General news

• UK to give small retailers 900 million pound tax cut - finance ministry

  26-10-2018 23:41
  British Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond is likely to give a 900 million pound ($1.15 billion) tax cut to small high-street retailers in his annual budget on Monday to help them compete against online competition, the government said late on Friday.High-street shops have long complained that Britain's tax system unfairly favours online retailers and out-of-town stores, which face lower business property taxes than firms operating from expensive town centre locations.Britain's finance m
  
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• Support for ailing high streets expected in Chancellor’s Budget

  26-10-2018 23:30
  Philip Hammond will use Monday’s Budget to promise a tax break for small firms and a fund to transform town centres.
  
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• Open-air weddings could be allowed under overhaul of ‘outdated’ rules

  26-10-2018 23:30
  Chancellor Philip Hammond is to announce a review of the ‘outdated’ law on wedding venues.
  
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• High Streets Crisis: Chancellor To Announce £1.5bn Support Package In Budget

  26-10-2018 23:30
  Britain's struggling high streets are to be handed a £1.5bn support package by
  
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• Hammond to bring forward tax cuts by a year - Telegraph

  26-10-2018 23:16
  The move would benefit more than 30 million taxpayers, in abudget boost for Brexit, the Telegraph reported.Hammond in his annual budget speech in 2017 had stressed on increasing the threshold at which people start paying income tax to 12,500 pounds ($16,033.75).The income tax cut plan is expected to cost UK's treasury up to 5 billion pounds, the newspaper reported.
  
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• Polls close as Ireland elects president

  26-10-2018 23:00
  Incumbent Michael D Higgins is hoping for a second term in office, but he faced competition from five other candidates.
  
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• Deadline looms for Facebook boss to respond to MPs’ leaked data evidence request

  26-10-2018 22:58
  Shares in Facebook have plunged in recent days.
  
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• Cannabis Oil: Families In Need Say Doctors Still Associate It With ‘Street Skunk’

  26-10-2018 22:45
  Many medics are reluctant to prescribe cannabis as a medicine despite it being
  
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• Six Puppies Stolen In Armed Manchester Raid Have Died

  26-10-2018 22:24
  Six newborn puppies stolen in an armed robbery have died, police said.
  
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• Six puppies stolen in armed raid on Manchester home die

  26-10-2018 22:05
  Two of the litter survived and have been reunited with the mother and owner.
  
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• London fashion brand sees sales rush after Meghan label faux-pas

  26-10-2018 21:49
  Self-Portrait, based in Mayfair, is among a number of designers to have seen a surge in interest thanks to the Duchess’s recent fashion choices.
  
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• Budget 2018: Chancellor Philip Hammond rules out major tax rises

  26-10-2018 21:48
  The chancellor has ruled out major tax rises in next week's budget, thanks to a last-minute influx of tax revenues which have bolstered his balance sheet.According to Whitehall sources, the budget deficit is due to be significantly smaller than expected this year thanks to higher income tax and VAT revenues in recent months.The upshot is that Philip Hammond will be able to promise to end austerity and still reach his target of eliminating the deficit by the middle of the next decade - without an
  
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• In Pictures: Fantasy fans descend on London Comic Con

  26-10-2018 21:32
  The event has got under way at ExCel London.
  
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• University dropout convicted of murdering transgender woman after sex and drugs binge

  26-10-2018 21:00
  Jesse McDonald, 25, drugged and then stabbed Naomi Hersi to death with a knife and a broken bottle at a hotel near Heathrow Airport where he was living.McDonald then spun a web of lies as he recruited his 18-year-old girlfriend, Natalia Darkowska, to help clean up, jurors were told.Prosecutor Mark Heywood QC told the court how McDonald planned to dispose the body, but Ms Hersi was found half-naked and partly covered by a rug on the floor of the bathroom.
  
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• Leo Varadkar ‘confident but not complacent’ Irish hard border can be avoided

  26-10-2018 20:55
  The Taoiseach also criticised the ongoing suspension of the Northern Ireland Executive during a visit to Londonderry.
  
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• Varadkar makes symbolic visit to Protestant loyal order’s HQ

  26-10-2018 20:29
  The Apprentice Boys have two main parades each year, marking the 1689 siege of Londonderry when the city resisted an attack by King James.
  
