General news

• 'Numbers simply are NOT there!' Owen Jones admits Labour MPs not set to back amendment

  06-06-2018 23:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  REMAINER Owen Jones admitted Labour MPs will "simply not have the numbers" to vote against Theresa May and back the House of Lords amendments to the Brexit bill, despite some "hardcore" Remainers' hope to succeed.
  
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• 'If you harm UK, you harm ALL of Europe' Davis' major WARNING as Brexit tensions SURGE

  06-06-2018 23:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  BREXIT minister David Davis sent a stern warning to the EU as he hailed Britons' decision to leave the Brussels bloc, calling on those who believe Brexit will economically damage the UK to "think again".
  
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• Bishop sex abuse inquiry asks to hear from Prince Charles

  06-06-2018 23:35
  Prince Charles has been asked to give evidence to a public inquiry into a former bishop who was jailed for sexually abusing young men.Peter Ball was sentenced to 32 months in 2015 for indecently assaulting two men in their late teens in the 1980s and 1990s and a charge of misconduct in a public office.The handling of allegations against him is being examined by the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
  
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• Britain’s violent crime crisis: 100-year-old dies after street mugging

  06-06-2018 23:32 via feedproxy.google.com
  CAMPAIGNERS last night slammed the “horrific” street mugging of a 100-year-old widow who died yesterday. Zofija Kaczan suffered multiple injuries including a broken neck when her handbag was stolen by a mugger in the latest cruel targeting of an elderly and vulnerable person on the streets of Britain.
  
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• Prince William tests motorbike at Isle of Man TT - but Kate won't be happy

  06-06-2018 22:49
  The Duke of Cambridge was in his element while testing out a motorbike during a visit to the Isle of Man TT race event.Prince William, 35, indulged his passion for motorcycles on Wednesday when he jumped at the chance of sitting on the hand-built Norton SG7, which has a top speed of 208mph.While speaking to Laurence Skelly, the Isle of Man's minister for enterprise, William suggested Kate was a little sceptical of the intentions behind his visit.
  
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• Amazon to expand UK workforce with 2,500 new jobs this year

  06-06-2018 22:45
  Amazon is to create 2,500 permanent jobs in the UK in 2018, taking the total UK workforce to 27,500 by the end of the year.Amazon said that growing investments in British research and development and increasing customer demand were factors behind the expansion.The company is also expanding its AmazonFresh, Amazon Business, Amazon Fashion, Prime Now, Prime Video, Amazon Music, Amazon Echo products and services, as well as its AWS cloud computing operations which contribute the most to Amazon's re
  
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• Paul Dacre, editor of the Daily Mail, to stand down

  06-06-2018 22:22
  The editor of the Daily Mail tabloid Paul Dacre will stand down after 26 years in November to become chairman and editor-in-chief of the title's publisher, Associated Newspapers, Daily Mail and General Trustsaid on Wednesday.Dacre had provided "brilliant stewardship" of the Daily Mail and other titles in the group over three decades, said DMGT's chairman, Jonathan Harmsworth, "and often set the political agenda through six prime ministerships".Under Dacre's stewardship, the Mail increased its ci
  
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• Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre to step down after 26 years in role

  06-06-2018 22:22
  Paul Dacre is stepping down as editor of the Daily Mail newspaper after 26 years in the role.In a statement, Mr Dacre said he had decided to "step back from the responsibilities of day-to-day editing" by his 70th birthday in November.Parent company DMGT said Mr Dacre's new roles had been announced to facilitate a handover to the Mail's new editor, "who will be named in due course".
  
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• Sajid Javid denies Windrush is 'systemic failure' of Home Office

  06-06-2018 22:09
  The new home secretary has denied the Windrush scandal was a "systemic failure" by the Home Office.Sajid Javid defended the staff in his new department at a human rights committee meeting about the scandal which has left thousands of people from the Caribbean fearing deportation from the UK.MPs questioned how members of the Windrush generation could be placed in deportation centres despite providing years of payslips and National Insurance numbers.
  
