General news

• Bale sinks Liverpool dreams in Champions League final

  26-05-2018 23:39
  Liverpool have been beaten 3-1 by Real Madrid in the Champions League final after two goals from Gareth Bale.Liverpool were rocked 30 minutes into the tie in Kiev as their talisman Mo Salah left the field in tears with a shoulder injury.Real Madrid scored their opener at 51 minutes after a gaffe from Reds keeper Loris Karius allowed Karim Benzema to score.
  
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• Fulham defeat Aston Villa in Championship play-off final to reach Premier League

  26-05-2018 20:02
  Fulham will be playing Premier League football next season after beating Aston Villa 1-0 in the Championship play-off final.
  
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• Real Madrid v Liverpool: Champions League final 2018 – live!

  26-05-2018 19:56 via theguardian.com
  Champions League final updates from the 7.45pm BST kick-offA dentist agent, Messi the dog … meet the teams for KievAnd you can email your thoughts to [email protected] 6.56pm BST “Hello Rob,” says Kevin Thomson. “In the unlikely event of Andrew Robertson picking up a CL medal tonight, he will be the first Scotsman to do so since ... I think it was Paul Lambert playing for Borussia Dortmund in 1997 (somebody may find this interesting).”Didn’t Darren Fl
  
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• Fulham promoted to Premier League after play-off win over Aston Villa

  26-05-2018 19:56 via theguardian.com
  Fulham have been promoted to the Premier League thanks to a 1-0 victory against Aston Villa in the Championship play-off final at Wembley. Tom Cairney scored the goal that returned them to the top flight four seasons after relegation, after 23 minutes, but they had to hold on for 20 minutes with 10 men after Denis Odoi picked up a second yellow card in a match marred by a number of ugly tackles.Fulham’s Ryan Fredericks was lucky not to be sent off for stamping on Jack Grealish, who had his
  
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• England v Pakistan: first Test, day three – as it happened

  26-05-2018 19:42 via theguardian.com
  Jos Buttler and Dominic Bess battled for an unbeaten 125 seventh-wicket partnership at the end of an otherwise dominant day for Pakistan 6.38pm BST So, at last, England win a session, and all because Ed Smith opted to go west in search of a young man to bowl some spin. Dom Bess hasn’t taken a Test wicket yet, but he has made a fifty – and proved that he can stand the heat in a kitchen which, when he walked in, had all the smoke alarms going off at once. He has been expertly shepherde
  
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• Savita Halappanavar's father thanks Irish voters for 'historic' abortion vote

  26-05-2018 19:40 via theguardian.com
  Father of woman who died of sepsis after being denied abortion in Ireland says he very happy at projected result of referendum• Irish abortion referendum results - liveThe father of Savita Halappanavar, the 31-year-old dentist who died of sepsis in 2012 after being denied an abortion during a protracted miscarriage, has said he is “very happy” at the result of Ireland’s referendum.Speaking to the Guardian by phone from his home in Karnataka, south-west India, Andanappa Yal
  
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• Jailed Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe ‘to face new trial’

  26-05-2018 19:33 via theguardian.com
  Reports from Tehran suggest jailed British-Iranian aid worker is facing second security-related chargeNazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the detained British-Iranian aid worker sentenced to five years in jail in Iran, is reportedly to face a second trial on new security charges. Iran’s Tasnim news agency quoted the head of Tehran’s revolutionary court, Musa Ghazanfarabadi, as saying she would be ordered “to present an attorney and then the court will convene”.Ghazanfarabadi said
  
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• The unsavoury alliance between oligarchs and London’s top lawyers | Nick Cohen

  26-05-2018 19:30 via theguardian.com
  It’s a grubby business but these companies have no qualms about picking up the fat feesIf I were to describe secretive organisations that make millions from mafia states, you would imagine – what? Mercenaries? Conspiracies with Blofeld at their head? Nothing so thrilling, I’m afraid. Picture instead respectable lawyers of high status and higher income, whose love of money is now, in the words of the Commons foreign affairs committee, a matter of “national security”.
  
