Political news

• Mark Zuckerburg's Testimony To Congress Mocked For Confused Questions And That Resting Face

  10-04-2018 23:30
  Mark Zuckerburg’s appearance before the US Congress has been derided - chiefly thanks to confused and confusing questions from middle-aged politicians struggling to grasp how Facebook works.The 33-year-old billionaire fielded inquiries from Senators after Cambridge Analytica improperly used the data of 87 million Facebook users.The social media pioneer admitted “we have made a lot of mistakes” and “I’m sorry”, repeatedly making references the company’s &
  
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• Ealing Council Makes UK History With Protest Exclusion Zone Around Abortion Clinic

  10-04-2018 21:51
  Ealing Council has “made history” by banning pro-life protesters from approaching women entering an abortion clinic. Cabinet members approved the landmark decision on Tuesday evening as opposing campaign groups gathered outside the west London borough’s town hall. The Public Spaces Protection Order will create a “safe zone” - the first of its kind in the country - around the Marie Stopes clinic on Mattock Lane, preventing protesters from harassing women or
  
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• Labour says MP backs its Brexit policy despite 'bollocks' comments

  10-04-2018 21:44
  Barry Gardiner ‘fully supports’ party over six tests for judging exit deal, claims Corbyn’s officeLabour has said that the party’s international trade secretary spokesman, Barry Gardiner, “fully supports” the party’s Brexit policy, after it emerged that he had described one of Keir Starmer’s six tests for judging the final deal as “bollocks”.
  Shortly after Gardiner apologised for claiming the Good Friday agreement was a “shibbolet
  
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• Royal Wedding: Manchester Arena Attack Victim, 12, Among 1,200 'Heroes' Invited To Harry And Meghan's Big Day

  10-04-2018 21:22
  A 12-year-old schoolgirl caught up in the Manchester Arena bombing is among the members of the public picked to witness Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding.With political figures kept off the guest list entirely, the couple have opted for an informal approach to their guest list for the St George’s Chapel ceremony in the grounds of Windsor Castle compared to the Westminster Abbey wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2011.Some 1,200 members of the public will be a
  
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• Ant McPartlin Will Not Co-Host 'Britain's Got Talent' Live Shows With Declan Donnelly, ITV Boss Confirms

  10-04-2018 20:39
  Declan Donnelly will present this year’s ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ live shows solo, ITV bosses have confirmed.His usual co-host Ant McPartlin will not return to front the semi-final and grand finale in May, following his arrest for drink driving last month.ITV’s Head Of Entertainment Siobhan Greene confirmed the news at a ‘BGT’ press launch on Tuesday (10 April) night.However, Ant will still feature in the pre-recorded episodes as the audition episodes were
  
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• Fledgling centrist party claims to have links to Tony Blair and son

  10-04-2018 20:36
  Euan Blair on the board of political group set up by Simon Franks, sources are told
  Britain’s nascent centrist party has said it has links to Tony Blair and his son Euan as it seeks to win over potential recruits, the Guardian has been told.Simon Franks, who founded the LoveFilm movie-streaming business, has been working for more than a year with former Labour donors and senior members to create an organisation that could back candidates in a future general election. Continue reading...
  
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• Inquest finds no plant toxins in Russian whistleblower

  10-04-2018 20:23 via ft.com
  Alexander Perepilichny collapsed and died in 2012 while jogging in Surrey
  
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• Yulia Skripal’s recovery adds fresh twist to murky tale

  10-04-2018 20:08 via ft.com
  Security officials are hopeful the Skripals will be able to provide crucial evidence
  
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• Steve Bell on Trump's response to gas attack in Syria – cartoon

  10-04-2018 19:44
  Continue reading...
  
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• UK tax office targets offshore vehicles in crackdown on avoidance

  10-04-2018 19:37 via ft.com
  HMRC says proposals should raise an extra £50m a year from 10,000 wealthy individuals
  
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• 'Blood Up The Walls': Labour Targets Housing Crisis In Stark New Video

  10-04-2018 19:26
  Labour is putting the housing crisis front and centre of its local elections campaign with a powerful broadcast featuring those struggling with the cost of living.The Housing Matters film is being broadcast on Tuesday evening, with voters set to go to the polls across the country in less than a month.The party political broadcast features interviews with people recounting their experiences of the housing crisis, including a support worker who was forced to serve an eviction notice to a woman who
  
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• US, France and Britain agree to respond to Syrian gas attack

