Belfast news

• Late-night executive meeting as ministers clash over call for travel ban

  21-12-2020 23:53 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  Stormont executive ministers are holding an emergency late night meeting amid a row over whether a Great Britain travel ban should be introduced.
  
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• EastEnders and Gavin & Stacey make list of top Christmas TV cliffhangers

  21-12-2020 23:50 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  The moment Dirty Den stunned wife Angie with divorce papers on EastEnders has topped a poll of the best Christmas TV cliffhangers.
  
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• Uncertainty over Covid constraints leaves Northern Ireland travellers' plans for family Christmas in tatters

  21-12-2020 23:30 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  Christmas plans by Northern Irish people hoping to travel home to spend time with family lay in tatters on Monday as confusion reigned over travel restrictions across the UK.
  
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• Steve Bruce determined to appease Newcastle fans with Carabao Cup success

  21-12-2020 23:30 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  Steve Bruce will attempt to guide Newcastle to a first cup semi-final in 15 years insisting he never expected to be able to wave a magic wand over the club.
  
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• Mikel Arteta only wants players willing to fight to turn Arsenal’s season around

  21-12-2020 23:30 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has warned anyone not willing to battle to turn things around at the club has no place in his dressing room of fighters.
  
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• Intensive care treatment could be rationed due to Covid-19 cases, warns Dr Tom Black

  21-12-2020 23:30 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  A failure to radically reduce Covid-19 cases in Northern Ireland will result in doctors rationing intensive care treatment, it has emerged.
  
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• Tammy Abraham brace puts icing on Chelsea victory over West Ham

  21-12-2020 23:13 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  A brace from Tammy Abraham after Thiago Silva had starred at both ends of the pitch saw Chelsea return to winning ways with a 3-0 victory over West Ham to move up to fifth in the Premier League.
  
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• Relief: Hugs at Northern Ireland airport as passengers come home amid Great Britain flights ban chaos

  21-12-2020 23:00 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  It should have been one of the busiest days of the year at George Best Belfast City Airport, the terminal awash with families and friends, embracing one another in the arrivals hall as they return home for Christmas.
  
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• Port closure concerns: Northern Ireland business chiefs warn over disruption to supply chains

  21-12-2020 23:00 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  The closure of French ports to outbound UK cargo has raised fears over a similar scenario should the UK crash out of the EU without a trade deal.
  
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• Political sketch.... pupils' portrait gracing Michelle O'Neill's Christmas card

  21-12-2020 23:00 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  Two children whose portrait of Michelle O'Neill was chosen by the Deputy First Minister to be on her official Christmas card for 2020 are "over the Moon".
  
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• Northern Ireland leaders enjoy press briefing with a difference

  21-12-2020 23:00 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  The First and Deputy First Ministers are well used to facing the media at the Covid-19 press conferences, but they took on an even bigger challenge as children all over Northern Ireland put their questions to the pair.
  
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• Co Down principal admits telling pupils to self-isolate was 'horrible'

  21-12-2020 23:00 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  The principal of a Co Down grammar school said having to telephone 17 families to tell their daughters to self-isolate was a "horrible" experience, but one which could have easily been avoided.
  
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• Co Down driver faces years behind bars for role in deaths of 39 people smuggled in lorry

  21-12-2020 23:00 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  An "unscrupulous" gang of people-smugglers are facing years behind bars for their part in the deaths of 39 migrants.
  
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• Royal Mail suspends deliveries to mainland Europe

  21-12-2020 22:58 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  Royal Mail has suspended deliveries to mainland Europe amid transport restrictions due to the mutant coronavirus strain.
  
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• Consular flights being arranged for Irish residents stranded in Britain

  21-12-2020 22:54 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  The Irish Government has announced consular flights are being arranged for Irish residents stranded in Britain following the ban on flights into Ireland.
  
