General news

• El Salvador will seek third trial of woman accused of 'murdering' stillborn

  06-09-2019 23:41
  Evelyn Hernández was exonerated in a retrial after an earlier judgment found her guilty of homicide Prosecutors in El Salvador have announced that they will appeal against last month’s acquittal of a young woman accused of killing her stillborn son, marking what would be her third trial in the socially conservative Central American country.Evelyn Hernández was exonerated in an August retrial after an earlier judgment found her guilty of homicide and sentenced her to 30 years
  
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• Why we haven't cured the common cold - BBC News

  06-09-2019 23:39 via bbc.com
  Why we haven't cured the common cold  BBC NewsScientists have been studying cold viruses for 70 years - so why don't we have a cure? Science writer Stephen Buranyi takes a look in this BBC Ideas video.
  
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• Military Wives review – Kristin Scott Thomas helps feelgood Britcom sing

  06-09-2019 23:30
  The true story of the women who gained unlikely fame in 2011 has been turned into a pleasant, if patchy, film from the director of The Full MontyThere’s a slick, comforting charm underpinning scrappy comedy drama Military Wives, a film that squeezes a well-known true story into the crowd-pleasing packaging of a feelgood Britcom. It’s no real surprise when one takes a glance at the credits since director Peter Cattaneo’s 1997 hit The Full Monty virtually provided the blueprint,
  
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• Waves review – stylish family tragedy soars before washing away

  06-09-2019 23:22
  A beautifully made drama goes to thrilling heights, thanks largely to an incredible performance from Kelvin Harrison Jr, but then struggles on the way downThere are two movies playing out within Waves, the third offering from the rising indie wunderkind Trey Edward Shults, perhaps not surprising to anyone familiar with his previous two efforts. In Krisha, an uneasy Thanksgiving reunion oscillated between exploring a tense family drama and the unravelling psyche of an unstable older woman. In It
  
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• Georgieva closes in on top IMF job as no challengers seen - sources

  06-09-2019 23:15
  Bulgarian economist Kristalina Georgieva was expected to be the only candidate considered to lead the International Monetary Fund as a nomination deadline drew to a close on Friday, two people familiar with the process said.The World Bank chief executive's only known potential challenger to be the next IMF managing director, former British finance minister George Osborne, has opted not to run, the sources said.British Prime Minister Boris Johnson initially sought backing for Osborne to lead the
  
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• Veterans minister: Mental health challenge has ripped apart my circle of friends

  06-09-2019 23:00
  Former Army captain Johnny Mercer MP has been tasked with setting up the Office for Veterans' Affairs, which includes improving mental health care.
  
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• Tories to lose all Scottish seats to SNP in general election, poll predicts

  06-09-2019 23:00
  The YouGov poll for the People's Vote campaign indicates the 13 Conservative MPs would be replaced by the SNP.
  
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• Cricket star Flower hopeful for Zimbabwe’s future after Robert Mugabe’s death

  06-09-2019 23:00
  Former Zimbabwe captain Andy Flower wore a black armband during a 2003 World Cup match in Harare in protest at Mugabe's regime.
  
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• England fail to impress in World Cup warm-up victory over Italy

  06-09-2019 22:58
  • England 37-0 Italy
  • Four second-half tries secure win after dismal openingWhatever happened to the likely lads of Twickenham? Make all the polite noises you like about World Cup dress rehearsals or shadow boxing but, until the final quarter, this was far from the resounding northern powerhouse display Eddie Jones would have preferred ahead of his squad’s departure on Sunday. If this is how his players respond to unfamiliar surroundings in Japan, they will fall well short of th
  
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• Arlene Foster rules herself out as candidate in snap general election

  06-09-2019 22:51
  The DUP leader says her focus will be on working to see devolution restored and a Brexit deal.
  
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• Silent demonstration at Stormont over planned liberalisation of abortion laws

  06-09-2019 22:44
  NI Voiceless says there is no support in Northern Ireland for the plan to allow access to abortion in the region.
  
