General news

• Sheffield renews Uber's licence for five years

  13-03-2018 23:24
  Uber ran into trouble with Sheffield city council in December after it failed to respond to officials' queries, resulting in the suspension of its licence.Uber said it had not received the correspondence the council referred to as it had been sent to the wrong address."We're pleased the council has recognised the changes Uber has made under our new leadership and look forward to working with them on shared aims like improving air quality and tackling congestion," Head of UK Cities at Uber, Fred
  
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• British city of Sheffield renews Uber's licence for five years

  13-03-2018 23:12
  Uber ran into trouble with Sheffield city council in December after it failed to respond to officials' queries, resulting in the suspension of its licence.Uber said it had not received the correspondence the council referred to as it had been sent to the wrong address."We're pleased the council has recognised the changes Uber has made under our new leadership and look forward to working with them on shared aims like improving air quality and tackling congestion," Head of UK Cities at Uber, Fred
  
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• Only Russia could be behind U.K. poison attack - toxin's co-developer

  13-03-2018 22:18
  A Russian chemist who helped develop the Soviet-era nerve agent used to poison a former Russian double agent in southern England said only the Russian government could have carried out the attack with such a deadly and advanced toxin.Vil Mirzayanov, 83, said he had no doubt that Russian President Vladimir Putin was responsible, given that Russia maintains tight control over its Novichok stockpile and that the agent is too complicated for a non-state actor to have weaponised."The Kremlin all the
  
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• Jennie Formby looks set to be Labour's general secretary

  13-03-2018 21:52
  Jennie Formby, an organiser for the Unite union, appears almost certain to clinch the post.Jennie Formby, an organiser for the Unite union, looks all but certain to be Labour’s next general secretary, completing Jeremy Corbyn’s control of the most senior posts in the party, after the GMB union threw its weight behind her.Formby’s candidacy has been keenly promoted by Corbyn’s office, and supportive Labour MPs include Chris Williamson, and party chair Ian Lavery.
  
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• After spy is poisoned, Britain mulls closing door to London for Russia's rich

  13-03-2018 21:44
  Britain's response to the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal on its soil, using a nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union, could hit members of the Russian elite hard if it closes the door on their London lifestyles.Britain gave Russian President Vladimir Putin until midnight on Tuesday to provide an explanation for the attack, and is due to consider its official response on Wednesday.One possible counter-measure, suggested by British lawmaker Tom Tugendhat, could involve
  
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• Four Labour MPs sent anti-Muslim letters or suspect packages

  13-03-2018 21:08
  Four Labour MPs have now received suspect packages or anti-Muslim letters in Parliament within 48 hours, as police investigate a potential link.Ealing Central and Acton MP Rupa Huq and Manchester Gorton MP Afzhal Khan were both sent suspicious items on Tuesday.Ms Huq revealed one of her staff members was sent to hospital after handling an "irritant substance" but was later discharged.
  
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• EDF says 24-hour strike at Blayais nuclear plant could hit output

  13-03-2018 21:04
  PARIS (Reuters) - French state-controlled utility EDF has been notified of a 24-hour strike starting at midnight at its 3,600 megawatt (MW) Blayais nuclear power plant, it said on Tuesday.
  
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• The Crown's Claire Foy paid less than male co-star, producers admit

  13-03-2018 20:47
  Claire Foy, who plays the Queen in The Crown, was paid less than her co-star Matt Smith during the first two seasons of the hit show, producers of the Netflix series have revealed.Executive producers for the series made the disclosure when asked during a panel event in Jerusalem on Tuesday if Smith, who played a young Prince Philip in the first and second seasons, was paid more than Foy.
  
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• Philip Hammond hints at public spending increases later this year

  13-03-2018 20:24
  Philip Hammond has dropped the broadest possible hint that he will announce spending increases later this year as he sought to use a modest improvement in the public finances to indicate more money was on the way for hard-pressed public services.The chancellor seized on new forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility showing a £5bn drop in the government’s budget deficit to say that he expected to have scope to act in his autumn budget.
  
