General news

• Met office issue yellow weather warning

  26-06-2018 23:50
  Met office issue yellow weather warning
  
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• Britain roasts on hottest day of the year as mercury hits 30.6C

  26-06-2018 23:45
  Temperatures soared way past 30C in some areas as the UK enjoyed another day of a heatwave that shows no sign of cooling down.Porthmadog in North Wales recorded a temperature of 30.6C, passing yesterday's top of 30.1C on the latest day in a heatwave week.The Met Office placed its heat health warning at level two - meaning social and healthcare services should be at the ready to alleviate some of the harmful impacts of a heatwave.
  
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• Police cuts hit London harder than other parts of UK, says Sadiq Khan

  26-06-2018 23:15
  London was hit harder than any other part of the country by years of Conservative cuts to its police force, Sadiq Khan has claimed.Citing new figures, the London mayor said that in 2010, when the Conservatives came to power nationally and started cutting government spending, the capital had 4.1 officers per 1,000 Londoners – but by 2016/17 that had dropped to 3.3 officers per 1,000 Londoners.In the latest skirmish of his long-running conflict with the government, Khan claimed the extent of
  
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• Muslim group accuses Tories of turning blind eye to Islamophobia claims

  26-06-2018 23:00
  The Muslim Council of Britain has accused the Conservative party of hoping allegations of Islamophobia in its ranks will “magically go away” and complained that the party’s chairman has not responded to its call for an internal inquiry.Three weeks after it first raised the issue, the group wrote again to Brandon Lewis on Tuesday highlighting further allegations of anti-Muslim prejudice within Tory ranks.The MCB said further examples of alleged Islamophobic abuse had emerged, in
  
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• Dogs saved from 'blazing hot' car in York as police smash window

  26-06-2018 22:46
  Police officers have saved two dogs from a baking hot car by smashing through the driver seat window and freeing them.York City police tweeted that officers had rescued two dogs from a vehicle in which their owners had left them for more than half an hour "in the blazing hot sun".The force posted images of officers breaking into a red car, partially covered by a blanket, and two dogs panting in apparent relief after being freed from the sweltering vehicle.
  
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• Intelligence committee denies US 'censored' upcoming UK report on torture

  26-06-2018 22:25
  Dominic Grieve, chair of the intelligence and security committee (ISC), dismissed claims there were any significant last-minute changes granted to the document.The ISC is a group of nine MPs and peers who scrutinise the work of Britain's security services.Mr Grieve was responding after a story in The Times said US officials were demanding changes into the report - due to be published on Thursday.
  
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• Greece wants Parthenon Marbles back, Tsipras tells May

  26-06-2018 22:04
  Greece wants the Parthenon Marbles back from the British Museum,Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said in London on Tuesday, trying to reinvigorate a longstanding campaign for the 2,500-year-oldtreasures.British diplomat Lord Elgin removed the sculptures from the Acropolis in Athens in the early 19th century when Greece was under Ottoman rule."The Marbles belong to the world cultural heritage but their natural place is the Parthenon," he told reporters.
  
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• Biggest US trade groups warn Trump of 'serious negative impacts' of tariff plan

  26-06-2018 21:54
  Harley-Davidson motorcycles have announced they will be shifting some production overseas in response to European Union retaliatory tariffs.Groups representing America’s largest retailers, car manufacturers and the agriculture industry warned of the “serious negative economic impacts” of Donald Trump’s trade disputes on Tuesday and declared support for a bill that would rein in his powers.In a letter to US senators signed by 51 trade groups, the US Chamber of Commerce and
  
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• Labour proposals 'all-but guarantee leftwing Corbyn successor'

  26-06-2018 21:40
  Under Labour’s plans, to be presented at the party’s conference in September, a leadership candidate could circumvent MPs entirely to secure a place on the ballot.Labour could slash the number of MPs needed to nominate a successor to Jeremy Corbyn, handing new powers to members and trade unions as part of a slew of party reforms briefed to trade unions.Trade union general secretaries were told this week about the changes set to be proposed at the party conference, the Guardian unders
  
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• Labour proposals 'all-but guarantee left-wing Corbyn successor'

