General news

• A Whippet named Tease wins best in show at Crufts

  11-03-2018 23:05
  Tease, a Whippet from Scotland, won the top prize at Britain's Crufts dog show in Birmingham on Sunday.The two-and-half-year old Hound breed, whose full name is Collooney Tartan Tease, beat six other finalists to be crowned best in show at the event, which began in 1891.Owner Yvette Short from Edinburgh said Tease's victory was "incredible".
  
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• Labour's Debbie Abrahams steps aside from shadow cabinet amid row with party

  11-03-2018 22:51
  A senior shadow minister is making an official complaint against her party, accusing the Labour leader’s office of "aggressive" and "intimidating" behaviour.Shadow work and pensions secretary, Debbie Abrahams, was asked on Friday to step aside from her role over "work based complaints".Sky News understands the allegation relates to bullying.
  
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• Pro-Kurdish protests close King's Cross and Manchester Piccadilly stations

  11-03-2018 21:36
  Services at London's King's Cross and Manchester Piccadilly ground to a halt as both stations were closed amid pro-Kurdish demonstrations.Waving flags in support of a number of Kurdish organisations, demonstrators jumped onto the tracks at Manchester Piccadilly and attempted to climb overhead line equipment.Hours later, King's Cross was closed after dozens of protesters gathered outside.
  
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• Pro-Kurdish protests close London and Manchester rail stations

  11-03-2018 21:22
  Services at London's King's Cross and Manchester Piccadilly ground to a halt as both stations were closed amid pro-Kurdish demonstrations.Waving flags in support of a number of Kurdish organisations, demonstrators jumped onto the tracks at Manchester Piccadilly and attempted to climb overhead line equipment.
  
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• People are coming up with the best obscure super powers and some are amazing

  11-03-2018 21:00
  Which mundane superpower would you use to enhance everyday life?
  
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• Manchester Piccadilly and London King's Cross stations reopen after protests

  11-03-2018 20:04
  Piccadilly station in Manchester and King’s Cross in London have reopened after being closed by demonstrations involving protesters.In Manchester, about 100 protesters demonstrated on the railway tracks, and the station was closed for three hours.The group, who carried signs reading “stop Turkey from helping Isis terrorists”, walked on to rail lines at about 1pm on Sunday, preventing trains from entering and leaving the station.
  
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• Boris Johnson clashes with Emmanuel Macron over Brexit

  11-03-2018 19:34
  Johnson replied to a Macron tweet inviting Indian students to head to France.Boris Johnson has publicly clashed with Emmanuel Macron over Brexit, rebutting the French president’s invitation to Indian students to “gain access to Europe” by boasting of the increase in their numbers arriving in the UK.Macron, who has also made overtures to financial firms seeking a possible exit from London once Britain has left the EU, made his comments during a three-day trip to India.
  
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• Salisbury spy attack: moral equivalence and the defence of the realm

  11-03-2018 19:03
  The grave of the former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko murdered in London in 2006.Simon Jenkins asks whether there is a moral difference between drone strikes against British citizens fighting with Islamic State in Syria and the apparent assassination attempt against Sergei Skripal in Salisbury (We’re guilty in Syria, yet rage over Salisbury, 9 March).Reyaad Khan and Junaid Hussain were actively planning terror attacks in the UK, and, in the words of the parliamentary committee report, pos
  
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• Football’s gob of the month is old news

  11-03-2018 19:00
  A man clears ice from a frozen lake to make a space for the ducks and swans to swim in the harsh winter of 1963.Touching is important for emotional health and communication – we learn touching in the womb before just about anything else (Losing our touch, 8 March).Most touching is with family, of course.
  
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• Tories say they are ready to take action to oust John Bercow

  11-03-2018 18:59
  John Bercow has denied allegations he bullied a staff member in 2010-11.The Speaker, John Bercow, is expected to face a motion of no confidence in the Commons on Monday in the wake of allegations that he bullied a member of parliamentary staff.The Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen, a longtime critic of Bercow, said that either he or another MP would put down an early day motion (EDM) expressing no confidence in the speaker.
  
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• Salisbury residents bemused by unfolding spy poisoning drama

  11-03-2018 17:53
  Tall green screens have been erected in front of Zizzi, where Sergei Skripal and his daughter ate.“If it’s as serious as what they are saying then I doubt washing your clothes is going to make a big difference,” suggested Margaret Cowie.Watching her dogs being put through obedience training classes on a street in the centre of Salisbury on Sunday, she suspected overreaction had set in.
  
