General news

• PM pledges £2 billion boost for affordable homes

  15-11-2017 23:40
  Theresa May vowed today to take charge of a new drive to build, pledging an extra £2 billion to spend on affordable housing.
  
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• PM Theresa May: I'll take charge of house building efforts

  15-11-2017 23:34
  The Prime Minister has vowed to take "personal charge" of Government efforts to increase house building across the UK.It comes as the Chancellor hinted next week's Budget will include new measures to assist first-time buyers, but warned there was "no silver bullet" for solving the housing crisis.In a statement, Theresa May acknowledged there had been failures in housing policy, and that it would "take time" to fix the "broken market".
  
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• Theresa May to renew 'personal mission' to fix broken housing market

  15-11-2017 23:30
  Theresa May addresses the Tory party conference in Manchester last month, when she pledged to make housebuilding a priority during her premiership.Theresa May will signal that tackling the housing crisis will be a key theme of next week’s budget as pressure mounts on the chancellor, Philip Hammond, to release fresh resources to invest in building new homes.MPs and ministers have been urging the chancellor to spend more on housebuilding, since the general election campaign underscored young
  
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• May to renew 'personal mission' to fix broken housing market

  15-11-2017 23:30
  Theresa May addresses the Tory party conference in Manchester last month, when she pledged to make housebuilding a priority during her premiership.Theresa May will signal that tackling the housing crisis will be a key theme of next week’s budget as pressure mounts on the chancellor, Philip Hammond, to release fresh resources to invest in building new homes.MPs and ministers have been urging the chancellor to spend more on housebuilding, since the general election campaign underscored young
  
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• Hairdresser Daryll Rowe found guilty of deliberately infecting men with HIV

  15-11-2017 23:20
  A hairdresser has been convicted of deliberately infecting men with the HIV virus.Daryll Rowe, 27, targeted 10 men he met on the gay dating app Grindr in Brighton and north east England, Lewes Crown Court heard.At least four of his victims contracted HIV, Sussex Police said.
  
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• Donald Trump's Bizarre Mystery Speech Was Basically Just A Victory Lap For Doing His Job

  15-11-2017 23:03
  Just before Donald Trump returned from his tour of Asia he teased us all with the promise of something big...
  
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• Sir Bradley Wiggins calls package investigation a 'malicious witch-hunt'

  15-11-2017 22:39
  Sir Bradley Wiggins has criticised an official investigation into allegations of wrongdoing in cycling as a "malicious witch-hunt".In a statement posted on Twitter, the five-time Olympic gold medallist said UK Anti-Doping's (UKAD) 14-month investigation into a package delivered to his Team Sky doctor Richard Freeman after a race in 2011 had made his life "a living hell".The UKAD has been unable to prove what was in the package, commonly known as a Jiffy bag, which was delivered at the end of the
  
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• Theresa May 'close to offering financial deal to progress Brexit negotiations'

  15-11-2017 22:09
  Theresa May is close to offering a deal on money that would unlock the Brexit negotiations, according to the head of Europe’s centre-right MEPs, who said he had received “positive messages” during a meeting in Downing Street on Wednesday.Manfred Weber, a German leader of the European People’s party (EPP) who is also a close ally of chancellor Angela Merkel, said he had witnessed a substantial shift in the British approach which might now allow EU leaders to move on to the
  
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• Dunmurry Fire: Four People Treated As Blaze Rips Through High-Rise Flats Near Belfast

  15-11-2017 22:05
  Four people are being treated by paramedics following a blaze that ripped through a high-rise block of flats in Northern Ireland.
  
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• Dunmurry Fire: Firefighters Praised For Preventing Deaths As Blaze Rips Through High-Rise Near Belfast

  15-11-2017 22:05
  Four people are being treated by paramedics following a blaze that ripped through a high-rise block of flats in Northern Ireland.
  
