Gruffalo author pens protest poem

Children’s laureate and Gruffalo author Julia Donaldson writes a poem in protest at planned library closures across the

Man kills himself in hairdressers

A man in his 20s has shot himself in a hairdressers in Dungannon, County

Leeds 34-16 Hull KR

Kallum Watkins records a second-half hat-trick as Leeds begin the defence of their Super League title by beating Hull KR at

Two men held over shooting death

Two men are arrested in connection with the death of a man who was shot in an East Renfrewshire street last

Robshaw relishing Scotland battle

Chris Robshaw says England’s young side will not be daunted by Saturday’s Six Nations opener at

Tories’ concern at charity links

The Conservatives demand answers about links between the Labour Party and the chief executive of a charity facing allegations of financial

BT vow fibre optic ‘game changer’

Fibre optic connections to at speeds of 300 Mbps will be available ‘on demand’ in the UK next year, BT

Temperatures ‘set to reach -12′

The UK is set for another bitterly cold night with temperatures plunging again, say weather

Man Utd fan on race abuse charge

A Manchester United fan is charged with shouting racist abuse at Stoke City players during a Premier League

Snow alert issued across Scotland

The Met Office warns that snow will affect many parts of southern and eastern Scotland at the

Sex assault ‘therapist’ convicted

A bogus therapist and his wife who told women they could diagnose and treat cancer are found guilty of sexual assault and

Poison arrest nurse loses appeal

A nurse arrested and later freed over the poisoning deaths of patients at Stepping Hill Hospital loses an appeal against her

Anderson denies confidence crisis

James Anderson says there is no crisis of confidence in the England batting line-up, despite another stuttering display against

Carroll accused ‘sought address’

A man accused of murdering Constable Stephen Carroll tried to collect information on another policeman for republicans, a court

Ed Davey is new energy secretary

Lib Dem minister Ed Davey is named the new energy and climate change secretary following Chris Huhne’s resignation, while Norman Lamb takes over his role as business

Queen digs deep for Jubilee woods

The Queen launches a project to plant six million trees native to Britain, creating new woods across the country to mark her Diamond

Pub arsonist sets fire to himself

Cheshire Fire Service releases CCTV footage showing an arsonist setting fire to himself while trying to ignite a

PFI hospitals ‘get bailout fund’

Seven English NHS hospital trusts with debts caused, in part, by PFI repayments are to have access to a £1.5bn government bailout

The rush to the scooter

Scooters are becoming increasingly popular as people look to cut costs and stretch their budgets, but could the boom spark safety

Quiz of the week’s news

The Magazine’s weekly quiz of the news, 7 days 7

Police paid £41m to jobs agency

It emerges that the police has paid £41m to a recruitment agency during the past three

NHS warns on nappy sack dangers

A Cornish campaign alerting parents to the risks of babies being suffocated by nappy sacks is adopted by the NHS

CPS to announce Huhne decision

The Crown Prosecution Service will announce on Friday whether it will press charges against Chris Huhne over claims his former wife accepted penalty points on his

Convictions could be spent sooner

The government proposes to reduce the periods for criminal convictions to become spent in England and Wales, so offenders’ criminal records could be

Olympics ‘boosting’ Scots tourism

Tourist bookings for visits to Scotland around the time of the London Olympics are rising, it is

Met training more riot officers

The Metropolitan Police is training more officers in order to deal with any repeat of last summer’s riots, London’s chief police officer

Blue Peter seeks best child book

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Theodore Boone are among the books vying for the title of best children’s novel in the last

Custody deaths review announced

The Independent Police Complaints Commission announces a review of the way it deals with custody deaths following a BBC

Power over rail bonuses ‘limited’

The UK transport minister tells MPs that the government’s powers to prevent bonuses at Network Rail are “extremely

Taps replaced in neo-natal unit

The bacterial infection Pseudomonas has been found in water outlets at Altnagelvin Hospital’s neo-natal