Bonus for charities

Charities could make profits from running health, educational or welfare services for the Government under plans set out by David Cameron, the Conservative leader. Commissioning structures would be changed so that the charities earned a “substantial” return to put back into their work. Charities said that it would help them to negotiate contracts with government departments and, with immediate effect, Tory-controlled councils.

Charges over Rhys

James Hughes, 22, and a 48-year-old woman who has not been named have been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice in connection with the killing of the schoolboy Rhys Jones. Merseyside Police also said that Francis Yates, 48, and Marie Yates, 50, had been summonsed under the same charge. In April a 17-year-old was charged with murder.

Pullman book protest

Philip Pullman, the author of the His Dark Materials trilogy, is leading a revolt of authors, illustrators and booksellers who are unhappy about publishers’ plans to print age guidance on the covers of children’s books. They have started an online petition at notoagebanding.org that claims the proposal is “ill-conceived and damaging to the interests of young readers”.

Heathrow plot

A British Muslim accused of leading an airline bomb plot admitted at Woolwich Crown Court that he planned to explode a device at Heathrow.

Abdulla Ahmed Ali, 27, said the airport plan was favoured because “security was not tight”. Eight deny joint charges of conspiring to murder and to endanger aircraft.

Ferry death

A Bournemouth coroner recorded an open verdict on a police inspector, Neil Monro, 43, who fell to his death from a ferry on March 12, two weeks after a police disciplinary hearing left him “angry and humiliated”.

Exeter charges

Nicky Reilly, 22, from Plymouth, will appear before magistrates, charged with three offences over an explosion in an Exeter restaurant last month. Two other men are still being questioned.

No ‘superlorries’

Lorries 16 tonnes heavier and 22ft longer than the present maximum of 44 tonnes and 61ft will not be tested in Britain, the Government said, despite ordering a study, which found that bigger lorries could be beneficial.

Bird flu outbreak

Vets are investigating an outbreak of avian flu at a farm near Banbury, Oxfordshire. Sources said that it was not the deadly H5N1 virus but H7, an equally infectious strain. About 25,000 chickens will be culled.

Yale heads to Oxford

A British scientist who is the head of Yale University is expected to become the next Vice-Chancellor of Oxford. Andrew Hamilton, currently Provost of the US university, has been nominated to take over from Dr John Hood. If successful, he would be the first person to hold the post who has been neither a student nor an academic at the university.

Murder charge

The grandson of Pat Regan, the antigun activist, has been charged with her murder. Rakeim Regan, 20, who will appear before magistrates in Leeds today, was also charged over the alleged stabbing of a rail worker.

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