General news

• Barnier 'working on legal add-on' to Brexit deal to help May

  01-03-2019 23:46
  During a meeting on Friday, Michel Barnier complained that the UK ‘kept on insisting on the same two things’.Michel Barnier has told EU ambassadors that he is having to repeatedly rebut British demands for a time limit on the Irish backstop but that he is working on a legal add-on to the Brexit deal to help the prime minister.During a meeting on Friday in Brussels, the EU’s chief negotiator expressed frustration with the British demands after the latest round of talks.
  
  Read more

• Paris fashion week: Hedi Slimane raises the roof with timeless chic

  01-03-2019 23:45
  Designer’s autumn/winter show for Celine eschews bare skin for classic lines
  Politics are the new hemlines at fashion week. After triggering a firestorm of feminist anger with the bare-skin-and-teen aesthetic of his first collection for Celine, designer Hedi Slimane followed up with a move of radical unpredictability. His second Celine collection at Paris fashion week, shown on Friday, gave his audience the one thing they didn’t expect – namely, what they’d hoped for.Slim
  
  Read more

• MPs attack staff's under-inflation pay rise

  01-03-2019 23:35
  A quarter of all MPs have complained a below inflation pay increase for their staff is "not fair" and should be higher.The group of 169 from across the political parties urged the body which sets the wages of parliamentary workers to reconsider its decision.IPSA, the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority, announced on Thursday it was hiking MPs' pay by 2.7% - taking it from £77,379 to £79,468 starting on 1 April.
  
  Read more

• Labour anti-Semitism row intensifies as general secretary slams deputy leader

  01-03-2019 23:35
  Jennie Formby has branded Tom Watson's stance on complaints 'absolutely inappropriate'.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Solskjær’s promotional video hints at permanent Manchester United role

  01-03-2019 23:33
  • Manager says it would be ‘strange’ not to be at club next season
  • Antonio Valencia set for exit after 10 years at Old TraffordOle Gunnar Solskjær has revealed he filmed a promotion for next season’s Manchester United season tickets and admitted it would be “strange” not to be made permanent manager having done so.The 46-year-old is in interim charge until the summer and is keen to continue beyond that. He is unbeaten in the Premier League going in
  
  Read more

• Virgil van Dijk says title pursuit will give Liverpool vital edge at Everton

  01-03-2019 23:30
  • Liverpool’s desire can tip balance in Merseyside derby
  • Van Dijk: ‘We definitely want it the most’Virgil van Dijk believes Liverpool will want victory more than Everton in the Merseyside derby owing to the ramifications for the pursuit of the Premier League title.Everton have not beaten Liverpool since October 2010 and a winless sequence of 16 league derbies is the longest barren spell in the club’s history. The manner of Liverpool’s victory in the 96th
  
  Read more

• Mauricio Pochettino and Spurs now looking over their shoulders | David Hytner

  01-03-2019 23:30
  Defeats at Burnley and Chelsea have switched Tottenham’s focus to preserving a top-four place rather than chasing the titleAs every Tottenham fan knows, Mauricio Pochettino is magic and it seems the man himself knows it, too. But there are limits. “If Daniel Levy said to me: ‘Next season we need to win a title, we need to win the Champions League and we need to win the Premier League,’ then maybe you need to find another magic guy who can do this,” the Spurs manager
  
  Read more

• Passenger tells of ‘big bang’ in aborted take-off as Stansted suspends flights

  01-03-2019 23:22
  Thomas Steer was on a Vienna-bound Lauda Air flight which suffered a 'scary' aborted take-off shortly after 8pm on Friday.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Katarina Johnson-Thompson and Laura Muir strike gold on opening night

  01-03-2019 23:07
  • Johnson-Thompson just misses pentathlon world record
  • Muir wins 3,000m to complete first leg of double-doubleOn a bawdy night on the boards Katarina Johnson-Thompson delivered the fourth major title of her career at the European Indoor Championships in Glasgow, shattering two pentathlon championship records on the way to claiming another brilliant gold medal. Yet she was left ruing what might have been as a world record slipped through her fingers again.Laura Muir also had the Emira
  
