General news

• Payout for rollercoaster victims

  19-06-2015 23:56
  
  Victims of the Alton Towers rollercoaster crash have received their first insurance payments.
  
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• VIDEO: Margate's Dreamland opens to the public

  19-06-2015 23:40 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A funfair that formed the centrepiece of seaside days out for generations of day-trippers has reopened after an £18m restoration.
  
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• Stopping SAS march 'not an option'

  19-06-2015 22:50 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A fatal SAS reservist training exercise would have been "significantly inhibited" if safety guidelines had been followed, an inquest hears.
  
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• Scientists discover that most kangaroos are 'left-handed'

  19-06-2015 22:47
  
  Researchers have discovered that most kangaroos are left-handed, making them the only other species apart from humans to show a 'handedness' on a large scale.
  
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• Greece: What tourists need to know

  19-06-2015 22:42 via bbc.co.uk
  
  What you need to know if you're going on holiday to Greece
  
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• The man who farms tables and chairs

  19-06-2015 22:42 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The man who grows tables and chairs
  
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• Alton Towers: First Insurance Payments Made

  19-06-2015 22:34
  
  Alton Towers has made its first interim insurance payments to victims of The Smiler crash earlier this month.
  
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• Smuggler Hides Cigarettes In Buddha Statues

  19-06-2015 22:15
  
  Statues of Buddha were used to smuggle more than 100,000 illegal cigarettes into the UK, a court has heard. James Reber, 51, a furniture importer from Brighton, was given an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, after he pleaded guilty to evading tax and duty. The officers found five coloured fibreglass statues of Buddha, all filled with cigarettes.
  
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• Blatter backs integrity checks

  19-06-2015 21:58 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Fifa president Sepp Blatter backs a proposal for the organisation's top officials to pass integrity checks.
  
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• Woman bites dog in an effort to save her Yorkshire Terrier from the jaws of an Alsatian

  19-06-2015 21:46
  
  In a case of 'woman bites dog', an 80-year-old grandmother sunk her teeth into a savage Alsatian that attacked her Yorkshire Terrier while she was out for a walk.
  
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• Teenagers Arrested After Attack On Boy Filmed

  19-06-2015 21:31
  
  Three 13-year-old boys have been arrested by West Yorkshire Police after video showing a violent assault on a 12-year-old boy was posted on Facebook. The three teenagers arrested, from the Heaton area of Bradford, remain in custody - and according to a West Yorkshire Police spokesman, the family of the 12-year-old victim have "confirmed he is safe and well".
  
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• Murray reaches last four at Queen's

  19-06-2015 21:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Andy Murray overcomes a fine display by Gilles Muller to reach the semi-finals at Queen's Club with a three-set victory.
  
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• Dylann Roof pushed over the edge by white power music and black man stealing his love interest, cousin says

  19-06-2015 21:28
  
  The cousin of the suspected terrorist who killed nine black churchgoers is claiming that his relative listened to white power music and was snubbed by a woman for a black man.
  
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• Charleston shooting: From 'liking a woman who dated a black man' to a 'fan of white power music' – insight into Dylann Roof's life emerges

  19-06-2015 21:28
  
  The cousin of the suspected terrorist who killed nine black churchgoers is claiming that his relative listened to white power music and was snubbed by a woman for a black man.
  
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• Charleston shooting: From 'liking a girl who dated a black man' to a 'fan of white power music' – insight into Dylann Roof's life emerges

  19-06-2015 21:28
  
  The cousin of the suspected terrorist who killed nine black churchgoers is claiming that his relative listened to white power music and was snubbed by a woman for a black man.
  
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• Charleston shooting: Dylann Roof - from teen snubbed by a woman for a black man to fan of white power music to murder suspect

  19-06-2015 21:28
  
  The cousin of the suspected terrorist who killed nine black churchgoers is claiming that his relative listened to white power music and was snubbed by a woman for a black man.
  
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• Tax windfall puts Osborne on track to beat target by £15bn

  19-06-2015 21:21
  
  Surging tax receipts and a spending clampdown could see the Chancellor, George Osborne, beat his deficit reduction targets by as much as £15bn this year.
  
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• Formula E is on track for a stock market flotation

  19-06-2015 21:14
  
  Formula E, the electric motor sport series which will race in Battersea Park next weekend, is on track to float when it reaches break even, according to its chief executive Alejandro Agag.
  
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• Travel firm and parents join forces

  19-06-2015 21:12
  
  Thomas Cook and the parents of two children who died of carbon monoxide poisoning while on holiday in Corfu are to work together on a new initiative highlighting the dangers of the gas.
  