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• Marcus Rashford says football ‘going backwards’ in fight against racism

  06-09-2019 22:36
  • Striker is one of many players racially abused this season
  • ‘To see it spike in last couple of months has been unbelievable’Marcus Rashford believes football is “going backwards” in the fight against racism and social media companies have not done enough to combat abuse on their platforms.The Manchester United forward is one of many players to have been racially abused this season, after missing a penalty against Crystal Palace, and his former teammate Romelu
  
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• Boris Johnson nothing like Churchill, says wartime PM’s sacked grandson

  06-09-2019 22:24
  Sir Nicholas Soames MP, Winston Churchill's grandson, had the Tory whip withdrawn after rebelling against his Government.
  
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• WSL preview: Arsenal renew title rivalries as bar raised for new season | Louise Taylor

  06-09-2019 22:00
  Chelsea and Man City are jostling to unseat Arsenal, with Man Utd and Spurs keen to shake up the established orderThe answers to a quartet of questions promise to become defining themes of the Women’s Super League season.Will Joe Montemurro’s fast evolving version of total football help Arsenal retain their title? Can Ellen White’s goals compensate for the steady exodus of some of Manchester City’s brightest stars? Is is too early for Casey Stoney’s promoted Manches
  
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• ‘It takes a lot of courage’: Rebekah Robertson on raising transgender activist Georgie Stone

  06-09-2019 22:00
  Robertson and Stone’s advocacy led to the successful 2013 challenge to the family court’s jurisdiction on making early medical decisions for transgender youth“I have learned that there is no greater pain than the pain of resisting change.”These have been words to live by for Rebekah Robertson, actor and human rights advocate who this week became a published author with her book About a Girl, a reflection on her experiences raising her transgender child, Georgie Stone. Con
  
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• From persecution to legalisation: what is the ethical way to end the war on drugs?

  06-09-2019 22:00
  Antony Loewenstein visited six countries to find out who really profits from the illegal drug trade and the campaigns against itIn August 2018 there was a flurry of headlines about the hypocrisy of middle-class cocaine users, dubbed “the woke who do coke”. Hot takes were prompted by the comments of UK Metropolitan police commissioner Cressida Dick, who criticised those who advocate eating and wearing ethically sourced products but do not apply the same reasoning to the drugs they tak
  
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• Democracy overboard: Rupert Murdoch's long war on Australian politics | Kevin Rudd

  06-09-2019 22:00
  Australia has become a dangerously complacent country, dancing to the reactionary tune of the Murdoch pressAustralia has become the complacent country. Complacent about its future economic competitiveness. Complacent about climate change. Complacent about how to navigate our future in the region given China’s rise, America’s response and a neighbourhood increasingly torn between the two. Complacent too about the gradual erosion of our democracy itself through a growing “pay for
  
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• ‘Dead things everywhere’: is Australia facing the summer from hell?

  06-09-2019 22:00
  The outlook is grim, with low water storage levels and extreme temperatures forecastOut in the Macquarie Marshes, about 1ookm north of Warren in the central west of New South Wales, large inland wetlands have become a place for the dead and dying.“We went out last night and there was a little patch of water with dead and dying European carp,” Richard Kingsford, the director of the Centre for Ecosystem Science at the University of NSW, says. “There’s dead and dying things
  
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• Democrats condemn reported Trump plan to bar most refugees from US

  06-09-2019 21:59
  Administration officials reportedly aim to slash admissionsBeto O’Rourke: ‘We need more refugees, not fewer’Leading Democrats have condemned reported moves by the Trump administration to effectively bar refugees arriving from most parts of the world.As reported by the New York Times, the administration plans to cut back on a decades-old programme that each year admits tens of thousands fleeing war, persecution and famine. Continue reading...
  
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• Rory Burns adds fluency to graft and looks part as England Test opener | Barney Ronay

  06-09-2019 21:57
  Batsman looked comfortable in his own skin and faced Australia’s bowlers confidently despite barrage of bouncersAdapt and survive. At times in this Ashes series Rory Burns has looked twisted and crabby facing up to Australia’s pace attack, a man constantly fighting the limits of his own gnarled style.Not so here. On a rain-delayed third day of the fourth Test, with England’s hopes at a point of crisis, something seemed to clear. Continue reading...
  
