Bbc

Single Market Benefit 'largely Imaginary

... rules and regulations apply across the area. There are EU-wide regulations covering a whole host of industries and products on everything from food standards and the use of chemicals to working hours and health and safety. For goods, the single market was largely completed in 1992, but the market for services remains a work in progress a quarter of a century later. What are the trade options after Brexit. "The evidence shows that the disadvantages of non-membership of the EU and single market have been vastly exaggerated and that the supposed benefits of membership, whether for exports of goods and services, for productivity, for worldwide trade, or for employment, are largely imaginary," the study said. "The government appears to have decided to leave the single market on the basis that we should return full control of UK laws to the UK, but trade data also offers strong support for the decision and provides comfort for those worried about relying on WTO rules if no deal emerges," it added. Mr Burrage ...

Ukraine Bars Russian Singer Samoilova From Contest

... to come unless organisers intervene to resolve this. Some suspect this is precisely what Moscow wanted when it chose Julia Samoilova, knowing that she had travelled to Crimea. Adding to the howls of outrage here is the fact that the singer being banned has used a wheelchair from childhood and this year the slogan for Eurovision is celebrating diversity. Russia and Ukraine have been at loggerheads since the annexation of Crimea and subsequent fighting in east Ukraine, which Moscow is accused of stoking. Ukraine is hosting the competition after its singer, Jamala, caused an upset by winning in Sweden last year. Her song, 1944, was about Joseph Stalin's mass deportation of the Crimean Tatars during World War Two. The Security Service of Ukraine has blacklisted at least 140 other Russian artists. It said earlier it would verify information about Samoilova's visit to Crimea and take a decision. Responding to the ban, Russian state TV's Channel One, which broadcasts Eurovision, said ...

Nicola Sturgeon Sees 'sense Of Solidarity' With London After Attack

... time. A vote had been due to be held at 17:30, but politicians including Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson called for the session to be suspended. Image caption The London attack is currently being treated as a terrorist incident. Image copyright PA. Image caption Politicians and staff immediately left the chamber once the debate had been suspended. Parliament officials initially ruled that the debate should continue as planned, before Mr Macintosh decided that it should be halted. The presiding officer said: "The fact that our sister parliament has had a serious incident is affecting this particular debate, and is affecting the contribution of members. And so it is for that reason we are deciding to suspend the sitting. "We will resume this debate and we will be able to do so in a full and frank manner, but I think to continue at the moment would not allow members to make their contributions in the manner they wish to.". A ...

Google Advertising Row Spreads To Us Brands

... as it seeks to reassure brands their ad spend is not funding hate groups. According to The Times, Verizon’s advertisements were appearing along side videos made by Wagdi Ghoneim, an Egyptian cleric who had been banned from the US over extremism, and Hanif Qureshi, whose teachings inspired the assassination of a Pakistani politician. Raising the bar. “We are deeply concerned that our ads may have appeared alongside You Tube content promoting terrorism and hate,” AT&T said in a statement on Wednesday. "Until Google can ensure this won’t happen again, we are removing our ads from Google’s non-search platforms.”. The UK-based investigation led more than 250 brands to pull their advertising. In a blog post published on Monday , Google’s chief business officer Philipp Schindler announced the company was expanding its policies on hate speech to include videos targeting vulnerable groups. In response to the latest ...

Five Dead In Westminster Terror Attack

... two knives lie on the floor. By Dominic Casciani, home affairs correspondent. The carnage on Westminster Bridge and inside the grounds of Parliament is the attack that security chiefs here in the UK have long been preparing for. Terrorism looks not just to kill and maim - but to create panic and such a sense of disorder that it rocks a city or nation to its foundations. And this attacker sought to do so in as low-tech way as is possible. The days when terrorism meant large, complex bombs and months of planning are gone: Western security agencies - particularly MI 5 and its partner agencies - are very, very good at identifying those plots and disrupting them. The longer it takes to plan such an attack, the more people who are involved, the more chances there will be for security services to learn what is going on. Read more from Dom. Eyewitness Rick Longley said: "We were just walking up to the station and there was a loud bang and a guy, someone, crashed a car and took some ...

High Stakes For Trump On Healthcare Vote

... Will Trump seal the healthcare deal. It's time for Donald Trump, the man who bills himself as the consummate dealmaker, to flex his negotiating muscle - or else. The American Healthcare Act, which rolls back portions of the Obamacare health-insurance reforms, is scheduled for a vote in the House of Representatives on Thursday, and at the moment it's far from certain that there are the 215 votes necessary for passage. According to the latest media reports on vote counts, there are 29 Republicans currently in the "no" column. Assuming all the Democratic lawmakers present stick together - which seems fairly certain at this point - it would only take 23 Republican defections to sink the bill. On Tuesday morning the president was on Capitol Hill, to make his final push to rally support for the bill. He reportedly told Republican lawmakers that a loss was "not acceptable" and went with a traditional ...

Man Arrested Over Girl's 1970 Disappearance

... in the 1970 s. Image copyright NSW Police. Image caption Cheryl with her late father, Vince Grimmer. Moments later, Ricki ran back and reported Cheryl would not emerge from the girls' change room. She was never seen again. "She was gone in just a minute or two," Ricki Grimmer said last year. "It's something I still live with every day.". The family had only recently emigrated from England. Cheryl's parents have since died, never knowing what happened. How did police make the arrest. Cheryl's disappearance sparked a massive search at the time, but it failed to provide a breakthrough. Last year, detectives re-examined the case and revealed they had a new clue. Three witnesses had said they saw a teenager "loitering" near the scene. On Wednesday, detectives held a man in custody after he went to a ...

Uk Flight Ban On Electronic Devices Announced

... travel editor of the Independent, told the BBC the ban would particularly affect passengers who booked cheaper, hand luggage-only tickets, but would now have to pay to check a bag in. He added that about 1,000 UK-bound passengers used Turkish Airlines every day to fly from long-haul destinations and would also be affected as their planes were routed via Istanbul. While the US government cited unspecified "threats" in its announcement, the prime minister's official spokesman declined to discuss whether the new rules were prompted by specific intelligence. Media caption Why are gadgets banned but mobiles ok? Daniel Sandford explains. The US ban applies to flights from 10 airports in eight countries. Nine airlines are affected - Royal Jordanian, Egypt Air, Turkish Airlines, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Kuwait Airways, Royal Air Maroc, Qatar Airways, Emirates and Etihad Airways. Asked why the US ban differed from the UK, Theresa May's spokesman said: "We have each taken our own decisions.". A sign of mounting concern. Image copyright Getty Images. By Frank Gardner, BBC security ...