General news

• Samira Ahmed Questions Why She Was Paid Less Than Jeremy Vine Ahead Of BBC Tribunal

  27-10-2019 23:43
  The BBC's Samira Ahmed has claimed she faces a "600% pay gap" compared toJeremy Vine as she takes the broadcaster to court over claims of unequal pay
  
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• Almost half of Britons think PM lying about protecting NHS from Trump – survey

  27-10-2019 23:41
  Only 18% of people believed the Tories would keep the NHS publicly-run, according to a Survation poll.
  
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• Molly Russell: Did her death change social media?

  27-10-2019 23:14 via bbc.co.uk
  Ian Russell meets other parents bereaved by suicide; he wants tech firms to protect children more.
  
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• Labour accuses SNP of ‘political grandstanding’ over election push

  27-10-2019 23:11
  The Scottish First Minister said it was not clear there was a majority in the House of Commons for a second Brexit referendum.
  
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• Jonathan Glazer: 'Nazism took hold like a fever. It's happening again'

  27-10-2019 23:05
  How do you follow up a masterpiece like Under the Skin? By giving BBC Two viewers five minutes of unexpected hell. The visionary director on how a Trump hunting trip inspired his mystery shortThe Americas with Simon Reeve is an amiable travelogue in which a dishy documentarian gads about the US. This Sunday night he was in California, examining giant redwoods and Beyoncé’s mansion. At 10pm, the credits rolled and, abruptly, BBC Two plunged us into hell.For five minutes before the st
  
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• Strictly viewers fuming over ‘ridiculous’ decision

  27-10-2019 22:56
  Catherine Tyldesley lost to Mike Bushell in the dance-off.
  
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• The Dozen: Tevez returns and Xhaka gets booed – the best Premier League pics

  27-10-2019 22:49
  Our picture editors choose their favourite images from the weekend’s Premier League action Continue reading...
  
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• England fan on crutches heading to Japan after booking flights ‘five pints down’

  27-10-2019 22:40
  Rob Lewis, who is recovering from a knee operation, is yet to find a ticket for the Rugby World Cup final against South Africa.
  
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• New Lines: Veterans struggle for help

  27-10-2019 21:39
  Five years after combat ops ceased for UK troops in Afghanistan, Sky News has done research into the money military charities receive - which is huge relative to equivalent civilian charities.
  
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• Queen’s dressmaker shares personal anecdotes in new book

  27-10-2019 21:28
  Ms Kelly explains she shares the same shoe size as the Queen.
  
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• The 'outcast' workers rising at dawn to clean universities

  27-10-2019 20:41
  ‘We don’t feel like we belong to anywhere’ : unions warn of exploitation in outsourcing. Victoria wakes up before dawn each day to travel into central London to clean the halls of Senate House, the centre of a network of the capital’s most prestigious universities. However, she is not employed directly by the University of London (UoL) and has worse terms and conditions than directly employed staff. “I start work at 6am each day,” the Colombian grandmother say
  
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• Matt Lucas And David Walliams Have Revived Little Britain For A Brexit-Themed Special

  27-10-2019 20:36
  Matt Lucas and David Walliams are reuniting for a special episode of LittleBritain called Little Brexit
  
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• No 10 sources say UK could be edging closer to a December election

  27-10-2019 20:35
  PM may adopt Lib Dem-SNP plan to bypass Labour and call election by act or amendment. Britain could be edging closer to a December election after the Liberal Democrats abandoned their focus on a second referendum to push for an election plan that could circumvent Labour’s opposition, bringing tentative support from Downing Street. A formal proposal by the Lib Dems and Scottish National party to seek an election on 9 December by amending the Fixed-term Parliaments Act (FTPA) was dismissed b
  
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• Why MPs could vote twice next week on whether to hold a general election

  27-10-2019 20:29
  Boris Johnson wants an election to break the deadlock in Britain's hung Parliament.
  
