General news

• PM to ask Commonwealth leaders to sign Clean Oceans Alliance

  18-04-2018 23:50
  PM due to ask Commonwealth leaders to sign Clean Oceans Alliance set up to help developing Commonwealth countries research and improve waste management.
  
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• Plastic straws and cotton buds could be banned in England under Government plans

  18-04-2018 23:41
  The Government says it is prepared to ban the sale of plastic straws, cotton buds and drinks stirrers in England in a bid to cut pollution.Prime Minister Theresa May said plastic waste was "one of the greatest environmental challenges facing the world" and the UK was taking a lead in tackling the problem.A consultation on banning the disposable plastic products will launch later this year in an effort to cut the amount of waste which ends up in rivers and oceans.
  
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• Britain to ban sale of plastic straws in bid to fight waste

  18-04-2018 23:39
  Britain plans to ban the sale of plastic straws and other single use products and is pressing Commonwealth allies to also take action to tackle marine waste, the office of Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May said.May has pledged to eradicate avoidable plastic waste by 2042 as part of a "national plan of action"."Plastic waste is one of the greatest environmental challenges facing the world, which is why protecting the marine environment is central to our agenda at the Commonwealth Heads of Gove
  
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• May pays tribute to Queen's dedication to Commonwealth

  18-04-2018 23:35
  Prime Minister Theresa May is to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth for leading the Commonwealth with "service, dedication and constancy" as she thanks her for opening her homes to welcome leaders from across the world this week.On Thursday up to 47 leaders will gather at Buckingham Palace, one of the queen's homes, where May will thank the Queen.Over many years you have been the Commonwealth's most steadfast and fervent champion," May will say, according to pre-released extracts of her comments.
  
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• Labour would rip up definition of affordable housing, Corbyn says

  18-04-2018 23:30
  A Labour government would rip up the government’s definition of affordable housing and instead bring in a measure linked to people’s incomes, Jeremy Corbyn will say on Thursday.The Labour leader and John Healey, the shadow housing secretary, set out the party’s plans to link affordability to people’s incomes on tenures including social rent, living rent and low-cost ownership, in the 40-page green paper, to be launched on Thursday.
  
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• This telephone box is Brighton’s smallest coffee shop

  18-04-2018 22:52
  You can get your daily caffeine fix from Dialling In Kiosk.
  
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• China's ZTE delays earnings amid confusion over U.S. ban

  18-04-2018 22:33
  SAN FRANCISCO/NEW YORK (Reuters) - China's ZTE Corp on Wednesday postponed the release of quarterly earnings, saying it needs time to assess the impact of a U.S. order that bans American companies from selling it parts, which could undermine its ability to manufacture equipment.ZTE , a maker of telecommunications equipment and smartphones, was due to release results on Thursday.It announced the delay as components makers, wireless carriers, retailers, telecommunications firms and Alphabet Inc'sG
  
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• David Cameron: I don't regret calling EU referendum

  18-04-2018 22:29
  David Cameron has said he does not regret calling the Brexit referendum, despite the decision setting off a series of events which ended with him resigning as prime minister.In his first major TV interview since leaving office in July 2016, Mr Cameron told CNN he believes Britain has "taken the wrong course" in opting to leave the European Union.Mr Cameron, who entered Downing Street at the head of a coalition government in 2010 before winning a surprise majority in 2015, said: "I don't regret h
  
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• 10 tweets that pretty much sum up how we are feeling about the first heatwave of the year

  18-04-2018 22:19
  ‘You know you’re British when you take a coat everywhere with you, even in a heatwave.’
  
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• We Look Back On The Career Of Prime Minister David Cameron

  18-04-2018 22:10
  David Cameron has said he does not regret calling the Brexit referendum, despite the decision setting off a series of events which ended with him resigning as prime minister.
  
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• Vaginal mesh: 1 in 3 women need trauma treatment

  18-04-2018 21:40
  More than a third of women who have been fitted with vaginal mesh in the last decade have returned after surgery to be treated for trauma.
  
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• May dealt embarrassing Brexit defeat in parliament's upper house

  18-04-2018 21:40
  Britain's upper house of parliament inflicted an embarrassing defeat on Theresa May's government on Wednesday, challenging her refusal to remain in a customs union with the EU after Brexit.May, who has struggled to unite her Conservative Party over Brexit, has said Britain will leave the European Union's single market and customs union after it quits the bloc next March so that London can forge its own free trade deals.
  
