UK News: Rise in first-time buyers

Around 26 per cent of people who hope to buy property during the coming year are first-time buyers, up from a low of 22 per cent in July, according to property website Rightmove.

Galloway announces bid for Holyrood seat

George Galloway may stand for a Glasgow seat in the Scottish Parliament, he has said.

The Dundee-born politician, elected MP in the Bethnal Green and Bow constituency in 2005, failed to secure the nearby Poplar and Limehouse seat in London's East End as a Respect party candidate in the May general election this year.

Britain 'won't cut and run' from Afghanistan

British troops must not "cut and run" from Afghanistan and will stay in the war-torn country for "as long as it takes", the new Chief of the Defence Staff has said.

General Sir David Richards ruled out a reduction in Britain's current force of 10,000 before 2012 and claimed Britain would be "shouldering the burden" over the coming year.

He also suggested that up to 1000 troops could need to stay in Afghanistan in training roles beyond 2015.

NHS is 'starved of funds'

The NHS is under "severe pressure" because of staff shortages and recruitment freezes and redundancies, the largest public sector union warned today.

Unison said the Government's squeeze on spending was "dragging" the health service back to the 1980s and 1990s when the NHS was "starved" of funds. It said its study revealed more patients being treated by fewer staff.

Brits to rock Westwood look

Fashion guru Dame Vivienne Westwood is to give the Brit Awards a makeover by designing next year's trophies, it was announced today.

She will revamp the trophy in an overhaul of the annual music bash which will also see the "outstanding contribution" prize disappear.

Surrey: Train services will return to normal today along the track where a 26-tonne cement mixer plunged from a bridge and on to a carriage.

South West Trains said extensive repairs to the line had been completed, allowing the full re-opening of the commuter route.

Winchester: A man accused of murdering a mother who was found mutilated and clutching someone else's hair in her hand nearly eight years ago will appear in court today.

Heather Barnett, 48, was discovered by her two children in her flat in Charminster, Bournemouth, in 2002.