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• Syrian ITV journalist granted visa after Home Office U-turn

  26-10-2018 20:18
  Syrian people flee from reported regime airstrikes in eastern Ghouta earlier this year.British officials have backed down after being criticised for refusing to grant a visa to a Syrian video journalist to attend an awards ceremony in London next week.Humam Husari, who reported on the Syrian civil war for ITV for five years, will now be allowed into the UK after the Home Office dropped its objection on Friday.
  
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• Labour peer Lord Hain denies law firm role led him to name Sir Philip Green

  26-10-2018 20:12
  The former Labour cabinet minister who named Sir Philip Green in parliament "did not obtain any information" from the law firm fighting the billionaire's injunction against a national newspaper.Lord Hain used parliamentary privilege on Thursday to identify Sir Philip as the businessman behind a court order against the Daily Telegraph.The Labour peer named the Arcadia Group owner as the "powerful businessman" in a case involving the use of "non-disclosure agreements and substantial payments to co
  
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• Labour's Student Wing Demands Referendum On Final Brexit Deal

  26-10-2018 20:00
  Labour's student wing has voted to back a referendum on the Brexit deal and
  
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• Turnout appears low in Irish presidential election

  26-10-2018 19:56
  All six candidates in the running for the highest office in the state voted before noon.
  
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• Boyzone pay tribute to former manager John Reynolds

  26-10-2018 19:33
  The band said they will “always be grateful” for the belief he showed in them.
  
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• Series of systematic failures found in conduct of mesh review

  26-10-2018 19:28
  Ministers commissioned an investigation into how the review was carried out following strong criticism of its final report.
  
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• Who wins when Parliament and the courts clash?

  26-10-2018 19:27
  Lord Hain named retail tycoon Sir Philip Green as the businessman at the centre of the #MeToo allegations.
  
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• Facebook removes dozens of malicious accounts linked to Iran

  26-10-2018 19:21
  The suspicious activity was detected around a week ago, with the US midterm elections coming on November 6.
  
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• 'Lady in the lake' murder case referred to court of appeal

  26-10-2018 19:14
  A man who hanged himself in prison after being convicted of murdering his wife and dumping her body in Coniston Water in the Lake District could receive a posthumous pardon after the case was referred to the court of appeal.The Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) has recommended that judges review the trial of Gordon Park, who was found guilty in 2005 of killing his wife, Carol, a mother of three.Carol Park had gone missing in the summer of 1976 from the family home near Barrow-in-Furness, C
  
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• Seven jailed over ‘drone mail’ prison drug smuggling plot

  26-10-2018 19:03
  Mobile phones, cannabis and other illegal substances were flown into seven jails in the ‘drone mail’ smuggling plot.
  
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• Former spouses slammed by judge for ‘ruinously’ racking up legal fees

  26-10-2018 18:56
  Mr Justice Cohen said Michael Parker and Barbara Cooke have spent £3 million in their dispute over assets worth no more than £6.5 million.
  
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• 'Know that you are loved' Ruth Davidson gives birth to baby boy Finn Paul

  26-10-2018 18:50
  The 39-year-old posted a photo on Twitter of Finn Paul Davidson being held in the arms of her partner Jen Wilson.Revealing the birth on Friday, Ms Davidson wrote: "Welcome to the world, little one.The couple were congratulated by Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who tweeted: "Many congratulations to you both.
  
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• Fianna Fail insists no candidates selected for Northern Ireland

  26-10-2018 18:49
  It comes after Sorcha McAnespy said she has been told by leader Micheal Martin she will stand in next year’s local government poll for the party.
  
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• Omnishambles: five big budget bust-ups of recent years

  26-10-2018 18:46
  George Osborne tried to introduce VAT on hot food.George Osborne was accused of an “omnishambles” budget in 2012, when he unveiled an increase VAT on some hot foods.It was dubbed the “pasty tax” and Osborne was forced into a climbdown.
  
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• ‘I Want To Be Cruelty-Free’: Doctor Defends ‘Acid-Proof’ Make-Up Amid Animal Testing Fears

  26-10-2018 18:45
  A doctor has defended her invention of "acid-proof" make-up after campaigners
  
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• ‘French Spiderman’ banned from climbing any UK building

  26-10-2018 18:45
  Alain Robert ascended the outside of Heron Tower in the City of London with no safety gear.
  
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• Klopp donates £4,400 to fan badly injured in attack outside Anfield

  26-10-2018 18:44
  Sean Cox, 53, suffered a severe traumatic brain injury when he was assaulted.
  
