Political news

• Council Worker 'Insulted' At Receiving Letter From Theresa May Addressed To ‘Mr Youmustbe F***ingjoking’

  11-04-2018 23:53
  An elderly council worker has revealed his horror at receiving an X-rated letter signed by Prime Minister Theresa May pleading for cash.Raja Habib, 67, said he was left “embarrassed and insulted” after opening the letter that was addressed by Tory marketing chiefs to ‘Mr Youmustbe Fuckingjoking’.Signed by the Prime Minister, the note to Habib and his wife Sajida, 63, asked for a cash donation to help the Tories “build a Britain fit for the future”.The Conserva
  
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• US-Russia tensions build as Moscow hits back at Trump's Twitter threat

  11-04-2018 23:40
  Trump tells Russia to ‘get ready’ for US missiles fired at Syria
  Kremlin spokesman: ‘We do not participate in Twitter diplomacy’
  The US and Russia came significantly closer to a direct clash over Syria on Wednesday when Donald Trump fired off an incendiary tweet that told Moscow to “get ready” for incoming US missiles, which the Russian military has vowed to shoot down.A standoff over a poison gas attack on a rebel-held suburb of Damascus on Saturday has since
  
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• Labour Pledges Free Bus Travel For Under-25s

  11-04-2018 23:31
  Labour will offer free bus travel to people under 25 if the party wins power, Jeremy Corbyn will say on Thursday. The Labour leader will declare that “young people deserve a break” and commit to helping them “travel to work, to study and to visit friends” in a speech in Derby.The party’s free travel scheme would be introduced in areas where councils bring buses under public control or take on franchises.The Tories said the policy was undeliverable but Labour sa
  
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• Labour announces plan for under 25s to have free bus travel

  11-04-2018 23:30
  Councils opting for publicly owned bus services to get funds partly arising from road taxUnder 25s would have free bus travel under a Labour government, the party said, proposing a scheme that would be paid for by ring-fenced cash arising from road tax.The party said local authorities who moved to introduce public ownership of bus services or franchising would be given the funds to provide free travel. The scheme would incentivise councils to create municipally owned bus companies. Continue read
  
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• Yulia Skripal declines Russian embassy help after leaving hospital

  11-04-2018 22:23 via ft.com
  Poison victim’s first statement in recovery says investigation is being explained to her
  
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• UK aid budget set for ‘big shift’ towards City funding for poorer countries

  11-04-2018 21:02 via ft.com
  Penny Mordaunt also eyes reform in wake of scandal in charities sector
  
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• Hugs all round, the Zuck finds Congress a bit of a breeze | John Crace

  11-04-2018 20:11
  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg needn’t have worried as grilling on data misuse turns into a kid-glove strokingThe Facebook share price may have risen 5% after the Senate failed to lay a glove on him the previous day, but Mark Zuckerberg still looked tense as he settled into his booster seat in preparation for his session before Congress. He needn’t have worried. His programmers had done their job just fine and his algorithms were all in order. It might be a little tougher than the day
  
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• Act on data privacy or we'll regulate, UK minister tells Facebook

  11-04-2018 19:56
  Digital secretary Matt Hancock says social media firm not above the law and must do moreThe digital secretary, Matt Hancock, has warned Facebook that it was not above the law, as he threatened the social media firm with regulation if it failed to protect users’ data more effectively.At what government sources said was a “robust but constructive” meeting, Hancock warned Facebook the relationship between government and social media firms would have to change. Continue reading...
  
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• Yulia Skripal Rejects Russia's Help After Moscow Accuses UK Of 'Abduction'

  11-04-2018 19:53
  Yulia Skripal has refused assistance from Russia since leaving hospital, after her home country claimed Britain had “abducted” her.A diplomatic battle has been raging between the two nations over whether the Russian embassy should be allowed access to the 33-year-old daughter of ex-spy Sergei Skripal, both of whom were poisoned with a deadly nerve agent last month. Yulia Skripal, who was found critically ill alongside her 66-year-old father on a bench in Salisbury, was
  
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• Perepilichny inquest hears businessman ‘stressed’ night before death

  11-04-2018 19:21 via ft.com
  Russian on trail of money-laundering case became ‘violently ill’ on romantic trip to Paris
  
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• Tatler Magazine's Ill-Timed Cambridge Analytica Feature Is Missing One Key Element

