Miliband rules out EU treaty referendum

David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said that the European Union treaty represented a good deal for Britain and ruled out a referendum, despite a Spanish claim that it contained 98 per cent of the constitution that was rejected by French and Dutch voters (David Charter writes).

“The constitutional concept has been abandoned and not reformed or ameliorated,” Mr Miliband said in Brussels, where the treaty was published in French yesterday. “We think that since there is not a constitution, there does not need to be a referendum.” However, Miguel Ángel Moratinos, the Spanish Foreign Minister, told El País newspaper yesterday: “The wrapping has been changed but not the content.”

TB test extension

Visitors from India and China could soon be tested for tuberculosis. Baroness Royall of Blaisdon, for ministers, told the Lords that, under a pilot scheme, people from seven countries were now tested for TB before visas were issued, adding: “I think we will probably roll it out to more countries, like China and India.”

Pupils fingerprinted

Schools will be able to fingerprint pupils for the dinner queue, library and registration, in accordance with data protection guidance issued yesterday. Jim Knight, the Schools Minister, said the move would clarify matters for head teachers. Parents will be able to exclude their children from the system.

'Yob zones' attack

Armies of yobs are turning town centres into night-time “no-go areas”, according to Edward Leigh, MP, chairman of the Commons Public Accounts Committee. The committee’s report accuses the Home Office of not properly evaluating which measures are effective in tackling antisocial behaviour.

Extra-long trains

Passengers will get longer trains, and a handful of rail lines will be upgraded but the Government will not commit to any big increase in rail capacity in a 30-year strategy being published today. The White Paper will also be silent on the issue of funding for the Crossrail scheme for Central London.

Underage drink casualties rising

The number of children taken to hospital after excessive drinking is at a five-year high, government figures show. Last year 3,939 under15s were admitted, up from 3,716 the year before, and 62 per cent were girls. A separate survey found that nearly a quarter of girls aged between 14 and 15 get drunk at least once a week, compared with a fifth of boys.

Paedophile jailed for eight years

A paedophile was jailed for eight years for ritually abusing a boy. John Hazelton, 59, of Pimlico, London, had groomed the boy with pornography, Blackfriars Crown Court was told. His victim took his revenge decades later by stabbing him with a samurai sword.

Speaker orders Galloway out

George Galloway was suspended from the House of Commons for 18 days last night. Before MPs took the decision over the Respect MP’s links to an Iraq children’s charity, he had clashed with Michael Martin, the Speaker, who threw him out of the chamber.

New hope over Alzheimer’s

The prospect of a cure for Alzheimer’s disease came a step closer after researchers at the University of St Andrews said they had developed a compound that prevents the condition destroying brain cells and helps to repair damaged memory and learning ability.

Smoke alarm was covered

William Wood, 50, who died after being pulled from a fire by a neighbour, had covered his smoke alarm so that he could have a cigarette undisturbed, an inquest in Newcastle upon Tyne was told. A verdict of death by misadventure was recorded.

War veteran pays for lifeboat

A 109-year-old veteran of the First World War has paid £29,000 for a new lifeboat. Harry Patch funded the boat with proceeds of a book about his war recollections. He named her The Doris and Harry, after himself and his late partner, at a ceremony in Poole.

2.6m Harry Potter books sold in a day

The seventh and final Harry Potter novel has become the fastest-selling book in history. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sold more than 2.65 million copies in Britain in its first 24 hours, the book-trade monitoring service Nielsen BookScan said. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince had sold just over 2 million copies in its initial 24 hours. J.K. Rowling’s publisher, Bloomsbury, released the book in the English language in more than 90 countries at the weekend. In America, sales hit an estimated 8.3 million in the first 24 hours. Bloomsbury, said: “The response has been wonderful.”

Delusional killer

A Tunisian immigrant beat a man to death while believing that Allah was telling him how to bring about world peace, a court was told. Suryakant Patel, 60, was killed as he tried to help six people being attacked by Laidi Benomor, 30, in Harlington High Street, near Heathrow, last November. Benomor, of no fixed address, admitted manslaughter due to diminished responsibility. He was detained indefinitely.

Hospital accused

An aid worker who developed septicaemia after treatment in an Oxford hospital began an action for damages. Rosalind Colwill, 54, who worked with lepers in Nigeria and founded a charity to help the destitute there, was left with paralysis and brain damage after a cannula was inserted into her arm at the Churchill Hospital, the High Court was told. Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust denies liability.

Lover jailed for lying

A woman was jailed for three years for perjury after trying to trick an Old Bailey murder trial jury into clearing her teenage lover. Fatima Cardoso, 26, of East London, said 18-year-old Rico Tracey was with her on the night that care worker Charles Anoyke was stabbed outside a club. Tracey was convicted of disorder and jailed for two years in December. A codefendant was found guilty of murder.

Cleared youth jailed

A youth who was cleared on appeal of taking part in the killing of Ben Bellamy, 17, a sixth-form student, in Swansea in September 2005, was jailed for seven years for robbing the victim of his bank debit card. Andrew Rafferty, 19, was convicted of manslaughter at Swansea Crown Court a year ago, but his conviction was quashed. There will be no retrial for the manslaughter charge.

Witches win battle

A coven of witches is claiming victory in its battle to get the name of a £350 million shopping centre changed. The coven in Leicester objected when Hammerson, the developer, gave the name Highcross Quarter to the extension of a shopping centre. The title is used to mark sacred times in the wicca calendar. Hammerson has now changed the development’s name to Highcross Leicester.

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