General news

• May promises frank discussions with China amid dash for trade

  29-01-2018 23:37
  Prime Minister Theresa May promised to hold "frank discussions" with China during a crucial trade visit later this week, with several awkward diplomatic issues like North Korea and Brexit expected to be discussed.May will use meetings with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang to try to regain momentum in the international race to secure British participation in China's services sector boom as she seeks a new role for Britain outside the European Union.
  
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• Russia is aiming to interfere in US midterm elections, warns CIA chief

  29-01-2018 23:30 via theguardian.com
  Mike Pompeo says ‘I have every expectation that they will continue to try’ to meddle in House and Senate races in NovemberRussia is set to continue its campaign of meddling in foreign elections by targeting the congressional midterm races in America, the head of the CIA has warned. Related: FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe steps down earlyContinue reading...
  
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• May to take business leaders on China visit in search of deals

  29-01-2018 23:30 via theguardian.com
  Largest-ever trade delegation will go with prime minister, who aims to open new era in relationsTheresa May will attempt to reset her relationship with China in a vital three-day trip this week, leading the largest-ever UK trade delegation, comprising 50 business leaders.Beijing’s ambassador to London has claimed Brexit is a “strategic opportunity” to boost ties, saying “golden fruits” will be up for grabs when May touches down in China on Wednesday.Continue reading
  
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• 'Jackpotting' hackers steal over $1 million from ATMs across U.S.: Secret Service

  29-01-2018 23:20
  By Dustin VolzWASHINGTON (Reuters) - A coordinated group of hackers likely tied to international criminal syndicates has pilfered more than $1 million by hijacking ATM machines across the United States and forcing them to spit out bills like slot machines dispensing a jackpot, a senior U.S. Secret Service official said on Monday.The heists, which involve hacking ATMs to rapidly shoot out torrents of cash, have been observed across the United States spanning from the Gulf Coast in the southern pa
  
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• Boots cuts price of morning-after pill across UK

  29-01-2018 23:04
  Boots has reduced the price of the morning-after pill in all its UK stores after failing to meet its target of a full rollout of the discount by October 2017.The move, which has been hailed as a “great win for women”, follows a campaign from the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (Bpas), a leading provider of abortion care.Tesco and Superdrug agreed, but Boots sparked controversy when it said it would not lower the price of its generic brand of emergency hormonal contraception (EHC),
  
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• Lack of 2017 credit for Italy’s good rugby against England irks Conor O’Shea

  29-01-2018 23:00 via theguardian.com
  • Coach frustrated that Italy’s ‘no ruck’ tactics overshadowed display
  • ‘I thought the clarification to the law was done too hastily’Conor O’Shea has claimed Italy did not get the credit they deserved for giving England an almighty scare at Twickenham last year, expressing his frustration that the focus on his side’s “no ruck” tactics distracted from their performance. O’Shea also believes that World Rugby was too quick to am
  
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• BBC must face tough questions from MPs on equal pay for women

  29-01-2018 23:00
  Carrie Gracie, the former BBC China editor, resigned because of a lack of parity in salary with her male counterparts.Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA
  
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• Liverpool’s Daniel Sturridge joins West Brom on loan until end of season

  29-01-2018 22:05 via theguardian.com
  • West Brom understood to have agreed loan fee of about £1.5m• ‘I just felt this was the right fit for me,’ says SturridgeDaniel Sturridge has joined West Bromwich Albion on loan until the end of the season after rejecting the chance to sign for Newcastle United. The out-of-favour Liverpool striker attracted interest from several clubs in this window, including Internazionale, Sevilla and Newcastle, but had a successful medical at West Brom on Monday.Liverpool’s
  
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• British passport costs set to rise by up to 27%

  29-01-2018 21:44
  Parents will be hit with more than just a new colour on their children's passports, as the price of some is set to jump by 27%.Under new plans unveiled on Monday, ordering the travel document for youngsters by post sees the price pushed up by £46 to £58.50.The measures were suggested by Government ministers to encourage people to apply online instead.
  
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• Pentagon reviewing security after fitness apps show locations

  29-01-2018 21:33
  U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has ordered a review of security protocols, officials say, after fitness tracking devices broadcast patterns of movement at military facilities around the world, including in war zones.Nathan Russer, a student at the Australian National University in Canberra, drew attention to data when he wrote on Twitter about the images after stumbling upon GPS tracking company Strava's Global Heatmap.
  
