General news

• Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey agrees five-year deal with Juventus worth £36m

  09-01-2019 23:57 via theguardian.com
  • Midfielder to leave on free transfer after 10 years at Arsenal
  • Ramsey will be paid around £140,000 a week (£7.2m a season)Aaron Ramsey has agreed a five-year deal with Juventus worth £36m and will join the Italian champions on a free transfer at the end of the season. The midfielder has been discussing a move for weeks and will leave Arsenal after 10 years at the club. Related: West Ham determined to keep Marko Arnautovic after £35m bid from ChinaContinue re
  
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• Jo Cox's name being used to 'intimidate' MPs, says widower

  09-01-2019 23:51
  Brendan Cox called on "all people" not to be "cowed" by what happened to his wife Jo.Writing in the Guardian after Conservative MP Anna Soubry was called a "Nazi" and encircled by protesters as she walked into parliament, Mr Cox said his late wife's name was "being used as a threat by more mainstream voices"."MPs are told by national commentators to remember before voting for or against a deal, or for or against a referendum, to remember what happened to Jo," he said.
  
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• Corbyn to call for election if May loses Brexit vote - Labour

  09-01-2019 23:33
  Britain's main opposition Labour Party will demand a general election if Prime Minister Theresa May loses a vote in parliament over her Brexit plans next week, its leader Jeremy Corbyn will say on Thursday.Members of Parliament (MPs) are due to vote next Tuesday on May's plans and are widely expected to defeat them after she failed to win over the Northern Irish party that props up her minority government."If the government cannot pass its most important legislation, then there must be a general
  
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• Shinzo Abe visit puts spotlight on Japan’s concerns over Brexit

  09-01-2019 23:30
  Theresa May will join the Japanese PM in announcing new collaboration on medical research and robotics.
  
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• Corbyn to again call for general election to break Brexit deadlock

  09-01-2019 23:30
  Jeremy Corbyn will argue that if May cannot get her flagship piece of legislation past MPs then her government will have lost all authority.Jeremy Corbyn is to reiterate his call for the Brexit impasse to be put to the people in a general election, as Labour edged closer to pledging to call a no-confidence vote in Theresa May’s government if her departure plan is voted down in the Commons.At a speech in Wakefield on Thursday, the Labour leader is to argue that if May is unable to get her f
  
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• El Chapo trial: prosecutors reveal text messages sent to wife and mistress

  09-01-2019 23:21 via theguardian.com
  Joaquin Guzmán discussed narrowly escaping a raid and joked about arming his daughter with an assault rifle in the messagesProsecutors in the US trial of Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán have shown jurors text messages they said the accused Mexican drug lord sent to his wife and apparent mistress in which he discussed narrowly escaping from a raid and joked about arming his 18-month-old daughter with an assault rifle.The messages from early 2012 were read by FBI special agent
  
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• Ireland not trying to trap UK and NI with backstop – Coveney

  09-01-2019 23:14
  The foreign affairs minister said the Irish government shares the UK's desire to have a future relationship agreed by 2020.
  
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• Two Brexit defeats in two days as MPs force Theresa May to reveal plan B sooner

  09-01-2019 23:08
  Theresa May suffered a second House of Commons defeat within 24 hours as MPs moved to force the prime minister to reveal her Brexit plan B sooner, if her EU divorce deal is rejected next week.A group of 17 Tory rebels inflicted yet another Brexit loss for Mrs May as they joined a majority in the Commons in demanding she set out an alternative strategy within three days of any defeat on her agreement.The government had also been defeated on Tuesday night as MPs sent a powerful signal they will no
  
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• Repeating fast radio bursts from deep space 'could be aliens'

  09-01-2019 23:08 via theguardian.com
  Mysterious radio waves detected for first time since accidental discovery in 2007Mysterious repeating energy bursts from deep space that some experts have suggested could be evidence of advanced aliens have been detected for only the second time in history.Fast radio bursts (FRBs) are millisecond-long flashes of radio waves whose origin is unknown. Continue reading...
  
