General news

• May 'disappointed' after colleague blocks 'upskirting' law

  15-06-2018 23:51
  Prime Minister Theresa May said on Friday she was disappointed an MP from her Conservative party had blocked a bill to make "upskirting" - surreptitiously taking photographs up women's skirts - a criminal offence.Christopher Chope, 71, a veteran politician who was knighted this year, blocked the bill proposed by Liberal Dem parliamentarian Wera Hobhouse that was widely supported in the House of Commons.
  
  Read more

• Number of children waiting six months for dental operations soars

  15-06-2018 23:30
  In 2017, 13,548 children were waiting for dental operations under general anaesthesia.The number of children in England waiting longer than six months for a dental operation under general anaesthesia has risen by 52% over the past three years, data provided by NHS trusts suggests.The figures also show a 15% increase in the number of children on waiting lists for such treatment between 2015 and 2017.
  
  Read more

• Theresa May 'disappointed' as Tory MP Sir Christopher Chope blocks upskirting bill

  15-06-2018 23:02
  The Prime Minister says she is 'disappointed' after a proposed law to make upskirting a specific criminal offence was blocked by a Tory MP.The Voyeurism (Offences) Bill was stopped in its tracks when Christchurch MP Sir Christopher Chope objected to it being given a second reading in parliament.The bill, which was proposed by Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse and supported by ministers, was expected to get the nod through the Commons on Friday.
  
  Read more

• Our EastEnders chemistry was magic: Angie's tribute to 'Dirty' Den after Leslie Grantham's death

  15-06-2018 22:57
  Anita Dobson has paid tribute to her EastEnders co-star Leslie Grantham who died aged 71.Dobson who played Angie Watts - the wife of 'Dirty' Den - in the TV soap, described Grantham as the "archetypal charming rogue" and spoke of their "magic" chemistry on the show.Best known for his role in the BBC soap, he played Albert Square's notorious villain 'Dirty' Den from 1985 to 1989.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Drill musicians ban criticised by free speech campaigners

  15-06-2018 22:55
  A landmark ruling banning five drill musicians from encouraging violence in their rap videos has been criticised by freedom of speech campaigners.The members of the 1011 group received criminal behaviour orders (CBOs) on Friday that will also force them to warn police before they record or perform songs for three years.The Metropolitan Police is cracking down on drill videos because they glamourise violent crime.
  
  Read more

• Iran Fans Stage World Cup Protest Over Ban On Women At Football Games

  15-06-2018 22:12
  Iranian fans at the national team's first World Cup game unfurled banners
  
  Read more

• Epileptic boy Billy Caldwell has 'life-threatening' seizures' after cannabis confiscated

  15-06-2018 22:03
  The mother of a severely epileptic boy who was refused cannabis treatment in the UK has told Sky News she is "absolutely devastated" after he suffered a series of life-threatening seizures.Charlotte Caldwell attempted to bring medicinal cannabis oil into the UK for her 12-year-old son Billy, but it was confiscated at Heathrow airport on Monday after a flight from Canada.Speaking outside the London hospital, Ms Caldwell said her son's "brutal condition" had "returned with a vengeance" since the m
  
  Read more

• Oxfam To Slash Jobs And Aid Programmes In £16m Cuts After Haiti Scandal

  15-06-2018 21:20
  Oxfam is cutting "head office and support functions" after reportedly warning
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Man appears in court over 'Punish a Muslim' letters

  15-06-2018 20:41
  A man has appeared in court charged in connection with an investigation into "Punish A Muslim Day" letters.David Parnham is accused of 14 offences spanning two years, including one charge of soliciting to murder.The 35-year-old further faces five counts of sending a substance with the intention of inducing in a person a belief that it is likely to contain a noxious substance, five counts of sending a number of letters conveying a threat and one count of making a bomb hoax.
  