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• Spy poisoning: why Putin may have engineered gruesome calling card

  13-03-2018 20:18
  Moscow’s goal is to ‘demonstrate the UK’s weakness and isolation’, says a former senior Foreign Office advisor.The response from the Kremlin has been uncompromising.The foreign ministry described Theresa May’s accusation against Moscow as a “circus show”.
  
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• Spy poisoning: why Putin may have engineered 'gruesome calling card'

  13-03-2018 20:18
  Moscow’s goal is to ‘demonstrate the UK’s weakness and isolation’, says a former senior Foreign Office advisor.The response from the Kremlin has been uncompromising.The foreign ministry described Theresa May’s accusation against Moscow as a “circus show”.
  
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• Russia threatens to expel British media if UK bars Russia Today TV over spy poisoning crisis

  13-03-2018 20:09
  MOSCOW/LONDON (Reuters) - Russia threatened on Tuesday to expel all British media after Britain warned it could strip Russian broadcaster RT of its UK operating license if the government finds Moscow was behind a chemical attack on a Russian ex-double agent in England.A British-Russian war of words escalated after London gave Russia until midnight on Tuesday to explain how a Soviet-era nerve agent was used against former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia earlier this month.Britain's medi
  
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• May wins backing of Trump, EU leaders in showdown with Russia

  13-03-2018 20:09
  U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May agreed on Tuesday that Russia must provide "unambiguous answers" after London gave Moscow until midnight to explain how a Soviet-era nerve weapon was used against a former Russian double agent.May, who said on Monday it was "highly likely" that Russia was behind the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter, also won support from Britain's main European allies and the European Union, which denounced the attack as "shocking" an
  
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• Black cab rapist John Worboys is a 'significant threat', says Sadiq Khan

  13-03-2018 19:50
  Black cab rapist John Worboys is a "significant threat to Londoners' safety", Sadiq Khan has said, as the case challenging his release from prison started in court.Barrister Phillippa Kaufmann QC argued on Tuesday that there is scant evidence to show Worboys is not dangerous, and that the hundreds of assaults he may have committed "completely undermined" the decision to free him.The case against his release, which has been partly crowdfunded, has been taken to the High Court by the London mayor
  
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• Russian spy attack: Trump supports UK 'all the way'

  13-03-2018 19:42
  Donald Trump had said earlier that his support was conditional on the facts supporting the UK’s case against Russia. Photograph: Xinhua/Rex/Shutterstock
  
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• Trump says U.S. with Britain 'all the way' over spy chemical attack

  13-03-2018 19:32
  LONDON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the United States was with Britain "all the way" in a telephone call with Prime Minister Theresa May.
  
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• Trump agrees with May: Russia must provide answers on chemical attack - White House

  13-03-2018 19:31
  U.S. President Donald Trump agreed with British Prime Minister Theresa May that Russia must provide "unambiguous answers" about how a Russian-developed chemical agent came to be used against a Russian double agent in Britain, the White House said on Tuesday after the two leaders spoke."President Trump agreed with Prime Minister May that the Government of the Russian Federation must provide unambiguous answers regarding how this chemical weapon, developed in Russia, came to be used in the United
  
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• Hammond tries full-on Tigger but finds Eeyore a better fit

  13-03-2018 19:21
  Philip Hammond in the House of Commons. Photograph: PA
  
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• Parsons Green bombing accused Ahmed Hassan 'wanted to be a fugitive'

  13-03-2018 19:14
  A teenager has told jurors he "never intended to kill" when he planted a bomb on the Tube at Parsons Green and instead wanted to live out an action film fantasy.At the Old Bailey, Ahmed Hassan told the court how during the summer of 2017 he had become bored, depressed and considered suicide.Hassan said he came up with the idea of making a homemade bomb after watching films.
  
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• France's Macron condemns nerve agent attack in Britain

  13-03-2018 18:59
  France's President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday condemned a nerve agent attack in Britain that poisoned two Russian nationals, including a former spy."The president condemned an unacceptable attack and recalled France's commitment in the fight against impunity for the use of chemical weapons," the French president's office said in a statement.It said Macron had spoken to British Prime Minister Theresa May on Monday to express his solidarity.
  