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• Shoppers face queues ‘not seen since March’ despite calls not to panic-buy

  21-12-2020 22:08 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  Supermarket shoppers have reported seeing queues and empty shelves similar to those from the start of the UK’s first coronavirus lockdown.
  
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• Oh yes, it did! The pantomime comes to the streets of Derry

  21-12-2020 22:03 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  Cinderella did go to the ball - oh yes she did! And the leading lady was also among a host of local stars who brought some festive magic to the streets of Londonderry.
  
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• 21 Ulster Scots words and phrases you need in your life - Belfast Live

  21-12-2020 22:02
  
  21 Ulster Scots words and phrases you need in your life  Belfast Live
  
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• Nuno Espirito Santo: I don’t want Lee Mason to referee another Wolves game

  21-12-2020 21:57 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo claimed referee Lee Mason was not good enough for the Premier League after his side’s 2-1 loss at Burnley left them stuck in the bottom half of the table.
  
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• Biden gets Covid vaccine and says ‘it is nothing to worry about’

  21-12-2020 21:51 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  President-elect Joe Biden has received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on live television as part of a growing effort to convince the American public the inoculations are safe.
  
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• Robbie Lawlor Belfast 'assassination' plan involved international drug dealers, court told - Belfast Live

  21-12-2020 21:42
  
  Robbie Lawlor Belfast 'assassination' plan involved international drug dealers, court told  Belfast Live
  
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• Ireland grappling with third coronavirus wave, public health experts warn

  21-12-2020 21:30 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  Ireland is grappling with a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic, the country’s public health experts have warned.
  
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• Ryanair cancels flights from Belfast and Derry in row with UK’s aviation authority - The Irish Times

  21-12-2020 21:05
  
  Ryanair cancels flights from Belfast and Derry in row with UK’s aviation authority  The Irish Times
  
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• Ulster expect to play on without crowds in Belfast - The Irish Times

  21-12-2020 21:01
  
  Ulster expect to play on without crowds in Belfast  The Irish Times
  
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• There will be more smuggled migrant deaths, Irish Road Haulage Association warns

  21-12-2020 20:31 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  There will be more deaths of migrants who are being smuggled in lorry trailers, the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) has warned.
  
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• PM keen on pupils returning to school but measures ‘under constant review’

  21-12-2020 20:19 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  Boris Johnson has said he wants schools in England to reopen as planned at the start of January, but he said measures were being kept “under constant review”.
  
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• Pointless presenter Richard Osman leaving his ‘real job’ after 20 years

  21-12-2020 20:16 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  Pointless presenter Richard Osman has announced he is leaving TV production company Endemol after 20 years.
  
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• Wales to ‘closely monitor’ effects of UK travel ban at ports

  21-12-2020 20:15 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  The Welsh Government has said it will continue to monitor possible disruption at Welsh ports after ferry passengers were banned from leaving the country.
  
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• Johnson tells Brussels UK would prosper with or without a trade deal

  21-12-2020 20:05 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  Boris Johnson continued to take a tough stance with the EU over talks on a post-Brexit trade agreement, insisting the UK would prosper without such a deal.
  
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• Arlene Foster – Closing NI to UK travel would have ‘serious ramifications’

  21-12-2020 20:00 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  Closing Northern Ireland to travellers from the rest of the UK would have serious ramifications, the First Minister said.
  
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• Wider lockdown may be needed to curb mutant coronavirus – Vallance

  21-12-2020 19:59 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  Tougher coronavirus restrictions will be needed across the country with cases of the mutant coronavirus strain appearing “everywhere”, the Government’s chief scientific adviser warned.
  
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• DVLA declares coronavirus outbreak at offices

  21-12-2020 19:51 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  A coronavirus outbreak has been declared at the DVLA’s offices in Swansea, the agency has said.
  
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• Which countries have hit Britain with travel bans over new virus strain?

  21-12-2020 19:43 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  More and more countries around the world are restricting travel from Britain and elsewhere amid concerns about new strains of coronavirus, as their governments analyse test results and try to find ways to protect their populations and hospital systems.
  