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• Mysterious fast radio bursts from deep space ‘could be aliens’

  09-01-2019 23:08 via theguardian.com
  Repeating bursts of radio waves detected for first time since initial accidental discovery in 2007Astronomers have detected mysterious, ultra-brief repeating energy bursts from deep space for only the second time in history, and some experts suggested they could be evidence of advanced alien life.The origin of fast radio bursts (FRBs), millisecond-long pulses of radio waves, is unknown, but most scientists say they are generated by powerful astrophysical phenomena emanating from billions of ligh
  
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• Bercow's controversial move allows Commons to take back control on Brexit

  09-01-2019 23:06
  Once John Bercow had made his controversial decision to allow a vote on a move to force Theresa May to reveal her Brexit Plan B if she loses the big vote next Tuesday, the result was never in doubt.The previous evening, the government had been defeated by 303 votes to 297 on an amendment to the Finance Bill proposed by Labour's Yvetter Cooper aimed at forcing Theresa May to rule out a "no-deal" Brexit.
  
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• Car recovered in Jayden Moodie murder probe after moped stabbing

  09-01-2019 23:03
  Jayden Moodie was killed in Leyton, east London, on Tuesday evening in what police have described as a targeted attack.A black Mercedes B Class has now been recovered in Leyton and is being tested by forensic teams.Officers found Jayden with fatal injuries after being called to a road traffic collision shortly before 6.30pm.
  
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• Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband hits out at Iran arrest video

  09-01-2019 23:01
  Footage of a Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe being arrested in Iran has been released as part of "cruel psychological game", her husband has told Sky News.The footage, which was broadcast on Iranian state TV, shows the British-Iranian pushing a baggage cart along at Imam Khomeini International Airport in Tehran before handing her passport over to an unidentified man in April 2016.Richard Ratcliffe said he believed the footage had been released in response to his wife's threat to go on hunger strike on
  
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• Cleaning Up review: Sheridan Smith’s stock keeps on rising

  09-01-2019 23:00 via theguardian.com
  This frothy tale of a debt-ridden office cleaner who dabbles in insider trading is solid, well-made nonsense. What a rare and precious joy
  After carrying the weight of the world, and Jimmy McGovern’s newest locus of social fury, on her shoulders in the remorselessly brutal, brilliant Care last month, Sheridan Smith rewards us and herself with Cleaning Up (ITV), a six-part series pitched somewhere between a romp and a soap, and pairing very nicely with a large gin and tonic.At first, I assu
  
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• Billy Vunipola at a loss about how to stop rise of brutal rugby’s big beasts

  09-01-2019 23:00 via theguardian.com
  • England and Saracens No 8 says game is tougher than ever
  • ‘Sometimes you just have to run over or through people’Billy Vunipola has warned that rugby union is more brutal than ever but admits he does not know how the sport can fix the problem.The Saracens and England No 8, who has started only three internationals in two years because of injuries to his shoulders, knees and arms, was responding to an RFU report that revealed the severity of injuries in top-level English
  
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• M6 shut between J15 and J16 after police find suspected migrants in lorry

  09-01-2019 22:57
  Immigration officers are questioning a lorry driver after 27 suspected migrants were found in the back of his vehicle on the M6, forcing part of the motorway to be shut in both directions.The northbound carriageway of the motorway remains closed between junctions 15 and 16 hours after the lorry was stopped by Staffordshire Police at around 5.15pm on Wednesday.One witness, Gareth Condliffe, told Sky News that he saw officers searching a number of lorries.
  
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• Second defeat in two days over Brexit for PM

  09-01-2019 22:50
  The second defeat in two days over Brexit for PM leaves the government awaiting defeat next Tuesday after the restart of debate on the withdrawal deal with the European union. Sky's Faisal Islam explains.
  
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• Grieve: 'We are facing a national crisis'

  09-01-2019 22:45
  MPs have backed an amendment from Tory MP Dominic Grieve, reducing the time the PM has to present a plan B if her deal fails.
  
