Flood warning as tide rises

The long hot summer is set to recede further from memory with storms and floods forecast. Heavy rain is expected across central and eastern regions in the next two days but meteorologists are more concerned about tide levels next month, with towns and villages along the Bristol Channel and in Norfolk and Suffolk likely to be especially vulnerable. Tides could be 3ft higher than normal.

British soldier dies

A British soldier has been killed by the Taleban in Sangin, northern Helmand province in southern Afghanistan. The soldier, from the 3rd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, was the eleventh British soldier to die in Helmand in two months. Three others were injured.

Boy's body home

The body of Liam Hogan, 6, killed when his father allegedly jumped from a hotel balcony in Crete with him in his arms, is to be returned to Britain today. John Hogan, 32, from Bradley Stoke, Bristol, is in hospital under police guard in the island's capital, Heraklion. It may still be days before he can be questioned.

Hoodie arrest

Detectives hunting teenagers in connection with the death of a grandfather who chased off a gang of “hoodie” vandals have arrested an 18-year-old male. James Barrett, 62, collapsed and died after he caught a gang of teenagers smashing the window of a neighbour’s car in Liverpool on Friday night.

Queasy feeling

A fifth of people suffer from digestive problems because of work-related stress, a survey suggests. More than a tenth have also suffered constipation or diarrhoea before a big presentation at work. The research was carried out to coincide with “gut week”.

Mars riddle solved

Gas geysers that blast material hundreds of feet into the air have been found on Mars. Powerful jets of carbon dioxide that erupt at the planet’s south pole, spraying the area with fine sand, explain the ice cap’s mysterious dark spots, fan-like markings and spider-shaped features, scientists say.

Gadgets galore

The average household has electric equipment worth £4,000, according to a study. Consumers own £95 billion of electrical products nationally, a £3 billion rise in two years, said GfK Marketing Services. At £1,555, the lounge is the most valuable room because of the popularity of flat-screen televisions.

British attempt on speed record

A British team headed by Wing Commander Andy Green, a land-speed record holder in 1997, is to attempt the international speed record for a diesel-powered vehicle. He will use a JCB Dieselmax in an attempt to pass the 235mph record, set in 1973 by Virgil Snyder, an American, in the Thermo King Streamliner.

The JCB team has been testing at Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah and will need to make two record-breaking runs over a measured mile within an hour. A single-run speed of 325mph was achieved on Friday.

Women bankrupts

An increasing number of women are becoming bankrupt because of credit card debts and soaring household bills. The proportion of women bankrupts has risen from 42 per cent of the total to 44 per cent over the past year, according to accountants Wilkins Kennedy. Since 2002, the figure has risen from 32 per cent to 42 per cent.

Lost volunteers

Former offenders, including those with minor convictions committed years ago, are put off seeking voluntary work by record checks, a report says. They were too frightened to reveal their past, even though they were unlikely to be turned away. Volunteering England said that the discrimination increased their social exclusion.

Brontë tourists

Tourism chiefs hope that an adaption by the BBC of the novel Jane Eyre filmed in the Peak District will increase visits to the Derbyshire beauty spot. The four-part drama will be screened in the autumn and feature Haddon Hall, Kedleston Hall and Wingfield Manor. “The locations we have chosen are stormy and majestic,” the producer said.

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