General news

• North Ireland deputy leader calls for unity vote if Britain leaves EU

  11-03-2016 23:35
  Britain should commit to holding a vote to unite Ireland if its citizens choose to leave the European Union in a referendum in June, Northern Ireland's nationalist deputy first minister said on Friday.  A so-called "Brexit" would represent a "political and economic game changer" for the island of Ireland, Martin McGuinness of the Sinn Fein party said, calling for an immediate border poll if Britain voted to leave. Sinn Fein, which is predominantly supported by Catholic Nationalists who rema
  
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• Prog Rock Legend Keith Emerson Dies Aged 71

  11-03-2016 22:32
  
  British prog rock star Keith Emerson has died aged 71. He passed away on Thursday night at his home in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, his management company said. Emerson, born in Todmorden, Yorkshire, was the founding member and keyboardist of British superband Emerson, Lake and Palmer - one of the most famous progressive rock bands of the 1970s.
  
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• Thousands Warned Not To Use Water Supply

  11-03-2016 22:18
  
  Thousands of people in parts of Derbyshire and Leicestershire have been warned not to use their water supply because of abnormal chlorine levels. Around 3,700 Severn Trent customers in postcodes DE11, DE15, DE65, DE73 and the LE65 area were told they should not drink, wash or even flush the toilet until further notice. The water company said the warning was a precaution while it investigates "a problem with higher than normal levels of chlorine" at one of its service reservoirs.
  
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• Man Charged Over Belfast Prison Van Bomb

  11-03-2016 22:18
  
  A 45-year-old man has been charged with the attempted murder of a prison officer in Belfast last Friday. The accused man will appear in court in Belfast on Saturday morning. It comes after police in Northern Ireland said they have thwarted "a number of murder attempts" since the van bomb attack on the warden.
  
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• Madonna 'wants to heal wounds' in row over son Rocco's future

  11-03-2016 21:56
  
  Madonna has told a High Court judge that she wants to restore peace and heal wounds opened in a dispute with ex-husband Guy Ritchie over the future of their 15-year-old son Rocco.
  
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• When Saturday Comes still shooting from football’s fringes | Barney Ronay

  11-03-2016 21:45
  
  The fanzine set up in irritation at football’s marginalisation now protests about the way the game has turned itself inside out for television and profit, but its conscionable voice is as vital as everThere was a slightly odd incident a few years back when I worked at the football fanzine When Saturday Comes. Early one morning there was a knock at the door and a Very Popular Well Known TV Presenter came in and started saying things like “Hi! … Lads … All right? Yeah. Ju
  
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• Reading v Crystal Palace: FA Cup quarter-final – live!

  11-03-2016 21:45
  
  FA Cup quarter-final updates from the Madejski Stadium clashMichael Hector: ‘It’s Chelsea, they can buy any player they want’Email [email protected] or tweet @NickAmes82 8.44pm GMTIt started slowly, but we should have had a goal or two. Bolasie has come close two or three times for Palace, and Adebayor and Cabaye have had opportunities too. The former should probably have scored. John, trying to slide into an empty net from a narrow angle, had a good chance for R
  
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• Ambulance trust apologises to paramedics forced to work 20-hour shift

  11-03-2016 21:33
  
  Members of the East of England Ambulance Service Trust also reported several instances of staff falling asleep at the wheel due to exhaustionAn ambulance trust has apologised after paramedics were forced to complete a 20-hour shift while driving a patient from north Norfolk to London, with Unison warning the practice of enforced overtime could be fatal to frontline staff without reform.The paramedics were forced to make the 270-mile round trip from Potter Heigham to a London hospital on 23 Febru
  
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• Nancy Reagan buried next to husband after funeral service in California

  11-03-2016 21:23
  
  Former first lady who died last week at age 94 was memorialized in service at Ronald Reagan presidential library after procession along state freewayFormer first lady Nancy Reagan was buried beside her husband, on a hillside that faces the setting sun, following a funeral service that attracted heavyweights from Hollywood and Washington DC at the Reagan presidential library in Simi Valley, California.Nancy Reagan died on 6 March at the age 94 at her home in the Bel Air suburb of Los Angeles.Cont
  
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• Where England’s Six Nations battle with Wales will be won and lost | Dean Ryan

