Police have been given permission to hold two brothers until Saturday for further questioning about a suspected chemical bomb.

Abul Kahar Kalam, 23, and Abul Koyair Kalam, 20, were arrested in Forest Gate, East London, last Friday in a dawn raid. One was wounded in the shoulder during the raid. They are being held at Paddington Green police station.

The warrant to hold them was extended yesterday at Bow Street Magistrates’ Court.

Civil service strike

All government departments could be crippled by a national strike of 300,000 civil servants. Delegates at the national conference of the Public and Commercial Services Union in Brighton voted to ballot for strike action involving 220 employers if no assurance is given over job cuts.

Housing benefits

Top-performing councils will be able to keep up to £2 billion a year in profits from housing sales and rents to fund their own projects, Ruth Kelly, the Communities and Local Government Secretary, said. The money could be spent on new housing or community infrastructure, such as parks and clubs.

Brazilian beef ban

Asda is removing all Brazilian beef from sale. The National Farmers’ Union has expressed concern that the meat may not comply with British standards, and that there could be a risk of some of the beef coming from regions with a foot-and-mouth outbreak. NFU officials will meet Asda executives on Monday.

Dog saves owner

An 8-year-boy was saved by his dog after he fell 30ft down a bank into the River Tawe, north of Swansea. Nye Thomas called the Collie cross, named Bud, and it raced to him, trailing its lead. The boy, who had broken both arms, was able to wrap the lead around his chest and Bud dragged him to safety.

Booth is barred from court case

Cherie Booth, QC, Tony Blair’s wife, has been prevented by the Malaysian High Court from representing a firm embroiled in a lawsuit for which she was to earn an estimated £250,000. The Malaysian Attorney-General, Bar Council and Finance Minister claimed that she had only been hired because of her position as Mr Blair’s wife. The lawyers argued that it was preposterous to contend that her expertise was needed.

Ramsay’s TV deal

Gordon Ramsay has signed a £4 million, four-year golden handcuffs deal with Channel 4, making The Times Magazine columnist one of Britain’s highest-earning television presenters. The chef will make a range of new programmes in addition to his hit series Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares and The F Word.

Lunchbox protest

Primary schoolchildren were reduced to tears when teachers confiscated treats from their lunchboxes as part of a drive towards hitting government health targets. Twenty angry parents marched to Bayards Hill Primary School, in Headington, Oxfordshire, to complain about the heavy-handed tactics of staff.

Fence victim dies

A former Second World War bomber pilot who spent 20 hours trapped on a barbed wire fence in freezing temperatures in January has died in hospital. Willie Fraser, 83, from Inverness, got stuck as he climbed the fence by a golf course near his bungalow. He had a leg amputated at Raigmore Hospital.

WI takes on Tesco

The Women’s Institute has been enlisted to take on Tesco and big food companies in the fight for red labels to be put on junk food. Dame Deirdre Hutton, chairman of the Food Standards Agency, urged members to contact supermarkets and companies directly and to give their views on “traffic-light” labels.

Brother taken ill

The condition of the second of three Leicester brothers to suffer a genetic brain disease is showing signs of deterioration. Scans show that the illness has taken an aggressive turn in Connor Smith, 8. Callum, 6, has also been ill. Their parents, Nicola and Scott, say that bone marrow transplants are the only hope to stop the disease.

Duke's birthday

The Duke of Edinburgh will mark his 85th birthday on Saturday privately at Windsor Castle. On June 15, he will join the Queen at St Paul’s Cathedral for a thanksgiving service for her official 80th birthday, before the Massed Bands of the Royal Marines beat retreat on Horse Guards Parade in his honour.

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