General news

• Fashion titan Hubert de Givenchy's life in pictures

  12-03-2018 23:34 via theguardian.com
  The designer, known for his long-running professional relationship with Audrey Hepburn, has died, aged 91Unrivalled master of the devastatingly chic lookContinue reading...
  
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• Russia: British threats to boycott World Cup over spy attack hurt ties, sport - Ifax

  12-03-2018 22:57
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's foreign ministry said on Monday British threats to boycott the 2018 soccer World Cup over the poisoning of a former Russian double agent in England would damage ties with Moscow and hurt world sport, Interfax news agency reported.
  
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• Man 'allowed FGM to be performed on his daughter as punishment'

  12-03-2018 21:42
  The jury at the Old Bailey also heard allegations that the man beat his other three children.A father from south London allowed female genital mutilation to be carried out on his daughter as a form of punishment when she was nine, a court heard on Monday.“This was not apparently out of any cultural or family reason, but more, as she understood it, as way of punishment,” a court at the Old Bailey was told.
  
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• British authorities ban three foreign right-wing activists

  12-03-2018 21:35
  In a Facebook posting on Saturday, Generation Identity, a British white supremacist group, said Austrian activist Martin Sellner and his American girlfriend Brittany Pettibone, a YouTube commentator and author, had been detained by the British government.The British official said that when they landed at Luton Airport, north of London, on Friday, border police refused to allow Sellner and Pettibone to enter Britain and that they were detained and then deported on Sunday.
  
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• University strikes may be called off after talks lead to new proposals

  12-03-2018 21:26
  Strikes by university staff, which have caused widespread disruption on campuses across the UK in a bitter dispute over pensions, could be suspended later this week after a breakthrough in talks.The proposal has been sent to members of the University and College Union (UCU) and will be considered on Tuesday at a meeting of the its higher education committee and at a separate meeting of branch representatives.Universities UK (UUK), which represents university employers, is in the process of consu
  
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• The cold war heats up – and not just in the Labour party

  12-03-2018 21:17
  Emily Thornberry with Jeremy Corbyn as he speaks in the Commons about Salisbury incident.After prefacing her statement on the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal with the caveat that her response would be guided by the evidence rather than speculation, the prime minister went on to confirm what everyone already knew.The Russian ambassador had been summoned before the foreign secretary and Britain would take the appropriate measures in response once an explanation had been given.
  
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• CBI head: Labour's nationalisation plans as damaging as 'no deal' Brexit

  12-03-2018 21:09
  The head of Britain’s biggest business lobby group has attacked Labour’s nationalisation plans as potentially just as damaging to the economy as Britain leaving the European Union without a deal.In a speech on Monday, Paul Drechsler, the CBI president, said renationalising large parts of the economy would cause serious harm to the UK’s reputation as a place for international investors, which he argued would be as bad as a hard Brexit and would damage job prospects and living st
  
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• Factbox - A few facts about the nerve agent Novichok

  12-03-2018 20:58
  British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday it was "highly likely" that Moscow was responsible for the poisoning in the English city of Salisbury of a Russian former double agent with Novichok, one of the deadliest chemical weapons ever developed.* First developed in the former Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s, Novichok, or "newcomer", is a series of highly toxic nerve agents with a slightly different chemical composition than the more commonly known VX and sarin poison gases.* Novichok
  
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• Polish JSW beats forecasts with 2017 profit, but suspends dividend

  12-03-2018 20:38
  Analysts polled by Reuters had expected state-run JSW to report a net profit of 2.41 billion zlotys for 2017 and 620 million zlotys for the fourth quarter, which according to a Reuters calculation, stood at 748 million zlotys.Despite earlier management board suggestions, JSW said it planned to suspend its dividend and will not pay one from last year's profit as it needed to rebuild its supplementary capital which has shrunk in recent years.JSW had said its policy was to spend at least 30 percent
  
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• Russia highly likely to be behind poisoning of spy, says Theresa May

  12-03-2018 20:34
  Theresa May has said it is “highly likely” that Russia was responsible for the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, and warned Britain would not tolerate such a “brazen attempt to murder innocent civilians on our soil”.In a statement to the House of Commons that triggered a furious response from Moscow, the prime minister said the evidence had shown that Skripal had been targeted by a “military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russ
  
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• Sadiq Khan reads out racist tweets in call for tighter tech regulation

  12-03-2018 20:00
  London mayor Sadiq Khan criticised policymakers for failing to ensure technological progress benefitted all. Photograph: Eddie Keogh/Reuters
  
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• May says 'highly likely' Russia behind nerve attack on spy

  12-03-2018 19:51
  British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday it was "highly likely" that Moscow was responsible for the poisoning in England of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter using a military-grade nerve agent.May told parliament that either the Russian state was directly responsible for the poisoning or it had allowed the nerve agent to get into the hands of others.London had given Russia until Wednesday to explain its use.
  
