The Nifty 250: News of the day in so many words

A HIGH-SPEED RAILWAY LINE plan linking Scotland and London via Liverpool by 2030 has been unveiled. Network Rail's proposed new line linking Glasgow and Edinburgh with London, on which trains could travel as fast as 200mph, would also serve Manchester, Liverpool, Preston and Birmingham. A journey time from Liverpool to London would be 1hr 23mins, down from the present 2hrs 8mins. The government is now carrying out its own rail network review and will make a decision next year.

A RARE BABY ANTELOPE spends her working hours at Knowsley Safari Park but likes to get some respite in a spare-room in Whitefield. Sultana was born at Knowsley Safari Park but is being cared for by head keeper Emma Gatcliffe, at her home after being abandoned by her mother. After a four-hour feed, Sultana likes to play with Miss Gatcliffe’s poodle, watch some TV, and then retreat to the spare-room.

POLICE ‘BURGLARS’ ARE BREAKING into 3,500 homes to check they have locked their doors and windows. Officers are testing front and back doors in burglary hotspots in Everton and Woolton and waking residents if the doors are unlocked. So far they have successfully opened 66 doors and spotted 14 open windows.

POLICE ARE HUNTING A GANG who savagely attacked a stranger. The 34-year-old man was walking along Liverpool Road towards the Sankey area on Sunday at 4am when a group of two men and two women crossed from the other side of the road and attacked him, causing serious facial damage.