  Read more

• Bristol beat Gloucester in dramatic finish to boost their survival hopes

  01-03-2019 23:02
  • Bristol 28-24 Gloucester
  • Outstanding long-range effort from Ian Madigan seals winBristol’s first victory over Gloucester in the Premiership for 11 years could hardly have materialised at a more opportune moment. This breathless win, their first league victory of 2019, has put the Bears 13 points clear of bottom-placed Newcastle and also sharply improved their prospects of avoiding relegation.There were several moments when Bristol looked quite capable of throwing away one of
  
  Read more

• Soft Cell: Say Hello, Wave Goodbye review – uh oh, tainted doc

  01-03-2019 23:00
  This film about the unlikely pop stars’ big reunion had no Bros-style drama at all. Where was Marc Almond the flamboyant showman we adored in the 80s? Not everyone has a whole novel in them. Some may only have a short story; not everyone has that much to say. Soft Cell: Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (BBC Four) profiled a group still beloved on the basis of one big hit and a handful of dark synthpop albums – but this disenchantingly muted film made Soft Cell’s brief flash of light see
  
  Read more

• More women in the workplace could boost economy by 35%, says Christine Lagarde

  01-03-2019 23:00
  Exclusive: IMF managing director presses for female empowerment in interview to mark International Women’s DayEmploying more women and tackling sexism in the workplace is the key to making the world economy richer, more equal and less prone to devastating financial collapses, according to the head of the International Monetary Fund.In an interview to mark International Women’s Day next week, Christine Lagarde said some countries could boost the size of their economies by 35% if they
  
  Read more

• Stansted reopens after aborted takeoff closed runway

  01-03-2019 22:43
  Passengers describe ‘huge bang’ followed by evacuation of Vienna-bound flightFlights were temporarily suspended at Stansted airport after an aborted takeoff by a Vienna-bound plane on Friday evening.A spokesman for the Essex airport said the incident had happened shortly after 8pm and that all passengers had been safely evacuated. The runway was reopened around three hours later. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• UK formally requests speedboat killer Jack Shepherd's extradition

  01-03-2019 22:32
  The UK has submitted a formal request asking Georgia to extradite speedboat killer Jack Shepherd.Shepherd, 31, is currently in prison in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.The speedboat they were in overturned in icy water in the Thames in December 2015.
  
  Read more

• Local Labour parties drawn into row over antisemitism claims

  01-03-2019 22:22
  Chris Williamson, the MP for Derby North, was suspended for saying Labour had been ‘too apologetic’ about alleged antisemitism.Labour and several of its constituency parties around the country were embroiled in a series of rows about antisemitism on Friday night in the aftermath of the suspension of MP Chris Williamson.The escalation of tensions saw arguments in one constituency about voting rights of Jewish delegates, at least two others passing motions saying antisemitic concerns w
  
  Read more

• Recording: Trump denies role in Kushner security

  01-03-2019 22:05
  In a NY Times January interview, Donald Trump repeatedly denies he ordered security clearances be given to his son-in-law Jared Kushner. Now the Times reports Trump overruled intelligence officials and ordered Kushner's top-secret clearance. (March 1)
  
  Read more

• UK to follow EU food and agriculture rules for 9 months in 'no deal' Brexit - Telegraph

  01-03-2019 21:48
  (Reuters) - Britain will unilaterally agree to follow all European Union food safety and animal health regulations for at least nine months in the event of a 'no deal' Brexit, to protect British farming, the Telegraph website reported on Friday.
  
  Read more

• Off the rails: Seven mishaps suffered by 'failing' Chris Grayling

  01-03-2019 21:42
  Chris Grayling's handling of a no-deal ferry contract is the latest in a series of mishaps presided over by the transport secretary.The Unison union has even set up a website - "how much has Chris Grayling wasted?" - that calculates he has "wasted" £538,900,000 across his four portfolios.Mr Grayling's first cabinet post was justice secretary, appointed by David Cameron in 2013.
  
  Read more

• Global shares rise on trade optimism, tame inflation

  01-03-2019 21:35
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - World equity markets rose on Friday to end an otherwise slow week on optimism around trade and benign U.S. inflation, while crude oil retreated on news of weaker U.S. factory activity.
  
