UK News: IMF backs coalition's austerity measures

THE International Monetary Fund has backed the coalition government's handling of the economy, saying it is "on the mend".

In its first official verdict on the new administration's strategy, the IMF said Chancellor George Osborne's austerity measures were "credible" and "essential".

Stores' booze price boost

LARGE supermarket chains would benefit from a 700 million windfall if minimum pricing for alcohol was introduced across the UK, new research indicated today.

Tesco, the UK's biggest supermarket, stands to reap the most rewards, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

Man charged with 1981 murder of policeman

A MAN was set to appear in court today charged with the murder of a policeman shot dead by the IRA in Northern Ireland almost 30 years ago.

Police said the 54-year-old man, arrested yesterday in the village of Swatragh, south Derry, would appear in court in Londonderry. He is also accused of possessing a gun with intent.

Father-of-two Reserve Constable John Proctor, 25, was gunned down by the IRA in 1981 in the car park of the Mid Ulster Hospital.

Rise in doctor warnings

THE number of official warnings given to UK doctors has risen by nearly 50 per cent in the past two years.

The General Medical Council issued 262 reprimands last year, up from 179 in 2007. More than 130 cases last year involved drink-driving, it said, with warnings also given for assaults, breaches of the peace, disorderly behaviour and driving without tax, insurance or a licence.

Labour top Tories in poll

LABOUR are more popular than the Tories for the first time in three years following the election of new leader Ed Miliband, according to a new poll.

Support for Labour has risen to 40 per cent while that for the Conservative Party is now on 39 per cent, according to the YouGov survey.

Gloucester: A man dialled 999 when a cat wandered into his home, police have revealed. The worried householder phoned police to say that the large moggy had walked through his back door into his kitchen. The caller, from Gloucester, was politely advised to pick up the cat and remove it from the house and warned the situation was not an emergency.

London: Buckingham Palace officials spent almost 100,000 of taxpayer's money cleaning chandeliers.

The work was part of 1.5 million spent on various maintenance at royal residences in 2004-5.