General news

• Warning against combustible insulation ban

  19-06-2018 23:35
  The UK's biggest manufacturer of plastic foam insulation is opposing plans by the government to ban combustible products from new tower blocks.A government consultation has begun on banning combustible cladding systems from new high rise flats after what ministers describe as an "unlawful" combination of products on Grenfell Tower helped spread a fire in June 2017 which killed 72 people.Housing secretary James Brokenshire said a ban would help "concerned residents" and the construction industry.
  
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• Five injured after 'explosion' at Tube station in north London

  19-06-2018 22:50
  At least five people have been wounded after a reported minor explosion at a Tube station in north London.Three were treated for minor injuries at the scene at Southgate station and two others have been taken to hospital, said London Ambulance Service.The station has been closed and the incident comes as officers investigated a suspicious package.
  
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• UK police see no indication of terrorism in London blast

  19-06-2018 22:44
  British police said on Tuesday a "small number of people" were receiving medical treatment after what they described as a minor explosion at an underground station in north London.Police said they had been called to reports of an explosion and people running at Southgate station at 7.03 pm (1803 GMT)."Enquiries continue but we do not believe this to be terror related," British Transport Police said on Twitter.
  
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• UK police investigating cause of 'minor explosion' at underground station in London

  19-06-2018 22:35
  LONDON (Reuters) - British police said on Tuesday they were investigating the cause of a "minor explosion" at Southgate underground station in north London and were advising people to avoid the area.
  
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• The surge in hay fever is rooted in our modern lifestyles

  19-06-2018 22:30 via theguardian.com
  Obsessive hygiene, antibiotics and car exhausts are blamed for hay fever now affecting 20% of Britain’s populationThis has been the worst month for hay fever for 12 years. Grasses had perfect growing conditions over late April and in May with warm sunshine and showers. That was followed in June by hot dry conditions when the grass flowers matured and shed clouds of pollen on light breezes and up people’s noses.The strange thing is that hay fever was incredibly rare when it was first
  
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• A story about a woman giggling on a train led to a bunch of book recommendations

  19-06-2018 22:18
  The book was Theft By Finding: Diaries by David Sedaris.
  
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• European leaders will be told to step up preparations for 'no deal' Brexit

  19-06-2018 21:41
  European leaders will be told to step up preparations for a "no deal" Brexit, according to a leaked document.Draft conclusions of next week's European Council summit, seen by Sky News, will call on member states and stakeholders to "step up their work on preparedness at all levels for all outcomes" - a thinly-veiled reference to no deal being agreed.The disclosure is likely to ramp up the pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May, who faces a Commons showdown on her Brexit approach on Wednesday.
  
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• 'Minor explosion' reported at Southgate tube station in north London

  19-06-2018 21:39
  Five people have been hurt after a reported explosion at an Underground station in north London, emergency services have said.Three were treated at the scene for minor injuries, while two more were taken to hospital.Police were dealing with the incident after being called to reports that a suspicious package had been found, they said.
  
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• Queen Victoria marble portrait saved from export to tune of £1m

  19-06-2018 21:11
  It will go on permanent public display for the first time at the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge.The marble portrait was carved by Sir Alfred Gilbert – best known for the statue of Eros in Piccadilly Circus – between 1887-89.The portrait, regarded as a virtuoso depiction of ageing skin, soft drapery, crisp lace and jewellery, is the only surviving marble in the UK by Gilbert, who rarely worked in stone.
  
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• Club promoter who killed schoolboy with one punch is spared jail

  19-06-2018 20:58
  A club promoter has avoided jail after been found guilty of first degree manslaughter for killing a schoolboy with a single punch in Crete.Harrow pupil Archie Lloyd, 18, was celebrating the end of his A-level exams with friends in the town of Malia on the Greek island when he was knocked to the ground by Sebastian Trabucatti in August 2015.Trabucatti appeared at the Court of First Instance in Heraklion after a UK coroner recorded a verdict of unlawful killing at an inquest in 2016.
  
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• What’s Juneteenth and how has it been celebrated online?

  19-06-2018 20:56
  On June 19 1865, slaves in Texas heard they were officially free.
  
