Yard chief denounces 'soft' justice

Sir Paul Stephenson voices dismay at the rise in cautions and ‘parking ticket’ penalties for criminals

News in brief

UKIP MEPs’ expenses probed | Briton beats Russian giant | Author to leave Church of England | Take That’ s wedding song

Thalidomide victim denied homecare

A woman left with shortened arms and legs by thalidomide does not deserve 24-hour home care, an NHS trust has ruled

BBC staff are 'bribed' to move north

Staff who move to the new Manchester hub will retain generous London allowances, at a cost to the licence-fee payer of £40m

Jobless graduate tally to hit 100,000

The number of jobless university leavers is expected to break last year's barrier, heightening fears of a 'lost generation'

Cameron's big tent catches eye of Benn and Short

The two prominent leftwingers, who were former cabinet ministers, have spoken out in support of David Cameron's Tories

Tory minders gag right-wing allies

Spin doctors are involved in a damage limitation operation over Polish MEP Michal Kaminski's views on the Holocaust

Families set for UK's first three-way kidney swap

Three donors will give away one of their organs so that their loved one gets a suitable match from a stranger

Mail strikes spawn cheaper rivals

The deal to suspend postal strikes has come too late to save Royal Mail from a new wave of competitors

Women MPs revolt over childcare cash

Gordon Brown is facing a revolt from Labour women over plans to axe childcare tax break that benefits the middle classes

Youths hunted over woman's firework murder

Police have opened a murder inquiry after a house fire that started when a firework was pushed through a letterbox

Dyson children clean up with £45m payout

Sir James Dyson's three children have each received £15m from a shares deal, according to documents filed at Companies House

Gang film audiences to be frisked

Security guards have been brought in to frisk cinemagoers wanting to watch 1 Day, a film about Britain’s inner city gangs

Blue whales reclaim old feeding grounds

The population of the world’s biggest animal is recovering at last after decades spent on the edge of extinction

Libel threat to force Us papers out of Britain

US newspapers may stop selling copies in Britain and block access to their websites because of our draconian libel laws

Hunt on for £90m lottery winners

The identity of two British winners who shared Europe’s lottery is a mystery, 24 hours after they scooped the jackpot

City bosses fund bid to cut crime

Sigrid Rausing, Stanley Fink and Sir Ronald Cohen are aiming to privatise the rehabilitation of offenders

Lobbying row as ex-minister lands defence job

Paul Boateng is director of Aegis Defence Services after lobbying South Africa to water down proposed anti-mercenary legislation

Briton led to death in America by song

A tourist who went to Amarillo, Texas, because of the hit song by Tony Christie has been shot dead during a bar hold-up

Atheist Hirst to display paintings in church

The controversial artist will emulate the old masters by painting two 20ft-high religious works for display in St Paul’s