Theresa May wins confidence vote but vows to quit after Brexit

Theresa May survived an attempt to oust her as UK prime minister, strengthening her position as she seeks to secure a deal for Britain to exit the European Union in March.

May won a vote of confidence in her leadership of the Conservative Party, with Tory members of Parliament backing her by 200 to 117 in the secret ballot.

The result means May’s enemies cannot try again to oust her as party leader for at least a year.

The pound, which had risen in advance of the vote, pared gains because of the tighter-than-expected margin of victory.

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Trump’s ex-lawyer given 3 years in prison, blames ‘blind loyalty’

President Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison for orchestrating hush payments to women in violation of campaign laws before the 2016 election and financial crimes, posing potential legal and political risks to Trump.

In the courtroom, Cohen told US District Judge William Pauley in Manhattan that “blind loyalty” led him to cover up for Trump.

The sentence imposed by Pauley was a modest reduction from the four to five years recommended under federal guidelines but still highlighted the seriousness of the charges and possible implications for the president.

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Fentanyl surpasses heroin as deadliest drug in US

The synthetic drug, fentanyl, has surpassed heroin as the deadliest drug in the United States, taking more than 18,000 lives in 2016, federal health officials said.

In 2016, the latest year for which full data is available, “29 per cent of all drug overdose deaths mentioned involvement of fentanyl,” said the report from the National Centre for Health Statistics, part of the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Fentanyl is a powerful, synthetic narcotic that has been blamed for the deaths of rock stars including Prince and Tom Petty.

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Musical A Star Is Born leads film contenders for SAG awards

Musical drama remake A Star Is Born led a wide range of contenders for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, landing four nominations, including best movie ensemble.

The film will compete for SAG’s top movie prize in a diverse group that includes superhero movie Black Panther, romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians, rock biopic Bohemian Rhapsody and director Spike Lee’s historical drama BlacKkKlansman.

A Star Is Born, released by AT&T’s Warner Bros, features Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga in a classic story about a young woman trying to make it in the music business. Both actors were nominated for individual awards for their performances.

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CSKA dumped out of Europe despite stunning win at Real Madrid

CSKA Moscow stunned a much-changed Real Madrid with a 3-0 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu, but still finished bottom of Champions League Group G as Viktoria Plzen beat Roma.

The Russian side, who also downed Real 1-0 in the reverse fixture, had to better Plzen’s result to finish third and qualify for the Europa League.

But Plzen edged out Roma 2-1 in the Czech Republic to render CSKA’s famous victory ultimately meaningless, despite inflicting the heaviest ever European home loss on the record 13-time champions.

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