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• Intelligence watchdog urged to look at Russian influence on Brexit vote

  15-11-2017 21:53
  Thousands of fake accounts may have been used to influence the Brexit vote.Britain’s intelligence watchdog is facing demands to examine whether Russian “troll factories” interfered in UK politics, amid mounting evidence that thousands of fake accounts may have been used to influence the Brexit vote.An investigation by parliament’s powerful intelligence and security committee would represent a significant escalation in the UK’s response after encouragement from senio
  
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• Arson drives Syrian refugee family from their Merseyside home

  15-11-2017 21:06
  Police are appealing for information after the home of a Syrian refugee family was set alight in Merseyside and they were forced to flee in the middle of the night.Police confirmed the fire was an arson attack in which an accelerant, probably petrol, was pushed through the letterbox of their St Helens home and set alight.The attack occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning while the family of five were inside.
  
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• Corbyn government would be 'disaster' for Northern Ireland, says DUP leader

  15-11-2017 21:00
  Any Jeremy Corbyn government would be disastrous for Northern Ireland because of his perceived bias towards the republican community, the DUP leader, Arlene Foster, has argued.Foster, who was Northern Ireland’s first minister until the power-sharing executive collapsed in January, said she could never work with the Labour leader, and she urged Theresa May – whom the DUP are propping up in Westminster – should “focus on the big issues”.
  
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• Sir Bradley Wiggins calls drug investigation a 'malicious witch hunt'

  15-11-2017 20:41
  Sir Bradley Wiggins has criticised an official investigation into allegations of wrongdoing in cycling as a "malicious witch hunt".In a statement posted on Twitter, the five-time Olympic gold medallist said UK Anti-Doping's (UKAD) 14-month investigation into a package delivered to his Team Sky doctor Richard Freeman after a race in 2011 had made his life "a living hell".The UKAD has been unable to prove what was in the package, commonly known as a Jiffy bag, which was delivered at the end of the
  
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• Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's Husband Richard Wants Her To Come Home To 'Real Life' After Iranian Imprisonment

  15-11-2017 20:29
  The husband of the woman imprisoned in Iran has described how he tries to be a “real husband” by trying to preserve the life they had in Britain before she was arrested 19 months ago.
  
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• Campaigners urge minimum alcohol price in England after Scottish ruling

  15-11-2017 20:26
  The supreme court said protecting public health outweighed any damage to free trade.Health campaigners have urged ministers to introduce minimum pricing for all alcoholic drinks in England after the supreme court said the measure was legal under EU law.In a landmark ruling, seven justices unanimously rejected a challenge led by the Scotch Whisky Association that Scottish proposals for strict price controls were illegal under EU trade rules.
  
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• Soubry accuses Daily Telegraph of 'blatant bullying'

  15-11-2017 20:20
  Former Business Minister, Anna Soubry has described today's Daily Telegraph front page as a 'blatant piece of bullying'.
  
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• Banning bee-killing neonicotinoid pesticides should be just the start | Letters

  15-11-2017 20:18 via theguardian.com
  Peter Melchett of the Soil Association bemoans the power held by the chemical industry; Huw Jones writes that agricultural policy needs expert understanding, not just political opportunism; plus letters from Deb Nicholson, Graeme Taylor and Bruce FriedrichIt’s great that Michael Gove has accepted the overwhelming scientific evidence that neonicotinoids are killing bees, other insects and birds, although it is a sad commentary on how safety decisions on pesticides have been taken up to now
  
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• Scottish Labour suspends Alex Rowley over harassment claims

  15-11-2017 20:17
  Alex Rowley was accused of sending a series of abusive text messages.Scottish Labour has suspended Alex Rowley, who stepped aside as its interim leader after his former partner made a series of claims about his behaviour during and after their relationship.It withdraws the Labour whip from Rowley in the Scottish parliament and will remain in force throughout the period of his investigation.
  
