General news

• Apple reveals its Spotify rival

  08-06-2015 22:18 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Apple reveals a new music streaming service and reveals that its Apple Pay digital wallet system will launch in the UK in July.
  
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• Gorton and Denton byelection: Polanski says Greens best party to defeat Reform after Hannah Spencer wins – UK politics live

  27-02-2026 09:29 via theguardian.com
  Reform UK finished second and Labour is pushed into third place in bad news for PM Keir Starmer Full story: Resounding victory for Green partyReform activists are “hearing Matt Goodwin has all but conceded defeat to the Greens”, the UK poll aggregator Britain Elects has posted on X.The Green party has predicted a “seismic moment” in UK politics, with a party source telling the Press Association:Things are feeling positive. Not wanting to get ahead of ourselves, but everyt
  
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• Netflix walks away from Warner Bros deal, paving way for Paramount victory

  27-02-2026 09:13 via theguardian.com
  Streaming service says ‘deal no longer financially attractive’ at price required to match Paramount Skydance offerBusiness live– latest updatesNetflix has walked away from its planned takeover of Warner Bros Discovery, declining to raise its offer for the media conglomerate’s storied Hollywood studios and streaming business after it determined a sweetened rival offer from Paramount Skydance to be “superior”.In a statement on Thursday evening, Netflix co-chief
  
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• Former NSW MP Rory Amon tells court 13-year-old boy said he was 17 before alleged sexual abuse

  27-02-2026 09:13 via theguardian.com
  Former state Liberal MP begins his evidence after pleading not guilty to 10 charges for various sexual actsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA former state Liberal MP accused of having sex with a 13-year-old boy in a car park toilet has claimed in court the boy told him he was 17 .Rory Amon, 36, began his evidence in his New South Wales supreme court trial after pleading not guilty to 10 charges for various sexual acts against the young teen in 2017. Continue reading...
  
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• Labour’s worst fears realised by Greens’ victory in Gorton and Denton byelection

  27-02-2026 08:42 via theguardian.com
  Result gives progressive voters clear signal they have an alternative to beating Reform UK – and shows the task ahead for Keir Starmer UK politics live – latest updatesLabour MPs have said for weeks that the outcome they most feared at the Gorton and Denton byelection was a Green party victory.On Friday morning, their worst fears were realised. Continue reading...
  
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• Liberal party executive agrees to permanently bury review into catastrophic 2025 election defeat

  27-02-2026 08:24 via theguardian.com
  Party says ‘what’s important now is that we strengthen our party for the future’ but some MPs concerned they will not learn from lossGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA review of the Liberal party’s catastrophic election defeat will be buried in a move that shields the former leader Peter Dutton and the current leader, Angus Taylor, from potentially damaging findings about their role in the campaign.The Liberal federal executive met on Friday and
  
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• NSW government denies ‘covering up’ deadly fungal outbreak at major hospital

  27-02-2026 08:12 via theguardian.com
  Health minister says cluster of infections at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred hospital was not publicised to avoid ‘unnecessarily scaring people’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe New South Wales health minister has denied “covering up” a deadly fungal outbreak at one of Australia’s largest hospitals, saying it was not publicised to avoid “unnecessarily scaring people”.The cluster of infections caused by aspergillus, a comm
  
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• Switching energy deal can save £200 as price cap falls, say experts

  27-02-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Households on a default dual-fuel tariff in Great Britain could cut costs by moving to a fixed dealExperts have told households whose energy bills are pegged to the price cap not to “rest on their laurels” as they could save more than £200 a year on a fixed deal.This week, Ofgem said the price cap in Great Britain would drop by 7% from April. This usually only matters if you are on a default tariff, but this time the reduction applies to everyone because the government is
  
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• Rising anger over ‘lop-sided’ and ‘immoral’ US health funding pacts with African countries

  27-02-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Zimbabwe refuses to sign agreement and Kenya faces a court case over data sharing as new aid deals come under scrutinyA series of bilateral health agreements being negotiated between African countries and the administration of President Donald Trump have been labelled “clearly lop-sided” and “immoral” amid growing outrage at US demands, including countries being forced to share biological resources and data.It emerged this week that Zimbabwe had halted negotiations with t
  
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• SA braces for ‘highly unpredictable’ weather as Sydney commuters urged ‘take care’ – as it happened

  27-02-2026 07:50 via theguardian.com
  This blog is now closedNegative gearing changes on the table before May budget, Jim Chalmers confirmsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastSarah Mitchell, the NSW shadow minister for health, said revelations two people had died after an outbreak of fungal infections at a major Sydney hospital were “shocking”, calling for more transparency from the Minns government.As reported yesterday, the Sydney local health district said the two deaths and four other infection
  
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• Friday briefing: Is the result in Gorton and Denton a sign of things to come?

