General news

• Spy poisoning: Russia warns UK it is 'playing with fire' during emergency UN Security Council summit

  05-04-2018 23:37
  Britain has been warned by Russia it is "playing with fire and will be sorry" as it sought to keep foreign powers on-side over the Salisbury poisoning.British ambassador Karen Pierce said she would take no lectures from Moscow and "stick to the facts" in a heated emergency session of the UN Security Council.
  
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• Man, 73, smashes Porsche 911 through wall in Colchester

  05-04-2018 23:37 via bbc.co.uk
  The car ploughed through a fence before coming to a halt on its bonnet on a footpath in Colchester.
  
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• UEFA charge Liverpool over Manchester City bus attack

  05-04-2018 23:28
  Liverpool have been charged by UEFA after its fans pelted Manchester City's team bus with missiles.Fans were seen throwing a number of objects - including flares, cans and at least one bottle - as City's bus made its way into Anfield for the Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday evening.The vehicle was reportedly so badly damaged that City called for another for the journey home.
  
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• Six people in hospital after five separate London stabbings

  05-04-2018 23:27
  The scene in Mile End in east London following a knife attack on Thursday that left two 15-year-olds in hospital.Six people, five of them teenagers, have been hospitalised following five separate knife attacks in London on Thursday.A 13-year-old boy was one of the victims, suffering serious wounds after being stabbed in east London.
  
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• Salisbury nerve agent attack: Russian demand for joint investigation rejected

  05-04-2018 23:23
  Russia failed at the United Nations security council to prise apart the British diplomatic alliance that accuses Moscow of being responsible for the poison attack last month on Sergei and Yulia Skripal in Salisbury.A Russian call at the UN to require Britain to cooperate with Moscow by staging a joint investigation into the poisoning was rejected by the UK’s key allies on the 15 strong UN security council, including France, US, Poland the Netherlands and Sweden.The Russian president, Vladi
  
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• Darts legend Eric Bristow dies aged 60 following heart attack

  05-04-2018 23:20
  Five-time world darts champion Eric Bristow has died at the age of 60 following a heart attack.The news of Bristow's death was announced by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC).Bristow, who was born in east London and was known as the Crafty Cockney, has been called a "tremendous player and a huge character" who was "honest and straightforward".
  
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• 1,500 companies miss gender pay deadline

  05-04-2018 21:38 via bbc.co.uk
  Thousands of firms fail to submit their pay figures before Wednesday's deadline.
  
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• Man with machete hunted by police after car crash

  05-04-2018 21:00
  A man seen with a machete following a car crash is being hunted by police in Dudley.West Midlands Police said a vehicle crashed into parked cars at 3.24pm in Buffery Road.There were reports one of the people in the vehicle was in possession of a machete.
  
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• Young people have never been unhappier, research suggests

  05-04-2018 20:49
  Young people’s happiness across every single area of their lives has never been lower, research by the Prince’s Trust has found.The charity, set up by the Prince of Wales, said the results of its annual UK Youth Index, which gauges young people’s happiness and confidence across a range of areas, from working life to mental and physical health, should “ring alarm bells”.
  
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• Young Britons have never been unhappier, research suggests

  05-04-2018 20:49
  Young people’s happiness across every single area of their lives has never been lower, research by the Prince’s Trust has found.The charity, set up by the Prince of Wales, said the results of its annual UK Youth Index, which gauges young people’s happiness and confidence across a range of areas, from working life to mental and physical health, should “ring alarm bells”.
  
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• Prince Charles dismisses personal toilet seat rumour as 'c***'

  05-04-2018 20:35
  The Prince of Wales has pooh-poohed the rumour he takes his own personal toilet seat with him on overseas trips, telling interviewers in Australia: "Don't believe all that crap".The question was put to the Prince as he and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, fulfilled an engagement in Brisbane during a seven-day tour of Australia.Clarence House said it would not be commenting on the radio station's interview, but Charles's director of communications, Julian Payne, poured cold water on the su
  
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• Russian TV airs 'Skripal phone call'

  05-04-2018 20:32 via bbc.co.uk
  The recording is allegedly of a conversation between Yulia Skripal and her cousin Viktoria.
  
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• 'Beautiful' wartime love letters published online

  05-04-2018 20:21 via bbc.co.uk
  Glasgow University is using social media to share months of letters between a POW and his wife.
  
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• Peers report pro-Corbyn Facebook pages to police for antisemitism

  05-04-2018 19:54
  Lord Sugar, a signatory to the letter to Scotland Yard, has been strongly critical of Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership of Labour.A group of peers, including Alan Sugar, have written to the Metropolitan police to report antisemitic abuse on Facebook pages backing Jeremy Corbyn.The letter, to the Metropolitan police commissioner, Cressida Dick, came from a group of cross-party peers, drafted by Lord Polak, who is honorary president of the Conservative Friends of Israel.
  
