UK news: Students back on the streets for fees demo

STUDENTS were set to return to the streets today to protest against increases in university tuition fees with a series of rallies and marches.

Organisers said feelings were still running high following the demonstration by 50,000 students and lecturers two weeks ago which ended in violence.

Driving costs accelerate

THE cost of running a car has leapt by twice the rate of inflation in the last 12 months, an RAC survey showed today.

Including depreciation, average annual new car motoring costs now stand at 5869, a 6.3 per cent rise on a year ago. Overall, it now costs an average of 736 more to own and run a car than in 2007.

Hormone therapy 'can make brain younger'

HORMONE therapy can make the brain "younger" and could protect against strokes, scientists said today.

A study by Durham University found that when post-menopausal women taking hormone therapy were asked to complete tasks of fine motor co-ordination, such as sequential finger tapping, the left and right sides of the brain worked more closely together than women of the same age who were not taking the sex hormone drugs.

Bank holiday bonanza

Britain will enjoy a bank holiday bonanza next spring to celebrate the royal wedding.

Prince William and Kate Middleton are to marry in Westminster Abbey on Friday, April 29 next year, which has been designated an official public holiday.

With Easter the weekend before and the May Day holiday on the following Monday, many people will enjoy two four-day weekends in a row.

Date to remember for Cliff

SIR Cliff Richard is proving to be a hotter date than JLS, Justin Bieber and Michael Buble, as he outsells them in the calendar charts.

The pop veteran, who stripped to the waist for one shot at the age of 70, has the biggest-selling male celebrity calendar, according to Amazon.

Hertfordshire: A council was fined 100,000 by the privacy watchdog today for accidentally faxing highly sensitive information about cases involving child sex abuse and care proceedings to the wrong recipients on two occasions in the space of two weeks. The Information Commissioner fined Hertfordshire County Council under the Data Protection Act.

London: An Antarctic ice core containing bubbles of air from the year 1410 will take centre stage at a new gallery opening at the Science Museum. The bubbles record atmospheric conditions as they were 600 years ago.