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• Ireland says PM's agri-food idea 'not enough to replace backstop'

  06-09-2019 21:33
  Simon Coveney dampens hopes that Boris Johnson’s border proposal is a game-changerBoris Johnson’s proposal to solve the Irish border question with a single regulatory regime north and south of the border for food and agriculture will never be enough to replace the backstop, Ireland has said.The country’s deputy prime minister, Simon Coveney, said Ireland will give a “generous” response to the proposal but dampened hopes that it amounted to a major breakthrough after
  
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• Ireland says PM's agri-food idea 'not enough to replace backstop'

  06-09-2019 21:33
  ‘I wouldn’t like to pretend that if we can solve the agri-food issue, then technology can solve the rest,’ said Simon Coveney, Ireland’s deputy prime minister. Photograph: Benoît Tessier/ReutersBoris Johnson’s proposal to solve the Irish border question with a single regulatory regime north and south of the border for food and agriculture will never be enough to replace the backstop, Ireland has said.The country’s deputy prime minister, Simon Coveney, sa
  
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• Nicola Jennings on Boris Johnson's Brexit deadline – cartoon

  06-09-2019 21:02
  Continue reading...
  
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• Anahera review – deft satire of class, race and family values

  06-09-2019 21:00
  Finborough, London
  After a boy runs away, a Maori social worker is sent to investigate the parents in Emma Kinane’s engaging if overlong New Zealand dramaA young Maori social worker is sent to a family whose 11-year-old son has run away. Trying to determine what has gone wrong, she asks the mother, Liz, to describe her parenting style. “Tactical warfare,” is the jokey reply, which turns out to have a dark truth to it.Anahera (Acushla-Tara Kupe), the social worker, is the dramat
  
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• Boris Johnson short of options as rebels vow to secure Brexit delay

  06-09-2019 20:50
  Boris Johnson talked up his ‘powers of persuasion’ on a visit to a farm in Aberdeenshire. Photograph: ReutersBoris Johnson’s shrinking options have narrowed further after opposition leaders agreed to reject his demand for a snap general election, until a Brexit delay has been secured.Senior members of the “rebel alliance” who have pledged to block a no-deal Brexit, including Jeremy Corbyn and Jo Swinson, agreed to withhold their support when the government holds a s
  
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• Boris Johnson penned note calling David Cameron ‘girly swot’, leaked paper shows

  06-09-2019 20:35
  The document was released this week during a legal challenge of the Prime Minister’s decision to suspend Parliament.
  
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• Footage reveals Savoy Hotel doorman's 'assault' on homeless man

  06-09-2019 20:33
  Met police reopen investigation into apparent assault at central London hotelThe Met has reopened an investigation into an apparent assault on a rough sleeper by a Savoy Hotel security guard in December last year, after footage emerged of the doorman beating a man and jumping on his head.The exclusive five-star hotel in central London has apologised after video of the attack was released on Friday, showing a guard in a black suit throwing a man to the floor and launching a brutal attack after he
  
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• Footage reveals Savoy Hotel doorman's 'assault' on homeless man

  06-09-2019 20:33
  Met police reopen investigation into apparent assault at central London hotel. The Met has reopened an investigation into an apparent assault on a rough sleeper by a Savoy hotel security guard in December last year after footage emerged of the doorman beating a man and jumping on his head. The exclusive five star hotel in central London has apologised after video of the attack was released on Friday, showing a guard in a black suit throwing a man to the floor and launching a brutal attack after
  
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• Terminally ill man dies at Dignitas, as wife vows to fight on for law change

  06-09-2019 20:32
  Richard Selley died peacefully with his partner and brother at his side.
  
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• Indian woman, 73 gives birth to twin girls

  06-09-2019 20:23
  Mangayamma Yaramati and babies in good health, say doctors in Andhra PradeshA 73-year-old woman in southern India who has given birth to healthy twin girls described motherhood as “the happiest time of my life”.The babies were delivered through caesarean section on Thursday. Uma Shankar, the woman’s doctor, told the Guardian the mother and her children were in good health. Continue reading...
  
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• Dead Sea scrolls study raises new questions over texts' origins

  06-09-2019 20:00
  Salts used on Temple scroll are not common to Dead Sea region, researchers findThe Dead Sea scrolls have given up fresh secrets, with researchers saying they have identified a previously unknown technique used to prepare one of the most remarkable scrolls of the collection.Scientists say the study poses a puzzle, as the salts used on the writing layer of the Temple scroll are not common to the Dead Sea region. Continue reading...
  