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• Hither Green 'burglary death' suspect, 78, bailed

  05-04-2018 19:54 via bbc.co.uk
  An intruder was stabbed during a struggle at the man's house in Hither Green, south-east London.
  
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• Yulia Skripal's cousin injects unpredictable element to spy poisoning case

  05-04-2018 19:51
  The Russian TV broadcast of a conversation between a recovering Yulia Skripal and her cousin Viktoria, followed soon after by the first UK government sanctioned statement from Yulia on her improving health, injects a highly unpredictable personal element into the staged trench warfare between two nation states.Both Russia and the UK, operating to tight scripts, are fighting to retain their global reputation, but both countries may find themselves highly dependent on the members of the Skripal fa
  
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• National Poo Museum plans new home on Isle of Wight

  05-04-2018 19:44 via bbc.co.uk
  Organisers are aiming to renovate a 19th century fort into a centre dedicated to excrement.
  
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• Lifetime animal ban for Looe couple with 73 cats

  05-04-2018 19:24 via bbc.co.uk
  The RSPCA said the pair was well-intentioned but had given "completely incompetent care".
  
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• Grenfell cladding failed to meet safety standards

  05-04-2018 19:11 via bbc.co.uk
  An industry source says he believes the tower's cladding should have been recalled before the fire.
  
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• Cardinal Keith O’Brien asked for forgiveness in his will, mourners told

  05-04-2018 19:11
  Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the disgraced former head of the Roman Catholic church in Scotland who died last month, asked in his will for forgiveness from those he offended.Mourners at his funeral were told by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, archbishop of Westminster, who led the service, that O’Brien wrote in his last will and testament, “I ask for forgiveness for all I have offended in this life”.
  
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• Antisemitism on the left and Jeremy Corbyn

  05-04-2018 18:57
  ‘We are dismayed by unbalanced reporting ahead of the local elections of allegations of antisemitism against Jeremy,’ writes 16 Jewish Labour party members in Corbyn’s constituency.Owen Jones’s contribution to the discussion of left antisemitism (Labour’s mission is to transform Britain.It can’t let bigotry get in the way, 4 April) tackles several important issues, yet overlooks the elephant in the room: the obsessive and irrational hatred of the Jewish s
  
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• Intruder killed in suspected burglary was wanted by police over another break-in

  05-04-2018 18:47
  An intruder stabbed to death during an apparent burglary was wanted by police over another break-in, it has emerged.Henry Vincent, 37, from Kent, was killed in an incident at Richard Osborn-Brooks' home in Hither Green, southeast London on Tuesday night.Pensioner Osborn-Brooks was arrested on suspicion of murder and has now been bailed until May pending further inquiries.
  
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• Too early to say whether Facebook has done enough on data - UK watchdog

  05-04-2018 18:33
  Facebook is co-operating with Britain's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as it examines how 30 organisations have used personal data, but the ICO said on Thursday it was too early to say whether the social media giant had done enough.On Wednesday, Facebook said the personal information of up to 87 million users, mostly in the United States, may have been improperly shared with political consultancy Cambridge Analytica, more than previous estimates.The ICO said it was looking at how data w
  
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• Diesel cars: Why are sales falling?

  05-04-2018 18:23 via bbc.co.uk
  Sales of new diesels are down by a third. So why is demand dropping?
  
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• London stab victim Israel Ogunsola was Facebook friends with murdered Tanesha Melbourne

  05-04-2018 18:20
  An 18-year-old man stabbed to death in Hackney on Wednesday night was Facebook friends with a teenage girl killed in London earlier this week.Israel Ogunsola is said to have approached police suffering from knife wounds shortly before 8pm on Wednesday following the attack.Paramedics and staff from the London Air Ambulance attempted to save his life but he was pronounced dead at the scene less than half an hour later.
  
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• Yulia Skripal has not taken up Russian offer of assistance - UK government

  05-04-2018 18:16
  The British authorities have conveyed to Yulia Skripal, a Russian woman who was poisoned a month ago in England, the Russian embassy's offer of consular assistance but she has not taken it up, the Foreign Office in London said on Thursday.Britain has said they were poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent and Russia was responsible.Russia denies any involvement.
  