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• Passengers 'stuck' after train driver gets 'lost'

  26-05-2018 19:29
  Baffled train passengers ended up in South Yorkshire after their driver got "lost" on a route from Newcastle to Reading.Jeni Harvey, who was riding the CrossCountry Train service, tweeted to say she was "stuck because the driver went the wrong way" on Friday.A CrossCountry spokesperson said: "Unfortunately, while being diverted because of an earlier event, our 14:35 service from Newcastle to Reading was involved in an operational incident near Pontefract that meant it was unable to continue.
  
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• Ireland says 'Yes' to abortion reform – in pictures

  26-05-2018 19:23 via theguardian.com
  Pro-choice campaigners celebrate after Ireland votes to liberalise abortion law Continue reading...
  
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• Romanised causes 25-1 shock in Irish 2,000 Guineas at Curragh

  26-05-2018 19:20 via theguardian.com
  • Aidan O’Brien trio are second, third, fourth to Ken Condon colt
  • ‘I’m in shock. It’s amazing to win a Classic,’ says winning trainerRomanised was a 25-1 shock winner of the Irish 2,000 Guineas here, providing a first taste of Classic glory for his trainer, Ken Condon, described by some here as the nicest man in Irish racing. That accolade would take plenty of winning but Condon has won little else, having not had a winner since last July until this unhe
  
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• Ireland votes by landslide to legalise abortion

  26-05-2018 19:16 via theguardian.com
  Leo Varadkar vows legal terminations by end of year after huge vote for changeShare your reaction to Ireland’s abortion referendumIreland has voted by a landslide to legalise abortion in a stunning outcome that marks a dramatic defeat for the Catholic church’s one-time domination of the Republic.The Irish electorate voted by 1,429,981 votes to 723,632 in favour of abolishing a controversial constitutional amendment that gave equal legal status to the lives of a foetus and the woman
  
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• Biggest Weekend: Liam Payne on his 'dad bod' and Bear's birthday

  26-05-2018 19:15 via bbc.co.uk
  Ahead of his performance at the BBC's Biggest Weekend, pop star Liam Payne discussed his "dad bod" and the first birthday of his son, Bear Payne.
  
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• One to watch: Conner Youngblood

  26-05-2018 19:00 via theguardian.com
  The Nashville-based multi-instrumentalist mixes folk and ambient electronica, writing songs about nature and travelThat Conner Youngblood’s latest track is called Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge feels telling. Making music that’s as exploratory, plaintive and soft around the edges as that peaceful title image suggests is the forte of this 28-year-old singer-songwriter.Youngblood is based in Nashville but was born in Dallas. The first instrument he learned to play was the clarinet fo
  
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• Book clinic: what are the best novels on modern black British lives?

  26-05-2018 19:00 via theguardian.com
  From Guy Gunaratne to Preti Taneja, author Kit de Waal selects some outstanding writers who reflect the richness of the ‘black experience’Q: Apart from Small Island by Andrea Levy, what are the best novels on being black and British in the 20th and 21st century?
  From a 61-year-old, middle-class white woman who lives in West Sussex, and who is sadly entirely insulated from black British lives.A: Kit de Waal, author of My Name Is Leon and The Trick to Time
  There’s a lot of great
  
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• North and South Korean leaders meet as US indicates summit may yet happen

  26-05-2018 18:59 via theguardian.com
  Analyst: ‘bold but risky’ talks result of Trump ‘temper tantrum’
  Opinion: Who knew North Korean diplomacy was so hard?The North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, met his South Korean counterpart on Saturday, two days after Donald Trump cancelled a planned summit with Kim.Related: Donald Trump says North Korea summit could be back onContinue reading...
  