  11-04-2018 18:48
  Tatler appears to have fallen foul of the long deadlines of monthly magazines after publishing an ill-timed feature article profiling Alexander Nix, the now suspended CEO behind scandal-hit Cambridge Analytica.The establishment monthly, targeted towards the British upper class, asks “Who has the real power?” alongside a photograph of Nix with the standfirst: “Meet the elusive, super-rich Old Etonians on a mission to influence your mind, your politics and, perhaps, even the worl
  
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• My Traumatic Pregnancy Taught Me To Be Grateful

  11-04-2018 18:48
  Gratitude. What your parents probably scolded you for having a lack of when you were a kid; like the time you protested about the injustice of having to go to bed, or when you complained about the total lack of chocolate at breakfast. Gratitude was never something I thought would be a distinct focus in my life, not in a life and death sort of way, like I’m about to recall.I guess I’d always been pretty grateful. I understood what it was to have things but also what it was like to not
  
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• Radio 1 To Adjust Nick Grimshaw And Greg James's Pay After Move To Four-Day Week

  11-04-2018 18:41
  The BBC is looking to adjust the salaries of Radio 1 DJs Nick Grimshaw and Greg James to reflect their reduced workload, HuffPost UK has learned.The presenters have had their on-air hours slashed after bosses announced huge changes to the schedule, with weekend shows now officially beginning on a Friday.Tabloid reports claimed this morning that the pair would continue to receive their full wages despite moving from a five-day week down to a four-day week, promp
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn warns against US-Russia 'hot war'

  11-04-2018 18:41 via bbc.co.uk
  The Labour leader says Parliament must be consulted on any military action.
  
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• Britain poised to support military strike on Syria

  11-04-2018 18:35 via ft.com
  Theresa May suggests attack by US, French and UK forces is imminent
  
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• Anger as 'Windrush generation' face deportation threat

  11-04-2018 18:33 via bbc.co.uk
  The Home Office is accused of harassing people from Commonwealth countries who have lived in the UK for decades.
  
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• Britons in France grill ambassador over post-Brexit rights

  11-04-2018 18:32
  Edward Llewellyn faced heavy questioning from angry audience during two-hour meetingIt was supposed to be a simple mission to update British nationals in Paris about their rights after Brexit. The setting was the 18th-century embassy building, the backdrop to centuries of British diplomacy.Instead Edward Llewellyn, the British ambassador, was subjected to a two-hour roasting by angry British nationals. Continue reading...
  
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• Parliamentary approval

  11-04-2018 18:11 via bbc.co.uk
  Ben Wright on the politics of one of the hardest judgements a prime minister has to make.
  
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• How Can We Fix The Music Industry's Shocking Gender Pay Gap?

  11-04-2018 18:02
  If anyone was wondering what it must be like to be a woman working in the music business in 2018, the recent #MeToo and #TimesUp campaigns triggered by the Harvey Weinstein revelations last year, and last week’s gender pay gap reports paint a pretty bleak picture.Don’t get me wrong, I love working in the music business and couldn’t imagine doing anything else. Music transforms and soundtracks our lives, and working in it brings many amazing experiences and the chance to fulfil
  
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• To Successfully Tackle Violence, We Need Early Intervention

  11-04-2018 17:59
  “Nurture the good in children before it’s too late…” was the powerful call made recently by a bereaved mother who had lost her son to violence. And she is right. Successfully tackling violence requires us to go right back to the roots of the problems alongside effective enforcement approaches.Chance UK was set up 20 years ago by an Islington Police Officer who saw that the teenagers he was dealing with in the Criminal Justice System were often those who were known about
  
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• Is Universal Credit 'Fairer And Simpler' For Gypsies And Travellers?

  11-04-2018 17:53
  The government claimed that Universal Credit (UC) would be a ‘fairer and simpler system’ for claimants. But as it continues to be rolled out, more problems come to the fore, and early indications suggest that the move towards UC ‘full service’ across the country will lead to even greater disparities in claimants’ experience. These disparities are likely to be felt particularly harshly by Gypsies and Travellers – yet there’s a paucity of information about
  
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• Oxford Student 'Amazed' By Kindness Of Strangers After Lecture Notes Stolen

  11-04-2018 17:52
  An Oxford University student has told of how “grateful” she is to fellow students and professors, who rallied around to help after her bag containing a laptop and two years’ worth of lecture notes were stolen.Anne-Marie Downes, 21, has a learning disability “which makes sorting through notes difficult, especially on a screen”. As a result, a lot of her work is handwritten in notebooks.When her bag containing her laptop and notes were stolen from her family’s c
  
