General news

• Justine Damond: Minneapolis police officer to plead not guilty to murder

  25-04-2018 23:54 via theguardian.com
  Mohamed Noor argues in court documents he shot Australian woman in self-defence and using reasonable force• Sign up to receive the top stories every morningThe Minneapolis police officer accused of murdering Australian woman Justine Damond will plead not guilty and fight the charges at trial, court documents suggest. Mohamed Noor, 32, will seek to argue self-defence and reasonable force, according to court documents seen by the Guardian.Continue reading...
  
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• Northern Ireland papers: no simple solution to hard border, say UK officials

  25-04-2018 23:44
  Papers from the Northern Ireland executive lay bare huge obstacles to avoiding a land border.Senior British officials privately conceded last year that the UK’s preferred solution for avoiding a hard border with the Republic after Brexit would threaten the EU’s single market and that all possible outcomes would be damaging for the province.A series of leaked letters and briefing papers from the Northern Ireland executive – at least one of which was sent to Olly Robbins, the pri
  
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• Amber Rudd grilled over Windrush fallout

  25-04-2018 23:35
  Amber Rudd grilled over Windrush fallout
  
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• Arsène Wenger backs Arsenal to go with former player as his successor

  25-04-2018 23:32 via theguardian.com
  • Patrick Vieira and Mikel Arteta in frame to replace Frenchman
  • Wenger: ‘With two or three additions, this team can fight for title’Arsène Wenger believes it would be “even better” for Arsenal if they appoint a former player to succeed him as manager at the end of the season. He also provided the clearest indication yet that he did not want to step down, by revealing the timing of the decision was not down to him.Wenger was in relaxed mood before Thursd
  
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• May puts Tories before national interest on Brexit, says Starmer

  25-04-2018 23:30
  Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer, left, said May has been focusing on divisions within the government, not Brexit.The shadow Brexit secretary has accused the prime minister of putting party management before the national interest, as MPs seek to ramp up the pressure on the government over a customs union.Keir Starmer said: “Over the past few weeks it has become abundantly clear that Theresa May is unwilling and unable to put the country’s interests first during the Brexit neg
  
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• Scotland recognises social security as a human right

  25-04-2018 23:22
  The social security (Scotland) bill establishes a number of powers over welfare benefits being devolved to the Scottish government.Scotland has taken control of its welfare system in a transfer of power from Westminster that campaigners have praised for recognising social security as a human right.The first devolved welfare system also offers automatic split payments of universal credit to protect women’s financial autonomy and aims to end unnecessary disability assessments.
  
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• Confusion as Home Office denies 'internal deportation target'

  25-04-2018 23:15
  The Home Office has been hit by more confusion about its immigration policy after a row over deportation "targets".The Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, said she was unaware of claims border staff were set "internal enforcement targets" - soon after her department's chief immigration official also insisted the targets did not exist.Ms Rudd's comments to MPs came hours after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called on Ms Rudd to resign for her handling of the Windrush scandal.
  
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• Britain’s Fat Fight With Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall review: mischief with a message

  25-04-2018 23:00 via theguardian.com
  The celebrity chef and food campaigner is taking on obesity by doorstepping cereal giants and flogging cabbages in Newcastle – and it seems to be having an effectIf you are in the food industry, the last thing you want popping into your inbox is an email from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Congratulating you on the delicious crunchiness of your chocolate-flavoured rice-based breakfast cereal, is he? Er, no, he wants an on-camera interview.Ignoring it is not going to make it, or him, go away.
  