  26-06-2018 21:40
  Under Labour’s plans, to be presented at the party’s conference in September, a leadership candidate could circumvent MPs entirely to secure a place on the ballot.Labour could slash the number of MPs needed to nominate a successor to Jeremy Corbyn, handing new powers to members and trade unions as part of a slew of party reforms briefed to trade unions.Trade union general secretaries were told this week about the changes set to be proposed at the party conference, the Guardian unders
  
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• England star Danny Rose: 'If you're not strong enough football will swallow you up'

  26-06-2018 21:28
  England star Danny Rose has opened up about his life as a professional footballer, saying he would not recommend it to children.The Tottenham left-back endured a difficult 2017-18 season and recently revealed he had been diagnosed with depression, caused by injury and family tragedy.Rose is in the England squad for the World Cup in Russia and came off the bench during the 6-1 win over Panama on Sunday, as Gareth Southgate's team secured a place in the last 16.
  
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• Prince William brings message of homage, hope on first Israel visit

  26-06-2018 21:20
  Prince William envisaged a strong future for Israel while making the first official British royal visit to the country on Tuesday and pledged to commemorate the Holocaust that contributed to its foundation.
  
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• Ray Davies confirms The Kinks are recording new album after 20 years

  26-06-2018 20:52
  The Kinks have reformed and are recording new material 20 years after they split, according to their frontman.Ray Davies said he and his two surviving bandmates, his brother Dave and drummer Mick Avory, have been "making a new Kinks album".Davies, 74, told Channel 4 News that his brother and Avory never really got on, but it spurred him on to "make them play harder".
  
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• PSNI deputy chief constable to head Ireland's police force

  26-06-2018 20:47
  Drew Harris, pictured next to the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, left, is take up the post of Garda Síochána commissioner in September.The deputy chief constable of the Police Service of Northern Ireland has been appointed to run the Republic’s police force in an extraordinary cross-border job switch.Drew Harris will take up his post as commissioner of the Garda Síochána in September after a 35-year career in policing in the UK, principally in Northern Ireland.
  
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• Boris Johnson given cold shoulder by 'fed up' cabinet colleagues

  26-06-2018 20:40
  Boris Johnson was given the cold shoulder at cabinet on Tuesday after a controversial few days of outbursts over Brexit and flying to Afghanistan to avoid a crunch vote on Heathrow expansion.Cabinet sources said the foreign secretary was ignored by senior ministers who were “fed up and disappointed” with his actions over the last few days, which they believed were damaging to the Conservative party.Three cabinet ministers said the foreign secretary was met with a cool reception by so
  
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• Heatwave Sparks Wildfire At Stalybridge Cemetery Near Manchester

  26-06-2018 20:19
  Wildfires near Greater Manchester spread to a local cemetery on Tuesday,
  
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• Uber overturns ban after being granted 15-month London licence by court

  26-06-2018 20:10
  Uber has been granted a 15-month licence to operate in London in a decision which reverses a block placed on its service last year.Transport for London (TfL) refused to give the Uber a five-year operating licence last September, blaming failings in its approach to reporting serious criminal offences and to background checks on drivers.Ms Arbuthnot previously indicated the 18-month provisional licence Uber was requesting would be "too long" for her to grant.
  
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• Nicola Sturgeon carries out major reshuffle of Scottish cabinet

  26-06-2018 20:09
  Nicola Sturgeon (front row, left) presents her new look cabinet, including Jeane Freeman and Humza Yousaf (both second row, left).Nicola Sturgeon has carried out a comprehensive reshuffle of her cabinet, replacing her longstanding but beleaguered ally Shona Robison, who has resigned as health secretary.After announcing a purge of six veteran ministers, including the economy secretary Keith Brown and the equalities secretary Angela Constance, Scotland’s first minister promoted several risin
  
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• Gavin Williamson on dangerous ground in defence budget row

  26-06-2018 19:52
  Gavin Williamson’s ambition to become PM is dependent on holding on to the support of a core of Tory backbenchers for whom defence remains a top priority.“It is open season at the moment,” the well-placed civil servant said, referring to a series of stories he assumed had been planted by the defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, or his allies over the defence budget, and a series of counter-blasts by the Treasury.The other is more fundamental for the UK: whether the country is f
  
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• German autos supplier ZF teams up on electric van with start-up

