2014-12-30 U.K. Spotlight

BBC News   

London Irish 24-9 London Welsh   
BBC News
London Irish earned their first win in the Premiership since September as they beat fellow strugglers London Welsh. Tries from Alex Lewington, Geoff Cross and Tom Court sealed the victory, with Welsh's Tom May and Irish's Dan Leo sent off in the first half.

and more »   

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Financial Times   

Religious conversion debate divides India   
Financial Times
India's progressive constitution, written by the western-educated lawyer Bhimrao Ambedkar and adopted in 1949, guarantees “freedom of conscience” and the right to “free profession, practice and propagation” of religion — enshrining protection for adherents ...

2014-12-30 U.K. Health

CBC.ca   

Ebola outbreak: Scotland confirms its 1st case   
CBC.ca
A health-care worker has been diagnosed with Ebola and is receiving treatment in Glasgow, the Scottish government confirmed on Monday. In a news release, the government said that "the risk to others is considered extremely low" because the patient was ...

2014-12-30 U.K. Science

CITY A.M.   

UK properties: Environment Agency warns 7000 houses could be lost on ...   
CITY A.M.
As many as 7,000 properties on the English and Welsh coastlines could be lost in the next hundred years, according to the Environment Agency. The government body warns that the rising sea level – a product of climate change – will erode the coast and ...

2014-12-30 U.K. Sports

Belfast Telegraph   

Liverpool 4-1 Swansea: Adam Lallana scores two as Brendan Rodgers' men ...   
Belfast Telegraph
Midfielder Adam Lallana scored twice as Liverpool finally rediscovered their goalscoring form as they beat Swansea 4-1 at Anfield. Also in this Section. Brendan Rodgers: Raheem Sterling strikes it rich · [TICON-A VIDEO] Burnley 0 - 1 Liverpool: Liverpool ...

2014-12-30 U.K. Entertainment

NME.com   

These dads dancing to Uptown Funk will make your day peak   
Metro
Back to work blues? Let these dads rocking out to Mark Ronson's Uptown Funk cheer you up. Dad dancing usually makes us cringe harder than that time Rita Ora tried to get 100k people to like her tweet and failed embarrassingly, but TastefullyOffensive.com ...

2014-12-30 U.K. Technology

USA TODAY   

China Adds New Barrier To Gmail   
New York Times
BEIJING — The Chinese government appears to have blocked the ability of people in China to gain access to Google's email service through third-party email services like Apple Mail or Microsoft Outlook, which many Chinese and foreigners had been relying ...

2014-12-30 U.K. Business

New York Times   

Europe Braces for Economic Fallout as Greece Heads to Early Elections   
New York Times
ATHENS — Governments and investors across Europe braced for renewed economic upheaval on Monday after the Parliament in Greece failed to avert an early general election, reviving the toxic debate over austerity as the way to cure the Continent's ...

2014-12-30 U.K. U.K.

Belfast Telegraph   

Letwin pushed for poll tax go-ahead   
Belfast Telegraph
Tory policy chief Oliver Letwin urged Margaret Thatcher to press ahead with the "poll tax" in the face of warnings from leading ministers that it would be politically "catastrophic", according to newly-released government files.
Secret papers reveal push to 'trailblaze' poll tax in Scotland   BBC News
Thatcher government 'did use Scots as guinea pigs for the Poll Tax'   Herald Scotland
Archives 1985 & 1986: Nigel Lawson warned of poll tax catastrophe   Financial Times
Mirror.co.uk   
all 32 news articles »   

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The Independent   

Margaret Thatcher secret papers: PM nearly rearmed Britain with chemical ...   
The Independent
Margaret Thatcher considered re-equipping Britain with chemical weapons at a cost of up to £200m after she was presented with evidence that the Soviet Union was developing a new poison capable of overwhelming Nato forces. Top-secret documents ...

2014-12-30 U.K. World

Voice of America   

Rescuers Expand Search for Missing AirAsia Jet   
Voice of America
The search for the missing AirAsia jet has resumed off Indonesia with officials believing the airliner may be at the bottom of the Java Sea. But Indonesian search-and-rescue officials say they will expand their efforts to include land, hoping the plane may be on ...