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• 'Very angry badger' leaves Scottish castle after two days

  18-04-2018 21:32
  A "very angry badger" has left a castle in Scotland after causing carnage in its cellar tunnel.Craignethan Castle, in Lanarkshire, shut the Cellar Tunnel from midday on Thursday after staff spotted the unusual guest when it had dug through loose soil and into stonework.Historic Environment Scotland (HES) tweeted about the unusual lodger, saying: "If you're heading to #CraignethanCastle over the next few days you might find the Cellar Tunnel closed due to the presence of a very angry badger.
  
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• Vaginal mesh op failures 'costing NHS millions' says analysis

  18-04-2018 21:25
  Vaginal mesh operations are failing and costing the NHS millions of pounds, according to new analysis.Government figures show that about 500 of every 13,000 women implanted with the mesh to treat urinary incontinence and prolapse are re-operated on within a decade to have it removed.The surgery, which usually takes less than half an hour, involves inserting a plastic mesh into the vagina to support the bladder, womb or bowel.
  
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• Nigel Farage: two of my children have German passports

  18-04-2018 21:15
  Nigel Farage said he believed Britain had lost the second world war because its ‘big imperial possessions started to disappear’.Nigel Farage has admitted two of his children have both British and German passports, which would allow them to take advantage of free movement rights post-Brexit, but insisted they feel British rather than European.Farage has four children, two with his wife Kirsten Mehr, who is a German national and has confirmed the couple separated last year.
  
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• Government in chaos over Windrush after double setback for May

  18-04-2018 21:03
  Theresa May’s attempt to blame Labour for the destruction of landing card slips in 2009 backfired when contradictory information emerged.Theresa May’s attempt to get a grip on the Windrush crisis descended into chaos on Wednesday after two major announcements she made on the subject were immediately called into question.In a day of confusion over the treatment of Windrush-era arrivals unfairly targeted over their immigration status, May promised that Albert Thompson, a London man den
  
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• UK basks in balmy weather – with temperatures set to rise further

  18-04-2018 21:00
  Workers enjoy lunch in the sun near Tower Bridge in London.The UK basked in the warmest weather of the year so far on Wednesday, with temperatures forecast to rise even higher on Thursday – and stay high into the weekend.The south-east of England enjoyed the warmest of Wednesday’s weather, with a high of 25C recorded in both Gravesend in Kent and St James’ Park in London.
  
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• UK attacks Russia's 'changing fantasies' on Skripal nerve agent attack at chemical summit

  18-04-2018 20:55
  The United Kingdom has accused Russia of having "multiple narratives" and "no credibility" at an emergency meeting of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to discuss the Salisbury poisoning."To date, Russia has proposed more than 30 contradictory and changing fantasies to explain the Salisbury attack" the UK ambassador to the OPCW, Peter Wilson, said."Russia's actions to confuse and distract have not worked, but instead show how hard they are trying to hide the truth.
  
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• EU politicians demand broader inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia murder

  18-04-2018 20:36 via theguardian.com
  Malta police chief urged to pursue those ‘with a motivation for silencing’ journalistPoliticians across Europe have demanded that Malta’s chief of police broaden the investigation into the killing of Daphne Caruana Galizia so that it pursues more aggressively those “with a motivation for silencing” the anti-corruption journalist.Their intervention comes following Tuesday’s launch of the Daphne Project, a collaboration between international media organisations,
  
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• Jamaican PM and Labour MP call for Windrush compensation

  18-04-2018 20:32
  Members of the Windrush generation who were denied services, wrongfully detained or even deported should be awarded compensation, the Jamaican prime minister and the Labour MP David Lammy have urged.Calls for financial redress are growing as the scale of the indignities and injustices inflicted on those unable to prove their right to residence – even as the Home Office destroyed its own records – becomes increasingly apparent.Speaking outside the Commonwealth conference in London, An
  
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• Lord Adonis: 'Brexit is not a done deal'

  18-04-2018 20:25
  Lord Adonis speaks to Sky's Niall Paterson about Brexit and says "it is not a done deal".
  