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• Robert Mugabe, former Zimbabwe president, dies aged 95

  06-09-2019 19:52
  Final years in power were characterised by financial collapse, violent intimidation and vicious power struggleHow Mugabe became Africa’s fallen angelIn pictures: from liberation fighter to deposed leaderRobert Mugabe, the deeply divisive former president of Zimbabwe, was declared a “national hero” by the ruling Zanu-PF party on Friday, as preparations for his funeral got under way in the nation he ruled with an iron first for almost 40 years.The death of the former president on
  
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• Johnson is no Winston Churchill, says wartime leader's sacked grandson

  06-09-2019 19:37
  Prime Minister Boris Johnson is nothing like Winston Churchill but someone who tells lies about the European Union, according to the grandson of Britain's wartime leader who was sacked from the Conservative Party this week.Nicholas Soames, 71, the son of Mary Soames, the youngest of Churchill's five children, was expelled from Johnson's party after defying party orders over Brexit."Boris Johnson is nothing like Winston Churchill.
  
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• The Guardian view on Margaret Atwood and the Booker: a testament to fiction | Editorial

  06-09-2019 19:25
  The prize has come in for justified criticism, its rules are imperfect. But this year’s authors are an exciting prospectIt is easy to deride awards, especially if you haven’t won one. And good fun too. Edward St Aubyn, snubbed by Booker judges in 2006 for the finale to his Patrick Melrose series, At Last, took revenge with the 2014 satire Lost for Words. That novel depicted clownish judges deciding which book, from a terrible shortlist, should win a thinly veiled version of the Booke
  
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• Police officer jailed for downloading porn on grieving father’s account

  06-09-2019 19:22
  Pc Avi Maharaj used the cable TV account of a teenager's father as he guarded their house and waited for an undertaker to arrive.
  
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• There will be no infrastructure at border after Brexit – Arlene Foster

  06-09-2019 19:21
  The DUP leader was speaking after Irish premier Leo Varadkar warned some checks 'may need to take place near the border' if there is a no-deal Brexit.
  
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• Chester Williams, South Africa’s 1995 Rugby World Cup hero, dies aged 49

  06-09-2019 19:16
  • Former wing suffered reported heart attack
  • Williams was part of Springbok team which beat New Zealand in finalThe World Cup-winning South Africa wing Chester Williams has died from a heart attack at the age of 49, South Africa Rugby has announced. Williams was the only black player in the Springboks squad when they claimed the world title in 1995. He scored four tries against Western Samoa in the quarter-finals before tasting glory in the final win over New Zealand.The Paarl-born p
  
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• US health officials urge people to stop vaping as third death reported

  06-09-2019 19:12
  Officials are investigating more than 450 possible cases of a severe breathing illness among otherwise ‘healthy young people’US health officials warned people not to vape until they determine the cause of a severe respiratory illness, which has killed at least three people and hospitalized many more.Officials are investigating more than 450 possible cases of a severe breathing illness among otherwise “healthy young people”, they said on Friday. Possible cases have been id
  
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• Johnson described former PM Cameron as 'girly swot' in memo - Sky

  06-09-2019 19:06
  British prime minister Boris Johnson described one of his predecessors David Cameron as a "girly swot" in a memo which was disclosed to courts this week, Sky News reported on Friday.A redacted version of the memo written by Johnson was presented to London's High Court this week as part of a case that unsuccessfully argued that he had acted illegally by planning to suspend parliament for five weeks later this month."The whole September session is a rigmarole introduced by [redacted words] to show
  
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• Chuka Umunna to leave Streatham for Lib Dem election fight

  06-09-2019 18:59
  Former Change UK and Labour MP Chuka Umunna at a press conference in Westminster, London, to announce he is joining the Liberal Democrats. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PAChuka Umunna is to vacate his existing south London seat to fight the Cities of London and Westminster constituency for the Liberal Democrats, as the party risks angering local activists by shuffling candidates to accommodate high-profile arrivals.The announcement of Umunna’s move from Streatham comes as party sources said
  
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• Canada manhunt: suspect's father 'emotional' after viewing final video