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• The US Justice Department will investigate the Charleston Shooting as an act of domestic terrorism

  19-06-2015 21:11
  
  The murders of nine black church members in Charleston, South Carolina, is to be investigated by the US Justice Department as both a hate crime and act of domestic terror.
  
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• Dylann Roof will remain in jail as judge could not set bond for murder charges

  19-06-2015 21:00
  
  Dylann Roof, the man who confessed to killing nine people in a rampage in a Charleston church, will remain in jail after his initial bond hearing, as the judge was unable to set bond for the nine murder charges he is facing.
  
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• Standard Life joins industry shake-up

  19-06-2015 20:59
  
  Standard Life became the fifth FTSE 100 insurer this year to shake up its management team when it announced the departure of chief executive David Nish on Friday.
  
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• NHS hospitals pushing young medics to brink of 'burnout' by relying on them to work extra hours

  19-06-2015 20:58
  Hospitals are pushing young medics to the brink of “burnout” by relying on them to work extra hours to plug long-term gaps in ward rotas, leading doctors have warned, after new research showed that the effects of NHS staff shortages are worsening.
  
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• Suspected jet stowaway who survived 8000-mile flight from South Africa must have had oxygen, says expert

  19-06-2015 20:55
  
  A suspected stowaway who survived an 8,000-mile flight during which air temperatures plunged to minus 50C – a journey that apparently ended in the death of another man who fell from the aircraft –  must have managed to shelter inside, an aviation expert has said.
  
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• Suspected jet stowaway who survived 8000-mile flight from South Africa must have had oxygen, expert says

  19-06-2015 20:55
  
  A suspected stowaway who survived an 8,000-mile flight during which air temperatures plunged to minus 50C – a journey that apparently ended in the death of another man who fell from the aircraft –  must have managed to shelter inside, an aviation expert has said.
  
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• James Ashton: Price RBS right and the State will sell it. But we have been warned

  19-06-2015 20:49
  
  George Osborne has put plenty of pressure on Royal Bank of Scotland over the past five years. Make it safe, make it lend and, now, make it saleable.
  
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• Peer’s Bill to regulate opinion polls clears first hurdle in Lords despite stern opposition

  19-06-2015 20:48
  
  A Bill that could result in opinion polls banned in the run-up to a general election cleared its first hurdle in the House of Lords amid criticism of the pollsters’ performance at last month’s general election.
  
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• Sunshine boosts fertility by a third, study finds

  19-06-2015 20:46
  
  Exposure to sunlight can boost the likelihood of a woman having a baby much as a third, according to scientists.
  
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• Smuggler Hides Cigarettes In Budda Statues

  19-06-2015 20:43
  
  Statues of Buddha were used to smuggle more than 100,000 illegal cigarettes into the UK, a court has heard. James Reber, 51, a furniture importer from Brighton, was given an 18-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, after he pleaded guilty to evading tax and duty. The officers found five coloured fibreglass statues of Buddha, all filled with cigarettes.
  
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• Belarus Free Theatre: UK-based exiled theatre group working with Kevin Spacey and Jude Law being harassed by dictatorship

  19-06-2015 20:37
  Belarusian dissidents granted political asylum in the UK have revealed they are still being harassed and targeted by the repressive regime in their home country, 10 years after they formed a theatre group to protest against the rule of President Alexander Lukashenko.
  
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• So what’s so funny about peace, love and ice-cream?

  19-06-2015 20:33
  
  “Oh yes, I’m definitely an ageing hippy,” says Jerry Greenfield, with a big giggle.
  
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• Researchers discover five-day 'fasting' diet that could lower your chances of heart disease, cancer and diabetes

  19-06-2015 20:25
  A simple five-day diet that mimics fasting can bring a host of health benefits, including cutting the risk of heart disease and cancer and boosting the immune system, American scientists believe.
  
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• Charleston shooting: Is South Carolina the most racially riven state in the land?

  19-06-2015 20:23
  
  With generals painted in oil on the walls and military mementoes in cabinets, the dusty Confederate Museum in Charleston is five blocks from the church where nine worshippers, including four pastors, died by gunshot. Two hours away in Columbia, a Confederate flag flies over the South Carolina State Capitol.
  
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• Dreamland: Margate's famous amusement park finally reopens

  19-06-2015 20:22
  
  As Roger Newman and his lifelong friend Nigel come off the Wild Mouse retro-roller coaster, the two old men are skipping and giggling along like teenagers. Doug, 35, emerges beaming from the Wall of Death – a stunt show involving terrifyingly irresponsible motorbike riding. “You must go in,” he says, “it’s excellent.” And he’s right.
  