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• Trump hails release of Utah man jailed in Venezuela for two years

  26-05-2018 18:57 via theguardian.com
  Joshua Holt and wife freed and on their way to US, senator says President says ‘hostage’ will visit White House on Saturday
  A Utah man and his wife who were held in Venezuela without trial for two years were on their way to the US on Saturday, family members, Senator Orrin Hatch and Donald Trump said. Related: US rejects 'insult to democracy' as Venezuela president Maduro pursues second termContinue reading...
  
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• In Northern Ireland, abortion rights groups clamour for change

  26-05-2018 18:56
  Abortion rights activists in Northern Ireland called on the British government to end what one group described as the province's "Victorian-era abortion ban" after neighbouring Ireland voted by a landslide to liberalise its laws.A socially conservative province where the Catholic and Protestant faiths exert strong influence, Northern Ireland allows abortion only when a mother's life is in danger.The penalty for undergoing or performing an unlawful abortion is life imprisonment.
  
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• Now give us the right to abortion in Northern Ireland | Grainne Teggart

  26-05-2018 18:42 via theguardian.com
  Victorian-era laws still apply on the UK side of the Irish border. When will it be our turn?They did it. they really did it. I’m still having to pinch myself as a reminder that the yes vote actually happened; that Ireland has marked a new beginning for itself as a country that trusts and values women. And lots of us in Northern Ireland, who didn’t have a vote, joined the campaigning, doing all we could to hold the hands of our friends over the border in their pursuit for freedom and
  
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• Ed Sheeran: 'I'm not stitching fans up' as he tackles secondary ticket sites

  26-05-2018 18:36
  Ed Sheeran says he is not trying to stitch fans up by invalidating tickets bought on secondary websites when people arrive at his gigs.The British singer is taking resale sites and touts to task by declaring tickets bought through them invalid at the door of his concerts, offering fans the chance to buy the tickets at face value instead.It means fans have to apply for a refund after the show from resale sites.
  
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• Ariana Grande brings a dignified note even to Twitter spat | Rebecca Nicholson

  26-05-2018 18:30 via theguardian.com
  The singer is a superhero not just for handling the anniversary of the Manchester attack with grace but also for fixing the internetAriana Grande commemorated the one-year anniversary of the horrific Manchester Arena attacks with heart, warmth and grace. She offered a message of love to survivors on Twitter; her mother posted a picture of a candlelit vigil held at their family home, with 22 candles, one for each of the fans who died. On Friday, the singer tweeted a picture of a new tattoo, a bee
  
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• The Mediterranean diet is in retreat even in Italy. What now for the foodies’ ideal? | Louise Gray

  26-05-2018 18:29 via theguardian.com
  Child obesity is rising across Europe, says a new report, but it’s not all down to junk foodThere was a touch of schadenfreude last week when it was reported that even in Italy, Greece and Spain, the home of the Mediterranean diet, children are suffering the same obesity crisis as here in the UK. They thought they were so clever with their olive oil and fish and fresh vegetables. They were laughing at us Brits with our chips and burgers and, er, more chips. But look! Fast food has got them
  
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• History is made as Ireland votes to repeal anti-abortion laws – video report

  26-05-2018 18:27 via theguardian.com
  People celebrate after Ireland calls for an end to the country's anti-abortion laws, with two-thirds of voters choosing to repeal the eighth amendment to the constitution. Orla O'Connor, co-director of the yes campaign, said it was 'a monumental day for women in Ireland'Continue reading...
  
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• Alastair Campbell: Labour under Corbyn 'does my head in'

  26-05-2018 18:13 via theguardian.com
  Ex-press chief condemns demonisation of Tony Blair, hailing him as party’s most successful leaderTony Blair’s former press chief Alastair Campbell has condemned the demonisation of the ex-prime minister.Continue reading...
  
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• Champions League final: Kiev mayor sorry that fans are paying high hotel prices

  26-05-2018 18:12
  The mayor of Kiev has apologised for extortionate hotel prices in the Ukrainian city ahead of tonight's Champions League final between Liverpool and Real Madrid.Mayor Vitali Klitschko said many people in Kiev had offered their homes and apartments for fans to stay in but he said he was sorry that some hotels had tried to exploit the game.
  