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• Putin says grandfather cooked for Stalin and Lenin

  11-03-2018 17:46
  In the two-hour documentary, called Putin, the president said Spiridon Putin was a valued member of Stalin's staff.The wartime Soviet leader, who died in 1953, conducted extensive purges during his around three decades in power."(He) was a cook at Lenin's and later at Stalin's, at one of the dachas in the Moscow area," Putin said in the film seen by Reuters.
  
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• This adorable two-year-old has some serious basketball skills

  11-03-2018 17:41
  ‘Totally a prodigy in sports!’
  
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• Two dead after car crashes and overturns in Bacup, Lancashire

  11-03-2018 17:37
  Police are appealing for witnesses after a car hit another vehicle and overturned, killing its two male occupants.
  
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• Manchester Piccadilly station reopens after protest on tracks

  11-03-2018 17:33
  Manchester Piccadilly station has reopened after being closed for three hours following a demonstration on the railway tracks by about 100 protesters.The group, who carried signs reading “stop Turkey from helping Isis terrorists”, walked on to rail lines at about 1pm on Sunday, preventing trains from entering and leaving the station.In a statement earlier on Sunday, National Rail said: “The station will remain closed until all protesters have been removed.
  
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• Litvinenko widow warns Tories over Russian donations

  11-03-2018 17:29
  The Conservative party is facing pressure to return Russian donations after the attempted murder of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal on British soil.Marina Litvinenko, the widow of another former Russian spy, Alexander Litvinenko, whose murder is believed to have been carried out under the direction of Russia’s FSB spy agency, said the Tories risked tainting their reputation if they held on to the cash.
  
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• Momentum chair Jon Lansman withdraws bid to become Labour general secretary

  11-03-2018 17:23
  The chair of Jeremy Corbyn-supporting group Momentum has pulled out of the race for Labour's top job.Jon Lansman announced on Sunday he is withdrawing from the battle to be named as the party's new general secretary.Mr Lansman's candidacy for the role of Labour's most senior party official had threatened a divisive battle between the party's internal factions.
  
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• 10 realistic Mother’s Day tweets that prove things never go as planned

  11-03-2018 16:47
  ‘May your toddler not eat half of your special breakfast in bed.’
  
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• Scottish Labour conference backs Corbyn on Brexit

  11-03-2018 16:43
  Jeremy Corbyn at the Scottish Labour conference on Friday, where his position on Brexit sparked deep divisions.Scottish Labour delegates have rejected a rebel motion calling for the UK to rejoin the single market and instead rallied behind Jeremy Corbyn’s pro-Brexit strategy.The party’s conference in Dundee voted overwhelmingly for a “unity motion” drafted by its Scottish executive after deep divisions over Corbyn’s proposals emerged between the party’s centri
  
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• Protest on tracks halts train services at Manchester Piccadilly station

  11-03-2018 16:35
  Train services at Manchester Piccadilly railway station have grounded to a halt after protesters trespassed onto tracks.
  
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• Spy poisoning: Diners told to wash possessions but health bosses insist risk 'very low'

  11-03-2018 16:34
  Hundreds of people have been told to wash their possessions following the discovery of traces of a nerve agent in Salisbury - but health officials insist the risk to the public is still "very low".
  
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• Manchester Piccadilly station closed after protesters storm tracks

  11-03-2018 16:26
  Manchester Piccadilly station has been closed after about 100 protesters demonstrated on the train tracks.The group, who carried signs reading “stop Turkey from helping Isis terrorists,” walked on to railway lines on Sunday afternoon, preventing trains from entering and leaving the station.National Rail said all lines had been suspended in and out of Piccadilly, the city’s main train station, due to the protests.
  
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• Advice for public as nerve agent trace found

  11-03-2018 16:20
  Anyone who went to Zizzi or The Mill in Salisbury on the day Sergei Skripal was poisoned should clean their clothes and possessions, says Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies.
  
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• Falklands: Argentinian soldiers' relatives to put names on graves

  11-03-2018 16:16
  The relatives of 89 previously unidentified Argentinian soldiers killed during the 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands will travel there this month to put names on their graves almost 35 years after they were killed.The testing of the exhumed bodies by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was only agreed by the British and Argentinian governments in 2016 after a campaign led by both British and Argentinian veterans.
  
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• Fears and nervousness in Salisbury

  11-03-2018 16:10
  Life in the city of Salisbury has quietened to a murmur as the sleepy city hosts police, soldiers, and the world's media.
  