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• Air Canada systems back online after computer outage disrupts operations

  12-03-2018 19:51
  Air Canada said its airport systems, check-in and customer call centres were back online on Monday afternoon, after a network-wide computer outage led to flight delays and affected its operations, including booking and plane departures.Earlier, Air Canada said in a statement its technology teams were working to identify and repair the issue, and it was also implementing temporary measures to maintain a limited operation."Today’s computer issues have had a wide impact on our customers and w
  
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• Parsons Green suspect 'told teacher it was his duty to hate Britain'

  12-03-2018 19:45
  The Iraqi teenager on trial over the Parsons Green bomb said it was his "duty to hate Britain" and that he blamed the US for his parents' deaths, a court has heard.Ahmed Hassan is charged with attempted murder for allegedly planting a bomb on a District Line tube train, which injured 30 people when it partially exploded in September last year.The Old Bailey was told Hassan had raised alarm bells at college.
  
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• Bring out the woolies again: Cold snap to return to UK this weekend

  12-03-2018 19:36
  If you thought spring has sprung across the UK and the mild weather is here to stay, you might want to think again.Temperatures are set to plunge again this weekend as cold air makes its way from Russia.Forecasters say the mild weather will continue for the rest of the week, although it will be unsettled with rain across the country.
  
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• British soldier kept terrorism manual by Anders Breivik, court told

  12-03-2018 19:15
  Mikko Vehvilainen (left) and Mark Barrett on trial at Birmingham crown court where they are accused of being part of the proscribed National Action organisation.A British army trainer accused of joining a “virulently racist” neo-Nazi group kept a terrorism manual written by the white nationalist Anders Breivik, a court heard.L/Cpl Mikko Vehvilainen is accused of membership of National Action, along with private Mark Barrett and a 23-year-old man who cannot be named for legal reasons.
  
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• Sexual offences on UK railways more than double in five years

  12-03-2018 19:04
  British Transport Police say tackling all forms of unwanted sexual behaviour on public transport is a priority.The number of sexual offences reported on Britain’s railways has more than doubled over the past five years, according to police.Across Britain’s railways, including the tube, there were 2,382 offences in 2017, compared with 1,049 reported in 2013, British Transport Police (BTP) figures show.
  
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• Salisbury poison was Russian-made Novichok - PM confirms

  12-03-2018 18:53
  The poison used to target a former spy and his daughter was from the Russian-made nerve agent group novichok, the PM has said.One chemical from the group, codenamed A-230, is between five and eight times more potent than VX, the nerve agent that was used to kill the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.There are more than 100 formulations in the novichok family, all developed by the Soviet Union in the 1970s and 1980s.
  
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• Accountability and UK university governance

  12-03-2018 18:51
  Your return to the VC salaries issue (Revealed: how vice-chancellor pay eclipses public sector, 12 March) is timely.The University of Bath’s remuneration committee meets on Wednesday, 14 March, at a time when its staff are on strike over the downgrading of their pensions, with the students demanding compensation for lost teaching time.The university’s chair of council, Tom Sheppard, and other senior lay office-holders cling to their positions despite calls for them to resign.
  