  Read more

• Easter Island looks for help to save statues from 'leprosy'

  01-03-2019 21:31
  White spots eating away at the sculptures are softening them to a clay-like consistency and deforming their features
  Within a century the emblematic stone figures that guard remote Easter Island could be little more than weathered rectangular blocks, conservation experts are warning – but Britain could be part of the fix.The giant heads, carved centuries ago by the island’s inhabitants, represent the living ancestors of Easter Island’s Polynesian people – the Rapa Nui &nd
  
  Read more

• Chris Grayling 'must be sacked by Monday' over £33m Brexit no-deal contract row payout

  01-03-2019 21:29
  The transport secretary is facing calls to quit after it was revealed £33m in taxpayers' money was paid to Eurotunnel over controversial no-deal Brexit ferry contracts.Chris Grayling is under pressure to resign over the move, which is the latest in a list of mishaps he has overseen.In exchange for the cash, Eurotunnel dropped legal action brought against the "secretive" process used around the shipping deals.
  
  Read more

• Divided we stand: English rugby union faces uncertain future

  01-03-2019 21:20
  The RFU’s Nigel Melville has plenty on his plate with a newly-flush top flight making noises over ring-fencing and the international scene in danger of implodingRugby union is not the only sport struggling to navigate a fast-changing world but this has been an eventful week by anyone’s standards. From proposals which would cut off Pacific Islands rugby at the knees to the world’s leading players questioning the priorities of those in high places, the professional game’s t
  
  Read more

• No need for checkpoints on Irish border – Arlene Foster

  01-03-2019 21:00
  Referring to two Northern Ireland-registered fishing vessels seized by the Irish navy, Mrs Foster said there cannot be a hard border in the Irish Sea.
  
  Read more

• Fernando Ricksen: ‘I like living too much, I’m not ready to go’

  01-03-2019 21:00
  The former Rangers and Netherlands player has motor neurone disease. We spend time with him and his wife and find anger, sadness and humourAt St Andrew’s Hospice in Airdrie, about eight miles outside Glasgow, Fernando Ricksen is beginning to show the first signs of tiredness after answering questions with his eyes for more than an hour. As an emotional and deeply moving interview draws to a close, Ricksen is asked whether there is anything else he would like to mention in this article. Aft
  
  Read more

• UK leaving EU without a deal unlikely, says Irish PM

  01-03-2019 20:39
  Leo Varadkar was speaking in Belfast after meeting Northern Ireland's business leaders.
  
  Read more

• Novichok victim appeals for justice as Salisbury declared ‘safe’ after poisoning

  01-03-2019 20:32
  The site has been declared decontaminated after an almost year-long military clean-up operation.
  
  Read more

• Inside Jack Shepherd's Georgia prison cell

  01-03-2019 20:27
  A request has been submitted to extradite the Briton, convicted of the manslaughter of Charlotte Brown.
  
  Read more

• Anti-vaccine 'fake news' causing decline in take-up and rise in measles, NHS chief says

  01-03-2019 20:25
  "Irresponsible" anti-vaccination messages circulated on social media platforms may be contributing to an increase in measles cases and a decline in vaccination take-up, the head of NHS England has warned.Simon Stevens said "fake news" messages about vaccination shared on Instagram, YouTube and WhatsApp appeared to be gaining traction, undermining irrefutable evidence that vaccination programmes save lives.
  
  Read more

• Geneva motor show 2019 – what is it, when is it and how do I attend?

  01-03-2019 20:10
  The Geneva motor show is one of the biggest in the European automotive calendar and the first major event of the year. Held every year in March, it gives manufacturers an opportunity to reveal their latest creations to the world, and it gives us a chance to glimpse all of the exciting new cars before driving them later in the year.
  
  Read more

• 'I've done an M': Teenager who boasted about murder on social media given life sentence

  01-03-2019 20:01
  A video of Leary Dalton-Byrne, 18, boasting about the murder of 45-year-old Dean Ward in Finchley Park, Birmingham, was circulated on social media and led to his arrest.The killer stabbed Mr Ward to death with a large kitchen knife in a "brutal and sustained attack" in June last year.Mr Ward was taken to hospital by ambulance but died from complications caused by his injuries a week later.
  