  Read more

• Epileptic boy 'in life-threatening state' after cannabis oil seized

  15-06-2018 20:33
  Charlotte Caldwell and her son Billy sit outside the Home Office during a break in a meeting with officials earlier this week.Billy Caldwell, the 12-year-old boy who had his anti-epileptic medicine confiscated by the Home Office this week, has been admitted to hospital, with his mother saying his condition is life-threatening.“Billy has had back-to-back seizures today,” his mother, Charlotte Caldwell, said on Friday.
  
  Read more

• Hunt and Hammond 'gridlocked' over NHS funding rise

  15-06-2018 20:09
  Theresa May is expected to reveal on Sunday how much more money the NHS will receive.Jeremy Hunt and Philip Hammond remain “gridlocked” over how much extra money the NHS should receive, hours before Theresa May is due to unveil a spending bonanza designed to rescue the ailing health service.The health secretary and the chancellor have still not agreed the percentage increase to be received by the NHS in England from next April in a dramatic break with eight years of Conservative aust
  
  Read more

• Man arrested after signed Usain Bolt shoes stolen in burglary

  15-06-2018 20:07
  An "irreplaceable" pair of signed Usain Bolt's running shoes has been stolen in a burglary.Worn by the world record holder during the 100m heats at London's 2012 Olympic Games, the signed trainers are part of an extensive collection built up by an unnamed fan in Derby.
  
  Read more

• Conservative rebels prepare to 'battle for the soul of Brexit'

  15-06-2018 19:47
  Tory rebels are refusing to back down as they attempt to secure a “meaningful” vote on how the government should respond if there is no agreed Brexit deal, despite Downing Street insisting there were no new concessions to be made.MPs are set to decide the shape of Brexit next week, in what is coming to be seen as one of the most important votes so far on the EU withdrawal bill.As Dominic Grieve, the rebels’ chief negotiator, insisted that he still hoped to win consensus in furt
  
  Read more

• Mother and daughter jailed in UK after admitting terrorism charges

  15-06-2018 19:32
  A mother and daughter "filled with hate and toxic ideology" were jailed on Friday for planning terrorist attacks in London, including a likely knife rampage.Rizlaine Boular, 22, and her mother Mina Dich, 44, had earlier admitted preparing terrorist acts after having been tracked by police as they drove around carrying out reconnaissance of potential targets in central London in April last year.The following day, the pair went to a supermarket in Wandsworth, southwest London where they bought a p
  
  Read more

• Lord Howie of Troon obituary

  15-06-2018 19:18
  Will Howie, later to become Lord Howie of Troon, canvassing in the run-up to his byelection victory in Luton in 1963.The former Labour peer Lord Howie of Troon, who has died aged 94, spent nearly half a century in parliament arguing the need for an enhanced public status for his own profession of engineering.
  
  Read more

• Members of all-female terror cell jailed over London knife plot

  15-06-2018 19:04
  Members of Britain’s first all-female terror cell, including a mother and daughter, have been jailed for planning a knife attack on members of the public outside the Palace of Westminster in London.Rizlaine Boular, 22, was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 16 years, after she pleaded guilty earlier this year to engaging in acts in preparation for terrorism.The prosecution said Boular “planned to launch an attack, using knives, against members of the public, selec
  
  Read more

• Comcast's £22.1bn Sky takeover bid cleared by European Commission

  15-06-2018 19:03
  US cable giant Comcast's £22.1bn takeover bid for Sky plc, the owner of Sky News, has been cleared unconditionally by the European Commission.The decision removes the last regulatory hurdle that stood before Comcast as the bidding war for Europe's largest pay-TV operator hots up.Sky's largest single shareholders, the US media giant 21st Century Fox, was last week given the go-ahead by the UK government to bid for Sky on the condition that it sells Sky News to another approved owner ahead o
  
  Read more

• Russia inquiry: how Trump's inner circle could bring him down – video explainer

  15-06-2018 18:59 via theguardian.com
  Donald Trump and his team have been under investigation for months by former FBI-head Robert Mueller. Mueller is investigating whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia to help win the 2016 election and defeat Hillary Clinton. Mueller is also looking into whether the campaign and the president have sought to obstruct justice. Trump’s inner circle has been under increasing pressure from the investigation, but can it hold?
  Paul Manafort: ex-Trump chair taken into custody after violatin
  
  Read more

• Who is Christopher Chope, The MP Who Derailed The Upskirting Bill?