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• Victim's son slams 'unreal' jail sentence

  29-01-2018 21:15
  Kieran Fox, the son of one of Gary Haggarty's victims, criticises the sentence handed to the former loyalist paramilitary chief.
  
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• Tory infighting a crying shame for the junior Brexit minister | John Crace

  29-01-2018 21:06 via theguardian.com
  It was left to the hapless Robin Walker to put a positive spin on the government’s difficultiesAfter spending much of the year briefing against one another behind the scenes, the Tory party broke cover in the Commons when Bill Cash tabled an urgent question on the government’s Brexit negotiation strategy. As the whole point of the government’s strategy is to have no fixed plan about anything, as there is no one plan on which more than a handful of MPs can agree, open warfare wa
  
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• Tory infighting a crying shame for the junior Brexit minister

  29-01-2018 21:06
  Robin Walker said ‘the prime minister has shown real leadership’.After spending much of the year briefing against one another behind the scenes, the Tory party broke cover in the Commons when Bill Cash tabled an urgent question on the government’s Brexit negotiation strategy.As the whole point of the government’s strategy is to have no fixed plan about anything, as there is no one plan on which more than a handful of MPs can agree, open warfare was the inevitable result.
  
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• The world’s tallest man and shortest woman hung out and it looks like so much fun

  29-01-2018 21:04
  Sultan Kozen and Jyoti Amge visited Egypt to encourage tourism to the nation.
  
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• The Weir review – Conor McPherson's black stuff still chills

  29-01-2018 21:00 via theguardian.com
  The Lowry, Salford
  Adele Thomas’s revival of McPherson’s early play reveals the horror of loneliness to be on a par with fear of the undead
  Just over 20 years on from its Royal Court debut, Conor McPherson’s haunting drama has been resurrected once more, this time for a co-production by English Touring Theatre and Colchester’s Mercury. In a remote pub in rural Ireland, the locals avoid the solitude of their homes by clinging to each other’s stories, as Adele Thomas&
  
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• Firms’ gagging clauses could harm public interest, warns Labour

  29-01-2018 20:49
  There is concern non-disclosure agreements were used at firm where defence secretary Gavin Williamson worked.Labour has warned that gagging clauses imposed by businesses on departing staff could be used to inhibit discussion on issues in the public interest and called on Theresa May to act firmly to prevent their misuse.Last week Downing Street said that the prime minister was concerned over the use of non-disclosure agreements and said that she would consider whether changes were needed.
  
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• Firms’ gagging clauses could harm public interest, Labour warns

  29-01-2018 20:49
  There is concern that NDAs were preventing staff at the fireplace firm where defence secretary Gavin Williamson used to work from speaking out.Labour has warned that gagging clauses imposed by businesses on departing staff could be used to inhibit discussion on issues in the public interest and called on Theresa May to act firmly to prevent their misuse.Last week Downing Street said that the prime minister was concerned about the use of non-disclosure agreements and said she would consider wheth
  
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• David Prescott fails to make Labour shortlist to fight key swing seat

  29-01-2018 20:49
  David Prescott failed to be shortlisted to fight Mansfield seat for Labour.David Prescott, the son of the former deputy prime minister John Prescott and a key aide to Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, has failed to be shortlisted to fight a vital swing seat.Prescott said he was “obviously disappointed” after he failed to reach the final stages after a tight race to be selected for Labour in Mansfield.
  
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• Kirsty Maxwell family claim evidence in Benidorm fall case was destroyed by police

  29-01-2018 20:28
  The family of a woman who fell to her death from a holiday apartment in Benidorm have condemned Spanish authorities for "serious shortcomings" in the investigation.It has emerged that the pink t-shirt and denim skirt worn by 27-year-old Kirsty Maxwell on the night she died was never tested for DNA and have now been destroyed.Kirsty's husband Adam said: "It's very sad and shocking for us as a family - this is another thing that we've been let down by.
  
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• Government to review 1.6m disability benefit claims after U-turn

  29-01-2018 20:27
  The government’s changes to disability benefits were met with a public outcry and legal challenge last year.The government is to review about 1.6m disability benefit claims made over the past four years as part of major U-turn that will see an estimated 220,000 claimants eventually receive backdated higher awards.The exercise, which could cost billions and take years, comes after the government agreed earlier this month not to challenge a high court ruling in December that said it had been
  
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• Martin Rowson on yet another mess facing Theresa May – cartoon

  29-01-2018 20:21 via theguardian.com
  Continue reading...
  
