General news

• Twenty hygiene cases against Egypt hotel where British couple died

  24-08-2018 22:38
  At least 20 people have brought legal claims against a hotel in Egypt where a British couple died, it has emerged.Nick Harris, a partner at law firm Simpson Millar who is representing the group, said his clients had reported becoming unwell after recent stays at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada.John Cooper, 69, and Susan Cooper, 63, from Burnley, Lancashire, died on Tuesday morning while on holiday at the resort with their daughter and her three children.
  
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• Criminals able to change name by deed poll without declaring convictions

  24-08-2018 22:29
  Offenders can create new identities through the deed poll system without having to declare their previous convictions.The Information Hub website advises applicants: "There is nothing preventing people with criminal convictions from changing their name," though it warns that anyone with a case pending, or on probation or the sex offenders register, must inform police.A deed poll name-change entitles users to get new documents including a passport, driving licence, national insurance number and c
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn: I used the term 'Zionist' in accurate political sense

  24-08-2018 22:18
  Jeremy Corbyn has sought to clarify remarks he made in 2013, when he accused a group of Zionists of having “no sense of English irony”, despite “having lived in this country for a very long time”.With more than a dozen of his MPs and a number of supporters expressing concerns about the Labour leader’s remarks at a conference five years ago, which re-emerged in a video that came to light on Thursday, Corbyn had been under increasing pressure to apologise.In a stateme
  
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• Roma football fan jailed after Liverpool supporter suffered 'catastrophic' head injury

  24-08-2018 21:28
  An Italian football fan has been jailed after a Liverpool supporter suffered a "catastrophic" head injury before the Champions League semi-final.Roma supporter Daniele Sciusco, 29, was handed a two-and-a-half year sentence after he admitted violent disorder ahead of the Anfield match on 24 April.Filippo Lombardi, 21, denies violent disorder and inflicting grievous bodily harm on Mr Cox and is due to stand trial later this year.
  
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• Woman becomes seventh person charged over 'acid attack' on three-year-old boy

  24-08-2018 19:58
  A woman has become the seventh person to be charged over a suspected acid attack on a three-year-old boy.Martina Badiova has been charged with conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm after the attack at a Home Bargains store in Worcester, West Midlands, on 21 July.The 22-year-old was arrested at her home in Handsworth, Birmingham, on Thursday morning.
  
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• New James Bond movie delayed after director Danny Boyle quits

  24-08-2018 19:51
  It is likely that the 25th 007 film, starring Daniel Craig, will not show in cinemas late 2020, according to the Hollywood Reporter.The British director, 61, abruptly quit the project earlier this week, just three months before it was scheduled to start shooting.
  
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• Luton Airport: 'Painful' or 'stress-free'?

  24-08-2018 19:48 via bbc.co.uk
  The airport has come bottom of a passenger satisfaction survey for the third year running.
  
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• Bank holiday getaway plans to be hit by rain and delays

  24-08-2018 19:42
  Millions of families are facing bank holiday misery as extra cars hit the motorways and rain falls across much of the country.The Met Office has predicted sunny and cloudy weather for most parts on Saturday, but much of the UK is expected to experience "a good six hours" of downpours on Sunday.Forecasters predict sunny weather will return on bank holiday Monday along with some cloud cover.
  
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• Shadow Brexit Secretary: 'No-deal would be a catastrophe'

  24-08-2018 19:30
  Shadow Brexit Secretary: 'No deal would be a catastrophe'
  
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• John McDonnell warns second EU referendum could prompt far-right violence

  24-08-2018 19:25
  Shadow chancellor John McDonnell has cautioned a second EU referendum could provoke far-right violence on UK streets - but confirmed Labour is not ruling out support for another public vote.The Labour frontbencher agreed with recent warnings by fellow shadow cabinet member Barry Gardiner, who claimed a new referendum could give "succour to the extreme right" and prompt social unrest.Highlighting how supporters of ex-English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson clashed with police at recent demon
  
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• The Man Who Knows The Most About Trump's Murky Finances Has Been Granted Immunity

  24-08-2018 19:17
  The man who knows the most about Donald Trump's murky finances has been
  
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• Alex Salmond calls sexual misconduct claims 'ridiculous'

