General news

• Trump 'has no actions' against Amazon - White House

  29-03-2018 23:59
  U.S. President Donald Trump was voicing concern about Amazon.com Inc when he commented about the company on Twitter on Thursday, but the administration has no action dealing with the company at this time, the White House said."The president has expressed his concerns with Amazon," White House spokeswoman Lindsay Walters told reporter on Air Force One en route to Ohio, where Trump was delivering a speech.
  
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• UK lawmakers publish evidence from Cambridge Analytica whistleblower

  29-03-2018 23:15
  A committee of British lawmakers published written evidence on Thursday provided by a whistleblower who says information about 50 million Facebook users ended up in the hands of political consultancy Cambridge Analytica.Cambridge Analytica said the documents did not support whistleblower Christopher Wylie's testimony to the committee this week.Wylie, who formerly worked for Cambridge Analytica (CA), alleges the data was used to help to build profiles on American voters and raise support for Dona
  
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• This sci-fi writer uncannily predicted the rise of smartphones and their effect on privacy in 1999

  29-03-2018 22:46
  Mind-blown.
  
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• Remainers marshal their troops for battle against hard Brexit

  29-03-2018 21:25
  Remain campaigners plan to use the next six months to try to stoke public concern over Brexit and pressure MPs to vote against the final deal that Theresa May extracts from her negotiations with the European Union.Best for Britain this week began spending the £500,000 it raised from George Soros’s foundation, starting with a set of billboards asking “When will we know what we voted for?” and stating “We all deserve a say on the final deal”, talking up the idea
  
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• Pro-EU groups ramp up efforts to thwart hard Brexit

  29-03-2018 21:25
  Remain campaigners plan to use the next six months to try to stoke public concern over Brexit and pressure MPs to vote against the final deal that Theresa May extracts from her negotiations with the European Union.Best for Britain this week began spending the £500,000 it raised from George Soros’s foundation, starting with a set of billboards saying “when will we know what we voted for?” and “we all deserve a say on the final deal”, talking up the idea of a se
  
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• GKN takeover 'a bleak day' for industry

  29-03-2018 21:00
  Jack Dromey, Labour MP for Birmingham Erdington, says Melrose's takeover of engineering giant Melrose should be blocked.
  
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• Adnan Syed of Serial podcast has been granted a new trial

  29-03-2018 20:59
  His story was widely publicised in 2014.
  
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• Labour denies it is sitting on key antisemitism measure

  29-03-2018 20:11
  Jeremy Corbyn has made acting on the Chakrabarti report a priority for the new general secretary.Labour’s leadership has denied that it is sitting on one of the key recommendations made in the Chakrabarti report on tackling antisemitism in the party.According to a progress chart prepared for the party’s ruling national executive committee (NEC) by the outgoing senior team at the party’s Southside headquarters and seen by the Guardian, the job description for an in-house lawyer
  
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• MPs condemn Leave.EU tweet on Labour antisemitism

  29-03-2018 20:09
  Leave.EU’s Twitter feed is laced with offensive comments attacking the Brexit process and seeking to establish a narrative of betrayal.MPs have issued a formal protest over an Islamophobic tweet by the Leave.EU campaign that implied Labour could not be bothered to deal with antisemitism because there were more votes in supporting Muslims.Is it any wonder that Labour can't be bothered to deal with the disgusting antisemitism in their party when they are so reliant on the votes of Britain's
  
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• Melrose claims victory in £8.1bn takeover battle for engineering giant GKN

  29-03-2018 19:48
  Takeover specialist Melrose has won control of British engineering giant GKN after a bitter £8.1bn battle for the company.Melrose clinched the cash and shares deal despite warnings from GKN's management, who vigorously resisted the approach, by going directly to shareholders with a hostile bid.Christopher Miller, Melrose's chairman, said the business would be in "very good hands" but Labour MP Jack Dromey said it was a "bleak day for British industry".
  