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• Tributes to graffiti artists killed by train at London's Loughborough Junction

  19-06-2018 20:56
  London's street art community has paid tribute to three graffiti artists killed by a train in south London.Jack Gilbert and Harrison Scott-Hood, 23, and Alberto Fresneda-Carrasco, 19, were found dead on the tracks near Loughborough Junction station, near Brixton, on Monday morning.It is believed they were hit by a freight train while painting graffiti in the early hours of the morning.
  
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• EU copyright reforms draw fire from internet luminaries as key vote looms

  19-06-2018 20:53
  Europe's attempts to force Google , Microsoftand other tech giants to share revenues with publishers and bear liability for internet content have triggered criticism from internet pioneers ahead of a key vote on Wednesday.Two years after the European Commission presented plans to reform rules to take into account the growing role of online platforms, a key committee at the European Parliament will vote on the issue.The final step would be negotiations with EU countries to find a common stand.
  
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• Three people killed on London train track

  19-06-2018 20:50
  The bodies were seen on the tracks at Loughborough Junction at 7.30am, and police are treating the deaths as "unexplained".
  
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• Exam board 'sorry' for audio mix-up in French and Spanish A-levels

  19-06-2018 20:46
  Students sitting the exams on Monday complained that recordings were out of order, making it harder to answer with confidence.An examination board has apologised to A-level students and their teachers after a mix-up in recordings made it difficult for candidates to answer questions in Spanish and French exams taken this month.Students sitting the Eduqas French modern foreign languages exams on Monday complained that recordings were out of order, making it more difficult to answer with confidence
  
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• Home Secretary Sajid Javid paves way for legalisation of cannabis for medicinal use

  19-06-2018 20:45
  Sajid Javid has declared it is "time to review" the medicinal status of cannabis, but promised it is "not a first step" to legalising the drug for recreational use.Former Tory leader and foreign secretary Lord William Hague have called for the Class-B drug to be legalised for recreational use, and blasted current laws as "inappropriate, ineffective and utterly out of date".Mr Javid ruled out Lord Hague's proposal, but said he would consider changing the law for cannabis where there was "evidence
  
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• Brexit row: GCHQ chief stresses UK's role in foiling European terror plots

  19-06-2018 20:42
  Jeremy Fleming said the UK had ‘played a critical role in the disruption of terrorist operations in at least four European countries in the past year’.Britain supplied key information to help break up terrorist operations in four European countries in the last year, one of its intelligence chiefs revealed on Tuesday, as the UK upped the ante in the growing row over post-Brexit security.The director of the surveillance agency GCHQ, Jeremy Fleming, speaking on a visit to Nato headquart
  
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• Pregnant pause on baby leave proxy vote vexes MPs

  19-06-2018 20:39
  Harriet Harman, who brought a resolution on the issue of parental leave, says a long-overdue change to Commons procedures is needed.Among the many issues to be considered by MPs before Wednesday’s crucial vote on the EU withdrawal bill is one particular complexity faced by a handful of them: the implications of late pregnancy.With no formal parental leave system in place in the Commons, the precise numbers on the key amendment vote could be swayed by the fact that three MPs who would vote
  
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• No 10 and rebels stand firm in row over Brexit 'meaningful vote'

  19-06-2018 20:37
  Theresa May has been meeting some of the Tory rebels one to one to try to win them over.Theresa May faces a nail-biting parliamentary clash with Conservative rebels on Wednesday as the government seeks to defeat an attempt to give MPs a “meaningful vote” before Britain could leave the EU without a deal.The EU withdrawal bill, the government’s flagship piece of Brexit legislation, returns to the House of Commons on Wednesday against a backdrop of increasing anxiety about the ris
  
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• Ex-soldier who shot man dead in Northern Ireland faces prosecution

  19-06-2018 20:14
  Aidan McAnespie was shot dead in Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone, in February 1988.A former soldier who shot dead a 23-year-old man as he walked through a British army checkpoint in Northern Ireland 30 years ago is to be prosecuted for gross negligence manslaughter.Aidan McAnespie was killed in Aughnacloy, Co Tyrone, on 21 February 1988 while on his way to play football at a local Gaelic Athletic Association club.
  