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• Nowhere left to run: how the US finally caught up with Isis leader Baghdadi

  27-10-2019 20:00
  The hunt for the Islamic State leader had lasted years until Iraqi officials got a break last monthCornered in a dead-end tunnel, with a robot creeping towards him, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi had nowhere left to run. Dogs barked in the darkness, a US soldier called out … and then came the thundering explosion that killed the world’s most wanted man – together with three terrified children he was using as human shields.The US military finally caught up with the Islamic State leader i
  
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• Labour will only agree to election if Johnson forbids no-deal Brexit

  27-10-2019 19:56
  Jeremy Corbyn said a delay to Brexit until 31 January would not be enough to trust the prime minister. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PALabour will only agree to support a general election if Boris Johnson promises he will never pursue a no-deal Brexit, the party has said, insisting even a delay until 31 January would not be seen as sufficient reassurance.With Labour under increasing pressure to back an election, and both the government and a Liberal Democrat-Scottish National party group coming up
  
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• Brexit: EU prepares to grant UK three-month extension

  27-10-2019 19:50
  The leaked draft suggests a no-deal Brexit is off the table, as demanded by UK opposition parties.Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty ImagesThe EU is preparing to sign off on a Brexit extension to 31 January 2020 with an option for the UK to leave earlier if a deal is ratified, according to a leaked draft of the agreement seen by the Guardian.Despite objections raised by the French government, a paper to be agreed on Monday circulated among member states suggests the EU will accede to the UK&rsq
  
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• Missing backpacker’s brother arrives in Cambodia to help search

  27-10-2019 19:31
  Amelia Bambridge, from Worthing, West Sussex, was last seen on the island of Koh Rong on Wednesday.
  
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• Mike Ashley tells MPs to investigate collapse of Debenhams

  27-10-2019 19:19
  Mike Ashley: ‘No one in parliament seems sufficiently interested about the Debenhams failure.’ Photograph: Owen Humphreys/PAMike Ashley has stepped up his campaign for an investigation into the collapse of Debenhams, claiming MPs are more interested in their own PR than rooting out corporate wrongdoing.In a two-page letter to the MP Rachel Reeves, seen by the Guardian, the Sports Direct chief executive wrote: “No one in parliament seems sufficiently interested about the Debenha
  
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• We need to get participatory democracy back on track

  27-10-2019 18:37
  A protester lays flowers in front of a mock tombstone outside the gates of No 10 Downing Street in London. Photograph: Will Oliver/EPAGeorge Monbiot nails it (Why ‘the will of the people’ is a myth in British democracy, Journal, 24 October). The impasse of the last three years – and the Sturm und Drang that has accompanied it – is not just down to recalcitrant MPs or any one party (although some bear more responsibility than others). No, it’s the inevitable fallout
  
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• The Labour party and Jeremy Corbyn – stick or twist?

  27-10-2019 18:37
  Ditching Jeremy Corbyn ‘would lead to an internal civil war on the eve of a general election,’ says James Curran. Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PAApart from a few diehard loyalists, I imagine most Labour party members would agree with Jonathan Freedland that Labour is not going to come anywhere close to winning an election as long as Jeremy Corbyn remains leader (The question for Labour: why are you sticking with Corbyn?, Journal, 26 October).The only way by which a new leader could be
  
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• Schools are failing the education test

  27-10-2019 18:36
  Pupil exclusions and focus on exam results are marginalising and disengaging children from learning, says Chris Pratt. The rise in school exclusions ( Report, theguardian.com, 25 October) is further evidence of the increasing numbers of children being marginalised and disengaging from learning. You can add to this the “off-loading” of tens of thousands of pupils from schools to improve examination results and the increasing difficulties in meeting the needs of children with special n
  
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• London’s parliament now seems outdated

  27-10-2019 18:36
  For a truly working democracy, you should no longer go to London but to Brussels, says Paul Rotering. More than 200 years ago, the heads of European governments convened in Vienna to decide the future of the continent in the aftermath of the Napoleonic wars. During these negotiations, the British representatives had to remind their counterparts they did not have an unlimited mandate, since any agreement reached was subject to parliamentary scrutiny in London. Indeed, when he was opposed to a cer
  
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• Journalists’ duty to seek the bigger picture

  27-10-2019 18:36
  Readers respond to an article by Gary Younge. Gary Younge’s brilliant article ( In its deference to the powerful, our media are failing us, 25 October) highlights the vital role of curiosity, scepticism and challenging the powerful on behalf of readers. Most newspapers are uncritical cheerleaders for Brexit, so the Guardian must do even more to expose those who will benefit (including press owners) and their lobbyists. It also needs to expose flaws in the EU ( The EU is no defender of work
  
