General news

• Inter-generational split over trust on the economy revealed

  21-11-2017 23:25
  A huge inter-generational divide has been revealed over whether Labour or the Conservatives would be best at running the economy.Jeremy Corbyn's party also scrapes a narrow win among 35 to 54-year-olds, who favour it 41% to the Conservatives' 39%.Among all ages, 43% of people say they want a Conservative chancellor, versus 41% for Labour.
  
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• The Likely Lads star Rodney Bewes dies aged 79

  21-11-2017 23:24
  Actor Rodney Bewes, best known for his role as Bob Ferris in The Likely Lads, has died aged 79.Bewes starred alongside James Bolam in The Likely Lads - together the pair played two working class friends who worked in the same Newcastle factory.In 1973, Bewes and Bolam reprised their roles for the show's sequel, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads, starring alongside Brigit Forsyth and Sheila Fearn.
  
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• UK government averts Brexit rebellion, giving ground on EU rights plan

  21-11-2017 23:10
  British Prime Minister Theresa May's government averted a rebellion in parliament on Tuesday over plans to ditch the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights, promising to review its approach and make changes if needed.Parliament is debating legislation which will enact Britain's exit from the EU in March 2019 and copy EU law into British law - described by officials as "one of the largest legislative projects ever undertaken in the UK".The bill is testing May's ability to govern effective
  
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• Budget seen as 'make or break' for Philip Hammond

  21-11-2017 23:00
  Philip Hammond is preparing to deliver a budget to parliament that will “make or break” his political career, according to senior allies, who warned that one mistake could mark the end his tenure at the Treasury.The chancellor is already under intense pressure from Brexit-supporting Tories as he prepares to prioritise investment in housing, teacher training and technological research and development.Setting out a vision for a global Britain propped up by a “prosperous and inclu
  
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• Government backs down over EU human rights to avoid risk of defeat

  21-11-2017 22:35
  Dominic Grieve forced a partial climbdown by the government on Tuesday.Ministers have sought to see off a potential rebellion by Conservative MPs that could have brought a first defeat over the EU withdrawal bill by partially backing down on the future status of EU human rights measures in UK law.Following another day of debate about the bill, which seeks to transpose EU statute into UK law post-Brexit, the government faced possible defeat over amendments intended to maintain the scope of the EU
  
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• Weatherwatch: the winds that brought good or ill health

  21-11-2017 22:30
  Hippocrates, writing around 400BC, claimed that the wind had different medical effects depending on the direction from which it blew.Hippocrates associated the four winds with the four seasons and the four supposed bodily humours.In his work on Airs, Waters and Localities he advised any physician in a new city to study the prevailing winds carefully.
  
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• Robert Mugabe Resigns: Activist's Tears Of Joy Underline Zimbabwe's Jubilation

  21-11-2017 21:23
  A Zimbabwe activist breaking down in tears of joy after Robert Mugabe’s resignation has embodied the celebrations across the country that have welcomed the end of his 37-year rule.
  
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• Rodney Bewes, star of The Likely Lads, dies at 79

  21-11-2017 21:03
  Rodney Bewes (right) with James Bolam in early 1970s sitcom Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?The actor Rodney Bewes, best known for his role as the northern working class hero Bob Ferris in The Likely Lads, has died aged 79.It is with great sadness that we confirm that our dear client, the much loved actor Rodney Bewes, passed away this morning.
  
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• Amazon's $1bn bet on Lord of the Rings shows scale of its TV ambition

  21-11-2017 20:59
  For a business so keen to emulate Hollywood, Amazon is putting in a matchless performance: it is embroiled in sexual harassment scandals and struggling to engage with audiences.The reverberations from the Harvey Weinstein furore took centre stage at Amazon Studios last weekend when Jeffrey Tambor, the star of Transparent, one of the unit’s few outright successes, quit as the show’s lead due to allegations of misconduct.Tambor has denied ever deliberately harassing anyone.
  
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• Britain's most notorious prisoner Charles Bronson refused parole

  21-11-2017 20:46
  Notorious prisoner Charles Bronson has been refused parole - consigning him to at least another two years behind bars.The 64-year-old, serving a life sentence for robbery and kidnap at Wakefield Prison in West Yorkshire, will have to wait until 2019 for another review of his case after the Parole Board recommended that he not be released.Bronson, who was born Michael Peterson but is now called Charles Salvador after changing his name by deed poll in tribute to artist Salvador Dali, has earned pu
  
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• Police review 10,000 cases in forensics data 'manipulation' inquiry

  21-11-2017 20:40
  Ten thousand criminal cases in England and Wales are being reviewed after it emerged that data at a forensic laboratory in Manchester may have been manipulated, causing the biggest recall of samples in British criminal justice history.A minister said the alleged data manipulation was discovered in 2017 at a lab run by Randox Testing, but the Guardian can reveal that warnings about the lab run by a predecessor company date back to 2012.Nick Hurd was forced to issue a statement acknowleding &ldquo
  
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• Donald Trump's Turkey Pardon Joke Was Erm.. Different From The Usual Presidential Style

  21-11-2017 20:21
  One of the more surreal yet presumably easier official duties of the President of the United States is the annual Thanksgiving Turkey Pardon.
  
