General news

• Union welcomes university bosses pay scrutiny

  07-09-2017 23:40
  Universities minister Jo Johnson said today that institutions could be fined if they cannot justify paying their bosses more than the Prime Minister.
  
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• University chiefs' pay over £150,000 will have to be justified

  07-09-2017 23:31
  The six-figure salaries of University vice chancellors will have to be justified under new measures being introduced by the universities minister.Addressing the Universities UK conference, Jo Johnson said he wanted the men and women who run Britain's universities to be "good stewards of their resources".The minister told them: "It is of course true that many of our universities are large and complex organisations, requiring highly skilled individuals to run them effectively.
  
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• Police call for protection against dangerous driving charges from high speed chases

  07-09-2017 23:31 via feedproxy.google.com
  POLICE are calling for a change in the law to protect officers from dangerous driving charges following high-speed chases.
  
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• Alcohol industry 'playing down' risk of cancer by using tobacco industry tactics

  07-09-2017 23:27
  A study led by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and Sweden's Karolinska Institutet found the industry is using "denying, distortion and distraction" strategies to minimise evidence.Researchers analysed information relating to cancer on the websites and documents of 28 alcohol industry organisations between September and December last year, finding that most showed "some sort of distortion or misrepresentation" of evidence.The industry most commonly presented the relatio
  
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• Electrical blast closes Oxford Street

  07-09-2017 23:00
  Police and other emergency services attended the scene in London after an electrical explosion injured one.
  
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• Drinks industry downplaying alcohol-cancer link – report

  07-09-2017 23:00
  More than 100 studies since 2007 have shown that alcohol, even in moderate amounts, increases the risk of breast cancer.The drinks industry is misleading the public by downplaying and misrepresenting the link between alcohol and cancer – especially breast cancer – in a bid to protect its profits, new research claims.Alcohol firms and “responsible drinking” bodies they fund are denying that drink causes cancer and distorting the overwhelming evidence to the contrary, in in
  
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• Oxford St cordoned off after small electrical explosion

  07-09-2017 22:57
  An investigation has been launched after a small electrical explosion on Oxford Street injured a man and sent crowds of shoppers running in panic.The explosion in central London blackened part of the pavement and filled the air in one section of the street with grey smoke."A significant area" around Oxford Street was cordoned off while emergency services checked the scene - disrupting traffic on one of the country's busiest roads.
  
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• Search for Madeleine McCann set to be extended as police ask for more funds

  07-09-2017 22:55
  The Scotland Yard search for Madeleine McCann is set to be extended, three weeks before its funding was due to run out.Detectives have asked the Home Office for more money while they continue to explore one last theory about her disappearance.Ministers are likely to approve a cash injection so long as they are satisfied there is still a realistic chance of discovering the fate of Madeleine, who was nearly four when she vanished during a family holiday in Portugal in 2007.
  
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• Google says it has no evidence of Russian ads about U.S. election

  07-09-2017 22:48
  Search engine Google said on Thursday it had seen no evidence on its advertising platforms of the kind of suspected Russian propaganda campaign that Facebook Incsays appeared on its network before and after last year's U.S. presidential election."We're always monitoring for abuse or violations of our policies and we've seen no evidence this type of ad campaign was run on our platforms," Google, a unit of Alphabet Incand the owner of YouTube, said in a statement in response to questions.
  
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• 'Black widow' Anna Ziuzina asks judge to rule she did not kill millionaire husband

  07-09-2017 22:38
  A former pole dancer dubbed the "black widow" is launching a rare legal case by asking a High Court judge to rule that she did not murder her millionaire husband.Ukrainian Anna Ziuzina, 38, says she is planning the action because his family are driving a political campaign, involving Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, to have her arrested and charged.Mr Pring, a British IT consultant, died on their wedding anniversary when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver on the hard shoulder of a motorway ou
  
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• Tories turn up pressure on Theresa May over EU withdrawal bill

  07-09-2017 21:40
  Theresa May appears likely to be forced into an early tactical retreat over the European Union withdrawal bill, as Conservative MPs from both sides of the referendum divide flex their muscles.During a bruising debate in the House of Commons lasting almost five hours on Thursday, David Davis, the Brexit secretary, indicated he was willing to accommodate improvements to the key piece of legislation for taking Britain out of the EU in March 2019.A Conservative source said Tories on either side of t
  
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• Why is Silicon Valley fighting a sex trafficking bill?