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• Bristol protesters seek to halt man's removal by immigration officers

  26-10-2018 18:39
  A crowd of about 100 people shouting “cops go home” took part in a seven-hour protest in Bristol as immigration enforcement officers attempted to remove a man who was allegedly in the country illegally.One protester reportedly climbed on top of the immigration van to try to prevent it from leaving.The man was detained and remains in immigration detention pending his removal from the UK.
  
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• Ryanair ‘talking rubbish’ over claim it quickly reported racist rant to police

  26-10-2018 18:38
  Despite admitting cabin crew were shown the video after landing, Ryanair claimed it ‘immediately’ shared the footage with police two days later.
  
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• Halt to fracking after largest tremor since operations began

  26-10-2018 18:24
  Cuadrilla has been forced to stop work after tremors were detected in the region of the company’s Lancashire site.
  
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• Khashoggi Murder: Turkish Prosecutors Demand Extradition Of Saudi Arabian Suspects

  26-10-2018 18:23
  Turkish prosecutors have requested the extradition from Saudi Arabia of 18
  
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• Girl, 6, died of sepsis after hospital failed to treat her

  26-10-2018 18:17
  Coco Bradford died at the Royal Cornwall Hospital near Truro.A six-year-old girl taken to hospital with stomach problems died after medical staff missed several chances to save her life, a highly critical independent report has concluded.The Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust accepted there were a series of failures in the care of Coco Rose Bradford, who died of sepsis.
  
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• 'Human Spider' Alain Robert banned from climbing any UK building

  26-10-2018 18:15
  "Human Spider" Alain Robert has been banned from climbing any building in the UK after illegally scaling one of London's tallest towers with no safety gear.Robert, who has previously scaled buildings including the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, and the Empire State Building in New York, pleaded guilty to causing a public nuisance during a hearing at City of London Magistrates' Court.Before the stunt, Robert told Sky News his targets when climbing a building are "going to the top" and "to stay alive".
  
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• Former children’s home resident thought house mother ‘was going to kill her’

  26-10-2018 18:14
  The witness, who stayed at Quarrier’s Village in Renfrewshire, also recalled a time she and other youngsters there were made to stand on a young girl.
  
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• Davidson and partner ‘delighted’ at birth of baby boy

  26-10-2018 18:13
  Finn Paul Davidson was born on Friday morning weighing 10lb 1.5oz.
  
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• Idris Elba in Glasgow for film shoot

  26-10-2018 18:12
  The actor is part of the latest Fast and Furious franchise movie being shot in the city.
  
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• 'Steady-as-she-goes' budget planned ahead of Brexit

  26-10-2018 18:09
  The chancellor has ruled out major tax rises in next week's budget, thanks to a last-minute influx of tax revenues which have bolstered his balance sheet.According to Whitehall sources, the budget deficit is due to be significantly smaller than expected this year thanks to higher income tax and VAT revenues in recent months.The upshot is that Philip Hammond will be able to promise to end austerity and still reach his target of eliminating the deficit by the middle of the next decade - without an
  
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• BA cross case worker Nadia Eweida in new action against airline

  26-10-2018 18:05
  The customer service worker claims she has been subjected to victimisation and harassment since winning her high-profile case in 2013.
  
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• Lord Hain under fire for naming Sir Philip Green amid #MeToo allegations

  26-10-2018 17:59
  The Labour peer used parliamentary privilege
  
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• FTSE 100 at 2016 levels amid world tech slump

  26-10-2018 17:56
  World stock markets have been falling sharply again, with the FTSE 100 returning to levels not seen for almost 22 months during Friday trading.While a slew of strong corporate earnings from the likes of Tesla and Microsoft which helped drive a recovery in values on Thursday, Asia markets tipped south on the final day of the week.It is also exposed to the US trade war with China, which chimes too with worries about the damage tariffs will inflict on the world economy at a time when US interest ra
  
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• Pumpkin house attracts visitors to Thursford family farm

  26-10-2018 17:55
  The attraction has drawn a steady stream of visitors to Henry and Victoria Cushing’s pop-up shop selling pumpkins ahead of Halloween.
  
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• Frank Field suggests Norway-style Brexit transition deal

  26-10-2018 17:46
  Frank Field says Labour could coalesce around a Norway-style Brexit transition deal.Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Reuters
  
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• McVey admits change is needed to Universal Credit

  26-10-2018 17:44
  The Work and Pensions Secretary denied presiding over a culture of ‘indifference’ towards low income families.
  
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• Drains searched after potential murder of missing mother

  26-10-2018 17:41
  Kent Police are treating Sarah Wellgreen’s disappearance on October 9 as suspicious.
  
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