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• Philip Hammond signals Government will back US-style 'Magnitsky' sanctions on Russia

  11-03-2018 16:02
  Philip Hammond has signalled the Government could back moves to mirror US-style sanctions legislation on Russian officials in the wake of the Salisbury spy poisoning.The Chancellor claimed the Government is "seeking to reach an accommodation" with MPs wanting a British version of the US' so-called "Magnitsky Act".Under the 2012 legislation, which has since been extended globally, the US can subject foreign officials involved in corruption and human rights abuses to asset freezes and visa bans.
  
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• Hundreds urged to wash clothes after UK nerve agent attack

  11-03-2018 16:02
  Hundreds of people who visited the Zizzi restaurant or the Mill pub in the English city of Salisbury were told on Sunday to wash their clothes after traces of nerve agent used to attack a former Russian spy last week were found at both sites.Public Health England said there was no immediate health risk to anyone who may have been in either the restaurant or the pub, but their was a small chance that any of the agent that had come into contact with clothing or belongings could still be present in
  
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• Alexander Litvinenko widow: Theresa May 'did nothing' after my husband's death

  11-03-2018 15:44
  Britain appears unable to protect those seeking political asylum in the UK, according to the widow of murdered Alexander Litvinenko.Marina Litvinenko, whose husband was poisoned with radioactive polonium in 2006, told Sky News "nothing was done" following a public inquiry into Mr Litvinenko's death.Mr Litvinenko was a former Russian FSB agent who went on to work with MI6 after fleeing to the UK.
  
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• French Brexit advert banned from Tube stations

  11-03-2018 15:42
  A fictional newspaper-style advert encouraging businesses who oppose Brexit to "vote with their feet" has been banned from London Underground stations.Transport for London (TfL) will not be allowing the Ad Normandy campaign because it breaches its rules on "images or messages which relate to matters of public controversy or sensitivity".
  
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• Alexander Litvinenko widow: PM 'did nothing' after my husband's death

  11-03-2018 14:47
  Britain appears unable to protect those seeking political asylum in the UK, according to the widow of murdered Alexander Litvinenko.Marina Litvinenko, whose husband was poisoned with radioactive polonium in 2006, told Sky News "nothing was done" following a public inquiry into Mr Litvinenko's death.Mr Litvinenko was a former Russian FSB agent who went on to work with MI6 after fleeing to the UK.
  
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• People are sharing the funniest things they’ve ever overheard

  11-03-2018 14:29
  Some of the funniest jokes around are overheard on the street.
  
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• For the first time ever somebody is standing up to the EU! Farage on Trump’s trade war

  11-03-2018 14:14 via feedproxy.google.com
  NIGEL FARAGE has accused the European Union of “total rank hypocrisy” for complaining after President Donald Trump announced import tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminium.
  
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• Team Sky's Chris Froome thanks fans after 'tough old period' while he clears his name

  11-03-2018 13:36
  Team Sky star Chris Froome has thanked fans for their support during a "tough old period" as he battles to clear his name following an adverse analytical finding for the asthma drug Salbutamol.Froome is racing in northern Italy as he prepares for the Giro d'Italia in May, but first has to clear his name following the test at the Vuelta a Espana, which he won in September."The support has been incredible," said Froome, who uses an inhaler to cope with exercise induced asthma.
  
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• Father's sadistic sexual and physical abuse made daughter 'mute'

  11-03-2018 13:33
  A father's "brutal" regime resulted in his daughter becoming an "elective mute" and her sister developing a "fixed smile", the High Court heard.The court heard their father sexually abused them, slapped, punched and kicked them, pulled their hair, made them get up early and ordered them to bed as soon as they arrived home from school.The abuse was revealed after social services asked the judge to make orders to protect them from their father.
  
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• 'Being a mum harder than fighting fires'

  11-03-2018 13:19 via bbc.co.uk
  A mother of five who works as a retained firefighter says being a mum is harder than tackling fires.
  
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• UK says to respond appropriately if foreign state poisoned ex-spy

  11-03-2018 13:08
  Britain will respond "appropriately" if a foreign state is found to have been involved in the poisoning of a former Russian spy in England a week ago, finance minister Philip Hammond said on Sunday."This is a police investigation and it will be evidence-led and we must go where the evidence takes us," Hammond told BBC television."So we have to allow the police investigation to run its course.
  