  26-06-2018 19:35
  German autos supplier ZF Friedrichshafen [ZFF.UL] plans to produce an electric vehicle with the e.Go Mobile start-up that helped develop Deutsche Post DHL'sStreetscooter.ZF has formed a joint venture called e.Go Move, in which it holds a 40 percent state, to produce an electric van which can be used as a delivery vehicle or a minibus for up to 15 people."We are launching this company to achieve a leading market position in this segment of passenger transport," said Chief Executive Wolf-Henning S
  
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• Trains Out Of Waterloo Face 'Major Disruption' Amid Heatwave Havoc

  26-06-2018 19:34
  Commuters faced a second night of misery on Britain's rail network on Tuesday
  
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• UK temperatures may hit record June highs as heatwave continues

  26-06-2018 19:23
  Temperatures are expected to peak on Thursday at around 32 C (90 Fahrenheit).Britain's highest-ever temperature for June was 35.6 C recorded in the southern port of Southampton in 1976.Police were issuing open-water warnings to stop people tempted to bathe unsafely and several wildfires were reported in northern England.
  
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• Clueless Corbyn or a wily player of the Brexit game?

  26-06-2018 19:05
  ‘Loud chants of “Where’s Jeremy Corbyn” rang out from all sides, including from plenty of Labour supporters and party members like myself who feel betrayed by the lack of any lead from him,’ writes Tim Barrow of the rally after Saturday’s march for a ‘people’s vote’ on the final Brexit deal.John Harris says the “best politicians … tell us not just where we all are, but also what our position means and where we need to go next&rdq
  
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• Uber granted 15-month London operating licence by court

  26-06-2018 18:52
  Uber has been granted a 15-month licence to operate in London after a decision by transport officials last year to block its service on public safety grounds.Transport for London (TfL) refused to give the Uber a five-year operating licence last September, blaming failings in its approach to reporting serious criminal offences and to background checks on drivers.Chief Magistrate Emma Arbuthnot, who granted the reduced licence, but criticised the firm for its past behaviour as aiming to "grow the
  
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• Prince William says Yad Vashem visit was "profoundly moving"

  26-06-2018 18:46
  "This morning I went to Yad Vashem on my first official engagement.It was a profoundly moving experience.It brought back powerful memories of the visit my wife Catherine and I made last year to Stutthof concentration camp," the prince said.
  
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• Prince William asked to deliver ‘message of peace’ to Palestinian leader

  26-06-2018 18:44
  Israel’s president, Reuven Rivlin, has sought to recruit the Duke of Cambridge as a peace envoy before the prince’s meeting with the Palestinian Authority leader, Mahmoud Abbas.At a meeting in Jerusalem on Tuesday, Rivlin asked Prince William to deliver to Abbas “a message of peace”, telling him that together they had to build confidence and understanding to bring to an end “the tragedy between us that goes along for more than 120 years”.
  
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• CO2 shortage forces beer rationing and shuts down major abattoir

  26-06-2018 18:42
  The country's largest wholesaler is rationing supplies of some beers and soft drinks as the shortage of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas starts to bite consumers.Booker - which was bought by Tesco earlier this year - said customers including pubs, restaurants and stores were already being given limited stocks.A spokesperson said: ""Due to the international shortage of CO2, we are experiencing some supply issues on soft drinks and beer.
  
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• Uber admits mistakes ahead of appeal decision

  26-06-2018 18:40
  Uber's UK boss has admitted the decision not to renew its London licence last year was correct, as the company started an appeal aimed at getting it restored.
  
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• Search resumes for missing Ryan Jones at Westport Lake in Staffordshire

  26-06-2018 18:40
  The search for a child who got into difficulty at a lake in Staffordshire has resumed.Ryan Evans, 13, is still missing after reports three youngsters were in distress in Westport Lake in Stoke-on-Trent.A Staffordshire Police spokesman said: "Teams from Staffordshire Police, Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, West Midlands Ambulance Service and Nottinghamshire Police are continuing to carry out a thorough and co-ordinated search for Ryan.
  
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• Two killed in lorry and bus crash on A47 in Cambridgeshire

  26-06-2018 18:39
  Two men who were travelling on a double-decker bus have died after it collided with a lorry in Cambridgeshire.Cambridgeshire Police said 12 other people were injured, five seriously, in the crash on the A47 near Guyhirn.
  