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• Ex-Chelsea Star Jailed For 'Sickening' Attack

  19-06-2015 20:13
  
  Former Chelsea and England striker Kerry Dixon has been jailed for nine months for a "sickening" attack on a drinker who allegedly called him "fatso" in a pub. Dixon, 53, struck Ben Scoble, 38, several times before he fell to the ground during a row over a bar stool at the Nags Head pub in Dunstable, Bedfordshire. Dixon had a glittering career in football, becoming Chelsea’s third-highest goal scorer, before his fall from grace following gambling problems.
  
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• Market report: Fidelity fires starting gun on bid for Colt

  19-06-2015 20:10
  
  The starting gun has been fired on Colt Group’s privatisation. The US asset management giant Fidelity has made a 190p-a-share bid for the FTSE 250 telecoms provider in a cash deal worth £1.72bn.
  
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• Dylann Roof reportedly being held in jail cell next to officer that killed Walter Scott

  19-06-2015 20:10
  
  Dylann Roof, the man who confessed to killing nine people at a Charleston church, is being held at Charleston County jail in a cell next to Michael Slager, the police officer who killed Walter Scott, the Charleston Post and Courier reported.
  
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• Harry falls out to be Africa ranger

  19-06-2015 20:07
  
  Prince Harry will live the life of an African ranger during a stint working as a wildlife conservation volunteer over the summer.
  
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• Wal-Mart does so much wrong, but the shame is that none of it is illegal

  19-06-2015 20:05
  
  There are lots of arguments about why Wal-Mart has been good for the American economy. Almost all are bunk.
  
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• Zohra Dawood: Syria-bound Bradford woman 'didn't like the UK'

  19-06-2015 20:04
  
  A Bradford woman believed to have travelled to Isis-controlled territory in Syria with her two sisters and their nine children had told a friend she “didn’t like the UK” because it was becoming more like the United States.
  
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• Osborne urges Greece to strike deal

  19-06-2015 20:01
  
  Britain has issued a last-ditch appeal to Greece to strike a deal with its creditors to prevent it being forced out of the euro with unpredictable consequences for the entire continent.
  
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• Mass extinction 'already triggered'

  19-06-2015 20:00
  
  Humans have already triggered the start of Earth's sixth mass extinction, thereby threatening their own future as a species, a hard-hitting new study has claimed.
  
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• Unbroken: Gillian Triggs, the woman who stood up to Australia's PM on human rights and calls for her to quit

  19-06-2015 19:58
  Tony Abbott’s government can lock up refugee children indefinitely on godforsaken islands. It can gag the doctors and teachers who attend to these children’s basic needs. But, try as it might, it can’t silence Gillian Triggs, the president of Australia’s Human Rights Commission.
  
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• MoD heat guidelines 'not followed'

  19-06-2015 19:58
  
  An SAS training officer has told an inquest into the deaths of three reservists that he did not adhere to MoD guidelines on heat stress.
  
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• Lord Advocate wins black box ruling

  19-06-2015 19:58
  
  A court bid by Scotland's top prosecutor to obtain the black box from a helicopter which crashed off Shetland with the loss of four lives has been granted by a judge.
  
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• The two graphs that reveal the UK's abysmal record on Syrian refugees

  19-06-2015 19:57
  
  Nearly four million people have fled the violence in Syria since the civil war started four years ago, but the UK has so far only committed to taking in 500 refugees from the war-torn country.
  
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• Greece crisis: Alexis Tsipras woos Vladimir Putin as Greeks rush for their savings

  19-06-2015 19:49
  
  Greece’s Prime Minister has attacked the “delusions” of Europe and hinted his country could find a “safe port” in Russia if it crashes out of the eurozone at the end of the month.
  
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• Two senior Labour AMs stand down

  19-06-2015 19:43 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Gower AM Edwina Hart and Neath AM Gwenda Thomas are standing down from the Senedd in 2016.
  
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• Nanny jailed for £900 bank card theft

  19-06-2015 19:39 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A "Mary Poppins" live-in nanny found through the website Gumtree is jailed for nine months for theft.
  
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• Swiss diplomats go cuckoo in golf war with Caracas Country Club

  19-06-2015 19:36
  
  Already under attack from Venezuela’s socialist government, the country’s elite golf club has a new enemy at the gates: the Swiss ambassador.
  
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