General news

• People 'barred from voting' in areas piloting ID trials

  03-05-2018 23:30
  Some people have been barred from voting in areas piloting a controversial ID scheme in the local elections, according to reports.Bromley, Gosport, Swindon, Watford and Woking are all testing the scheme, which aims to cut down on voter fraud.MPs and councillors have spoken on social media of incidences of people, including elderly residents, being turned away from polling stations for not having the right ID.
  
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• Speaker 'strongly' against Trump Parliament speech

  03-05-2018 23:20
  House of Commons speaker John Bercow has said he is "strongly opposed" to Donald Trump being invited to address Parliament.
  
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• Thousands call helpline after breast cancer screening failure

  03-05-2018 23:19
  Thousands of calls have been made to a helpline after it emerged up to 270 women may have died early due to a breast cancer screening failure.Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt revealed on Wednesday that 450,000 women aged 68 to 71 had not been invited to their final routine check.Mr Hunt said between 135 and 270 women could have had their lives shortened as a result of the mistake.
  
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• Florence + The Machine: Staying off the booze helped me get back in the studio

  03-05-2018 21:26 via bbc.co.uk
  Florence Welch says adopting a calmer lifestyle was key to recording her new album.
  
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• Gavin Williamson under pressure to back May's customs plan, Brexiters fear

  03-05-2018 21:17
  Gavin Williamson was the least vocal of those expressing doubts about the customs partnership in the cabinet subcommittee.Pro-Brexit ministers fear Downing Street will try to pick off the defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, in the coming days – to break the cabinet deadlock and secure a majority for Theresa May’s favoured customs plan.A two-and-a-half-hour meeting of the prime minister’s Brexit subcommittee ended without agreement on Wednesday, after the home secretary, Sajid
  
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• Local election officials wrongly turn away EU citizens in Tower Hamlets

  03-05-2018 21:05
  A woman enters a polling station to vote in local elections in London.EU citizens have been wrongly told they could not vote in England’s local elections, raising fears about future training of public service officials in relation to European nationals’ post-Brexit rights.Romain Sauron, a French national, said he turned up to vote at the Mile End ward in the London borough of Tower Hamlets to find a “G” alongside his name.
  
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• Trump UK visit: 'No conversations' so far over president making Parliament speech

  03-05-2018 21:00
  The House of Lords Speaker has said "no conversations have taken place" over the possibility of Donald Trump addressing Parliament during his summer visit to the UK.Reports on Thursday suggested that several peers were pushing for him to get the chance to make a speech in the Royal Gallery when he makes the trip on 13 July, or during a later state visit.Mr Trump had been barred from the House of Commons by Speaker John Bercow ahead of a presumed state visit last year, citing an "opposition to ra
  
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• Jeremy Hunt's rhetoric over breast cancer screening looks overheated

  03-05-2018 20:33
  Jeremy Hunt has apologised for what he called a ‘serious failure’ that resulted in hundreds of thousands of women not being invited to their final screening test for breast cancer.Jeremy Hunt has described the failure of the breast screening programme to invite some older women for a mammogram in apocalyptic terms, warning of a possible 270 deaths and causing huge alarm among women and their families.
  
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• Fashion designer 'hit murdered nanny Sophie Lionnet with cable'

  03-05-2018 20:21
  A fashion designer accused of killing her French nanny has admitted "hitting her with a cable" but said "it doesn't make me a murderer".Sabrina Kouider, 35, and her partner Ouissem Medouni, 40, tortured and murdered Sophie Lionnet before dumping her body on a bonfire in their garden, the Old Bailey heard.Kouider and Medouni admit perverting the course of justice but deny murdering Ms Lionnet in September 2017.
  