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• Peter Hitchens: my column did not refer to ‘squawking women’ | Letters

  15-11-2017 20:16 via theguardian.com
  The Mail on Sunday columnist says Deborah Orr is wrong. He was using the term ‘squawking’ in a ‘gender-neutral, equal-opportunity’ wayDeborah Orr (Don’t blame victims for this toxic debate, 10 November) says, using quote marks to indicate a direct quotation, that I referred to “squawking women” in my Mail on Sunday column. I did not. No such phrase appears there. This is partly because I would never write such a thing, but mainly because I was in fact at
  
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• Anna Soubry MP reports threats to police after Daily Telegraph headline

  15-11-2017 20:09
  A Tory MP has revealed threats against her have been reported to police after she was branded among "Brexit mutineers" on a newspaper's front page.Anna Soubry is one of 15 Conservative backbenchers highlighted as rebels by the Daily Telegraph, as the Government attempts to steer its key Brexit legislation through Parliament.Ms Soubry immediately hit back at "bullying" while Brexit minister Steve Baker expressed his "regret" at "media attempts to divide our party".
  
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• Fire sweeps through tower block near Belfast

  15-11-2017 19:58
  Residents of a block of flats on the western outskirts of Belfast have been evacuated from their homes after a fire swept through a number of floors of the building on Wednesday evening.The fire broke out in Coolmoyne House on the Seymour Hill estate in Dunmurry, which is close to the Belfast to Dublin rail line.Local people claimed the fire alarms in the flats failed to activate when the fire broke out somewhere between the ninth and 10th floors.
  
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• Landlord defends sending eviction letters ahead of universal credit rollout

  15-11-2017 19:50
  GAP Property called universal credit rollout ‘an extraordinary event that requires both you [tenants] and us to take extraordinary measures’.A Lincolnshire property company has defended threatening all of its tenants with eviction if they fail to pay their rent because of delays in receiving universal credit payments, after sending all tenants pre-emptive notices ahead of the rollout of the welfare reform.The letter from GAP Property in Grimsby was highlighted by Jeremy Corbyn during
  
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• Merkel's EU ally says more confident about resolving Brexit problems

  15-11-2017 19:49
  Manfred Weber, a leading lawmaker in the European Parliament, said on Wednesday he was more confident about Britain and the European Union ironing out difficulties in the Brexit talks.Weber, an ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the parliament, spoke after meeting Theresa May in London but would not say whether the British prime minister had signalled she was ready to move on a financial settlement with the EU."After my meetings here in London my main message is I am more optimistic, the
  
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• Gay Times Suspends Editor After Offensive Tweets Revealed

  15-11-2017 19:48
  Gay Times has suspended its newly-appointed editor after a series of offensive tweets were unearthed that saw him make derogatory comments about Jewish people, lesbians and women in general among many other targets.
  
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• Exclusive - Britain, Canada ally to boost support for global coal phase-out

  15-11-2017 19:47
  Britain and Canada will urge nations at U.N. climate talks on Thursday to join them in a global alliance to phase out coal, a letter seen by Reuters shows, defying U.S. lobbying in favour of the fossil fuel at the same event.Since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015, which aims to wean the world economy off fossil fuels, several countries have pledged to phase out coal, including Britain, Canada, France and the Netherlands.
  
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• Fox News anchor debunks network's 'Clinton uranium scandal' sparking fury

  15-11-2017 19:37
  Fox News anchor Shepard Smith on Tuesday evening debunked what his own network has called the Hillary Clinton uranium scandal, sparking fury among some Fox viewers.Smith said Donald Trump’s repeated accusations during the election campaign that Hillary Clinton smoothed a deal while she was secretary of state involving US uranium mining, Russia and the family’s charitable Clinton Foundation was “inaccurate in a number of ways”.
  
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• Police arrest murder suspect after fatal firework attack in Birmingham

  15-11-2017 19:35
  A man has been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder after a father died following a firework arson attack on his home.Tony Nicholls, 56, died in hospital after a group of men burst into his home in Tile Cross, Birmingham, and set off an industrial-sized firework containing around 200 tubes of explosives, causing extensive damage to the property.Mr Nicholls, who leaves behind two brothers, as well as nieces and nephews, never regained consciousness as a result of the fire.
  