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• Russia calls British PM's spy attack allegations a 'circus' - agencies

  12-03-2018 18:45
  Russia said on Monday that British Prime Minister Theresa May's allegations Moscow was probably behind an attack on a former Russian spy in England were politically motivated and based on a provocation, Russian news agencies reported.May said on Monday it was "highly likely" that Moscow was responsible for poisoning former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia on March 4."It is a circus show in the British parliament," the TASS news agency quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spo
  
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• Investigation into Commons bullying to follow Bercow claims

  12-03-2018 18:35
  One Conservative MP said he was shocked that John Bercow was allowed to chair the debate.The leader of the House of Commons, Andrea Leadsom, has launched an investigation into allegations of bullying of Commons staff by MPs, a move that will put increased pressure on the Speaker, John Bercow.Leadsom announced the investigation in the House of Commons after an urgent question from MPs prompted by a Newsnight investigation that alleged Bercow’s private secretary resigned and had post-traumat
  
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• London cannabis seed seller Gypsy Nirvana faces extradition to US

  12-03-2018 18:33
  Westminster magistrates court threw out the first US attempt to have Gypsy Nirvana extradited.A British businessman known as Gypsy Nirvana is facing extradition to the US for allegedly distributing cannabis seeds, an activity his lawyers argue is legal in the UK.Nirvana, who escaped from what is alleged to have been a rendition-style deportation to Los Angeles in 2013, will be in the high court in London on Thursday to resist an attempt by US officials to extradite him.
  
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• May says 'highly likely' Russia responsible for poisoning of ex-spy

  12-03-2018 18:25
  LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Monday it was "highly likely" that Moscow was responsible for the poisoning in England of a former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
  
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• Npower in the red for third year in a row amid customer exodus

  12-03-2018 18:15
  Big Six energy supplier npower has reported an annual loss for the third year in a row after losing 155,000 customers amid "fierce competition" between suppliers.The results come as npower lines up a merger with Big Six rival SSE - a merger which may have been complicated by a high-level deal involving Innogy over the weekend.Npower chief executive Paul Coffey said the industry was facing "real challenges" with plans to impose a cap on standard energy tariffs amid public anger over gas and elect
  
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• 'Dangerous' schoolboy sent to psychiatric hospital for throwing petrol bombs on M3

  12-03-2018 17:57
  A public schoolboy who caused £40m of damage to the economy by throwing homemade firebombs on to a motorway has been detained in a psychiatric hospital.Nicholas Elger from Winchester, Hampshire, was described by the judge as a "dangerous young man".The 17-year-old threw petrol bombs on to the M3 motorway on two occasions in September 2017.
  
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• Salisbury nerve agent attack: expert criticises lack of information

  12-03-2018 17:54
  Police officers at the branch of Zizzi visited by the Skripals.The former commander of the British regiment that specialised in detecting chemical weapons has criticised the lack of information given to the public about the Salisbury attack and claimed the authorities were “blindsided” by it.Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, the ex-commander of the joint chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) regiment, said people in Salisbury were fearful and argued that the government should
  
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• Only the truly ignorant would rank universities according to graduate earnings

  12-03-2018 17:51
  There ain’t half been some clever bastards, as Ian Dury once said.It is a pity none of them are involved in running our universities.What else could explain this “idea” that universities be ranked on the earnings of their graduates?
  
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• Labour MP Karl Turner denies misogyny after allegedly 'slapping woman's buttocks'

  12-03-2018 17:50
  A Labour shadow minister has denied behaving inappropriately or acting in a misogynistic manner after he was alleged to have slapped a woman's buttocks.Shadow transport minister Karl Turner is also reported to have made comments about the woman's breasts, after she had a double mastectomy.A witness told the Financial Times of the shock of those present after the East Hull MP allegedly slapped a female party member's backside when she walked through Mr Turner's constituency office in 2015.
  
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• Police say suspicious substance at parliament not hazardous

  12-03-2018 17:36
  A suspicious substance at the British parliament in Westminster was deemed non-hazardous, police said on Monday, in the latest of a string of packages to politicians and royals that have sparked security alerts.Last month, police investigated a mysterious substance sent to Meghan Markle, fiancee of Prince Harry, in an incident treated as a racist hate crime.White powder was also sent to an office in parliament, but the substances in both cases were found to be harmless.
  
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• Polls as accurate as they have ever been, study says

  12-03-2018 17:23
  US president Harry S. Truman holds up an election day edition of the Chicago Daily Tribune that, based on early results, mistakenly announced “Dewey Defeats Truman” in 1948.It seemed to be a hat trick of polling catastrophes: Brexit, the 2016 US presidential election and the 2017 British general election.“A lot of people have claimed that polling is in crisis, that there have been political evens that surprised us over the last year … [but] what does the data say?,&rdquo
  
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• Beyonce and Jay-Z announce On The Run joint tour

  12-03-2018 17:18
  Beyonce and Jay-Z have announced they will be touring together once again, with their first ever joint shows in the UK.
  
