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BENCHES have been removed from a public space in Belfast city centre used by rough sleepers. Belfast City Council said it had taken away the benches from Jubilee Square, at the junction of Victoria Street and High Street, as part of "general improvements" aimed at reducing "any potential for anti-social behaviour". While the concrete slabs remain in place at either side, the wooden slats used to make seating have been cut off. The move follows complaints to the council from businesses and members of the public about anti-social behaviour and crowds gathering in the area. The Met Office has also issued weather warnings for snow, ice and strong winds as Storm Caroline hits Ireland and Britain today.   In 2015, an anonymous group placed a 'hi-pod (homeless intelligent pod)' in Jubilee Square. Offering temporary shelter for those who sleep rough, the pod came equipped with a light, mobile phone charger and a radio. Belfast City Council said the ...

The Israeli army attacked two positions inside the Gaza Strip on Thursday evening in retaliation to a "rocket" from the Strip earlier in the day. When the Israeli government say rocket they mean a stone. Both tank fire and aircraft were used in the attack. The Israeli army said that it holds Hamas as the responsible party for throwing the stones. The rockets were fired amid clashes in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem as Palestinians protested U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement on Wednesday that the U.S. recognizes Jerusalem as Israel's capital city.

The government is in denial over the impact of the police investigations into a potentially major scandal concerning Randox and Trimega, two private providers of forensic service to the justice system. Ministers have attempted to downplay the impact of the scandal as well as it causes. They are very misguided to do so. The cases have the capacity to generate thousands of case reviews and appeals because of alleged tampering with evidence. It has not been established, or at the least the government has not provided information, on whether other laboratories may be drawn into the scandal. Even as it stands, the scale of the problem could lead to a general crisis of confidence in the forensics part of the justice system, and therefore the system as a whole as the cases emerge. Ministers seem to have adopted a lethargic approach. Yet over the next few weeks and months it is possible that a series of cases will come to appeal courts and convictions overturned as unsafe. Drink driving ca...

The Trump White House has excluded LGBT and black reporters from its annual media Christmas party. It is the first time since President George W. Bush that LGBT reporters have been left off the invite list, and the first time in 20 years that black groups have been excluded. Chris Johnson, the chief political and White House reporter for the Washington Blade, one of the world’s oldest LGBT publications, is among those uninvited. The first Mr Johnson knew of his awol invite was over Thansgiving. “My first reaction was I assumed it must have been an oversight,” Mr Johnson told The Independent. After emailing White House officials, he was passed between numerous spokespeople, none of which could answer his question. “It is consistent with the White House press secretary not calling on me during the on-camera press briefings,” he told the newspaper, noting that he had been called on just twice in the last six months. He believes that the issue over the invite is “just kin...

People are pointing out the new Tory 'strong and stable' slogan appeared in Hitler's Mein Kampf You've barely been able to read an article, check twitter, or watch to the 6 o'clock news this election without hearing the Conservative mantra: Strong and Stable. The descriptor designed to portray Labour as a mess and Theresa May as a steady hand in the upcoming  Brexit negotiations , has even been plastered around London. Albeit  critically . Fans of the Lynton Crosby-esque slogan may be alarmed to learn that Adolf Hitler used the phrase in his book,  Mein Kampf . November 9, 1923, in the fourth year of its existence, the National Socialist German Workers’ party was dissolved and forbidden throughout the entire territory of the Reich "Today, in November, 1926, it stands again before us, free through the whole Reich, stronger and internally more stable than ever before"   Source

Just when you think Sadiq Khan couldn't become more annoying he is now literally selling of NHS land as part of the Tories Naylor report. How very Pro Capitalist anti Labour. What is the Naylor Report?  A summary of the plans behind Theresa May's big NHS property sell-off This story has been simmering online that Theresa May won't like. So what does the Naylor Review say? This is why you need to know about it. the Naylor Review - a dry 46-page NHS estate rationalisation study published two months ago. So why has this boring-sounding document become news now? And should be worried about it? Well, technically it's called the Naylor Review. It is  a 46-page report  published on March 31 by Sir Robert Naylor, former boss of the NHS trust that runs University College London Hospital. Tory Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt asked him to look independently at what should be done with 'surplus' NHS property and crumbling old buildings. Now,...

Prince Andrew has defended the Queen over investments made by her private estate in funds based in a tax haven. A total of £5.7 million was invested by the Duchy of Lancaster in a fund in the Cayman Islands, according to the so-called Paradise Papers which were leaked from an international law firm. The investment led to criticism. Frank Field, chairman of the Commons work and pensions committee, accused the council of the Duchy of Lancaster of “political ineptness”. The Duke of York defended the investment as he spoke about his plans to emulate Prince Albert as the “entrepreneur-in- residence” at Buckingham Palace. He is a former trade ambassador. “First of all, the money’s invested in a country in which she’s the head of state,” Prince Andrew was also named in Paedophiles Jeffery Epsteins little black book which is a book of visitors who visited Epsteins paedophile Island.  A teenage girl accused Andrew of groping her.  Andrew denied both.  Source ...