General news

• Ex-SNP leader Salmond resigns from party

  29-08-2018 22:39 via bbc.co.uk
  Mr Salmond said he wanted to avoid internal division within the party which has faced calls to suspend him.
  
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• Alex Salmond resigns from SNP after harassment claims

  29-08-2018 22:37
  Alex Salmond has resigned from the SNP after two people accused Scotland's former first minister of sexually harassing them.The 63-year-old said he "refutes" the complaints and "absolutely rejects" any suggestion of criminality.The two complaints are reported to date from Mr Salmond's time as first minister, which he was from 2007 to 2014, when Nicola Sturgeon took over.
  
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• Growth potential: celebrities sprout skin 'implants' for New York fashion week

  29-08-2018 22:35 via theguardian.com
  Kim Kardashian West, Chrissy Teigen and others have been sporting skin-crawling ‘body modifications’ as part of a new exhibitIf you find keeping up with the Kardashians painful, prepare yourself for news that might make your skin crawl.Over the last couple of days, Kim Kardashian West and a slew of other celebrities have been showing off “body modifications” that look like abnormal growths. Rest assured, however, they are not abnormal growths – they are “art&r
  
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• Fans and players swelter at the US Open during New York heatwave – in pictures

  29-08-2018 22:30 via theguardian.com
  As temperatures soar in New York, we take a look at how the players and fans deal with the hot conditions at the US Open, where it was described as “dangerous” as five men had to retire from their first-round matches on Tuesday aloneContinue reading...
  
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• Ed Sheeran reveals he played himself in Danny Boyle's new film

  29-08-2018 22:16
  Ed Sheeran has revealed he spent a "very intense two months" playing himself in Danny Boyle's latest movie - and performing concerts at the same time.The as-yet-untitled film, written by Love Actually's Richard Curtis, is a "very, very original story", Sheeran said.In it, former Eastenders actor Himesh Patel plays a singer-songwriter who wakes up one day to find out he is the only person in the world who remembers The Beatles.
  
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• Alex Salmond resigns from SNP after sexual misconduct claims

  29-08-2018 22:05
  Alex Salmond has dramatically quit the Scottish National party as he seeks to clear his name of sexual misconduct charges.The former SNP leader and first minister, who brought the party to power at Holyrood in 2007 and close to winning an independence referendum in 2014, said he wanted to focus on his judicial review against the Scottish government over its handling of the two complaints.In a lengthy statement posted on Twitter, Salmond said: “I truly love the SNP and the wider independenc
  
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• Alex Salmond Resigns From SNP Over Allegations Of Sexual Harassment

  29-08-2018 21:59
  Former Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has resigned his membership of the
  
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• Farmer Enlists Girlfriend's Favourite Cow To Help Pop The Question

  29-08-2018 21:48
  A Scottish farmer enlisted the help of his girlfriend's favourite cow to help
  
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• Manhunt as pedestrian fights for her life after electric cyclist hit-and-run

  29-08-2018 21:40
  A pedestrian is fighting for her life after being knocked down by a cyclist on an electric bike who fled the scene.The woman, believed to be in her 50s, was crossing Kingsland High Street in Dalston, east London, just after 5pm on Tuesday when she was hit.Scotland Yard said the male cyclist stopped after falling off his bike but then sped off.
  
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• 'Bum lift' death: Mother-of-three was told by partner she 'did not need surgery'

  29-08-2018 21:19
  The partner of a woman who reportedly died during "bum lift" surgery in Turkey did not want her to have the procedure, neighbours said.Leah Cambridge, a 29-year-old beautician from Leeds, is said to have died this week as she underwent the increasingly popular cosmetic surgery at a clinic in the coastal city of Izmir.The mother-of-three's neighbours in Leeds said they believed she had gone to have the treatment against the wishes of her partner, Scott Franks.
  
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• Search for man who 'jumped' off ferry near Portsmouth Harbour suspended

  29-08-2018 20:27
  A search for a man who "jumped" off a ferry near Portsmouth Harbour has been suspended.An "extensive" search was launched as two lifeboats, a helicopter, harbour patrol vessels and a vessel from the Royal Navy were all called in.Wightlink said it was "saddened" that the "search for a man who jumped" had been ended.
  
