General news

• Russian Trolls Have Been Stoking The Vaccine Debate To Sow Discord In America, Study Finds

  23-08-2018 23:19
  Social media bots and Russian trolls spread false information about vaccines
  
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• Holidaymakers to be evacuated from hotel in Egypt following couple's death

  23-08-2018 23:18
  Thomas Cook holidaymakers are to be evacuated from a hotel in Egypt following the death of a British couple, with the tour operator citing concerns over “a raised level of illness among guests”.The pair who died while staying at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada were named on Thursday as John and Susan Cooper, aged 69 and 64, from Burnley, Lancashire.Thomas Cook said it would be offering customers alternative hotels in Hurghada from Friday onwards,
  
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• Four men jailed for smuggling £41m of cocaine on private jet into Farnborough airport

  23-08-2018 22:43
  Four men have been jailed for smuggling half a ton of cocaine worth more than £41m into the UK on a private jet.Fifteen suitcases containing the class A drug were discovered at Hampshire's Farnborough Airport after a flight arrived from Colombia.The National Crime Agency (NCA) said the group, who worked as bricklayers and waiters, posed as "high-flying businessmen, using luxury cars, hotels and even a private jet to try and pull off a plot they thought would make them millions".
  
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• 'Raised level of illness' at hotel where British couple died

  23-08-2018 22:41
  Thomas Cook customers in Egypt have been removed from a resort "as a precautionary measure" after the death of a British couple.The tour operator released a statement confirming holidaymakers at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada were offered alternative hotels following the deaths of John and Susan Cooper from Burnley, Lancashire."We are deeply saddened by the tragic deaths of two of our customers that were staying in the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada, Egypt.
  
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• What does David Pecker's immunity mean for Donald Trump?

  23-08-2018 22:29
  Donald Trump – had directed him to broker hush payments to two women, the details of the payments and the nature of their illegality became extremely urgent questions.In bombshell news stories Tuesday, Vanity Fair and the Wall Street Journal reported that two witnesses – the magazine publisher David Pecker and one of his chief officers, Dylan Howard – had been granted immunity in exchange for their testimony in the matter.The negotiations between prosecutors in the southern dis
  
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• Soon You Won’t Be Able To Take Your Small Wheelie Suitcase On A Ryanair Flight For Free

  23-08-2018 22:14
  Ryanair passengers will soon no longer be able to take a small suitcase on to
  
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• Russian trolls 'spreading discord' over vaccine safety online

  23-08-2018 22:00
  Trolls used the vaccination debate to try to sow discord during the US election, researchers say.Bots and Russian trolls spread misinformation about vaccines on Twitter to sow division and distribute malicious content before and during the American presidential election, according to a new study.Scientists at George Washington University, in Washington DC, made the discovery while trying to improve social media communications for public health workers, researchers said.
  
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• Adults are confessing what they would do if back in the first year of school

  23-08-2018 21:45
  All the naps, all the time.
  
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• Foreign Secretary Hunt welcomes Iran's temporary release of aid worker

  23-08-2018 21:40
  Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said on Thursday he welcomed news that Iran had temporarily released Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian aid worker, from prison, but said she should not have been behind bars in the first place."We want to thank the Iranian authorities for what they're doing whilst not forgetting that she should not be in prison in the first place.Nazanin is innocent," he said during a short briefing at the United Nations.
  
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• David Pecker: Trump confidant and National Enquirer boss was given immunity in Cohen case

  23-08-2018 21:39
  David Pecker reportedly described the involvement of Cohen and Trump in payoffs to women who alleged affairs in the past with the president.David Pecker, chief executive of the company that publishes the National Enquirer, the tabloid magazine involved in hush-money deals to women ahead of the 2016 US presidential election, was granted immunity by federal prosecutors as part of the investigation into Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, it emerged on Thursday.Pecker met wit
  
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• Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: Iran grants temporary release

  23-08-2018 21:30 via bbc.co.uk
  British-Iranian woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who Iran says is a spy, is temporarily freed from prison.
  
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• Hunt says parliament will only approve Brexit deal consistent with vote

  23-08-2018 21:30
  Foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said on Thursday he believed the British parliament would only approve a Brexit deal that was consistent with the "letter and spirit" of the 2016 referendum result in favour of leaving the European Union.Speaking at the United Nations, Hunt said Britain was hopeful, but "cautiously hopeful, rather than wildly hopeful", about reaching an agreement with the EU on the terms of Brexit, as it was in the interests of both sides."I think Parliament will only accept a dea
  
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• Four giant tortoises stolen from Kingston Maurward College in Devon

  23-08-2018 21:24
  Police have appealed to the public for help after four giant tortoises were stolen from a college in Dorset.Police Constable Chris Stephens, of Dorchester police, said: "I am appealing to anyone who witnessed anything suspicious overnight in the area to please come forward."If you have any information that could assist with the investigation or have seen tortoises for sale in suspicious circumstances, please contact Dorset Police urgently.
  