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• 12,500 TSB customers leave after IT meltdown

  06-06-2018 21:45
  TSB chief executive Paul Pester has admitted the bank has lost around 12,500 customers since its IT systems crashed in April.Speaking in front of the Treasury select committee of MPs, Dr Pester also revealed that up to 1,300 TSB customers suffered financial loss due to fraudsters following the IT system failure.Dr Pester, accompanied by TSB chairman Richard Meddings and chief operations officer Miguel Montes apologised several times to MPs for the bank's failings and the havoc wreaked on custome
  
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• Labour too divided to back Norway-style Brexit deal – Starmer

  06-06-2018 21:42
  Labour’s Brexit camps were at odds as Keir Starmer rejected claims he would squander the chance to defeat the government over an amendment to keep the UK in a Norway-style deal, saying his party was too divided to back it.Labour sources suggested dozens of MPs in leave-backing seats had quietly warned they were prepared to rebel if the party leadership decided to back a Lords amendment to keep the UK in the European Economic Area when the EU withdrawal bill returns to the Commons next week
  
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• Brexit: David Davis plans revolt over customs backstop plan

  06-06-2018 21:37
  Theresa May is facing a dramatic cabinet showdown with David Davis, the Brexit secretary, over the government’s final backstop plan to avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland.As the inner cabinet meets at Downing Street to thrash out the final details of the customs fall-back plan, Davis is expected to push for a firm end date to be included in the agreed text.“That’s a question I think for the prime minister, to be honest,” he told reporters after a speech at the Royal U
  
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• Paul Dacre to step down as Daily Mail editor in November

  06-06-2018 21:02
  Paul Dacre has exerted enormous influence over British public life since 1992.Paul Dacre will step down as editor of the Daily Mail in November, bringing an end to one of the most influential reigns in British journalism.Dacre has edited the newspaper since 1992, exerting enormous leverage over British public life with a relentless focus on what he believed to be the concerns of middle England, ranging from a tough line on immigration to campaigns against plastic bags.
  
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• Sajid Javid plans 'fairer, more compassionate' immigration system

  06-06-2018 20:49
  Sajid Javid was giving evidence to MPs on the joint human rights select committee.Sajid Javid has said he wants to introduce a “fairer, more compassionate” immigration system that allows staff greater freedom to use their common sense, as he acknowledged widespread failings within the Home Office.The home secretary said something went “massively” wrong at the department in its handling of the Windrush scandal, and that the treatment of those affected had not been “p
  
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• Khalid Ali: Trial shown video of London arrest

  06-06-2018 20:32 via bbc.co.uk
  Khalid Ali was found with three knives when arrested by armed police in central London, a court hears.
  
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• Anti-terrorism plans 'will make thoughtcrime a reality'

  06-06-2018 20:20
  The proposals would make it a potential offence to display an Isis flag.Anti-terrorism proposals have been unveiled by the UK government that would make it an offence for people to publicly support a banned group even if they did not encourage others to do so.Liberty said it was alarmed at the plans to amend existing offences under the planned counter-terrorism and border security bill, details of which were announced on Wednesday.
  
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• Wealth within Grenfell borough is irrelevant, inquiry told

  06-06-2018 20:08
  The burned shell of Grenfell Tower block is seen in the background behind town houses in Notting Hill, west London.The fact the borough containing Grenfell Tower has some of the most expensive property in the world should not be exploited to suggest the council callously mistreated its poorest residents, the inquiry into the disaster has been told.“That the council should be seen as the public face of the disaster is entirely understandable,” James Maxwell-Scott QC, representing the
  
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• Cambridge Analytica's 'victimised' ex-chief lambasts liberal media

  06-06-2018 19:56
  The Cambridge Analytica boss, Alexander Nix, has said he feels victimised by the media coverage that led to the collapse of his company, telling MPs his firm was unfairly destroyed by false accusations made by a “bitter and jealous” whistleblower.Nix was appearing front of MPs for the first time since his business collapsed following accusations made to the Observer by former employee Christopher Wylie regarding its misuse of Facebook data, prompting a global scandal over the power o
  