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• Marco Asensio gives Real Madrid advantage against Bayern Munich

  25-04-2018 22:59 via theguardian.com
  “The Champions League releases special powers in Real Madrid,” Toni Kroos had warned and there may be no power greater than the ability to resist, survive, and always advance, bruised perhaps but never beaten. Under pressure for so long, when Madrid left the Allianz Arena Raphaël Varane had a bleeding head and the team had suffered, just as Zinedine Zidane had warned they would, but they were victorious once more. It is not over but they are a step closer to a third consecutive
  
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• Iranian-British academic Abbas Edalat detained in Iran

  25-04-2018 22:53
  An Iranian-British academic has been detained in Iran after being arrested by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).The news emerged as Iranian authorities announced on Wednesday that Abbas Edalat family's attempt to post bail would have to be restarted, according to the Centre for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI).Mr Edalat's family posted bail for him on 21 April but it was rejected, with the Revolutionary Court in Tehran claiming there was a problem with the documentation.
  
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• Kanye West proclaims his love for Trump: 'We are both dragon energy'

  25-04-2018 22:42 via theguardian.com
  Rapper tweets: ‘He is my brother’Trump calls message ‘very cool’ in latest sign of mutual affectionDonald Trump has thanked Kanye West after the rapper professed his love for the president and said the pair “are both dragon energy”.West posted a series of tweets about Trump on Wednesday afternoon, days after praising a rightwing pundit on Twitter.Continue reading...
  
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• Iran detains British-Iranian academic - New York-based rights group

  25-04-2018 22:29
  A British-Iranian academic was detained in Iran by the country'sRevolutionary Guards in mid-April, the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) reported on Wednesday.Britain's Foreign Office (FCO) said it was urgently seeking information from Iran about the reported arrest of Abbas Edalat, a dual British-Iranian national who is a professor of computer science at Imperial College in London.CHRI said Edalat had travelled to Iran from his home in London at an unknown date for academic
  
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• Heidi Alexander thought to be considering role at London City Hall

  25-04-2018 22:26 via theguardian.com
  Labour MP quit as shadow health secretary in 2016 in protest at Jeremy Corbyn’s leadershipHeidi Alexander, the former shadow health secretary, is considering quitting the Commons to accept a senior job at City Hall with London mayor Sadiq Khan, the Guardian understands.Alexander was Khan’s campaign chair during the 2016 London mayoral election. The MP, who has spearheaded the campaign to keep the UK in the single market since leaving the shadow cabinet, currently represents Lewisham
  
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• UK says urgently seeking information from Tehran over reported arrest of British-Iranian

  25-04-2018 22:13
  Britain's Foreign Office (FCO) said on Wednesday it was urgently seeking information from Iran following reports of the detention of a British-Iranian dual national.The New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran reported that Abbas Edalat, a professor of computer science and mathematics at Imperial College in London, had been detained by the Iran's Revolutionary Guards in mid-April."We are urgently seeking information from the Iranian authorities following reports of the arrest of a British-
  
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• High court rules terminally ill Alfie Evans will not travel to Italy

  25-04-2018 22:10
  Terminally ill toddler Alfie Evans could leave hospital to spend his final hours or days at home.
  
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• Court rules gravely ill UK child cannot travel to Vatican hospital

  25-04-2018 22:05
  A British court rejected an appeal on Wednesday from parents ofa gravely ill 23-month-old boy to take their son to Italy for treatment, a case that has drawn international attention, including from Pope Francis.Alfie Evans has a rare, degenerative disease and has been in a semi-vegetative state for more than a year.Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, northwest England, which has been treating Alfie since December 2016, said London's Court of Appeal had rejected applications from his pare
  
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• Court rejects Alfie Evans appeal as hospital trust speaks of staff being 'abused'

  25-04-2018 22:03
  Judges have thrown out appeals made by the parents of terminally ill Alfie Evans to allow him to be taken to Italy for treatment.Tom Evans and Kate James made applications to the Court of Appeal after a High Court judge ruled they could take their son home from Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, but not abroad.Speaking on Wednesday at the hearing, which the toddler's parents did not attend, Lord Justice McFarlane said: "This is awful for everyone concerned.
  
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• Steve Bell on Boris Johnson, Theresa May and the Windrush scandal – cartoon

  25-04-2018 21:25 via theguardian.com
  Continue reading...
  