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• Your Chariot awaits: shuttle bus service gets green light in London

  29-01-2018 19:55
  An experimental shuttle bus service operated by Ford has been approved by London’s transport authorities.The vehicle manufacturer’s Chariot service, which has started in five US cities, will run four set routes and pick up passengers who pre-book via its app.Passengers will pay a premium (£2.40) over normal bus fares (£1.50), and get a guaranteed seat on a Ford Transit minibus for their money.
  
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• 9 public figures who would probably enjoy the Greggs Valentine’s meal

  29-01-2018 19:41
  It turns out politicians really enjoy pastry.
  
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• May faces new row over Brexit transition as Barnier stands firm

  29-01-2018 19:40
  Michel Barnier rebuffed any suggestion that the UK would have the right to resist the application of new laws during the transition period.Theresa May faces a row over how the Brexit transition period will work after the EU said the UK would have to abide by all existing and new laws for a period of almost two years after leaving.Downing Street said there was “some distance” between what the UK and EU believe is acceptable for the transition period and signalled it would fight agains
  
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• Pentagon to review security after Strava reveals sensitive information

  29-01-2018 19:35 via theguardian.com
  Strava broadcast patterns of movement of US personnel at American military facilities around the world, including in war zonesThe Pentagon said on Monday it was reviewing whether it needed to bolster its security protocols after fitness tracking devices broadcast patterns of movement of US personnel at American military facilities around the world, including in war zones. Related: Strava suggests military users 'opt out' of heatmap as row deepensContinue reading...
  
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• John Simpson Calls Out Piers Morgan's 'Spineless' Donald Trump Interview

  29-01-2018 19:31
  One of the UK’s most respected foreign correspondents has hit out at Piers Morgan’s interview with Donald Trump, labelling the interrogation of the US President as “spineless”.
  
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• The Guardian view on Ikea: furnishing the modern world | Editorial

  29-01-2018 19:13 via theguardian.com
  Ingvar Kamprad brought self-assembly to the masses through a business he built himself. He was not a saint, but hewas a great capitalistIngvar Kamprad started his career as a schoolboy selling matches that he bought cheap in Stockholm and sold round his home in the forests of southern Sweden. When he died on Saturday he was the eighth richest man in the world, and Ikea, the business empire he left behind, had graduated from matchsticks to using 1% of all the timber felled in the world. It w
  
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• Squalid homes: Corbyn says government ‘in pockets of landlords’

  29-01-2018 18:57 via theguardian.com
  Labour leader says Tories can’t fix housing crisis after revelations that thousands live in hazardous conditionsJeremy Corbyn has accused the government of being “in the pockets of rogue landlords” and unable to fix what he called a “crisis level” of squalor at the bottom of the rented housing market.More than half a million people aged under 35 are estimated to be living in rented properties so hazardous they are likely to lead to residents needing medical attentio
  
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• NHS staff shortages leave doctors working in a system that isn’t safe

  29-01-2018 18:55
  A GP checking a patient’s blood pressure. ‘GPs are good at managing risk but overload means that risks are less manageable,’ writes Dr Antonia Moore.At the same time, the future remains uncertain for doctors from the EU, and the number of doctors who are able to train in the UK for two years under the medical training initiative (MTI) is capped.An immediate solution would be to expand the MTI, place doctors on the Home Office shortage occupation list, and actively encourage the
  
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• How to end speculation and squalor in housing

  29-01-2018 18:55
  ‘All rented and owner-occupied homes could be compulsory inspected yearly for safety issues, as all cars have been for decades,’ writes Philip Home.Ann Pettifor (Journal, 27 January) identifies several important strategies for solving London’s crisis of “unreal estate”, but omits one that is vital: developing regional economies.By the standards of most European nations, Britain’s economy is incredibly concentrated in a single conurbation.
  
