General news

• Stonehenge tunnel route moved by 50 metres after protests

  11-09-2017 23:30
  The government has changed the preferred route of a road tunnel designed to restore peace and tranquillity to Stonehenge after protests by druids, archaeologists and conservation experts.There was an outcry that the 1.8-mile tunnel would pass too close to precious barrows and ruin the view of the sun setting at the winter solstice, a crucial date in the pagan calendar.On Monday the government said it was now planning to shift the tunnel an extra 50 metres away from the prehistoric monument to tr
  
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• Moving every half hour could help limit effects of sedentary lifestyle, says study

  11-09-2017 23:00
  Long periods of time spent sitting still at home or at a desk are linked to an increased risk of death from any cause, the researchers say.Moving your body at least every half an hour could help to limit the harmful effects of desk jobs and other sedentary lifestyles, research has revealed.The study found that both greater overall time spent inactive in a day, and longer periods of inactivity were linked to an increased risk of death.
  
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• Two British soldiers charged with neo-Nazi terror offences

  11-09-2017 22:58
  Two British soldiers and a third man have been charged with terror offences including membership of a banned right-wing group.National Action, described by the Home Office as "virulently racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic", became the first extreme right-wing organisation to be banned under anti-terrorism laws in December 2016.Detectives said Vehvilainen, from Sennybridge Camp, Brecon, Powys, is charged with one count of being a member of a proscribed organisation, namely National Action.
  
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• Labour's Jon Ashworth on a general strike

  11-09-2017 22:50
  Sky News' Sunday with Niall Paterson asked Labour's Jon Ashworth whether his party would back co-ordinated national strike action.
  
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• Police charge serving soldiers over suspected far-right terrorism

  11-09-2017 22:47
  Three men, including two serving soldiers, were charged by British police on Monday with terrorism offences, including belonging to a banned far-right group.West Midlands Police said 22-year-old Alexander Deakin, 32-year-old Mikko Vehvilainen and 24-year-old Mark Barrett had all been charged with being members of neo-Nazi organisation the National Action group.All three will appear before Westminster Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
  
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• Growing threat of coordinated strikes over public sector pay cap

  11-09-2017 22:39
  The UK is facing a growing threat of coordinated strikes by public sector workers over the issue of the 1% pay cap.Unions are calling for a 5% pay rise after following seven years of pay freezes or maximum 1%-a-year pay rises for millions of workers.Four unions tabled motions to this week's Trades Union Congress in Brighton calling for some kind of nationally coordinated action, which were then included in a composite motion.
  
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• Labour centrists urge members to oppose leftwing rule changes

  11-09-2017 22:35
  The pro-Corbyn left of Labour now controls most of the party’s ruling bodies.Labour members have been urged by centrist groups to block leftwing rule changes at the party’s conference backed by grassroots movement Momentum, including any potential moves towards deselection of moderate candidates.On Monday night, Progress and Labour First – some of Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s most strident critics within the party, hosted a rally attended by 120 activists and MPs in parl
  
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• Two Soldiers Charged For Being Members Of Neo-Nazi Group National Action

  11-09-2017 22:09
  Two soldiers are among three people charged with terror offences as part of an investigation into the banned neo-Nazi group National Action, West Midlands Police has said.
  
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• EU withdrawal bill enters parliament – one great illusion of power | John Crace

  11-09-2017 22:06
  As the second reading of the EU withdrawal bill neared its close, Conservative Bernard Jenkin tried to introduce a note of calm.The bill wasn’t some sort of crazed power grab by an insecure and incompetent government, it was just a dreary piece of necessary admin.Yes, the bill wasn’t perfect but what in life was?
  
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• Bin men return to picket lines

  11-09-2017 21:50
  A dispute over lost jobs and pay has left piles of rubbish dubbed "rat hotels" building up in the city's streets.
  
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• Birmingham council leader John Clancy quits over bin strike and admits 'mistakes'

  11-09-2017 21:44
  The leader of the city council in Birmingham, where bin workers have been on strike for weeks, has resigned.John Clancy claimed "ill-informed" media speculation about the strike is harming the local Labour party as he stepped down.Just over a week ago, the Unite union raised the prospect of Birmingham's streets being "piled high" with rubbish until the New Year as workers call for the authority to retain "grade three" staff who were responsible for safety at the back of vehicles.
  