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• Impress excludes board members from Laura Kuenssberg article inquiry

  15-11-2017 19:20
  Some of the posts questioned why Laura Kuenssberg had been named journalist of the year.Two board members at Impress, the only press watchdog approved by the government, have been recused from an investigation into an article by the Canary about the BBC’s political editor, Laura Kuenssberg, after they shared social media posts questioning her impartiality.
  
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• British Workers Wanted

  15-11-2017 18:58
  At Christmas last year, someone called Sarah wrote an email to our company, Drummer TV.
  
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• Victory in non-league PMQs brings out the trademark Maybot gurn | John Crace

  15-11-2017 18:51
  Theresa couldn’t believe her luck when Jeremy’s first question was on the crime figures.It had been two weeks since Jeremy Corbyn had last faced the prime minister at the dispatch box and he was struggling to remember if anything of any importance had happened in the intervening period.Much as the Labour leader had suspected, it had been a quiet time in politics.
  
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• Dyson and ex-boss Max Conze square up for legal fight

  15-11-2017 18:38
  Dyson and its former chief executive Max Conze are on a legal collision course after the engineering firm said it was to bring a case against him alleginghe leaked secret information about the company.It is understood the damages action being brought by Dyson, founded and majority-owned by billionaire inventor Sir James Dyson, also contains allegations Mr Conze misused company resources for his benefit or that of a venture capital firm.There was no hint of a row when Mr Conze left the company la
  
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• New CCTV of missing teen Gaia Pope as people urged to check vans and garages

  15-11-2017 18:32
  The mother of Gaia Pope says she may be being held against her will as police released new CCTV images of the missing teenager.A major search operation is taking place for Miss Pope, 19, from Dorset, after she disappeared on the afternoon of 7 November.A 19-year-old man and a 71-year-old woman - who are both known to Miss Pope - were arrested on suspicion of her murder but have since been released "under investigation".
  
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• Dutch PM to defend tax cut seen benefiting Shell, Unilever, British investors

  15-11-2017 18:27
  Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte was in parliament on Wednesday for a second time to defend a tax cut that benefits Anglo-Dutch multinationals Royal Dutch Shell and Unilever, as well as British equity investors in general.Rutte's unexpected decision to scrap the 15 percent dividend withholding tax has played into resentment at firms that many politicians on the left already view as being taxed too lightly.Populist Geert Wilders has loudly questioned why the Dutch should approve a measure that ben
  
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• The Right To Be Treated As An Individual - One Of The Biggest Challenges Facing Minorities

  15-11-2017 18:24
  You're labelled already, before you've even had a chance to say or do anything, if you're from an ethnic minority background, and particularly if you're from a Muslim background, you're not an individual in your own right, you're carrying the can for everyone else too.
  
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• Police hunt McDonald’s thief who climbed through the drive-thru window and made herself a drink

  15-11-2017 18:19
  CCTV footage revealed the brazen theft.
  
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• Anger after report finds birth defects not caused by hormone pregnancy tests

  15-11-2017 18:15
  Yasmin Qureshi MP (front, left) and chair of the Association for Children Damaged by Hormone Pregnancy Tests, Marie Lyon, (front, right), and families who say they were affected by the drug Primodos, arrive for the publication of the report. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA
  
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• Jacob Rees-Mogg REFUSES to cave in to BBC host’s fishing trip on calls for Hammond sacking

  15-11-2017 18:11 via feedproxy.google.com
  JACOB REES-MOGG refused to play ball with BBC host Jo Coburn who was fishing for him to join calls for Philip Hammond’s sacking.
  
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• London student march calls for rich to be taxed to fund free education

  15-11-2017 17:58
  Students march through central London to protest against tuition fees and rising debt.Thousands of students have marched through central London demanding free education to be funded by taxing the rich, amid criticism of the government’s education policies ahead of next week’s budget.In a pre-recorded video message encouraging students to attend the demonstration, the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, said: “The political establishment has betrayed young people.
  