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• Sir Cliff Richard case: Reporter Dan Johnson 'guessed' singer's name in police probe

  18-04-2018 20:19
  A BBC journalist who revealed Sir Cliff Richard's home was being searched by police has told how he guessed the singer was being investigated.Dan Johnson said he made the guess after a contact told him police were looking at "just one more major figure".Mr Johnson said he had heard "previous rumours" about Sir Cliff, and he was "determined" to protect his "confidential source".
  
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• More than 100 Windrush cases being investigated by Home Office

  18-04-2018 19:56
  A total of 113 Windrush cases are now being investigated by the Home Office, it has been confirmed.A helpline has been set up to help people regularise their immigration status following warnings they could be deported unless they can prove they are entitled to be in the UK.It was established on Tuesday, with the Home Office saying 49 cases had been reported on the first day.
  
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• Rotherham council told to apologise to abuse whistleblower

  18-04-2018 19:34
  Rotherham council has been ordered to apologise to a whistleblower who helped to expose the town’s grooming scandal after council officials raided her charity without proper explanation – years after she risked imprisonment by revealing how the council, police and social services turned a blind eye to the abuse of at least 1,400 children.Jayne Senior, who has worked with grooming victims since the 1999 in Rotherham and is now a Labour councillor, has been under investigation by the c
  
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• PM May dealt embarrassing Brexit defeat in parliament's upper house

  18-04-2018 19:32
  Britain's upper house of parliament inflicted an embarrassing defeat on Theresa May's government on Wednesday, challenging her refusal to remain in a customs union with the European Union after Brexit.The Prime Minister, who has struggled to unite her Conservative party over Brexit, has said Britain will leave the EU's single market and customs union after it quits the bloc next March so that London can forge its own free trade deals.
  
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• Peers inflict big defeat on Government over flagship Brexit bill

  18-04-2018 19:21
  The Government has suffered a heavy defeat in the House of Lords over its policy of leaving the EU's customs union.It seeks to keep open the option of Britain staying in a form of customs union with the EU, something Prime Minister Theresa May is against.The PM has pledged that Britain will no longer be a member of the bloc's customs union and single market after Brexit.
  
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• May accused of 'callousness' over Windrush by Corbyn - but she hits back

  18-04-2018 19:03
  There were fiery exchanges in the Commons as Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn clashed over the destruction of landing cards that recorded the arrival of Windrush immigrants to Britain.The Labour leader accused the Prime Minister of "callousness and incompetence", but a furious Mrs May said she had little time for lectures from a leader who "allows anti-Semitism to run rife in his party".The disclosure that the documents were disposed of has deepened the scandal, but there has been confusion over wh
  
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• A poor and fumbling Maybot still puts one over Corbyn at PMQs

  18-04-2018 18:56
  Jeremy Corbyn made the basic mistake of asking a question to which he didn’t know the answer.One of Jeremy Corbyn’s more appealing characteristics is his willingness to stand up for the underdog.Theresa May might have got lucky with her first bombing raid on Syria, but she has been held bang to rights over the shameful treatment of the Windrush generation.
  
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• Police give name to newborn girl found dead in Roch Valley Woods

  18-04-2018 18:53
  Police have given a name to a newborn baby found dead in woods in Manchester as they repeat their appeal for information.Detectives have named the baby girl Peal, whose naked body was found by a dog walker at around 7.10am on Wednesday 4 April in an area known locally as Bluebell Forest, part of the Roch Valley Woods in Heywood, Greater Manchester.Leading the investigation, Detective Chief Inspector Lewis Hughes of Greater Manchester Police, said very limited information had been passed to the f
  
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• Last of UK Queen Elizabeth's beloved corgi dogs has died - Daily Mail

  18-04-2018 18:53
  The last of Queen Elizabeth's corgi dogs, who appeared with the British monarch for a film segment during the 2012 London Olympic Games opening ceremony, has died at the age of 14, the Daily Mail newspaper reported.Willow, who was the 14th generation descended from the first corgi, Susan, owned by the 91-year-old queen since her 18th birthday, was put to sleep at Windsor Castle on Sunday, the paper said."The queen has mourned every one of her corgis over the years, but she has been more upset ab
  
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• Inclusion in education works. We must respect it

  18-04-2018 18:53
  Through careful support and reasonable adjustments, and alongside our sensory impaired students, we were able to ensure that opportunity was given to all to fulfil themselves and become the best that they could be.The rot began to set in with the reporting of test results, compounded by Ofsted assessments that moved more and more to analysis of schools’ performance.
  