  10-04-2018 19:24
  Donald Trump, Emmanuel Macron and Theresa May vow to uphold ban on chemical weaponsTheresa May joined the US president, Donald Trump, and the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, on Tuesday in warning that they would respond to the Syrian gas attack in order to uphold the global ban on the use of chemical weapons.In separate phone calls, the three allies agreed that the international community should work closely together to make sure that the regime, and its backers, were held to account. Continue r
  
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• Syria Chemical Attack: Theresa May Agrees On 'Need To Respond' With Trump And Macron

  10-04-2018 19:18
  Theresa May has agreed with Donald Trump and Emmanuel Macron that the international community “needed to respond” following reports of a suspected chemical attack in Syria.Downing Street said the Prime Minister spoke to the US and French presidents on Tuesday, and they agreed to “continue working closely together” to ensure those responsible were “held to account”.The United States is looking to the UK and France for support as it finalises its response to the
  
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• Theresa May urged to back Syria attack without vote in parliament

  10-04-2018 18:51 via ft.com
  Labour’s front bench is almost certain to oppose any bombing
  
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• We Must Stop Men With Prostate Cancer Dying Of Embarrassment

  10-04-2018 18:31
  It is a disease that will affect one in eight men in their lifetime, and kills 11,000 of them every year – yet there is still much for us to learn about prostate cancer.One of the challenges is that the condition manifests itself as a spectrum of diseases that can range from a slow-growing tumour to very aggressive tumours that are fatal. Many cases are diagnosed too late, and treatment options for the most aggressive tumours are still depressingly limited.Stigma plays its part too, with m
  
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• Periods Must Be Seen For What They Are - Acts Of Resilience And Strength

  10-04-2018 18:09
  I have a strong conviction that we don’t need to worry about the future generation of young teens ever facing a lack of general knowledge on periods or be caught by surprise. This is partly thanks to today’s easy accessibility to online forums, recent growth in platforms dedicated to female health and other brilliant activities and groups. I have though an unrelenting concern about how the topic is approached, even in support groups. Future generation of boys and girls would ben
  
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• Antisemitism: Israeli Labor leader cuts ties with Jeremy Corbyn

  10-04-2018 17:31
  Avi Gabbay announces temporary suspension of links between the two partiesThe leader of the Israeli Labor party has said he will cut ties with Jeremy Corbyn and his office over the handling of antisemitism, but would preserve the link with the party as a whole.Avi Gabbay, the chair of the centre-left Labor party, which is the main opposition to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rightwing Likud, said he would sever all relations with Corbyn on the eve of Israel’s Holocaust Memorial
  
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• Journalist Marie Colvin Was 'Deliberately Targeted' In Syria, Court Docs Claim

  10-04-2018 17:25
  A Sunday Times journalist who was killed at the start of the war in Syria was “assassinated” in a targeted attack by the government, court documents claim.Journalist Marie Colvin died alongside French photographer Remi Ochlik in Homs on 22 February 2012, when the building they were in was shelled. The 56-year-old’s death was branded an “extrajudicial killing” in a claim filed to a US court by her sister Cathleen that seeks compensation from the Syrian gove
  
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• Jewish Labour Member Who Quit Momentum Brands Anti-Semitism Witchhunt Claims 'Atrociously Offensive'

  10-04-2018 17:21
  A Jewish Labour member who quit Momentum because he felt “unsafe” has said claims of a witchhunt within the party over anti-Semitism are “atrociously offensive”.Joshua Garfield stood down from the Newham branch of the left-wing grassroots group last week, after revealing he had experienced prejudice himself.The 23-year-old, who is standing as a council candidate in Stratford, said those denying the existence of anti-Semitism within Labour were adding to the problem.I
  
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• Serious Fraud Office gets interim director to replace David Green

  10-04-2018 16:55 via ft.com
  Preferred permanent candidate is ‘managing their exit from current position’
  
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• Syria Crisis: MPs Back Motion Demanding Westminster Vote On Military Action

  10-04-2018 16:52
  Prime Minister Theresa May must win MPs’ approval before backing military action in Syria, a motion with cross-party support demands. Stewart McDonald, the SNP’s Westminster defence spokesman, is pressing for a fresh Parliamentary vote on any airstrikes against Bashar al-Assad regime, and has won the backing of some Labour, Lib Dem and Green MPs. May sidestepped questions over the issue during a visit to Cambridge on Tuesday after hinting at a press conference earlier in th
  
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• Barry Gardiner: Corbyn's attack dog guilty of letting slip real Brexit views

  10-04-2018 16:52
  Shadow trade secretary has taken a few sharp turns since he entered Westminster politics in 1997It has never been a secret that Barry Gardiner believes the EU referendum result means Britain must leave the European single market and customs union.But it is not what he thinks that is enraging his Labour colleagues, it is that he has been taped saying what he thinks. And in the kind of blunt and uncompromising language that will shatter the consensus he helped to forge.Continue reading...
  