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• Russia denies role in UK nerve agent attack

  13-03-2018 18:38
  Moscow has rejected a British ultimatum to explain why a Soviet-developed toxin was allegedly used to poison a former Russian spy on British soil, until the UK hands over samples of the nerve agent. David Doyle reports.
  
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• Russian associate of late tycoon Berezovsky found dead in Britain

  13-03-2018 18:29
  British counter-terrorism police were on Tuesday investigating the unexplained death of a Russian associate of late tycoon Boris Berezovsky but said the death was not thought to be linked to a nerve agent attack on a former Russian double agent.Nikolai Glushkov, 68, was discovered dead late on Monday at an address in Clarence Avenue in suburban south-west London.British police, who did not name Glushkov, said that they were investigating the death of a man in his 60s who lived on Clarence Avenue
  
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• Russia will kick out UK media outlets if London shuts RT - RIA

  13-03-2018 18:23
  Russia will not allow any British media outlets to operate on its territory if Russian broadcaster RT loses its UK licence, a Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman said on Tuesday, amid a row over the poisoning of an ex-Russian double agent in England."Not a single British media outlet will work in our country if they shut down Russia Today (RT)," the state-run RIA news agency cited Maria Zakharova as saying on state television.In a blunt warning to Prime Minister Theresa May's government, Zakhar
  
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• Russian broadcaster RT could be forced off UK TV over spy crisis

  13-03-2018 18:18
  Britain's media regulator Ofcom said Russian broadcaster RT could lose its UK licence if Theresa May's government determines that Moscow was behind the poisoning of a former Russian double agent in England this month.RT, or Russia Today, is a round-the-clock news network that is funded by Vladimir Putin's government.With tensions growing between London and Moscow over the attack on Sergei Skripal,and his daughter Yulia in Salisbury, some lawmakers have said RT should be blocked in Britain.
  
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• Pound pummels FTSE, results roil mid caps

  13-03-2018 18:18
  LONDON/MILAN (Reuters) - Britain's top share index succumbed to gains in the pound on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, while disappointing earnings updates weighed on mid caps.The FTSEended down 1.1 percent at 7,138.78 points, while the mid cap indexfell 1.3 percent.Trump replaced Tillerson with loyalist CIA Director Mike Pompeo which, together with U.S. inflation data, weighed on the dollar.
  
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• May gets EU support, cautious backing from Trump, in showdown with Russia

  13-03-2018 18:18
  Britain gave Russia until midnight on Tuesday to explain how a Soviet-era nerve agent was used against a former Russian double agent, and U.S. President Donald Trump said he would condemn Russia if British evidence incriminated Moscow.Prime Minister Theresa May, who said on Monday it was "highly likely" that Russia was behind the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter, won support from some of Britain's main European allies and the European Union which denounced the attack as "shocking" an
  
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• Counter-terror cops probe death of Russian Nikolai Glushkov in London

  13-03-2018 18:17
  The death of a 68-year-old Russian man in London is being investigated by counter-terrorism police, Scotland Yard has said.After Mr Beresovsky was found hanged at his home near Ascot in Berkshire in March 2013, Mr Glushkov told The Guardian he would "never believe" his friend took his own life.Mr Glushkov is at the top of a list of "fugitives from justice" published by the Russian embassy.
  
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• Government to consult on ditching 1p and 2p coins as well as £50 note

  13-03-2018 18:15
  The Government will consult on whether to scrap 1p and 2p coins, along with the £50 note.As part of his spring statement on Tuesday, the Chancellor announced a call for evidence on encouraging cashless and digital payments.In documents released alongside Philip Hammond's update on the UK economy, it was revealed the Government wants to know whether the "current denominational mix meets the needs of cash users".
  
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• Boris Johnson: UK considering 'package of measures'

  13-03-2018 18:10
  The Foreign Secretary says the British Government is considering measures against Russia.
  
