UK news: Ed Balls hits out after private papers leak

SHADOW Chancellor Ed Balls has hit out at leaks from his private papers, claiming they are clearly politically motivated. He said they misrepresented the papers' contents. His comments came as files showed that civil servants had urged spending restraint from the Labour government in 2006.

Caravan fire kills two

A Caravan fire in a Welsh resort has left two people dead and two more injured. Officers were called to Sunny Sands caravan park near Barmouth, Gwyneddthis morning. Two people were confirmed dead at the scene, and "an elderly woman and a young girl" were airlifted by police helicopter to Ysbyty Gwynedd hospital.

Fears Dam Busters dog name would bomb in US

The dog in the iconic Dam Busters' film is to be renamed for a new version of the war movie, it has emerged.

Stephen Fry, who is writing the film's screenplay, said there was "no question in America that you could ever have a dog called the N-word".

In the remake, the dog will instead be called "Digger".

The black Labrador was the mascot for RAF 617 squadron, which during the Second World War destroyed dams in Germany with Barnes Wallis's famous bouncing bomb.

War hero passes at 96

Acclaimed war hero Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor has died at the age of 96. It is is understood he recently returned to Britain from his home in Greece after a grave illness. The writer had reportedly requested to return to England ahead of his death.

During the war he led a group of British officers and Greek guerrillas to capture the German general in command of Nazi-occupied Crete.

Boy George rocks festival

Boy George launched the Isle Of Wight Festival with a concert in the Big Top last night. A total of 75,000 revellers will be on the Isle of Wight this weekend for the first major music festival of the summer. The Festival is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year.

Leicester: Leicester City Council has been forced to admit it is unprepared for a zombie invasion. The authority received a Freedom of Information request which said provisions to deal with an attack, often seen in horror films, were poor.

London: Rail company South West Trains is to review its response to massive disruption to services after thousands of passengers were stranded for hours outside London yesterday. The company said the problems on services into and out of London Waterloo were caused by deliberate damage to signalling system cables.