  24-08-2018 19:07
  Alex Salmond has begun a legal battle against Scotland’s top civil servant after she told him she was going public with two complaints of sexual misconduct against him.In an unprecedented row, Salmond has been accused of sexual harassment by two female officials following incidents that allegedly took place while he was first minister of Scotland and have since been passed to the police.As Scottish Labour and the Tories called for Salmond’s SNP membership to be suspended, a Police Sc
  
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• Alex Salmond attacks 'flawed' sexual misconduct inquiry

  24-08-2018 19:07
  Alex Salmond has begun a legal battle against Scotland’s top civil servant after she told him she was going public with two complaints of sexual misconduct against him.Salmond has been accused of sexual harassment by two female officials following incidents that allegedly took place while he was first minister of Scotland and have since been passed to the police.As Scottish Labour and the Tories called for Salmond’s SNP membership to be suspended, a Police Scotland spokesman said off
  
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• UK universities among 76 targeted by hackers

  24-08-2018 18:59
  A hacking group linked to Iran could be behind an attack which targeted dozens of universities in 14 countries including the UK in an attempt to steal student credentials.Researchers from the Secureworks Counter Threat Unit (CTU) discovered spoof URL pages for several universities, which would ask victims to enter their login details before bouncing them to their institution's correct address.Victims would be sent the spoof URL through an email appearing to ask them to log in.
  
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• Proportion of TV shows directed by women falls, report finds

  24-08-2018 18:55
  Sally Wainwright, who directed the hit BBC drama Happy Valley, at the Bafta awards in 2013.The proportion of television shows directed by women has fallen in the past four years despite broadcasters making public declarations to encourage diversity, a report has found.Andrew Chowns, the organisation’s chief executive, said the statistics showed a disconnect between the “warm words” used by broadcasters and production companies and their willingness to take action to make a chan
  
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• Ex-first minister Alex Salmond denies harassment and says he is 'not guilty of criminality'

  24-08-2018 18:43
  Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has denied allegations of harassment and told Sky News he is "not guilty of any criminality whatsoever".The Scottish government confirmed on Friday that the ex-SNP leader is facing harassment complaints from two people.
  
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• 'Something suspicious' caused British couple's deaths at Egypt hotel, daughter says

  24-08-2018 18:42
  The daughter of a British couple who died at a hotel in Egypt has told Sky News she believes "something suspicious" caused their deaths.In her first interview since parents John and Susan Cooper passed away at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in the popular resort town of Hurghada, Kelly Ormerod said they were "in perfect health" just hours before they fell ill."They had no illness, no stomach upset, no vomiting, no illness whatsoever - they were in perfect health when they went to bed," said
  
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• U.S. Commerce's Ross picks ZTE monitor after rejecting 'Never Trump' lawyer

  24-08-2018 18:35
  A new monitor for ZTE is required as part of a June settlement that ended a ban on U.S. companies selling components to China's No. 2 telecommunications equipment maker.The ban threatened ZTE's survival and became a source of friction in trade talks between Washington and Beijing.Roscoe Howard, a former U.S. Attorney in Washington, will lead a compliance team designed to help ensure that ZTE does not illegally sell products with American parts to Iran and other sanctioned countries.
  
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• Let’s not forget the plight of children in custody

  24-08-2018 18:31
  ‘In the face of events at HMP Birmingham, it is vital not to ignore the plight of the children incarcerated in the secure estate,’ write Gavin Dingwall and Jessica Gallagher.Your editorial (The problem is caused by drugs and violence inside – and by austerity outside, 21 August) and Polly Toynbee’s opinion column (Prisons are just the start.The justice system is in meltdown, 21 August) throw light on the deep problems facing the criminal justice system, of which prisons a
  
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• Erasing terrible British injustices of the past | Letters

  24-08-2018 18:30
  Alan Madge on bloody events in Welsh history, and Michael O’Sullivan on atrocities in Northern IrelandI agree with the sentiments expressed on your Letters page (18 August) regarding the way in which deliberate attempts are made to erase terrible injustices, such as the Peterloo massacre, from our history. Even less attention is paid to similar outrages that occurred in the south Wales coalfield, such as the Merthyr rising in 1831, Tonypandy in 1910 and Llanelli in 1911.Merthyr h
  
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• A trip down memory lane via Maine Road and Filbert Street | Scott Murray

  24-08-2018 18:24
  This weekend’s fixtures are as much about the past as the present and Huddersfield against Cardiff is the most evocative of the lotThe haiku is generally considered the shortest form of poem in the world. Continue reading...
  