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• UK will save no money from Brexit for next five years, says OBR

  13-03-2018 18:08
  The UK will save no money from leaving the European Union over the next five years and is set to pay its Brexit divorce bill until at least 2064, according to the government’s independent budget watchdog.Outlining the cost of severing links with the EU, the Office for Budget Responsibility said government spending up until 2023 would have been the same if the UK had voted to remain in the 2016 referendum.On the current course assumed by the OBR, the financial settlement required to leave t
  
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• RT under review by Ofcom amid Russia investigation

  13-03-2018 18:04
  The British broadcasting regulator has placed Russian-funded television station RT on notice following a chemical weapon attack in the UK.Ofcom is questioning whether RT, formerly known as Russia Today, is fit and proper to hold a broadcast licence considering its direct funding by the public budget of the Russian state.Ofcom has warned the broadcaster that its funding is to be considered a relevant factor behind whether it is considered fit and proper to hold a licence.
  
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• Future of 1p and 2p coins questioned by Treasury

  13-03-2018 18:01 via bbc.co.uk
  The Treasury is seeking views on the future of copper coins and the £50 note.
  
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• Gang jailed for brutal attack on 17-year-old Kurdish asylum seeker

  13-03-2018 17:58
  A gang has been jailed for an attack which left a Kurdish-Iranian student with life-changing injuries.Reker Ahmed, 17, was beaten up twice over the course of 16 minutes when he and two friends were attacked in Croydon, south London.The asylum seeker suffered a fractured spine, a bleed on the brain and facial fractures shortly after midnight on 31 March.
  
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• A message from Dunblane to Florida school shooting survivors – video

  13-03-2018 17:56 via theguardian.com
  Families of the 16 children and teacher killed in the Dunblane massacre 22 years ago today send a message to survivors of last month’s Parkland school shooting in Florida, who are planning a protest to push for US gun law reform. The Dunblane shooting led the UK to bring in some of the strictest firearms legislation in the world, outlawing private ownership of most handguns. Almost overnight, 200,000 gun owners had their weapons banned, a law which was enforced with heavy fines and up to 1
  
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• Russia warns Britain against cyber attack response to spy poisoning

  13-03-2018 17:40
  Russia's embassy in London said on Tuesday it was seriously concerned about reports that Britain could launch a cyber attack against Russia and urged the UK to carefully weigh the consequences of such action."Not only is Russia groundlessly and provocatively accused of the Salisbury incident, but apparently, plans are being developed in the UK to strike Russia with cyber weapons," the Russian embassy in London said.
  
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• Russian associate of late tycoon Berezovsky found dead in Britain - Guardian

  13-03-2018 17:32
  LONDON (Reuters) - A close Russian associate of late tycoon Boris Berezovsky has been found dead in London, the Guardian newspaper reported.
  
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• Tower residents told to pay £500,000 to replace Grenfell-style cladding

  13-03-2018 17:30
  Leaseholders had argued that replacing the cladding should not be added to their service charge.Leaseholders in an apartment block covered in Grenfell-style cladding have been ordered to pay £500,000 to make their building safe after a tribunal ruled that they, rather than the management company, were obliged to cover the costs.The ruling, which could be challenged, means leaseholders of the 95-apartment Citiscape complex in Croydon, south London, may face a £2m bill, which some have
  
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• Britain to consider taxing digital giants' revenue

  13-03-2018 17:29
  Britain said it was considering taxing the revenues of internet companies like Facebookand Googleuntil international tax rules are changed to cope with digital firms that can shift sales and profits between jurisdictions.Finance minister Philip Hammond said on Tuesday he had published a paper setting out proposals for taxing global digital firms before a meeting with his G20 counterparts later this week.Big internet companies have previously paid little tax in Europe, typically by channelling sa
  
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• Spring statement 2018: Upgraded growth and borrowing sees Philip Hammond hint at spend boost

  13-03-2018 16:47
  Philip Hammond offered the prospect of a boost to public spending later this year as he presented upgraded growth forecasts and predictions of falling inflation, debt and borrowing in his spring statement.The Chancellor declared there is "light at the end of the tunnel" after years of belt-tightening, as he rejected his "Eeyore" nickname and announced himself "positively Tigger-like" about UK's fortunes.Since the Chancellor's Budget in November, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) stated
  
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• Letter: Asma Jahangir obituary

  13-03-2018 16:42
  Asma Jahangir spoke at the launch of a report on drugs and prejudice. Photograph: Jean-Pierre Muller/AFP/Getty
  
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• UK ambassador to Russia - UK expects Russian explanation on nerve agent used in Salisbury

  13-03-2018 16:34
  Britain's ambassador in Moscow, Laurie Bristow, said on Tuesday Britain expected an explanation from Russia on how a nerve agent used in an attack on a former double agent came to be in Britain."I reiterated the points made by Prime Minister May that we expect by the end of today an account from the Russian state as to how this material came to be used in Salisbury," Bristow said after meeting Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov.
  