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• Cambridge Analytica 'destroyed by bitter and jealous whistleblower'

  06-06-2018 19:56
  Alexander Nix giving evidence to the digital, culture, media and sport committee inquiry into fake news.The Cambridge Analytica boss, Alexander Nix, has said he feels victimised by media coverage which led to the collapse of his company, telling MPs his firm was unfairly destroyed by false accusations made by a “bitter and jealous” whistleblower.Nix was appearing front of MPs for the first time since his business collapsed following accusations made to the Observer by former employee
  
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• Writer at literary event accidentally ends up beautifully coordinated with book

  06-06-2018 19:55
  Imogen Hermes Gowar was posing for a photo with her novel when the illusion was caught on camera.
  
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• May's chamber of confusion flaps about in indecision

  06-06-2018 19:47
  A pigeon takes flight after learning she is to be the subject of ministerial sponsorship. Photograph: ©Jon Cartwright/Getty Images
  
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• Government faces high court challenge over 'right to rent' scheme

  06-06-2018 19:44
  Since 2014 landlords have been required to carry out ‘reasonable enquiries’ over prospective tenants’ right to be in the UK.The government faces a possible challenge to its “hostile environment” policy after a campaign group won the right to launch a high court case against the Home Office’s scheme obliging landlords to check the immigration of would-be tenants.The Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI), a long-time critic of the hardline policy &n
  
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• Grenfell fridge fire resident 'was terrified for his life' after being 'hounded'

  06-06-2018 19:41
  The Grenfell Tower tenant in whose flat the fire started was "absolutely blameless" but was left "terrified for his life" after being hounded by journalists, an inquiry into the disaster has heard.Police became so concerned about the safety of fourth-floor resident Behailu Kebede that they "suggested witness protection", said his lawyer Rajiv Menon QC.Mr Menon said Mr Kebede suffered repercussions to his health.
  
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• Microsoft sinks data centre off coast of Orkney to find ways of cutting cooling costs

  06-06-2018 19:36
  Tech giant Microsoft has sunk a data centre in the sea off Orkney to look at whether it can improve energy efficiency.Orkney was chosen as a location because it is a major centre for renewable energy research.The sea offers a free and accessible resource for cooling which is one of the biggest costs for land-based data centres.
  
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• Suffragette actions were not terrorism

  06-06-2018 19:27
  A woman looks through a window in a house near Holloway prison broken by the blast after the suffragettes tried to blow the prison up.• In her excellent review of BBC One’s Suffragettes with Lucy Worsley (G2, 5 June), Julia Raeside avoids the most problematic aspect of the film: calling the more extreme violence that some of the women engaged in “terrorism”.What the film did not state was that, unlike so many of today’s terrorists, the suffragettes aimed to kill no o
  
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• Flying improbable kites – and boats – over Heathrow options

  06-06-2018 19:25
  Howard Hughes’ wooden flying boat, known as the Spruce Goose. Photograph: AP
  
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• 1,300 TSB Bank Customers Had Money Stolen By Fraudsters, Boss Admits

  06-06-2018 19:16
  Fraudsters "exploited" TSB's tech problems and stole money from 1,300
  
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• DUP member compares abortion to Holocaust

  06-06-2018 19:15 via bbc.co.uk
  Jim Wells made the comments during BBC Radio Ulster's Nolan Show.
  
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• EU 'shooting itself in the foot' over Galileo - UK minister

  06-06-2018 19:08
  Britain said the European Commission was "shooting itself in the foot" with a plan to restrict UK access to the Galileo satellite navigation system after Brexit.Brexit secretary David Davis said Britain had been instrumental in developing Galileo's technology, and that shutting it out at this stage would delay the project by up to three years and increase the bill by an extra 1 billion euros (£0.9 billion).A row over Galileo became a flashpoint in Brexit negotiations last month after Londo
  
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• 8 of the ‘dumbest students’ ever, according to professors who taught them

  06-06-2018 19:03
  Teachers were asked to share some of the silly things their students got up to.
  