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• Man jailed for £53m UK heist will not have to repay share of proceeds

  29-08-2018 20:12
  An undated image of Paul Allen, who was released from prison after being sentenced to 18 years for the robbery.A cage fighter convicted of taking part in a £53m armed robbery has been excused from paying back his alleged share of the stolen cash after a secret court hearing.The Crown Prosecution Service has confirmed that Paul Allen, from Chatham in Kent, has been let off repaying more than £1.23m said to have been proceeds of the 2006 Securitas raid in Tonbridge.
  
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• New party members are not entryists, say pro-Brexit Tory MPs

  29-08-2018 20:09
  Conservative MPs warning of “entryism” in their party have faced a backlash from colleagues, who say the party should welcome an influx of new Brexit-supporting members.Leave.EU, the campaign group founded by businessman Arron Banks, is calling on its supporters to join the Conservative party to influence a future leadership vote, leading some remain-supporting MPs, including Anna Soubry and Nicky Morgan, to call for vigilance.
  
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• Uncle and niece die at caravan park in Mansfield

  29-08-2018 19:54 via bbc.co.uk
  Lisa Butler and Richard Thompson were treated by paramedics but pronounced dead at the scene.
  
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• Theresa May signs security partnership with Nigeria's president

  29-08-2018 19:44
  Theresa May has signed a security pact with Nigeria’s president aimed at helping the country combat the militant group Boko Haram through better military training and anti-terrorist propaganda techniques developed in the UK.The British prime minister’s agreement with Muhammadu Buhari was announced at a summit between the pair in Abuja and billed by the UK as an example of May’s ambition to promote a greater British presence in Africa and support states under pressure from terro
  
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• Scallop row: UK in talks to ensure 'no repeat' of clashes

  29-08-2018 19:38 via bbc.co.uk
  Britain and France are in talks to ensure there are no further clashes between fishermen, the UK says.
  
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• Academic strip searched by police says refusal to cooperate was 'passive resistance'

  29-08-2018 19:13
  Konstancja Duff says she has suffered flashbacks since the strip search and has post-traumatic stress disorder.An academic arrested and strip searched after offering a boy a legal advice card has said her refusal to cooperate with police who detained her was an act of passive resistance.Konstancja Duff, now an assistant political philosopher at the University of Nottingham, was pinned down by three female officers who cut off her clothes with scissors in the cells at Stoke Newington police stati
  
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• Academic 'was using passive resistance' before Met strip search

  29-08-2018 19:13
  Konstancja Duff says she has suffered flashbacks since the strip search and has post-traumatic stress disorder.An academic arrested and strip searched after offering a boy a legal advice card has said her refusal to cooperate with police who detained her was an act of passive resistance.Konstancja Duff, now a political philosopher at the University of Nottingham, was pinned down by three female officers who cut off her clothes with scissors in the cells at Stoke Newington police station, north-e
  
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• Back May's Brexit plan or risk no deal, David Lidington tells EU

  29-08-2018 19:11 via bbc.co.uk
  Theresa May's top minister David Lidington says there are only two Brexit options on the table.
  
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• 'Abusive and hostile' low-flying paraglider sought by police in Sussex

  29-08-2018 19:04
  A paraglider who is "abusive and hostile" to members of the public as he flies low over a Sussex seafront is being sought by police.Reports of him causing criminal damage and obstructing the highway in southern East Sussex have been received for two years.Rother District Council said it had had "numerous interactions with him over recent years".
  
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• Henry Miller died in gap year Colombian tribal ritual

  29-08-2018 19:01 via bbc.co.uk
  The family of Henry Miller joins calls for warnings of the dangers of drugs used in tribal rituals.
  
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• May calls for 'amicable solution' to scallops row after French fishermen 'attack'

  29-08-2018 18:58
  Theresa May has called for an "amicable solution" to the ongoing row between French and British fisherman after their dispute over scallops turned violent.Footage from the English Channel showed rival boats colliding with each other and objects being thrown.Responding to the row while visiting Nigeria, the Prime Minister said: "I think it's important we see an amicable solution to what has happened in the Channel.
  
