Summary

  • Inmate pleads guilty over prison fire

  • Student 'left to rot in UAE prison'

  • Hampshire man dies while hiking up UAE mountain

  • Oxford band Radiohead to headline Glastonbury tonight

  • Updates from Friday 23 June

  1. Brexit: Isle of Wight views one year on from referendumpublished at 14:41 British Summer Time 23 June 2017

    A year after the Isle of Wight registered a strong vote to leave the EU, BBC South's business correspondent Alistair Fee has been gauging opinion on the island.

  2. Cladding removed from Portsmouth tower blockspublished at 14:38 British Summer Time 23 June 2017

    Portsmouth City Council is removing cladding from two Somerstown tower blocks, after checks showed it was a fire risk.

    The cladding at Horatia House and Leamington House was tested in the wake of the Grenfell Tower disaster.

    Leamington HouseImage source, Google

    The council said the buildings were "safe to stay in" while the work takes place.

    It said as an extra precaution, council staff would be present in the tower blocks 24 hours a day, for as long as necessary.

  3. Punter poised to win £1m with 'incredible' Ascot betpublished at 14:14 British Summer Time 23 June 2017

    Stuart Bailey
    BBC News

    It's going to be an anxious few hours for someone in Bedfordshire, who could become a millionaire this afternoon.

    At the start of the week they placed a £40 accumulator bet on seven horses winning their races at Ascot.

    The first six selections all came in and now the £1m payout rests on 8/1-shot Bound For Nowhere in today's 15:40 race.

    Horses at AscotImage source, Reuters

    The punter, at Ladbrokes in Dunstable, has already beaten these odds:

    • Lady Aurelia 7/2
    • Barney Roy 5/2
    • Qemah 5/2
    • Highland Reel 11/4
    • Coronet 7/1
    • Big Orange 8/1

    Nicola McGeady, from Ladbrokes, said: "This punter has made incredible predictions already and today his hopes of becoming a millionaire all comes down to one horse, Bound To Nowhere.

    "After making such amazing predictions so far, we can only wish him the best of luck."

  4. Man charged with raping woman near clubpublished at 13:40 British Summer Time 23 June 2017

    Police said the attack happened in an alleyway in Oxford at about 02:00 BST on Sunday.

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  5. New Purbeck crematorium 'will ease pressure on Poole'published at 13:28 British Summer Time 23 June 2017

    A new £4m crematorium is being built in Dorset to ease pressure amid high demand, developers have said.

    An artist's impression of Harbour View CrematoriumImage source, Tapper Funeral Service

    There are currently three crematoriums in the county at Bournemouth, Poole and Weymouth.

    Harbour View Crematorium, which is being developed by Tapper Funeral Service, is expected to open in the Purbecks in the autumn to relieve demand at Poole Crematorium.

    Poole, which was built in the mid-1980s to alleviate pressure in Bournemouth, was 22nd out of 281 in the UK last year in terms of demand, according to the Cremation Society.

  6. Oxfordshire's Big Picturepublished at 13:07 British Summer Time 23 June 2017

    If you have a great image of Oxfordshire send it to us by email to oxfordshire@bbc.co.uk, or post it on Twitter @bbcoxford or BBC Oxford on Facebook.

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  7. The wow factor of seeing '60 tonnes of metal whizzing around' doesn't go awaypublished at 12:43 British Summer Time 23 June 2017

    Bovington Tank Museum curator David Willey on the enduring appeal of Tankfest.

  8. Oxford air quality 'improving too slowly'published at 12:26 British Summer Time 23 June 2017

    Air pollution appears to have "plateaued above legal limits" in parts of Oxford, a city council report says.

    The annual status report said levels of nitrogen dioxide had fallen in the last decade, but improvements were slowing down.

    OxfordImage source, David Hallam-Jones

    Between 2014 and 2016, average levels fell by just 3.9%, the council said.

    Last week, the council challenged government predictions that the city would hit targets by 2020.

  9. 'Tree Rex' spotted at nature reservepublished at 12:14 British Summer Time 23 June 2017

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  10. WATCH: Premier Inn urgently reviews claddingpublished at 11:52 British Summer Time 23 June 2017

    Premier Inn has told BBC Newsnight that it was “extremely concerned” about the cladding on three of its hotels.

