General news

• Liverpool arena fire: 'Lots of bangs and explosions'

  31-12-2017 23:11 via bbc.co.uk
  An eyewitness describes what he saw as a fire broke out in a car park next to the Liverpool Echo Arena.
  
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• Liverpool car park blaze forces horse show to be cancelled

  31-12-2017 22:02
  Horses and their handlers had to be evacuated from a multi-storey car park next to Liverpool's Echo Arena because of a large fire.Some horses had been on the first floor of the car park at King's Dock.Mersey Fire and Rescue Service said the car park and some apartments nearby were cleared of people while crews brought the fire under control.
  
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• Liverpool Arena Fire: All Vehicles Destroyed As Blaze Tears Through Multi-Storey Car Park

  31-12-2017 21:45
  A horse show has been cancelled as firefighters tackle a blaze at a multi-storey car park at the Echo Arena on Liverpool’s waterfront.
  
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• Horses Evacuated As Fire Tears Through Car Park Next To Liverpool Arena

  31-12-2017 21:45
  A horse show has been cancelled as firefighters tackle a blaze at a multi-storey car park at the Echo Arena on Liverpool’s waterfront.
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn Says Labour Is Staking Out 'The New Centre Ground' In British Politics

  31-12-2017 21:15
  Jeremy Corbyn has declared Labour is “staking out the new centre ground” in British politics and he is leading a “government in waiting”.
  
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• Prince Philip ‘Asked If Bearded Man Was Terrorist While Joking With Crowds’

  31-12-2017 20:24
  The Duke of Edinburgh pointed out a bearded man and asked “is that a terrorist?”
  
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• WhatsApp down: Reports of message service outages as users ring in the New Year

  31-12-2017 19:58
  Thousands of people reported that Whatsapp went down for almost two hours on Sunday, as people across the world exchanged messages welcoming the New Year.There was a large spike in the number of reports that the messaging service was suffering outages shortly after 6pm.At its peak, downdetector.co.uk received 2,012 reports that Whatsapp was not working, but this had dropped to 355 by 7pm.
  
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• WhatsApp down: Messaging service apologises after New Year outage

  31-12-2017 19:58
  Thousands of people reported that Whatsapp went down for almost two hours on Sunday, as people across the world exchanged messages welcoming the New Year.There was a large spike in the number of reports that the messaging service was suffering outages shortly after 6pm.Whatsapp later apologised.
  
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• Honour and dishonour for Nick Clegg and co | Letters

  31-12-2017 19:55
  The award of a knighthood to “the Tory kingmaker Graham Brady” – who, as chair of the 1922 Committee, “has Theresa May’s political future in his hands” – might appear a little dubious (Politicians to the fore despite May’s promise to stamp out cronyism, 30 December).Suspicions might further be aroused on learning that newly knighted Geoffrey Clifton-Brown was not merely a “junior whip under William Hague” but is the 1922 Committee&rsquo
  
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• Prince Philip 'asks if bearded man is a terrorist'

  31-12-2017 19:52
  The Duke of Edinburgh pointed out a bearded man and asked if he was a terrorist, it has been claimed.Onlookers are said to have heard the remark while the Duke was walking to Sandringham's St Mary Magdalene Church on New Year's Eve.The 96-year-old reportedly made the comment when he spotted a tall man with a long ginger beard.
  
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• Fine words alone will not keep Britain in the EU | Letters

  31-12-2017 19:51
  Andrew Adonis has resigned as chair of the national infrastructure commission in protest at Theresa May’s handling of Brexit.Natalie Nougayrède (Opinion, 30 December) suggests that France’s President Macron could stop Brexit.Three countries – the UK, Ireland and Sweden – waived their right to restrict free movement.
  
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• Most Of The People On The Queen's New Year Honours List Are Celebrating, But My British Empire Medal Is Bitter Sweet

  31-12-2017 19:23
  Most of the people who got honoured in the Queens New Year honours list are celebrating.
  
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• 'Is that a terrorist?' Prince Philip's 'joke' about bearded bystander

  31-12-2017 19:23
  The Queen’s husband, 96, was attending St Magdalene church, close to the royal family home in north Norfolk, on New Year’s Eve along with his daughter Anne, the Princess Royal, when he allegedly made the remark.Philip spotted a tall man with a long ginger beard and made the comment to his minders, according to an unnamed witness quoted by the Daily Mail and Sun, who said the man in question found the apparent joke hilarious.“Philip was wishing lots of people a happy new year an
  
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• Four Britons feared dead in seaplane crash in Australia's Hawkesbury River

  31-12-2017 19:03
  Four British people are among six killed after a seaplane ditched into a river near Sydney, according to Australian media.The plane crashed into the Hawkesbury River off Jerusalem Bay near the city's northern suburb of Cowan and reports say it sank immediately.Witness Myles Baptiste told Australia's Channel Nine news that he saw the plane flying towards him about 500 metres away when it hit the water.
  