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• Churchill’s other darkest hour

  29-01-2018 18:54
  Winston Churchill’s state funeral in 1965. Photograph: Mondadori via Getty Images
  
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• Underfunded justice system 'crumbling', top criminal barrister says

  29-01-2018 18:50
  Concern over disclosure failures have become increasingly widespread after the collapse of four rape trials since shortly before Christmas.Failures to disclose evidence in rape prosecutions are a sign of the “dystopian disaster” engulfing the criminal justice system that has been caused by chronic government underfunding, the head of the criminal bar has warned.Angela Rafferty QC, who represents criminal barristers in England and Wales, criticised ministers for trying to promote the
  
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• UK surplus? U.S. surplus? Who knows, trade statisticians say

  29-01-2018 18:45
  Statisticians in Britain and the United States are puzzled by a big mismatch in services trade figures between the two countries which raises questions about how much emphasis governments should put on the sector in future trade deals.The 33 billion-pound mismatch for 2016 was derived from British statistics showing the country had a trade surplus in services with the United States of 23 billion pounds while the United States reported a services surplus with Britain of around 10 billion pounds.B
  
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• Northern Ireland: UVF 'supergrass' Gary Haggarty jailed for six and a half years

  29-01-2018 18:45
  A former loyalist paramilitary chief turned "supergrass" has been jailed for six and a half years before he can be considered for release for 202 terror offences.Gary Haggarty, who served in the Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), admitted to five murders as part of a state deal which offered a significantly reduced jail term in return for him giving evidence against other terror suspects.The judge at Belfast Crown Court said the case was of "exceptional gravity" and said Haggarty's willingness to coo
  
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• We need to rethink our resistance to Donald Trump’s ideas

  29-01-2018 18:40 via theguardian.com
  The US president has proven himself a narcissistic liar with no impulse control – it is time to get serious about how we combat himAsking if Donald Trump is a feminist is like asking if Piers Morgan is a journalist: unnecessary and embarrassing, given the evidence before us. The ratings for the “show” in which the pair met on Sunday were indeed sad; less than for a poor night of Casualty. Obviously, I watched it on one of my three televisions, in bed, while checking Twitter. I
  
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• David Beckham wants to bring Class of '92 spirit to his Miami MLS team

  29-01-2018 18:34 via theguardian.com
  Former England captain has endured long journey to found clubBeckham paid $25m for rights to new expansion franchiseAn emotional David Beckham said Miami had made his “dream come true” after finally becoming a Major League Soccer team owner. The Miami MLS team plans to enter the US top-flight as its 25th team in two years.The new club, which is yet to be named, was rubber-stamped by MLS 1,454 days after the former England captain arrived in Miami pledging to bring a professional team
  
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• The Tories are ready to leap into the abyss to get rid of Theresa May | Katy Balls

  29-01-2018 18:29 via theguardian.com
  A leadership contest now could destroy the party, and yet a confidence vote looms“What I’d say to all my colleagues is the Conservative family – left, right and centre, because we’re a broad church – needs to come together in a spirit of mutual respect.” This is the kind of plea that is normally delivered to MPs behind closed doors. But in a sign of the dire state that the Tory party is in, David Lidington – Theresa May’s de facto deputy – wa
  
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• 'I clean for Chelsea FC and live in squalor': inside illegal housing

  29-01-2018 18:12 via theguardian.com
  Councils seem unable or unwilling to halt the growth of unlicensed, multi-occupant accommodationFreida Alves’ commute across London to clean at Chelsea football club’s stadium only takes an hour – but it might as well be a million miles away in terms of wealth, comfort and simple human decency.For years Alves has swept up after the fans at Stamford Bridge in Fulham. Her other duties, at the club’s state-of-the-art training base in Cobham, Surrey, have included laundering
  
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• Chipmakers, Sanofi deal dominate European share trading

  29-01-2018 18:11
  LONDON/MILAN (Reuters) - Stellar results from chip-maker AMS and another big pharma deal dominated European share trading at the start of a heavy earnings week, while a rise in bond yields hit income stocks.
  
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• Ford's Chariot bus service to launch in London

  29-01-2018 18:08
  London approved on Monday Ford'splans to operate its Chariot minibus services as the automaker expands its mobility service designed to tap into growing demand in cities among those wishing to make trips rather than buy cars.Chariot will be able to operate its pre-bookable only services in Britain's capital city for a year on three routes and nine months on a fourth route on a trial basis.Ford is trying to diversify into other modes of transportation from vehicles sold to consumers as new compet
  
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• Dogged by Brexit, Britain stumbles in race to woo China

