2018 Other News Stories that might be missed

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The new 2018 coin designs to be released by the Royal Mint - including the £2 Dr Frankenstein

The story of Dr Frankenstein and his cursed monster is celebrated in a new set of coins.
A £2 issue will mark the 200-year anniversary of the novel by Mary Shelley which launched the modern horror genre.
Another £2 coin commemorates the 100th anniversary of the First World War Armistice with poet Wilfred Owen’s line “the truth untold, the pity of war”.
And one honours the Royal Air Force, formed on April 1, 1918.
The Royal Mint is also issuing 50p coins celebrating a 1918 act giving some women over 30 the vote.
The Act, which also extended suffrage to servicemen aged over 19 and all men over 21, was granted royal assent on February 6 1918 and the first election under the new system was held later that year in December.
The Royal Mint Museum’s Dr Kevin Clancy said: “Coins released during 2018, portray the centenaries of three key events that shaped the country as we know it today.”
Mary Shelley's classic novel, which was first published anonymously on January 1, 1818, depicted the birth of Dr Frankenstein's infamous creature.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ne ... d-11778031

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The new 2018 coin designs to be released by the Royal Mint - including the £2 Dr Frankenstein

I've just ordered my complete 2018 proof set to add to my collection.

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Large meteor spotted in skies across UK

People across the UK reported seeing a large greenish light streak across the sky on Sunday evening.
The source is likely to be a meteor – space matter disintegrating as it enters the Earth's atmosphere.

VIDEO

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Moment ITV News at Ten team evacuated from studio

Tom Bradby was presenting live on air as a fire alarm was going off.
He explained why the programme would have to end prematurely.

VIDEO

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'Fat cat Thursday' as top bosses pay overtakes UK workers.

If you earn an average UK salary, by the end of today a top boss will have earned more than you do all year.
In fact, it takes a top chief executive just three days to earn £28,758.
The day has been declared "Fat Cat Thursday" by think tank the High Pay Centre and HR industry body the CIPD, which calculated the figure.
The gap between executive pay and the rest of the workforce remains huge despite top bosses pay dropping by a fifth last year.
The average boss of one of the UK's largest 100 listed firms earned £4.5m last year, down from £5.4m the year before.
Nonetheless, an average chief executive still earns 120 times more than the average full-time worker, according to the High Pay Centre.
Full article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-42559224

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‘Don’t forget your willies and waterproofs’ Primary school staff red-faced after texting parents en masse about an outdoor fun day – and failing to spot a VERY unfortunate typo

Staff at a Derbyshire primary school were left red-faced after failing to spot an embarrassing typo in a text message sent out to pupils' parents en masse.
The message, sent to parents with children at Ladywood Primary School in Ilkeston, was a reminder to pack wellies and waterproofs for pupils ahead of an 'outdoor learning' day on Tuesday.
But the autocorrect function changed the 'e' in the word wellies to an 'i', giving the text a whole new meaning - and leaving hundreds of parents scratching their heads.
'Don't forget your willies and waterproofs and to wrap up warm. We are outdoor learning this week,' the group text said.
Once the member of staff manning the phone spotted the mistake, they swiftly sent a follow-up text to apologise - but not before tickled parents shared the gaffe online
Full article: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/artic ... z53NgXh9Fc

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Birmingham restaurant fined £50,000 over wooden serving boards

A restaurant has been fined £50,000 by magistrates for serving food on wooden boards.
Birmingham City Council says the wooden plates, used by Ibrahim's Grill and Steak House in Acocks Green, pose a risk of food poisoning.
Inspectors visited the restaurant in October 2016 and had a number of concerns about cleanliness.
And though improvements were made, on a return visit two months later, they found the boards were still in use.
At Birmingham Magistrates' Court on Thursday, the restaurant admitted that by continuing to use the wooden plates it had failed to comply with a hygiene improvement notice.
Full article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bi ... m-42582900

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The man who sees the world through his phone

Rob Long was serving in Afghanistan in 2010 when he was hit by a bomb and lost his sight aged 23.
"I was left with no eyes and I am completely blind - I've got prosthetic glass eyes in now," he says.
Rob now uses his phone to help him to interact with the world and help describe what's around him.
And when he tweeted suggesting an easy way everyone can make Twitter more accessible for blind people, he was "overwhelmed with the response".
Adding a text description to photos you tweet means that visually-impaired people can have that description read out to them.
"If you just take an extra 10 seconds for your tweet, it opens up your audience to a lot more people than it did previously," says Rob.
He says adding those few words means people like him can "contribute to the conversations, comment on the photo, and just be involved - whether it's someone sharing a picture of their dog, or an important photo politically."
Full article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/4 ... -his-phone