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• Anger and confusion as voters turned away during ID trial

  03-05-2018 20:14
  A man brings his passport and poll card to a polling station in Woking, one of the trial areas.A trial of voter ID has seen people in England turned away from polling booths for the first time for not carrying the necessary documents, with other issues reported including abuse of voting staff and some confusion over what evidence needed to be shown.The local elections saw the scheme tested out in five boroughs in an attempt to crack down on voter impersonation, with the possibility it could be e
  
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• Breast cancer screening helpline inundated with calls

  03-05-2018 20:00
  Jeremy Hunt blamed a computer failure for 450,000 people not being invited for screenings.Thousands of people have inundated a breast cancer screening helpline with calls as experts warned Jeremy Hunt had made women unnecessarily anxious by announcing that a computer failure had led to up to 270 avoidable deaths.As the helpline set up by Public Health England dealt with more than 5,000 calls by midday on Thursday, the charity Breast Cancer Care said it had seen a surge in calls to its helpline,
  
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• Save room for dessert - royal wedding cake slices to be sold

  03-05-2018 19:56
  As Prince Harry's wedding to Meghan Markle inches closer, public hunger for all things royal will get its dessert as decades-old slices of cake from British royal weddings -including those of Prince Charles and Princess Diana, and Prince William and Kate Middleton - go up for auction.The five cake slices from royal weddings are expected to fetch hundreds and perhaps thousands of dollars each next month as memorabilia at the sale in Las Vegas, Julien's Auctions said."They're not edible," Darren J
  
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• A Particularly Virulent Strain Of The Tory 'Power Pose' Has Gone Local

  03-05-2018 19:54
  A disturbing outbreak of Tory power posing is sweeping the nation in the midst
  
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• Thousands of 'unflushable' wet wipes found on one stretch of the Thames shore

  03-05-2018 19:43
  A record number of "unflushable" wet wipes were found in just one part of the River Thames as part of a clean up of the banks.More than 5,400 were removed from a 116 square-metre section of the shore in Barnes, below Hammersmith Bridge, the most ever found in one place, according to waterways charity Thames21.It has warned that wet wipes are collecting in such a way that they are changing the shape of the riverbed.
  
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• UK’s migrant policy has been clumsy and callous

  03-05-2018 19:08
  Recent events have revealed the extent to which the Home Office and successive home secretaries have been driven by inappropriate business models in managing immigration and have been not only incompetent but callous in dealing with human dignity and liberty (The Windrush scandal demands a new policy to go with a new home secretary, 1 May).The fundamental problem with the Home Office’s policies is that it has framed immigration criteria on the basis of wealth and property rather than on gr
  
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• Investor criticises chiefs of lossmaking Gloo for pocketing millions

  03-05-2018 19:05
  The Gloo chairman, Arnaud de Puyfontaine, said shareholders would be best served through the return of Gloo’s remaining capital.An activist investor has criticised the management of Gloo Networks – the listed vehicle that aimed to buy digitally focused media companies valued up to £1bn but is shutting up shop – for pocketing millions in salaries and bonus payouts despite failing to strike a single deal in three years.Gloo Networks, which is chaired by Vivendi’s chie
  
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• Universities and identity checks

  03-05-2018 19:02
  ‘I have been permitted to examine a doctoral thesis without exhibiting a passport or birth certificate since the university concerned ruled that this activity was not subject to “right to work” requirements,’ writes David Hook.In contrast to his case, I have been permitted to examine a doctoral thesis without exhibiting a passport or birth certificate since the university concerned ruled that this activity was not subject to “right to work” requirements (unlik
  
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• Walkden fire murder trial hears firefighter's harrowing account of children's deaths

  03-05-2018 18:50
  One of four children killed in a house fire in Greater Manchester was found on a bunk bed with her hands outstretched towards an open window, a murder trial has heard.It was apparent that 15-year-old Demi Pearson was already dead but firefighter Janine Chadwick said she and her colleagues had to get her out of the burning property in Walkden."We had to give her that chance," Ms Chadwick told Manchester Crown Court.
  
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• Father's anger as new search for missing British girl Katrice Lee begins

  03-05-2018 18:50
  The father of a British toddler who has been missing for almost 40 years has told Sky News of his "embitterment" over past failures as a new investigation is launched into the two-year-old girl's disappearance.Katrice Lee went missing in November 1981 from a supermarket near a British Army barracks in Germany, where her father was based.Speaking at the site of the new Royal Military Police excavation in Paderborn, Richie Lee said: "When I left Germany the last time, I left as a family that was i
  
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• Farage's Belgium jibe met with World Cup warning for England

  03-05-2018 18:36
  Nigel Farage, left, was told he would ‘see how real Belgium is when we play England in the World Cup’.Responding to a speech by Michel championing the European project, the former Ukip leader told MEPs: “Belgium is not a nation, it’s an artificial creation.
  