  29-01-2018 18:04
  Swamped by Brexit and weakened at home, Prime Minister Theresa May is starting to fall behind in the race to win Chinese investment and secure privileged access to China's booming market for professional services.May travels to China on Tuesday with a delegation of executives for meetings with Chinese leaders that will define where relations with the world's second-largest economy sit on her lengthy 'To Do' list.Britain is trying to reinvent itself as a global trading nation after deciding to le
  
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• I, Tonya strips away the rhinestones but fails the real victim of Harding’s story | Richard Williams

  29-01-2018 18:03 via theguardian.com
  Craig Gillespie’s film on the attack on Nancy Kerrigan in 1994 is probably one in which fidelity to the historical truth comes second to the values of entertainmentAs we were reminded by the events in the Michigan courtroom over which Judge Rosemarie Aquilina presided last week, rhinestones and makeup are sometimes the camouflage hiding lives damaged by callous exploitation. The courage of the young women who stood up to speak of the sexual abuse committed by Larry Nassar during his time a
  
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• Wedding speech dilemma: Time to hear from the bride?

  29-01-2018 18:02 via bbc.co.uk
  Meghan Markle is expected to make a speech on her wedding day - does anyone have any advice?
  
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• 'There is no peace': traumatised Rohingya vow they won't go back to Myanmar

  29-01-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Efforts to send Rohingya back over the border are foundering before they have even begun“They burned my house and my whole village, they stole my crops,” Nagumia says. “I saw them throw the young children, and the old people who could not run, into the fire. They cut people’s throats and their bellies and left them to die. I cannot go back. What am I going to go back to?”Across the Naf River from Myanmar, in the swollen Rohingya refugee camps huddled against Banglad
  
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• The seven apps every woman should own

  29-01-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Tech hasn’t always been female-friendly – but a new wave of apps is changing that. From contraception to workouts, here are the ones Guardian writers swear byBack in 2014, Apple released HealthKit, an app that let people keep track of a vast array of health and fitness data – everything from blood alcohol levels and sodium intake to body temperature. What you couldn’t track, however, was your period. Not one person at Apple had stopped to think a period tracker might be u
  
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• The Good Place: how a sitcom made philosophy seem cool

  29-01-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Never studied philosophy? No worries! Here’s a beginner’s guide to the concepts that make the gags in The Good Place so, well, good Oh, to have been a fly on the wall during the pitch meeting for The Good Place. Who’d have thought that ratings gold would be found in a sitcom about the afterlife, with regular references to Immanuel Kant, David Hume and Aristotle? It presumably helped to have comedy heavyweights Kristen Bell and Ted Danson attached and that it was created by Mich
  
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• German ambassador: second world war image of Britain has fed Euroscepticism

  29-01-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Peter Ammon says some Brexiters were motivated by a sense of national identity built around UK standing aloneThe image of Britain standing alone in the second world war against German domination has fed Euroscepticism in the UK, but does little to solve the country’s contemporary problems, the outgoing German ambassador to London has told the Guardian.Dr Peter Ammon described the UK’s decision to leave the EU as “a tragedy” and a depressing moment, but also war
  
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• Arthur Davidson obituary

  29-01-2018 17:58
  The former Labour MP Arthur Davidson, who has died aged 91, was one of the most experienced – and certainly the longest-serving – media lawyers of his generation.After winning the Lancashire seat of Accrington in the 1966 general election, Davidson began his long association with Fleet Street as the backbench libel lawyer on the old London Evening News.Later he was legal director of Associated Newspapers (1985–91) and after that for the Daily Mirror (1991–93).
  
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• Charity Commission investigates far-right groups' work with homeless people

  29-01-2018 17:53 via theguardian.com
  Concern over a whites-only outreach scheme run by Polish and British groups in UK cities Far-right groups are being investigated for potentially breaching Charity Commission rules after the Guardian found they were distributing food and clothes to homeless people.
  The fascist party the National Revival of Poland – known as Narodowe Odrodzenie Polski (NOP) – is one of several far-right groups across Britain that have launched charity campaigns. Continue reading...
  
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• 'Window is closing' for May as speculation rises over leadership challenge

  29-01-2018 17:36
  MPs on both sides of the Brexit debate are becoming increasingly vocal -boosting speculation that Theresa May will be subject to a leadership challenge.Leading backbencher Johnny Mercer said the "window is closing" for the Prime Minister to reinvigorate the Conservatives' fortunes.At the weekend, the MP for Plymouth Moor View said Jeremy Corbyn could become Prime Minister unless the Tories "get our s*** together".
  
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