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• 'Ethical' John Lewis should pull its Mail ads, says 'anti hate' group

  21-11-2017 20:13
  The original John Lewis Christmas advert for 2016 featuring Buster.The campaign group that encouraged Paperchase to apologise for its marketing activities with the Daily Mail is pushing for John Lewis, the department store chain, to stop advertising with the newspaper as well as with the Sun and Daily Express.John Lewis has become a prime target for Stop Funding Hate on the back of the launch of its Christmas advert and as retailers increase their spending on advertising as the festive season ap
  
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• Obituary: Rodney Bewes

  21-11-2017 20:10 via bbc.co.uk
  The actor found fame in The Likely Lads but struggled to repeat that success.
  
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• Seeking support

  21-11-2017 20:02 via bbc.co.uk
  After becoming homeless, Steve says he would probably have died on the streets if he hadn't received support to rent a home.
  
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• Jeremy Hunt accused of 'astonishing failure' as GP numbers fall

  21-11-2017 19:56
  GPs’ workloads have risen by 16% in seven years, according to the chair of the RCGP.The number of GPs in England has fallen sharply in the past year, despite a government pledge to increase the supply of family doctors by 5,000.The total number of full-time equivalent GPs working in England dropped by 1,193 in the year to September, figures from NHS Digital show.
  
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• UK confident Irish border will not stop progress of Brexit talks

  21-11-2017 19:51
  Downing Street still believes the Irish border problem can be resolved by December, despite Dublin’s threat to veto Brexit trade talks over the issue regardless of Theresa May’s £40bn divorce offer.Ireland fired a warning shot on Tuesday by suggesting May’s enhanced financial offer to the EU was not enough on its own to secure the trade talks sought by the UK without guarantees that Brexit will not lead to a hard border.
  
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• Universal Credit Failings Exposed By Hundreds Of Pages Of Evidence

  21-11-2017 19:32
  The wide-ranging impacts of a controversial benefit reform have been laid bare in hundreds of pages of evidence sent to a parliamentary inquiry, which expose how the overhaul is even hurting organisations attempting to help people affected by it.
  
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• Universal Credit Failings Exposed By 'Mountain Of Evidence' Sent To Parliamentary Inquiry

  21-11-2017 19:32
  The wide-ranging impacts of a controversial benefit reform have been laid bare in hundreds of pages of evidence sent to a parliamentary inquiry, which expose how the overhaul is even hurting organisations attempting to help people affected by it.
  
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• Gilbert & George prepare to open new exhibition at the White Cube, Bermondsey

  21-11-2017 19:30
  The pair are outspoken from the outset as they get ready to open a major exhibition of their art at London's White Cube gallery, timed to mark their 50th year of working together."The media are much more Anglophobic than the general public," George Passmore says, admitting they often feel under-appreciated by the establishment itself for being "living and still here".Gilbert Proesch tells me how, on a recent trip to Paris, and the night prior to our interview at the London gallery, he and his hu
  
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• Britain’s diminished role after the Brexit vote | Letters

  21-11-2017 19:30
  Brexit minister David Davis delivers a keynote speech at a conference hosted by the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, entitled Deal or No Deal.In recent days the UK’s standing in the world has further diminished as the impacts of Brexit become more tangible.Earlier this week the relocation of two EU agencies currently based in London was announced.
  
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• Hundreds of rough sleepers in Manchester to be offered homes

  21-11-2017 19:17
  At least 200 of Greater Manchester’s most entrenched rough sleepers will be given new homes, and the support needed to stay in them, after a £1.8m grant from an ethical investment fund.Under the scheme, financed by the social impact bond, 15 of Greater Manchester’s housing providers, as well as two private-rented sector partners, have offered 270 properties for homeless people.“Our experience of housing a rough sleeper straight in a one-bedroom flat in one of our tower bl
  
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• Grenfell campaigners fight to save further education college

  21-11-2017 19:11
  Grenfell campaigners met ministers in an attempt to save a further education college for the community as part of a drive to secure local assets as “reparations” for the tragedy.Kensington and Chelsea College, a popular but financially struggling adult education college at which many Grenfell residents studied, is poised to merge with a further education college based in another London borough next month.Campaigners fear the tie-up could eventually see the North Kensington premises o
  
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• Bath University staff plan urgent meeting over vice-chancellor's pay

  21-11-2017 19:08
  Staff at Bath University are to hold an emergency meeting to discuss “deep anger and concern” at the institution’s leadership, after a report from the higher education regulator found its reputation had been damaged by controversy over the vice-chancellor’s pay.Union leaders say that student open days at Bath have become “embarrassing” with questions about the high levels of pay received by Bath’s vice-chancellor, Glynis Breakwell, whose £468,000 i
  
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• I'm The First African To Fly Around The World Solo

  21-11-2017 18:56
  “I just don’t want to be remembered as the man who flew around the world solo, I would rather want to be remembered as the guy who overcame all odds.”
  