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• Gabriel Jesus hits four in Manchester City’s 9-0 destruction of Burton Albion

  09-01-2019 22:45 via theguardian.com
  Long before the end, it was difficult not to feel a certain amount of sympathy for the players of Burton Albion. They had desperately wanted to cherish the memories of their first semi-final and maybe, in time, they will. Not here, though. Not with Manchester City swatting them aside as if dismissing a bothersome fly. Related: Manchester City 9-0 Burton Albion: Carabao Cup semi-final – as it happenedContinue reading...
  
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• Driver quizzed as suspected migrants found in stopped lorry that caused M6 jam

  09-01-2019 22:45
  A part of the motorway was closed in both directions after police stopped and searched a lorry on the M6.
  
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• Factbox - Britain's Brexit vote: How many lawmakers are backing PM May?

  09-01-2019 22:44
  Britain's parliament is debating whether to support Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit deal, a decision which will define Britain's departure from the European Union and set the course for the country's economy.The odds look stacked against May winning parliamentary approval for her deal, which has come under fire from all sides, including eurosceptics, supporters of the EU and the Northern Irish party propping up her minority Conservative government.Below is a running tally of the number of la
  
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• China’s ambassador accuses Canada of ‘white supremacy’ in Huawei executive arrest

  09-01-2019 22:39 via theguardian.com
  Ambassador Lu Shaye wrote in an op-ed for an Ottawa-based paper that western countries are employing a ‘double standard’China’s ambassador to Canada has accused the country of “white supremacy” in calling for the release of two Canadians detained in China last month.The arrests were in apparent retaliation for the arrest of a top Chinese tech executive in Canada. Continue reading...
  
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• China’s ambassador accuses Canada of ‘white supremacy’ in Huawei CFO arrest

  09-01-2019 22:39 via theguardian.com
  Ambassador Lu Shaye wrote in an op-ed for an Ottawa-based paper that western countries are employing a ‘double standard’China’s ambassador to Canada has accused the country of “white supremacy” in calling for the release of two Canadians detained in China last month.The arrests were in apparent retaliation for the arrest of a top Chinese tech executive in Canada. Continue reading...
  
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• Backlash after ex-Pixar head scores new job despite #MeToo allegations

  09-01-2019 22:39 via theguardian.com
  John Lasseter will head up Skydance Animation in a move that ‘endorses and perpetuates a broken system’ according to a Time’s Up statementEx-Pixar head John Lasseter has scored a top new position in Hollywood, leading to a backlash from within the industry.Lasseter took a leave of absence from Pixar and Disney after admitting “missteps” related to his treatment of female colleagues. The cofounder of Pixar Animation Studios and the animation chief of Walt Disney Comp
  
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• PM entertains backbenchers at Number 10 ahead of key Brexit vote

  09-01-2019 22:27
  Prominent Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg was among those attending the Downing Street bash.
  
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• Riot police deployed in DRC ahead of presidential election results

  09-01-2019 22:13 via theguardian.com
  Security forces at election commission’s offices amid fears of violence over claims of vote-riggingRiot police have been deployed to protect election officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as it braced for the announcement of the results of the presidential vote held 11 days ago.Security forces took up positions outside the offices of the DRC’s election commission and elsewhere in the capital Kinshasa, amid fears that violence would mar the first electoral transfer of po
  
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• Trump walks out on Democrats and calls shutdown talks 'a waste of time'

  09-01-2019 22:12 via theguardian.com
  Chuck Schumer condemns president’s ‘temper-tantrum’800,000 federal US workers continue to go without payDonald Trump abruptly ended a critical meeting with Democratic leaders on Wednesday, calling it a “total waste of time” as the partial shutdown of the US government dragged into its 19th day with no end in sight.The further deterioration of negotiations over the funding lapse affecting nearly 800,000 federal employees came a day after the president used his first
  
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• Spanish far-right party to back rightwing coalition in Andalucía

  09-01-2019 22:09 via theguardian.com
  Vox supports regional government after dropping demands including expulsion of migrantsThe far-right Spanish political party Vox has agreed to support a new, rightwing Andalucían regional government after dropping its demands for the expulsion of 52,000 “illegal immigrants” and the repeal of laws on domestic violence and gender equality.Vox, which secured its first parliamentary seats in December’s Andalucían election, had also called for Spain’s autonomous
  
