General news

• José Mourinho questions Manchester City’s education and blames them for brawl

  12-12-2017 23:39 via theguardian.com
  • City coach says his team’s celebrations were ‘definitely not’ excessive
  • United manager questions the ‘education’ at his rival’s clubJosé Mourinho has questioned whether Manchester City’s players have the same “education” as their Manchester United counterparts and insisted the Premier League leaders were to blame for the brawl at Old Trafford that has left the clubs facing the possibility of disciplinary action.Mourinho a
  
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• Grenfell survivors demand justice at parliament gathering

  12-12-2017 23:20
  Sandra Ruiz, whose niece died in the Grenfell Tower fire, makes a statement as survivors deliver a petition to 10 Downing Street on Tuesday.Grenfell Tower survivors have demanded justice for their loved ones in a highly charged meeting at parliament in which one bereaved resident told the communities secretary, Sajid Javid, that his mother and sister were “murdered and cremated”.A packed committee room at the House of Commons heard emotional testimony from four bereaved residents inc
  
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• Damian Green may be cleared 'because he wasn't minister at time'

  12-12-2017 22:43 via theguardian.com
  Friends of Tory activist Kate Maltby, who has accused Green of inappropriate behaviour, fear PM’s deputy will be deemed not to have breached code
  Friends of Tory campaigner Kate Maltby fear Damian Green may escape official sanction for alleged inappropriate behaviour towards her because it took place before he was a cabinet minister. The Guardian understands Maltby’s supporters are concerned at the possibility Theresa May’s deputy may be allowed to stay in post because he will
  
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• Damian Green may be cleared 'because he wasn't minister at time'

  12-12-2017 22:43
  Friends of Tory campaigner Kate Maltby fear Damian Green may escape official sanction for alleged inappropriate behaviour towards her because it took place before he was a cabinet minister.The Guardian understands Maltby’s supporters are concerned at the possibility Theresa May’s deputy may be allowed to stay in post because he will be deemed by a Cabinet Office investigation not to have breached the ministerial code, given the events in question took place after July 2014, when he w
  
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• Critics Call The Last Jedi the Best Star Wars Movie Since The Empire Strikes Back - Vulture

  12-12-2017 22:38
  Vulture
  Critics Call The Last Jedi the Best Star Wars Movie Since The Empire Strikes Back
  Vulture
  Reviews for Star Wars: The Last Jedi hit the internet this afternoon, and many critics have showered the film with praise. Justin Chang of the L.A. Times writes that it is “the first flat-out terrific 'Star Wars' movie since 1980's 'The Empire Strikes ...
  Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Here's What The Early Reviews Are SayingNDTV
  'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' Embraces the Magic and Mystery. Read Our
  
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• Steve Bell on Donald Trump and harassment claims – cartoon

  12-12-2017 21:53 via theguardian.com
  Continue reading...
  
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• Triple death Salford house fire was 'targeted' attack, police say

  12-12-2017 21:27
  Police investigating a house fire that killed three children in Salford believe the attack was targeted.Greater Manchester Police made the announcement after viewing CCTV footage taken from the area near the blaze, which also left a three-year-old girl and her mother fighting for their lives.Due to the previous interaction with the family, the force has referred itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).
  
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• Salford fire: sixth person arrested over arson attack

  12-12-2017 21:27 via theguardian.com
  24-year-old man held on suspicion of assisting an offender in the murder of Demi Pearson, her brother Brandon and sister LacieA sixth person has been arrested in connection with an arson attack that killed three children and left a fourth fighting for her life in Greater Manchester. Five people were taken into custody on Monday in connection with the murder of Demi Pearson, 14, her eight-year-old brother Brandon and seven-year-old sister Lacie following the blaze in Walkden in the early hours of
  
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• Egyptian pop singer sent to prison for video that 'incited debauchery'

  12-12-2017 21:20 via theguardian.com
  Shyma, 21, sentenced to two years over video in which she appeared in her underwear and suggestively ate a bananaAn Egyptian pop singer has been sentenced to two years in prison for “inciting debauchery” in a racy music video clip.Shyma, a little-known 21-year-old singer, was also fined 10,000 pounds (£420) by a Cairo court. Continue reading...
  
