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The UK's Deputy Prime Minister blamed the chaos over parliament's ceasefire vote this week on "Islamic extremists", as he declined to describe Lee Anderson's comments as "Islamophobic".
Oliver Dowden said “Islamic extremists” had threatened MPs over their stance on Gaza, stifling debate in parliament.
The ceasefire debate on Wednesday descended into chaos after Speaker Lindsay Hoyle agreed to Labour’s amendments to the motion tabled by the Scottish National Party, with Conservative and SNP MPs walking out.
“I never thought that in my lifetime, I would see a situation where what is happening in the House of Commons is influenced by the threat of violence,” he told the BBC on Sunday.
“These threats of intimidation are often coming from Islamic extremists and we shouldn’t be shy of calling that out."
These threats were “being used to intimidate Jews in this country and are being used to intimidate a debate that is going on in our parliament", he said.
His remarks came as former Conservative deputy chairman Lee Anderson was suspended from the party on Saturday after refusing to apologise for his suggestion that London Mayor Sadiq Khan was controlled by "Islamists".
Mr Dowden declined to say whether he considered Mr Anderson's remarks to be Islamophobic.
Instead, he said he did not believe that Mr Anderson, the former deputy chairman of the Conservative party, was "intending" to be Islamophobic.
He defended former home secretary Suella Braverman, who recently claimed the UK is "sleepwalking into a ghettoised society" with "Islamists" in charge.
Asked if Mr Anderson would have kept the whip if he had apologised, Mr Dowden said: "Yes."
Mr Anderson’s remarks drew widespread criticism from figures including business minster Nus Ghani and senior Conservative politician Sajid Javid.
The Prime Minister has not yet commented publicly on the remarks, and Mr Khan has said his "silence" amounts to "tacit endorsement" of Islamophobia.
Labour's Nandy warn of 'dangerous' streak within Conservative party
On Sunday Lisa Nandy, Labour MP for Wigan and shadow secretary for international development, warned of a “dangerous” streak within the Conservative party, whose members were “spouting conspiracy theories.”
“What’s going on in the Conservative party is dangerous and is bigger than Lee Anderson," Ms Nandy told Sky News.
Alongside Mr Anderson and Mrs Braverman, she accused Liz Truss, who was perceived to have endorsed convicted criminal and far-right leader Tommy Robinson in an interview this week, of having "repeatedly sought to stoke hate and division, spouting conspiracy theories that are normally confined to the sort of thing that we see online".
Threats to MPs were coming from “multiple directions”, Ms Nandy added, without naming any group in particular.
“Our political debate has become one that is very angry. Social media grants a great deal of anonymity,” she said.
"What we've seen happening on the streets of Britain, the rise in Islamophobia and anti-Semitism is also reflected in anger towards MPs," she said.
“We’ve had it in the last few months from people who purport to stand for Israel and purport to stand for Palestine as well,” she added,
“This is a wider problem of the way in which our political discourse has become angry and divisive,” she added.
Asked if anybody from her party had threatened Speaker Lindsay Hoyle in the lead-up to the Gaza ceasefire vote, she said no.
Labour leader Keir Starmer has “categorically” denied threatening the Speaker to call Labour’s amendment.
Ms Nandy added that she did not believe anybody else from the party had done so.
“I don’t believe for a moment that anyone in Labour did. Certainly our chief whip, Keir Starmer, none of the senior figures in Labour would ever dream of threatening the speaker,” she told Sky News.
"The idea that Speakers can be pushed around by members of parliament, leaders of political parties, is frankly for the birds,’ she said.
“There were MPs from all political parties who made representations to the Speaker. Not just about their safety and security but the fact that we’ve got an impending ground invasion in Rafah,” she said.
Defending Labour’s amendments, she added. “There was an urgent need for the commons to speak in one voice to prevent that from happening, and to back an immediate humanitarian ceasefire,” she added.
Ms Nandy declined to endorse a candidate in the upcoming Rochdale by-election, where the Labour candidate Azhar Ali was suspended over anti-Semitic remarks.
“I would just ask people not to vote for candidates who are spouting hate and division. We’ve had enough of that, we’ve seen it from the Conservative party this weekend,” she said.
Ms Nandy had been seen campaigning in Rochdale with Mr Ali before the remarks came to light, but said she was unaware of his comments then.
"I didn’t know that he’d made antisemitic comments. I was appalled by what he said about Israel," she said.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
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Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
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Flavour: Similar to goat’s milk, although less pungent. Vaguely sweet with a subtle, salty aftertaste.
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Use it: In your morning coffee, to add flavour to homemade ice cream and milk-heavy desserts, smoothies, spiced camel-milk hot chocolate.
Goes well with: chocolate and caramel, saffron, cardamom and cloves. Also works well with honey and dates.
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Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
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Indian origin executives leading top technology firms
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MATCH INFO
Liverpool 0
Stoke City 0
Man of the Match: Erik Pieters (Stoke)
BIOSAFETY LABS SECURITY LEVELS
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Study microorganisms such as Staphylococcus which causes food poisoning.
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These labs deal with pathogens that can be harmful to people and the environment such as Hepatitis, HIV and salmonella.
Working in Level 2 requires special training in handling pathogenic agents.
Extra safety and security precautions are taken in addition to those at Level 1
Biosafety Level 3
These labs contain material that can be lethal if inhaled. This includes SARS coronavirus, MERS, and yellow fever.
Significant extra precautions are taken with staff given specific immunisations when dealing with certain diseases.
Infectious material is examined in a biological safety cabinet.
Personnel must wear protective gowns that must be discarded or decontaminated after use.
Strict safety and handling procedures are in place. There must be double entrances to the building and they must contain self-closing doors to reduce risk of pathogen aerosols escaping.
Windows must be sealed. Air from must be filtered before it can be recirculated.
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Japan
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Norway
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Canada
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Singapore
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Australia
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Saudi Arabia
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South Korea
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The%20Genius%20of%20Their%20Age
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Lewis Hamilton in 2018
Australia 2nd; Bahrain 3rd; China 4th; Azerbaijan 1st; Spain 1st; Monaco 3rd; Canada 5th; France 1st; Austria DNF; Britain 2nd; Germany 1st; Hungary 1st; Belgium 2nd; Italy 1st; Singapore 1st; Russia 1st; Japan 1st; United States 3rd; Mexico 4th
