Updates on Monday 27 November 2017
That's all from us today - thank you for joining us.
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We'll be back tomorrow from 08:00. Hope you have a lovely evening.
It's cold and windy tonight.
Becoming dry and clear for most as showers mostly ease, with the exception of the east coast later where showers are likely to return.
Widespread frost.
A Christmas tree from Kielder Forest in Northumberland has made its journey to London and been put up outside the House of Parliament.
The operation has become an annual tradition.
This year the main tree is a 25-year-old Sitka spruce and is 45ft (14m) tall and is in New Palace Yard in the Palace of Westminster. Two smaller trees, also from Kielder, are in Westminster Hall and the Speaker's State Rooms.
Image source, UK Parliament/Jessica TaylorThe Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has welcomed the news six British men held in an Indian jail on weapons charges for four years have been acquitted.
The men, known as the Chennai Six and including Nick Dunn, from Northumberland, were first jailed in October 2013 while working as security guards on a ship to combat piracy in the Indian Ocean.
Mr Johnson said: "The FCO (Foreign Office) has worked tirelessly behind the scenes to reunite these men with their families. The importance the UK Government places on their case cannot be understated.
"The men, their families and their supporters, who have campaigned unrelentingly, must be overjoyed.
"I share their delight and I hope they can return home as soon as possible."
Image source, PAA German rifle, a pump action shotgun and a converted walking cane were among weapons surrendered.
Read More
Sunderland Echo
Newspaper
Construction work has started on a development which will see 116 new houses to Seaham., external
Image source, SUNDERLAND ECHO"I hope we're going to get Nick home for Christmas" says the family of Nick Dunn, part of the Chennai Six.
The six former soldiers are to be released from an Indian prison four years after they were arrested.
An armed woman robbed a shop in Middlesbrough this morning.
The woman walked into McColl's in the Viewley Centre in Hemlington at 07:00, threatened a staff member and demanded cash from the till.
A small amount of money was handed over before she left the shop.
The suspect is described as 5ft 5in, of slim build and witnesses say she spoke with a local accent.
She was wearing a baggy dark hooded top, a baseball cap, grey jogging bottoms, a pair of "vintage-looking" white trainers and a black scarf covering the lower part of her face.
Image source, GoogleThe picture, taken in 1982, captured Lord Vader surrounded by young fans as he dropped into a local newsagent’s., external
Image source, SHIELDS GAZETTEMiddlesbrough has the second highest mortality rate of any council area in England, new data shows.
The town has 1,285.4 deaths per 100,000, a study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed.
Blackpool has the highest rate in England, while Glasgow tops the list of places with the highest mortality rate in the whole of the UK
BBC Sport
Rafa Benitez has been speaking to the media ahead of his side's trip to West Brom on Tuesday.
Newcastle suffered a 3-0 hammering by Watford at the weekend. So how will they respond?
“The players are fine," says Benitez.
"Training well. We realise where we are and the players know the only way is to keep working harder and better.
"The main thing is to make the players understand how we were winning games. It’s what we have to do now - stick together and do what we were doing."
Image source, Getty ImagesTyne and Wear fire and rescue service are currently tackling a small fire at Newcastle's Quayside.
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The six former British soldiers were jailed on weapons charges in 2013.
Read MoreThousands of pounds worth of building materials have been stolen from a house in Eston.
Two men went into the house's garden near the Norman Conquest pub and loaded the goods, including gravel and resin bonding, into a Ford transit van before driving off.
Police are appealing for anyone who may have private CCTV of the incident.
A man and a woman have been arrested after nurses were attacked at South Tyneside District Hospital., external
Image source, Shields GazetteThere's something not quite right with these new signs...
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You may have been to a pub crawl during your time as a student, but what about a hot chocolate crawl?
This society hosts one every year.
Durham Police have released CCTV images of two men they would like to speak to following a suspected shoplifting incident.
The suspected theft took place in an Asda store in Stanley on 16 November.
Image source, DURHAM CONSTABULARYTeesside’s hope of becoming the world leader in tackling harmful global emissions - and provide almost 6,000 jobs - has been given a boost. , external
Image source, THE GAZETTENewcastle United fan Ian really wasn't happy with his team's 3-0 defeat on Saturday.
He phoned up and voiced his opinion - what do you think?
