Olympic torch: Allan Wells carries flame in Borders

There will be over a total of 8,000 people carrying the flame during its 8,000 mile. The journey will take 70 days. That means that the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games is in London on the 27^th of July. They are now on the 27^th day. The Olympic flame started in Edinburgh and was carried by the Scottish sprint legend Allan Wells, who won gold in the 100m at the Olympics in Moscow in 1980. He was not the only one, who carried the torch on this day. The day ended with an celebration on Alnwick Castle Pastures, which was the location for Harry Potter films.

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My opinion:

It is nice that organizers of the Olympic Games are keeping traditions, such as carrying the Olympic flame in touch. For me it is not really interesting who carried the torch on the 27^th day. But what I do like is that they make such a big event with celebrations out of it. I would love to be in London during the Olympic Games, just to experience the atmosphere. Although I think that it will be very expensive. I already tried to find a job but that isn’t easy because I also need a place to stay. I am looking forward to watch the Olympic Games.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18427156

'Pink ecstasy' drugs warning issued in north Wales

The pink drugs are very similar in size and shape to an ecstasy pill but it is a completely different drug. The police is warning people to be careful with this pink ecstasy pill because it contains another drug. Users of this drug might take more than usual because the pills act mor slowly. The fatal drugs usually have the letter "M" on them, this initial may vary. They call the drug "Dr. Death"or "Pink McDonald's".  They advice you not to take the drug but immediately call the police. The police is focused on finding who is involved in illegal supply of these pink drugs and tries to get the drug out of circulation.

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My opinion:

I'm against drugs. I never took or will take any kind of drugs (except alcohol) because I'm afraid of what can happen. I'm a control freak that is one of the main reasons why I won't try drugs. You will never know whether the drugs isn't rubbish and how your body will react on the drugs.  I hope the police will catch the drugs organization who supplies this pink drug because this type of ecstasy is very dangerous and can be fatal.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-18310110

Elderly warned over pressure-selling by rogue firms

About  £28milion is taken from nearly 2,000 victims in the UK. Most of them are older people, who will never be able to make good their loss. Older people are warned for this pressure selling and scam organizations. There are a lot of companies, who aggressively sell to older people and then overcharge them or fail to deliver. In most cases land or buildings are sold that didn’t exist or was on protected land but also fine wines or fire alarms were sold. Older people are the targets of this pressure selling. One person lost tens of thousands of pounds because of being scammed.

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My opinion:

It is terrible situation that older people or vulnerable people are the targets of these aggressive scam operations. Of course it is terrible for everyone to lose money but these persons can never earn or get back the amount of money they lost. I think it is sad that those people are in this dangerous and difficult situations. In some cases they can't protect themselves for pressure selling. It is good that the government and the media is warning older people and carers because they might "save" some possible victims. They are also asking the society, from bankers to the general public, to help and protect the people who need it most. I hope that this campaign will work and "rescue" some people.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18453895

Gambler who kept winning could lose £650,000 jackpot

The gambler, Bruno Venturi, who turned a £17 stake into £650,000 just because of a few hours online gaming. Bruno is 41 years old.  He kept winning playing a game on Eurobet.com. The problem is that the company claims that it was a mistake. Something went wrong with his games because he was charged for only one in six of his bets. The company refuses to pay Bruno the money he won. This situation do people remind of a film of the year 1935 called “ The man who broke the bank at monte carlo”.

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My opinion:

I never gamble because I  would lose a big amount of money.  I have a lot of bad luck and that is why I don’t dare to use money to gamble. I think I would be to screwy. What happened with Bruno Venturi, happens more often. It also happened at the Dutch “Staatloterij”. A man in Limburg saw on the internet that he had won the jackpot. He made a copy or print screen of it but the next day his jackpot was gone. The “Staatsloterij” also claimed that there was a mistake in the system. But the Dutch man did get a  percentage of the sum he thought  he had won to compensate the mistake. 

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Strabane mother warning after chicken pox virus

The 4-year-old James Mullan ended up in hospital fighting for his life because he had a virus called the chicken pox. The mother warns parents to be aware of the dangers of chicken pox. Her child became seriously ill. He had to spent 6 days in the hospital. The mother of James said parents must look out for the signs when something is not right. The signs can be; if you can’t control the temperature, your child doesn’t want to eat or drink and when you see swelling it is best to contact the doctor. But don’t take no for an answer. In James his case, the virus was so terrible that he could have lost his life if this mother listened to the first reaction of the doctor and waited much longer.

