Top 5 news stories of the day

Swansea explosion: Huge blast destroys houses with major incident declared

[Evening Standard] A major incident has been declared after reports of a gas explosion at a house in Swansea. Emergency services are on the scene following the incident at 11.20am on Monday on the junction of Field Close and Clydach Road in Morriston.

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WhatsApp may become illegal in UK – and messages could be seen by authorities, warns boss

[Mirror] WhatsApp could see its services being banned from the UK after the new controversial Online Safety Bill plans to remove vital encryption from the app to allow messages to be scanned

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Ukraine-Russia news – latest: Putin and Wagner group reach ‘boiling point’ in Bakhmut rivalry

[Independent] Tensions between the Russian ministry of defence and the rebel Wagner group have likely reached a “boiling point” in their rivalry over Bakhmut, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has said.

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Brits tell Russia: There’s nothing wrong with eating squirrel

[Independent] Britons may have found supermarket shelves depleted of salad produce in recent weeks but according to Russian television the crisis is much graver, with the country forced to eat squirrels.

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Oscars stand-out moments: emotional speeches, slap-gate jokes and a donkey on stage

[Screendaily] Host Jimmy Kimmel made multiple references to the infamous Will Smith slap incident which happened at last year’s Oscar ceremony.

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