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• Don’t throw web tax receipts at the BBC

  24-08-2018 18:23
  The BBC receives over £3bn in licence fees.It is supposed to be one of the great creative centres of talent in the world.Could Jeremy Corbyn (Report, 23 August) explain why it has not been one of the most creative in the world in creating different platforms?
  
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• Thief asked for doughnuts as well as money in Krispy Kreme robbery

  24-08-2018 18:17
  The suspect maintained he was trying to access the ‘secret menu’.
  
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• Telling his players to larrup the ball towards Sunderland or Leeds | The Fiver

  24-08-2018 18:04
  Sign up now! Sign up now! Sign up now? Sign up now!During a 26-year managerial career that has taken him from Bournemouth to Gillingham, Bristol City, Portsmouth, Stoke (twice), Plymouth Argyle, Crystal Palace, West Brom and Middlesbrough, Tony Pulis remains best known for wearing baseball caps, apart from that time he allegedly wrestled naked in a dressing room with Stoke Ents Officer James Beattie over the cancellation of a Christmas party. Both men refuse to discuss the alleged incident but P
  
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• John McCain will no longer receive treatment for brain cancer, says family

  24-08-2018 18:01
  Family says Arizona senator, who was diagnosed with aggressive cancer last year, is showing ‘usual strength of will’John McCain will no longer receive treatment for brain cancer, the Arizona senator’s family said in a statement on Friday. Related: The Restless Wave review: John McCain on Trump, duty and Putin's 'evil'Continue reading...
  
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• The Ballymurphy Precedent review – touching personal accounts of the Troubles

  24-08-2018 18:00
  Callum Macrae helms a queasily authentic retelling of the fallout from Northern Ireland’s tragic Ballymurphy shootingsTo Catholics in Northern Ireland it’s the Ballymurphy massacre, the shooting dead of 10 people in 1971 during three days of protests against internment in the Belfast neighbourhood of Ballymurphy. Most appear to have been killed by soldiers of the Parachute Regiment. The dead included a priest and a mother of eight, blasted in the face. This diligent, journalistic doc
  
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• Roma fan jailed over violence before Liverpool Champions League match

  24-08-2018 17:59
  • Daniele Sciusco sent to prison for two-and-a-half years
  • Italian took part in violence that led to fan’s serious injuryAn Italian football fan has been jailed for two-and-a-half years after an outbreak of violence before the Champions League semi-final which left a Liverpool fan seriously injured.Roma supporter Daniele Sciusco, 29, from Rome, admitted violent disorder ahead of the Anfield match on 24 April. On Friday, Preston Crown Court heard that Irish Liverpool fan Sean Cox
  
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• Pope Francis Visits A Changed Ireland

  24-08-2018 17:59
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• Allen Weisselberg: Trump Organization CFO granted immunity in Cohen case

  24-08-2018 17:50
  It was not clear whether Weisselberg testified as part of investigations targeting someone other than CohenAllen Weisselberg, the longtime chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, entered an immunity deal with federal prosecutors in exchange for his testimony about Michael Cohen, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.Cohen, Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, pleaded guilty to eight felonies in federal court on Tuesday. His plea deal described how Cohen had submitted fals
  
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• Exclusive - U.S. Commerce's Ross picks ZTE monitor after rejecting 'Never Trump' lawyer

  24-08-2018 17:42
  A new monitor for ZTE is required as part of a June settlement that ended a ban on U.S. companies selling components to China's No. 2 telecommunications equipment maker.The ban threatened ZTE's survival and became a source of friction in trade talks between Washington and Beijing.Roscoe Howard, a former U.S. Attorney in Washington, will lead a compliance team designed to help ensure that ZTE does not illegally sell products with American parts to Iran and other sanctioned countries.
  
