BOURNEMOUTH (Reuters) - Prime Minister Tony Blair has told anti-war critics in his ruling Labour Party he would “take the same decision again” to join the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
Blair, whose trust ratings have plunged since the overthrow of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, conceded his decision to join the war had hurt, angered and [...]

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Children as young as seven should get compulsory sex education lessons, the Liberal Democrats have said.
Lib Dem delegates voted overwhelmingly in favour of the move at the party’s annual conference in Brighton.
Critics of the call said compulsion was wrong and parents should be trusted to decide for themselves whether their child should go [...]

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The government wants to widen access to higher education
University admissions systems could take into account social disadvantages and the type of school a student attended.
Professor Steven Schwartz, who is heading an inquiry into entry into higher education, says that universities might look at more than an applicant’s academic ability - encouraging a wider [...]

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The Court of Appeal has ruled the Home Office was right to refuse benefits to an asylum seeker under controversial legislation introduced this year.
In an important victory for the Home Office, the court said ministers had acted within their powers to deny support to a Malaysian man who had been sleeping rough at Heathrow [...]

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Environmentalists fear contamination of other crops
More than half of Britons who took part in a nationwide debate on genetically modified crops said they should never be introduced under any circumstances.
An official report on the results of 600 meetings held in June and July around the country reflects widespread doubts about the benefits of [...]

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People should have more children to counter an ageing population in Europe, according to a Tory MP.
Shadow work and pensions secretary David Willetts is concerned that rising numbers of older people will affect economic growth over the next 50 years.
Mr Willetts said in a speech on Tuesday that he was not arguing that [...]

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Twelve Russian skinheads have gone on trial in the southern city of Rostov accused of beating three people to death in unprovoked racist attacks.
The victims, from the Central Asian republics of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, were attacked with metal bars.
Five of the suspects are juveniles.
Prosecutors say the attacks, which took place in the [...]

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The small Greek town of Peania nestles in the hills north of the capital, Athens, close to the new international airport.
It is an unremarkable place, and an air of boredom hangs over the central square.
If the Greek Government has its way, the town will become the focus for tens of thousands of Muslims [...]

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Eacn time the coffins are carried out of the plane to the sound of sad music, I wonder why the Prime Minister is not there.
He sent the soldiers to Iraq and claims what credit there may be for this dubious war.
Why isn’t he present to see the dead men come home and to [...]

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This Government has stunk of dishonesty since it came to office. Everything about it is false. The man who acts as Prime Minister is a hole in the air who knows little of the world or this country and understands less.
The man who pretends to be his communications supremo is the real chief executive [...]

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Do you know what your child’s school is telling him or her about sex?
You might get a nasty surprise if you try to find out, especially now the weirdos who want to sexualise the young are demanding compulsory sex lessons for five-year-olds.
Immoral preaching, hostile to marriage and self-control, is not only to be [...]

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It may be the beginning of an environmental happy ending. Scientists say they have the first clear evidence of a slowdown in the ozone layer’s decline.
This has been hoped for since the Montreal Protocol was signed in 1987. The international treaty banned the use of chlorine-containing aerosol propellants and refrigerants such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). [...]

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Planned new laws to deal with a large-scale terror attack in Britain smack of “needless totalitarianism”, said the Conservatives.
Tory homeland defence spokesman Patrick Mercer was commenting on legislation which could allow the government to invoke a vast array of powers if Britain was attacked or was perceived to be at risk of a terrorist [...]

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Appeals judges at the international war crimes tribunal in the Hague have doubled the sentence of a former Bosnian Serb prison commander to 15 years.
The man, Milorad Krnojelac, had earlier been sentenced to seven-and-a-half years’ imprisonment for the inhumane treatment of prisoners but was acquitted of charges of murder and torture.
Judges in The [...]

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Warming may be happening faster in the Earth’s atmosphere than on its surface, according to a new look at old data1.
The study’s conclusion could eliminate a primary sticking point in the debate about the existence of global warming. But its methods are being called into question.
Previously, those investigating satellite temperature data gathered since 1978 [...]

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A man could be the first in the UK to be jailed for using a specific term of abuse after a court banned him for life from using it.
Michael Guilfoyle faces being imprisoned for using the word “Paki” in public, under the terms of an anti-social behaviour order, imposed by magistrates in Manchester.
Guilfoyle, [...]

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Diana Mosley, the widow of 1930s British fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley, has died aged 93.
She died on Monday in Paris, according to a death notice published in The Times newspaper.
The notice, in the deaths column, read “MOSLEY - On 11th August 2003, Diana widow of Sir Oswald Mosley Bt peacefully in [...]

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Firefighters in Fife are testing an emergency photo messaging scheme to help save more lives.
Officers will now be able to send images of injuries to doctors by mobile phone before patients reach hospital.
Fourteen Fife Fire and Rescue Services officers have been given photo messaging mobile phones to trial the service.
Doctors at the [...]

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Mice with transplanted wombs have given birth to healthy pups - the first time that live offspring have been produced from a surgically implanted uterus.
Researchers hope the technique will benefit women who currently cannot bear children because their wombs are damaged or missing.
“A woman could receive a donor uterus from a relative - a [...]

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Europe’s seas should contain a network of protected areas by 2010, international environment ministers concluded at a meeting last week in Bremen, Germany. They also decided that 27 species of marine animal, and 10 types of habitat, are in need of protection.
The resolutions are not legally binding, however. Twenty European countries must now identify [...]

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