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• Recovering daughter of ex-spy poisoned in UK makes first comment after attack

  05-04-2018 18:16
  LONDON/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Yulia Skripal made her first public comments on Thursday since being poisoned in Britain last month with her ex-Russian agent father, saying she was getting stronger by the day but shedding no new light on the incident.Yulia and Sergei Skripal, 66, were found slumped unconscious on a public bench in the southern English city of Salisbury on March 4.Britain said they were poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent, the first known use of such a toxin on European soil sin
  
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• UK threatens action against 1,500 firms over silence on gender pay gap

  05-04-2018 18:14
  About 1,500 large British companies that failed to meet a government deadline to report the pay gap between male and female employees could face legal action, Britain's equality watchdog said on Thursday.A law introduced last year requires companies and charities with more than 250 workers - covering almost half of Britain's workforce - to report their gender pay gap each year by April 4.Britain's Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said the 1,500-odd companies that had not met the deadl
  
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• FTSE 100 in £42bn surge as Trump trade war fears seen as overblown

  05-04-2018 18:13
  Stock markets are recovering some value as hopes grow that the two largest economies in the world will avert a damaging trade war.Over the past few weeks the US - followed by China - hasfired their first salvoesin a dispute that has rattled investors globally and helped whisk values from record highs.The focus has been largely concentrated on the two countries since President Donald Trump moved to impose tariffs on US imports of steel and aluminium products - exempting the EU and many other nati
  
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• 'Heartbroken' mayor attacks government over latest London 'murders'

  05-04-2018 18:13
  London's mayor says he is "angered and heartbroken" about ongoing deaths in the capital as he heaped further pressure on the Government about rising levels of violent crime.Sadiq Khan highlighted that crime had risen across the country since 2014 as he responded to calls he had not spoken out following the latest deaths.Mr Khan said on Twitter: "I'm angered and heartbroken by the number of violent deaths on our streets this week - and this year.
  
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• British digital minister says to meet Facebook over data leak concerns

  05-04-2018 18:10
  LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Digital Minister Matt Hancock said he would be meeting Facebooknext week about concerns raised by recent data leaks.
  
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• SNB's Maechler says cryptocurrencies won't rival conventional currency

  05-04-2018 18:03
  Cryptocurrencies are not true competitors to conventional currencies despite soaring interest in products like bitcoin, Swiss National Bank Governing Board member Andrea Maechler said on Thursday.Private-sector digital currencies were better and less risky than any version that might be offered by a central bank, Maechler added, indicating the SNB has no appetite for launching its own e-franc."Digital central bank money for the general public is not necessary to ensure an efficient system for ca
  
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• Little progress from 'magical thinking' in Brexit talks on Irish border

  05-04-2018 18:01
  The UK’s Brexit negotiators are being urged to come up with a fresh plan to solve the deadlock on the Irish border as a fresh round of talks on the issue continues.Six weeks of negotiations on Ireland began on Monday last week in Brussels as part of a UK-EU deal to explore workable solutions for the border, days after Theresa May said the transition deal struck last month would inject a “new dynamic” into talks.Sources say the proposals put on the table by the UK last week are
  
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• Swimmer raped woman after she had sex with his friend, court hears

  05-04-2018 17:36
  Otto Putland represented Wales at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.A woman has told a jury she was raped by an international swimmer moments after she had consensual sex with another top swimmer.Otto Putland, 24, who represented Wales at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, is accused of raping the woman following a night out in Cardiff.
  
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• I am not part of Labour’s antisemitism problem

  05-04-2018 17:25
  Your article (Why Labour continues to struggle with antisemitism, 26 March) gave the entirely wrong impression that I was part of the Labour party’s antisemitism problem.It said: “In her report, [Shami] Chakrabarti concluded that Labour ‘is not overrun by antisemitism, Islamophobia or other forms of racism’.
  
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• Weightlifter Zoe Smith: from Olympic injury hell to Commonwealth medallist

  05-04-2018 17:24 via theguardian.com
  After suffering an injury that crushed her dreams of competing in the Olympics, weightlifter Zoe Smith was carried through her darkest days by her family and support teamby Rosie Mullender Continue reading...
  
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• From solar torches to bioloos: five frugal innovations from around the world

  05-04-2018 17:15 via theguardian.com
  Not everyone wants to send rockets into space. For these innovators, a cheap, effective, no-frills product is the goalWhether it’s bringing quality healthcare closer to those residing in rural villages or providing people with facilities as basic and necessary as toilets, it’s sometimes wise not to overcomplicate things. Frugal innovation, based on the Indian concept of jugaad – innovating when there are limitations in resources – can provide an answer when capital is low
  
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• UEFA charge Liverpool FC over Manchester City bus attack

  05-04-2018 17:14
  Liverpool FC has been charged by UEFA after its fans pelted Manchester City's team bus with missiles.Fans were seen throwing a number of objects - including flares, cans and at least one bottle - as City's bus made its way into Anfield for the Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday evening.The vehicle was reportedly so badly damaged that City called for another for the journey home.
  