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• Paul Townend recovers from calamity to regain winning touch in ‘unreal’ style

  25-04-2018 21:19 via theguardian.com
  • Paul Townend apologises for blunder and rides three winners
  • Willie Mullins moves closer to Irish trainers’ title at PunchestownA series of supportive phone conversations with Ruby Walsh was one of the things that helped Paul Townend shake off a calamitous error on Tuesday and ride three winners from four mounts here on Wednesday, a turnaround in his fortunes that he described as “unreal”.Working for Willie Mullins is a big help to anyone; the trainer bagged a scar
  
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• Google to improve YouTube Kids app to let parents control what children watch

  25-04-2018 21:00 via theguardian.com
  Enhanced controls will allow parents to handpick videos among a host of new features, but campaigners say YouTube must do moreGoogle is updating its YouTube Kids app to improve the control over the videos and channels that can be watched by children.YouTube Kids is a separate app for smartphones and tablets that provides access to a subset of the videos available on the main site. There have been 70bn video views since the app, which is used by 11m families, launched in 2015. In the app’s
  
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• Windrush scandal: five unanswered questions

  25-04-2018 20:45
  Amber Rudd gives evidence on the Windrush generation who arrived in Britain from the Caribbean before 1973, as well as those from other Commonwealth countries.The Commons home affairs committee heard almost three hours of evidence about the Windrush crisis from the home secretary, Amber Rudd, one of her senior officials and a series of immigration experts.Asked about this at prime minister’s questions, Theresa May said Rudd would “set out the details of that compensation scheme in du
  
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• New IAAF testosterone rules could slow Caster Semenya by up to seven seconds

  25-04-2018 20:38 via theguardian.com
  • IAAF set to introduce new limits for female athletes
  • Sports scientist: ‘She will go from a 1:54 to 2:01-2:03’ in 800mThe Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya could run up to seven seconds slower under new rules requiring her to lower her natural testosterone levels to race internationally, a prominent sports scientist has predicted.Under rules due to be announced on Thursday morning by the IAAF, the world athletics governing body, a separate female classification for an
  
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• George North finally plumps for move to Ospreys from next season

  25-04-2018 20:26 via theguardian.com
  • Northampton and Lions wing to move on after five years
  • Gloucester must wait for Challenge Cup confirmationIt took him five months to make up his mind but the British & Irish Lions wing George North will be joining Ospreys next season after signing a national dual contract.North made the decision to return to Wales last November after spending five seasons at Northampton. He joined them from the Scarlets, who had first call on him as his former region, but they opted not to re-s
  
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• NYSE glitch forces Amazon and Alphabet traders elsewhere

  25-04-2018 20:17
  The New York Stock Exchange said on Wednesday that trading was suspended on its exchange in five stocks, including Amazon and Alphabet, for the rest of the day due to a technical glitch involving trade reporting.The exchange, which is owned by Intercontinental Exchange Inc, said the suspension was due to a "price scale code" issue and any open orders in those securities would be cancelled.The securities can still be traded on other exchanges, including those run by Nasdaq Inc, where the affected
  
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• Fake bomb detector conman's jail term extended over failure to pay back £1.8m

  25-04-2018 20:14
  Jim McCormick lived a life of luxury by ripping off customers in Iraq, Niger and Bahrain with the useless devices.A conman jailed for selling fake bomb detectors to war-torn countries has had more than two years added to his prison sentence after failing to pay back £1.8m of his ill-gotten gains.James McCormick lived a life of luxury by ripping off customers in Iraq, Niger and Bahrain with the useless devices.
  
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• Alfie Evans: Parents Lose Appeal Against High Court’s Rome Travel Ban

  25-04-2018 20:10
  The parents of toddler Alfie Evans, who has been at the centre of a life-
  
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• 'I feel helpless': this is the face of child detention on Nauru – video

  25-04-2018 20:00 via theguardian.com
  Ali is a 12-year-old Iranian asylum seeker detained on Nauru. His mother has been repeatedly recommended for urgent medical transfer to Australia but, 14 months on, there is no immediate plan to move her Continue reading...
  
