"Tony Blair's account of his time in Downing Street became the fastest-selling autobiography of all time yesterday after shifting hundreds of thousands of copies in its first 24 hours.

"The book, A Journey, went straight to No 1 on Amazon.co.uk's British bestseller list and sold more copies in a day at Waterstones than the former business secretary Lord Mandelson's memoir managed in three weeks."

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"In an article for the September issue of the fashion magazine, also published online, he speaks about his "passion for reusing and repairing" and praised the trend for 'vintage' clothes "because they save scarce resources and avoid waste".

"He cited wool as an example of a natural material and pledged to campaign to persuade consumers to choose it over "artificial fibres made from oil derivatives"."

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"Schools would be expected to give priority to poorer children when admitting new pupils and judged on the extent to which they narrow the gap between disadvantaged youngsters and their better-off classmates under plans submitted to government by an influential charity.

"In proposals which are being studied closely by education secretary Michael Gove, the Sutton Trust has advised that only schools which agree to give priority to disadvantaged children should get the full benefit of the pupil premium, a new financial incentive to reward schools for accepting poorer pupils.

"This funding should be set at £3,000 a child if it is to have an impact, the Sutton Trust's paper suggests."

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"Police shot and killed a gunman after he took three people hostage Wednesday afternoon at the Discovery Channel's headquarters here, officials said.

"A law enforcement official speaking on condition of anonymity because the investigation was ongoing said authorities had identified James J. Lee as the likely suspect.

"MASONBORO ISLAND, N.C. Hurricane Earl edged toward the Atlantic coastline Thursday as tourists and residents fled the Outer Banks of North Carolina in the wake of forecasts that the storm might lash the state by the end of the day.

"Two families from Newport, Va., stood on the deck of their cottage on Avon Beach on the Outer Banks of North Carolina as Hurricane Earl headed for the East Coast.

"On Masonboro, an undeveloped barrier island near Wilmington reachable only by boat, a small armada bobbed on the protected mainland side Wednesday as a steady parade of short boards and zinc-coated faces streamed over the dunes to the surf. There, the still far-off storm created a bonanza of waves.

The National Hurricane Center said late Wednesday the storm was picking up strength, with winds of about 140 m.p.h. It placed most of the North Carolina coast under a hurricane warning meaning that hurricane conditions were expected at least somewhere in that stretch."

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