Category: news

Corrie’s Betty on how bullying set her on path to fame

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A new digital TV network for Scotland should be funded by the television licence fee, a panel of media experts have said.

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Caroline Wozniacki and Roger Federer are among the players in last-16 action at the Australian Open.

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The BBC apologises after Japan’s embassy complained over jokes broadcast on an episode of comedy quiz show QI about the atomic bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

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Tunisians step up calls for interim Prime Minister Mohamed Ghannouchi to resign because of his links to the Ben Ali regime.

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The chairman of the commission looking at Britain’s banking sector indicates changes are likely.

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Scottish aid worker Linda Norgrove, who died in Afghanistan, is announced as the winner of the 2011 Robert Burns Humanitarian Award.

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A key ally of Ivory Coast’s disputed leader Laurent Gbagbo resigns as head of the Central Bank of West African States amid regional pressure.

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A man has been charged with murdering landscape architect Jo Yeates.

An Avon and Somerset Police spokesman said 32-year-old Vincent Tabak, who was arrested on Thursday, will appear at Bristol Magistrates Court on Monday.

Miss Yeates, 25, was found dead on Christmas Day, eight days after going missing from her home in the Clifton area of Bristol.

Her body was found next to a country road in Failand, three miles from where she lived.

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Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi says he will not quit over allegations of using an under-age prostitute and accuses magistrates of spying on him.

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A man has been charged with the murder of a 15-year-old boy who was stabbed to death in Tottenham, north London.

Serif Aslan, 33, of Phillip Lane, Tottenham, is accused of murdering Kasey Gordon who died at the scene in West Green Road on Thursday afternoon.

Three other teenagers also suffered stab wounds in the incident outside a parade of shops.

The boys, two aged 14 and one aged 16, were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

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Irish PM Brian Cowen has said he is stepping down as leader of the ruling Fianna Fail party but will continue to run the government until the general election on 11 March.

Mr Cowen told a news conference in Dublin that the focus of the election should be policy and not personality.

He won a secret ballot on his leadership on Tuesday but has since faced renewed pressure.

Mr Cowen has seen his ratings plummet amid Ireland’s economic crisis

Its economy was given a bail-out package by the EU and IMF last year.

Mr Cowen said he had “deep affection” for the men and women who worked for Fianna Fail and wanted it to be in the best possible position to fight the election campaign.

“At this crucial time the focus should be on policies of parties and not on personalities,” he said.

Mr Cowen said that following Tuesday’s secret ballot, “renewed criticism had deflected attention” and it was therefore right for him to step down as party leader.

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A 15-year-old boy killed in a fight in north London died from bleeding caused by a single stab wound, post-mortem tests show.

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Axed aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal will be given a final send-off later.

A decommissioning parade will take place in Portsmouth to mark the passing of the fleet flagship, which will be scrapped as part of government cuts.

About 250 sailors will take part to celebrate the affiliation between the warship and its home port at 1120 GMT.

The warship will be replaced by the Queen Elizabeth class of aircraft carrier, which will not come into service until the end of the decade.

Council leader Gerald Vernon-Jackson said the vessel had a “very special” place in the hearts of the people of the city.

“It’s only right to mark the passing of such a great ship,” he added.

The parade is due to take place in Guildhall Square, followed by a reception.

The aircraft carrier’s Commanding Officer Captain Jerry Kyd will also give a speech and present the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth with a ship’s white ensign.

Visitors will also be allowed on board over the weekend.

Capt Kyd said: “The strong association that Ark Royal has maintained throughout the last 25 years with the city of Portsmouth is immensely important.

“It is a real pleasure to be able to mark these links with a parade through the city, reception in the Guildhall and take the opportunity to open my ship to the public for the final time over the weekend.”

This version is the fifth Ark Royal. The first saw battle in 1588 and smashed the Spanish Armada.

During its busy life the ship clocked up 621,551 nautical miles and made her final entry to Portsmouth on December 3 following a farewell tour.

The decision to decommission the Ark Royal three years early and also cut the Harrier force has been criticised by several retired Royal Navy admirals including Admiral Lord West of Spithead, who said losing the ship in “such dangerous times” was “short-sighted”.

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Talks between Iran and Western powers continue, amid doubts over whether there will be any discussion of Iran’s nuclear programme.

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