UK news in brief: Two in hospital after lightning hits house

Two women have been taken to hospital after a house in Newark, Notts, was struck by lightning. A bedroom collapsed and the roof was also damaged. The lightning strike also caused a small fire after it spread through electrical fittings. The fire had been extinguished before an appliance arrived at the scene.

Criticism over rail deal

Whitehall's handling of the termination of National Express's East Coast rail franchise was criticised today. The Department for Transport turned down 150 million from the firm to give up the franchise, said the Commons Public Accounts Committee. Instead the department terminated the contract in 2009, and received 120m.

Third teen charged after boy murdered in street

A third teenager will appear in court today charged with the murder of a 16-year-old on a busy high street. Yemurai Kanyangarara was stabbed in the neck after getting off a bus in Welling last Friday. A 15-year-old from Peckham will appear at Camberwell Youth Court today. Two boys aged 14 and 15 have already been charged with murder and appeared in court on Thursday. They were remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on Monday.

Oxbridge entrants shock

Five schools sent more students to Oxbridge in three years than the bottom 2,000 put together. Westminster School, Eton College, St Paul's School and St Paul's Girls School, all private, and Hills Road Sixth Form College, a state school, sent up 946 Oxford and Cambridge entrants in 2007-2009, said the Sutton Trust. The bottom 2,000 schools produced a total of 927 Oxbridge entrants.

Hercule has Expectations

David Suchet, known for two decades as Hercule Poirot, takes on another literary figure of the law by starring in Dickens's Great Expectations as Jaggers. Gillian Anderson is Miss Havisham in the BBC1 drama, which has just begun filming. Ray Winstone will also star.

York: The Church of England may set up a national plan to win worshippers amid fears about falling congregation numbers. The Bishop of Southwell and Nottingham, the Rt Rev Paul Butler, will back a call for "urgent" missionary work in the Church of England to reverse decades of decline.

Durham: Two of the Chilean miners who survived being trapped underground for more than two months will visit a UK miners' gala today. Carlos Contrera and Carlos Alfara are expected to attend the Durham Miners' Gala. Organisers hope that one of them will speak at the event.