  11-03-2016 20:44
  
  The ability to breach contrasting defences, Craig Joubert’s interpretation of the scrum, and the impact of replacements in the closing stages will go a long way to determining the outcome at Twickenham on SaturdayTry-scoring chances will be at a premium on Saturday, with Wales having conceded just four in the tournament and England a very miserly one. Wales’s defence under Shaun Edwards is a well-established unit but particular praise should go to Paul Gustard for making England so t
  
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• Judge slams mother's claim for £10,500 wine spending in child maintenance case

  11-03-2016 20:43
  A family judge has criticised the annual amount a mother wanted in "child maintenance" payments to spend on bottles of wine averaging £50 a time.
  
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• Duke of Cambridge admits watching Pimp My Ride during youth charity visit

  11-03-2016 20:43
  
  The Duke of Cambridge has admitted to the guilty secret of watching the show Pimp My Ride.
  
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• Doctor failed to be objective over 'shaken baby death' court cases, panel rules

  11-03-2016 20:43
  A doctor failed to be objective and unbiased in a number of alleged "shaken baby death" court cases, a disciplinary panel has ruled.
  
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• Councillor cleared over 'stupid' tweet aimed at Sadiq Khan

  11-03-2016 20:43
  A councillor has walked free from court after magistrates said a tweet he aimed at Labour MP Sadiq Khan was "very stupid" but not "grossly offensive".
  
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• Charlotte Church defends Kim Kardashian over naked selfie

  11-03-2016 20:43
  Charlotte Church has said Kim Kardashian's much talked about naked mirror selfie could be seen as "quite a feminist move".
  
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• American accused of assisting men in Isis attack at anti-Islam event in Texas

  11-03-2016 20:43
  
  Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem faces a terrorism charge over providing guns and support to two Isis followers in an attack on a draw Muhammad contestFederal prosecutors on Friday asked a jury to convict a Phoenix moving company owner of a terrorism charge, saying he provided the guns, ammunition and motivation to two Islamic State followers in an attack on an anti-Islam event last year in Texas.Abdul Malik Abdul Kareem is charged with providing support to Isis for what prosecutors describe as a crucia
  
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• Doctor who doubted shaken baby syndrome misled courts, panel rules

  11-03-2016 20:22
  
  Supporters of Dr Waney Squier argue she was right to cast doubt on charges against parents accused of killing their babiesA leading doctor who cast doubt on claims that parents had shaken their babies to death has been found guilty of misleading the courts.Dr Waney Squier, a senior neuropathologist at the Radcliffe hospital in Oxford, was wrong to tell trials at the Old Bailey and the high court that fatal or serious brain injuries suffered by six babies were not caused deliberately, the Medical
  
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• Inquest criticises care of woman who killed herself in police cell

  11-03-2016 20:18
  
  The jury heard how Martine Brandon was arrested in October 2014 and after 18 hours in police custody was found deadAn inquest jury has criticised failings in the care of a woman who killed herself in a police cell, saying that insufficient steps had been taken to protect her welfare.Martine Brandon, 48, from Eastleigh in Hampshire, was arrested in October 2014 after she was spotted in the street waving a large kitchen knife. She was heard saying that an invisible demon and her sister were threat
  
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• Madonna seeks to end custody battle with Guy Ritchie over son Rocco

  11-03-2016 20:17
  
  Madonna’s lawyers say she wants to ‘heal the wounds’ after launching proceedings to get her son to return to the USA judge will decide whether custody proceedings launched by Madonna in a dispute with ex-husband Guy Ritchie over the future of their 15-year-old son Rocco can end.Mr Justice MacDonald finished hearing evidence on Friday and is expected to deliver a ruling in the near future. Continue reading...
  