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• GCSE pass rates rise despite tougher exam assessment

  23-08-2018 21:03
  GCSE results have improved despite the introduction of a tough new grading system.There were sighs of relief from students, teachers and education policymakers in England after the government’s long-awaited overhaul of GSCE exams passed off with few hitches and an upturn in the proportion of good grades.Despite fears that tougher assessments in about 90% of exams would cause difficulties for some, results in England showed an increase in the proportion of 16-year-olds achieving a 4 or C an
  
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• Philip Hammond's £80bn no-deal warning exposes Tory Brexit rift

  23-08-2018 21:01
  Chancellor Philip Hammond highlighted Whitehall forecasts from earlier this year.Tory divisions over Brexit were exposed afresh on Thursday, as Philip Hammond warned that leaving the EU without a deal would blow an £80bn hole in the public finances, just hours after Dominic Raab sought to play down the risks.In the morning, the new Brexit secretary struck a determinedly optimistic note, as he launched 24 “technical notices”, advising businesses and consumers how to protect them
  
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• The Fallout – Seven Things You Need To Know On Day Three Of Trump's Legal Drama

  23-08-2018 21:00
  The worst week of Donald Trump's presidency so far rumbles on, with no sign of
  
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• Keir Starmer: second Brexit referendum should be kept on table

  23-08-2018 20:46
  Starmer said he believed there should be a ‘democratic check’ on the final deal.Labour’s Brexit spokesman has said a second referendum should be “on the table” if parliament is not prepared to accept the final divorce deal that Theresa May negotiates with Brussels.Sir Keir Starmer’s statement contradicted remarks that Barry Gardiner, the shadow international trade secretary, made earlier this week and comes at a time when the party is coming under pressure fro
  
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• David Pecker: National Enquirer chief and Trump confidant was granted immunity in Cohen case

  23-08-2018 20:46
  David Pecker reportedly described the involvement of Cohen and Trump in pay-offs to women who alleged affairs in the past with the president.David Pecker, chief executive of the company that publishes the National Enquirer, the tabloid magazine involved in hush-money deals to women ahead of the 2016 US presidential election, was granted immunity by federal prosecutors as part of the investigation into Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, it emerged on Thursday.Pecker met wi
  
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• Ex-Dragons' Den star Duncan Bannatyne ‎in shape for £350m auction

  23-08-2018 20:33
  Duncan Bannatyne, the former Dragons' Den investor‎, has revived plans to cash in on the growth of his hotels-to-gyms empire by hiring bankers to field offers for a stake in the company.Sky News has learnt that Mr Bannatyne, one of the most prominent private business‎-owners in Britain, is working with DC Advisory on an attempt to sell a "substantial" minority shareholding in The Bannatyne Group.‎His plans to sell a stake in Bannatyne Group, which is positioned at the premium end of
  
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• Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe release suggests Iran is softening stance

  23-08-2018 20:16 via theguardian.com
  As US sanctions put European multinationals in a quandary, Tehran’s move acknowledges UK and EU supportThe former foreign secretary Boris Johnson had vowed to leave no stone unturned in his efforts to persuade the Iranian government to release Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. It is not yet clear whether his successor Jeremy Hunt found a face-down stone that Johnson had somehow missed or instead a confluence of new forces has prompted her temporary reprieve.The UK ambassador in Tehran, Rob Macair
  
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• Tories Say They Have Rejected Attempt By Brexiteer Arron Banks To Join The Party

  23-08-2018 20:13
  The Conservatives have denied claims from Leave.EU founder and major Ukip
  
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• Tories Say They Have Blocked Attempt By Brexiteer Arron Banks To Join The Party

  23-08-2018 20:13
  The Conservatives have denied claims from Leave.EU founder and major Ukip
  
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• Britain’s Longest-Serving Poppy Seller Dies Just Days After MBE Awarded

  23-08-2018 20:02
  Britain's longest-serving poppy seller has died at the age of 103, nine days
  
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• BLT will survive no-deal Brexit – but it is likely to cost you more

  23-08-2018 19:50
  The vast majority of bacon rashers come from the EU and could be hit by tariffs.The government may be stockpiling medicines but the Brexit secretary, Dominic Raab, has promised consumers there will be no shortage of ingredients for the bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich in the event the UK crashes out of the EU.Raab made his remarks to rebut recent claims by the British Sandwich Association there could be a shortage of fresh food in the event of the UK crashing out of the UK.
  
