General news

• Huge fire in 'unstable' knitwear building spreads smoke over Manchester

  07-08-2018 23:58
  A huge fire in a knitwear building in Manchester has sent plumes of smoke across the city.About 50 firefighters are tackling the blaze in the "unstable" commercial knitwear building on an industrial estate in Ardwick.Manchester Fire and Rescue tweeted: "Over 50 firefighters are tackling a fire at a commercial knitwear building on Hyde Road in #Ardwick.
  
  Read more

• PM: Johnson should apologise for burka remarks

  07-08-2018 23:55
  The prime minister has backed calls for Boris Johnson to apologise for saying Muslim women in burkas look like "bank robbers".
  
  Read more

• Camberwell Stabbing: Man Charged With Murder Of Rapper Sidique Kamara In South London

  07-08-2018 23:54
  A 31-year-old man has been charged with the murder of drill rapper Sidique
  
  Read more

• Man charged with murder of drill rapper Sidique Kamara

  07-08-2018 23:45
  Sidique Kamara died in London on 1 August.Kenneth Umezie, 31, is accused of killing Sidique Kamara, a 23-year-old drill rapper from Camberwell, in the south of the capital.Kamara, who performed under the name Incognito with rap collective Moscow17, was found with stab wounds in a sidestreet at about 7.30pm on Wednesday 1 August.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Paul Manafort's lawyers to question Rick Gates's credibility after explosive testimony

  07-08-2018 23:38 via theguardian.com
  Under cross examination at the tax evasion and bank fraud trial of his ex-boss Paul Manafort, Gates struggled to give clear answersA former campaign aide to Donald Trump lived a “secret life” including an extramarital affair in London, a court heard on Tuesday.Rick Gates, under cross examination at the tax evasion and bank fraud trial of his former boss Paul Manafort, admitted that he had “another relationship” involving first-class flights and luxury hotels, but denied t
  
  Read more

• British expats fear Post Brexit future

  07-08-2018 23:15
  Few are more unsure about their post-Brexit status than the 1.5 million Britons living in the EU.We asked them to get in touch.
  
  Read more

• Theresa May tells Nicola Sturgeon to back Brexit deal

  07-08-2018 23:13
  Theresa May has said the Scottish government should get behind her Brexit proposals, following talks with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon.The prime minister said Scotland should not try to "sow the politics of division".Mrs May insisted all parts of the United Kingdom should support the deal, which was agreed by the cabinet.
  
  Read more

• Toddlers rescued after being left alone in hot car outside Kent supermarket

  07-08-2018 21:27
  Two toddlers had to be rescued from inside a hot car after their "doctor" parent left them alone to pop into a supermarket.The children, aged one and two, were left inside the car in Morrison's car park in Reigate, at about 12pm on Monday.Surrey Police's Reigate and Banstead branch posted on Facebook: "I can't believe I'm posting this.......
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• PM tells Boris Johnson to apologise for Muslim women in burkas comment

  07-08-2018 21:26
  The prime minister has backed calls for Boris Johnson to apologise for saying Muslim women in burkas look like "bank robbers".The former foreign secretary has so far defied mounting calls for him to apologise for the comments.Theresa May said the remarks "clearly caused offence" as she told him to say sorry.
  
  Read more

• Sturgeon likely to delay decision on second independence vote

  07-08-2018 21:23
  Nicola Sturgeon has signalled she is unlikely to be able to make a decision on an independence referendum this autumn because of the uncertainties and confusion around Brexit.The first minister promised earlier this year to update the Scottish parliament this autumn on whether she will press ahead with her demands for a second independence vote once the terms of a Brexit deal were clear.Sturgeon said the prime minister had insisted during their meeting that she would provide a detailed and subst
  
  Read more

• Theresa May calls on Boris Johnson to say sorry for burqa remarks

  07-08-2018 21:06
  Theresa May, speaking in Edinburgh, said some of the words Johnson used ‘obviously have offended people’.Theresa May has rebuked Boris Johnson over his claim that Muslim women in burqas resemble letter boxes and bank robbers, urging the former foreign secretary to apologise after he defied an order to do so by Tory chiefs.The prime minister said she agreed with the Conservative party chairman, Brandon Lewis, that Johnson should say sorry for his remarks, which she acknowledged had ca
  
  Read more

• Leaked Labour papers reveal scale of challenge to tackle antisemitism

  07-08-2018 20:42
  Jeremy Corbyn said last week that there were very few cases of antisemitism in the party – but ‘one is too many’.Leaked Labour disciplinary papers have laid bare the scale of the challenge the party’s governing body faces in tackling antisemitism.The paperwork, seen by the Guardian, was sent to national executive committee (NEC) members on 3 July, ahead of a meeting of the governing body’s disputes panel, which can refer members for expulsion.
  