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• Alzheimer's Gene Is Neutralised In Human Brain Cells For The First Time

  10-04-2018 16:46
  A gene which can reportedly increase the chances of you developing Alzheimer’s has been neutralised by scientists for the first time.Having just one copy of the gene, called apoE4, can double your chances of developing Alzheimer’s disease later in life, while having two copies of it can increase your risk a whopping 12-fold.The team from Gladstone Institutes were able to completely neutralise the gene’s effects by creating a compound that transformed the structure of the apoE4
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn Has 'Hostility' To Jews Says Israeli Labor Party As It Cuts Ties With UK Leader

  10-04-2018 16:45
  Israel’s Labor Party has cut ties with Jeremy Corbyn’s office after accusing the Labour leader of hostility towards Jews and allowing “anti-Semitic statements and actions”.In a highly-critical letter, Avi Gabby, chair of the Labor Party of Israel, said the party would have no further relations with Corbyn’s office while the issues of anti-Semitism in UK Labour fail to be “adequately” tackled.Gabby also accused Corbyn of “very public hatred” o
  
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• Donald Trump And Theresa May Not Invited To The Royal Wedding

  10-04-2018 16:22
  Donald Trump and Theresa May have not been invited to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding, Kensington Palace has confirmed. The Royal Household announced on Tuesday that neither leader would be attending the Windsor Palace nuptials, with political figures kept off the guest list entirely. It means that Barack Obama, with whom Harry has a close relationship, will also be missing from the day’s proceedings. A spokesperson for the palace said: “I
  
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• Otto Putland, Commonwealth Games Swimmer, Found Not Guilty Of Raping Woman

  10-04-2018 16:11
  Commonwealth Games swimmer Otto Putland has been found not guilty of raping a woman following a trial at Cardiff Crown Court.Putland, who represented Wales at the Commonwealth Games in 2014, was accused of raping the woman after a night out in July 2015.This is a breaking news story and will be updated. Check back for the fullest version. Follow HuffPost UK on Twitter here, and on Facebook here.
  
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• Tracey Emin takes anti-Brexit stance in St Pancras art

  10-04-2018 15:45 via ft.com
  Controversial artist says latest work has ‘subliminal message’ against UK leaving EU
  
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• Russia Tells Britain It Would Be 'Abduction' To Resettle Yulia And Sergei Skripal

  10-04-2018 15:27
  Any secret resettlement of Sergei and Yulia Skripal in the UK would be an “abduction”, the Russian embassy in London has said. The former Russian double agent and his daughter were poisoned by a deadly nerve agent in Salisbury last month, and have been recovering in hospital for the last month.On Monday, doctors announced Yulia had been released and taken to a secure location, raising questions about whether the 33-year-old would be resettled or granted asylum in the UK or US.&n
  
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• Brexit nightmares: The red tape reality of rules-of-origin

  10-04-2018 15:23
  
  HMRC shows few signs of being prepared for the horrendous bureaucratic demands to come.
  
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• Ellie Butler 'Would Still Be Alive Today' If Agencies Had Acted On Concerns, Grandfather Says

  10-04-2018 15:04
  Ellie Butler’s grandfather has said that she would “still be alive today” if agencies had acted differently, as an inquest found on Tuesday that their failings did not contribute to her death.Neil Gray said that he is disappointed that agencies “have not had to account for the role they played” in Ellie’s death after the six-year-old was battered to death by her father in 2013.His comments come after Dame Linda Dobbs said at the inquest that she was not able t
  
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• Ellie Butler 'Would Still Be Alive Today' If Agencies Had Acted, Grandfather Says

  10-04-2018 15:04
  Ellie Butler’s grandfather has said that she would “still be alive today” if the authorities had acted on concerns for her welfare, after an inquest found their failings did not contribute to her death.Speaking on Tuesday, Neil Gray said that he was disappointed that agencies “have not had to account for the role they played” in Ellie’s death, after the six-year-old was battered to death by her father in 2013.His comments come after Dame Linda Dobbs said
  
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• Ellie Butler: Not Enough Evidence That Agency Failings Contributed To Child's Death, Inquest Rules