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• Northern local authorities far less likely to have access to funding pot for social housing

  26-06-2018 18:37
  Just 15% of local authorities in the north of England have been given access to new government funding to build council homes, compared with 88% of those in the south, excluding London.The government announced on Tuesday which councils would be eligible to apply for a share of the £1bn in additional money for housing that was unveiled in last year’s autumn budget.The scheme will automatically award £500m to London, where housing policy is a devolved matter, but 91 out of 104 ot
  
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• Northern areas far less likely to have access to funding for social housing

  26-06-2018 18:37
  Just 15% of local authorities in the north of England have been given access to new government funding to build council homes, compared with 88% of those in the south, excluding London.The government announced on Tuesday which councils would be eligible to apply for a share of the £1bn in additional money for housing that was unveiled in last year’s autumn budget.As part of the scheme, London - where housing policy is a devolved matter - will automatically be awarded £1.67bn to
  
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• Meghan's father - If Queen meets Trump, she should meet me too

  26-06-2018 18:33
  Thomas Markle, whose daughter Meghan married Britain's Prince Harry last month, said that if Queen Elizabeth meets U.S. President Donald Trump next month, she should also make time to meet him, the TMZ website reported.With a comment that is likely to bring unease to the British royal family, Markle appears to rebuke Elizabeth for planning to meet Trump when he visits Britain on July 13."If the queen is willing to meet our arrogant and insensitive president, she has no excuse not to meet me - I&
  
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• Uber Wins Appeal Over London Operating Licence

  26-06-2018 18:30
  Uber has won a partial victory in an appeal to overturn the suspension of its
  
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• Uber 'On Probation' After Winning 15-Month Licence In London

  26-06-2018 18:30
  Uber has won a partial victory in an appeal to overturn the suspension of its
  
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• Grenfell Tower Firefighter Breaks Down As Footage Of Inferno Is Played During Public Inquiry

  26-06-2018 18:30
  The first firefighter on the scene of the Grenfell Tower blaze was led away
  
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• Prison minister calls for more money to build jails in England and Wales

  26-06-2018 18:17
  The minister for prisons has said that he would like the prison population to go down but is instead calling for more money to spend on increasing numbers because he does not believe his view enjoys sufficient support.In a candid appearance before the justice select committee, Rory Stewart said it was time to stop hoping the prison population would fall, adding that he would plead with the Treasury in next year’s spending review for more money to build and sustain prisons in England and Wa
  
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• Grenfell Tower disaster: Fire watch manager tells inquiry he was 'out of my comfort zone'

  26-06-2018 18:13
  The watch manager who led the first response to the Grenfell Tower fire has told an inquiry he felt "out of my comfort zone" as the blaze took hold.Michael Dowden, watch manager from North Kensington fire station, was the initial incident commander on 14 June last year.Mr Dowden was asked to watch mobile phone footage from 1.19am, when he noticed the cladding was alight.
  
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• France and Germany will block May's single market plan, says Spain

  26-06-2018 18:11
  Josep Borrell says the most powerful EU member states will not allow the UK to stay in the single market without respecting free movement of people.Theresa May’s plan to protect British industry by keeping the UK in a single market for goods without respecting the free movement of people after Brexit will be rejected by an “angry” France and Germany, despite some sympathy within the EU to Downing Street’s cause, Spain’s foreign minister has said.The new Spanish gove
  
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• UK, allies: empower chemical arms watchdog to assign blame for attacks

  26-06-2018 18:09
  Britain's Foreign Minister Boris Johnson called on Tuesday for all nations to vote to bolster the powers of the chemical weapons watchdog, saying it should be able to assign blame for attacks with banned poison munitions.The United States and European Union said they would support a draft proposal made by the British delegation at the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), while Russia and several of its allies opposed it."At present the OPCW's experts can say where and whe
  
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• Bill Speakman, VC obituary