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• Michael Barnes obituary

  06-06-2018 18:54
  Michael Barnes, second left, protesting in Piccadilly Circus, London, in 1967, with from left: Anne Kerr, Arthur Blenkinsop, Frank Hooley, Laurie Pavitt and Peter Archer.Michael Barnes, who has died aged 85, was the Labour MP for Brentford and Chiswick in west London from 1966 to 1974 and subsequently had a long career in public service, culminating in serving as the legal services ombudsman for England and Wales (1991-97).
  
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• Mandarin Oriental fire: Blaze at Knightsbridge hotel

  06-06-2018 18:54 via bbc.co.uk
  About 100 firefighters are tackling the blaze at the Mandarin Oriental in Knightsbridge, central London.
  
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• Robert Peston moves to midweek ITV slot after poor viewing figures

  06-06-2018 18:32
  ITV has moved Robert Peston’s political interview programme to a midweek evening slot after it failed to establish itself with viewers, in a move that marks the channel’s retreat from the highly competitive world of Sunday morning political TV shows.Peston on Sunday was launched in May 2016, as part of the deal that saw the host move from his job as BBC economics editor to become ITV’s political editor.It was initially described as a fresher alternative to the BBC’s long-
  
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• TSB IT failure led to 10,600 fraud alerts, FCA says

  06-06-2018 18:26
  FCA chief executive Andrew Bailey told MPs on the Treasury Select Committee there had been about 10,600 fraud alerts relating to the bank's IT meltdown.Mr Bailey said the FCA has had some "quite frank conversations" with TSB about their level of communication and the watchdog had been "not satisfied" with it.Dr Pester admitted to the committee that up to 1,300 TSB customers suffered financial loss due to fraudsters following the IT system failure.
  
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• Inquiry seeks statement about paedophile bishop from Prince Charles

  06-06-2018 18:25
  Peter Ball was sentenced to 32 months in 2015 for charges relating to 18 teenagers and young men.Prince Charles has been asked to give a witness statement to the child sexual abuse inquiry about a paedophile bishop with whom he was in correspondence and who was jailed for grooming young men.The ex-bishop of Lewes and Gloucester, Peter Ball, 84, was sentenced to 32 months in 2015 for charges relating to 18 teenagers and young men between the 1970s and 1990s.
  
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• Samantha Cameron: 'I was terrible at waving to the public'

  06-06-2018 18:08
  David Cameron's wife, Samantha Cameron, has revealed she hated waving to the public when her husband was prime minister.The fashion designer, 47, said the whole idea was "bizarre" and that she was once forced to wave while standing with former US president Barack Obama and his wife Michelle."Why are you waving?
  
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• UK says Irish border 'backstop' Brexit proposal still being discussed

  06-06-2018 18:04
  Brexit secretary David Davis said a so-called "backstop proposal" on how to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland was still being discussed."The detail of this is being discussed at the moment, it's been through one cabinet committee and it's going to another one, and it would be improper of me to pre-empt the negotiation there, but I suspect it will be fairly decisive tomorrow," Davis said."It's for a cabinet committee to decide on that, and if they conclude, then you'll see
  
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• Ex-Southampton coach 'asked boy he abused to call him dad'

  06-06-2018 18:02
  Bob Higgins sits in the dock at Salisbury crown court.A former schoolboy footballer has told a jury how the ex-Southampton youth coach Bob Higgins abused him on a ferry returning from a trip to Sweden and encouraged him to address him as “dad”.The witness said that he had such respect for Higgins, who also worked at Peterborough United, that he would have crossed a motorway blindfolded if the coach had told him to.
  
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• A jelly-eating book-reading train commuter was living her best life

  06-06-2018 18:01
  Even when she dropped a blob on a bloke’s jacket.
  
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• Over 100 firefighters called to blaze on roof of London Mandarin Oriental hotel

  06-06-2018 17:58
  Twenty fire engines and 120 firefighters and officers have been called to a blaze on the roof of a hotel in Knightsbridge, central London, the London Fire Brigade said on Wednesday.A Reuters reporter said smoke was visible coming from the five-star Mandarin Oriental hotel.
  
