UK news: Jobs market grinds to a halt for 2011

The jobs market will "stall" in the new year, raising the prospect of increasing numbers of people looking abroad for work, according to a new report today.

Online firm Totaljobs.com said recruitment activity as forecast to be scaled back, following a period of growth in 2010.

Plot targeted Big Ben

Nine men arrested in dawn raids were plotting to attack Big Ben, the London Eye, the US embassy and the Stock Exchange, police believe.

The men, aged between 19 and 28, from London, Cardiff and Stoke on Trent, were remanded in custody and will appear at the Old Bailey on January 14.

Brother left smaller estate than 'will row' killer Bird

Mass killer Derrick Bird's twin brother left a smaller estate than the gunman, legal documents have revealed.

David Bird, 52, was the first of the 12 victims shot dead by the taxi driver as he rampaged across Cumbria in June.

It was thought Bird, 52, who committed suicide after the killings, may have snapped after arguing with his twin over their mother's will.

But probate records show the gunman left 105,000 and his brother's estate was only 82,000.

Poor pupils' IT handicap

Poor children's education is being hampered because they are less likely to have access to computers and the internet at home, a charity warned today.

More than one million schoolchildren in the United Kingdom do not have the use of a computer at home while almost two million are unable to go online, according to the Learning Foundation.

US role for David Miliband

FORMER Foreign Secretary David Miliband, beaten by his brother Ed for the Labour leadership, could be named British ambassador to the US.

Downing Street is said to be considering appointing him to take over when current ambassador Sir Nigel Sheinwald retires shortly.

Bristol: The grieving parents of Joanna Yeates were today expected to discover the results of a post mortem examination which will reveal how the young landscape architect died.

The 25-year-old's snow-covered body was found by dog walkers in a quiet lane just three miles from her home on Christmas morning. But the frozen condition of her corpse meant pathologists could not immediately examine it.

London: A man and woman were due in court today charged with the murder of a 15-year-old boy who was found dead in a bath on Christmas Day.

Officers discovered the badly-injured teenager at a flat in, Newham, after being advised he had drowned. A post-mortem yesterday failed to determine the exact cause of death.