  26-06-2018 18:03
  As a rank-and-file professional soldier, Bill Speakman, who has died aged 90, won the Victoria Cross in the Korean war with a sustained display of indomitable personal bravery of a kind no writer of fiction would have dared to invent.War broke out in divided Korea in June 1950, when the communist north invaded the western-backed south by crossing the 38th parallel of latitude which was (and remains) the provisional border between them.Korea, occupied by Japan during the second world war, was div
  
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• Company co-founded by Jeremy Hunt broke law

  26-06-2018 18:02
  Jeremy Hunt recently had to apologise after failing to report ownership of seven flats in Southampton through a company.A company co-founded by Jeremy Hunt breached company law while carrying out a restructuring designed to reduce the health secretary’s tax bill by about £100,000, it has emerged.Hotcourses, which was at the time majority-owned by Hunt, failed to file crucial documents with Companies House for over three years, when the law says they must be filed within 15 days.
  
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• 300 schools picked out in GCSE 'off-rolling' investigation

  26-06-2018 18:01
  The schools regulator Ofsted has identified 300 schools with high levels of so-called off-rolling, where pupils disappear from the school register just before GCSEs.It has found that more than 19,000 pupils who were in year 10 in 2016 vanished from the school roll by the start of year 11, the year when pupils sit their GCSEs.Off-rolling has become an issue of growing concern for Ofsted amid allegations that some schools are playing the system and getting rid of students who might do badly in the
  
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• Grenfell blaze behaved in way I did not expect, says fire commander

  26-06-2018 17:57
  Michael Dowden: above 50 metres ‘water supply would be almost non-existent’.The fire brigade commander in charge of the initial response to the Grenfell Tower disaster has admitted he was out of his comfort zone and that he was “consumed by sensory overload” as he saw the fire rage out of control.Michael Dowden, a firefighter for 14 years and watch manager at North Kensington fire station in west London, told the public inquiry he could not understand why the facade of th
  
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• Evacuating Grenfell 'impossible owing to lack of resources'

  26-06-2018 17:57
  Evacuating Grenfell Tower was “impossible” because insufficient firefighters and equipment had been deployed by the time the flames were at the top of the building, the first fire brigade commander on the scene has told the public inquiry into the disaster.Michael Dowden, a firefighter for 14 years and watch manager at North Kensington fire station, said that although the flames had risen to the top of the 24-storey tower by just before 1.30am on 14 June 2017, the instruction to resi
  
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• IAG boss Willie Walsh slams £14bn plan to expand Heathrow

  26-06-2018 17:51
  The chief executive of British Airways' parent company has called the £14bn cost to build Heathrow's third runway "perverse" and cast doubt on the airport's ability to deliver the project.Speaking to Sky News after MPs overwhelmingly backed the expansion, International Airlines Group's Willie Walsh said: "I don't believe that Heathrow Airport can build this in an efficient manner and a cost-effective manner.The airport has a bizarre, perverse incentive to spend more money than it needs to
  
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• Knight Fever: Bee Gee Barry Gibb 'thought knighthood was a wind-up'

  26-06-2018 17:47
  Barry Gibb, the last surviving Bee Gee, has been knighted at Buckingham Palace by Prince Charles.Maurice Gibb died due to complications during surgery in 2003, aged 53, and his twin Robin succumbed to cancer in 2012.Sir Barry attended the Buckingham Palace ceremony with his wife, former Miss Edinburgh Linda Gray, and three of their five children.
  
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• UK Weather: Hottest Day Of The Year Recorded With Temperatures Reaching 30.2C at Hawarden Airport In Wales

  26-06-2018 17:22
  It is officially the hottest day of the year so far, with temperatures
  
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• UK Weather: Hottest Day Of The Year Recorded With Temperatures Reaching 30.2C

  26-06-2018 17:22
  It is officially the hottest day of the year so far, with temperatures
  
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• UK protesters inflate snarling orange Trump blimp to mock U.S. president

  26-06-2018 17:10
  British opponents of Donald Trump on Tuesday inflated a six-metre, snarling orange inflatable baby blimp, complete with tiny hands and a nappy, that they hope to launch over London to mock the U.S. president when he visits next month.Trump will meet Queen Elizabeth and Prime Minister Theresa May, who was the first foreign leader to visit Trump after his inauguration in January 2017.British officials have also been dismayed by some of Trump's pronouncements, particularly a U.S. entry ban targetin
  
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