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• Tennis still defending its name despite integrity review warnings | Kevin Mitchell

  25-04-2018 19:55 via theguardian.com
  Independent Review of Integrity has spent two years looking into corruption and 15% of players surveyed had first-hand knowledge of match-fixingIt would be unwise to ignore the diligence and expertise of three respected lawyers who have been investigating match-fixing in tennis for more than two years and concluded on Wednesday that there was a “tsunami” of corruption on the fringes of the game.Similarly, though, it would be witless to assume the game is about to collapse in a steami
  
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• George RR Martin: a new Game of Thrones book is coming …

  25-04-2018 19:53 via theguardian.com
  But it won’t be The Winds of Winter, the planned sixth volume of the series. Instead author has revealed a history of the Targaryen dynasty, due in NovemberGeorge RR Martin told fans today that the long-awaited sixth volume in his Game of Thrones fantasy series, The Winds of Winter, would not be published this year – but softened the blow by revealing that his “imaginary history” of the Targaryen family in Westeros would be released on 20 November.
  Fire and Blood is set 3
  
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• AIQ firm could face legal action over personal data inquiry

  25-04-2018 19:49
  AggregateIQ’s chief operating officer, Jeff Silvester, says he has responded to enquiries from the commissioner, Elizabeth Denham.The information commissioner is considering taking legal action against a Canadian marketing firm with alleged links to Cambridge Analytica, after the firm refused to cooperate with her inquiry into the use of personal data during the Brexit referendum.The commissioner, Elizabeth Denham, also suggested that two executives at the firm, AggregateIQ, misledCanadian
  
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• May loses Lords vote on post-Brexit powers for ministers

  25-04-2018 19:45
  Theresa May suffered another defeat when peers from all parties defeated the government by 349 votes to 221.Peers and MPs claimed a significant victory on Wednesday when an attempt to give sweeping powers to ministers was thrown out of the Brexit bill as complaints about the power of the Lords to reverse the decisions of the Commons grew louder.In the first of a series of votes on how the powers brought back from Brussels would be limited by the balance between ministers and parliament, peers fr
  
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• The Guardian view on the Toronto van attack: a misogynist movement spreads? | Editorial

  25-04-2018 19:40 via theguardian.com
  The suspect in Monday’s deadly incident reportedly posted hateful ‘incel’ material, shedding light on an alarming subcultureThe Toronto van attack that killed 10 people and injured 13 others on Monday caused shock and horror worldwide, and its method immediately raised suspicions of terrorism. Since then we have learned that the suspect appears to have published a post minutes before, claiming to be part of an “incel [involuntary celibates] rebellion” and praising a
  
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• Don’t get angry when Donald Trump comes to Britain – get even | Stella Creasy

  25-04-2018 19:38 via theguardian.com
  With TopTrumpTargets, we’ll create a legacy of tolerance and inclusivity to counter the divisiveness he glories inFor the left, there are few bogeymen bigger than Donald Trump. The hatred he whipped up to win the White House. The walls, bans and attacks on human rights organisations his administration have made. His erratic use of Twitter that leaves us all fearing world war three will begin at any moment.Theresa May has been plotting a state visit for him, desperate for some crumbs of a p
  
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• Labour drops candidate after Manchester bombing tweets

  25-04-2018 19:36 via theguardian.com
  Mandy Richards, selected to stand in Worcester, suggested attack may not have happened Labour has declined to endorse a controversial candidate who suggested that last year’s Manchester Arena bombing may not have occurred, in effect removing her as a prospective MP.The decision over Mandy Richards was made after an emergency meeting of the party’s ruling body on Tuesday night.Continue reading...
  