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• Universities under fire for outsourcing low-paid campus jobs

  27-10-2019 18:33
  At Oxford Brookes, spending on outsourced cleaners, security and maintenance more than doubled from almost £4m in 2010 to over £9m in 2017. Photograph: Oxford BrookesUniversities have been criticised for “tearing away” wages, pensions and rights from low-paid staff amid a steep increase in the number of outsourced cleaning, security and maintenance staff working on campuses.Data released by 42 universities in England, Scotland and Wales to the Guardian under freedom of in
  
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• Children with disabilities suffer ‘severe neglect and abuse’ in Australian schools

  27-10-2019 18:00
  Children with disabilities are regularly bullied by other students, and at times by school staff, a report released by Children And Young People With Disability Australia has found.Photograph: Darren England/AAPA third of all children with disability have been restrained or secluded at school while half have been bullied in the past year, according to a government-funded report that reveals “severe neglect and abuse” of young people and calls for “special schools” to be p
  
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• Harry Dunn's twin brother appeals to Anne Sacoolas to return to UK

  27-10-2019 17:40
  Niall Dunn called on Sacoolas to cooperate with authorities saying the family wanted ‘this to be over’. Photograph: Sky NewsThe twin brother of Harry Dunn, the British teenager who died in a road traffic collision with the wife of a US intelligence officer in August, has appealed for her to come back to the UK.Niall Dunn did so as lawyers for the family travelled to the US to see if a civil action against Anne Sacoolas could be mounted. The week-long lawyers’ visit coincides wi
  
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• Rain clears but river levels still high after downpours

  27-10-2019 17:32
  Heavy rain has cleared after torrential downpours but parts of the UK are still on flood alert.
  
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• Will another Brexit delay lead to a general election?

  27-10-2019 17:21
  There are several routes to a possible December vote, and they all come with difficulties. Another Brexit delay seems certain, Boris Johnson’s departure plan is stalled, and the public still don’t know if they will be called to vote in a pre-Christmas election. So what are the various possibilities? Could an election be decided tomorrow? In theory, yes; in reality, no. The government has tabled a motion under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act (FTPA) during which MPs debate and vote on a
  
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• In Pictures: Whitby turns to dark side for goth weekend

  27-10-2019 17:15
  Hundreds descended on the North Yorkshire town.
  
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• World will not miss Islamic State leader al-Baghdadi, says Defence Secretary

  27-10-2019 16:57
  US President Donald Trump said Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was killed during a US military operation in Syria.
  
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• Essex lorry deaths: Vietnamese families fear for missing loved ones

  27-10-2019 16:33
  Relatives in Nghe An province, where 35 of the 39 dead are believed to be from, await worst news of all. The last time that Le Minh Tuan spoke to his son Le Van Ha, it was in a brief phonecall. “I have made it to France,” Ha told his father on Monday, “and I am about to get in a car to England.” It had been a long journey for Ha since he left his small farming community of Yen Hoi, in Vietnam’s Nghe An province, in July, in search of better prospects. He had flown f
  
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• London gardeners, cafe workers and cleaners to strike on Halloween

  27-10-2019 16:12
  Kensington Gardens, London. Royal Parks workers employed by the outsourcing firm Vinci are among those striking. Photograph: Londonstills.com/AlamyLondon will be hit by a wave of Halloween strikes as hundreds of cleaners, gardeners and cafe workers fight for better pay and conditions.The United Voices of the World union said it would be coordinating weeks of industrial action by out-sourced workers who were demanding the London living wage and full sick pay.The workers say they have to work when
  
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• Ex-Liverpool player Stephen Darby on fight with 'brutal disease'

  27-10-2019 16:00 via bbc.co.uk
  Stephen Darby, who is married to England women's captain Steph Houghton, has motor neurone disease.
  
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• Pc Andrew Harper’s widow leads thousands of motorcyclists in memorial ride

  27-10-2019 15:56
  More than £16,000 was raised in the name of Pc Harper for the 'ride of respect' on Sunday in Oxfordshire.
  