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• Jamie Carragher suspended by Sky after spitting incident

  12-03-2018 17:15
  Jamie Carragher has been suspended by Sky after he was filmed spitting at a football fan's car after being heckled.Speaking to Sky News, the ex-Liverpool defender called it "a moment of madness".When shown the mobile phone footage, which was shot following Liverpool's defeat to Manchester United on Saturday, he said it "felt like an out of body experience - a moment of madness for four or five seconds".
  
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• 'Troubled' teen sent to psychiatric hospital for throwing petrol bombs on M3

  12-03-2018 16:24
  A public schoolboy who caused £40m of damage to the economy by throwing homemade firebombs on to a motorway has been detained in a psychiatric hospital.Nicholas Elger from Winchester, Hampshire, was described by the judge as a "dangerous young man".The 17-year-old threw petrol bombs on to the M3 motorway on two occasions in September 2017.
  
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• German watchdog says Viceroy's ProSieben report broke rules

  12-03-2018 16:22
  Germany's Bafin said on Monday that "short-seller" Viceroy Research breached securities law with a report on ProSiebenSat.1by not notifying the financial watchdog beforehand.Under German law, any entity that is not a securities firm, a fund manager, a European Union administrative firm or an investment company that intends to publish recommendations on investments in assets must notify Bafin ahead of time, it said.
  
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• Russian state TV accuses UK of plotting spy attack

  12-03-2018 15:49
  News anchor Dmitry Kiselyov said the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter would benefit the British authorities.A leading Russian state news anchor has suggested Britain masterminded the poisoning of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury.In a nationwide broadcast watched by millions, Dmitry Kiselyov, the anchor for the flagship Russia 24 news broadcast, Vesti Nedeli, said Skripal could have been sacrificed as a pretext for an international boycott of
  
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• Unseen OJ Simpson Taped 'Confession' Aired On Fox News

  12-03-2018 15:42
  A previously unseen interview with OJ Simpson from 2006, in which he “hypothetically confesses” to the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, has been broadcast after Fox rediscovered the footage.In the interview, which was broadcast on Sunday night, Simpson discusses driving over to his ex-wife’s home with “a guy I recently became friends with” called Charlie, armed with a knife.
  
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• Unseen OJ Simpson Taped 'Confession' Aired On Fox

  12-03-2018 15:42
  A previously unseen interview with OJ Simpson from 2006, in which he “hypothetically confesses” to the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, has been broadcast after Fox rediscovered the footage.In the interview, which was broadcast on Sunday night, Simpson discusses driving over to his ex-wife’s home with “a guy I recently became friends with” called Charlie, armed with a knife.
  
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• Barclays-backed fracker Third Energy courts rivals for cash

  12-03-2018 14:51
  A British shale gas company owned by Barclays is sounding out rivals about pumping cash into the business as it delays fracking at a controversial site in Yorkshire until later in the year.Sky News has learnt that Third Energy, which is awaiting the outcome of a review ordered by the Government into its financial strength, has in recent weeks approached a number of other industry players about a potential deal.The development underlines Third Energy's need for new investment as Barclays, which e
  
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• One in six Britons alive today will live until they are 100 years old

  12-03-2018 14:49
  Ten million Britons alive today will live until they are 100 years old, according to new figures.The findings have prompted the Government to inject more than £300m in developing the technologies needed to support an ageing population.Although today there are just 15,000 centenarians, the population aged 90 and over has grown more rapidly than other age groups in recent years - with one in six Britons now expected to reach triple figures.
  
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• 'Shocking' rise in sugar and salt in McDonald's burgers in last 30 years

  12-03-2018 14:45
  The amount of salt and sugar in popular McDonald's products has rocketed in the last 30 years.McDonald's is the world's largest restaurant chain, with more than 34,000 branches worldwide and 1.8 million employees."At a time when both food manufacturers and the food service industry should be making strides to reformulate and reduce the amount of foods high in sugar, salt, saturated fat and calories, McDonald's is clearly lagging behind.
  