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• Former Anglo Irish Bank CEO found guilty of defrauding depositors, investors

  06-06-2018 17:51
  The former chief executive of the failed Anglo Irish Bank, David Drumm, was found guilty on Wednesday of conspiring to defraud depositors and investors during a banking crisis that crippled Ireland's economy a decade ago."The verdict today is the culmination of an investigation that commenced over nine years ago," Detective Superintendent Gerard Walsh told reporters outside the court, describing it as one the most complex undertaken involving the analysis of tens of thousands of telephone calls
  
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• May raises 'concerns' with Netanyahu over loss of life in Gaza protests

  06-06-2018 17:48
  Theresa May has told Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu that she is "concerned about the loss of Palestinian lives" in the Gaza protests.The British prime minister said the UK "absolutely recognises" Israel's right for self-defence against the activities of "extremists and terrorists".The Israeli leader said the protesters at the border with Israel were being "paid for and pushed by Hamas" to try to break through and kill Israelis.
  
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• TSB IT failure led to 10,600 fraud cases, FCA says

  06-06-2018 17:47
  FCA chief executive Andrew Bailey told MPs on the Treasury Select Committee there had been about 10,600 incidents of fraud relating to the bank's IT meltdown.Mr Bailey said the FCA has had some "quite frank conversations" with TSB about their level of communication and the watchdog had been "not satisfied" with it.Dr Pester admitted to the committee that up to 1,300 TSB customers suffered financial loss due to fraudsters following the IT system failure.
  
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• Mandarin Oriental fire: Video shows smoke at London hotel

  06-06-2018 17:47 via bbc.co.uk
  Firefighters are tackling a blaze at the Mandarin Oriental hotel in Knightsbridge.
  
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• More than 100 firefighters tackle blaze at five-star Knightsbridge hotel in London

  06-06-2018 17:46
  Around 120 firefighters and 20 fire engines have been called to a blaze at a five-star hotel in central London.Images on social media showed huge plumes of smoke coming from the Mandarin Oriental in Knightsbridge.London Fire Brigade said the cause of the flames was not yet known.
  
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• Masked thieves steal £15k camera from Australian TV crew in London

  06-06-2018 17:46
  Masked thieves threatened an Australian TV news crew and made off with a £15,000 camera just moments after they had finished a live piece in London.The two men targeted presenter Laurel Irving and cameraman Jimmy Cannon following a broadcast on the Royal Family from Exmouth Market in Islington at around 10pm on Monday.
  
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• Britain to publish Irish border Brexit backstop plan on Thursday - BBC

  06-06-2018 17:16
  The British government will publish on Thursday its 'backstop' plan for dealing with the Irish border after Brexit if it fails to agree a wide-ranging trade deal with the European Union that would eliminate the need for border checks, the BBC's political editor said."Govt to publish backstop paper tomorrow morning - before Brexit committee," Laura Kuenssberg said on Twitter.The Financial Times reported that the backstop plan for the Irish border had caused a "serious row" between British Prime M
  
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• Knightsbridge Fire: 100 Firefighters Tackle Blaze At Mandarin Oriental Hotel

  06-06-2018 17:15
  Nearly 100 firefighters are responding to a fire on the roof of the Mandarin
  
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• TSB admits 1,300 accounts hit by fraud amid IT meltdown

  06-06-2018 17:10 via bbc.co.uk
  Customers were waiting on the phone for up to nine hours to report cases, the bank's boss tells MPs.
  
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• Explainer - London's new runway: progress at last but no take off yet

  06-06-2018 17:10
  British lawmakers could approve the expansion of Heathrow this month, moving London's largest airport closer to building a new runway than it has been for years, but hurdles remain after decades of indecision and false starts.Owned by Spain's Ferrovial, Qatar Investment Authority and China Investment Corporation among others, Heathrow is Europe's busiest airport but is now operating at full capacity.Heathrow says the runway would be operational by 2026.
  
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