  10-04-2018 15:04
  There is not enough evidence to conclude that agency failings contributed to the death of six-year-old Ellie Butler, an inquest heard on Tuesday.Speaking after the verdict, Ellie’s grandfather Neil Gray said that he is disappointed that agencies that “in my view failed my dear granddaughter Ellie have not had to account for the role they played”.Ellie, who was battered to death by her father in 2013, was unlawfully killed, Dame Linda Dobbs ruled at an inquest at South Lond
  
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• 'Paedophile Hunters' Evidence Used To Charge Suspects At Least 150 Times Last Year

  10-04-2018 14:55
  Evidence from vigilantes known as “paedophile hunters” was used to charge suspects on at least 150 occasions last year, new data has revealed. Figures published by the BBC revealed there has been a seven-fold increase in the use of evidence sourced by amateur detectives since 2015.Two-thirds of the 43 police forces in England and Wales provided data, which showed that in almost half of child sexual grooming prosecutions evidence supplied by vigilantes was used. The data onl
  
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• 7 Things Women Who Had Cancer In Their Thirties Want You To Know

  10-04-2018 14:53
  Rachael Bland and Deborah James are in fits of laughter on the end of the phone, as their friend Lauren Mahon discusses the intricacies her sex life - leaving no detail to the imagination. Taking a minute to compose themselves (to try and continue the interview) these women seem like they have been friends for decades, not just a few short months.“We’re the coolest club you never want to be a part of.” And it’s true, as envy-inducing as their female friendship is, they&rs
  
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• YouTube's Most Watched Video 'Despacito' Has Been Hacked

  10-04-2018 14:32
  The most watched YouTube video in history ‘Despacito’ has been hacked and subsequently removed from the site.The music video, originally uploaded by Vevo, had been watched over 5 billion times. The hackers left the video unaltered but changed the title of the video and its cover image to a screenshot from a Spanish TV show.In addition the two hackers, reportedly known as Prosox and Kuroi’sh, also wrote the words “Free Palestine” in the description.Other ar
  
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• Police Officers Are In Tears, Frustrated They Don't Have The Time To Do The Job Properly

  10-04-2018 14:30
  In Greater Manchester Police we have lost some 2,000 police officers and 3,000 support staff and this has left a gaping hole in what we can do - and it just seems to be getting worse. Violent crime is going through the roof with gun crime up 20% and knife crime up 21% and we have to remember that these are not just statistics - behind these figures are real victims, people’s loved ones left dying on the pavement on this Government’s watch.The politicians tell us it’s
  
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• Radio 1 Schedule Change Gives Nick Grimshaw A Four-Day Week And Brings Weekends To Fridays

  10-04-2018 13:51
  Radio 1 bosses have announced a huge change to their schedule, giving Nick Grimshaw a four-day week and bringing their weekend line-up to Fridays. In one of the station’s biggest ever shake-ups, the weekend will officially start a day earlier as of June. It means Grimmy’s breakfast show will now be presented by Saturday and Sunday hosts Dev and Alice Levine from 6.30am-10am. Maya Jama will also bring her Greatest Hits Show to Fridays from 10am-1pm, with former Saturday
  
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• 'Marcella' Series 3 Could Be On The Cards, Says Creator Hans Rosenfeldt

  10-04-2018 13:46
  ‘Marcella’ writer and creator Hans Rosenfeldt has given fans hope of a third series of the hit crime noir. The second series reached a gruesome ending on Monday (9 April) night, when not only was the serial killer was revealed, but explorations into DS Marcella Backland’s past lead to some shocking developments. With Marcella now believed to be dead by those in her life, the final scene of the show saw her approached by a mystery agent while sleeping rough, askin
  
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• Barry Gardiner Dismisses Labour's Brexit Policy As 'B******s'

  10-04-2018 13:43
  Barry Gardiner has been revealed to have dismissed Labour’s Brexit policy as “bollocks”.The shadow international trade secretary has already apologised on Tuesday for describing the Good Friday Agreement (GFA) as a “shibboleth” that was being “played up” for economic reasons.Jeremy Corbyn has set the government “six tests” it must meet if it wants Labour to vote in favour of its final Brexit deal.But speaking at an event in Brussels last mont
  
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• How to dismantle Assad’s chemical weapons

  10-04-2018 13:36
  
  A practical, step by step guide to how Western forces can destroy the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons capacity.
  