  Read more

• Ben Stokes acted like 'football hooligan' in Bristol brawl, court told

  07-08-2018 20:15
  England cricketer Ben Stokes was behaving like a “football hooligan” as he punched an Afghanistan war veteran to the floor while the man “had his hands up” during a late-night street brawl in Bristol, a court heard.Earlier in the evening, Stokes had been mocked by two gay men for wearing bright white trainers encrusted with gold emblems, a jury was told.Video played during the second day of Stokes’ trial for affray at Bristol crown court showed the 27-year-old deliv
  
  Read more

• Ben Stokes trial: Men 'brandished bottles' at cricketer before Bristol brawl

  07-08-2018 20:07
  Two men accused of affray along with England cricketer Ben Stokes "brandished bottles" before an alleged brawl, the court has heard.Lead investigator Detective Constable Daniel Adams told Bristol Crown Court Ryan Hale, 28, and Ryan Ali, 28, both had bottles, with Ali seen moving towards England cricketer Alex Hales with the bottle in his hand.
  
  Read more

• North Korea leader Kim Jong-un inspects things – in pictures

  07-08-2018 20:00 via theguardian.com
  Images of the dictator on tour offer insights on the life of one of the world’s most secretive rulers – and serve to bolster the cult of personality surrounding him Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• £50k reward for info on man who disappeared in 2016

  07-08-2018 19:45
  Michael Martin, from Salford, was last seen at a petrol station in Kearsley, Bolton, at 7.30am on Sunday 7 August 2016.Greater Manchester Police is treating his disappearance as murder and offering a reward of £50,000 for any information which leads to the conviction of those responsible.Mr Martin was 25 when he was last seen.
  
  Read more

• PM tells Boris Johnson to apologise for comparing Muslim women in burkas to 'bank robbers'

  07-08-2018 19:42
  The Prime Minister has backed calls for Boris Johnson to apologise for saying Muslim women in burkas look like "bank robbers".The former foreign secretary has so far defied mounting calls for him to apologise for the comments.Theresa May said the remarks "clearly caused offence" as she told him to say sorry.
  
  Read more

• UK Weather Forecast: Yellow Warnings Issued As Heatwave Grinds To A Halt

  07-08-2018 19:33
  Blistering temperatures look set to evaporate overnight on Tuesday as the
  
  Read more

• These are strange times for Jewish socialists

  07-08-2018 19:25
  The last few weeks have been a strange time to be in a progressive, socialist, Jewish family.Unlike Margaret Hodge (Labour drops action against Hodge and suspends activist, 7 August), none of our immediate family were murdered in the Holocaust, but like every Jewish family, we know that many members of our extended family were killed.This was brought home when a Labour activist friend received a tweet reminiscent of Tsarist Russia.
  
  Read more

• Virgin isn’t looking to take a penny out of the NHS

  07-08-2018 19:24
  Your article (Virgin awarded almost £2bn of NHS contracts in past five years, 6 August) failed to paint an accurate picture of the overall Virgin Group.Virgin Trains and Virgin Care account for less than 1% of Virgin Group’s total value, and they do not make up the bulk of Virgin’s UK business either in terms of sales or profitability.Over the past 50 years, Richard Branson has created multiple billion-dollar companies, from scratch, in sectors ranging from aviation to mob
  
  Read more

• EU patients may miss out on medicines in no-deal Brexit, says AstraZeneca

  07-08-2018 19:19
  The firm said the fact its drugs are manufactured in the UK could create problems in a no-deal Brexit.Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has warned that patients in the European Union may not be able to receive vital medicines from the UK if the company does not successfully prepare for a no-deal Brexit.The manufacturer of cancer, heart and lung drugs told an official Dutch government website that it was going to have to test medicines in both the UK and the EU to ensure they could cross the borde
  
  Read more

• Murder investigation launched after boy dies in London house fire

  07-08-2018 19:03
  Joel Urhie was described as a ‘very lovely boy who was just loving life’ and was said to be a keen footballer.The Metropolitan police have begun a murder investigation after a seven-year-old boy died in a house fire in south-east London.Joel Urhie died in the blaze in Deptford early on Tuesday morning, the Met said, and detectives launched a murder inquiry after an arson attack that led to a “curtain” of flames tearing through the property as the boy slept.
  