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My opinion:

It must be terrible for a mother to have a child who is ill and who you can’t help. You call the doctor and they blow you off with get your  child some aspirin and it will be over in a day. When the mother feels that something isn’t right and they get this reaction some of them would stop calling or complaining because they think the doctors know what is best. In some cases they don’t, so don’t let them stop you. That is what I learned from this article. This boy could have died because of the lame reaction of the doctor. But this caring mother was sure about her case and wants to warn other parents. It would be terrible when the child died because of a wrong diagnoses,

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-foyle-west-18445870

More teachers to learn in classroom - Michael Gove

There are plans set out by Michael Gove, who is Education Secretary. He wants that teachers in England will be trained in the work field rather than in universities. He wants more schools to work with universities to train teachers while they worked. The National Union of Teachers said that people who want to become teachers need practical training but they also need space to learn and exchange ideas on best practice. There are people, who think that school-based learning will increase the expertise in teacher training from universities. They are also afraid that about 300 courses will be closed or merged. Another plan he announced at the conference is that he wants to attract top graduates, to teach in challenging schools, for subjects where there was a teacher shortage  or to teach maths in primary schools by paying them extra money.

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My opinion:

I think it is a good thing that people who are becoming teachers get more practice in the school. You can learn a lot about teaching at the university but you learn best in practice. In the schools people experience what it is like to be or to become a teacher. Teacher trainees still need courses to become a teacher. In Germany at the university of Dortmund it takes 4 years before the teacher trainees teach at schools. This is bad because after those hard years of studying some people realize they don’t like to teach. I don’t think money is a good way to attract people to become a teacher. People should be motivated to become a teacher because they really want it and not because of the extra money.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-18427512

London tourist's illegally parked car blown-up by police

The car of Nima Hosseini Razi, who is studying for an MBA at the University of Wales, had broken down next to Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament. He left the car there and while waiting for the AA he went sightseeing. He left a message to explain that his car has broken down and that he left for sightseeing and didn’t want a fine because he couldn’t help it. The anti- terrorist officers thought that  it was an attack so they blew up the car. The tourist also received a parking fine. Mister Razi thinks the officers were very arrogant and unprofessional. They didn’t want to listen to his story, which made him feel like a terrorist.

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My opinion:

 I think it is a funny story to read. Of course it wasn’t funny for Mister Razi or the anti- terrorist officers. I can imagine that Mister Razi felt treated like a terrorist. I was in a similar situation on Schiphol a few years ago. My sister forgot her suitcase and we were already in the parking lot. I had to run back to pick up the suitcase. The suitcase was already surrounded by a few officers. When I explained that my sister forgot her suitcase and I was there to pick it up. They were angry and complained that they thought it was an attack. I felt sorry but it wasn’t on purpose.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-18447470

Ringo Starr's birthplace on Madryn Street, Liverpool, saved

The birthplace of Beatle Ringo Starr in Liverpool was saved from taking down. Nine Madryn street was ready to be knocked down for other plans by the Liverpool City Council. The birth house of Ringo Starr is saved and spared like 15 other houses in the street. The other 400 homes will be knocked down. Someone said, that “Ringo Starr’s home is a beacon of Beatlemania”. This example, saving properties, shows that the people have the power to save places they appreciate. They try to rescue more houses by renewing instead of taking them down. The house will probably look ridiculous in his new surroundings. 

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My opinion:

As I saw the picture of the Ringo Starr’s birthplace I didn’t understand what it is all about. The building is ugly, covered with graffiti and boarded up.  I do understand that the local people wanted to keep the birth house of Ringo Starr because this building has a meaning for Beatle fans. It is a pity that they will break down so many houses instead of renewing or renovating all of them. About 16 houses will be renewed. The renovated houses will seem ridiculous when they are situated in the same area where people will find new buildings. I love old places, villages or cities, where people can find history. In my opinion this starts with buildings because old buildings or houses give a city more character.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-18441277

Nottinghamshire woman loses baby after ambulance wait

The 21-year-old Sarah Gould called for an ambulance because she was bleeding heavily but there was no crew available. From the point where she was, she could see the ambulance station but had to wait for 34 minutes. When she arrived in the hospital a scan confirmed that the baby already had died. The woman blames the ambulance centre for the death of her unborn baby. Normally, in this kind of situations the ambulance centre respond within 20 minutes and with a red code in 8 minutes. A doctor arrived in 15 minutes but the ambulance took too long. The husband regrets that he didn’t drove Sarah to the hospital because this would take him only 20 minutes.