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• Conservative party reject membership of Leave.EU founder Arron Banks

  23-08-2018 19:48
  The Conservative party says it has rejected the membership of millionaire Brexit campaigner Arron Banks.The Leave.EU campaign founder claimed to have joined the party and called on supporters to follow his lead in a bid to elect a hard-line Brexiteer as the next Tory leader.
  
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• Four Men Jailed After Hiring Private Jet To Smuggle Haul Of Cocaine Worth £41m

  23-08-2018 19:47
  Four men who hired a private jet to smuggle half a tonne of cocaine, worth
  
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• Conservatives block attempt by Brexiteer Arron Banks to join party

  23-08-2018 19:44
  Britain's ruling Conservative party has blocked an attempt by leading Brexit supporter Arron Banks to become a member in the hope of trying to get a hardline Brexiteer elected as party leader if Prime Minister Theresa May steps down.Businessman Banks, who bankrolled one of the main "Leave" campaigns in Britain's 2016 EU membership referendum, had called on his supporters to follow suit to pack Conservative ranks."Arron Banks has today joined the Conservatives to ensure he has a vote on the inevi
  
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• Woman, 85, cleaned live WW1 ammo intended for village show

  23-08-2018 19:33 via bbc.co.uk
  June Hill cleaned the ammunition for use in a history-themed exhibition at her village hall.
  
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• David Pecker, the tabloid king: meet Trump's friend and fixer

  23-08-2018 19:01
  American Media Inc. CEO David Pecker at an event in Paris in 2012 Photograph: Francois Durand/Getty Images
  
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• Just How Much Trouble Could Trump Be In? The US Impeachment Process Explained

  23-08-2018 19:00
  Donald Trump has expressed bewilderment that anyone could be considering
  
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• British Airways, Air France halting flights to Iran from next month

  23-08-2018 18:51
  LONDON/PARIS (Reuters) - British Airways and Air France said on Thursday they would halt flights to Iran from September for business reasons, months after U.S. President Donald Trump announced he would re-impose sanctions on Tehran.British Airways said it was suspending its London to Tehran service "as the operation is currently not commercially viable".BA, which is owned by Spanish-registered IAG, said its last outbound flight from London to Tehran will be on Sept. 22 and the last inb
  
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• Repackaging rural pursuits. And cigarettes

  23-08-2018 18:42
  Blackberry-picking is now ‘foraging’ Photograph: Gary K Smith/Getty Images
  
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• Oxford-Cambridge expressway plans make a mockery of local democracy

  23-08-2018 18:42
  ‘In the age of digital communications and digital industries, why is road connection required at all?’ asks Peter Gore.George Monbiot’s article about the proposed Oxford-Cambridge expressway exposes how grand schemes are conceived and presented for “consultation” when only the trivial issues remain (These projects shape our lives.
  
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• First Case Of Deadly Mers Virus Confirmed In England Since 2013

  23-08-2018 18:36
  An individual is "stable" after being diagnosed with Middle East Respiratory
  
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• Brexiteer Arron Banks joins Conservatives to help elect hardline leader

  23-08-2018 18:32
  Arron Banks, who bankrolled one of the main campaigns for Britain leaving the EU, has joined the Conservative Party after calling on his supporters to follow his lead in an attempt to elect a hardline Brexiteer in any future party leadership contest."Arron Banks has today joined the Conservatives to ensure he has a vote on the inevitable leadership contest," the Leave.EU group, which Banks chairs, tweeted on Thursday.May wants to lead the Conservative Party into the next general election, which
  
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• Burnley couple who died on Thomas Cook holiday in Egypt named

  23-08-2018 18:23
  A British couple who died on a Thomas Cook holiday in Egypt have been named as Susan and John Cooper.The husband and wife, aged 69 and 64 respectively, from Burnley, Lancashire, died while staying in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada, the tour operator said.Susan was a long-serving employee of Thomas Cook.
  
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• British-Iranian aid worker temporarily released from Tehran jail

  23-08-2018 18:22
  A detained British-Iranian aid worker sentenced to five years in jail in Iran has been released from detention for three days, her supporters and Iran's envoy to Britain said on Thursday, in a move welcomed by Britain's foreign minister.Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, was arrested in April 2016 at a Tehran airport as she was heading back to Britain with her two-year-old daughter after a family visit.
  