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• Russia expels diplomats in tit-for-tat action over Salisbury attack

  29-03-2018 19:36
  Russia will close down the US consulate in St Petersburg and expel 60 American diplomats as it takes tit-for-tat measures against all the nations that have expelled Russian diplomats over the nerve agent attack in Salisbury, the foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has said.More than 25 countries have announced plans to expel a total of more than 130 Russian diplomats in solidarity with the UK over what has been described as the first chemical weapons attack on European soil since the second world war
  
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• Real reason why London schools do better than the rest of the country

  29-03-2018 19:02
  ‘White British pupils have the lowest progress measure, both in London and in the rest of England,’ writes Chris Dunne.It is very dispiriting to see the children’s commissioner joining the ranks of politicians, journalists and other commentators in pointing the finger at “poor” schools to explain the so-called “north-south divide” in secondary school educational attainment (Poverty and funding gap blight children’s futures in the north, 2
  
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• Left feeling degraded by DWP questions

  29-03-2018 19:02
  Disabled people protest outside Westminster Abbey in 2014.The Independent Living Fund was closed the following year.“I fear for my life,” says Lucy Watts, speaking of the cuts in care packages that are forcing disabled adults into nursing homes (‘I could be taken from my home and stripped of my life’, G2, 27 March).
  
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• I love the smell of papers in the morning

  29-03-2018 19:01
  Newspapers on sale. ‘Fresh newsprint’s aroma in the morning is a delight I have enjoyed for 50 years or more,’ writes David Beake.Sharing a bottle an evening and spending just £600 a year on wine is impressive – or there again, maybe not!
  
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• Britain's oldest men celebrate their 110th birthdays on the same day

  29-03-2018 18:38
  Britain's two oldest men have been celebrating their 110th birthdays.Robert Weighton and Alf Smith were born on March 29 1908.The supercentenarians have never met but have exchanged birthday cards for the last few years.
  
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• UK remain cautious on equities, favour emerging markets - Reuters Poll

  29-03-2018 18:37
  British investors rattled by global trade tensions are holding equity exposure near four-month lows, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday, though they see emerging market assets as benefiting from dollar weakness.Reuters' latest monthly asset allocation poll of 15 UK-based investment managers was conducted between March 15-27, when U.S. President Donald Trump's moves to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, and on some imports from China, sent world stocksto six-week lows.Investors are wor
  
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• Yulia Skripal, poisoned with her Russian double-agent father, is getting better

  29-03-2018 18:33
  The daughter of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal is getting better after spending three weeks in critical condition due to a nerve toxin attack at his home in England, the hospital where she is being treated said on Thursday.After the first known use of a military-grade nerve agent on European soil since World War Two, Britain blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for the attempted murder, and the West has expelled around 130 Russian diplomats.Russia has denied using Novichok, a nerv
  
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• The sky won't fall in after Brexit? Maybe not for you, Theresa

  29-03-2018 18:26
  Theresa May visits a textile factory in Ayr, Scotland.There are few things more guaranteed to induce a sense of national panic than the prime minister announcing she is doing a whistle-stop tour of the country to reassure everyone that leaving the EU wasn’t going to be quite as bad as they feared.To mark the year to go till Brexit day, Theresa May started out by spending a few minutes at a textile factory in Ayr.
  
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• Watch this man interrupt a live news broadcast in hilarious fashion

  29-03-2018 18:25
  ‘Is this for Theresa May coming down?’
  
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• Former parole chief says the Ministry of Justice is also to blame for John Worboys failures

  29-03-2018 18:15
  The Ministry of Justice is also to blame for failures in the John Worboys case, the outgoing head of the Parole Board has said.Nick Hardwick resigned as chairman of the board after the High Court blocked its decision to release black cab rapist Worboys from prison.The MoJ pointed out that Justice Secretary David Gauke had apologised to Worboys' victims and acknowledged the department's failings after the judgment was handed down.
  
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• Melrose claims victory in GKN takeover battle

  29-03-2018 18:11
  Takeover specialist Melrose has claimed victory in the bitter £8.1bn battle for control ofBritish engineering giant GKN.The two sides had been engaged in a protracted war of words after GKN's management snubbed the approach, prompting a hostile bid from Melrose that appealed directly to shareholders.Melrose chairman Christopher Miller said the business would be in "very good hands" but Labour MP Jack Dromey said it was a "bleak day for British industry".
  