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• EDF chief executive warns France over Hinkley costs

  11-03-2016 20:14
  
  Jean-Bernard Lévy says nuclear project will not go ahead without more financial backing from French governmentThe boss of the French state-owned company behind the UK’s first new nuclear power station for 20 years has threatened to pull the plug on the £18bn project without further backing from François Hollande’s government.Jean-Bernard Lévy, chief executive of EDF, said he needed more financial support from the Elysée Palace to proceed with constru
  
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• Death of former Putin aide: conspiracy theories abound back home in Russia

  11-03-2016 20:13
  
  Some bloggers suggest Mikhail Lesin could be in US witness protection and faked his own death while others say it could have happened as a result of a fightThe announcement that a former aide to Vladimir Putin found dead in his Washington hotel room appeared to have been bludgeoned to death has led to a squall of hypotheses and conspiracy theories about how he might have met his end.
  When Mikhail Lesin died in November, Russian media said he died of a heart attack. But authorities in Washington
  
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• Obama did not mean to criticise Cameron over Libya, says White House

  11-03-2016 20:03
  
  Washington attempts to soothe UK anger over president’s remarks that PM was distracted following fall of GaddafiThe White House has attempted to head off a potential rift in the Anglo-American relationship, insisting that Barack Obama did not mean to be critical of David Cameron in his recently published remarks about Libya. The president suggested in an interview with the Atlantic magazine that the current political chaos in Libya was caused in part because the British prime minister was
  
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• Giant Rat 'Bigger Than A Dog' Near Playground

  11-03-2016 19:57
  
  Tony Smith, 46, spotted the dead rodent in a bush near a children's playground while working close to Hackney Downs in London. He took a photograph of his friend James Green, an electrician, holding up the supersize rat to the camera. They include Hackney Council, which has posted images showing how the eye can be deceived.
  
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• Russia warned it still has work to do to take part in Rio 2016 Olympics

  11-03-2016 19:56
  
  • Russian Athletics Federation should not be reinstated, says Sebastian Coe
  • Kenya, Morocco, Ethiopia, Ukraine and Belarus could be bannedRussia has been warned it requires “significant further work” in tackling doping if its athletes are to be admitted to the Olympics, while another five countries were placed in “critical care” over their testing procedures.The Guardian understands that the five countries named on a new watch list – Kenya, Morocco, Ethio
  
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• The Guardian view on Seamus Heaney: Virgilian farewell | Editorial

  11-03-2016 19:49
  
  The poet’s last work before his death in 2013 was a translation of the Virgil’s Aeneid, Book VI. And the Nobel prizewinner left us both an eloquent farewell – and a poem for our timesWhen Seamus Heaney died in 2013, his last words, to his wife, were Noli timere – be not afeard. He sent them in a text message to his wife. This simple gesture – the ringing phrase of St Jerome’s Vulgate Bible transformed into a tender comfort to the woman he loved – seems c
  
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• Scotland have a lot to prove to themselves as France arrive for the taking

  11-03-2016 19:44
  
  • Vern Cotter makes two changes to winning side from Rome• French chop and change again as Guy Novès goes back to Trinh-DucWith the ignominy of a second wooden spoon in a row surely now averted, Scotland turn to what could be the most telling fixture of Vern Cotter’s reign so far. The win against Italy in the last round was the least they would have targeted. Now, though, the charge is to start winning matches as if they expect to do so.France are the perfect next opponent
  
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• Brit Cocaine Plot Suspect Arrested In Ghana

  11-03-2016 19:39
  
  A British man wanted over a plot to import £70m of cocaine into the UK has been arrested in Ghana. David McDermott is suspected of being a member of a Liverpool-based gang involved in a conspiracy to import 16 holdalls full of high-quality cocaine, weighing 400kg. The 42-year-old, from Ormskirk, West Lancashire, was arrested at a house in the Burma Hills area of Accra, during a joint operation by National Crime Agency (NCA) officers and the Ghanaian Bureau of National Investigation.
  
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• Hearthstone: Whispers of the Old Gods announced as latest expansion

  11-03-2016 19:37
  
  Blizzard reveals new Hearthstone cards including C’Thun, a ‘legendary’ that interacts with 16 other new cards, in major expansion that changes format of gameThe next expansion pack for Hearthstone, Blizzard’s hugely popular collectible card video game, will be called Whispers of the Old Gods and will launch towards the end of April or the beginning of May, the company has announced.Based around Warcraft’s Lovecraftian-style elder gods, C’Thun, Yogg-Saron, N&rs
  
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• Ireland’s World Twenty20 hopes dashed by Bangladesh abandonment