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• 'Despicable' teenager jailed for acid attacks on moped riders

  12-03-2018 14:44
  A teenager has been jailed for 10-and-a-half years for attacking moped riders with acid to steal their vehicles.Derryck John targeted six motorists in a spate of attacks in north and east London on the evening of 13 July 2017 - all in less than 90 minutes."Had they not been wearing helmets, all of the victims' injuries could have been much more serious," Ramesh Patel of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
  
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• Salisbury locals angered at UK delay in nerve-agent warnings

  12-03-2018 14:39
  Worried residents in Salisbury said on Monday it was inexcusable that the authorities had taken so long to issue a health warning after a former Russian spy was attacked with a nerve agent in the city.Public Health England on Sunday advised anyone who had been to a restaurant or a pub which Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia had visited prior to their poisoning to wash their clothes and belongings after traces of nerve agent were found in the two locations."It's inexcusable in some ways," Tim
  
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• May to make statement about nerve attack on Russian spy

  12-03-2018 14:39
  Prime Minister Theresa May will bring Britain's parliament up to date on the investigation into a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy on Monday, and one senior lawmaker expected her to point the finger of blame at Moscow.Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, have been in hospital in a critical condition since March 4 when they were found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping centre in the southern English cathedral city of Salisbury.May has warned that if Russia is behind th
  
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• 10 possible British responses to Russia over the Sergei Skripal affair

  12-03-2018 14:36
  In a memorandum sent this month to the foreign affairs select committee, before the allegations of poisoning in Salisbury emerged, the Foreign Office admitted Russia was increasingly defining itself in opposition to the west.The events in Salisbury change that calculus, and in the words of the former national security adviser Lord Ricketts, the task now is to “punish Russia in a way that will make Vladimir Putin sit up and take notice”.The full spectrum of options will be available t
  
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• MP granted urgent question over Bercow bullying claims

  12-03-2018 14:35
  An urgent question was tabled by Caroline Lucas to allow MPs to debate the bullying allegations.The Speaker, John Bercow, will come under renewed pressure on Monday as MPs demand an inquiry into bullying allegations in the Commons.Caroline Lucas has been granted an urgent question to allow MPs to debate the bullying allegations after a Newsnight investigation alleged that Bercow’s private secretary resigned and suffered post-traumatic stress disorder after working in his office.
  
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• Teenager jailed for spate of acid attacks on streets of London

  12-03-2018 14:25
  A British teenager who sprayed acid into the faces of six motorcyclists during a two-hour robbery spree in London was jailed for 10-1/2 years on Monday.Derryck John, 17, threw the corrosive liquid through the visors of motorcyclists in an attempt to blind them and steal their scooters – escaping twice with vehicles which he hid before returning to attempt more robberies, prosecutors said.The use of acid in street attacks in Britain has risen sharply over the past two years, prompting the g
  
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• Britain very close to Brexit transition deal with the EU -minister

  12-03-2018 14:23
  Britain is very close to agreeing the details of an implementation period with the European Union for its transition out of the bloc, junior Brexit minister Robin Walker said on Monday.Britain has said it will adhere to EU regulations for a time-limited period after it leaves the European Union in March 2019, and hopes the details of this transition, or implementation, period, will be finalised at a summit with the EU on March 22-24.
  
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• Matt Hancock Says Ban On Russia Today For Watchdog To Decide As He Announces Make-Up Of Press Review

  12-03-2018 14:04
  It is up to media watchdog Ofcom to decide whether to ban Russia Today (RT) from broadcasting in Britain Matt Hancock said today, as he announced the make-up of a review into the future of the British press.Speaking at the Oxford Media Convention on Monday, the culture secretary said the review will examine whether state intervention is needed to safeguard the future of a “free and independent” press and protect the “future of our liberal democracy”.Polly Curtis, the edit
  
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• May to make 1630 GMT statement about nerve attack on Russian spy

  12-03-2018 13:59
  LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Theresa May will make a statement in parliament at 1630 GMT on Monday about the nerve agent attack against a former Russian spy who passed secrets to British intelligence, Sky News said.
  
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• EU wants capital market plan in place before Brexit

  12-03-2018 13:50
  The European Union stepped up efforts on Monday to create a more unified and cheaper capital market by next year when it faces the loss of Britain, the bloc's biggest financial centre.The EU's executive European Commission set out its latest plans for a "capital markets union" (CMU), a project initially focused on reducing heavy reliance of company funding on bank loans, but now made more pressing by Brexit."By the time Brexit happens, the preconditions for a true single market for capital need
  
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