  Read more

• Martin Rowson on Chris Grayling and the Brexit ferry fiasco – cartoon

  01-03-2019 19:45
  Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Grayling under pressure to quit over Brexit ferry fiasco

  01-03-2019 19:33
  Chris Grayling had awarded a contract for a no-deal Brexit ferry service to a company with no ships.The beleaguered transport secretary, Chris Grayling, is under mounting pressure to resign after reaching a humiliating £33m out-of-court settlement over a botched Brexit ferry deal.The deputy Labour leader, Tom Watson, said “heads must roll” after the latest chapter in the fiasco, in which the startup company Seaborne Freight was awarded a £14m contract to open a new UK-EU
  
  Read more

• The Guardian view on delaying Brexit: time to take part in the EU elections | Editorial

  01-03-2019 19:30
  Theresa May envisages only a short delay. But any extension of article 50 raises big issues that would take months to sort outFor two long years, Theresa May always insisted that Britain will leave the European Union on 29 March. So determined has she been to deliver Brexit by this self-imposed deadline that she has even had the date written into law. This week, she made an uncharacteristic bow to political reality and accepted that it may not happen after all. This was a pivotal concession and
  
  Read more

• Private firm defends school factsheet on Momo hoax

  01-03-2019 19:21
  Charities say parental guidance about scary-doll challenges may have worsened issue
  A private company that provides schools with internet safety material has insisted it behaved responsibility by issuing factsheets on the Momo challenge hoax, despite concerns it may have exacerbated the panic surrounding the issue.National Online Safety produced a factsheet entitled “What parents need to know about Momo”, which many UK schools sent home with children. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Joy Morgan murder: appeal for information on accused's car

  01-03-2019 19:20
  Hunt for missing student focuses on red Honda belonging to Shohfah-El IsraelPolice searching for a missing university student are trying to trace information on a car belonging to the man accused of her murder.Shohfah-El Israel, 40, of north-west London, is charged with the murder of Joy Morgan, a 21-year-old midwifery student at the University of Hertfordshire. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Surge in demand for schools leaves councils struggling to cope

  01-03-2019 19:14
  Thousands of pupils in England denied place at their preferred secondary school
  Councils across England are struggling to keep pace with rising numbers of applications for secondary school, leaving thousands of pupils without a place at any of their preferred schools.More than 600,000 families across England and Wales were told on Friday which secondary school their children would go to in September – but in many areas there was disappointment, with shrinking proportions receiving their fi
  
  Read more

• Scientists Say Images of Mars Show Craters That Could Have Previously Been Underground Lakes - TIME

  01-03-2019 19:14 via time.com
  Scientists Say Images of Mars Show Craters That Could Have Previously Been Underground Lakes  TIMEAncient planet-wide water system discovered on Mars hints at past alien life  The IndependentScientists see evidence of underground lake system on Mars  DAWN.comUnderground lakes system on Mars uncovered by space probes  Daily SabahMars, a "One-Plate Planet," Was Once Soaked by a Global Groundwater System  InverseView full coverage on Google News
  
  Read more

• We now know the great prize of Brexit: becoming Trump’s prey | Jonathan Freedland

  01-03-2019 19:00
  The US would give us a great trade deal, we were told. This week the president has shown how volatile and untrustworthy he isShall we take a gentle amble down memory lane, a nostalgic trip back to the heady days of the referendum campaign of 2016? So many sweet promises were murmured into our ear, it can be hard to remember them all. No talk then of shelling out £33m to settle a legal case with Eurotunnel or ferry contracts for companies with no ferries, or spending billions to prepare for
  
  Read more

• BBC urged to rethink merger of The World Tonight and Newshour

  01-03-2019 18:51
  Ex-presenters say cost-cutting plan for Radio 4 and World Service shows is misguidedFormer presenters of BBC Radio 4’s The World Tonight programme are urging the corporation to reconsider the “seriously damaging” decision to merge the programme with the World Service’s Newshour in an effort to save money.The changes will result in a single team and presenter producing the two programmes, as the BBC grapples over the future of its radio output amid another round of budget
  
  Read more

• 'The blast blew most of your clothes off': witnesses describe Birmingham bombings

  01-03-2019 18:47
  Survivors tell of painful memories of 1974 bombings which killed 21 people Witnesses have described the moment that bombs exploded at two Birmingham city centre pubs on the evening of 21 November 1974 during the inquest into the IRA attack.A hearing on Friday heard how people were enjoying after-work drinks with friends at the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town when the explosions occurred a few minutes apart, killing 21 people and injuring more than 200. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• 'The blast blew most of your clothes off': witnesses describe Birmingham bombings