    It said an urgent review found hotels in Maidenhead, Brentford and Tottenham did not appear to comply with government guidance for tall buildings - although it did appear to be a less flammable type than that used at Grenfell Tower.

    The hotel chain said an independent expert has assured them that the hotels were safe to stay open given their "robust" safety measures including fire detectors and smoke alarms in every room.

    Media caption,

    BBC Newsnight's report on Premier Inn's urgent review of cladding

  11. Ninth arrest after fatal street brawlpublished at 11:45 British Summer Time 23 June 2017

    A murder investigation was launched after 27-year-old Christopher Lemonius died in hospital.

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  12. Travel: Long M3 delayspublished at 11:29 British Summer Time 23 June 2017

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  13. British hiker dies on UAE mountainpublished at 11:17 British Summer Time 23 June 2017

    Alex Underhill and his walking companion had started to feel faint in temperatures which peaked at 45C.

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  14. Ninth arrest after fatal street brawlpublished at 10:55 British Summer Time 23 June 2017

    A ninth person has been arrested after a man died following a fight in Oxford.

    The brawl broke out on 1 June in Jourdain Road, Blackbird Leys. Christopher Lemonius, 27, was found injured and died in hospital.

    Five people have been charged with murder, and yesterday a 32-year-old from Oxford was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender.

    He has been released on bail to appear at Abingdon police station on 6 July.

    Crime scene in Blackbird Leys
    Image caption,

    The brawl broke out in the Jourdain Road area of Blackbird Leys

  15. Who ate all the pies?published at 10:26 British Summer Time 23 June 2017

    Southampton FC star Manolo Gabbiadini and his new wife Martina Rubini laid on a generous amount of food at their recent wedding in Bologna, Italy.

    Just to put it in context, the striker is 1.86m (6ft 1in) tall...

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  16. Inmate pleads guilty over prison firepublished at 09:57 British Summer Time 23 June 2017

    An inmate has admitted starting a "large fire" which led to the evacuation of part of Guys Marsh prison near Shaftesbury in March.

    Nigel Saunders, 29, pleaded guilty at Bournemouth Crown Court to arson with intent to endanger life.

    Prison fire

    Saunders, who set fire to clothing after climbing on to the roof, was reported to be drunk and protesting at changes to the prison regime.

    He will be sentenced on 4 August.

    In April, prison inspectors said the jail remained unsafe, with high levels of drug use and assaults on staff.

  17. Royal Ascot day three reviewpublished at 09:38 British Summer Time 23 June 2017

    All the news from the third day of Royal Ascot as Big Orange lands a memorable Gold Cup win.

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  18. Radiohead headline Glastonbury Festivalpublished at 08:56 British Summer Time 23 June 2017

    Oxfordshire band Radiohead are tonight's headliners at the Glastonbury Festival.

    Lead singer Thom Yorke recently revealed he nearly walked off stage in frustration during their first headline appearance in 1997, after the band's monitors blew up, leaving them unable to hear each other.

    He said: "I just went over to Ed [O'Brien, guitarist] and said, 'I'm off mate, see you later,' He turned around and went, 'If you do, you'll probably live the rest of your life regretting it.' I went, 'Good point.'"

    Radiohead
  19. No 'Brexit brain drain' but concerns remainpublished at 08:33 British Summer Time 23 June 2017

    Bethan Phillips
    Political reporter, BBC Radio Oxford

    Bodleian Library and the Bridge of Sighs at Oxford University
    Image caption,

    Oxford University said many of its employees from the EU are concerned about their right to stay in the UK after Brexit

    Figures obtained by BBC Radio Oxford show a feared exodus of EU nationals from some of Oxfordshire's biggest institutions has not happened yet.

    Oxford University, Oxford Brookes and Oxford University Hospitals Trust all have similar levels of EU nationals working for them now.

    It had been suggested highly qualified EU nationals might decide to leave jobs in Oxfordshire following the Brexit vote.

    But concerns do remain, Oxford University has said it would suffer "enormous damage" if EU citizens lost the right to stay in the UK.

  20. Student 'left to rot in UAE prison'published at 08:19 British Summer Time 23 June 2017

    The Foreign Office says it is helping Ahmad Zeidan but his family claims he has been forgotten.

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