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• Theresa May considers move for Boris Johnson in cabinet reshuffle

  31-12-2017 18:46
  Theresa May attends a church service in Sonning, Berkshire, on 31 December.Theresa May is preparing a new year reshuffle that could see a number of cabinet figures losing their positions in an attempt to refresh the Conservative front bench.The prime minister is said to be considering offering the foreign secretary, Boris Johnson a move to a Brexit delivery role based in another department, but he is likely to resist such a move.
  
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• Death At The Calais Border - Needless, Relentless And Entirely Preventable

  31-12-2017 18:28
  We were consistently warned that refugees dying of the cold in Northern France was a “distinct possibility”.
  
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• Tom Watson calls on Chris Grayling to quit over 'grubby' East Coast rail deal

  31-12-2017 18:22
  Labour’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, has called on Chris Grayling to resign as transport secretary over what he described as a “grubby backroom deal to bail out the East Coast line”.Watson added his voice to that of the Labour peer Andrew Adonis, who resigned as head of the government’s National Infrastructure Commission with a broadside against the minister.In addition to speaking about his vehement disagreements with the government over Brexit, Lord Adonis said Grayling&
  
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• Lord Adonis Calls On Transport Secretary Chris Grayling To Quit Over East Coast Rail Franchise 'Bailout'

  31-12-2017 18:17
  Lord Adonis has called for Transport Secretary Chris Grayling to quit over his handling of the East Coast rail franchise as the fallout from the peer’s resignation as infrastructure tsar continued.
  
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• Hunt plans helpline for children of alcoholics after Labour MP's story

  31-12-2017 18:17
  The children of alcoholic parents are twice as likely to have problems at school and five times more likely to develop an eating disorder.Jeremy Hunt is drawing up a strategy including a new national helpline to support 200,000 children being raised by alcoholic parents, after being moved by the personal story of his Labour counterpart.The health secretary praised was he said was the extraordinary bravery of Jonathan Ashworth, who spoke out about an upbringing in which his father would fall over
  
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• 2017: A Year In Crisis

  31-12-2017 18:09
  In 2017 the world faced a series of demanding humanitarian emergencies, not least here in the UK.
  
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• Bristol Murder Probe: Man Stabbed Multiple Times In Bristol Nightclub

  31-12-2017 17:45
  Police are appealing for witnesses and mobile phone footage of a disturbance in a Bristol nightclub after a 37-year-old man died having been stabbed multiple times.
  
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• Youth workers warn of rise in drugs purchases through social media

  31-12-2017 17:17
  Growing numbers of teenagers are buying illegal drugs on social media sites such as Instagram and Snapchat, experts have said.It is disturbing,” said Nick Hickmott, the early intervention lead for Young Addaction, the youth arm of the largest drug and alcohol charity.Social media sellers use hashtags and emojis to indicate what they stock, and share images of the substances.
  
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• 7 Important Stories Of 2017 That Slipped Under The Radar

  31-12-2017 17:00
  We may live in an ever-more connected world, but some news still seems to pass us by.
  
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• How the passengers on one plane travelled back in time to celebrate the new year twice

  31-12-2017 16:51
  Double helpings of Auld Lang Syne for these guys.
  
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• Firefighters praised for response to Manchester blaze

  31-12-2017 16:15
  Firefighters in Manchester have been praised after they brought a huge blaze in an apartment block under control.Hundreds of post-Christmas shoppers looked on in horror on Saturday afternoon as the blaze took hold of the upper floors of a 12-storey building in the city’s Northern Quarter.Three people were treated for smoke inhalation, two on site and one in hospital, and five people had to be rehoused in a neighbouring hotel.
  