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• Family of teenager who died from lethal ecstasy dose support drug legalisation

  27-10-2019 15:38
  Ether Campbell and her mother Claire are backing the Anyone’s Child campaign.Photograph: Sam Frost/The GuardianA mother in Devon who prevented two young dealers that had sold her son lethal ecstasy tablets from going to jail has warned that home secretary Priti Patel’s vow to renew the war on drugs is doomed to fail.Claire Campbell along with her daughter Esther said they are speaking out over how they saved two teenagers from prison by asking the judge to put them on a restorative j
  
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• Government's empty-chair policy in EU branded 'another silly gesture'

  27-10-2019 15:36
  Britain’s Brexit secretary, left, with the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier. Photograph: Francisco Seco/POOL/AFP via Getty ImagesThe British government has been accused of making “another silly gesture” after it emerged that UK officials attended slightly more than half of EU ministerial meetings since a pledge to skip “most” of them to focus on Brexit.Since the government announced it would abandon most EU meetings from 1 September, a British minis
  
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• Sick children take Dreamflight charity trip to Orlando

  27-10-2019 15:09
  The annual trip, which has been running since 1987, has seen around 6,000 youngsters swap the UK for the sunshine state.
  
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• Sajid Javid's budget delay only adds to the turmoil over Brexit

  27-10-2019 15:05
  Whether the call to scrap the budget was or was not his own, Sajid Javid has missed an opportunity to return functioning government to the UK. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty ImagesIt was supposed to be the event to end austerity. A budget to turn the page; to enact the “people’s priorities”, with everything to like and nothing to hate. But what should have been a pivotal moment for a country tired of austerity, Brexit and political chaos became another moment of shambl
  
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• Labour must rule out no-deal in EU trade talks before agreeing election – Blair

  27-10-2019 14:48
  The former Labour prime minister predicted the future trade negotiations would be 'difficult' and likely to result in a no-deal Brexit after 2020.
  
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• Corbyn: No pacts with other parties in any forthcoming general election

  27-10-2019 14:20
  The Labour leader said he is ready for a general election whenever it comes.
  
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• Walkers take part in 20-mile London trek to raise suicide awareness

  27-10-2019 14:18
  Mental health charity CALM organised the event, thought to be the first of its kind in the UK.
  
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• Lib Dem-SNP December election plan branded an anti-Brexit ‘stunt’

  27-10-2019 14:11
  But a Number 10 insider said the Government would 'look at all options… including ideas similar' to those proposed by the opposition parties.
  
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• MP offers to sit down and talk to vandals who painted ‘gay slur’ on office

  27-10-2019 14:10
  Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport MP Luke Pollard said his office has been targeted twice in as many weeks.
  
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• No 10 to explore other routes towards election after Lib Dem proposal

  27-10-2019 14:04
  James Cleverly told Andrew Marr the Lib Dem proposal to amend the Fixed-term Parliaments Act was a ‘gimmick’. Photograph: Jeff Overs/PAThe government could try to force a pre-Christmas election via a simple majority for a parliamentary bill, Downing Street has said, following a Liberal Democrat-devised plan to try to end the House of Commons impasse.While ministers have dismissed a Lib Dem-Scottish National party idea to bring about an election on 9 December by amending the Fixed-ter
  
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• No appetite for Stormont reform, Arlene Foster claims

  27-10-2019 14:00
  The DUP leader insisted the public wants to see the Assembly restored as soon as possible.
  
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• Family of woman feared to be among Essex lorry victims ‘begged her not to go’

  27-10-2019 13:03
  Pham Tra My, from Vietnam, has not been in contact with her family since telling them in a text message that she could not breathe.
  
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• Crowd-funding page for Gina Miller hitman being investigated by police

  27-10-2019 12:44
  GoFundMe issued an apology after the incident.
  
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• SNP urges Opposition parties to work together to get a general election

  27-10-2019 12:28
  Ian Blackford said the party will 'not be bullied' into backing an election on Boris Johnson’s terms.
  
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• Stop holding UK 'hostage', government says as it steps up pressure on parliament

  27-10-2019 12:26
  Boris Johnson's government stepped up pressure on lawmakers on Sunday to back the prime minister's bid to hold an early election and break the Brexit impasse, saying Britain was being held "hostage" by parliament.Britain was due to leave the EU on Thursday, but despite the government arguing this is still the legal default date, few expect Johnson to meet his "do or die" promise to deliver Brexit on Oct. 31 after the bloc agreed to another delay.
  
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