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• Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore unveils bold new look for its 25th anniversary

  15-11-2017 17:46
  Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore unveils bold new look for its 25th anniversary
  
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• Cash-strapped NHS Trust tells surgeons to bring their own MUGS to drink at work

  15-11-2017 17:41 via feedproxy.google.com
  A CASH-strapped NHS Trust has told surgeons and theatre staff to bring their own MUGS and drinks to work - in a bid to cut costs.
  
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• Government scraps £250m alternative to Operation Stack

  15-11-2017 17:38
  Plans for a £250m lorry park off the M20 - pitched by the Government as an alternative to Operation Stack - have been dropped.Former Chancellor George Osborne unveiled the proposal for Stamford West, Kent, during 2015's Autumn Statement after huge disruption that summer due to industrial action by French ferry workers and migrant activity in Calais, which caused delays at the Port of Dover.It meant that Operation Stack - a police initiative which essentially creates 3,000 parking spaces fo
  
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• Rappers and bloggers join London mayor's campaign against knives

  15-11-2017 17:32
  The Mobo-nominated rapper Yungen is among a group of youth influencers enlisted by the mayor of London for an initiative to persuade young people to leave knives at home, after stabbings claimed the lives of 40 under-25s in the city this year.The artist, whose single Bestie recently peaked at number 10 in the pop charts, joins the grime MC Bossman Birdie, photographer Tom Sloan, blogger the Slumflower and poet Hussain Manawer among the social media figures who are throwing their weight behind th
  
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• FCA targets pension scammers in Welsh steelworks

  15-11-2017 17:31
  Britain's markets watchdog is sending supervisors to Wales to make sure that 15 billion pounds in steelworker pensions does not become a "honey pot" for crooks.The move -- made public at a parliamentary committee meeting on Wednesday -- is part of a broader crackdown by the Financial Conduct Authority to avert pension scams across Britain following changes in the law.Since 2015, Britain has made it possible for people to cash in their pension pots rather than waiting until retirement, resulting
  
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• Labour Brexiteer John Mann takes a SWIPE at his own party over Brexit deadline

  15-11-2017 17:30 via feedproxy.google.com
  LABOUR Brexiteer John Mann took aim at his colleagues over their lack of clarity on Brexit, after Jeremy Corbyn had to deal with a rebellion over Britain's European Union divorce.
  
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• Ralf Little's Takedown Of Jeremy Hunt Is Astounding

  15-11-2017 17:23
  Ralf Little has launched an incredible takedown of Jeremy Hunt after a “double dare” on Twitter escalated into a weeks-long war of words between the pair.
  
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• Matthew Sheehan, Man Beaten Into Two-Year-Long Coma In Row Over Barking Dog, Dies In Hospital

  15-11-2017 17:23
  A man who spent two years in a coma after being attacked on his doorstep in a row over a barking dog has died.
  
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• Greggs sparks calls for BOYCOTT after nativity scene Jesus replaced with sausage roll

  15-11-2017 17:19 via feedproxy.google.com
  GREGGS the bakers sparked fury today after replacing the infant Jesus with a sausage roll in a crib for a Nativity scene to advertise its Advent calendar.
  
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• Johnson vows no stone unturned to free aid worker jailed in Iran

  15-11-2017 17:12
  Foreign minister Boris Johnson said Britain would appeal to Iran on humanitarian grounds to free a jailed aid worker but expressed reservations that granting her diplomatic protection would help secure her release, her husband said on Wednesday.Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was sentenced to five years in prison after being convicted by an Iranian court of plotting to overthrow the clerical establishment.Johnson came under pressure to resign aft
  
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• Record numbers of EU workers in UK since Brexit

  15-11-2017 17:09
  Record levels of EU nationals are now working in the UK, official figures have revealed.An estimated 2.38 million employees from other EU member states were working in Britain from July to September this year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found.While EU employment rose, overall UK employment fell by 14,000 to just over 32 million in the three months to September, according to the ONS.
  
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