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My opinion:

I think it is terrible what this couple had to go through. It is understandable that they blame the ambulance centre for taking so long to get there. Maybe the baby would have survived in the hospital. But it is dismal that the husband is blaming himself for not driving his wife to the hospital. I can understand that he is responding like this but it is useless because it isn’t his fault. It doesn’t change the situation and the fact that the ambulance was too late. In this situation you can’t do a thing, you are depending on ambulances and doctors. I can imagine that they never trust an ambulance again. It is frustrating and very sad that this woman maybe lost her child because there wasn’t an ambulance.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-18440304

Stacey Mackie fire murder trial: Victim 'named killer'

The 35-year-old Stacey Mackie from Kendal died because of her 90% burns. She was set on fire with white spirit in her flat which was situated in a home for vulnerable people. The police tried to get into the flat after getting a report that a man was inside with an axe. They broke down the door but couldn’t see a thing because of the smoke. Then Stacey walked out of the flat with bad burns. Before she died in the hospital, she told the police who her attacker was. The police found her attacker in the flat. Because he was in the flat and inhaled the smoke he had to be treated. Her attacker, Terrence Armer denies that he committed the crime.

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My opinion:

The question I have is: why did he do it? What did she do to him? What he did is terrible and unforgivable. He doused her with white spirit and set her on fire.  She had a cruel and painful death. He was there on the crime scene and she even named him as her killer but still he didn’t commit this crime. I hope he will have a good trial and that the judges lock him up for lifetime. When you can do such an evil thing to a human being, in my opinion you haven’t got the right to live as a free man.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-18443690

UK LulzSec suspect charged with hacking in US

In the UK a man was suspected of joining the Lulz Security hacking group. He was formally charged in the US. The 20- year- old Ryan Cleary, from Wickford in Essex, broke into a number of websites, including the website of the US X-Factor and into the computer systems of Sony Pictures Entertainment. The hacks were pulled to steal confidential information and personal details. He wasn’t  unknown in the British hacking world because he was already accused in the UK of breaking into the Serious Organised Crime Agency website and several music sites. If Ryan will be convicted in the US he will face up to a maximum of 25 years of imprisonment.

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My opinion:

I don’t mind that people, who hack websites or computers, face up to an imprisonment of 25 years because they are stealing confidential and personal details. That is why deserve a huge punishment. In this computer world no one is safe anymore because there are many hackers. I am afraid that this hacking problem will get worse in the future because there will be more hackers and that it is even possible that our confidential doctor information will get on the street or online. In this technological society everyone uses internet or is forced to use internet. Just think of online banking or governmental websites like “digiD”, we are obliged to use them and this can be dangerous.

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http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-18439217

Dozens arrested in paedophile abuse raids

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre led a raid to track paedophiles. About 78 paedophiles are arrested among them were a retired teacher, members of the army and a scout leader. Most of them downloaded or shared indecent photos. The government stored the details of internet use in the UK for a year to discover crime. Every photo is a crime scene and they need to identify that crime scene. They check the clues of the background to see if victims could be identified. An analysis showed that over 50 % of people who viewed photos also go on to commit sex attacks to children. The victims on the photos are getting younger and younger and the abuse is more violent, extreme and sadistic then before.

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My opinion:

I am glad they caught about 80 paedophiles but there are much more people to catch. I hope they will continue tracking down this kind of people. The government does a good thing by storing the use of internet details. In that case they can raid more paedophiles only by the use of internet.  It is a pity that there are people in the world committing these crimes. It makes me sick to read that the victims are getting younger and that the abuse itself is getting more violent, extreme and sadistic. Why do this people hurt harmless children? In my opinion they have to track them and lock them up for life.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18442288