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• True cost of Heathrow third runway must be revealed, say MPs

  13-03-2018 16:30
  Critics say a third runway at London Heathrow would put spending on other projects at risk.The true cost to the public of building a third runway at Heathrow has not been spelled out to taxpayers, according to a cross-party group of MPs, who warn that domestic flight connections and other transport spending will be jeopardised.In a letter to the Guardian, MPs and councils around Heathrow warn that promised domestic flight connections would only work with state subsidies that could not be guarant
  
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• U.S. Libor trader loses UK appeal over rigging conviction

  13-03-2018 16:29
  A former Barclaystrader lost an appeal against his conviction over Libor benchmark interest rate rigging at London's Court of Appeal on Tuesday.Alex Pabon, a 39-year-old American former derivatives trader, was jailed in 2016 alongside three other former Barclays traders for conspiracy to defraud in relation to the manipulation of Libor (London interbank offered rate).
  
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• UK's effort to rally allies over Sergei Skripal poisoning may fall short

  13-03-2018 16:14
  Boris Johnson was buoyed by support from the US secretary of state only to find that he had been fired by Donald Trump.The British foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, has said he is encouraged by the response from friends willing to rally to the UK cause over the poisoning of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal.Following a round of diplomatic phonecalls coordinated with Number 10, Johnson had been buoyed by support overnight from the US secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, only to find that Donald
  
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• Factbox - Main economic forecasts in UK budget

  13-03-2018 16:06
  LONDON (Reuters) - British finance minister Philip Hammond on Tuesday gave an update on Britain's finances and economic outlook.
  
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• Despite Brexit, Britain wins EU support on nerve agent attack

  13-03-2018 16:01
  BRUSSELS/PARIS (Reuters) - The European Union expressed solidarity with Britain after London accused Russia of a nerve agent attack on British soil, but EU diplomats cautioned there was little appetite for more economic sanctions on Moscow.Despite tensions over the slow pace of negotiations with Britain over London's decision to quit the bloc next year, the EU and NATO reacted quickly after May's speech in the British parliament on Monday on the poisoning of a former Russian double agent, Sergei
  
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• This guy charted his lovelorn Tinder experience over 28 days

  13-03-2018 15:51
  From his 53 matches, despite being ghosted, stood up and cancelled, he did manage to go on some dates.
  
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• Philip Hammond upbeat on growth and spending in spring statement

  13-03-2018 15:46
  Philip Hammond delivers his first spring statement in the House of Commons.Philip Hammond promised Britain that “our best days lie ahead of us”, as he delivered an upbeat spring statement paving the way for a boost to public spending in the autumn.Hailing a modest improvement in economic forecasts, and what he called a “turning point” in the public finances, the chancellor sought to shrug off his image as the cabinet’s Eeyore, insisting he was, “at my most pos
  
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• Hammond upbeat on growth and spending in spring statement

  13-03-2018 15:46
  Philip Hammond delivers his spring statement.Philip Hammond promised Britain that “our best days lie ahead of us”, as he delivered an upbeat spring statement paving the way for a boost to public spending in the autumn.Hailing a modest improvement in economic forecasts, and what he called a “turning point” in the public finances, the chancellor sought to shrug off his image as the cabinet’s Eeyore, insisting he was “at my most positively Tigger-like”.
  
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• Public faces 'low risk' after chemical attack, health officials insist

  13-03-2018 15:33
  Health officials insist public safety has not been compromised in Salisbury despite a warning from the doctor who oversaw the development of the nerve agent used in the attack on a Russian double agent.Dr Vil Mirzayanov was a director of Russia's chemical weapons institute in the 1980s when the novichok, or "newcomer" class of nerve agents were synthesised.
  
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