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• Europeans need not apply: evidence mounts of discrimination in UK

  11-09-2017 21:20
  The government equalities office is to examine growing evidence that EU nationals in the UK are being illegally prevented from renting or buying properties, getting jobs and booking holidays.Nick Gibb, the equalities minister, said he was responding after Labour and the EU citizens’ rights campaign group the3million sent him a dossier of more than two dozen examples of job, housing and other adverts, many of which invite applications only from those with UK or Irish citizenship.In a parlia
  
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• Bestival 'murder victim' was Coronation Street and Holby City actor's daughter

  11-09-2017 21:13
  A woman found dead at the Bestival music festival was the daughter of former Coronation Street actor John Michie.Police have arrested a 28-year-old man on suspicion of murder following Louella Michie's death.Michie's agent confirmed the daughter of the 60-year-old, who now stars in Holby City, died at the event in Dorset.
  
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• What's on show at controversial arms fair?

  11-09-2017 20:47
  Arms manufacturers will gather in London this week to grease palms and prepare sales of controversial defence and security equipment.More than 1,600 exhibitors from 54 countries are attending the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) at ExCeL.Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon and Liam Fox, Secretary of State for International Trade, will speak at the event alongside the chiefs of staff of the UK's armed forces.
  
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• Rees-Mogg, sex and the Catholic church | Letters

  11-09-2017 20:42
  ‘Jacob Rees-Mogg didn’t hit the front pages because of his well-recorded and long-held views on abortion, but because Piers Morgan chose to focus on this,’ writes Joseph Kelly.Jane Ghosh (Letters, 9 September) defends the right of Catholics and Muslims, for example, to hold views that she disagrees with, providing they don’t try to impose them on others.
  
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• Who Was Louella Michie? Daughter Of ‘Corrie’ Star John Confirmed As Woman Who Died At Bestival

  11-09-2017 20:40
  The 25-year-old woman who died at Bestival in suspicious circumstances last weekend was following her father’s footsteps by carving out a successful career as a performer.
  
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• Birmingham council leader quits over handling of bin strike

  11-09-2017 20:35
  The Birmingham city council leader has stepped down after failing to resolve the city’s “bin war”, during which rubbish went uncollected for seven weeks this summer.Labour’s John Clancy, who took on the role in December 2015, blamed “ill-informed” and “frenzied” media speculation for his departure.On Monday, John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, backed the bin strike and Sajid Javid, the communities secretary, demanded a meeting with Clancy to dis
  
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• Waging war on low pay and zero-hours contracts | Letters

  11-09-2017 20:27
  ‘Message to Mike Ashley: keep your working practices, change your sector and no one will bat an eyelid.’ Photograph: Joe Giddens/PA
  
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• Twitter users gave Miss Texas a round of applause for calling out Trump’s Charlottesville response

  11-09-2017 20:18
  The Miss America contestant called for the US president to ensure the safety of all Americans.
  
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• Louella Michie, Daughter Of John Michie, Named As Woman Who Died At Bestival

  11-09-2017 19:44
  The 25-year-old woman who died at Bestival has been named as Louella Michie, daughter of former-Coronation Street and Taggart star John Michie.
  
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• Billionaire Branson calls for 'Marshall Plan' after Irma ravages Caribbean

  11-09-2017 19:30
  By Alvin BaezSAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (Reuters) - British billionaire Richard Branson has called for a "Marshall plan" to help the Caribbean recover from the devastation wrought by Hurricane Irma, which left tens of thousands homeless and sparked looting on islands left short of food and water.Irma ripped through the Leeward Islands last week as one of the Atlantic's strongest ever storms, uprooting trees, tearing down power cables and severely damaging the homes of poor locals and the global jet-s
  
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• Ukip risks becoming 'UK Nazi party' if it selects wrong leader

  11-09-2017 19:28
  One of the favourites to become Ukip’s next leader has warned it could become the “UK Nazi party” if it selects the wrong candidate to succeed Paul Nuttall.Henry Bolton, a former army and police officer who claims the backing of Nigel Farage, said that the party could “easily slip towards the ideals of national socialism”.Bolton, who warned last week against what he termed “the dominating rise of Islam in our country”, did not specify which of his oppone
  
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• Unions demand 5% pay rise for all public sector staff

  11-09-2017 19:21
  Union leaders are demanding a 5% pay increase for all public sector workers and threatening co-ordinated strike action against the government’s pay cap.Amid growing expectation that the cap will be lifted soon for police and prison officers, representatives of 13 unions agreed at the TUC conference that money needed to be found to retain and reward millions of nurses, teachers, council staff and civil servants.Delegates also disclosed that three public sector unions were planning to canvas
  
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• Offshore wind farm subsidies at record low

  11-09-2017 19:17
  The cost of subsidies for new offshore wind farms has fallen to record lows in the latest round of contracts being awarded for clean energy projects.Subsidies have fallen 50% since the last auction in 2015, with firms saying they were willing to build offshore wind farms for a subsidy of as little as £57.50 per megawatt hour for 2022-23.The cost for projects delivered in 2021/22 was £74.75 per megawatt hour (MWh).
  