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• The Guardian view on the Brexit vote: mutiny wanted | Editorial

  12-12-2017 20:55 via theguardian.com
  Parliament has the chance on Wednesday to make certain that MPs can hold ministers to account over Brexit terms. They must seize the opportunityMPs’ debates on the EU withdrawal bill have mainly been serious and often of high quality. Tuesday’s attempts to blunt the bill’s sweeping “Henry VIII” powers were a notable example. Yet so far the debates have made few substantive changes to the bill itself. On Wednesday that will have to change. MPs are scheduled to debate
  
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• The Guardian view on Putin in Syria: victory and desolation | Editorial

  12-12-2017 20:50 via theguardian.com
  The Russian president has been on a victory lap to Syria and the Middle East, intent on showing that he has outplayed the US in the regionVladimir Putin went on a victory lap of Syria and the Middle East this week, intent on showcasing his ability to secure the upper hand against the US in the region. On a surprise visit to a Russian airbase on the Syrian coast, he demonstratively embraced the Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, whose hold on power Russia’s military intervention has all but
  
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• Birmingham's Homeless Trying To Survive In -13C And Several Inches Of Snow

  12-12-2017 20:50
  Monday night was the coldest night of the year, with temperatures plummeting to -13C in the West Midlands.
  
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• Democracy undermined on all sides as Brexit starts to take shape | Letters

  12-12-2017 20:44 via theguardian.com
  Alexandra Runswick of Unlock Democracy on the abuse of statutory instruments; Paul Lally on the politically incoherent EU; Fawzi Ibrahim on the end of the phoney phase of negotiations; Roderick MacFarquhar on the absent text of the Brexit agreement; Bob Nicholson on the missing impact assessments; Louis Blom-Cooper on a second referendumAs you report (May accepts demands for greater scrutiny of Brexit laws, 12 December), the prime minister has agreed to set up a new “sifting” committ
  
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• Why no Beano about Corbyn’s peace award? | Letters

  12-12-2017 20:40
  Jeremy Corbyn speaking on international cooperation, and human rights at the UN in Geneva. He was also awarded the Sean MacBride International Peace Prize in the city. Photograph: Magali Girardin/AP
  
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• In Jerusalem we have the latest chapter in a century of colonialism | Karma Nabulsi

  12-12-2017 20:38 via theguardian.com
  Donald Trump’s intervention is not a mere aberration. It’s part of the continuing story of injustice in PalestineOne hundred years ago, on 11 December 1917, the British army occupied Jerusalem. As General Allenby’s troops marched through Bab al-Khalil, launching a century of settler colonialism across Palestine, prime minister David Lloyd George heralded the city’s capture as “a Christmas present for the British people”.In a few months’ time, we mark ano
  
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• Ruth Davidson says she would consider standing to be an MP in future

  12-12-2017 20:35
  Ruth Davidson has overseen a revival in Scottish Conservative fortunes over the past year. Photograph: Ken Jack/Corbis/Getty Images
  
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• Ombudsman called in after death of 12th immigration detainee

  12-12-2017 20:34 via theguardian.com
  Michael Netyks from Poland, the 12th detainee to die this year, had been serving a six-month sentence at a private jail in Liverpool run by G4S.An investigation has been launched after the death of a 12th immigration detainee this year.Michael Netyks, a 35-year-old Pole, was serving a six-month sentence at Altcourse prison, a private jail in Liverpool run by G4S. He had been assessed to be vulnerable and is thought to have taken his own life. Continue reading...
  
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• Westfield sale looks like a knee-jerk reaction to the Amazon age | Nils Pratley

  12-12-2017 20:32 via theguardian.com
  The rush to consolidate by owners of large shopping centres suggests they are seeking protection from the rise of online rivalsThe crisis of confidence among owners of large shopping centres is contagious. Last week it was Hammerson, the Birmingham Bullring folk, bidding for Intu, owner of Gateshead’s Metrocentre. Now, on grander scale, French giant Unibail-Rodamco is paying $25bn (£18.5bn) to own Westfield, the Australian outfit that has erected its multistorey car parks, with malls
  
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• Brexit debate: how many MPs does it take to fill eight hours of dead air? | John Crace

  12-12-2017 20:31
  Oliver Letwin has the reputation for being one of the brightest people in parliament but frequently goes out of his way to appear one of the dimmest. Photograph: Matt Dunham/AP
  
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• 9 Star Wars: The Last Jedi Reviews Round Up From 'Disappointment' To 'Stupendous'

  12-12-2017 20:31
  Us mere mortals have to wait a few more days for the latest Star Wars instalment but a lucky few people are catching a glimpse of its stars at the premiere in London this evening.
  