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• Japan's Nippon Life eyeing M&A for foreign boutique bond and alternative funds

  31-12-2017 16:03
  Japan's Nippon Life Insurance Co [NPNLI.UL], which recently struck a deal to buy about a quarter of U.S. investment firm TCW Group, is scouting for opportunities to buy boutique managers of bonds and alternative assets, its president said."Asset management is a business that can generate synergy with life insurance and it needs to be operated globally.The bulking up of asset management overseas by Japan's largest private-sector life insurer comes as the nation's insurers are increasingly shiftin
  
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• Banking crisis lawyer Randell leads race to chair City watchdog

  31-12-2017 15:48
  A lawyer who advised ministers during the meltdown in Britain's banking ‎system in 2008 is a leading candidate to become the next chairman of the City regulator.Sky News has learnt that Charles‎ Randell, a former partner at the 'Magic Circle' law firm Slaughter & May, is in talks about succeeding John Griffith-Jones at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).Sources said that Philip Hammond, ‎the Chancellor, is expected to agree the appointment of the new FCA chairman within days,
  
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• Children witness 'brutal' paramilitary-style shooting in Northern Ireland

  31-12-2017 15:46
  Four children saw a man being shot three times in a "brutal" paramilitary-style attack in Belfast, police said.A detective said: "This was a brutal attack in a busy residential area and yet another example of how criminal groups seek to control communities through fear and violence.
  
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• Storm Dylan hits the UK and Ireland with hurricane force winds

  31-12-2017 15:31
  New Year's celebrations across the UK and Ireland are set to be wet and windy, as Storm Dylan continues to lash the UK.With gusts of over 70mph registered in some parts of Ireland and Wales, forecasters are predicting gales of up to 80mph still to come in Scotland.Any wind measuring above 73mph on the Beaufort Scale is registered as hurricane force, with the potential to leave violence and destruction in its wake.
  
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• New Year's Eve celebrations to go ahead despite Storm Dylan

  31-12-2017 15:25
  Edinburgh is expected to celebrate the new year with fireworks launched in the countdown to midnight.New year celebrations are being prepared as planned across the UK, despite Storm Dylan bearing down on the country bringing 80mph winds and the Met Office issuing four weather warnings.Organisers said Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebrations would go ahead, even though high winds were expected to batter the city on Sunday.
  
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• The World Is Welcoming 2018 In Style

  31-12-2017 14:27
  Sydney has greeted 2018 in spectacular style with an epic fireworks display at the iconic Harbour Bridge.
  
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• For Years, Grenfell Was Hiding In Plain Sight But Now The World Is Watching And We Are Listening

  31-12-2017 14:10
  On June 13, 2017, families in Grenfell Tower went to bed just like every other night.
  
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• Why is Germany obsessed with this obscure British film?

  31-12-2017 13:47
  The 18-minute British sketch has dominated German television every New Year's Eve since 1968, has spawned catchphrases and drinking games, and is almost unheard of in the UK.Miss Sophie has invited her four closest friends for a celebratory dinner, the only problem being that these friends are all long deceased.Before each course, James asks "same procedure as last year?" - to which Miss Sophie replies "same procedure as every year".
  
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• After a tough 2017, what does next year hold in store for Theresa May? | Heather Stewart

  31-12-2017 13:36
  Theresa May’s cabinet will spend more time discussing their preferred Brexit ‘end state’ in the new year.Theresa May began the year with a healthy majority in parliament, a commanding poll lead and an apparently unassailable grip on the Conservatives.
  
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• Ministers Considering 'Dad's Army-style' Border Patrols

  31-12-2017 13:17
  Volunteers could guard some of the UK’s borders under plans being considered by the government.
  
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• New Year messages: PM vows 'renewed confidence' in UK as Corbyn attacks 'weak' Govt

  31-12-2017 12:23
  Theresa May, Jeremy Corbyn and Sir Vince Cable have released their New Year messages - making their pitches to the electorate following a turbulent 12 months in British politics.After a year in which she triggered Article 50 and lost the Conservatives' majority in a snap election, the Prime Minister vowed that the Government would spark "renewed confidence and pride in our country" in 2018.In an attack on Mrs May and the Conservatives, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn described the Government as "wea
  
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• UK may use taxes to get tech giants to do more to fight extremism - minister

  31-12-2017 12:00
  Britain may impose new taxes on tech giants like Google and Facebook unless they do more to combat online extremism by taking down material aimed at radicalising people or helping them to prepare attacks, the country's security minister said.Ben Wallace accused tech firms of being happy to sell people's data but not to give it to the government which was being forced to spend vast sums on de-radicalisation programmes, surveillance and other counter-terrorism measures."If they continue to be less
  
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• Internet Giants Could Face Tax Blitz Over Terror Content, Minister Warns

  31-12-2017 11:30
  Internet giants could face punishing tax rates if they fail to cooperate with Government efforts to fight terrorism and online extremism, a minister has warned.
  
