top honours in the International Drone Photography Contest.
  
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• Voyeur bank worker caught filming women with GoPro in toilets

  31-08-2017 15:47
  A bank employee has been convicted of voyeurism for the second time after being caught using a GoPro camera to secretly film dozens of women in a toilet.Richard Knowland was caught after a female employee at the bank in Bristol city centre found the device hidden in a toilet roll holder, the Bristol Post reported Thursday (31 August).Knowland, who was jailed in 2015 for another voyeurism offence when he used a hidden camera inside a shower gel bottle to film a lodger, was arrested and charged.
  
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