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• Brexit 'meaningful vote': how the row has unfolded

  19-06-2018 20:13
  Amendment 19 seeks to give parliament a final say on a Brexit deal – but how much say has varied wildly between its various incarnations.Tabled by the former Tory minister Douglas Hogg, now Lord Hailsham, and passed by the Lords on 12 June by a majority of 26, this amendment sought to give parliament significant powers to approve any final deal.It said the government could only conclude a Brexit deal if the draft had been approved by MPs and considered in the Lords.
  
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• Meghan and Harry visit Royal Ascot for a day at the Queen's races

  19-06-2018 20:00
  The Duke and Duchess of Sussex arrived at Royal Ascot for a day out with her new family, as they joined the carriage procession with the Queen.Prince Harry and Meghan joined the Earl and Countess of Wessex in an Ascot Landau as they made their way to day one of the event near their wedding venue, Windsor Castle.The last time the Duke and Duchess sat in an Ascot Landau was on their wedding day, exactly a month ago, on 19 May.
  
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• Club promoter guilty of killing boy with one punch in Malia, Crete

  19-06-2018 19:58
  A club promoter has been found guilty of manslaughter in Crete over the death of a schoolboy who he punched during a row.Harrow pupil Archie Lloyd, 18, was celebrating the end of his A-level exams with friends in Malia when he was knocked to the floor by a single punch from Sebastian Trabucatti in August 2015.Trabucatti appeared at the Court of First Instance in Heraklion facing manslaughter charges after a UK coroner recorded a verdict of unlawful killing at an inquest in 2016.
  
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• EU's Barnier says progress in Brexit talks, but divergences remain on Ireland

  19-06-2018 19:54
  BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Talks between Britain and the European Commission on the country's EU exit have made progress in some issues but they still disagree on how to tackle the Irish border, the bloc's chief Brexit negotiator said on Tuesday.
  
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• Hammond 'ordered NHS chief to back health funding plan'

  19-06-2018 19:51
  The prime minister, Theresa May (left), sits alongside the chancellor, Philip Hammond, the health secretary, Jeremy Hunt and NHS boss, Simon Stevens (right) at the Royal Free hospital.Philip Hammond only agreed to the NHS’s £20bn budget boost on condition that the service’s outspoken chief executive backed the deal, sources close to the deal have disclosed.The chancellor made it clear in tense eleventh-hour negotiations that Simon Stevens had to publicly welcome the funding dea
  
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• England's cricketers set one-day record against Australia

  19-06-2018 19:45
  England's cricketers have set a one-day record after scoring 481-6 against Australia at Trent Bridge.The world record came with the help of centuries from Alex Hales (who eventually went out for 147) and opener Jonny Bairstow, who made 139.Morgan took just 21 balls to reach his half-century, the fastest by any England batsman in terms of balls faced.
  
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• Tory benches empty for Failing Grayling's defence - maybe the trains were late

  19-06-2018 19:42
  Chris Grayling is not sure where his colleagues are.For once, though, no blame could be attached to the transport secretary, Chris Grayling.Once the prime minister’s indecision was resolved for a few hours – or the foreseeable future as Tory MPs have come to think of it – Labour were free to begin their no confidence motion in Failing Grayling.
  
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• Meghan Markle makes Ascot racing debut in royal procession

  19-06-2018 19:35
  Meghan Markle made her debut on Tuesday at one of the English social season's blue riband events, Royal Ascot, joining her husband Prince Harry in a horse-drawn carriage for the traditional procession along the course at the start of the five-day race meeting.Wearing a white Givenchy dress and black and white Philip Treacy hat, the new Duchess of Sussex and her husband wereaccompanied in the carriage by Harry's uncle Edward, the Earl of Wessex, and his wife Sophie.
  
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• Most Britons want medicinal cannabis legalised: Sky Data poll

  19-06-2018 19:15
  There has been a substantial rise in the number of Britons who think cannabis use for medicinal purposes should be made legal, according to a Sky Data poll.Some 82% of those questioned believe it should be legalised - an increase of 10% compared with a similar Sky survey in November 2016.Meanwhile, there has been a smaller increase in the number who back legalising cannabis for recreational use.
  