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• UK Weather Warnings Issued Over Severe 80mph Gusts As Storm Dylan Brings Wet And Windy End To 2017

  31-12-2017 10:52
  Storm Dylan has lashed parts of Ireland and Wales with howling gales in excess of 70mph and squally rain as it bears down on the UK mainland.
  
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• Sydney Sea Plane Crashes Into Hawkesbury River Killing All Six People Onboard

  31-12-2017 09:58
  All six people on board a sea plane which crashed into a river north of Sydney, Australia, have died, police have said.
  
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• Journalists cast as villains need to recall their heroes

  31-12-2017 08:00
  In a recent tweet, he wrote: ‘Wow, more than 90% of Fake News Media coverage of me is negative, with numerous forced retractions of untrue stories.Much of Mainstream Media has become a joke!’ At a recent rally, he said journalists are ‘sick people,’ ‘liars’ who are fomenting ‘division’.“In statement after statement, he and his advisers, like Steve Bannon, have cast the national press, not the Democrats, as ‘the opposition party’.
  
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• The death toll falls but the blood and danger remain for reporters

  31-12-2017 07:59
  Candles burn to commemorate investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in Berlin in October.Some 65 working journalists were killed on duty this year, the lowest total for 14 years, Reporters Sans Frontières has said, with 326 journalists currently held in prison and 54 held hostage by non-state groups.Ten of the 65 dead were female – including Daphne Caruana Galizia in Malta, Gauri Lankesh in India and Miroslava Breach Velducea in Mexico.
  
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• Nearly HALF of UK trains are 'cancelled or late' but fares still set to RISE

  31-12-2017 07:34 via feedproxy.google.com
  NEARLY half of all UK trains are late or cancelled and yet the price of tickets are set for the biggest increase in five years, it has been revealed.
  
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• Handwriting to help Govt catch gangs behind mass-scale benefit fraud

  31-12-2017 06:32
  Artificial intelligence will be used to clamp down on fraudsters claiming millions of pounds of bogus benefit payments.The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) said its new state-of-the-art algorithms can detect a number of identity cloning techniques which have been commonly used by organised criminal gangs committing mass-scale benefit fraud.The DWP says it has extensively trialled the technology, which will scan across the benefit system, including Universal Credit, Jobseeker's Allowance and
  
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• New year, same old policy – Lib Dem's Vince Cable vows to REVERSE BREXIT in 2018 message

  31-12-2017 06:13 via feedproxy.google.com
  REMOANER Sir Vince Cable has used his new year message to once again push for a second EU referendum as Theresa May insists Brexit will remain crucial in 2018.
  
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• Police prioritise security as New Year's Eve celebrations begin across UK

  31-12-2017 06:05
  Preparations are under way across the country for tonight's New Year's Eve celebrations - with security a top priority for police forces.In Edinburgh, extra bag checks were put in place as Hogmanay events began on Saturday night, with 100,000 people expected to enjoy festivities over the three-day party that traditionally sees in the New Year.Despite 2017 being an unprecedented year for terror attacks in the UK, Hogmanay's chief executive producer has told Sky News he does not expect the event t
  
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• Israel targets Gaza with more strikes as proxy war with Iran continues to grip Middle East

  31-12-2017 04:49 via feedproxy.google.com
  ISRAEL has bombarded Gaza with a second day of airstrikes as the country continues its proxy war with Iran.
  
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• World Cup winners and Brexit's progress: Sky writers try to predict 2018

  31-12-2017 04:45
  Sky reporters and correspondents covering politics, the US, entertainment and sport have gazed into their crystal balls to predict what might happen in 2018.Sky's Political Correspondent mulls over the biggest political question of modern British history: Where on earth will Brexit be by end of 2018?The EU has made clear that during this period, which they say should end by December 2020, everything - trade, free movement of people, the European Court of Justice - has to stay the same as it is n
  
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• New Year terror threat: Elite SAS snipers deployed across UK ahead of NYE celebrations

  31-12-2017 04:16 via feedproxy.google.com
  THE UK’s most elite fighting unit, the SAS, will patrol tourist hotspots to take out any potential terror threat during New Year festivities, it has been revealed.
  
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• Driverless vehicle technology will go mainstream in 2018, experts claim

  31-12-2017 03:29
  The coming year will see driverless vehicle technology become part of everyday life in Britain, according to experts.The sector has already seen a sharp acceleration in development over the past 12 months with the Government backing the technology in the last Budget - promising fully driverless cars on the roads within three years.The first street trials have already been successfully completed by UK Autodrive, who worked with JLR, Tata and Ford to test vehicles on public roads in Coventry in th
  
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