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• Pound rises as EU's Barnier hints at 'ambitious' Brexit deal

  29-08-2018 18:53
  The pound has risen to its highest level for weeks after the EU's chief Brexit negotiator said the UK could expect a partnership with Brussels "such as there never has been with any other third country".The deal may include an "ambitious free trade agreement" along with cooperation in aviation, security and foreign policy, Michel Barnier added."We respect Britain's red lines scrupulously," Mr Barnier said during a news conference in Berlin.
  
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• No takers for £25,000 portrait of Nigel Farage

  29-08-2018 18:53 via bbc.co.uk
  Artist David Griffiths says he hopes the painting, displayed at the Royal Academy, finds a "good home".
  
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• Boarding schools produce wounded leaders

  29-08-2018 18:52
  Students line the top of a boundary wall at Eton college to watch teams playing the Eton Wall Game. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
  
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• Police hunting murder suspect Janbaz Tarin offer £5,000 reward

  29-08-2018 18:34
  Janbaz Tarin, 21, is suspected of killing Raneem Oudeh and her mother Khaola Saleem.Detectives have offered a £5,000 reward in the hunt for a man accused of stabbing a mother and daughter to death in the West Midlands.Raneem Oudeh and her mother Khaola Saleem were attacked in the early hours of bank holiday Monday.
  
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• Reality Check: What are the rules on scallops?

  29-08-2018 18:28 via bbc.co.uk
  British and French fishermen have clashed over scallop stocks off the coast of Normandy - but what are the rules?
  
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• Peugeot warns of further production halts over gearbox shortage

  29-08-2018 18:27
  Production of PSA Group'sPeugeot 308 compact car may suffer intermittent stoppages in coming weeks because of a shortage of gearboxes, the French carmaker said on Wednesday.The production line assembling the 308 in Sochaux, eastern France, was disrupted for a second day before resuming work in the afternoon, company spokeswoman Karine Douet said.A production bottleneck affecting the model's new six-speed manual gearbox will gradually disappear as manufacturing of the gearbox ramps up at another
  
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• Occupation board game found in Jersey attic pokes fun at Nazis

  29-08-2018 18:27
  Playing Occupation would have helped islanders cope with the strain of Nazi occupation.A long-lost board game that gives a glimpse into life on Jersey under Nazi occupation has been found in a loft on the Channel island.The game, loosely based on Monopoly, is called Occupation and makes gentle but pointed jibes at the Nazis, who were on Jersey from 1940 to 1945.
  
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• 'Directing will be a place that I die': Idris Elba opens up on his future

  29-08-2018 18:24
  Idris Elba has told Sky News that he loves acting but directing is where he believes his career will end up.The British actor, best known for TV roles in The Wire and Luther, and for starring in Hollywood films including Prometheus, Pacific Rim and Thor, has stepped behind the camera to make his directorial debut with Yardie."I love acting, but at some point when I can't get out of bed to run around, directing will be a place that I die," Elba told Sky News.
  
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• Stacey Solomon criticises Now magazine for 'bullying' cover

  29-08-2018 18:23 via bbc.co.uk
  The TV presenter was on the cover of Now magazine which called her 'boring, desperate and cheap'.
  
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• Solihull double-murder suspect 'being protected' locally

  29-08-2018 18:22 via bbc.co.uk
  Janbaz Tarin is wanted in connection with the deaths of his ex-partner and her mother in Solihull.
  
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• Shirley Williams: Fear of Trump must see us reject Brexit

  29-08-2018 18:12
  Donald Trump and Theresa May at Chequers during the US president’s July visit to the UK. ‘Democracy is too precious to sacrifice,’ writes Shirley Williams.Since the election in November 2016 of Donald Trump the US has slipped backwards in terms of democratic practice.More and more news material is tailored to appeal to particular factions or political ideologies.
  
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• What did the dolphin say to the porpoise?

  29-08-2018 18:08 via bbc.co.uk
  A dolphin in the Firth of Clyde may be exchanging messages with porpoises.
  
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• EU's Barnier sends sterling above $1.30 for first time in 3 weeks

  29-08-2018 18:01
  Sterling rallied by more than a percent to cross the $1.30 line for the first time in three weeks on Wednesday after the European Union's chief Brexit negotiator signaled an accomodative stance towards the United Kingdom in ongoing talks.Michel Barnier said the bloc was prepared to offer Britain an unprecedentedly close relationship after it quits the EU, but it would not permit anything that weakened the body's single market."I think people are viewing this as a sign that there's going to be so
  
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• Thomas Cook boss flies to Egypt for talks on hotel deaths

  29-08-2018 18:00 via bbc.co.uk
  Thomas Cook's chief executive to hold talks with Egyptian prime minister over hotel deaths.
  