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• What David Attenborough should have said at the end of Blue Planet | Patrick Barkham

  12-12-2017 20:17 via theguardian.com
  Like the sea itself, the BBC’s showpiece nature programme was calm, hypnotic and awe-inspiring. But it lacked the grave message our situation demandsWe find the sea a great source of solace and peace. The author Ronald Blythe has written of the sea’s “most wonderful monotony”, which “can drug the watcher into forgetting past, present and future”.Watching Blue Planet II has been almost as hypnotic, with its sublime rendering of our turquoise oceans, a watery wo
  
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• Ryanair pilots based in Ireland to stage one-day strike next week

  12-12-2017 20:04 via theguardian.com
  Up to 117 pilots expected to take action, with airline’s flights to and from Dublin, Shannon and Cork likely to be affectedPilots working for Ryanair in Ireland have called a one-day strike next week, potentially disrupting flights for Europe’s biggest airline on its home territory.
  Flights to and from Dublin, Shannon and Cork are likely to be affected by the walkout on Wednesday.Continue reading...
  
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• Arctic permafrost thawing faster than ever, US climate study finds

  12-12-2017 20:04 via theguardian.com
  Sea ice also melting at fastest past in 1,500 years, US government scientists find‘The Arctic is a very different place than it was even a decade ago’ – author
  Permafrost in the Arctic is thawing faster than ever, according to a new US government report that also found Arctic seawater is warming and sea ice is melting at the fastest pace in 1,500 years.The annual report released on Tuesday by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed slightly less warming in ma
  
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• Grenfell survivors deliver petition to PM

  12-12-2017 19:55
  Grenfell survivors deliver petition to PM
  
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• Russian court freezes $1.7 billion of Sistema assets under Rosneft claim - report

  12-12-2017 19:53
  A Russian court on Tuesday froze around $1.7 billion ofconglomerate Sistema'sassets at the request of oil major Rosneft , the TASS news agency reported.State-controlled Rosneft had said earlier it was seeking to freeze some of Sistema's assets as part of a second lawsuit over Rosneft's Bashneftunit.The arbitration court of Bashkortostan froze Sistema's 52.09 percent stake in toy retailer Detsky Mir , with a book value of 33.8 billion roubles (£428.7 million), TASS reported, citing a court
  
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• UK seeks new anti-fraud head after crime agencies overhaul

  12-12-2017 19:50
  The British government on Tuesday began a long-delayed hunt for a new head of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) after announcing plans to create a new national economic crime centre with the power to instruct the anti-fraud agency to investigate cases.The government, which said on Monday that the new department would form part of the National Crime Agency (NCA), has given itself four months to find a replacement for SFO director David Green, who steps down in April."It is a matter of considerable c
  
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• Tragedy, outrage and optimism: Gary Younge on editing the Bedside Guardian

  12-12-2017 19:47 via theguardian.com
  It’s tough selecting the best articles for the Guardian’s annual anthology, especially in the year Trump took power – but there were many reasons to be cheerfulThey call it the Bedside Guardian for a reason. Every year we produce a collection, drawing together our best writing and the big stories of the past 12 months, just in time for Christmas. Its ideal perch is not on your bookshelf, but your nightstand table. Not because it will send you to sleep. But so you can&
  
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• Sixth person held as police investigate house fire that killed three children - BT.com

  12-12-2017 19:46
  BT.com
  Sixth person held as police investigate house fire that killed three children
  BT.com
  A sixth person has been arrested in connection with an arson attack that killed three children in Greater Manchester. Five people were taken into custody overnight in connection with the murder of Demi Pearson, 14, her eight-year-old brother Brandon ...and more »
  
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• Blaze like Grenfell Tower could happen again, London fire chief Dany Cotton says

  12-12-2017 19:44
  London Fire Brigade Commissioner Dany Cotton has said she can't be sure a disaster like the Grenfell Tower blaze "wouldn't happen again".The fire chief told Sky News the building "should never have behaved like that in a fire situation", adding: "I would never be able to say it won't happen again, I just hope and pray it never does".Six months after the fire that killed 71 people, including an unborn baby, a public inquiry has now begun with a preliminary hearing providing information about the
  
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• Polish regulator fines US-owned broadcaster over protests coverage

  12-12-2017 19:39 via theguardian.com
  TVN SA judged to have ‘propagated illegal behaviour’ with report on demonstrations last year, raising fears for press freedomPoland’s media regulator has fined a private broadcaster almost 1.5m złoty (£310,000) for news coverage of anti-government protests outside parliament, on the basis that it “propagated illegal activities and encouraged behaviour threatening security”.US-owned TVN SA said it would appeal against the decision and defended the way in w
  