  15-06-2018 18:54
  Sir Christopher Chope has a reputation for derailing private members' bills -
  
  Read more

• All-female terror cell members jailed for knife attack plot

  15-06-2018 18:49
  Members of the first terror group made up entirely of women have been jailed for a plan to carry out a knife attack in Westminster.Rizlaine Boular, 22, has been jailed for a minimum of 16 years, and her mother, Mina Dich was jailed for six years and nine months.Dich will spend a further five years on licence.
  
  Read more

• London drill rap group banned from making music due to threat of violence

  15-06-2018 18:44
  Micah Bedeau was among the five members of the 1011 gang to be arrested last year while carrying machetes and baseball bats.A drill rap group in London has been issued with a court order that bans them from making music without police permission.The court order was condemned by the campaign group Index on Censorship, which said it could create a precedent that caused problems for other artists.
  
  Read more

• Billy Caldwell in 'life-threatening' condition after cannabis treatment refusal - family

  15-06-2018 18:44
  A severely-epileptic boy who has been denied cannabis treatment in the UK is in a "life-threatening" condition, his family says.Charlotte Caldwell attempted to bring medicinal cannabis oil into the UK for her 12-year-old son Billy, but it was confiscated at Heathrow airport after a flight from Canada.In a statement, Billy's family said he is now too ill to travel back to Canada for treatment and the "only effective medication is locked in secure storage in the Home Office in London".
  
  Read more

• Britain's First All-Female Isis Terror Cell Who Plotted London Attack Jailed

  15-06-2018 18:24
  Two members of Britain's first all-female Islamic State terror cell have been
  
  Read more

• A bruising week in a difficult year for Theresa May

  15-06-2018 18:22
  Theresa May leaves No 10 to attend prime minister’s questions on Wednesday.When Theresa May landed at Heathrow at 7am last Sunday, one of the most critical weeks since she became prime minister almost exactly two years ago had just begun.The arcane nature of the wrangling over the precise way parliament can have a meaningful vote on a Brexit deal without actually binding the government’s hands can be misleading.
  
  Read more

• T-levels will not be quickly forgotten

  15-06-2018 17:49
  Anne Milton MP, who says the new T-level qualificaiton ‘is one part of a much wider transformation of technical education’.In Fiona Millar’s opinion piece on the new T-levels, I find myself in agreement with her.The divide between academic and technical education does need bridging.
  
  Read more

• Tory MP Sir Christopher Chope blocks proposed upskirting law to cries of 'shame'

  15-06-2018 17:46
  A proposed law to make upskirting a specific criminal offence has been blocked by a Tory MP.The Voyeurism (Offences) Bill was stopped in its tracks when Christchurch MP Sir Christopher Chope objected to it being given a second reading in parliament.The bill, which was proposed by Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse and supported by ministers, was expected to get the nod through the Commons on Friday.
  
  Read more

• UK seeks 'closest possible' security pact with EU after Brexit - minister

  15-06-2018 17:31
  Britain wants to cement its foreign policy and security ties with the European Union via the "closest possible cooperation agreement" for when it leaves the bloc, a British minister said.Britain was also open to a close partnership with Europe on a crisis intervention force post-Brexit, depending on key details, cabinet office minister David Lidington told the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper.As Europe's biggest military power along with France, Britain is central to European security efforts bu
  
  Read more

• New upskirting law blocked by Tory MP

  15-06-2018 17:21 via bbc.co.uk
  "Shame" is shouted in the Commons as MP Christopher Chope blocks the new bill.
  