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• Woman in acid murder trial says she felt 'so sad' over boyfriend's injuries

  03-05-2018 18:34
  A court sketch showing Berlinah Wallace being questioned by her barrister Richard Smith QC.Former fashion student Berlinah Wallace, 49, insisted she had thought she was throwing a glass of water rather than sulphuric acid over engineer Mark van Dongen at her Bristol flat.Giving evidence at Bristol crown court for a second day, she claimed on the night of the alleged attack Van Dongen had told her to drink the acid, which she said she had bought to clean smelly drains.
  
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• Beachy Head: Body recovered after car 'drives off cliff'

  03-05-2018 18:34
  The Coastguard has recovered a body after reports of a car seen driving over the cliff at Beachy Head in East Sussex.Sussex Police, the RNLI, the Coastguard, and East Sussex Fire and Rescue are at the scene.A police spokesman said: "Emergency services were called at 11.15am on Thursday to a report a car had been seen to drive off cliffs at Beachy Head.
  
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• Finland disputes Scotland's baby box claims after expert warning

  03-05-2018 18:27
  The Finnish welfare and benefits agency that pioneered the use of baby boxes has challenged claims in Scotland that the temporary cribs can reduce infant mortality.The agency, Kela, supported warnings by a leading expert on infant health, Dr Peter Blair, that it was wrong to say that Finland’s scheme had been proven to prevent or reduce infant mortality.
  
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• Ulster rugby players cleared of rape drop case against BBC

  03-05-2018 18:25
  The rugby players Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding have agreed to drop their legal case against the BBC over the broadcaster’s coverage of their arrest, and pay £20,000 in legal costs.In March the players were found not guilty of raping a woman at Jackson’s home after a high-profile trial in Belfast.Jackson and Olding, who both played for the Ireland and Ulster rugby union teams, had been suing BBC Northern Ireland, arguing the decision to report their arrests in November 2016 &
  
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• Local elections: People 'barred from voting' in areas piloting ID scheme

  03-05-2018 18:22
  Some people have been barred from voting in areas piloting a controversial ID scheme for the local elections, according to reports.Bromley, Gosport, Swindon, Watford and Woking are all testing the scheme, which aims to cut down on voter fraud.MPs and councillors have spoken on social media of incidences of people, including elderly residents, being turned away from polling stations for not having the right ID.
  
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• Cambridge Analytica: Will data scandal firm return from the dead?

  03-05-2018 18:18 via bbc.co.uk
  The role of two London-registered operations - Emerdata and Firecrest Technologies - is questioned.
  
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• How Liverpool and Real Madrid compare in seven charts

  03-05-2018 18:16 via bbc.co.uk
  Real have the medals and a manager with a better record in finals - but do Liverpool's prolific frontline give them the edge?
  
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• UK backs down over Afghan interpreters' immigration fees

  03-05-2018 18:14
  The UK government has backed down over the fate of more than 150 Afghan interpreters who worked alongside British troops during their hard-fought deployment in Helmand province.The Home Office bowed to pressure after the interpreters sent a letter of protest after being told they would have to pay £2,389 each to apply for indefinite leave to remain.
  