  07-09-2017 21:25
  The bill stems from an inquiry into a website called Backpage.com which, according to a report, knowingly facilitated online child sex trafficking through third-party advertisements.Cloud services company Oracle has come out as one of the only technology companies to support a Senate bill intended to combat online sex trafficking.The Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act of 2017 would amend Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) to hold websites liable for publishing information “
  
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• Jaguar to put more spark in new E-type

  07-09-2017 21:00
  Sky's Ian King reports on Jaguar Land Rover's electric car future, getting behind the wheel of a classic E-type as it prepares to be remodelled.
  
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• Explosion on Oxford Street - one injured in blast at busy London shopping tourist hotspot

  07-09-2017 20:49 via feedproxy.google.com
  OXFORD Street was hit with an explosion this evening, leaving one man injured.
  
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• 'Small power explosion' in London's Oxford Street

  07-09-2017 20:47 via bbc.co.uk
  One man suffers minor injuries in a "power network explosion" on London's Oxford Street, police say.
  
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• Bell Pottinger could go under within days, sources claim

  07-09-2017 20:47
  Phumzile Van Damme of the Democratic Alliance National party, which has protested about the scandal.Bell Pottinger could be put into administration as soon as next week after its financial plight worsened in the wake of a scandal over its secret campaign to stir up racial tensions in South Africa.The PR agency has tasked accountancy firm BDO with drumming up a buyer in a bid to evade closure, but one source close to the process said time was running out.
  
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• Migrant crisis: 'I feel like a dead person'

  07-09-2017 20:44 via bbc.co.uk
  Hennessy was trying to get back to the UK, but ended up in a migrant detention centre in Libya's capital.
  
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• Minister's threat of fines 'not enough' to curb university salaries

  07-09-2017 20:40
  The vice-chancellor of Oxford University, Prof Louise Richardson, compared her pay with that of bankers.Government threats to fine universities that pay their vice-chancellors more than £150,000 without justification have been criticised for not going far enough.The universities minister, Jo Johnson, told the annual conference of Universities UK (UUK) that “leadership and restraint” was needed, and that “exceptional pay can only be justified by exceptional performance&rdq
  
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• Ben Stokes steals the show with six-wicket haul but West Indies fight back to keep series decider alive - The Independent

  07-09-2017 20:39 via independent.co.uk
  The Independent
  Ben Stokes steals the show with six-wicket haul but West Indies fight back to keep series decider alive
  The Independent
  Ben Stokes went for a record £1.7m in the Indian Premier League auction earlier this year but his latest star turn for England is further evidence he is rapidly becoming a priceless commodity for his country. Stokes produced a quite brilliant display ...
  England v West Indies: Hosts stumble as 14 wickets fall on opening dayBBC Sport
  Ben Stokes rips throug
  
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• Hurricane Irma bears down on Turks and Caicos islands - BBC News

  07-09-2017 20:37 via bbc.co.uk
  BBC News
  Hurricane Irma bears down on Turks and Caicos islands
  BBC News
  The low-lying Turks and Caicos islands are preparing for the arrival of Hurricane Irma, which has left a trail of destruction across the Caribbean. The British overseas territory is said to be at risk of a storm surge, with the possibility of ...
  Hurricane Irma: 180mph winds batter Caribbean as death roll rises – latest newsThe Guardian
  Hurricane Irma: Florida orders mass evacuations as deadly storm hits Caribbean - l
  
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• Electrical explosion on Oxford Street sparks panic among shoppers - Metro