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• London zoo animals enjoy festive Easter egg treats

  29-03-2018 17:53
  Lemurs, monkeys and Komodo dragons enjoyed festive treats at London zoo on Thursday when keepers fed them Easter eggs.Ganas, the Komodo Dragon, who can sniff out food from up to 6 miles (9 km) away by using his tongue, made short work of a selection of duck, quail and chicken eggs."Komodo dragons actually eat eggs in the wild," said keeper Joe Capon.
  
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• Nerve agent attack: Condition of spy's daughter Yulia Skripal 'improving rapidly'

  29-03-2018 17:52
  The daughter of the Russian spy targeted in the Salisbury nerve agent attack is no longer in a critical condition and "improving rapidly".Yulia Skripal has "responded well to treatment" but her father Sergei remains in a critical but stable condition, Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust said.The pair were found unresponsive and taken to Salisbury District Hospital after being attacked with nerve agent novichok on 4 March.
  
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• Russian ex-spy poisoning - daughter's condition improves

  29-03-2018 17:43
  The daughter of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, who with her father was poisoned with a nerve agent at his home in England earlier this month, is no longer in a critical condition and is improving rapidly, the hospital said on Thursday.Yulia Skripal, 33, and her 66-year-old father were found on March 4 slumped on a bench in the southern English city of Salisbury where the former Russian double agent lived."I’m pleased to be able to report an improvement in the condition of Yulia Skripal
  
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• Kremlin says monitoring report UK may limit Russian debt market access

  29-03-2018 17:42
  Russia is closely watching a report that British Prime Minister Theresa May may be considering limiting London's role in marketing Russian debt to investors, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.British newspaper The Guardian reported on Wednesday that May had agreed to consider a ban on the City of London helping Russia sell government debt in the wake of the poisoning of a Russian former spy in England.After the first known use of a military-grade nerve agent on European soil since
  
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• Yulia Skripal no longer in critical condition, say Salisbury doctors

  29-03-2018 17:37
  Yulia Skripal was poisoned along with her father in Salisbury.The condition of Yulia Skripal, who was poisoned with a nerve agent in Salisbury along with her father, is improving rapidly, doctors have said.Salisbury NHS foundation trust said on Thursday the 33-year-old was no longer in a critical condition, describing her medical state as stable.
  
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• Skripals were poisoned at their home

  29-03-2018 16:50
  Skripals were poisoned at their home
  
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• Labour is waiting for Corbyn to sign off key antisemitism measure

  29-03-2018 16:49
  Jeremy Corbyn has made acting on the Chakrabarti report a priority for the new general secretary.The key outstanding recommendation made in the Chakrabarti report on tackling antisemitism in Labour is awaiting approval from the leader’s office.The hold-up has emerged as sources confirmed that Christine Shawcroft would stand down from the national executive in June when new elections are held.
  
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• Condition of Salisbury spy daughter Yulia Skripal 'improving rapidly'

  29-03-2018 16:45
  The daughter of the Russian spy targeted in the Salisbury nerve agent attack is no longer in a critical condition and "improving rapidly".Police officer Nick Bailey was discharged from hospital last week.It said: "Following the incident in Salisbury on Sunday 4 March, three people have been treated as inpatients at Salisbury District Hospital.
  
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• Woman, 29, dies after being hit by falling bricks from building site in east London

  29-03-2018 16:44
  A woman who was hit by bricks falling from a crane on a building site in east London has died.
  