  01-03-2019 18:47
  Witnesses have described the moment that bombs exploded at two Birmingham city centre pubs on the evening of 21 November 1974 during the inquest into the IRA attack.A hearing on Friday heard how people were enjoying after-work drinks with friends at the Mulberry Bush and Tavern in the Town when the explosions occurred a few minutes apart, killing 21 people and injuring more than 200.In a police statement from the time of the bombings read to the jury, Mary Jones, the wife of David Jones, the lic
  
  Read more

• Trevor Noah to Trump: 'It’s time to accept that maybe Kim is just not that into you'

  01-03-2019 18:40
  ‘Warmth’, walk-and-talks, and no deal – late-night hosts analyze Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un’s rollercoaster relationshipBarack Obama once told Donald Trump, before he took office, that North Korea’s nuclear program would be his greatest challenge as president. “Well, that and learning to read,” joked Trevor Noah on the Daily Show, as Trump’s summit with the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, collapsed – lunch places still set – with no
  
  Read more

• Jaguar Land Rover to announce major UK investment - BBC

  01-03-2019 18:25
  LONDON (Reuters) - Luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover, part of Tata Motors Ltd, is preparing to announce hundreds of millions of pounds worth of investment in Britain, the BBC reported on Friday.
  
  Read more

• Former workers launch legal action against clinical waste firm over pay

  01-03-2019 18:21
  Hundreds of workers were laid off after Healthcare Environmental Services (HES) ceased trading last year.
  
  Read more

• Painted into a corner … British art responds to the folly of Brexit

  01-03-2019 18:18
  A shrinking map of the UK, xenophobic graffiti, a white flag … here is the depressing, defeated art of a country on the precipice of a historic mistakeSo this is it: March. Month of mad hares and parted ways. Maybe, after all, 29 March will come and go and Britain will still be in the EU by parliamentary vote and, who knows, a delay could produce a second referendum. But as things stand, this is officially the last month of Britain belonging to the community of European nations. And a sad
  
  Read more

• Williamson 'working to clear his name'

  01-03-2019 18:10
  Labour MP Chris Williamson has been suspended over comments he made about the Labour party being "too apologetic" for antisemitism.
  
  Read more

• Chris Grayling is the Berk du Soleil as Farage maps out a road to nowhere | Marina Hyde

  01-03-2019 18:08
  Breathtaking feats of incompetence by Grayling provide a fitting backdrop to the unveiling of the £50-a-head ‘March to Leave’Say what you like about Chris Grayling – and I’m about to – but his face at least has the decency to “get it”. No matter what bullish self-justification is coming out of the transport secretary’s mouth, the face knows the truth. Look at literally any photo of Chris Grayling – honestly, go to Google Images now &nda
  
  Read more

• Michel Barnier complains of lack of progress in Brexit talks

  01-03-2019 18:07
  During a meeting on Friday, Michel Barnier complained there had been ‘no progress’ in recent negotiations.Michel Barnier has warned EU ambassadors about the flailing state of the Brexit negotiations after British negotiators insisted on a time limit or exit mechanism to the Irish backstop in recent talks despite repeated rebuttals.
  
  Read more

• Otto Warmbier parents blame Kim for son's death and reject Trump's 'excuses'

  01-03-2019 18:02
  Parents of American who died after Pyongyang detention say ‘Kim and his evil regime are responsible – no excuses can change that’Follow the latest in US politics The parents of Otto Warmbier, a young American who was detained by North Korea for more than a year and died soon after his release in 2017, have rebuked Donald Trump’s defense of Kim Jong-un for the death of their son. Related: Trump: I took Kim at his word over Otto Warmbier's tortureContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• ‘Anorexia coaches’ on Kik app prey on people with eating disorders

  01-03-2019 18:00
  App hosts dozens of group chats where youngsters are given strict weight-loss adviceThousands of young people with eating disorders are being preyed on by “anorexia coaches” operating on an anonymous messaging app, a Guardian investigation can reveal.Kik, a popular app among children and teenagers that has previously come under fire over safeguarding issues, hosts dozen of pro-anorexia group chats that are open to the public. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

Follow @GeneralnewsUK on Twitter!