  07-09-2017 20:34 via metro.co.uk
  Metro
  Electrical explosion on Oxford Street sparks panic among shoppers
  Metro
  An electrical explosion on Oxford Street has sparked panic among shoppers, with one man suffering minor injuries. Footage posted online shows smoke filling the streets as crowds of people run away from the busy street in central London. Speculation was ...
  'Electrical explosion' on Oxford Street injures one manBBC News
  BREAKING NEWS: Panic as explosion on London's Oxford Street leaves at least one person injuredD
  
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• Transition deal keeping UK in EEA is worst of all worlds, says David Davis

  07-09-2017 20:31
  David Davis said the government was seeking ‘a transition based on maintaining the important components of what we currently have’.A Norway-style transitional deal that keeps the UK in the European Economic Area would be the “worst of possible worlds”, the Brexit secretary, David Davis, has said.Speaking ahead of the debate on the EU withdrawal bill on Thursday afternoon, Davis said the government had considered the benefits of retaining membership of the European Free Tr
  
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• British Airways to close defined benefits pension scheme

  07-09-2017 20:26
  British Airways proposed the closure of a major pension scheme on Thursday, angering trade unions representing some workers who have already been on strike this year in a continuing dispute over pay.British Airways, owned by International Consolidated Airlines Group,said it had to address "the significant and growing funding deficit faced by the New Airways Pension Scheme (NAPS)", and that under new proposals it would close the scheme."We will be proposing new pension arrangements that will impr
  
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• Betsy DeVos to overhaul 'failed' guidelines on campus sexual assault

  07-09-2017 20:19
  The Trump administration will overhaul Obama-era guidelines for schools investigating sexual assaults on campus, education secretary Betsy DeVos said on Thursday.DeVos waded into the controversy that has embroiled US higher education for almost a decade and pitted survivors of sexual assault against critics who say the system is unfairly tilted against the accused.Reeling off a long list of cases in which she said the system had failed to protect survivors and accused alike, DeVos said: “S
  
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• Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter to step down after 25 years

  07-09-2017 20:00
  Graydon Carter arrives at the 2015 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in Beverly Hills, California.Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter announced on Thursday that he will step down from the role after 25 years in which his magazine made Hollywood parties great again, alternately fascinated and alienated celebrities, politicians and business titans, and even got a few news scoops.At 68, Carter said it was “simply time” for him to move on and enjoy some time off before deciding on a “third act
  
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• Man jailed for 'kill every Muslim' Facebook post following Manchester bombing

  07-09-2017 19:52
  A man who wrote "let's kill every Muslim" in a Facebook post following the Manchester Arena bombing has been sentenced to a year in prison.Keegan Jakovlevs had posted the message shortly after May's terror attack by Salman Abedi, which killed 22 people and left dozens of others injured.At Mold Crown Court, Jakovlevs admitted publishing material with the intention of stirring up religious hatred.
  
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• Systemic problem with special needs provision | Letters

  07-09-2017 19:39
  John Harris is absolutely right to state that the implementation of special needs reforms and the introduction of education health care plans, and the ensuing lack of proper support for children with SEN, is “a big story” (Education, 5 September).My experience of local authorities in the EHCP process is that the child is left unsupported and parents worn down by a constant failure to listen to their very real fears and concerns for their children.
  
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• Immigration and the UK’s post-Brexit economy | Letters

  07-09-2017 19:39
  Passport control at Gatwick airport. ‘If a company cannot survive without a constant flow of immigrants, it shouldn’t be allowed to survive,’ writes Dan Rainey.The immigration strategy discussed in the leaked Home Office document could be as beneficial to British workers as the Black Death (Revealed: Tories’ Brexit plan to deter EU migrants from Britain, 6 September).My limited historical knowledge tells me that when the working population was decimated as the bubonic pla
  
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• Differing views about foster children’s needs | Letters

  07-09-2017 19:39
  It seems we do little else, 5 September) claims I wrote in my Daily Telegraph column that I was “deeply uneasy about this Muslim foster family”.Foster carers of all kinds do a wonderful job, but social workers are bidden to place children in environments that are sensitive to their needs.
  