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• Irish Deputy PM optimistic over Northern Irish devolution, Brexit permitting

  09-01-2019 22:04
  Ireland's deputy prime minister said he was "very optimistic" that Northern Ireland's feuding parties could agree to revive the province's power-sharing government this year, provided a Brexit deal is agreed by the end of March.The British province has been without a devolved executive for two years, since Irish nationalists Sinn Fein withdrew from the compulsory power-sharing government with their arch-rivals the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).The executive is central to a 1998 peace deal that
  
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• Theresa May loses grip on Brexit deal after fresh Commons humiliation

  09-01-2019 22:03 via theguardian.com
  Amendments mean PM would be left with little room to move if her Brexit deal is rejected next weekTheresa May’s room for manoeuvre should her Brexit deal be rejected next week was further constrained on Wednesday night, after the government lost a second dramatic parliamentary showdown in as many days.An increasingly boxed-in prime minister must now set out her plan B within three working days of a defeat next Tuesday, after a rebel amendment passed on Wednesday. Continue reading...
  
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• May loses grip on Brexit deal after fresh Commons humiliation

  09-01-2019 22:03
  Theresa May is in an increasingly boxed-in position as her room to manoeuvre is further constrained.Theresa May’s room for manoeuvre should her Brexit deal be rejected next week was further constrained on Wednesday night, after the government lost a second dramatic parliamentary showdown in as many days.There were furious scenes in the House of Commons, as the Speaker, John Bercow, took the controversial decision to allow a vote on the amendment, tabled by former attorney general Dominic G
  
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• Man held after people flee lorry stopped on the M6

  09-01-2019 21:53
  Burton fans travelling to Manchester City's Etihad Stadium were delayed.
  
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• Fifth man in court after Hogmanay disturbance seriously injures man

  09-01-2019 21:50
  The 21-year-old faced charges including attempted murder.
  
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• Arrest after people leave lorry on M6

  09-01-2019 21:23
  Football fans were among those affected after police closed the motorway.
  
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• Parliament moves towards special inquiry into abuse of MPs

  09-01-2019 21:20
  Parliament is moving towards a special inquiry into the abuse and harassment of MPs after repeated threats and other forms of intimidation in relation to Brexit and other issues.The proposal for a Speaker’s conference was made by Harriet Harman and Ken Clarke, the longest continuously serving female MP and male MP in parliament.Harman, a Labour MP since 1982, said the idea was first considered more than a year ago, but had been lent fresh impetus by the barracking and abuse of MPs such as
  
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• Growing backbench Brexit rebellion has been months in the making

  09-01-2019 21:12
  Yvette Cooper’s amendment to restrict spending on a no-deal Brexit won the support of 20 Conservative MPs on Tuesday.Yvette Cooper and Dominic Grieve may have defeated the increasingly beleaguered Theresa May with their respective Brexit amendments over the last 24 hours – but each victory has been the product of months of backbench conversations.At the heart of it all is a group of Labour backbenchers – and a growing number of Conservatives – who have been campaigning fo
  
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• Prince William flies helicopter for London Air Ambulance campaign

  09-01-2019 21:08
  Britain's Prince William, a former pilot, flew one of London Air Ambulance's helicopters to mark his appointment as patron of the service's 30th anniversary campaign.William, also known as the Duke of Cambridge, previously worked as a pilot with the East Anglia Air Ambulance in eastern England, a role he gave up in 2017 to focus on his royal duties.On Wednesday, London Air Ambulance sent one of its helicopters to pick up William from his Kensington Palace residence.
  
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• M6 Closed Due To 'Major Incident' Near Stoke-on-Trent After Lorry Carrying People Was Pulled Over

  09-01-2019 21:08
  The M6 was closed in both directions on Wednesday night and a man has been
  
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• M6 Closed After Lorry Carrying 27 Suspected Migrants Pulled Over

  09-01-2019 21:08
  Twenty-seven suspected migrants have been detained after a lorry was stopped
  
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• May's authority has been further dented, but worse surely lies ahead

  09-01-2019 20:59
  MPs arrive at No 10 for a drinks party hosted by Theresa May, part of her last-ditch Brexit deal charm offensive.Chit-chat with Tory backbenchers was probably the last thing Theresa May was in the mood for Wednesday night after MPs voted to serve Downing Street with a three-day deadline for setting out a Brexit plan B.In one sense, the angry clashes at Westminster on Wednesday, and the second defeat for the government in two days, changed little.
  