  Read more

• EU nations 'should continue extraditions to the UK until Brexit'

  07-08-2018 18:55
  Britain’s exit from the EU will not mean any less commitment to human rights, a legal opinion for the ECJ says.EU nations should continue extraditions to the UK until it leaves the bloc next year, despite claims that Brexit could cause uncertainty for suspects, according to a legal opinion written for the European court of justice (ECJ).The opinion by the advocate general at the EU’s highest court was issued after the high court in Ireland referred a case concerning the extradition o
  
  Read more

• Timmy Mallett: TV star offers reward for return of stolen bike

  07-08-2018 18:46
  TV presenter Timmy Mallett has offered a "substantial reward" for the return of his E-bike which was stolen from his local pub on Friday.Mr Mallett, 62, who found fame hosting children's shows The Wide Awake Club and Wacaday in the 1980s, was drinking with friends in the garden of the Kings Arms in Cookham, Berkshire when the bike was taken from a locked-up area in the pub's car park.A keen cyclist, Mr Mallett had just returned from completing the Camino de Santiago in Spain riding the Giant E-b
  
  Read more

• Deptford house fire: Murder investigation launched into death of Joel Urhie, 7

  07-08-2018 18:46
  Police investigating a fire in south east London that killed a seven-year-old boy have launched a murder investigation.Joel Urhie died in the "very severe" blaze in Deptford in the early hours of the morning.Police initially launched an arson investigation, but have since announced a murder probe.
  
  Read more

• Last sighting of Lucy McHugh caught on CCTV

  07-08-2018 18:35
  Police have released footage showing 13-year-old Lucy McHugh the day before she was discovered murdered.
  
  Read more

• CCTV images show murdered teenager Lucy McHugh on day she vanished

  07-08-2018 18:31
  CCTV images of the first confirmed sighting of murdered schoolgirl Lucy McHugh have been released by police.CCTV shows Lucy near to the sports centre outside a Tesco Express store half an hour after she left home.Detective Superintendent Paul Barton said: "Since leaving her house in Mansel Road East, we now know that Lucy was close to the sports centre just half an hour later.
  
  Read more

• Boris Johnson defies Tory calls for apology over burqa remarks

  07-08-2018 18:24
  The Conservative party chairman’s request for an apology increases the pressure on Theresa May to intervene.Boris Johnson is defying calls from Conservative party chiefs to apologise for his claim that Muslim women in burqas resemble letter boxes and bank robbers.
  
  Read more

• 'We're Not Living, Just Surviving' – Government Cleaners Strike Over Low Pay

  07-08-2018 18:05
  Dozens of cleaners working at a government department and council headquarters
  
  Read more

• FTSE gains as stronger commodity stocks outweigh disappointing results

  07-08-2018 18:00
  MILAN (Reuters) - Britain's top share index rose on Tuesday as miners and oil stocks tracked rising commodity prices, although some disappointing updates including from Intertek and Hargreaves kept a lid on gains.
  
  Read more

• The Wetherspoon ‘ban’ on homeless people reveals our rotten social order | Owen Jones

  07-08-2018 17:59 via theguardian.com
  A Cornish branch of the pub chain refused to serve a sit-down breakfast to two rough sleepers. This is the Dickensian face of austerity BritainIt is a story that belongs in a Charles Dickens novel. Jenny Rimmer, a compassionate 45-year-old in Cornwall, spotted two men in their early 20s sleeping rough and offered them a hot meal. When they walked into a local Wetherspoon pub, staff told them there was a ban on homeless people and anyone “who is smelly”. One of the men, 23-year-old Ch
  
  Read more

• The Wetherspoon ‘ban’ on homeless people reveals our rotten social order

  07-08-2018 17:59
  Homelessness in Britain has increased by 169% since 2010.It is a story that belongs in a Charles Dickens novel.Jenny Rimmer, a compassionate 45-year-old in Cornwall, spotted two men in their early 20s sleeping rough and offered them a hot meal.
  
  Read more

• Bank of England's McCafferty says fewer EU bankers coming to London

  07-08-2018 17:48
  Bank of England policymaker Ian McCafferty said on Tuesday he had heard that the number of European bankers working in London had fallen sharply since the Brexit vote in 2016."We are getting stories on (how) the numbers of French and German and other European bankers that are coming to London have fallen quite sharply over the last couple of years," McCafferty said in a question-and-answer session on LBC radio.
  
  Read more

• Police: London house fire was arson

  07-08-2018 17:45
  The Metropolitan Police has launched an arson investigation
  
  Read more

• Divisions As Sanctions Return For Iran

  07-08-2018 17:36
  #####
  
  Read more

• Two masked armed men 'set cars on fire' at Birmingham prison

  07-08-2018 17:35
  Two masked men armed with a firearm have "made off" in a car after setting several vehicles alight outside Birmingham prison.West Midlands Police tweeted: "We are responding to an incident on a car park outside Birmingham prison where several cars have been set on fire."Two masked men, reportedly armed with a firearm, were seen to make off in a vehicle.
  