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• Russia accuses UK of violating international law over Skripal case

  29-03-2018 16:43
  Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova speaks to the media in Moscow on Friday.The Russian foreign ministry has accused Britain of breaking international law by refusing to provide information on Yulia Skripal, who was poisoned in England with her father Sergei, a former Russian spy, earlier this month.Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the ministry, told reporters in Moscow that Britain had declined to cooperate with Russia on the investigation into the poisoning and had not provi
  
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• Royal wedding: Security plans for Harry and Meghan's big day revealed

  29-03-2018 16:32
  Security for the Royal wedding will include barriers to prevent vehicle attacks, armed police patrols and airport style security searches, police have revealed.The operation for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's big day will be "amongst the largest in Thames Valley Police's history", the force said, as it revealed detailed plans for the event on 19 May.Residents, local businesses and visitors to Windsor will see armed and unarmed officers, police dogs, mounted police and the National Police Air S
  
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• Boy, 3, dies after being hit by Sainsbury's lorry in Wareham, Dorset

  29-03-2018 16:32
  A three-year-old boy has died after being hit by a Sainsbury's lorry on a pedestrian crossing in Dorset.The child was crossing North Street, the main shopping street in Wareham, with his family when he was hit at 8.43am on Thursday, Dorset Police said.Detectives said a white Sainsbury's articulated lorry hit the boy.
  
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• My financial future – can I have my brunch and eat it too?

  29-03-2018 16:29 via theguardian.com
  The options appear to be: never socialise and stay in to save for a house, or live a normal, modern urban life and spiral into debt. But is there a third way?Sitting firmly in the middle of the millennial generation (those born 1981-2000) and I’m told I could easily afford to buy my first home in London if I just give up: coffee, my gym membership, an annual weekend away, takeaway food, and a mobile upgrade, or one night out a week, for five years – or avocados.Sure, London living is
  
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• Mind the income gap – the challenge of millennial finances

  29-03-2018 16:29 via theguardian.com
  For millions, it’s tough to put money into savings every month after paying for rent and transport. So how are today’s twenty- and thirtysomethings coping?The prospect of longer life expectancy and low mortgage rates should be cause for celebration, but young adults could be forgiven for choosing to leave the champagne (or prosecco) on ice for now. But for workers in their 20s and 30s, current interest rates for savings are poor and there is a growing frustration with the barriers to
  
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• Ban on housing benefit for 18 to 21-year-olds scrapped

  29-03-2018 16:20
  The government has scrapped its decision to stop young people from receiving housing benefit.The government has scrapped its year-old decision to bar 18- to 21-year-olds from receiving housing benefit amid fears the policy would drive an increase in youth homelessness.Esther McVey, the work and pensions secretary, announced on Thursday that all people in this age group would qualify for the housing element of universal credit, reversing a key part of the 2015 Conservative general election manife
  
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• Protests in Belfast and Dublin after rugby players' rape acquittal

  29-03-2018 16:19
  Paddy Jackson addresses the media outside court after being cleared of rape on Wednesday.Protests have been held in cities on either side of the Irish border after two Ireland rugby internationals were acquitted of rape.Up to 1,000 people took part in a demonstration in Belfast on Thursday after a jury’s unanimous verdicts on Wednesday in the case of Paddy Jackson and Stuart Holding, who were accused of raping a woman in June 2016.
  
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• Woman Hit By Falling Bricks In East London Dies

  29-03-2018 16:11
  A 29-year-old woman who was injured after being hit by bricks which fell from
  
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• Yulia Skripal 'Improving Rapidly' After Salisbury Poisoning, Hospital Says

  29-03-2018 16:10
  Yulia Skripal is "improving rapidly and is no longer in a critical condition"
  
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• Netherlands to halt gas production at Groningen by 2030

  29-03-2018 15:55
  The Dutch government said on Thursday it will phase out gas production at the Groningen field, once Europe's largest, by 2030 as part of efforts to reduce the danger caused by small but damaging earthquakes."Our intention is (to cut production) to get towards 12 bcm in the coming four or five years, and to zero at the end of the coming decade," Prime Minister Mark Rutte told a press conference.A chart produced by the Dutch Economy Ministry showed production falling to below 20 bcm for the produc
  
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• Prince Philip pulls out of annual service due to hip problem - source

  29-03-2018 15:33
  Britain's Prince Philip, the 96-year-old husband of Queen Elizabeth, pulled out of an annual service attended by the monarch on Thursday because of a hip problem, a royal source said.Philip was due to appear with his 91-year-old wife at the Royal Maundy Service at Leicester Cathedral in central England and attend a reception and lunch afterwards."The duke was keen to attend but made this decision because he has been experiencing some trouble with his hip," the royal source said.
  