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• Brexit bill: May under pressure after two big defeats in Lords

  18-04-2018 18:51 via theguardian.com
  Amendment calling for UK to continue in customs union with EU passed by majority of 123Theresa May was under pressure to reopen the issue of Britain’s membership of a customs union after suffering two big defeats in the House of Lords on the government’s key Brexit bill.Peers backed an amendment to the EU withdrawal bill that would force the government to explain what it has done to pursue remaining in a customs union, by 348 votes to 225 – a convincing majority of 123. Continu
  
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• Brexit bill: government suffers Lords defeat on leaving customs union

  18-04-2018 18:51
  Theresa May has suffered an embarrassing defeat in the House of Lords over the issue of Britain’s membership of the customs union, increasing pressure on the government to reopen the issue.An amendment to the EU withdrawal bill tabled by crossbencher Lord Kerr, and backed by several senior Conservatives, as well as Labour and the Lib Dems, was passed by a 348 votes to 225 – a majority of 123.The government suffered a significant rebellion, with 24 Conservatives, including former mini
  
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• De La Rue drops blue British passport bid, says profit hit

  18-04-2018 18:40
  De La Rueabandoned its challenge to Britain's decision to award the contract for new blue post-Brexit passports to a foreign firm and issued a profit warning on Wednesday.Together with delays in some contracts in the last week of its financial year, that would result in it missing profit expectations, De La Rue said in a statement.Prime Minister Theresa May said the decision to change British passports from the burgundy shade used by most European Union countries to the traditional dark blue was
  
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• TMS bowled out by TalkSport but stop weeping, change is sometimes good | Barney Ronay

  18-04-2018 18:39 via theguardian.com
  News that the BBC had lost the radio rights to England’s winter tours was greeted with dismay but cricket fans should realise a different voice for the sport is both possible and necessaryStop all the clocks. Stamp a single steel-toed work boot through Mrs Blenkinsop’s sensational triple-tiered Victoria sponge. Prevent the dog from barking with a bag of gravel. For BBC Test Match Special is dead. Or at least, suspended for a bit over the autumn and winter.Instead commercial radio is
  
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• UK warmer than Athens and Rome on hottest day of 2018

  18-04-2018 18:28
  Gravesend in Kent and St James's Park in London both recorded the highest temperature of 24.8C in the afternoon.Across the rest of the southeast, the average temperature was 24C - the same as sunny Madrid.Rome and Athens, in comparison, were 22C.
  
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• Tory MP Ross Thomson criticised over 'channel my inner dictator' Facebook post

  18-04-2018 18:27
  A Tory MP has been branded a "disgrace" as he was accused of "trivialising" Saddam Hussein's brutal rule in Iraq.Ross Thomson, the Aberdeen South MP, is revealed to have boasted on Facebook of being able to "channel my inner dictator" during a visit to the Middle East.As reported by The Herald newspaper, the politician posted a photo of himself sitting on Hussein's throne.
  
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• Two-thirds of NHS healthcare assistants doing nurses' duties, union finds

  18-04-2018 18:16
  Support workers should supplement the work of nurses not replace them, says the Royal College of Nursing.Almost two-thirds of healthcare assistants (HCAs) are performing roles usually undertaken by nurses, such as giving patients drugs and dressing their wounds, in the latest illustration of the NHS’s staffing crisis.The apparently growing trend of assistants acting as “nurse substitutes” has sparked concern that patients may receive inferior or potentially unsafe care because
  
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• This can’t keep happening! – Harriet Harman jests with Maria Miller on accidentally matching outfits

  18-04-2018 18:15
  ‘Text me outfit pic before you leave home!’
  
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• Theresa May accused of 'callousness' over Windrush by Jeremy Corbyn - but she hits back

  18-04-2018 17:40
  There were fiery exchanges in the Commons as Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn clashed over the destruction of landing cards that recorded the arrival of Windrush immigrants to Britain.The Home Office said on Tuesday that the decision was taken in 2010 by the UK Border Agency - when the PM was home secretary.
  