  Read more

• Boris Johnson defies call to apologise for comparing Muslim women in burkas to 'bank robbers'

  07-08-2018 17:30
  Boris Johnson has defied mounting calls for him to apologise for saying Muslim women in burkas look like “bank robbers”.A source close to the former foreign secretary told Sky News he was unrepentant and that it was "ridiculous" his views were being "attacked".The controversy sprung from a piece Mr Johnson wrote for the Daily Telegraph on Monday, that argued against following Denmark's lead in banning the burka.
  
  Read more

• Cleaners' strike: 'Can't even get a bus to work'

  07-08-2018 17:25
  Cleaners hold noisy protest outside government headquarters to complain about their pay.
  
  Read more

• 'Not the dirt we clean': Ministry of Justice cleaners walk out over pay

  07-08-2018 17:14
  Cleaners at the Ministry of Justice and Kensington and Chelsea Council are walking out over pay in what organisers say is an "unprecedented" three-day co-ordinated strike.Workers said they would continue to strike for their other demands, including the London living wage of £10.20 an hour, compared to the minimum wage of £7.83 - and sick pay beyond the statutory minimum.Outsourced employee Nestor told Sky News he hoped to keep up the pressure on RBCK over rights and pay, and said it
  
  Read more

• UK will always be 'tier one' military power, says defence secretary

  07-08-2018 16:57
  Britain will always be a "tier one" military power, defence secretary Gavin Williamson said on Tuesday.In June, Prime Minister Theresa May said a report that she had questioned the United Kingdom's status as a "tier one" military power was incorrect."Britain is a major global actor, we have always been a tier one military power and we always will be a tier one military power," Williamson told the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington.
  
  Read more

• Tommy Robinson: Instagram deleted my account

  07-08-2018 16:55
  Tommy Robinson has claimed his Instagram account has been deleted, in what may be the latest move in a crackdown against far-right figures by social media companies.“They have now deleted my Instagram account.Facebook will soon close us down,” Robinson, who has just been released from prison, told his Facebook followers.
  
  Read more

• Instagram reinstates Tommy Robinson's deleted account

  07-08-2018 16:55
  Instagram has reinstated Tommy Robinson’s account and said it was deleted in error, amid a growing debate on whether far-right activists should continue to have their content hosted by major social media companies.The suspension came the day after most major social media platforms decided to ban the US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and his InfoWars site from their networks.“They have now deleted my Instagram account.
  
  Read more

• Labour trying to purge Corbyn antisemitism critics, says Hodge

  07-08-2018 16:45
  Margaret Hodge, the Barking MP, said the Labour leadership’s actions against Ian Austin were a form of bullying.Margaret Hodge has accused Labour of trying to purge Jeremy Corbyn’s parliamentary critics as the party faces further criticism over its handling of antisemitism.The former minister’s comments came as a party investigation into the Dudley North MP Ian Austin was labelled “a farce and a disgrace” by his solicitors.
  
  Read more

• Indian ride-hailing app Ola reveals plans to take on Uber in Britain

  07-08-2018 16:35
  The company, co-founded by Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati in 2011, has obtained licenses to operate in South Wales and Greater Manchester.Britain will be Ola's second international market after it started operations in Australia in February.Ola claims to handle one billion rides each year globally, with more than one million drivers and 125 million customers in over 110 cities.
  
  Read more

• Ben Stokes ‘Tried To Bribe Nightclub Doorman With £300 Then Called Him A C**t’

  07-08-2018 16:34
  England cricketer Ben Stokes was abusive to a doorman before mocking two gay
  
  Read more

• Risk Of 'Hothouse Earth' Despite CO2 Cuts

  07-08-2018 16:33
  #####
  
  Read more

• 'They wanted to jail us all' – Black Panthers photographer Neil Kenlock looks back

  07-08-2018 16:29 via theguardian.com
  From beauty pageants to burned-down pubs, Neil Kenlock spent decades capturing the struggles – and victories – of black Britain. Here he relives ‘some of the best years of my life’‘Sometimes I look at my work and can’t believe I did it,” says photographer Neil Kenlock. “I was just doing something to stop this harsh racism that we were going through. Those images were taken so people could learn. It was very important because if I had not done that,
  
  Read more

• 'Zero Evidence' Dog Meat Is Eaten In Britain, Say Campaigners, As No.10 Considers Ban

  07-08-2018 16:28
  A leading animal rights charity has questioned the effectiveness of a ban on
  
  Read more

• 5 Places That Have Defined Protest In England's History And The Fascinating Stories Behind Them

  07-08-2018 16:19
  A 300-year-old tree, regarded as the birthplace of the trade union movement,
  
  Read more

• Police Launch Manhunt After Gunmen Set Fire To Cars At HMP Birmingham Prison

  07-08-2018 16:15
  Police are searching for two masked gunmen who set fire to a car in the staff
  
  Read more

Follow @GeneralnewsUK on Twitter!