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• Martina Badiova Charged Over Suspected Acid Attack On 3-Year-Old Boy

  24-08-2018 17:36
  A woman has been charged in connection with a suspected acid attack on a
  
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• Knife arches to be used at Notting Hill carnival

  24-08-2018 17:34
  Behavioural experts will also be deployed but facial recognition ditched amid discrimination claims
  Police at this year’s Notting Hill carnival will deploy metal-detecting knife arches and behavioural experts to try to thwart violence, but have dropped “Big Brother”-style facial recognition amid claims it was racially discriminatory and confused men with women.Up to 1 million people are expected to attend this weekend’s west London event that is the biggest celebration of
  
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• Dublin awaits Pope Francis with mixture of pride and pain

  24-08-2018 17:31
  Tens of thousands expected to line streets, but visit takes place under shadow of sexual abuse Pope Francis will touch down at Dublin airport on Saturday morning for a 36-hour trip to a country whose national identity was once steeped in conservative Catholicism but which has undergone a social revolution in the four decades since the last papal visit.His historic trip, only the second by a serving pope, comes under the dark shadow of sexual abuse by Irish priests and cover-up by senior church f
  
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• Let’s move to Callander and the Trossachs: ‘Magical countryside’

  24-08-2018 17:30
  It looks like Disney bought up the place and squished the whole of Scotland into a few square milesWhat’s going for it? “The Highlands in miniature”, they call it, and, true enough, the Trossachs (great name, by the way), do look as if Disney had come along, bought up the place and squished the whole of Scotland into a few square miles. Peaks and mountains (though not scarily high). Forests. Lochs. Glens. Dramatic ruins on mystical islands. Copious shops selling tartanned tins
  
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• Applied Ballardianism by Simon Sellars – under the spell of JG Ballard

  24-08-2018 17:30
  From close encounters with UFOs to island-hopping with a gonzo travel writer, this is a brilliantly written genre mashup“Crash changed my life,” writes Simon Sellars. The co-editor of Extreme Metaphors (2012), a collection of JG Ballard interviews, Sellars is a self-confessed obsessive, a “Ballardian”. But Applied Ballardianism is no dry scholarly study of the bard of Shepperton. This brilliantly written genre mashup is ostensibly a memoir of the author’s obsession
  
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• U.S. sanctions on Russia tied to UK attack to take effect Monday

  24-08-2018 17:29
  U.S. sanctions against Russia tied to a nerve agent attack in Britain, which were announced earlier this month, will come into effect on Monday, the U.S. government said on Friday, adding to the array of economic penalties it has imposed on Moscow in recent years.The new measures, detailed in a notice posted at the Federal Register, will terminate foreign assistance and some arms sales and financing to Russia, as well as deny the country credit and prohibit the export of security-sensitive goods
  
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• Zimbabwe court rejects opposition attempt to annul election result

  24-08-2018 17:16
  MDC argued Emmerson Mnangagwa’s victory should be overturned due to fraudZimbabwe’s constitutional court has rejected an opposition challenge to Emmerson Mnangagwa’s election victory last month.The decision was widely expected, but is unlikely to end the former British colony’s political instability. Continue reading...
  
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• Brexit secretary heads to Brussels for talks as October deadline slips

  24-08-2018 17:15
  Dominic Raab plans to resume negotiations in Brussels next week, as the government insists it has not given up hope of sealing a Brexit deal in October — despite an admission by the Cabinet Office minister, David Lidington, the timetable could slip.The Brexit secretary has promised to approach the talks with “vim and vigour” and intends to spend more time in direct talks with the EU commission’s negotiator, Michel Barnier, than his predecessor, David Davis.
  
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• Warrington’s Stefan Ratchford: ‘I turned down Liverpool to play league’

  24-08-2018 17:09
  The veteran full-back is set for his third Wembley final and, with Warrington favourites to prevail in Challenge Cupagainst Catalans Dragons, he has no regrets over his choice of careerStefan Ratchford, as a veteran of several Challenge Cup and Super League Grand Finals, is no stranger to the big stage. On Saturday the Warrington full-back appears in his third Wembley final but by his own admission his life could have gone in a very different direction had the 30-year-old turned his back on rugb
  
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• Alex Salmond calls sexual misconduct claims 'ridiculous'

  24-08-2018 17:09
  Former first minister vigorously denies charges as Nicola Sturgeon says due process must be followedAlex Salmond has begun a legal battle against Scotland’s top civil servant after she told him she was going public with two complaints of sexual misconduct against him.In an unprecedented row, Salmond has been accused of sexual harassment by two female officials following incidents that allegedly took place while he was first minister of Scotland and have since been passed to the police. Con
  
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• Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda on life after Chester Bennington: 'I cope by staying in motion'

  24-08-2018 17:07
  The rapper lost his bandmate to suicide last year. But his solo tour has been a place for fans – and him – to process their griefThe last time Mike Shinoda played Reading and Leeds festival it was 2003 – circa Von Dutch caps, wallet chains and buzz cut-era Britney ­– and his band, nu-metal titans Linkin Park, were headlining. “I remember the show pretty distinctly,” he says, “because it was the most rugged-looking fest I’d ever seen. Back then,
  