  11-03-2016 19:31
  
  • Bangladesh 94-2 off eight overs; rain denies Ireland chance to reply
  • Ireland fail to qualify for Super 10 stage against Test sidesIreland are out of the ICC World Twenty20 after heavy rain prevented a result in their match against Bangladesh in Dharamsala. The rain relented temporarily to allow William Porterfield’s team to start a contest already reduced to 12 overs per side.But after Tamim Iqbal powered Bangladesh to 94 for two in only eight of those overs, rain and lightni
  
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• Aung San Suu Kyi will soon take her seat as Myanmar’s leader – by proxy | Martin Woollacott

  11-03-2016 19:31
  
  Htin Kyaw will most likely be a ceremonial president, with Aung San Suu Kyi pulling the strings. But the military will not make life easy for themAung San Suu Kyi won a great victory in November last year when her party swept the board in the general election, but Myanmar politics still resembles a tug of war between democratic forces and the military. The generals accepted the result and made noises about cooperation, but in the months since they have given very little away. This is the harsh b
  
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• Scientology criminal enterprise case thrown out by Belgian judge

  11-03-2016 19:26
  
  Investigators and prosecutors criticised after trial of 11 members of church and two affiliated bodies that could have led to banA court in Brussels has thrown out charges that could have seen Church of Scientology banned as a “criminal enterprise” in Belgium, after a judge said the defendants were targeted because of their religion.Eleven members of the celebrity-backed, US-based church and two affiliated bodies had been charged with fraud, extortion, the illegal practice of medicin
  
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• Mark Rylance: 'No company other than BBC could have made Wolf Hall'

  11-03-2016 19:24
  
  Accepting broadcast press best actor award, Oscar-winner heralded BBC, as Wolf Hall director said broadcasting is under ideological attack from governmentWolf Hall star Mark Rylance has said no broadcaster other than the BBC could have made the acclaimed BBC2 drama as its director Peter Kosminsky accused the government of an ideological attack on the corporation.
  Kosminsky launched an impassioned defence of the BBC as he picked up the first of two prizes for Wolf Hall at the Broadcasting Press G
  
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• Treasury names Cameron's Europe advisor as permanent secretary

  11-03-2016 19:03
  
  LONDON (Reuters) - A top advisor to Prime Minister David Cameron was named as the most senior civil servant at the finance ministry on Friday, a few weeks after helping to secure Cameron's deal for changes to Britain's status in the European Union
  
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• Cameron Says Brexit Would Hit Agriculture

  11-03-2016 18:41
  
  David Cameron cuddled up to a newborn lamb after warning British agriculture would be hit if the UK votes to leave the European Union. The Prime Minister was handed a two-day-old lamb by a little girl during a tour of a North Wales farm after claiming farmers could lose as much as £330m on lamb and beef exports if voters backed Brexit. He warned British farmers could "suffer enormously" if the UK opts to leave in the 23 June referendum.
  
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• White House says U.S. values deeply special relationship with UK

  11-03-2016 18:37
  U.S. President Barack Obama did not mean to be critical of Prime Minister David Cameron about Libya policy in an article published this week in The Atlantic magazine, a White House spokesman said on Friday. Obama told The Atlantic in the piece that some European allies had become passive regarding chaos in Libya and Cameron had become “distracted by a range of other things.” Josh Earnest, the White House spokesman, said the United States "values deeply the special relationship" with
  
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• Man, 92, Rides Mobility Scooter On 70mph Road

  11-03-2016 18:33
  
  Motorists spotted a 92-year-old man riding his mobility scooter along a busy 70mph dual carriageway in West Sussex.
  
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• Police Believe Remains Are Of Missing DJ Derek

  11-03-2016 18:15
  
  Tributes have been paid by music industry figures to the performer known as DJ Derek after police said they "strongly believe" human remains found near a Bristol shopping centre are his. Derek Serpell-Morris was last seen leaving The Criterion pub in Ashley Road, Bristol, early on 11 July last year. Detective Chief Inspector Matthew Iddon, of Avon and Somerset Police, said officers had told Mr Serpell-Morris's family about the discovery.
  
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• Russia scolds Britain for saying the Kremlin dreams of Brexit

  11-03-2016 18:14
  Russia scolded Britain on Friday for saying that Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin dreamed of weakening the West with a British exit from the European Union. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said last week that the only country wanting Britain to the leave the EU was Russia and Prime Minister David Cameron has said what he termed Putin's aggression makes this no time to drop out of the EU. "Russia is being dragged into the domestic debate on Brexit," the Russian embassy in London said in a statement.
  