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• Bangladesh open to out-of-court settlement over $81 million cyber heist

  03-05-2018 18:08
  MANILA/DHAKA (Reuters) - Bangladesh would consider an out-of-court settlement with a bank in the Philippines over $81 million stolen from its accounts in New York by hackers who wired the money to Manila, Bangladesh central bank officials said on Thursday.In one of the world's biggest cyber heists, the hackers stole the Bangladesh Bank money held at the New York Fed in February 2016 using fraudulent orders on the SWIFT payments system and sent it to Rizal Commercial Banking Corp .From there, it
  
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• Barnet did once surrender to Labour

  03-05-2018 17:54
  Labour took control of Barnet council in the 1990s with the support of the Lib Dems. Photograph: Rui Vieira/PA
  
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• John Bercow: further bullying claims emerge against Speaker

  03-05-2018 17:49
  David Leakey, a former Black Rod, said John Bercow, centre, was known for ‘intemperate behaviour’.The Speaker of the House of Commons has faced fresh allegations of bullying, with parliament’s former Black Rod saying John Bercow’s “intemperate behaviour” is “unworthy of someone in such public office”.David Leakey, who stepped down last year as Black Rod, a ceremonial post in parliament, said he had experienced the outbursts of temper described by o
  
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• Bank of America to shift 125 British jobs to Ireland ahead of Brexit

  03-05-2018 17:48
  Bank of Americawill relocate up to 125 jobs from Britain mostly to Ireland as it prepares for Britain's exit from the European Union, according to a corporate filing.Bank of America last July became the first U.S. bank to pick Dublin as its new base for its EU operations, a necessary step to continue serving its clients as Britain prepares to leave the bloc in March 2019.The regulatory filing seen by Reuters on Thursday and reported on earlier by Irish media showed the job moves will be a combin
  
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• Lord Temple-Morris obituary

  03-05-2018 17:37
  Peter Temple-Morris had little time for Thatcher. ‘She was not my type … I could not stand being hectored by someone who would not let you get a word in edgeways,’ he wrote in his memoirs.It is hard to remember now, but once upon a time, not so long ago, the Conservatives were the pro-European party.None exemplified that spirit more determinedly than Peter Temple-Morris, the former MP for Leominster, in Herefordshire, who has died aged 80.
  
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• UK's longest-serving prisoner released after nearly 43 years

  03-05-2018 17:29
  Britain’s longest-serving prisoner has been released after nearly 43 years.John Massey, 69, was convicted in 1975 of the murder of Charlie Higgins, a pub doorman, and was handed a mandatory 20-year life sentence – but he spent more than twice as long in jail after escaping on two occasions to say goodbye to dying members of his family in Kentish Town, north London.Massey’s extraordinary story includes a prison break from Pentonville in 2012, in an attempt to see his mother, May
  
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• Lockerbie bomber al-Megrahi's conviction to be reviewed

  03-05-2018 17:29
  The Lockerbie bomber may have abandoned a second appeal against his conviction because he thought it gave him a better chance of returning home to Libya.The theory has been put forward by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC), which has accepted an "application for a full review" of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi's conviction, to decide whether a fresh appeal can be made.Megrahi was jailed for 27 years after being convicted in 2001.
  
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• #365DaysOfLitter: One woman’s fight to clean up her local area

  03-05-2018 17:24
  Why not join in?
  
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• Henry Vincent funeral: Man arrested amid confrontations and heavy police presence

  03-05-2018 17:18
  A man has been arrested on suspicion of assault at the funeral parade of Henry Vincent, the burglar fatally stabbed by an elderly homeowner.It came as mourners confronted police and journalists ahead of the service for Vincent, 37, who died after a struggle with Richard Osborn-Brooks, whose home he invaded in the early hours of 4 April.A silver hearse carried Vincent's coffin, with a floral display spelling out the word "Daddy" alongside it, and several other cars followed with flowers on the ro
  
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• Henry VIII's execution note to go on display at museum

  03-05-2018 17:03
  A notice demanding the grisly death of an abbot by King Henry VIII is to go on display to the public.The bloodthirsty letter was written in response to the news that Henry VIII's attempted closure of Norton Abbey had been scuppered.The letter will go on display at Cheshire's Norton Priory Museum from Saturday, along with a silver-gilt monstrance.
  