  27-02-2026 07:45 via theguardian.com
  In today’s newsletter: ​This byelection has long been mooted as a foreshadowing of upcoming elections in Wales, Scotland and eventually the whole of the UKGood morning. Hannah Spencer is the new MP for Gorton and Denton after the Green party’s first ever parliamentary byelection victory. In a bitter blow to Keir Starmer, Labour were pushed into third place in a constituency the party has represented for nearly a century. Reform’s Matt Goodwin came second, as Nigel Farage
  
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• Burgertory founder’s chant about Zionists at pro-Palestine rally incited hatred against Jews, tribunal rules

  27-02-2026 07:31 via theguardian.com
  Hash Tayeh flags appeal to Victorian civil and administrative tribunal finding over phrase used at Melbourne rally last yearFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA prominent pro-Palestine protester racially and religiously vilified Jewish people when he chanted “All Zionists are terrorists” at a Melbourne rally, a Victorian tribunal has ruled.Hash Tayeh, who has flagged an appeal to Thursday’s ruling, wa
  
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• Firefighters in Sicily rescue 400 rare library books from precipice after landslide

  27-02-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Landslide in Niscemi in January tore away entire slope of town and carved 4km chasmFirefighters in Sicily have rescued about 400 rare books from a library in Niscemi that hangs on the edge of a mudflow, after a devastating landslide in January tore away an entire slope of the town and carved a 4km chasm.The library stands on the lip of the precipice gouged out by the landslide, with part of the building in effect hanging in mid-air. The recovery operation, which began on Monday, was preceded by
  
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• North Korea’s ‘most beloved’ child: what the key congress revealed about Kim Jong-un’s succession plans

  27-02-2026 06:53 via theguardian.com
  Many observers believe North Korean leader has decided daughter Kim Ju-ae will succeed him, but others say gender politics could block her path to powerWhen North Korea’s ruling party held a top-level meeting this month there were predictable boasts of unstoppable nuclear development and, more unexpectedly, a suggestion by Kim Jong-un that his country and the US “could get along” – provided that Washington recognised North Korea as a legitimate nuclear power.But for many
  
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• ‘A living, moving exhibition’: Ukraine Museum opens in Berlin air-raid bunker

  27-02-2026 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Exhibits pay homage to Ukrainians’ resilience and bring home the reality that war is going on in EuropeDescending into the windowless basement of a second world war air-raid bunker built for civilians in central Berlin is arguably an eerie enough evocation of what it means to endure life in a conflict.But in a modern twist, before they have even walked into the first room of the city’s new Ukraine Museum inside the bunker, visitors are “targeted” by a Russian drone just b
  
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• Green party wins Gorton and Denton byelection, pushing Labour to third place in blow to Keir Starmer

  27-02-2026 05:32 via theguardian.com
  Hannah Spencer elected as party’s first MP in northern England, as Labour sees a 25.3% drop in vote compared to 2024Follow our UK politics live blogThe Green party has pulled off a landmark victory in the Gorton and Denton byelection in a significant blow to Keir Starmer.Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and Green party councillor, was elected as the party’s first MP in northern England after overturning Labour’s 13,000-vote majority. Continue reading...
  
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• Pakistan bombs Kabul after intensifying border clashes with Afghanistan

  27-02-2026 04:23 via theguardian.com
  Escalation of violence between the volatile neighbours makes a Qatar-mediated ceasefire appear increasingly shakyPakistan bombed Afghanistan’s capital of Kabul and two other provinces on Friday, hours after a cross-border attack, the latest escalation of deadly violence between the volatile neighbours who signed a Qatar-mediated ceasefire in 2025.Following months of tit-for-tat clashes, Afghan forces attacked Pakistani border troops on Thursday night in what the Taliban government said was
  
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• Hillary Clinton says she answered every question in Epstein testimony and confirms Republican asked about UFOs and Pizzagate – as it happened

  27-02-2026 03:58 via theguardian.com
  This live blog is now closed.Trump news at a glance: No deal reached in Iran talks as potential for US attack loomsSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox
  Cindy McCain announced today that she will step down from her role as executive director of the United Nations World Food Programme to focus on her health.McCain, the widow of the late US senator John McCain, suffered a mild stroke last October and had returned to Italy to resume her work after that, but t
  
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• Burger King's new AI agent will listen to orders and 'coach' workers on being 'hospitable'

  27-02-2026 03:58 via nbcnews.com
  
  Burger King's new AI chatbot will live inside employees’ headsets in an effort to measure "friendliness" at the fast-food restaurants.
  