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• Far right reorganising for Tommy Robinson protests, say activists

  19-06-2018 19:15
  The far right in the UK is mobilising itself around protests over the imprisonment of the former English Defence League leader Tommy Robinson, a group of MPs, union leaders and political activists have said.In a letter to the Guardian, they say a violent 15,000-strong far-right protest in support of Robinson in central London on 9 June raised concerns for those who value diversity.“This is the first serious attempt since the collapse of the English Defence League (EDL) to develop a racist
  
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• EU leaders worried over Irish border issue in Brexit talks - draft

  19-06-2018 19:01
  European Union leaders will express concern on Friday over a lack of progress in talks with London on how to avoid reimposing controls at the border between British-ruled Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic after Brexit.Leaders of the 27 countries that will remain in the EU after Britain leaves next year will take stock of negotiations on a withdrawal agreement and on a political declaration on whatfuture relations with London should look like.The backstop solution has been agreed in very ge
  
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• Europol's new chief - work with UK must go on post-Brexit

  19-06-2018 18:49
  The new head of Europe's police agency urged Brexit negotiators on Tuesday to find a path "one way or another" to allow it to continue its work with Britain after it leaves the bloc.Catherine De Bolle, who replaced British diplomat Rob Wainwright as the head of Europol in May, stressed the importance of information-sharing with the UK, one of the world's leading crime-fighting and intelligence powers.If we don't have this cooperation, it will become difficult," de Bolle - a former head of Belgiu
  
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• Facebook and Twitter: we can do more to protect disabled people

  19-06-2018 18:44
  Facebook and Twitter said they could communicate better with people with learning difficulties.Facebook and Twitter have admitted they could do more to protect disabled people from online abuse, following criticism from the model and TV personality Katie Price, whose son Harvey has been victimised online.The social media giants told MPs they could make the risks of abuse clearer to vulnerable people, and make the terms and conditions of using social media platforms easier for people with learnin
  
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• Rupert Murdoch must increase Sky News budget to £100m

  19-06-2018 18:07
  Matt Hancock has announced conditions under which 21st Century Fox will be allowed to complete a takeover of Sky.Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox must must increase the funding of Sky News to at least £100m a year beyond 2030 as a precondition of taking full control of Sky, the culture secretary has said.Matt Hancock has said he would approve Murdoch’s £11.7bn bid to take control of the 61% of Sky he doesn’t already own as long as Murdoch sells off Sky News to an a
  
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• Murdoch 'must increase Sky News budget to £100m'

  19-06-2018 18:07
  Matt Hancock has announced conditions under which 21st Century Fox will be allowed to complete a takeover of Sky.Rupert Murdoch’s 21st Century Fox must must increase the funding of Sky News to at least £100m a year beyond 2030 as a precondition of taking full control of Sky, the culture secretary has said.Matt Hancock has said he would approve Murdoch’s £11.7bn bid to take control of the 61% of Sky he doesn’t already own as long as Murdoch sells off Sky News to an a
  
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• Loughborough Junction Deaths: Graffiti Artists Killed On Tracks Named By Police

  19-06-2018 17:57
  The three men who were found dead on railway tracks near a busy south London
  
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• Naa'imur Zakariyah Rahman 'thought he was days from killing Theresa May'

  19-06-2018 17:44
  An Islamic State conspirator plotted to assassinate Theresa May and kill "leaders of parliament" in a suicide attack, a court has heard.Naa'imur Zakariyah Rahman, 20, believed he was days away from inflicting "lethal violence" with a blade and explosion before his arrest last November, a prosecutor told the Old Bailey.Rahmen allegedly spoke about his plan in messages sent to an undercover MI5 agent who was posing as an IS official in Syria.
  
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• Jeremy Corbyn mocked over England World Cup tweet quoting Bill Shankly

  19-06-2018 17:44
  Ahead of the Three Lions' opening World Cup match against Tunisia, Jeremy Corbyn used Twitter to wish England luck in Russia.The Labour leader shared an "inspirational message" from Bill Shankly, who he described as "one of our country's finest ever football managers".Mr Corbyn, who is an Arsenal fan, tweeted: "As we prepare for England's first match in the #WorldCup, here's an inspirational message from one of our country's finest ever football managers.
  
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• Macron says euro zone budget to be operational from 2021

  19-06-2018 17:26
  MESEBERG, Germany (Reuters) - A new joint euro zone budget agreed on Tuesday by France and Germany will be operational by 2021, French President Emmanuel Macron said after talks with German Chanceller Angela Merkel.
  