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• Battling passive funds, AllianzGI to launch UK performance fee option

  18-04-2018 17:36
  Asset manager Allianz Global Investors is to offer British retail clients the chance to pay a lower yearly fee for some of its UK equity funds if they are prepared to give up a slice of any outperformance.The move is the latest attempt by an active fund manager that picks assets for clients to counter low-cost exchange-traded funds that passively track indexes and have gained market share as cheap central bank money has curbed market volatility."We want to regain market share from passive (funds
  
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• Windrush row: man denied cancer care questions PM's promise

  18-04-2018 17:34
  Theresa May speaks at prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons.Theresa May is facing controversy over the case of Albert Thompson, a Londoner denied free NHS cancer treatment despite having lived in the UK for 44 years, after he disputed the prime minister’s assertion to parliament that he would now receive the care he needed.Amid the continued fallout over the way some members of the Windrush generation, who arrived in the UK from the Caribbean mainly as children, have bee
  
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• Windrush citizen disputes Theresa May's promise of cancer care

  18-04-2018 17:34
  Theresa May speaks at prime minister’s questions in the House of Commons.Theresa May is facing controversy over the case of Albert Thompson, a Londoner denied free NHS cancer treatment despite having lived in the UK for 44 years, after he disputed the prime minister’s assertion to parliament that he would now receive the care he needed.Amid the continued fallout over the way some members of the Windrush generation, who arrived in the UK from the Caribbean mainly as children, have bee
  
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• Guess the Avengers superhero (and the odd villain) – quiz

  18-04-2018 17:25 via theguardian.com
  Take this quiz to see if you can sort the Avengers goodies from the baddies (and those in between) with the help of some of witty cluesThe Avengers will soon be back in action, in a bid to stop Thanos – one of the biggest bad guys in the Marvel universe – from uniting the infinity stones and killing half the galaxy. But how much do you remember about where the (pretty huge) gang has got to? Find out in our quiz below.This hero has lost his home, his weapon of choice, and even one of
  
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• Black Panther, Iron Man, Thor and more: the ultimate Avengers primer

  18-04-2018 17:25 via theguardian.com
  Marvel’s expansive world of superheroes and arch villains comes together in Avengers: Infinity War. Read on to relive the epic battles and rivalries that are sure to play out in the new film Avengers: Infinity War arrives in cinemas on 26 April, with the most powerful team in film history uniting once more to take on Thanos. But he won’t go down without a fight, and plans to bring together the six infinity stones – items of supreme power – that are dotted throughout the f
  
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• Senior police officer sacked over secret files stolen from car

  18-04-2018 17:21
  Marcus Beale left the documents in the car boot for five days, a disciplinary panel was told.A senior counter-terrorism police officer who had top-secret documents stolen from his car has been dismissed without notice for gross misconduct.After a special case hearing on Wednesday, the chief constable of West Midlands police, Dave Thompson, ordered that Asst Ch Con Marcus Beale be dismissed after a briefcase of papers disappeared from the boot of his vehicle.
  
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• 'Predatory' HIV hairdresser Daryll Rowe given life sentence for infecting men

  18-04-2018 17:19
  A "predatory" hairdresser with HIV who embarked on a "deliberate campaign" to infect men he met on a gay dating app has been given a life sentence.Daryll Rowe was sentenced to a minimum jail term of 10 years and 253 days at Brighton Crown Court, having been found guilty of of five grievous bodily harm with intent charges, and another five of attempting to do so.One victim told the court on Wednesday that his encounters with Rowe - who would goad the men with abusive text messages after meeting t
  
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• Sadiq Khan challenges Corbyn to 'walk the walk' on antisemitism

  18-04-2018 16:56
  Sadiq Khan has weighed in on the Labour antisemitism debate, claiming that some of the cases were so “glaringly obvious” that the party should have been quicker at kicking out offenders.The London mayor singled out his predecessor Ken Livingstone, saying it was “difficult to believe” that he had not been expelled nearly two years on from his “clearly antisemitic” remarks.
  
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• Watch the dramatic moment civilians tackle cyclist fleeing police

  18-04-2018 16:43
  The man apprehended in Cardiff city centre was carrying a large knife.
  
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• Hunt faces investigation over luxury flats purchase

  18-04-2018 16:43
  Britain's health minister, Jeremy Hunt, is facing an investigation by a parliamentary watchdog over his failure to declare a property investment deal.Hunt, one of Britain's wealthiest politicians, apologised last week for failing to initially disclose his interest in a company set up to purchase luxury flats, saying it was an honest administrative mistake.A spokeswoman for the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards said on Wednesday a formal investigation has begun into why Hunt did not immedi
  
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