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• Pro-Life Protesters Pledge To Continue Clinic Vigils, As UK Considers Nationwide Ban

  11-04-2018 17:30
  Pro-life protesters have pledged to continue standing outside an abortion clinic in London “until they are told otherwise”, despite a council’s decision to ban them from doing so. Demonstrators remained outside the Marie Stopes clinic on Mattock Lane, Ealing on Wednesday despite the west London borough approving an exclusion zone around it the previous evening.The government is likely to come under increasing pressure to change the law to prevent harassment outside family
  
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• A New Centrist Party For Britain? Good Luck With That

  11-04-2018 17:22
  by Matthew Cole, Teaching Fellow, Department of History, University of BirminghamReports in the press claim that a new party is about to be formed in the UK. The party will “break the Westminster mould” by coalescing opinion in what Nick Clegg called the “gaping hole” in the centre ground.Looking at the success of Emmanuel Macron’s En Marche! movement, the Observer’s Andrew Rawnsley suggests that “opportunity knocks for a new par
  
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• Mariah Carey Discusses Bipolar Disorder Diagnosis For The First Time

  11-04-2018 17:20
  Mariah Carey has revealed she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder over 15 years ago. Speaking about it for the first time, the US superstar told People magazine that doctors diagnosed her with bipolar in 2001, when she was hospitalised for a breakdown, admitting: “I didn’t want to believe it.”In the years that followed, Mariah did not receive treatment for the disorder but after a turbulent two years, which included her split from fiance James Packer, she sought help.“Unt
  
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• Mark Zuckerberg Says His Personal Data Was Included In Cambridge Analytica Breach

  11-04-2018 17:15
  Mark Zuckerberg has told US senators that his own personal data was passed on to third parties as part of the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Answering a question from Representative Anna Eshoo, who was reading questions from her constituents in Silicon Valley, Zuckerberg was asked whether he was one of the 87 million people whose data was handed to the controversial data analysis firm.“Was your data included in the data sold to the malicious third parties…your personal data?&rdqu
  
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• Ealing Is The Beginning Of The End Of Harassment For Women Accessing Abortion

  11-04-2018 16:18
  “Mum, Mum, take a leaflet, you can still help your baby.” These words, and many variations of, were said to me every time I tried to walk down the path to the Marie Stopes Centre in Ealing, West London.The anti-choice protestors didn’t know I worked for Marie Stopes UK, but as a woman of reproductive age I was approached relentlessly, and unsolicited. The figures that stood poised by the gates, thrusting pink or blue leaflets and rosary beads at me while the word “Mum&rdq
  
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• Andrew Tyrie named as new Competition and Markets Authority head

  11-04-2018 16:17 via ft.com
  Former chairman of Treasury committee tasked with beefing up competition regulator
  
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• ‘Strictly Come Dancing’: Ex-Pro Gleb Savchenko Slams The Show, Calling For The BBC To ‘Triple’ Dancers’ Wages

  11-04-2018 16:16
  Gleb Savchenko has slammed ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, claiming the show “is not as exciting as it could be”, and urged BBC bosses to pay the professional dancers more money. In 2016, the dancer called time on his ‘Strictly’ career after just one series, and despite stating that he was leaving to spend more time with his family, Gleb soon signed up for US show ‘Dancing With The Stars’.He has appeared on every series of the American show since but foll
  
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• How You Should Spend Your Downtime This Evening

  11-04-2018 15:48
  Travelling for work can be relentless: early wake-ups, rushing from airport to meeting and back again, shovelling food in your mouth on the run, coming back to your hotel after a long and exhausting day and working late into the night answering emails, taking calls, writing reports… And repeat.You can spend an entire business trip barely looking up from your smartphone to relax for a moment in your cosy hotel – let alone taking in the sights and sounds of the city you’re in.&l
  
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• Timmy Matley Dead: The Overtones Singer Dies, Aged 36

  11-04-2018 15:32
  The Overtones singer Timmy Matley has died at the age of 36, it has been announced.His bandmates in the vocal harmony group confirmed he had died in a message to fans on Twitter.In a statement, band members Mark Franks, Mike Crawshaw, Darren Everest and Lachie Chapman wrote: “It is with the greatest sadness that we have to announce that our dear friend and brother Timmy has passed away.“We know this news will be as heartbreaking for you all as it is for us.“We appreciate your l
  
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• For the many: what the Corbyn campaign learned from Bernie Sanders