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• Unions privately urge Chuck Schumer, Democratic leaders to stay out of Maine Senate primary

  27-02-2026 03:33 via nbcnews.com
  
  Union leaders in recent days have urged Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N
  
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• Bobby J. Brown, actor who played officer in 'The Wire,' dies at 62

  27-02-2026 03:28 via nbcnews.com
  
  Actor Bobby J. Brown, who played a Baltimore city police officer of the same name in the hit HBO series “The Wire," has died, his representative confirmed Thursday
  
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• Ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro asks judge to toss indictment

  27-02-2026 03:24 via nbcnews.com
  
  An attorney for deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro asked a federal judge on Thursday to toss out the indictment filed against his client.
  
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• FBI has gathered thousands of hours of video in Nancy Guthrie investigation, official says

  27-02-2026 03:04 via nbcnews.com
  
  The FBI has amassed as many as 10,000 hours of video in the investigation into the disappearance and possible abduction of Nancy Guthrie, an FBI official said Thursday
  
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• Texas airspace closed after military reportedly downs US drone on accident

  27-02-2026 02:49 via theguardian.com
  Federal Aviation Administration bars flights around Fort Hancock after reported use of anti-drone military laserThe Federal Aviation Administration barred flights on Thursday in an area around Fort Hancock, Texas, after congressional aides told Reuters a military laser-based anti-drone system was believed to have accidentally shot down a US government drone.The FAA and Pentagon did not immediately comment but the FAA cited “special security reasons” in its notice about the restrictio
  
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• Woman at heart of US trial says she was addicted to social media at age six

  27-02-2026 02:14 via theguardian.com
  Lead plaintiff, now 20, says use of social media made her relationships with friends and family anxious and strained The young woman at the heart of the landmark trial about the addictive nature of social media testified for the first time on Thursday, saying she got hooked on YouTube starting at age six and Instagram at nine. By the time she was 10, she said, she had become depressed and was engaging in self-harm.The woman, who is now 20 and known by her initials KGM, is the lead plaintiff in a
  
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• Boss of theatre hosting Chinese dance group Shen Yun in Sydney won’t be intimidated by ‘outrageous’ threats

  27-02-2026 02:00 via theguardian.com
  Graeme Kearns, chief executive of Foundation Theatres, says: ‘Our job in theatre is to absolutely defend the right to tell stories about culture’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe head of the theatre hosting the Shen Yun dance troupe in Sydney says the company would not be intimidated to pull the shows by any “outrageous” anonymous threats and that the publicity had increased interest in the
  
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• Plaintiff in landmark social media trial testifies that apps affected her 'self-worth'

  27-02-2026 01:49 via nbcnews.com
  
  Now 20 years old, the plaintiff — identified in court documents by her initials "K.G.M." — detailed how her social media use “really affected my self worth.”
  
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• Burger King cooks up AI chatbot to spot if employees say ‘please’ and ‘thank you’

  27-02-2026 01:23 via theguardian.com
  OpenAI-powered assistant will help to ‘understand overall service patterns’, company says, as move sparks backlashFrom hospitality workers to retail employees, the exaggerated “customer service voice”, often mocked in internet memes as wildly different from someone’s real voice, has long been a cultural trope. Fast-food giant Burger King is now taking that voice one step further, saying it will detect whether employees are using words like “please” and &
  
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• American citizen among victims in Cuba boat shooting, U.S. officials say

  27-02-2026 01:12 via nbcnews.com
  According to two U.S. officials, at least one U.S. citizen was killed and another injured after a 24-foot boat allegedly exchanged gunfire with Cuban border patrol. NBC News’ Jose Diaz-Balart reports.
  
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• Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton testifies in Epstein investigation

  27-02-2026 01:10 via nbcnews.com
  Hillary Clinton said she told lawmakers that she did not know Jeffrey Epstein, and never went to his home or his island. The Clintons have repeatedly denied wrongdoing and have not been accused of any crimes related to Epstein. NBC News’ Ryan Nobles reports.
  
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