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• 'Raped: My Story': Channel 5 Documentary Looks Rape In The Eye

  21-11-2017 18:47
  So begins Channel 5’s new documentary, Raped: My Story.
  
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• British government set to sell securities backed by student loans

  21-11-2017 18:42
  LONDON (Reuters/IFR) - The British government has begun a much-delayed sale of asset-backed securities backed by student loans, in what it expects to be the first of a series of sales that could bring in 12 billion pounds for the finance ministry.The plan to re-package student loans via securitisation -- an instrument famously used to repackage sub-prime mortgage loans in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis -- and sell them on to investors was expected to be launched earlier this year.In the
  
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• Manchester rough sleepers to be offered homes in investor backed plan

  21-11-2017 18:37
  At least 200 of Greater Manchester’s most entrenched rough sleepers will be given new homes, and the support needed to stay in them, following a £1.8m grant from an ethical investment fund.Under the scheme, financed by the social impact bond, 15 of Greater Manchester’s housing providers, as well as two private-rented sector partners, have offered 270 properties for homeless people.The properties range from one-bedroom flats, to shared houses and supported accommodation, accordi
  
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• What to look out for in Philip Hammond’s budget speech

  21-11-2017 18:35
  The chancellor, Philip Hammond, visits an engineering training facility in Birmingham.This is Philip Hammond’s first budget statement since the general election in June and the third since he became chancellor last year.Employment was climbing and measures of consumer and business confidence, which plummeted after the referendum, had bounced back.
  
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• Philip Hammond faces trickiest budget for a generation | Larry Elliott

  21-11-2017 18:31
  Philip Hammond has signalled that the budget will be balanced.The chancellor of the exchequer stands up, conjures up the ghost of Sir Stafford Cripps, administers some pain and quickly moves on.It is simply not possible for Philip Hammond to raise taxes in the hope that given time the public will have forgotten all about it.
  
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• The UK’s Very Own Dieselgate? Time To Reverse Decisions Ministers Knew Would Harm Our Health

  21-11-2017 18:21
  You’d think the government would be doing everything it could to dig us out of the diesel mess.
  
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• Winter is coming: Increasingly cold air could mean snow for England this weekend

  21-11-2017 18:10
  Southern England could become a wintry wonderland this weekend, with snowfall possible on Friday and Saturday.Rain is the initial forecast for the region, but there may be snowfall late on Friday and into the weekend.Sky News Weather Presenter Isobel Lang explained: "Before the cold air reaches southern Britain, a spell of strong winds and rain is forecast.
  
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• 11-year-old calls out sexism in the Beano and the comic agrees and apologises

  21-11-2017 18:08
  The letter to the Beano was shared on social media where it amassed a flurry of interest.
  
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• Trump Voter Says He Would Trust President Over Jesus

  21-11-2017 17:30
  In 2014 it was scientifically determined that Jesus Christ was the most significant human being ever.
  
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• Budget 2017: Charities And Think Tanks Give Their Wishlist For Philip Hammond

  21-11-2017 17:30
  Charities, think tanks and other organisations have called for Philip Hammond to address issues ranging from Universal Credit to mental health funding in this Autumn’s budget.
  
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• Kezia Dugdale avoids suspension over I'm A Celebrity appearance

  21-11-2017 17:11
  Former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale will not be suspended for an "unauthorised leave of absence" to appear on I'm A Celebrity, the party has announced.Business manager James Kelly said: "The Scottish Parliamentary Labour group today discussed the decision of Kezia Dugdale to take an unauthorised leave of absence from her parliamentary duties."Today, the group concluded that Kezia Dugdale would not face suspension.
  