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• Woman tells court of 'moment top swimmer Otto Putland raped her'

  05-04-2018 17:12
  A woman who has accused a Commonwealth Games swimmer of rape has told a court he entered a bedroom and started taking his clothes off after she had consensual sex with his friend.Otto Putland, who competed for Wales in the 2014 Glasgow games, is on trial for allegedly sexually assaulting her after an evening out in Cardiff in July 2015.The woman said after she had sex with Putland's friend Ieuan Lloyd in his bedroom, Mr Lloyd left the room and started talking to Putland.
  
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• North Yorkshire Moors Railway withdraws WW2 German soldier invite

  05-04-2018 17:11 via bbc.co.uk
  A railway charity says the decision is a response to negative publicity in the national press.
  
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• How does London's spate of killings compare with other cities?

  05-04-2018 16:41
  A spate of recent suspected murders in London has prompted concerns about rising levels of knife and gun crime in the capital.The total in 2017 was 116, excluding the deaths in the Westminster, London Bridge and Finsbury Park terrorist attacks.One of the more eye-catching comparisons has been with New York, presumably because it is etched into the public consciousness as a place associated with high levels of violence.
  
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• Latest teenager killed in London stabbing named as Israel Ogunsola

  05-04-2018 16:21
  An 18-year-old who died after being stabbed in Hackney on Wednesday night has been named as Israel Ogunsola.The teenager is said to have approached police himself in Link Street suffering from knife wounds shortly before 8pm.Paramedics and staff from the London Air Ambulance attempted to save his life but he was pronounced dead at the scene less than half an hour later.
  
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• Liverpool FC charged after Man City bus attack

  05-04-2018 16:15
  Liverpool FC has been charged by UEFA after its fans attacked Manchester City's bus with missiles.Fans were seen throwing objects, including flares, cans and at least one bottle, as the Manchester team's bus made its way into Anfield for the Champions League quarterfinal on Wednesday evening.Liverpool won the first leg game 3-0 and will play Man City in the second leg next week.
  
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• Osborn-Brooks: What we know about pensioner accused of stabbing 'burglar'

  05-04-2018 16:00
  A 78-year-old arrested on suspicion of murder over the death of an intruder in his home has been released on bail.
  
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• Another Stabbing In Walthamstow As Spate Of Violence Stuns London

  05-04-2018 16:00
  A man has been stabbed in Walthamstow, the Metropolitan Police have confirmed.
  
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• Playing the fool: Belarus’s first clown festival – in pictures

  05-04-2018 15:58 via theguardian.com
  Dozens of artists from Belarus and Russia gathered on April Fools’ Day to take part in Belarus’s first clown festival, Clown Show 2018. The event, held in the city of Bobruisk, was captured by the photographer Tatyana Zenkovich Continue reading...
  
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• Nerve agent attack: Yulia Skripal says her 'strength is growing daily'

  05-04-2018 15:58
  Yulia Skripal says her "strength is growing daily" and thanked those who came to her aid in the wake of the Salisbury attack.In a statement issued by the Metropolitan Police on behalf of the 33-year-old, Ms Skripal revealed she "woke up over a week ago" after being exposed to a nerve agent in the Wiltshire city."Further than that, I would like to thank the staff at Salisbury District Hospital for their care and professionalism.
  
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• London teenager fatally stabbed named as Israel Ogunsola

  05-04-2018 15:43
  Israel Ogunsola died about half an hour after being stabbed and despite the efforts of police officers, paramedics and a trauma doctor from London’s air ambulance.A teenager stabbed to death in north-east London on Wednesday night has been named as Israel Ogunsola.The teenager died in the shadow of a railway bridge on Link Street at the junction with Morning Lane in Hackney at 8.24pm, about half an hour after being stabbed and despite the efforts of a police officers, paramedics and a trau
  
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• Former A&E doctor Martin Watt jailed for stash of guns and 'assassination list'

  05-04-2018 15:23
  A former A&E doctor has been jailed for 12 years for stashing a stock of guns with the intent to endanger life.Police found Martin Watt with three sub machine guns, two pistols and 1,500 live cartridges at an address in Cumbernauld in 2017.Watt, 62, had been sacked from his job at North Lanarkshire's Monklands Hospital following a disciplinary hearing and around the same period his marriage broke down, the High Court in Glasgow heard.
  
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• Moscow will accept results of nerve agent tests-Russia's UK envoy

  05-04-2018 15:12
  LONDON (Reuters) - Russia's ambassador to Britain said Moscow would accept the results of tests by international chemical weapons inspectors on a suspected nerve agent used to poison a former Russian spy in England but only if the process was transparent.
  
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