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• The Golden Globes have ignored female directors. In the year of #MeToo, this won’t wash

  12-12-2017 19:28 via theguardian.com
  Films including Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird and Dee Rees’ Mudbound have been hotly-tipped – but not a single woman was nominated in the best director categoryThe nominations for the Golden Globes were announced on Monday, and for the umpteenth time, not a single woman picked up a nod for best director. Instead, the voters of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association came up with what feels like a list of the usual white male suspects: Steven Spielberg, Ridley Scott, Guillermo del To
  
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• David Davis scrambles to salvage EU relations after 'damaging trust'

  12-12-2017 19:15 via theguardian.com
  Brexit secretary moves to persuade Guy Verhofstadt that UK can be trusted after claiming deal to progress talks was just ‘statement of intent’ David Davis has scrambled to salvage relations with Brussels after he was accused of damaging trust in the Brexit talks by making inflammatory comments.EU leaders have warned the British government against backtracking on promises made in Brussels after Davis suggested a Brexit breakthrough reached last week had no legal status. Continue readi
  
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• David Davis scrambles to salvage EU relations after 'damaging trust'

  12-12-2017 19:15
  David Davis on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show where he made comments about the UK’s agreement with the EU.David Davis has scrambled to salvage relations with Brussels after he was accused of damaging trust in the Brexit talks by making inflammatory comments.EU leaders have warned the British government against backtracking on promises made in Brussels after Davis suggested a Brexit breakthrough reached last week had no legal status.
  
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• Worcestershire man makes igloo with washing up bowl and snow

  12-12-2017 19:12
  A man who built an igloo in his girlfriend's back garden in Worcestershire says he would like to take tips from "real eskimos" to improve his skills.Ben Crutch realised when he woke up on Sunday morning that the time had come to tick an item off his "bucket list".While he had wanted to build an igloo before, "there had never been enough snow".
  
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• EU readies 'David Davis-proof' Brexit summit

  12-12-2017 19:11
  The European Union plays down talk by Britain's Brexit minister that last week's interim accord is not binding and will launch new talks on Friday that are "David Davis-proof", a senior EU official said.The comment on Tuesday followed Brexit Secretary Davis's weekend remark that outline divorce terms were more a "statement of intent" than legally binding.The EU official told reporters that EU leaders meeting on Friday will ram home in guidelines to their negotiator that Britain must honour its a
  
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• Grenfell Tower Inquiry: Here's Where We Are Now After Two Days Of Procedural Hearings

  12-12-2017 19:02
  The first hearings of the long-awaited inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire have wrapped up after two days of trying to address questions of how survivors and relatives of those who died will be heard.
  
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• Facebook to stop routing ad revenue via Ireland amid pressure over taxes

  12-12-2017 19:00 via theguardian.com
  Company says it will book advertising revenue in countries where it is earned instead of through Dublin headquartersFacebook has said it will start booking advertising revenue in countries where it is earned instead of re-routing it via Ireland, although the move is unlikely to result in it paying much more tax.Corporate taxation has become a controversial topic in the wake of revelations of tax avoidance schemes by multinationals which have led to calls for companies to pay more tax, while the
  
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• Meet Dracula, the bloodsucking tick which feasted on dinosaurs 99m years ago

  12-12-2017 18:48 via theguardian.com
  An Anglo-Spanish team of fossil hunters has found several perfectly preserved ticks amongst the remains of a feathered dinosaur nestAs if the dinosaurs didn’t have enough to look out for with volcanic eruptions, fearsome predators stalking the land and a huge, unstoppable asteroid hurtling across space to ruin their day.Now scientists have found that the prehistoric beasts also had blood-sucking ticks to contend with, having spotted carcasses of the parasites lodged in 99million-year-old l
  
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• Glencore sees battery minerals powering profit in 2017 and beyond

  12-12-2017 18:39
  Miner and trader Glencoresaid on Tuesday its battery minerals, especially cobalt, should spur profit in 2017 and beyond in an update for investors that also promised to grow the business, especially through partnerships.It said its marketing, or trading, division's 2017 EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) would be at the top end of its previous guidance at $2.8 billion, steady from 2016 but effectively an increase given that Glencore sold half of its agriculture business last year.The compan
  
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• Tyson Fury free to resume boxing career after accepting backdated ban

  12-12-2017 18:36
  Tyson Fury is free to resume his career, subject to regaining his boxing licence, after accepting a backdated two-year ban from UK Anti-Doping.The ban ends on 12 December and so Fury, and his cousin Hughie Fury, are able to fight again if they receive a renewed licence.Fury was charged with testing positive for a prohibited substance in June 2016 but claimed that was a result of eating a wild boar.
  