  Read more

• The FA Is Supporting LGBT+ Pride Football Flags At Russia World Cup

  15-06-2018 17:00
  England's Football Association has endorsed LGBT+ Pride flags at the World Cup
  
  Read more

• Hawking's words to be set to music and sent into space after Westminster tribute

  15-06-2018 16:54
  The words of Professor Stephen Hawking - the scientist who devoted his life to unravelling the mysteries of the universe - will be beamed into space following a service to celebrate his life.Celebrities and public figures including physicist Brian Cox, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, comedian David Walliams and musician and producer Nile Rodgers attended the memorial at Westminster Abbey on Friday afternoon.Readings were given by top figures from the science world, including astronaut Tim Peake, as
  
  Read more

• Govia Thameslink chief executive Charles Horton resigns

  15-06-2018 16:50 via bbc.co.uk
  Charles Horton is to step down following major disruption for rail passengers.
  
  Read more

• Germany's Merkel floats tougher stance in trade row with U.S

  15-06-2018 16:48
  German Chancellor Angela Merkel hinted at a new front in the trade row with the United States on Friday, warning that Europe's strategic interests rode on the future of Europe's car industry and hinting at competition probes of U.S. internet giants.Just as U.S. President Donald Trump had given national security as a reason for threatening punitive tariffs on German cars, "We should think about the strategic significance of the auto industry for the European Union so we can prepare an exchange wi
  
  Read more

• British sergeant jailed for life for tampering with wife's parachute

  15-06-2018 16:48
  The jury found Emile Cilliers guilty of two counts of attempted murder after he also tried to cause a gas explosion at the family home.Emile Cilliers, 38, arranged the jump for his wife, Victoria, soon after the birth of their second child, but he removed vital components from her parachute, causing her to fall 4,000ft (1,200 metres).Victoria, a physiotherapist, survived after landing in a soft, ploughed field but was seriously injured.
  
  Read more

• Leslie Grantham: EastEnders' Dirty Den dies aged 71

  15-06-2018 16:43 via bbc.co.uk
  The actor, best known for playing the roguish "Dirty Den" Watts in the BBC One soap, dies aged 71.
  
  Read more

• Parachute murder bid: Emile Cilliers jailed for life

  15-06-2018 16:42 via bbc.co.uk
  "Callous" Emile Cilliers must serve at least 18 years after twice trying to kill his wife.
  
  Read more

• Concerns about potentially 'monopolistic' Google access to NHS patient data

  15-06-2018 16:23
  Google's collection of NHS patients' data has prompted an independent panel to call for the company to address concerns about how it might monetise this access in the future.In its annual report for 2018, the independent panel set up by Google's artificial intelligence arm DeepMind, has principally recommended that the company be transparent about its business model.It notes fears that the company's low-cost offerings could be luring in the NHS at the moment, only for the company to suddenly ext
  
  Read more

• Summer Grant: Fairground workers jailed over girl's bouncy castle death

  15-06-2018 16:21
  Two fairground workers have been jailed for three years over the death of a girl who was killed after being blown away in a bouncy castle.Summer Grant, seven, died when the bouncy castle she was on was sent "cartwheeling" 300 metres down a hill next to an Easter fair in Harlow, Essex.William Thurston, 29, and Shelby Thurston, 26, were both found guilty of manslaughter by negligence, and of a health and safety offence.
  
  Read more

• Historian creates hashtag #ImmodestWomen to celebrate female academics

  15-06-2018 16:21
  Dr Fern Riddell started the trend after she was called out for using her full title.
  
  Read more

• Proposed 'upskirting' law blocked by Tory MP

  15-06-2018 16:19
  A proposed law to make "upskirting" a specific criminal offence has been blocked by a Tory MP.The Voyeurism (Offences) Bill was stopped in its tracks when Christchurch MP Sir Christopher Chope objected to it being given a second reading in the Commons.The bill, which was proposed by Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse and supported by ministers, was expected to get the nod through the Commons on Friday.
  