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• Post-Brexit port checks could disrupt fresh food supplies, say freight bosses

  03-05-2018 17:00
  The checks could affect the supply of oranges, lemons, lettuce and strawberries as well as other food staples.Food staples including lettuce, tomatoes and beef could be in short supply or even disappear from supermarket shelves after Brexit because of disruptive checks that will need to be conducted at ports, Eurotunnel and freight industry chiefs have said.Scores of continental favourites that currently sail and rail through the French border – including oranges, lemons and avocados from
  
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• Virgin Media to cut 500 jobs in review of UK operation sites

  03-05-2018 16:52
  Virgin Media has announced 500 job losses under a planned shake-up of its UK sites.The telecoms company, which currently operates from more than 100 locations, said its eight customer service centres would be reduced to four.The biggest loss would be a major call centre in Swansea, where 800 people currently work, though most roles would transfer, the company said.
  
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• Breast screening: Is the NHS programme working?

  03-05-2018 16:27 via bbc.co.uk
  Across the UK, women aged 50-70 should be automatically asked to have a mammogram every three years
  
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• Cyclist breaks jaw and fractures spine in pothole crash in Buckinghamshire

  03-05-2018 16:24
  A father-of-two has sustained severe injuries including a broken jaw after crashing into a pothole while cycling.Simon Moss, 44, lost four teeth and fractured his spine in the crash in Stony Stratford, Buckinghamshire, on Sunday.Mr Moss had been riding with friends when he hit the pothole, which they said was difficult to see as it was filled with rainwater.
  
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• Last man standing - lonely Fed tightening spurs dollar surge

  03-05-2018 16:22
  As speculation about interest rate rises and policy 'normalisation' in the euro zone, Japan, Britain and China falls away rapidly, the U.S. Federal Reserve's now lonely monetary tightening has suddenly supercharged the dollar.The revival of the U.S. currency after more than a year on the wane is already causing mayhem in emerging markets from Turkey to Argentina and Indonesia, while tightening global financial conditions in a way that could eventually make even the Fed consider a pause for thoug
  
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• Home Office official tells man facing deportation: 'My job is to piss you off'

  03-05-2018 16:19
  The Home Office is investigating undercover footage filmed at one of its reporting centres showing an official telling a man facing deportation that his job is to “piss him off” as part of the government’s challenging environment.The 39-year-old man who secretly filmed the Home Office official last year has now voluntarily gone to Pakistan, a country where he has only spent one month of his life, saying he was driven out by the controversial regime.The man was required to repor
  
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• MP schools Hansard in Scots after describing Government as being in a ‘fankle’

  03-05-2018 16:12
  Hannah Bardell had to decipher the use of the word ‘fankle’ – and shared her response on Twitter.
  
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• Clickbait and Skripal jokes: how Russia’s RT is growing online

  03-05-2018 16:02
  Russia’s state-controlled Russia Today (RT) television broadcast vans are seen parked in front of St. Basil’s Cathedral and the Kremlin next to Red Square in Moscow.The poisoning of the former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, in Salisbury is unlikely material for a humorous video.“It’s been a huge novi-cockup,” jokes the presenter Polly Boiko in a plummy British accent, going on to suggest Skripal’s pets – which were locked in his home without
  
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• Voters in England turned away from polling stations during ID trial

  03-05-2018 15:58
  A man brings his passport and poll card to a polling station in Woking, one of the trial areas.Voters have been turned away from polling stations in at least two of the five areas trialling the government’s controversial compulsory ID scheme, prompting concerns that some people are being disenfranchised.Angela Wilkins, the leader of the Labour group on Bromley council in south-east London, one of the boroughs involved in the pilot project, said four polling stations being used for the loca
  
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• Verhofstadt in World Cup jibe after Farage says Belgium is 'not a nation'

  03-05-2018 15:51
  The European Parliament's Brexit coordinator has mocked England's chances of beating Belgium at the World Cup.Guy Verhofstadt tweeted the jibe after MEP and former UKIP leader Nigel Farage said Belgium was "not a nation".
  
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• Why 'No-Platforming' Controversial Speakers Could Soon Be Banned At Universities

  03-05-2018 15:36
  Students have raised concerns that a newly-announced overhaul of free speech
  
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• House of Fraser - the empire struggling to strike back

  03-05-2018 15:33 via bbc.co.uk
  The House of Fraser rose from humble beginnings to conquer the retail world but has its reign ended?
  
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