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• New York bombing suspect reportedly posted Trump 'failed to protect' US

  12-12-2017 18:30 via theguardian.com
  Akayed Ullah, who has been charged on five terrorism-related counts, apparently posted about Trump on Facebook the morning of the explosion The man who allegedly detonated an explosive device in New York’s Port Authority Bus Terminal Monday may have taunted Donald Trump in a Facebook post just before the attack.“Trump you failed to protect your nation,” attacker Akayed Ullah apparently posted the morning of the explosion, according to the US attorney’s office for Southern
  
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• Factbox - What are the economic policies of Labour Party?

  12-12-2017 18:24
  Britain's opposition Labour Party, led by socialist Jeremy Corbyn, is more popular than Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives according to some opinion polls, and says it is ready to run the country if May's minority government falls.Since 2015, the party has shifted its policy back toward Labour's trade union roots.The popular appeal of Corbyn's left-wing agenda proved stronger than estimated in June's national election, helping Labour gain seats at the expense of May's parliamentary major
  
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• Tories restore whip to MP suspended for using racist language

  12-12-2017 18:18
  Theresa May has restored the Conservative whip to Anne Marie Morris after the MP apologised again for using the N-word at an event earlier this year.Speaking of her return as a Conservative MP, Morris said: “I would like to take this opportunity to apologise again for using such inappropriate and offensive language.
  
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• This police force has its very own Elf On The Shelf and it’s all very cute

  12-12-2017 18:09
  Peppermint is delivering public safety messages – with a hint of mischief.
  
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• Star Wars: The Last Jedi review – an explosive thrill-ride of galactic proportions

  12-12-2017 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Director Rian Johnson delivers a tidal wave of energy and emotion in the eighth episode of the saga, as Luke, Leia, Finn and Rey step up to meet their destinyAn old hope. A new realism. An old anxiety. A new feeling that the Force might be used to channel erotic telepathy, and long-distance evil seduction. The excitingly and gigantically proportioned eighth film in the great Star Wars saga offers all of these, as well as colossal confrontations, towering indecisions and teetering temptations, sp
  
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• Explained: Where Does Labour Stand On Brexit Now?

  12-12-2017 17:53
  Labour’s position on Brexit since the referendum has arguably been ambiguous at best - but there are signs this week that Jeremy Corbyn is shifting the party towards a softer deal.
  
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• Strictly-inspired alternatives to ‘dad-dancing’ – from Harriott Hopping to Nancy Prancing

  12-12-2017 17:52 via theguardian.com
  Former contestant Jeremy Vine has complained the derogatory term could put off blokes desperate to boogie. Here are some alternatives based on the TV dance competition’s alumniIs it time to give dancefloor dads a break? Jeremy Vine has said that the term “dad dancing” should be made illegal, as it could put off any blokes desperate for a boogie. But how would we describe that aimless-yet-adorable shuffling otherwise? Maybe some of Vine’s fellow rhythmically challenged (bu
  
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• Monster 'fatberg' on display

  12-12-2017 17:23 via bbc.co.uk
  A slice of a monster fatberg, clogging up London's sewers, is going on display in a museum.
  
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• No fuel and gas supply impacts seen after UK pipeline shutdown - Scottish minister

  12-12-2017 17:20
  EDINBURGH (Reuters) - There are no plans to shut down Grangemouth refinery nor any impact anticipated on fuel and gas supplies after the shutdown of Britain's biggest oil pipeline from the North Sea, the Forties pipeline, Scotland's energy minister said on Tuesday.
  
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• Broken pipeline cuts British supply during peak energy demand

  12-12-2017 17:20
  Britain's biggest pipeline from its North Sea oil and gas fields is likely to be shut for several weeks for repairs, its operatorsaid on Tuesday, disrupting gas flows and sending international crude prices to their highest since mid-2015.It has particular significance to global markets because Forties is the largest out of the five crude oil streams that underpin the dated Brent benchmark, against which other crude prices are broadly based.Benchmark Brent crude prices rose above $65 per barrel f
  
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