  11-04-2018 15:00
  A visit to one of the US socialist’s rallies inspired former Labour strategist Steve Howell. In an exclusive extract from his new book, he writes about the power of storytelling and the eureka moment behind the party’s 2017 campaign sloganAs Jeremy Corbyn was campaigning to be Labour leader for the first time in 2015, something unprecedented was happening in the US: a democratic socialist was emerging as a serious contender for the presidency. Never in US political history had someon
  
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• Being A Mum With Parkinson’s Isn’t Easy – But I Won’t Let Other People’s Attitudes Get Me Down

  11-04-2018 14:32
  Nobody in our family expected Parkinson’s to pull up a chair and take a seat at our kitchen table. My son Dominic was just a toddler when I was diagnosed aged 43 and telling my then 14-year-old daughter Emily without frightening her was one of the hardest things that I’ve ever had to do.Being a mum with Parkinson’s isn’t easy and sometimes when I’m tired and my body isn’t working properly I get frustrated and think – why me? But this is my life and I&rsq
  
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• Facebook Does Not Listen To You Through Your Phone, Zuckerberg Says

  11-04-2018 14:30
  Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has confirmed to US senators that the social network does not listen to your conversations through your phone.Zuckerberg shot down the claim, which he described as a conspiracy theory, during a five-hour congressional hearing during which he was quizzed about Facebook’s role in Russian interference in the 2016 US election, and the Cambridge Analytica private data scandal.Senator Gary Peters asked: “Yes or no, does Facebook use audio obtained fro
  
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• Leading MP Sarah Wollaston Backs Bombing Syria – After Opposing Strike In 2013

  11-04-2018 14:04
  One of Parliament’s most powerful backbenchers is backing Theresa May to take military action against the Syrian government without consulting parliament.Tory MP Sarah Wollaston, who leads questioning of the Prime Minister as chair of the Liaison Committee, told HuffPost UK May could authorise UK involvement in the bombing of Syrian targets without getting permission from MPs.Wollaston was one of 30 Tory MPs to vote down UK military action against Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in 2013,
  
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• Barnier: UK can change mind on single market until end of 2020

  11-04-2018 13:55 via bbc.co.uk
  The EU's negotiator says the UK has until 2021 to change its "red lines" and stay in the single market.
  
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• Looks We Love: Janelle Monáe's Labia Trousers In Her 'PYNK' Video

  11-04-2018 13:29
  We love,... Janelle Monáe’s celebration of all things pink in her ‘Pynk’ music video carries over into the jaw-dropping fashion on display: from structural dresses to velvet bodysuits and trousers in homage to your labia.Why It Works:As Monáe herself says “PYNK is the truth you can’t hide”. Any excuse to celebrate vaginas and vulvas should be embraced, and what better way to do that than to wear your heart on your sleeve, or should that be y
  
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• Our Response To Syria Can No Longer Be Empty Condemnations

  11-04-2018 13:17
  Never again... until the next time. Condemnations and outrage but never action. False rhetoric of empathy and solidarity is now the currency of the world. Our response to the slow death of the Syrian people has been beyond shameful.As he has done so before, once again Bashar Assad has allegedly used chemical weapons in eastern Ghouta, killing scores of children among other many civilians. His behaviour has been that of a school bully safe in the knowledge the teachers won’t reprimand him a
  
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• CBI calls for smooth EU rule alignment

  11-04-2018 13:12 via ft.com
  Companies in 18 of 23 sectors surveyed favour convergence after Brexit
  
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• Has Political Debate In Our Society Become An Echo Chamber?

  11-04-2018 13:11
  Nye Bevan will rightly be remembered as the Minister for Health who delivered the NHS. He also has his name on potentially one of the greatest ever political putdowns. In reference to then Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain, Bevan once commented: “He has the lucidity which is the by-product of a fundamentally sterile mind”. This resonates with our current level of political debate.We seem to have reached a point where clarity and consistency are rated higher than critical thinking, o
  
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• Donald Trump Warns Russia In Tweet: Missiles 'Will Be Coming' To Syria

  11-04-2018 13:08
  Donald Trump warned Russia that missiles “will be coming” in Syria in response to a chemical weapons attack on civilians at the weekend. Trump wrote in an incendiary early morning tweet that the missiles would be “nice and new and smart!”, after a Russian official said any missiles the US fired in retaliation for the attack on the rebel-held town of Douma, outside the capital Damascus, would be shot down.“Get ready Russia,” the president sa
  