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• John Bercow: Speaker unafraid to hold the government's feet to the fire

  09-01-2019 20:53
  For a man whose position is strictly non-partisan, the Commons Speaker, John Bercow, has provoked more fear, anger and adoration than any other in the role in recent history.Tory backbenchers were visibly enraged during the points of order after Bercow permitted the controversial amendment.
  
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• New prisons won't have bars on cell windows after report finds they are 'institutional'

  09-01-2019 20:52
  Bars on prison windows will be phased out in England and Wales under Ministry of Justice (MoJ) plans.The move follows a government-funded study which reportedly warned the bars were "punitive" and "institutional".New jails will instead feature windows with "toughened glass" which are more effective in stopping prisoners getting hold of illegal drugs and mobile phones, the MoJ said.
  
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• What Theresa May's Latest Defeat Means For Brexit And Under-Fire Speaker John Bercow

  09-01-2019 20:39
  Theresa May has been defeated on Brexit by rebel Tory MPs joining forces with
  
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• Police search lorries as M6 shuts between J15 and J16 due to 'ongoing incident'

  09-01-2019 20:39
  The northbound carriageway of the M1 remains closed between junctions 15 and 16 after a number of suspected migrants emerged from the back of a lorry that was stopped by police.Staffordshire Police said it was called to reports about "concern for people travelling on the motorway" near Keele and stopped a vehicle, with a number of people exiting from the back.One man is in custody after being arrested at the scene and traffic remains at a standstill on the northbound carriageway, although southb
  
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• FA reach settlement with former England women’s manager Mark Sampson

  09-01-2019 20:37 via theguardian.com
  • Former manager was sacked by the FA in September 2017
  • Sampson brought a case of unfair dismissal against FAMark Sampson, the former manager of England Women, has reached a settlement with the Football Association.Sampson was sacked by the FA in September 2017 following allegations of “inappropriate and unacceptable behaviour” in his previous role as manager at Bristol Academy. Continue reading...
  
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• Report sparks concerns over poor air quality on London Underground

  09-01-2019 20:36
  The Northern Line had the highest concentration of PM2.5, tiny particulates linked to health problems.Fresh concerns over air quality on the London Underground have been raised after researchers found that the concentration of particulate pollution in tube stations was up to 30 times higher than beside busy roads in the capital.Air pollution experts have called for more analysis of the possible harmful effects of the underground’s particulates.
  
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• Harman calls for Westminster conference to tackle abuse of MPs

  09-01-2019 20:36
  The call for protection comes following the mobbing of Tory Anna Soubry.
  
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• Repatriation fees for forced marriage victims abolished

  09-01-2019 20:31 via theguardian.com
  Campaigners had long said victims should not have to pay Foreign Office for their freedomThe Foreign Office has bowed to public outrage and dropped its requirement for victims of forced marriage to pay sometimes crippling fees to cover the cost of their repatriation.The foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, made the pledge to the chair of the foreign affairs select committee, Tom Tugendhat, after charities complained the fees were causing victims to take out big loans. Tugendhat had raised the issue d
  
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• Starlings ‘like fireworks’ as they produce aerial displays across Ireland

  09-01-2019 20:30
  The murmurations have attracted onlookers as the flocks perform manoeuvres before sunset.
  
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• Japan's Abe, Dutch PM Rutte working to avoid no-deal Brexit

  09-01-2019 20:29
  Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Wednesday he and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte discussed what they can do to help avoid a no-deal Brexit.Speaking in the Netherlands a day before meetings with British Prime Minster Theresa May, Abe said he and Rutte agreed "we will both work to avoid a no-deal Brexit"."We want to see the influence of Brexit to the global economy minimized," he told reporters.
  
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