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• NHS wants to let you access medical records via a smartphone app

  11-09-2017 19:01
  In the wake of numerous cybersecurity incidents this year, UK health secretary Jeremy Hunt is reportedly set to announce the rollout of a new National Health Service (NHS) smartphone application that will let users access their medical records and book appointments.Multiple reports indicate that Hunt will tell attendees at an NHS conference this week (Tuesday 12 September) that users will also be able to use the digital service to book prescriptions and access the non-emergency medical helpline,
  
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• Ari Fleischer Tweets His Gripping Eyewitness Account Of 9/11 Attacks

  11-09-2017 18:56
  George Bush’s Press Secretary has spent the 16th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks once again gracing Twitter with his incredible first-hand experience of that day.
  
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• Chubb picks Paris as post-Brexit EU headquarters

  11-09-2017 18:29
  Joining other major companies planning to leave London once Brexit takes effect, global insurance firm Chubb announced it will move its European office to Paris, where it already has a large presence
  
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• London could get £50m armed police base to tackle terrorism

  11-09-2017 18:27
  A new £50m base for armed police officers in London is one of a series of measures being proposed to protect the public from terrorist attacks.The base, planned for Limehouse in the east of the capital, would house at least 200 officers and contain a firing range, weapons storage and other facilities, it is understood.Details of the plans, which have been submitted by the Metropolitan police to the mayor’s office for police and crime (Mopac), emerged as the force announced it had beg
  
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• Don't throw Brexit into chaos, Davis says before parliament vote

  11-09-2017 18:21
  By Kylie MacLellan and William JamesLONDON (Reuters) - Britain faces a chaotic exit from the European Union if lawmakers vote against legislation designed to sever political, financial and legal ties with the bloc, Britain's Brexit minister David Davis said before a parliamentary vote.Parliament is due to hold a late-night vote on whether to let the central plank of Britain's Brexit plan -- the EU withdrawal bill -- move to the next stage of the law-making process.The government is expected to w
  
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• North Korea: Let's Look Beyond The Leader

  11-09-2017 18:20
  He's the archetypal crackpot egotistical Bond villain threatening the planet.
  
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• Losing My Memory Helped Me Discover Who I Really Was

  11-09-2017 18:19
  My boyfriend, Adam, had just broken up with me and moved across the country to Los Angeles.
  
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• Christian parents in transphobic row

  11-09-2017 18:00
  Nigel and Sally Rowe took their child out of school because they were unhappy about another boy in the class wearing a dress.
  
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• Boy taken out of school after another boy wears a dress

  11-09-2017 18:00
  A Christian couple who removed their six-year-old son from school after another boy started wearing a dress have told Sky News they took action because their child's health was beginning to suffer.Sally and Nigel Rowe, from the Isle of Wight, say their son returned "totally drained" from lessons one day.Mr Rowe, 44, said: "When he got home from school one day, he said: 'Daddy I'm confused.
  
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• ‘I was told to throw ethics out the window’ – inside the online bookies

  11-09-2017 17:43
  The ever-expanding online casino industry raked in £4.5bn from punter’s losses last year but the move away from physical betting shops has made employees far more distant from their customers’ plight.Exhibit any of these attributes in the workplace (besides brainstorming innovative new ways to swindle our clientele) and the cutthroat undercurrent that circled the office would rise to the surface.
  
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• British child sex-abuser, 102, sentenced for crimes from 1970s

  11-09-2017 17:41
  A 102-year-old man given a suspended sentence on Monday for sexually abusing a girl in the 1970s is thought to be the oldest person convicted of a crime in Britain, prosecutors said.Douglas Hammersley was given a two-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to three counts of indecent assault.The Crown Prosecution Service said the incidents took place in the Buckinghamshire area, to the west of London, when the victim was between five and eight years old.
  
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• Sturgeon in Brexit clash with opposition over independence vote plan

  11-09-2017 17:26
  Nicola Sturgeon was making a speech to mark 20 years since Scotland voted to set up its devolved parliament.Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, has clashed with opposition leaders after urging them to compromise over Brexit without dropping her plans for a second independence vote.In a speech to mark 20 years since Scotland voted to set up its devolved parliament, Sturgeon said all Holyrood’s parties should work together in the country’s national interest to get the bes
  
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• Sign Language Interpreter Becomes Internet Hero With 'Expressive' Hurricane Irma Translation

  11-09-2017 17:26
  A sign language interpreter stole the show at a Hurricane Irma conference while translating Florida Governor Rick Scott’s message about evacuation.
  