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• U.S. probing Huawei for possible Iran sanctions violations - sources

  25-04-2018 19:31
  NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors in New York have been investigating since at least last year whether Chinese tech company Huawei Technologies Co Ltdviolated U.S. sanctions in relation to Iran, according to sources familiar with situation.The prosecutors have been investigating alleged shipping of U.S.-origin products to Iran and other countries in violation of U.S. export and sanctions laws, two of the sources said on condition of anonymity.The probe, first reported by the Wall S
  
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• What Brigitte Macron learned: only trophy wives count in Trumpland | Suzanne Moore

  25-04-2018 19:17 via theguardian.com
  The state visit seems to be little more than alpha male leaders bonding very publicly, with wives deployed to watchIn every public interaction of the Trumps there is drama. We see his hand wander to hers and when his little finger tickles her clenched fist, she relents and holds his in hers. She is glacial, resistant, but finally she surrenders.The suffering of Melania Trump and her small acts of dissent, of swatting away her husband’s piggy hands are scrutinised eagerly by those who still
  
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• UK minister 'deeply regrets' failing to spot scale of Windrush migrant problem

  25-04-2018 19:14
  Interior minister Amber Rudd said on Wednesday she deeply regretted failing to realise there was a widespread problem that some Caribbean immigrants who have lived legally in Britain for decades were being labelled illegal immigrants.Rudd told a parliamentary committee she had known about the problem for months and said officials were still checking how many people had been detained over their supposed immigration status."I look back with hindsight and I'm surprised I did not see the shape of it
  
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• David Davis: a man with the utmost confidence in his own limitations | John Crace

  25-04-2018 19:13 via theguardian.com
  Even supporters at the Brexit select committee are beginning to worry that Davis’s air of stupidity may not be an actBack in November 2002, David Davis spoke in the House of Commons about why he didn’t think referendums were necessarily a good idea. “We should not ask people to vote on a blank sheet of paper and tell them to trust us to fill in the details,” he warned. With good reason. Because the person the country might be relying on for that information could be him.D
  
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• Growing brains in labs: why it's time for an ethical debate

  25-04-2018 19:07 via theguardian.com
  Experts argue that experiments have edged so much closer to the possibility of consciousness that guidelines are needed“I have never seen so many brains out of their heads before!” declares Dr Michael Hfuhruhurr, the world-renowned neurosurgeon played by Steve Martin who has a love affair with a brain in a jar in the 1983 movie, The Man with Two Brains.Thirty five years on, the prospect of falling for a disembodied brain is still looking slim, but researchers have made such progress
  
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• The largest thing in the universe? Cosmic collision 12bn years ago created mega-galaxy

  25-04-2018 19:00 via theguardian.com
  A spectacular pileup of 14 galaxies soon after the Big Bang has been seen and recorded for the first timeThe colossal merger of 14 galaxies more than 12 billion years ago has been captured by astronomers who used the world’s most powerful telescopes to peer 90% of the way across the observable universe.The cosmic pileup occurred 12.4 bn years ago and the resultant gigantic galaxy will have continued to snowball in size ever since. Calculations suggest that by the present day, hundreds more
  
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• Arsene Wenger suggests Arsenal departure timing 'not my decision'

  25-04-2018 18:58
  Arsene Wenger has suggested the timing of his departure from Arsenal this summer was not his decision.The 68-year-old announced on Friday that he will call time on his 22-year reign as Arsenal boss at the end of the season.The Arsenal manager has kept mostly quiet on the issue but gave an ambiguous response when asked about last week's shock news.
  
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• Why TSB's troubles are a cautionary tale for British banks

  25-04-2018 18:50
  Well, it's been longer than a flash, but TSB has done a good job of trashing its own stature over the past few days.TSB, all of a sudden, has become the unwilling byword for unreliable technology.TSB responded to that by taking the whole system offline for a while, but when news of the problem leaked out, customers got nervous.
  
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• Anthony Neilson: Does #MeToo need a liberal male sticking his oar in?