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• 'The great repeal bill'? It's no biggie, says David Davis | John Crace

  07-09-2017 19:31
  It’s hard not to feel a little sorry for David Davis.While most of his cabinet colleagues are on an extended sabbatical for the foreseeable future as the government tries to disentangle itself from the EU, the Brexit secretary is being forced to work around the clock.If it wasn’t bad enough spending most of Tuesday afternoon updating the house on his lack of progress in the Brexit negotiations, he then had to take a double hit on Thursday.
  
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• Hurricane Irma: UK Government's Slow Response Labelled 'Pathetic' As Military Sent To Help British Citizens

  07-09-2017 19:24
  The UK Government is facing withering criticism that it has been too slow to help British overseas territories devastated by Hurricane Irma as it announced a military task force is being sent to the Caribbean to help tackle the disaster.
  
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• Hurricane Irma: Petition To Rename Storm To Ivanka Gains Thousands Of Signatures

  07-09-2017 19:23
  A petition to rename Hurricane Irma to Hurricane Ivanka has taken the internet by storm.
  
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• FTSE edges up but financials falter after ECB meeting

  07-09-2017 19:18
  By Kit ReesLONDON (Reuters) - Britain's top share index ended the session higher on Thursday with most sectors in positive territory with the exception offinancial stocks, which suffered, alongside the rest of their European peers, after the European central bank reaffirmed its ultra-easy policy stance.The blue chip FTSE 100index was up 0.6 percent following three days of losses.Banking stocks, which are sensitive to interest rates as well as bond yields, sustained heavy losses like HSBC , down
  
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• Why closing the transfer window before the season starts could actually make things worse for the Premier League - The Independent

  07-09-2017 19:11 via independent.co.uk
  The Independent
  Why closing the transfer window before the season starts could actually make things worse for the Premier League
  The Independent
  From one perspective, it's easy to see why 14 of the 20 Premier League clubs have voted in favour of closing the transfer window before the season begins. It forces all of those clubs to get their business done early, and means that business won't ...
  Revealed: The clubs who were outvoted over shutting transfer window before start of seasonTelegraph.co
  
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• 'I went ass over teakettle on to the ice': my first ice hockey lesson

  07-09-2017 18:49 via theguardian.com
  Guardian ice hockey correspondent and obsessive fan Joshua Kloke had never played the game – until he visited Toronto’s Central Hockey AcademyI was waiting to fall. I’d been on the ice now – my first time ever in full hockey gear – for half an hour, waiting to tumble over. I knew it was coming: there was no way I was going to avoid it. And as I skated over the red line, back straight, knees bent and stick on the ice, as per my instructions, I tried to stop. My righ
  
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• Davis slams 'cynical' Labour attempt to block Brexit bill

  07-09-2017 18:46
  The Commons has begun debating the EU Withdrawal Bill, with David Davis calling the legislation vital to ensuring an orderly EU divorce and Labour lamenting that it gives unprecedented powers to the Government.Mr Davis urged all MPs to back the bill, saying that a Labour attempt to block "the only viable option" for Brexit was "cynical and unprincipled".
  
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• How To Help Victims Of Hurricane Irma: 5 Charities Working To Support Those Hit By Deadly Storm

  07-09-2017 18:44
  At least 11 people have been killed and thousands more have lost everything as Hurricane Irma - the strongest Atlantic Ocean hurricane ever recorded - tears its way across the Caribbean towards Florida.
  
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• Trump and Democrats deal: What was the president thinking? - BBC News

  07-09-2017 18:43 via bbc.co.uk
  BBC News
  Trump and Democrats deal: What was the president thinking?
  BBC News
  The conflict between Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress may be coming to a head. This could be the start of a freelance presidency, unmoored from party ties - the kind of deal-maker in chief some Trump supporters hoped for when they voted for him ...
  Do You Seriously Think A Hillary Clinton Presidency Would Be Worse Than This?Newsweek
  To Democrats, Trump just transformed into a different president (for now,
  
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• Two men arrested at Birmingham Airport on suspicion of terrorism - Daily Echo