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• New undertakings by 21st Century Fox in Sky takeover bid

  19-06-2018 17:07
  New undertakings have been offered by 21st Century Fox in a potential deal to take control of Sky plc, the owner of Sky News.Culture Secretary Matt Hancock said the improved remedies would safeguard Sky News in the case of a successful £11.7bn takeover of Sky.
  
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• Siemens CEO dismisses report of large turbines unit sell-off

  19-06-2018 17:03
  SiemensChief Executive Joe Kaeser dismissed areport the German engineering company was considering selling off its struggling large turbines business as "media speculation" on Tuesday.Kaeser said Siemens planned to improve the unit'sperformance but declined to say directly if he wanted to keep it."This is media speculation and in our view there is no need to comment on media speculation," Kaeser told Reuters on the sidelines of an event in Zurich.
  
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• Singaporean fund weighs £2bn bid for UK schools group

  19-06-2018 17:00
  One of Singapore's giant sovereign wealth funds is weighing a £2bn joint bid for Cognita, the UK-based schools operator.Sky News understands that Temasek Holdings is working with an infrastructure fund managed by EQT, the Swedish private equity firm, on a potential offer for Cognita.One of Britain's biggest privately owned education groups, Cognita recently picked banks to lead an auction in an attempt to cash in on booming investor appetite for the sector.
  
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• Ex-soldier facing charges over 1988 checkpoint shooting in Northern Ireland

  19-06-2018 16:59
  A former British soldier is to be prosecuted over the death of a man he shot at an army checkpoint in Northern Ireland in 1988.Aidan McAnespie, 23, was on his way to a a local Gaelic Athletic Association club when he was shot in the back by David Jonathan Holden in Aughnacloy, County Tyrone, during the Troubles.Holden, who was 18 at the time, always said the shooting was an accident, claiming his hands were wet and that his finger had slipped on the trigger of his machine gun.
  
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• Sajid Javid paves way for legalisation of cannabis for medicinal use

  19-06-2018 16:57
  Sajid Javid has declared it is "time to review" the medicinal status of cannabis, but promised it is "not a first step" to legalising the drug for recreational use.Former Tory leader and foreign secretary Lord William Hague also called for the Class-B drug to be legalised for recreational use, and blasted current laws as "inappropriate, ineffective and utterly out of date".Mr Javid ruled out Lord Hague's proposal, but said he would consider changing the law for cannabis where there was "evidence
  
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• It's a girl! Zara and Mike Tindall's second baby is born

  19-06-2018 16:57
  Zara Tindall and her ex-rugby player husband Mike have had a baby girl, weighing 9lbs 3oz, the Royal Family has announced.Zara, the Queen's grand-daughter, gave birth at Stroud Maternity Unit in Gloucestershire on Monday.Buckingham Palace said in a statement that Mr Tindall was present at the birth.
  
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• Grenfell inquiry sees footage of source of the fire

  19-06-2018 16:57
  The Grenfell inquiry has been shown bodycam footage of the moment firefighters entered the blazing tower.Footage captured by a body-worn thermal imaging camera was played to the inquiry during a presentation by professor Niamh Nic Daeid, director of the Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science at the University of Dundee.Crew manager Batterbee and his colleague firefighter Brown, both from the North Kensington station, are wearing the cameras on 14 June last year.
  
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• Father pays tribute after mother and son found dead at Beachy Head

  19-06-2018 16:53
  The father of a boy who was found dead at the bottom of a cliff in Beachy Head has paid tribute to his "shining light".The bodies of Leo Tompsett, aged five, and his mother Cheryl, 42, were found by coastguards on Monday morning near Eastbourne.Leo's father has paid tribute to him, saying: "With more sadness and hurt than anyone can imagine, our precious Leo who was our shining light, our brightest star has had his life cut short.
  
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• Mother Of Alfie Dingley, 6, Finds Out He Will Be Granted Access To Medical Cannabis Oil Live On TV

  19-06-2018 16:46
  The mother of six-year-old Alfie Dingley, who lives with severe epilepsy,
  
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• Tube driver explains why he stopped his train

  19-06-2018 16:45
  Tube driver explains why he stopped his train
  
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• Drunk Man Who Urinated On Sleeping Homeless Man In Liverpool Jailed

  19-06-2018 16:35
  A drunk man who laughed while he urinated on the face of a sleeping homeless
  
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