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• Boy, 11, arrested after allegedly raping seven-year-old in Dorset

  26-05-2018 18:11
  Dorset police said they were investigating and that the boy was being supported by specially trained officers.An 11-year-old boy has been arrested and questioned by police in Dorset after he was accused of raping a seven-year-old boy who was playing outside.The attack is alleged to have taken place in Wool, a large village in the district of Purbeck, on the evening of 14 May, close to the alleged victim’s home.
  
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• Details of plan to fix Sri Lanka-England Test revealed by al-Jazeera

  26-05-2018 18:09 via theguardian.com
  • Footage shows groundsman saying he can tailor pitch
  • Sri Lanka Cricket says it will cooperate with ICC investigationSri Lanka Cricket has pledged to cooperate fully with anti-corruption officers as the sport awaits the broadcast of an investigation by al‑Jazeera that is understood to allege details of a plan to fix England’s first Test match in Galle this November.Some footage from the documentary Cricket’s Match-Fixers, which will be televised on Sunday, has alrea
  
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• End 'hide and seek' Brexit approach, Barnier tells UK

  26-05-2018 18:08
  The EU's Brexit negotiator urged the British government on Saturday to stop playing "hide and seek" over its aims for trade ties and warned that delays in agreeing on judicial oversight risk wrecking any Brexit deal.In pointed remarks after an ill-tempered week of talks in Brussels, Michel Barnier insisted he would not be intimidated by what he called a "blame game" from London of accusing the EU of inflexibility in rejecting British demands for close cooperation on security, trade and other iss
  
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• Saracens champions again as Chris Wyles leads conquest of Exeter

  26-05-2018 18:06 via theguardian.com
  • Premiership final: Exeter 10-27 Saracens
  • Two tries from Chris Wyles help Sarries regain crownIt was apt that Chris Wyles signed off his Saracens career with two tries after another final in which the team that had finished first came second. Exeter lacked the wiles of their opponents, sticking to the possession formula that has brought them so much reward this season without taking ownership of the game after the opening 10 minutes.Sarries did not touch the ball in that time, apart
  
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• US liberal Islamophobia is rising – and more insidious than rightwing bigotry | Khaled A Beydoun

  26-05-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  We must not ignore the spread of leftists who preach that Islam is inimical to liberal values“When will Muslims step up and reform Islam?” asked the self-identified “progressive and intersectional” college student, following a presentation of my book, American Islamophobia: Understanding the Roots and Rise of Fear, at New York University. The student wore a Black Lives Matter T-shirt and a colorful assortment of pins and patches on his camouflage backpack calling for &ldq
  
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• Tax evasion isn’t just for the west: it conspires to keep Africa poor too

  26-05-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Many economists believe life in the developing world is improving fast. It certainly isn’t in the sub-Saharan regionThere is a comforting mainstream narrative which tells us that African nations, like the rest of the developing world, are doing just fine. Look past the terrorist incidents, the latest Ebola outbreak and areas of drought, and you will find that poverty is being alleviated and diseases confined to isolated pockets. A combination of western aid, Chinese investment and the reju
  
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• Rolling Stones review – satisfaction guaranteed from rock’s old stagers

  26-05-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  London Stadium
  They’re showing signs of age – as are some of their attitudes – but the Stones remain capable of electrifying a vast venue with their loose, strutting bluesWe could be in a big venue anywhere in the world. Fans wearing Rolling Stones merchandise converse in various tongues. The bars speak the international language of weak lager.You know you are in a former Olympic venue in a recently reinvented bit of London, however, because you can just spy the top curve of An
  
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• Fake plastic freeze: Jourdan Joly's ice-cream sculptures – in pictures