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• British Gas engineers to stage five-day strike over pay and conditions

  21-12-2020 19:42 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  British Gas engineers are to stage a five-day strike in the new year in a dispute over pay and conditions.
  
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• University students can still travel back home for Christmas from Tier 4 areas

  21-12-2020 19:28 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  Students in England will still be able to travel home for Christmas – even if they are leaving or returning to a Tier 4 area, the universities minister has said.
  
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• Tommy Hughes threatens world M60 10000m record in Belfast - weekly round-up - AW - Athletics Weekly

  21-12-2020 19:24
  
  Tommy Hughes threatens world M60 10000m record in Belfast - weekly round-up - AW  Athletics Weekly
  
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• Tommy Hughes threatens world M60 10,000m record in Belfast - weekly round-up - Athletics Weekly

  21-12-2020 19:24
  
  Tommy Hughes threatens world M60 10,000m record in Belfast - weekly round-up  Athletics Weekly
  
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• PM: More than half a million people in the UK have received Covid-19 vaccine

  21-12-2020 19:20 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  More than half a million people in the UK have been vaccinated against Covid-19, Boris Johnson said.
  
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• New coronavirus variant could more easily target children, experts suggest

  21-12-2020 19:19 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  The mutated coronavirus strain could more easily infect children, scientists have said.
  
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• New coronavirus variant could more easily infect children, experts suggest

  21-12-2020 19:19 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  The mutated coronavirus strain could more easily infect children, scientists have said.
  
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• PSNI officers involved in drunken gun incident at party given suspended sentences

  21-12-2020 19:12 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  Two police officers who were heavily intoxicated when one fired the other's gun at a party are not fit to be in the PSNI, a judge said on Monday.
  
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• Equity markets dive into red as virus fears hit travel and retail stocks

  21-12-2020 19:02 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  London’s equity markets dived deep into the red as traders were spooked by concerns over the rapid spread of the new coronavirus mutation.
  
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• EU approves Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine

  21-12-2020 18:42 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  The European Union has given official approval for the coronavirus vaccine developed by BioNTech and Pfizer to be put on to the market across the 27-nation bloc.
  
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• More than 500,000 people have received Covid jab, PM says amid Channel woes

  21-12-2020 18:34 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  More than half-a-million people in the UK have been vaccinated against Covid-19, Boris Johnson said, as he moved to soothe concerns the country risked being effectively cut off from parts of Europe and beyond following the discovery of a new strain of coronavirus.
  
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• McDonald's: Plans submitted for new two-storey drive-thru in South Belfast - Belfast Live

  21-12-2020 18:25
  
  McDonald's: Plans submitted for new two-storey drive-thru in South Belfast  Belfast Live
  
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• Health chiefs urge travellers from Tier 4 areas to self isolate

  21-12-2020 18:13 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  Health chiefs have urged anyone who travelled to regions from Tier 4 areas or Wales to self isolate, turn away Christmas Day visitors and “assume” they have the new Covid-19 variant.
  
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• Navalny releases recording of call to his alleged poisoner

  21-12-2020 18:08 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has released a recording of a phone call he said he made to an alleged state security operative who revealed details of how the politician was supposedly poisoned.
  
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• Gardai order first immediate closure of pub in North West

  21-12-2020 17:59 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  Gardai in the North West issued the force’s first immediate closure order on a pub under the coronavirus regulations.
  
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• US charges ‘third conspirator’ over Lockerbie bombing

  21-12-2020 17:56 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  The US has charged a “third conspirator” in connection with the Lockerbie bombing, on the 32nd anniversary of the atrocity, US Attorney General William Barr has announced.
  
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• Chris Wilder sees positives for Sheffield United in survival fight

  21-12-2020 17:51 via belfasttelegraph.co.uk
  
  Chris Wilder insists winless Sheffield United have some “light at the end of the tunnel” in their uphill battle to beat the drop.
  
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