  07-09-2017 18:36 via dailyecho.co.uk
  Daily Echo
  Two men arrested at Birmingham Airport on suspicion of terrorism
  Daily Echo
  Two men have been arrested at Birmingham Airport after disembarking a flight from Turkey on suspicion of terrorism. The two men – aged 40 and 29 – are both UK nationals and returned from Istanbul on Thursday morning. The 29-year-old man is being ...and more »
  
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• Proposals to increase number of female MPs in Commons rejected

  07-09-2017 18:34
  The government has rejected all six proposals to give parliament more equal female representation, prepared by the Commons’ women and equalities committee, including fines for parties that do not select enough women as candidates.The women and equalities committee chair, Maria Miller, said the response showed a lack of ambition by the government, which she said was “content to sit on its hands with an approach” which had yielded “depressingly slow progress so far”.T
  
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• Pro-leave MPs prepare public statement insistent on hard Brexit

  07-09-2017 18:25
  The statement of intent will be regarded as an attempt to influence debate around the cabinet table by strengthening the hand of pro-Brexit ministers such as Liam Fox.Pro-leave MPs are preparing to launch a public fightback against a soft Brexit, gathering signatures for a letter insisting Britain must be “well and truly out” of the European Union in March 2019.Change Britain, the campaign group that evolved out of Vote Leave and has in the past received the backing of the foreign se
  
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• Prince George starts school in London

  07-09-2017 18:25 via bbc.co.uk
  The four-year-old prince was dropped off by his father, the Duke of Cambridge.
  
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• Minister's threat of fines 'not enough' to curb university salaries - The Guardian

  07-09-2017 18:07 via theguardian.com
  The Guardian
  Minister's threat of fines 'not enough' to curb university salaries
  The Guardian
  The vice-chancellor of Oxford University, Prof Louise Richardson, compared her pay with that of bankers. Photograph: David Hartley/Rex/Shutterstock. Higher education. Minister's threat of fines 'not enough' to curb university salaries. Jo Johnson's ...
  Universities will have to pay fines over our salaries, claim vice chancellorsThe Times
  Justify paying bosses more than the PM or face fines, universitie
  
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• Tories will 'overwhelmingly' support Brexit bill

  07-09-2017 18:00
  The Prime Minister will today plead with supporters and opponents of Brexit to back legislation pulling Britain out of the EU.
  
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• EU likely to cut minimum import price for Chinese solar panels

  07-09-2017 17:54
  The European Union is likely to reduce the minimum price that Chinese solar panel producers are allowed to sell into Europe after a meeting on Thursday of trade representatives from EU countries, EU sources said.The possible reduction has been opposed by EU panel manufacturers who say it will kill jobs in the sector and EU importers and others in the industry who argue that it will not cut prices enough.Chinese solar panel imports have been subject to measures to counter dumping and subsidies si
  
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• UK backtracking on Brexit divorce bill, says Michel Barnier

  07-09-2017 17:47
  Michel Barnier made his comments at a press conference to launch the EU latest Brexit position papers.The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has said the UK appears to be going backwards on agreeing a Brexit financial settlement, as hopes of an autumn divorce deal hit rock bottom.Speaking as the EU published its latest Brexit position papers, Barnier said he was disappointed with the UK position he had heard at the latest round of negotiations.
  
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• Now Is The Time To Build On Britain's Commitment To Protect 20,000 Syrian Refugees By 2020

  07-09-2017 17:45
  Today is the second anniversary of probably the biggest decision in UK refugee policy in more than a decade.
  
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• Regional Differences In Suicide Rates May Shed Light On More Effective Prevention

  07-09-2017 17:29
  People end their lives for multiple complex and interwoven reasons, but it's deeply troubling that those living in some areas of Britain are more likely to die by suicide than others.
  
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• Keir Starmer Tears Apart David Davis's Brexit Bill, Calls It 'Extraordinary Power Grab'

  07-09-2017 17:26
  Keir Starmer has demonstrated how the Great Repeal Bill in its present form would effectively give the Tories power over virtually every aspect of the lives of UK citizens.
  
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• Martin Shkreli is selling his Wu-Tang album on eBay

  07-09-2017 17:08
  The current bid is just over a million dollars.
  
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