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• Should I limit the amount of time my child spends with their mobile phone?

  23-08-2018 18:17 via theguardian.com
  Children and parents may not agree on how much screen time is acceptable, but some ground rules about usage and online security will make for a more harmonious householdIt’s an argument virtually every modern parent has had with their child: the battle to prise them away from the mobile phone they’re glued to. For children, a smartphone is a window to games, videos and constant interaction with their friends. But for parents, it can feel like a minefield, raising questions about whet
  
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• Britons living in EU could lose access to UK bank services in no-deal Brexit

  23-08-2018 18:17
  Britons living in the European Union could lose access to their UK bank account services and businesses on the continent could be cut off from investment banks in London if there is a no-deal Brexit, the British government said on Thursday.In a document detailing contingency planning if Britain leaves the EU in March with no transition deal, the government said unilateral action on several fronts could only minimise disruption up to a point.While Britons will still be able to use their bank card
  
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• Is my child old enough for a mobile phone?

  23-08-2018 18:16 via theguardian.com
  No matter when parents choose to entrust their offspring with a smartphone – and it very much depends on the child in question – there’s agreement that boundaries about usage must be establishedThere are many milestones in the relationship between parents and their children. The first step. The first word. The first time they turn to you and say: “Please stop, you are embarrassing me.” To these, we can now add the moment a parent solemnly hands their child their fir
  
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• GCSE results day: Derby pupil missed year of school due to cancer treatment

  23-08-2018 18:13 via bbc.co.uk
  Aliyah Nadim, from Derby, sat her exams despite undergoing chemotherapy.
  
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• Intern in blue dress sprints to deliver breaking news – and goes viral

  23-08-2018 18:12
  NBC News intern Cassie Semyon made a mad dash from a Virginia courthouse to deliver the news of Paul Manafort’s conviction.
  
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• Four African spurred tortoises stolen from college

  23-08-2018 18:00 via bbc.co.uk
  Thieves broke into a shed overnight and used wheelbarrows to transport the reptiles.
  
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• Fit for the king: Elvis Presley’s fashion legacy – in pictures

  23-08-2018 17:59 via theguardian.com
  As a new film, The King, explores Elvis’s cultural impact on the US, we take a look at his style highlights, and continued influenceThe King review – Trump’s America through the windows of Elvis’s Rolls Continue reading...
  
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• Donald Trump Tells Fox News: 'I Can't Be Impeached Because I'm Doing A Great Job'

  23-08-2018 17:53
  Donald Trump has suggested he should be immune to impeachment because of the
  
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• Nuns arrested over child abuse claims

  23-08-2018 17:51 via bbc.co.uk
  Police arrest 11 women and one man over allegations of abuse at the former Lanark children's home.
  
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• Rosemary Powell, Britain's longest-serving poppy seller, dies aged 103

  23-08-2018 17:39
  Britain's longest-serving poppy seller has died aged 103, just nine days after receiving an MBE.Rosemary Powell began selling poppies at the age of six with her mother on Richmond Bridge for the Royal British Legion's first Poppy Appeal in 1921.On 6 August, she sat in a wheelchair draped in a poppy-printed blanket and was handed the MBE on behalf of the Queen by the Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London, Colonel Jane Davies.
  
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• Brexit Secretary releases 'no-deal' technical papers

  23-08-2018 17:25
  Brexit Secretary releases 'no-deal' technical papers
  
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• Medicine stockpiles and emergency airlifts in the event of 'no-deal' Brexit

  23-08-2018 17:21
  Stockpiles of at least six week's supply of medicines will be held in the event of a "no-deal" Brexit, with urgent medicines airlifted to the UK to avoid lengthy delays at road, rail and sea borders.The government has asked the pharmaceutical industry to make plans to hold additional stocks amid concerns that hospitals and pharmacists could run short of supplies in the event of disruption at UK borders.The instruction, which relates to medicines with a short shelf-life such as radioactive isotop
  
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• Mourinho vs the world and a book writers special – Football Weekly Extra

  23-08-2018 17:20 via theguardian.com
  Max is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson and Michael Calvin to discuss Liverpool’s perfect start, José Mourinho’s issues with everyone, books, plane banner protests and the joy of chancing across a game in the parkRate, review, share on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Audioboom, Mixcloud, Acast and Stitcher, and join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and email.Max Rushden is joined by Barry Glendenning, Jonathan Wilson and Michael Calvin to discuss recent events in
  
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