  06-09-2019 18:56
  Bryer Schmegelsky accused of three murders, with Kam McLeodPolice allow father to watch 30-second cellphone videoThe father of a murder suspect who led Canadian police on a nationwide manhunt, was “emotional” after he was allowed to view a video of his son’s final words following weeks of negotiations with federal police.The Royal Canadian Mounted Police had originally refused to allow Alan Schmegelsky to view the 30-second cellphone video, which his son Bryer had recorded befo
  
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• Pupils protest at Lewes school over gender-neutral uniforms

  06-09-2019 18:53
  East Sussex demonstration follows new policy asking all children to wear trousersAround 100 pupils and parents staged a protest outside a school in East Sussex against its introduction of gender-neutral uniforms.Police attended the demonstration outside Priory school in Lewes against a new policy instructing all pupils to wear trousers. Continue reading...
  
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• Cold war experiments and storybook monsters - back to Venice's VR island

  06-09-2019 18:53
  Now in its third year, the virtual reality section of Venice is making serious forays into documentary territory.The 76th Venice film festival has included sci-fi thrills and comic-book action, backstage melodrama and medieval court intrigue. During the event’s most escapist moments, anyone longing for a dose of reality would have had more luck finding it in the virtual world.Venice VR is a pioneering festival sidebar dedicated to showcasing the best examples of an emergent art form, with
  
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• 100 protest in Lewes against school policy of gender-neutral uniforms

  06-09-2019 18:53
  Students Nina Cullen, left, and Libby Murray outside Priory school in Lewes, East Sussex.Photograph: Cressida Murray/PAAround 100 pupils and parents staged a protest outside a school in East Sussex against its introduction of gender-neutral uniforms.Police attended the demonstration outside Priory school in Lewes against a new policy instructing all pupils to wear trousers.Protesters holding signs reading “a new uniform for nine months is not sustainable” and “fast fashion is t
  
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• NHS gender identity clinic discloses email contacts of 2,000 patients

  06-09-2019 18:50
  One of the people affected describes incident as a ‘horrendous breach of privacy’Almost 2,000 patients of an NHS gender identity clinic have had their email addresses disclosed in a “horrendous” breach of patient confidentiality.Those involved are patients of the Tavistock and Portman NHS foundation trust in London who are transitioning gender or considering doing so. Continue reading...
  
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• Man jailed for planting spy camera in James Bond studio toilets

  06-09-2019 18:49
  Peter Hartley spied on women during filming of No Time to Die at Pinewood in London A man who planted a spy camera in the female toilets of the studios where the latest James Bond film is being made has been jailed.Peter Hartley, a convicted sex offender, used a miniature camera triggered by motion and vibration and positioned it behind a grill in the WCs at Pinewood Studios, west London, to try to record women on the lavatory on 21 June. Continue reading...
  
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• Is Boris Johnson fit to be prime minister? Here’s the evidence

  06-09-2019 18:38
  ‘The known and obvious flaws in Boris Johnson’s suitability for the post of prime minister ... are now available for all to see,’ writes Les Bright. Photograph: Danny Lawson/PAAfter a leadership campaign where he was kept away from scrutiny by the public, press and parliament and a honeymoon period during which his press office worked overtime distributing an array of unsustainable pledges, the past few days have revealed an undeniable truth (A Brexit extension? I’d rathe
  
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• Sex offender jailed for planting spy camera in James Bond studio toilets

  06-09-2019 18:29
  Peter Hartley used a miniature camera triggered by motion and vibration, at Pinewood Studios.
  
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• Dazed and confused, Johnson stumbles into the twilight zone with a police escort | Marina Hyde

  06-09-2019 18:29
  Was it only five weeks ago that Conservatives believed the prime minister was the only possible answer to their problems?Why do people still call it a Tory “split” on Europe? It’s not a split: it’s an episiotomy. The Tory episiotomy on Europe went septic this week as Boris Johnson expelled 21 MPs, including two former chancellors and his hero Winston Churchill’s grandson; lost his own brother in a tale we’ll call Cain and Far More Able; and gave a speech so ha
  
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• Meghan ‘takes commercial plane to cheer on Serena Williams in US Open’

  06-09-2019 18:15
  Williams is believed to have co-hosted an event with a host of A-listers, including lawyer Amal Clooney.
  
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