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• Chuka Umunna slams talk of breakaway party as 'false news'

  24-08-2018 17:05
  Labour MP says anti-Brexit People’s Vote campaign was not precursor to new partyThe Labour MP Chuka Umunna has sought to scotch rumours that he hopes to use the People’s Vote second referendum campaign as a platform for launching a new political party.After days of speculation about his future within Labour, Umunna said his priority was to stop Brexit as talks with the European Union reach their decisive stage over the autumn. Continue reading...
  
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• Chuka Umunna slams talk of breakaway party as 'false news'

  24-08-2018 17:05
  The Labour MP Chuka Umunna has sought to scotch rumours that he hopes to use the People’s Vote second referendum campaign as a platform for launching a new political party.After days of speculation about his future within Labour, Umunna said his priority was to stop Brexit as talks with the European Union reach their decisive stage over the autumn.“The idea that the People’s Vote campaign is a precursor to a new party is complete and utter bollocks,” Umunna told the Guard
  
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• Roy Hodgson warns ‘disgraceful’ Harry the Hornet over diving antics

  24-08-2018 17:04
  • Palace manager says mascot should not ‘provoke the crowd’• ‘I think it’s disgraceful. That’s not what football is about’Roy Hodgson has warned the Watford mascot Harry the Hornet not to “provoke the crowd” and reignite diving claims regarding Wilfried Zaha. Watford’s mascot dived on the Vicarage Road pitch after Palace’s visit in December 2016, mocking the forward over diving allegations.Zaha claimed there was an “agen
  
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• Yes, Spain should dig Franco up. But it must not bury the horror of his regime | Giles Tremlett

  24-08-2018 16:55
  The fate of his burial monument is uncertain – why not turn it into a civil war museum, to warn of the horrors of fascism?Before they buried Francisco Franco in 1975, a waiting mourner fell into the hole reserved for the Spanish dictator. The unconscious man had to be pulled out. More than four decades later, Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has declared that Franco must now also be removed from the vast underground basilica the dictator had built at El Valle d
  
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• Scotland to offer free sanitary products to all students in world first

  24-08-2018 16:47
  Scottish government unveils £5.2m scheme to help ‘banish scourge of period poverty’Students at schools, colleges and universities across Scotland will have access to free sanitary products as part of a £5.2m scheme to fight period poverty.The Scottish government is the first in the world to make sanitary products available free to all of its 395,000 pupils and students to help “banish the scourge of period poverty” - when girls and women struggle to pay for ba
  
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• Jason Donovan’s Amazing Midlife Crisis review – heartthrob hits 50

  24-08-2018 16:37
  Assembly George Square, Edinburgh
  The star revisits his success as a singer and soap-star to find out whether he is older and wiser, or just older
  What an odd confection this touring show by Jason Donovan is. It’s ostensibly about the midlife crisis the ex-teen heartthrob is experiencing as he hits 50. But that’s barely discussed, save for an overlong video-and-voiceover at the start. And then I realised: this isn’t a show about Donovan’s midlife crisis, it’s an aud
  
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• Black widow spider discovered in crate near Aberdeen is 'put to sleep'

  24-08-2018 16:36
  A poisonous eight-legged stowaway that made its way to Scotland in a crate has had to be "put to sleep" because there was nowhere to rehome it.Workers at the business park in Portlethen, Aberdeenshire called the Scottish SPCA on Thursday afternoon when they found a black widow spider hiding in a crate.Mike Flynn, superintendent at the Scottish SPCA confirmed the find but said it had not been able to find the unwanted visitor a new home.
  
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• Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's Husband Describes Joy Of Her Temporary Release

  24-08-2018 16:30
  The husband of jailed Briton Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has said her temporary
  
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• Scottish Power hikes energy bills for 900,000 households

  24-08-2018 16:28
  About 900,000 customers - about a third of the homes supplied by Scottish Power - will be affected.The Glasgow-based company, like its bigger rival British Gas, blamed the rise on "continued increases in wholesale energy costs".Neil Clitheroe, chief executive of ScottishPower's retail arm, said: "We have seen significant increases in wholesale energy costs since April, and, like others in the industry, this means that we need to increase our prices.
  
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