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• EU's Barnier offers Britain close ties but 'no single market a la carte'

  29-08-2018 17:59
  BERLIN/LONDON (Reuters) - The European Union is prepared to offer Britain an unprecedentedly close relationship after it quits the bloc but would not allow anything that weakened the body's single market, chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on Wednesday.With seven months to go until Britain is due to leave the EU, the two sides are yet to reach a divorce deal.Britain's Brexit minister Dominic Raab told lawmakers on Wednesday he was confident that a deal was "within our sights", although
  
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• Birmingham care home boss who stole £98k from 97-year-old struck off

  29-08-2018 17:49 via bbc.co.uk
  Carleen Wilkins stole thousands from her 97-year-old victim to pay off debts and gamble in casinos.
  
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• Great British Bake Off: What the critics thought

  29-08-2018 17:46 via bbc.co.uk
  Not a soggy bottom in sight for the ninth series of the cosy autumn treat.
  
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• This chimney sweep sex euphemism has left the internet absolutely baffled

  29-08-2018 17:45
  Say what now?
  
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• Mail on Sunday sacks Rachel Johnson amid editorial shake-up

  29-08-2018 17:35
  Rachel Johnson is an outspoken supporter of Britain remaining in the EU.The Mail on Sunday’s incoming editor has sacked his newspaper’s star columnist Rachel Johnson as part of the ongoing recriminations accompanying the departure of the Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre.Johnson was let go by the Sunday paper’s new boss, Ted Verity, just weeks after she was given a year-long contract extension by its outgoing editor Geordie Greig.
  
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• Endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh completes English Channel challenge

  29-08-2018 17:24 via bbc.co.uk
  Lewis Pugh finishes the 560km gruelling swim from Land's End to Dover in 49 days.
  
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• Woman racially assaulted on bus calls for CCTV rule change

  29-08-2018 17:15 via bbc.co.uk
  Makedah Simpson could not trace the person who racially assaulted her as CCTV evidence was deleted after 10 days.
  
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• Long Swim: He's home! Lewis Pugh completes 330-mile length of English Channel

  29-08-2018 17:12
  Endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh has completed an unprecedented length of the English Channel, a 330-mile journey which has taken 49 days, half a million strokes and 98,000 calories.Pugh, who used the challenge to highlight poor marine protection, arrived in Dover this afternoon to become the first person to achieve the feat without use of a wetsuit and flippers.
  
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• New OU course will help athletes overcome the hurdles of retirement

  29-08-2018 17:07 via theguardian.com
  Transitioning from sports to a post-retirement career can be challenging, as Olympian and rugby international Nigel Walker discovered. A new Open University course will help athletes change tackWhen Nigel Walker retired, his life felt rudderless. Although many retirees will be familiar with that feeling, Walker’s life change came earlier than most. The former rugby player and athlete retired from his sporting career aged 34 in February 1998, due to injury. He’d enjoyed success, repre
  
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• Lewis Pugh: Now the real work begins

  29-08-2018 17:05
  Lewis Pugh says the real work of convincing governments to do more to save marine life is only just beginning.
  
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• Sir Lenny Henry at 60: A career in pictures

  29-08-2018 16:52 via bbc.co.uk
  The much-loved comedian and actor has been entertaining people for more than 40 years.
  
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• Gender row over Up Helly Aa Viking fire festival

  29-08-2018 16:48 via bbc.co.uk
  A mixed-gender squad of "Vikings" called #MeToo claim they are barred from Shetland's main Up Helly Aa procession.
  
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• UK sees several possible causes of no-deal Brexit

  29-08-2018 16:42
  LONDON (Reuters) - A British departure from the European Union without an agreed exit deal could be triggered by several different events, Brexit minister Dominic Raab said on Wednesday, adding that Britain was prepared for the risks.
  
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• David Gauke Refuses To Help Ministry Of Justice Cleaners Get A Pay Rise

  29-08-2018 16:40
  Justice Secretary David Gauke has refused to intervene and help low-paid
  
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