  25-04-2018 18:44 via theguardian.com
  In The Prudes, the playwright satirises men’s response to the current political moment. He explains how it was created from scratch in rehearsalsFirst day of rehearsals. Really happy to be back at the Royal Court, where I’ve had productions under each of the last four regimes. Despite the Court’s standing, it’s still small enough that you interact with all the departments on a daily basis. It is the theatre whose mission statement most resembles my own, and one of the few
  
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• Amber Rudd 'deeply regrets' failure to spot scale of Windrush issue

  25-04-2018 18:36 via theguardian.com
  MPs accuse home secretary of protecting PM over ‘hostile environment’ strategyAmber Rudd has been accused of protecting the prime minister over the Home Office’s failure to get to grips with the Windrush scandal, after she refused to identify the “hostile environment” strategy as a major factor.The home secretary said she deeply regretted not spotting the problem of a generation of Britons being wrongly targeted by immigration authorities, vowing there would be a cu
  
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• Amber Rudd 'deeply regrets' failure to spot scale of Windrush issue

  25-04-2018 18:36
  The home secretary, Amber Rudd, has said she deeply regrets not spotting the problem of Windrush-generation Britons being wrongly targeted by immigration authorities, vowing there would be a culture change at the Home Office.Answering questions before the Commons home affairs committee, Rudd said she hoped to give immigration staff more discretion to assess people’s cases to prevent anything similar happening again.Asked by the committee chair, Labour’s Yvette Cooper, when she first
  
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• Malta losing money 'hand over fist' from Azerbaijan energy deal, claim experts

  25-04-2018 18:25 via theguardian.com
  Leaked files reveal cost of agreement to taxpayers as opposition calls for more transparency The European commission approved a monopoly energy deal with Azerbaijan under which Maltese taxpayers could be losing tens of million of euros a year, according to an analysis of leaked files.A whistleblower gave a cache of data to the journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, who was killed by a car bomb in October. Continue reading...
  
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• Liverpool’s James Milner in vogue again by doing simple things properly | Barney Ronay

  25-04-2018 18:19 via theguardian.com
  Milner has become the most creative player in a single Champions League season through the unassuming virtues of versatility, game-management and fitting into a systemSometimes the cock crows at midnight, the cats bark a dawn chorus and the cow does indeed jump over the moon. Just as every now and then a football statistic crops up that goes against every prevailing metric and trend, which seems not so much an anomaly as a case of football simply kicking off its shoes and enjoying itself.Only th
  
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• George Byrne's best photograph: a courthouse drama in a ghost town

  25-04-2018 18:14 via theguardian.com
  ‘At a time of Islamophobia in the western world, it was a moment of connection’I took this in downtown Minneapolis, while on a road trip from Los Angeles to Philadelphia. I had just got my first car: an enormous 1999 Crown Victoria, an ex-police car I bought off a Russian cab-driver in North Hollywood for $900. Why Philly? I had a mate living there, so with my new wheels I figured this was an ideal time to hit the road and see the country. It turned out to be fairly gruelling. I&rsqu
  
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• May dealt new Brexit defeat in upper house of parliament

  25-04-2018 18:04
  Prime Minister Theresa May was dealt a new defeat by Britain's upper house of parliament on Wednesday over her Brexit plans, this time in a challenge to the government's push to adopt wide-ranging powers to amend laws.The defeat is the latest in the House of Lords for May and her Conservative government as parliament debates the EU withdrawal bill which will sever ties with the European Union and pave the way for Britain to leave in March next year.The vote can be overturned by the lower house,
  
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• Judicial shortages pose threat to court system, top judge warns

  25-04-2018 18:03
  Lord Burnett also highlighted the problem of death threats being made against judges on social media.The effective operation of the courts in England and Wales is under threat due to problems of judicial recruitment, increasingly heavy workloads and deteriorating working conditions, according to the lord chief justice.In his first appearance before the Lords constitution select committee in his new post on Wednesday, Lord Burnett of Maldon also highlighted the growing problem of death threats be
  
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