  Read more

• Eid celebration: Haircuts for Muslim men as Ramadan ends

  15-06-2018 16:19 via bbc.co.uk
  To celebrate Eid, these Muslims are getting their hair cut to look fresh after a 30-day fast.
  
  Read more

• Boris Becker claims diplomatic immunity in bankruptcy case

  15-06-2018 16:17 via bbc.co.uk
  The tennis star, who was declared bankrupt in 2017, is a diplomat for the Central African Republic.
  
  Read more

• Meet the former banker changing how women dress for business

  15-06-2018 15:58 via theguardian.com
  After eight years as an investment banker, wearing dispiriting, constrictive suits, Joanna Dai swapped finance for fashion, launching her label DAI ­to create stylish, comfortable clothes that work for workJoanna Dai, 32, remembers the eureka moment when she came up with the idea for her clothing label DAI. As an investment banker at JP Morgan, she was used to gruelling hours and frequent business travel, but wearing uncomfortable suits for 20 hours a day was the final straw. “I was on
  
  Read more

• Sainsbury's trials relaxed lane shopping for those who need more time

  15-06-2018 15:53
  Sainsbury's is trialling a new relaxed shopping lane for those who need extra time to do their grocery shopping.The idea is being tested at the supermarket's Prestwick store in South Ayrshire, Scotland, and is aimed at people who suffer from dementia.The month-long trial is similar to one that took place in Gosforth, Newcastle Upon Tyne, which has now become permanent.
  
  Read more

• Ladbroke Grove banned from making 'violent drill music'

  15-06-2018 15:52 via bbc.co.uk
  Five gang members are banned from mentioning death or injury in songs or on social media.
  
  Read more

• EastEnders star Leslie Grantham dies aged 71, agent confirms

  15-06-2018 15:49
  Former EastEnders actor Leslie Grantham has died, his representative has confirmed.The actor, who played "Dirty" Den Watts, had been cared for by doctors in hospital in the UK after returning from Bulgaria where he had lived for several years.Tributes have come in from fellow actors, including Tracy-Ann Oberman who played his second on-screen EastEnders wife Chrissie.
  
  Read more

• Stephen Hawking's voice beamed into space at final send-off

  15-06-2018 15:46
  The voice of Stephen Hawking was beamed into space with a message of peace and hope on Friday as the British physicist, who gained international acclaim for his work on black holes, was laid to rest during a service at London's Westminster Abbey.The wheelchair-bound scientist who died in March aged 76 after a lifetime spent probing the origins of the universe, suffered from motor neurone disease which forced him to use an electronic voice synthesiser.Members of the public from over 100 countries
  
  Read more

• Pakistan Taliban Leader Linked To Shooting Of Malala Killed In Drone Strike

  15-06-2018 15:30
  The leader of the Taliban in Pakistan has been killed in a US drone strike in
  
  Read more

• Record-breaking crowds at Europe's largest Eid celebration

  15-06-2018 15:29 via bbc.co.uk
  More than 140,000 people gather in Birmingham to celebrate Eid, which marks the end of Ramadan.
  
  Read more

• Cambridge University sticks to indirect fossil fuel investments

  15-06-2018 15:21
  Cambridge University said it would keep investing in funds that hold shares in fossil fuel companies, despite public pressure from hundreds of its academics.One of the most eminent academic institutions in the world, Cambridge University has an endowment fund (CUEF) of just under 3 billion pounds, the vast majority of which is invested indirectly through funds."Disengagement from any funds that have even small fossil fuel components, or that would require CUEF to step back from investments in al
  
  Read more

• Bouncy castle death pair jailed for three years

  15-06-2018 15:20 via bbc.co.uk
  Two fairground workers' actions led to the death of child who was in the inflatable as it blew away.
  
  Read more

Follow @GeneralnewsUK on Twitter!