  26-05-2018 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Since the creation of his first ice-cream sculpture in 2012, US artist Jourdan Joly has made dozens of colourful plastic ice-creams from his Atlanta studio. The very first piece was titled Best Friend Special: “It was sort of an inside joke I had with somebody about how you have to be best friends to share a dessert treat,” he says. Inspired by fake food items – which are popular in Japan – he creates his works by casting urethane plastic in a silicone mould. Since the re
  
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• Firms make millions out of ‘by the night’ flats for England’s homeless

  26-05-2018 17:56 via theguardian.com
  Councils are paying agents and landlords huge sums for temporary housing. But in one London tower block, it’s a permanent reality of damp, mould and miceShabana winces as she points out blooms of potentially toxic black spores in the flat she shares with her husband and four children in a former office block in east London.“Everything smells of mould and damp. It goes down our noses and mouths,” she says. “My son has asthma now and I’ve developed osteoarthritis.&rdq
  
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• Memory Lane: the 1981 European Cup final – in pictures

  26-05-2018 17:42 via theguardian.com
  As Real Madrid and Liverpool meet in the 2018 Champions League final, we’ve had a rummage in the archives to check out what happened the last time they met in the final Continue reading...
  
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• Jailed British-Iranian aid worker to face trial on security charges - Iran court head

  26-05-2018 17:12
  A detained British-Iranian aid worker sentenced to five years in jail in Iran is to face a second trial on new security charges, the semi-official Tasnim news agency on Saturday quoted Tehran Revolutionary Court's head Musa Ghazanfarabadi as saying.Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested in April 2016 at a Tehran airport as she was heading back to Britain with her two-year-old daughter after a family visit.British Foreign Secretary Boris Joh
  
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• Liverpool mayor 'gutted' after Kiev flights cancelled

  26-05-2018 17:07
  At least 1,000 Liverpool fans have had their hopes of watching their team play live in the Champions League final dashed in what the city's mayor Joe Anderson has called an "utter shambles".The cancellation of four flights due to insufficient landing spots at Ukraine's Boryspil Airport means that many fans are now be unable to get to the match which will take place in the city of Kiev in Ukraine on Saturday.Operator Worldchoice Sports cancelled three flights and Liverpool said a further flight b
  
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• Six reasons why Britain’s retailers can’t make ends meet

  26-05-2018 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Homebase has been sold for a pound, Marks and Spencer is closing more stores – can the nation of shopkeepers survive?In one fell swoop DIY giant Homebase became the high street’s latest pound shop last week after its Australian owner, Wesfarmers, offloaded the loss-making chain for a token sum to a restructuring firm. The deal is expected to trigger fresh pain on a high street that is already shedding stores and jobs at a faster rate than during the recession in 2009. Major high-stre
  
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• North Korea's Kim Jong-Un And South Korea's President Moon Jae-in Embrace At Border In Surprise Meeting

  26-05-2018 17:00
  The North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has surprised the world once again by
  
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• Gay teacher launches network to help British LGBT colleagues

  26-05-2018 16:57 via theguardian.com
  Event for new support group, LGBTed, coincides with section 28 anniversary and aims to create role models in schoolsA gay teacher who fought back against advice to keep his sexuality secret by coming out in front of his whole school last year has set up a network to encourage other LGBT teachers to do the same.Daniel Gray will launch the initiative, LGBTed, next weekend at an event where more than 100 teachers, school leaders and other educationalists will share advice on being gay or trans role
  
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• Virgin Media falls foul of watchdog over £240 exit fees

  26-05-2018 16:56 via theguardian.com
  Ofcom says it ‘has reasonable grounds to believe’ the cable company has broken its rulesVirgin Media may have breached consumer protection rules by charging customers up to £240 for ending their contract early, according to an investigation by the telecoms regulator Ofcom. In a preliminary ruling this week, Ofcom says it has “reasonable grounds to believe” that Virgin has contravened its general conditions which state companies cannot charge excessive fees that disi
  
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• Ethiopia 'to release Briton Andy Tsege' after four years in jail

  26-05-2018 16:45
  A British national on death row in Ethiopia is understood to have been pardoned four years after he was detained.Andargachew Tsege, known as Andy, was detained in Yemen in 2014, abducted from an airport on his way to Eritrea.The father-of-three had been sentenced to death in his absence in 2009, and after his kidnap, was held in secret detention and solitary confinement for a year.
  