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• Apple Is Now Globally Powered By 100% Renewable Energy

  10-04-2018 13:11
  Apple has announced that for the first time ever, the entire company is powered by 100% renewable energy.What’s really impressive is that this includes not just Apple’s offices, but its retail stores and data centres across some 43 countries.Included in this is of course Apple Park, the company’s gigantic new circular headquarters in Cupertino, San Francisco which itself is 100% powered by renewable energy through a vast series of solar panels on its roof.To accomplish this App
  
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• The Commonwealth trade games

  10-04-2018 13:01 via ft.com
  A shared imperial past does not guarantee that states will prioritise UK over the EU  
  
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• Mark Zuckerberg Hearing: 6 Questions Facebook's CEO Needs To Answer

  10-04-2018 12:54
  Mark Zuckerberg is preparing to appear in front of Congress for the first time, where he will be grilled on the wake of the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and questioned on possible interference in both the 2016 US election and the Brexit referendum. This will be an extraordinary test for Facebook’s CEO, who has in the past kept a relatively low profile when it comes to public appearances – unlike many of his peers in Silicon Valley.He is likely to face some difficult qu
  
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• Urban Outfitters Puffa Jacket Photograph Goes Viral After Woman Shows What It Looks Like IRL

  10-04-2018 12:53
  Urban Outfitters is the latest name in the never-ending string of shops to sell a piece of clothing which looks very different in real life compared to the image online. Twitter user, Becky Latham, ordered what appeared to be a teal puffer jacket from the fashion website. What looked like an on-trend piece ended up making Latham look like a Michelin Man - and a green one at that. Thank you @UrbanOutfitters it’s exactly like I imagined x pic.twitter.com/UgzmeYLr8I— Becky (@Becky_
  
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• Hillary Clinton: Don't Return To The 'Bad Old Days' Of A Hard Border In Ireland After Brexit

  10-04-2018 12:53
  Hillary Clinton has made a heartfelt intervention in the Brexit debate, saying reinstating the border with Northern Ireland would be an “enormous setback”.As the border continues to be a point of contention in Brexit talks, Clinton wrote in The Guardian that border controls or infrastructure would be a return to the “bad old days”, once again dividing communities. Clinton said she continues to believe in the value of the EU and a “Europe that is whole, free and
  
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• 'Marcella' Series 2 Episode 8: Here's The Gruesome Ending Explained

  10-04-2018 12:48
  ‘Marcella’ reached a gripping, if not disturbing, ending on Monday (9 April) night, as viewers not only discovered the identity of the serial killer, but finally got answers about the lead character’s past. There were shocking scenes including a lobotomy, self-mutilation, attempted suicide and the death of a baby in the series two finale, which revealed Jane Colletti was responsible for the deaths of the 17 murdered children. Following on from the conclusion of last w
  
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• Retaliation in Syria: what are May's options?

  10-04-2018 12:45
  PM probably has the right to commit UK to support any US action without a Commons vote – but only in a non-combat roleTheresa May does not currently have a parliamentary mandate to participate in a major military response to Saturday’s chemical weapons attack in Syria, though arguably she has a right to lend limited help to a US assault if Donald Trump chooses to go ahead with such a plan.In December 2015 British MPs voted by 397 to 233 to give David Cameron’s government a mand
  
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• I’m Building A Chatbot Coach To Help Myself And Millions Of Other Crohn’s Disease Patients

  10-04-2018 12:30
  This story was sparked by Dynamo. Yes, the magician. He recently shared a set of selfies with a bloated face that was caused by medication he’s taking to fight Crohn’s Disease symptoms. To my surprise the media collectively jumped on it because all of a sudden this disease became ‘visible’, which is exactly what the problem with Crohn’s Disease is. The symptoms of Crohn’s Disease are so hidden and unknown, and therefore it’s one of the most stigmatised d
  
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• Men Are Happier When They Out-Perform Their Parents, Study Suggests

  10-04-2018 12:16
  Men are happier when out-performing the educational achievements of their parents, a new study has suggested. And when that doesn’t happen, it can be as psychologically distressing as getting a divorce.University of Oxford researchers analysed data on over 50,000 people in the UK and 27 other European countries to compare their psychological state with their educational achievements.While exceeding parents’ education was linked to happiness in men, women appeared unaffected by t
  
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• Tributes To Stabbed Hither Green 'Burglar' Henry Vincent Torn Down

  10-04-2018 12:01
  Burst balloons, soiled cards and ruined flowers lined the pavement of South Park Crescent in Hither Green on Tuesday after tributes to an intruder killed during a botched raid were torn down. The memorial appeared opposite the home of Richard Osborn-Brooks, 78, the pensioner who is alleged to have killed Henry Vincent while defending his home in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Osborn-Brooks was arrested on suspicion of grievous bodily harm and further arrested on suspicion of mur
  
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