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• Philip Hammond: there is light at the end of the tunnel for UK debt

  11-03-2018 12:28
  There is light at the end of the tunnel for the UK’s public finances, Philip Hammond has said, while strongly indicating that his financial statement this week is unlikely to herald any significant reduction in austerity.In his statement on Tuesday, which will bring no changes to tax or spending, the budget having been moved to autumn, the chancellor will set out the latest financial and debt figures.On Sunday Hammond said that although government debt was forecast to start falling, people
  
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• Man suffering 'mental health crisis' dies after being restrained by police

  11-03-2018 12:20
  The police watchdog has launched an investigation after a man suffering a "mental health crisis" died after being restrained.Officers were called to reports of a man attempting to get into back gardens of properties in Polsted Road, Lewisham, southeast London, at about 2.20pm on Friday.The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said officers reported that the 35-year-old appeared to be having a "mental health crisis" and that footage from body-worn cameras showed him agitated.
  
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• Labour MPs should not appear on Russia Today, says John McDonnell

  11-03-2018 12:15
  John McDonnell has said Labour MPs should no longer appear on Russia Today, in the wake of the nerve agent attack on former spy Sergei Skripal.The home secretary, Amber Rudd, has said it is too early to say who is responsible for the attack on Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, but with fingers pointing at the Kremlin, UK politicians are coming under increasing pressure to stand up to Russia.
  
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• UK to respond appropriately if foreign state poisoned ex-spy - Hammond

  11-03-2018 12:11
  British finance minister Philip Hammond said on Sunday that Britain's government would respond "appropriately" if a foreign state was found to be involved in the poisoning of a former Russian spy in England a week ago."This is a police investigation and it will be evidence-led and we must go where the evidence takes us," Hammond told BBC television."So we have to allow the police investigation to run its course.
  
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• Andrew Marr schools Labour's John McDonnell with STINGING facts about the economy

  11-03-2018 12:08 via feedproxy.google.com
  ANDREW MARR quickly pointed out areas of success in the economy after John McDonnell ripped into the Chancellor’s record claiming the UK should “not be celebrating” with the economies performance in Britain.
  
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• Good Guy? Is Verhofstadt SECRETLY smoothing things over for BEST possible Brexit?

  11-03-2018 11:58 via feedproxy.google.com
  Guy Verhofstadt was supposed to be the bad cop from Brussels during the Brexit negotiations - but he might have just emerged as Britain’s biggest ally in the talks.
  
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• Climbing Mount Everest while doing 'keepy uppies'

  11-03-2018 11:50 via bbc.co.uk
  John Farnworth spent the last 10 days juggling a football all the way to Mt Everest's base camp.
  
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• Zayn Malik's website crashes as he shares 'leaked' song

  11-03-2018 11:49
  Zayn Malik's website has crashed after he shared a new song for free.
  
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• Disused British coal mines set to become new source of low-carbon energy

  11-03-2018 11:25 via feedproxy.google.com
  BRITAIN’S disused coal mines are being put to work again in a new scheme to generate low-carbon energy. The technology involves tapping into geothermal hot water deep underground in the mines.
  
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• 'Cruel' electric shock training collars set to be banned in England

  11-03-2018 11:19
  Electric shock collars used to train animals are set to be banned in England under new Government proposals.Animal charities and the Kennel Club have long-campaigned for a ban on the "cruel" devices, which deliver a shock or emit a noise or smell which is painful to the pet, and cost anywhere from £10 to £200.Environment Secretary Michael Gove said: "We are a nation of animal lovers, and the use of these punitive devices can cause harm and suffering, whether intentionally or unintent
  
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• The Queen could help bring back tin mining to the splendour of Poldark's time

  11-03-2018 11:04 via feedproxy.google.com
  IT MAY be 200 years since Ross Poldark dreamed of reviving his family’s tin mine, but the industry that made Cornwall famous could be heading for a revival with help from the Queen. The Crown Estate, which manages a £12.4billion property portfolio on behalf of the monarchy, is considering selling offshore mineral extraction rights.
  
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• Marina Litvinenko: 'Lessons haven't been learned'

  11-03-2018 10:59 via bbc.co.uk
  Marina Litvinenko, the widow of ex-Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko who died in London from radioactive polonium, says she was given assurances this wouldn't happen again.
  
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• Why I take my dog to a 'top notch five-star doggie hotel'

  11-03-2018 10:49 via bbc.co.uk
  A canine creche near Ipswich has a pool, grooming salon, rooms with televisions and play areas.
  
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• Russian officials involved in human rights abuse and corruption could face UK visa ban

  11-03-2018 08:07
  Russian officials involved in corruption and human rights abuse could be targeted by new legislation banning them from entering Britain.Conservative MPs said discussions were ongoing with senior Cabinet ministers about introducing a UK version of the Magnitsky Act into the Sanctions Bill currently going through Parliament.The US legislation, passed in 2012, was designed to punish Russian officials involved in the death in custody of the lawyer Sergei Magnitsky while he was investigating official
  
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