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• Father of woman feared murdered 'went looking for her'

  26-05-2018 16:39
  The father of a woman feared to have been murdered went looking for her when she failed to turn up to her birthday celebrations, neighbours say.A woman in her 20s was found dead in a bed in a flat in Gossops Green, Crawley, after police were called around 10.30pm on Friday night.A man aged 47 was found at the property, with minor injuries, and arrested on suspicion of murder after being checked by paramedics.
  
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• Chris Froome set for Giro d’Italia glory despite being spat at by fan

  26-05-2018 16:23 via theguardian.com
  • Team Sky rider adds to his lead on penultimate stage
  • Victory in Rome would give him all three Grand ToursShortly after Chris Froome conquered the final summit of this year’s Giro d’Italia, and the realisation sunk in that he would be the first Briton to win the maglia rosa, he described the race as the “battle of his career”. Yet strangely after three weeks of vicious riding, the last significant skirmish on the way to Cervinia saw barely a blow attempted &n
  
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• Corbyn under pressure to give members vote on Labour Brexit policy

  26-05-2018 16:19 via theguardian.com
  Supporters from leftwing group Momentum press for debate at party conferenceSupporters of Jeremy Corbyn from the leftwing campaign group Momentum are piling pressure on the leadership this weekend to give members a debate and vote on Labour’s Brexit policy in a move that will further expose the party’s deep divisions over Europe. Related: How Corbyn could become prime minister – and keep us in the EU | John PalmerContinue reading...
  
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• Life and death on billionaires' superyachts – video

  26-05-2018 16:13 via theguardian.com
  The Guardian is granted exclusive access to some of the latest superyachts in Monaco. But what is life really like for the young people serving billionaires in the sun? We hear from a mother whose son died while he was working onboard a luxury yacht Continue reading...
  
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• Fears for 13-year-old girl Serena Alexander-Benson who left UK on Eurotunnel train

  26-05-2018 16:12
  Serena Alexander-Benson left the country on a Eurotunnel train yesterday morning in Folkestone and was thought to have been with an older person.The child was last seen by her father leaving her home in Wimbledon, south-west London around 7.50am on Friday.
  
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• Daniel Ricciardo takes Monaco F1 pole from Vettel with Hamilton third

  26-05-2018 16:11 via theguardian.com
  • Red Bull’s Ricciardo tops Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton
  • But Max Verstappen to start at the back after crash in practiceRed Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo went into this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix publicly seeking redemption for the team error that cost him an almost certain win here two years ago. His journey is not yet over and Monaco can bite in the most unforgiving fashion but with an absolutely emphatic pole position the Australian has given himself every chan
  
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• Tycoon Hands plots £2.5bn takeover of Quintain

  26-05-2018 16:01
  Guy Hands, the private equity tycoon, is exploring a £2.5bn bid for Quintain, the London-based property group, in an effort to establish an £8bn UK-wide real estate empire.Sky News has learnt that Mr Hands' buyout firm, Terra Firma Capital Partners, is examining an offer for Quintain‎ through Annington, the giant residential property group it has controlled since 2012.Initial bids are due for Quintain, which is owned by Lone Star Funds, another private equity firm, early next mon
  
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• Amid Syria’s horror, a new force emerges: the women of Idlib

  26-05-2018 16:00 via theguardian.com
  With husbands, sons and fathers dead or missing, women have been unwittingly thrust into the spotlight. Their resilience and innovation could point a way forwardThe plight of approximately three million civilians encircled by hostile forces in Syria’s north-western Idlib province is growing worse by the day, according to UN officials, aid agencies and advocacy groups who fear a looming humanitarian catastrophe.For many Syrian families, Idlib is the refuge of last resort, after their forced
  
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