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• Jailed Libor trader to return to London court in battle over assets

  11-03-2016 18:12
  By Kirstin Ridley LONDON (Reuters) - Tom Hayes, a former trader serving an 11-year jail sentence for conspiracy to rig Libor interest rates, will next week return to a London court in a multi-million pound battle against prosecutors over assets that include a seven-bedroom country house. Hayes and his corporate lawyer wife Sarah are both expected to give evidence to try to prevent the seizure of their entire estate, which prosecutors value at 3.8 million pounds, including Sarah's jewellery, and
  
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• Tesco vows to give any surplus food to charity

  11-03-2016 18:07
  Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, pledged on Friday to give any left-over food from its stores to charity so that by the end of 2017 nothing is thrown away. "We believe no food that could be eaten should be wasted – that's why we have committed that no surplus food should go to waste from our stores," said Tesco Chief Executive Dave Lewis, who is trying to improve its image after an accounting scandal. Some 55,400 tonnes of food were thrown away at Tesco stores and distribution centres in
  
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• It is still a man's world wide web, says internet entrepreneur Martha Lane Fox

  11-03-2016 17:03
  
  The internet is still run, funded and made by men - but women could take back tech, according to businesswoman Baroness Martha Lane Fox.
  
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• Boris: I Don't Know What Queen Thinks About EU

  11-03-2016 16:46
  
  Boris Johnson has said the Queen should not have been dragged into the debate over Britain's membership of the European Union. Buckingham Palace has lodged a formal complaint with the press watchdog over a report in The Sun that claimed Her Majesty supported Brexit . When asked by Sky News about the Queen's apparent backing for his stance, Mr Johnson said: "I think the most important thing is that she is completely above politics, isn't she?
  
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• Brexit vision 'too good to be true' says David Cameron in trade and jobs warning

  11-03-2016 16:43
  
  David Cameron has accused Brexit campaigners of promoting a vision of life outside the EU that was "too good to be true", and warned that a vote for withdrawal would instead endanger trade and jobs.
  
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• Watchdog suggests pay cut for some MPs on Panel of Chairs

  11-03-2016 16:36
  A group of MPs appointed by Commons Speaker John Bercow to assist with parliamentary duties could see their maximum pay cut amid questions about how much work they do.
  
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• 112-year-old Auschwitz survivor becomes world's oldest man

  11-03-2016 16:36
  A 112-year-old who survived back-breaking slave labour at Auschwitz concentration camp is the world's oldest man, Guinness World Records has said.
  
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• Obama aides offer olive branch after criticisms of David Cameron's Libya policy

  11-03-2016 16:07
  The US administration has acted to soothe hurt British feelings by insisting that the special relationship remains intact, after Barack Obama went public with criticism of David Cameron for his actions over Libya.
  
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• London Mayor Johnson says sterling would flourish if Britain leaves EU

  11-03-2016 15:43
  London Mayor Boris Johnson, who opposes British membership of the European Union, said on Friday that sterling would benefit if Britain voted to leave the bloc in a June 23 referendum. Sterling fell more than five cents against the U.S. dollar in the week following Johnson's Feb. 21 announcement that he was opposing Prime Minister David Cameron and would campaign to leave the European Union. Speaking at an "Out" campaign event, Johnson said sterling would continue to fluctuate but that if Britai
  
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• Scarlet fever symptoms warning as cases hit almost 50-year high

  11-03-2016 15:41
  
  Parents are being urged to look out for symptoms of scarlet fever as cases hit an almost 50-year high.
  
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• BCC cuts UK growth forecast amid fears of global slowdown

  11-03-2016 15:41
  
  The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has slashed its forecast for the UK economy amid concerns over weakening global growth.
  
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• Bus Driver Smuggled £18m Of Coke On School Trip

  11-03-2016 15:39
  
  A bus driver has been jailed after trying to smuggle cocaine worth up to £18m on a school trip taking Romanian schoolchildren to Britain. Ioan Buciuta, 53, tried to use the pupils' trip to London as cover to sneak the cocaine through the Port of Dover in Kent. The Romanian was caught after Border Force officers found around 130 packages wrapped in tape in a specially adapted area behind a false bulkhead in the luggage compartment.
  
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