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• Donald Trump Tweets Missiles 'Will Be Coming' To Syria After Russia Vows To Shoot Them Down

  11-04-2018 13:08
  Donald Trump has tweeted missiles “will be coming” to Syria as America is poised to respond to a suspect chemical attack on civilians.Trump tweeted the missiles would be “nice and new and smart!”, after a Russian official said any missiles America fired would be shot down.Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia,because they will be coming, nice and new and “smart!” You shouldn’t be partners with a Gas Killing Anima
  
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• Donald Trump And Russia On Collision Course As Moscow Orders Troops Into Douma

  11-04-2018 13:08
  Donald Trump sends incendiary tweet warning Russia that missiles “will be coming” to Syria in response to chemical attack allegedly carried out by the Assad RegimeRussia condemns threat and announces it will send troops to Douma, where the attack took placeSyria condemns Trump’s “reckless” tweet, Pentagon declines to comment on what Trump’s threat could mean militarilyTheresa May sidesteps question on his tweet but says “continued use of chemical weapons
  
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• What British Voters Can Learn From The USA

  11-04-2018 13:03
  It’s fair to say there’s a lot going on in politics, on both sides of the Pond. Having recently relocated to the UK after decades in the States however, I can confidently say that the UK has a long way to go before reaching the sorry depths of spin, denial and conspiracy theories one sees in the USA. The million dollar question though, is how far down this dark road the UK will venture. Fortunately, there’s a lot Brits can do to prevent that ugly scenario.Be aware of biased jou
  
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• UK Weather Forecast Predicts It Will Be Hotter Than Greece This Weekend

  11-04-2018 13:03
  If the leaden skies and murky damp have left you feeling Spring has been a bit of a cheerless exercise so far, there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon.A breakthrough in the weather will arrive this weekend – making parts of the UK hotter than Greece - though there are a few more dismal days to endure before then.  So far this week has seen the eastern side of the country shrouded under the gloom of a dreary easterly wind, bringing with it mist, low cloud and rain.Though the western
  
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• National Pet Day: People Are Sharing Adorable Photos Of Furry Friends

  11-04-2018 12:54
  For many proud owners, a pet isn’t just an animal, but a fully-fledged member of the family. They keep us active, are great companions and improve our physical and mental health. We don’t need an excuse to celebrate our little (or in some cases, rather large) bundles of joy, but as it’s National Pet Day, we won’t pass up the opportunity either.To mark the day, people on Twitter have been sharing fun and adorable snaps of their furry friends (plus a not-so-furry torto
  
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• The UK Needs The Ivory Ban Now

  11-04-2018 12:51
  The international trade in so called ‘modern ivory’ has been banned since 1989. That makes it illegal to sell any ivory item internationally that is older than from 1947. But, right here in the UK, each and every day hundreds and possibly thousands of ivory items are traded - they can be sold and purchased without a single formal document required to prove their age.Every day people are trading pieces of dead elephant. But not just dead elephants, elephants that were slaughtered spec
  
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• Other Supermarkets Must Follow Iceland And Palm Off Palm Oil

  11-04-2018 12:23
  It is fantastic to see that Iceland has announced that palm oil will be banned from all their own brand products by the end of the year. Having witnessed first-hand the devastating impact the palm oil industry has on wildlife and the environment, this is an extremely positive and welcome step.The supermarket’s pledge only applies to own-brand products, meaning other goods sold may still contain palm oil. But as palm oil can be found in over half of Iceland’s products (including biscu
  
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• Women With PCOS 'More Likely To Experience Depression And Anxiety'

  11-04-2018 12:17
  Women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are more likely to experience mental illnesses including depression and anxiety than women who do not have the condition, new research suggests.PCOS is a common condition affecting around one in five women in the UK. The exact cause of PCOS is unknown, but it is related to abnormal hormone levels in the body, including high levels of insulin and testosterone.Symptoms of PCOS can include abnormality in the woman’s menstrual cycle, l
  
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• Mark Zuckerberg's Personal Fortune Rises $2.7 Billion After His Congress Hearing

  11-04-2018 12:14
  Mark Zuckerberg left yesterday evening’s congressional hearing considerably richer than when he had entered it.According to the latest figures from Bloomberg’s rich list, Zuckerberg’s personal fortune jumped by a staggering $2.7bn during the course of the five-hour questioning by US senators.And despite widespread criticism of the calibre of the questioning Zuckerberg faced, Facebook as a whole saw its best day of shares in almost two years. But it’s not all goo
  
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