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• Cambridge Analytica predecessor had access to secret MoD information

  29-03-2018 15:05
  SCL, Cambridge Analytica’s predecessor, had access to secret UK information and was singled out for praise by the UK Ministry of Defence for the training it provided to a psychological operations warfare group, according to documents newly released by MPs.An endorsement from an official at the 15 UK Psychological Operations Group dated January 2012 concluded that they would “have no hesitation in inviting SCL to tender for further contracts of this nature”.The document also not
  
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• Cambridge Analytica parent company had access to secret MoD information

  29-03-2018 15:05
  SCL, Cambridge Analytica’s parent company, had access to secret UK information and was singled out for praise by the UK Ministry of Defence for the training it provided to a psychological operations warfare group, according to documents newly released by MPs.An endorsement from an official at the 15 UK Psychological Operations Group dated January 2012 concluded that they would “have no hesitation in inviting SCL to tender for further contracts of this nature”.The document also
  
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• Boy, 3, Killed By Sainsbury’s Lorry As He Crossed The Road With His Family

  29-03-2018 15:05
  A three-year-old boy has been killed after being hit by a Sainsbury's lorry as
  
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• Boy, 3, dies after being hit by Sainsbury's lorry on pedestrian crossing

  29-03-2018 14:54
  A three-year-old boy has died after being hit by a Sainsbury's lorry on a pedestrian crossing in Dorset.The child was crossing North Street, the main shopping street in Wareham, with his family when he was hit at 8.43am on Thursday, Dorset Police said.Detectives said a white Sainsbury's articulated lorry hit the boy.
  
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• Russia says UK flouting law by withholding data on poisoned spy's daughter

  29-03-2018 14:18
  The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that Britain was breaking international law by refusing to provide information on Yulia Skripal who was poisoned in England with her father Sergei, a former Russian spy, earlier this month.Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the ministry, told reporters in Moscow that Britain had declined to cooperate with Russia on the investigation into the poisoning and had not provided any updates on Yulia Skripal despite the fact she was a Russian citizen.
  
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• Former spy Sergei Skripal's Salisbury house boarded up

  29-03-2018 14:18
  Former spy Sergei Skripal's Salisbury house has been boarded up, the latest Sky News pictures show.While it is difficult to see the property from the ground, aerial footage has revealed the extent of the investigations taking place at the property.In addition to the boarding, what look like long, thin planks of wood have been laid across the front garden.
  
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• Government U-turn on contaminated blood funding after 'hurtful' Grenfell comparison

  29-03-2018 14:10
  Victims of the contaminated blood scandal will receive legal support ahead of a public inquiry, the Government has announced.The U-turn comes days after victims were told that, unlike the victims and relatives of those killed in the Grenfell Tower fire, they would not receive financial support to help prepare for the inquiry.Cabinet Office minister Chloe Smith informed MPs of the U-turn on Thursday, in response to an urgent question from Labour MP Diana Johnson in the House of Commons.
  
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• May commits to spend more on healthcare after Brexit

  29-03-2018 14:05
  British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Thursday that leaving the European Union will mean more money will be available to spend on healthcare, delivering on a central promise made by campaigners to leave the bloc.Brexit supporters said during the campaign for the 2016 referendum on leaving the European Union that Britain pays 350 million pounds a week to the bloc and promised to spend the money on the National Health Service (NHS) instead."There is going to be money that otherwise we would h
  
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• Final Hatton Garden suspect appears in court accused of helping elderly gang

  29-03-2018 14:00
  A man charged in connection with the Hatton Garden heist has appeared in court almost three years after the burglary.Michael Seed, 57, is accused of conspiracy to burgle and conspiracy to conceal or disguise criminal property, Scotland Yard said.Prosecutors allege items of jewellery, precious stones and gold ingots found at his home were stolen during the heist.
  
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