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Clydach Vale walker Trevor Ward turns 104 on birthday weekend

A great-great-grandfather from the Rhondda who turns 104 this weekend says the secret to a long life is daily hill walks and a "drop of whisky".
Trevor Ward from Clydach Vale also loves dancing on a Saturday night and a couple of pints and Bingo on a Tuesday.
Born in January 1914, just before the outbreak of the First World War, Trevor lives alone without assistance and does not take any medication.
He walks every day with his friend but takes a break on Sunday.
"I go for a walk everyday up to the lake. I'll go to the top of the road and meet my butty and we'll talk about everything and everyone and then [go] back down," he said.
"I think the walking is keeping me healthy. Now you've got youngsters sat in the chair all day everyday watching the TV.
"I'll be out walking everyday as long as the weather is dry."
Full article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-sout ... s-42585194 link includes video

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Missing Cornwall cat Winston found after 15 years

A cat has been reunited with his owners after going missing 15 years ago.
Winston was handed in to a vet in Launceston, 35 miles away from his home in Carlyon Bay.
Vets said they were able to trace him to his owners Jan and Pete Barnes due to his microchip.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england ... r-15-years -link includes video.

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Prisoner wakes up in mortuary in Asturias Spain

A prisoner in northern Spain woke up in a hospital mortuary after being certified dead by three doctors, Spanish media report.
Gonzalo Montoya Jiménez, an inmate at a jail in the Asturias region, regained consciousness just hours before an autopsy was due to be performed.
His body is said by his family to have been marked in preparation for the post-mortem examination.
He is now under observation in intensive care at an Oviedo hospital.
Family members told local newspaper La Voz de Asturias that Montoya "had autopsy markings on him, ready to be opened up".
It is suspected to be a case of catalepsy, hospital sources told Spanish news channel Telecinco. Catalepsy is a condition where a person's vital signs slow down to the point of being almost imperceptible.
However this has yet to be confirmed.
His "death" had been certified by three experienced doctors at the prison, who ordered his body to be sent to the mortuary for further examination.
The body was taken to the Institute of Legal Medicine in Oviedo, the regional capital.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-42609239

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Longleat Safari Park: Gorilla Nico dies aged 56

One of the world's oldest silverback male gorillas has died at Longleat Safari Park in Wiltshire.
Nico, 56, died in his sleep on 7 January and staff at the park say they are "truly saddened".
A spokesman said: "It is with deep regret and huge sadness that we have to announce the death of Nico, our much-loved western lowland gorilla.
"His main keeper has been working with Nico... since 1989 and has forged an extraordinarily close bond with him."
He added: "It goes without saying that he is particularly devastated by the loss along with the rest of his keeping team who have cared for Nico over the years."
On his 56th birthday last July, Nico's keepers gave him a cake made from bananas and courgettes with carrot candles.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-42615224

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Snow falls in the Sahara desert

The town of Ain Sefra, on the edge of the Sahara desert, was hit by icy weather last week - and even snow.
Snowfall is very rare in the Sahara, despite the fact that it can be cold at night - because there's rarely enough water around for any kind of precipitation.

VIDEO

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Great Barrier Reef: Warmer seas 'turning turtles female'

Green sea turtles' gender is temperature dependent and warmer seas are turning too many of them female, according to a study.
Research - carried out on a group of 200,000 turtles in the northern Great Barrier Reef - found this poses a threat to the population of the endangered reptile.
The study was carried out by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, California State University and Worldwide Fund for Nature Australia.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/science-en ... les-female link includes video

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Man dressed as penguin attacked on train

A man wearing a penguin costume was attacked on a train by a group of men after being asked if he supported Tottenham Hotspur.
The 19-year-old was on a service between London Liverpool Street and Chelmsford when the attack happened.
The victim's father and a member of the public were also assaulted when they tried to intervene.
British Transport Police have released images of three men they want to speak to in connection with the assault.
The man had passed the group of six men to go to the toilet when he was asked if he supported Tottenham Hotspur, police said.
When he came out of the toilet, the group blocked his way back to his seat and became aggressive before attacking him.
It happened between 23:50 and 00:25 GMT on 21 December and continued on the platform of Chelmsford railway station.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-essex-42623955