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• Britain to detail Brexit bill when EU agrees to move talks forward

  21-11-2017 17:02
  Prime Minister Theresa May will only detail how big a divorce settlement Britain is willing to pay the EU when the bloc gives a commitment to moving talks forward, a plan rubber-stamped by even her most pro-Brexit ministers.The Brexit bill has become one of several hurdles to talks to unravel more than 40 years of union, with London reticent to offer too much too soon on what officials consider to be one of its strongest bargaining chips.At a meeting on Monday, May's Brexit committee - made up o
  
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• Graduate in £1m claim was badly let down by Oxford, court told

  21-11-2017 16:57
  An Oxford graduate is suing the university for £1m on the grounds that his failure to get a top degree 17 years ago cost him the chance of a lucrative legal career.Faiz Siddiqui alleges the “inadequate” teaching he received on the Indian special subject part of his modern history course resulted in him getting only a low upper second degree when he took his finals in June 2000 instead of a first or high 2:1.Siddiqui, 39, has blamed the situation on a number of members of staff
  
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• Robert Mugabe Resigns As President Of Zimbabwe, Parliament Speaker Announces

  21-11-2017 16:52
  Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has resigned, the parliament speaker has announced.
  
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• Robert Mugabe Resigns As President Of Zimbabwe Bringing Tears And Celebrations In The Streets

  21-11-2017 16:52
  Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has resigned, the parliament speaker has announced.
  
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• Robert Mugabe Resigns As President Of Zimbabwe, As People Weep With Joy

  21-11-2017 16:52
  Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe has resigned, the parliament speaker has announced.
  
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• Charlie Rose's CBS colleagues react to allegations: 'He does not get a pass here'

  21-11-2017 16:47
  Co-hosts of CBS This Morning Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell react to the allegations against Charlie Rose.Charlie Rose’s CBS colleagues reacted with shock and horror on Tuesday morning to allegations of serial sexual harassment against the veteran TV news show anchor, who was suspended on Monday – and made it clear they believe the women.Co-hosts of CBS This Morning Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell presented the show without their usual third team member, Rose, on Tuesday a
  
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• Charlie Rose fired by CBS following allegations of serial sexual harassment

  21-11-2017 16:47
  Co-hosts of CBS This Morning Gayle King and Norah O’Donnell react to the allegations against Charlie Rose.Charlie Rose was fired by CBS News on Tuesday, as his colleagues reacted with shock and horror to allegations of serial sexual harassment made against the veteran TV news show anchor – and made it clear they believe the women.Rose said in a statement on Monday: “I am greatly embarrassed.
  
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• Scotland's minimum pricing for alcohol to take effect in May 2018

  21-11-2017 16:42
  There were 1,265 alcohol-related deaths in Scotland last year.Scotland’s minimum pricing policy for alcohol, to be fixed at 50p a unit, will come into force on 1 May 2018, the Scottish health secretary has announced.In a statement at Holyrood, Shona Robison said ministers were keen to introduce minimum unit pricing (MUP) as soon as possible and would be unveiling a consultation paper on its implementation next week.
  
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• Deals are for wimps: Brexiters ramp up the fighting talk

  21-11-2017 16:40
  Less than a day after Britain lost its role as head of two of the EU’s most important – and lucrative – regulatory agencies, along with its sole judge on the international court of justice, a handful of hardline Tory Brexiters and Ukip MEPs gathered in Westminster to reassure themselves that Britannia still ruled the waves.
  
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• Ethiopia bets on clothes to fashion industrial future

  21-11-2017 16:39
  As labour, raw material and tax costs rise in China - the world's dominant textiles producer - the Horn of Africa country is scrambling to offer a cheaper alternative, and go up against established low-cost garment makers like Bangladesh and Vietnam.It is still early days, and most of the clothing companies to source production in Ethiopia are testing the waters with small volumes.The landlocked nation is also about to open the final stretch of a 700 km (450-mile) electric railway to Djibouti's
  
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• Kezia Dugdale avoids Scottish Labour suspension over I'm a Celebrity trip

  21-11-2017 16:35
  The former Scottish Labour leader Kezia Dugdale has avoided being suspended by the party after she joined the cast of I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here without its approval.The Scottish Labour parliamentary group at Holyrood met to discuss her absence hours after Dugdale arrived in Australia to join 11 other contestants in the reality TV show.“In accordance with standard procedure, Kezia Dugdale will be interviewed on her return to parliament and have the opportunity to pre
  
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• Time For The Chancellor To Make This The Housing Budget

  21-11-2017 16:34
  It has undeniably been a challenging and eventful year, and the political world and our society have seen quite a few upheavals.
  
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• David Davis calls for ‘smooth’ exit from EU – then trips as he exits stage

  21-11-2017 16:34
  This will be on every political comedy show this week.
  
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• Australia's Nathan Lyon accuses England Ashes star Matt Prior of cowardice

  21-11-2017 16:34
  The traditional war of words ahead of the Ashes has begun after former England wicketkeeper Matt Prior defended himself against accusations of cowardice from Australia's Nathan Lyon.The spinner tried to stoke the fires ahead of this week's first Ashes Test in Brisbane, claiming that during Australia's 5-0 whitewash of England in 2013/14, Prior was so "scared" he wanted to fly home early.Prior issued an immediate rebuttal to the comments on Monday, saying they were "blatantly untrue" and followed
  
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