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• Steve Bannon's 60 Minutes Interview And 11 Things We Learned

  11-09-2017 17:14
  Steve Bannon has given his first TV interview since leaving the White House and used the opportunity to fire salvos at just about everybody.
  
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• Happy New Year

  11-09-2017 17:11
  It's been two weeks but it feels more like a month - being back at school already feels completely normal.
  
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• The Lonely State

  11-09-2017 16:56
  Over the summer, we were treated to 'the biggest neighbourhood celebrations since the Jubilee street parties'.
  
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• Badger culling extended to stop spread of tuberculosis in cattle

  11-09-2017 16:54
  Badger culling has been given the go-ahead in 11 new areas across England as part of an effort to prevent the spread of tuberculosis in cattle.New licenses for the controversial practice were announced in parts of Devon, Wiltshire, Somerset, Dorset and Cheshire, and pilots will be extended in Gloucestershire and Somerset.Opponents say killing the creatures is inhumane and ineffective, but the Government insists it is necessary to tackle the spread of tuberculosis and eventually eradicate the dis
  
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• Police investigating theft of money from Grenfell Tower flat

  11-09-2017 16:51
  It is feared that other families’ flats on the lower floors of Grenfell Tower may have been targeted.Police are investigating the theft of money from a flat abandoned after the Grenfell Tower fire in west London, prompting fears that other properties on the site could have been targeted by thieves.People who were directly affected by the disaster were informed on Friday of the theft, which police think took place after Tuesday 20 June, six days after the blaze.
  
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• Rivalries rekindled at Britain's black pudding throwing contest

  11-09-2017 16:50
  Scores of cheering fans crowded into a street in the northern English town of Ramsbottom as the World Black Pudding Throwing Championships helped keep a centuries-old rivalry between the counties of Yorkshire and Lancashire alive.The event sees competitors attempting to knock the largest number of Yorkshire puddings from a raised plinth, by using black puddings - a Lancashire delicacy - as projectiles.Black pudding is a kind of blood sausage popular in Britain, made from congealed pigs' blood, f
  
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• As The Scottish Government Announces Plans To Tackle Animal Cruelty, Now's The Time For England And Wales To Step Up

  11-09-2017 16:38
  Last week animal welfare campaigners across the country issued a resounding cheer at the Scottish Government's announcement that it seeks to amend its legislation to increase the maximum penalty for the most serious cruelty offences to five year's imprisonment.
  
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• New £10 Note Feature For Visually Impaired People Praised As 'Absolutely Fantastic'

  11-09-2017 16:36
  Visually impaired people have praised the new £10 note for a special feature built in to help tell notes apart.
  
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• My Concerns About The New GCSE Grading System

  11-09-2017 16:34
  As of this year, GCSE qualifications in England are being revised to make them more demanding.
  
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• Yet Another Report On Black People In The Criminal (In)justice System

  11-09-2017 16:33
  The increasing number of Black young males in custody and their overrepresentation and differential treatment in most areas of the Criminal Justice system is as one would expect, when despite the warnings over many years, particularly from academics, voluntary sector organisations and community activists, nothing of significance has been done to reduce it.
  
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• Floods hit North as 70mph winds set to batter Britain

  11-09-2017 16:33
  The flooding was ankle-deep on residential streets in Mossley, with fast-flowing water running off the Pennine hills into the small town.Trains were also temporarily cancelled between Manchester Victoria and Huddersfield because of flooding.More bad weather is on the way in other parts of the UK, with forecasts of 70mph prompting the Met Office to issue a yellow warning.
  
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• 70-year-old baristas? The government should wake up and smell the coffee | Michele Hanson

  11-09-2017 16:30 via theguardian.com
  As more people are forced to work later in life, DWP advice for bosses to make concessions to older employees looks farcical –and our future looks frighteningA report from the Department for Work and Pensions says that one in 10 people aged over 65 are still working, and that many pensioners are having to work for longer because they can’t afford to retire. But why is the government bothering to bring out these new figures? It’s no surprise. We’ve known for ages this was
  
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• Duchy of Cornwall residents fight 'unfair' freehold ban

  11-09-2017 16:26 via theguardian.com
  Villagers on Prince Charles’s estate submit response to government consultation on leasehold abuses in effort to overturn banPrince Charles’s £1bn Duchy of Cornwall estate is facing a rebellion by residents who claim they are subject to an unfair ban on buying the freeholds to their homes.Residents in the historic duchy-owned village of Newton St Loe, near Bath, and in the Scilly Isles off the tip of Cornwall have urged the communities secretary, Sajid Javid, to scrap a unique
  
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