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Bank cuts interest rates to record low but millions of homeowners miss out - and it's even worse for savers

Interest rates

The Bank of England today slashed interest rates to their lowest level since it was founded in 1694. In its fourth cut in as many months, another 0.5 per cent was wiped off the base rate to take it down to 1.5 per cent.

Teenage lovers at £7,000-a-term boarding school expelled after girl, 16, becomes pregnant

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A pair of teenage lovers have been expelled from their private boarding school after the 16-year-old girl became pregnant, it has emerged.

Two young mothers die of pneumonia after medical staff tell them they only had flu

Lisa Knox

Two young mothers have died of pneumonia since Christmas after being told by medical staff that they had nothing worse than a bout of flu or a virus.

Shopaholic pensioner dies in her home after being buried under mountain of unopened items

cunnane

Three children hailed as heroes for taking control of car on busy motorway after father suffers seizure at wheel

zxoe

Three teenagers were today hailed as heroes for saving lives after their father suffered a seizure at the wheel of his car.

British doctor drops his trousers on Everest in experiment to find cures for critically ill patients

Dan Martin

It may have been -25C, but one mountaineering doctor dropped his trousers on Everest to measure his blood oxygen level in the hope of finding new treatments.

Next launches the £99 laptop that fits in your handbag

Mini PC

Forget lipsticks, purses and glittery key rings. Laptops could soon be the latest must-have in every girl’s handbag. Elonex will start selling its ‘netbooks’ for £99.

'Muslims and chavs annoy me most': Police officer quits over abusive blog

computer

A police officer has resigned after posting foul-mouthed rants and racist slurs on his blog. Trainee special constable Rob Johnston, 22, listed 'Muslims and chavs' as things that annoyed him.

Jobs dry up but Poles stay to reap the benefits

Polish workers

Polish workers losing their UK jobs in the economic downturn are choosing not to return home but to stay and take advantage of the generous benefits system.

Identity theft fraudsters con thousands of taxpayers into giving out bank details with fake self-assessment site

Email

Thousands of taxpayers are being asked by fraudsters for their bank details in the run-up to the annual self-assessment deadline.

Suspected sex offender fell to his death 'as he fled baying vigilante gang'

Scott Campbell plunged 50 feet to his death

Terrified Scott Campbell, 44, made a run for it when three men and two women turned up at his second floor flat to give him a revenge beating.

We're outliving our eyeballs, says study

eyeball

While we may now be enjoying longer lives, we are outliving our eyeballs, say researchers.

Is this the Beast of Exmoor? Body of mystery animal washes up on beach

exmoor

Parents forced to make 400-mile round trips to visit premature triplets after they are placed in THREE different hospitals

triplet

Pictured: The teenage boy whose devoted mother overfed him until he ballooned to half a ton

Hungry: Billy Robbins enjoys a plate of hamburgers

This teenage boy has lost half of his body weight – but he still weighs an incredible 30 stone.

Pictured: The moment an Estonian gang held up a jewellery store after being sent to Britain to carry out raids

Berry

Homeless criminals were sent to Britain from Estonia to carry out a series of multi-million-pound jewellery raids, it has been revealed.

Nasal spray that kills flu is developed by British scientists

flu

A spray that stops all types of flu in its tracks is being developed by scientists. The drug would fight off all strains of the virus, including those behind bird flu and the winter flu that is currently wreaking havoc.

LibDem Huhne stripped of justice job after Clegg's frontbench reshuffle

Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Chris Huhne has lost a key area of his responsibilities in changes announced today by party leader Nick Clegg.

Afghan man stabbed to death in fight between rival migrant gangs battling for passage to UK

Afghan aslyum seekers in The Jungle in Calais, France, where an Afghan man was stabbed to death in a brawl between rival migrant gangs seeking passage to the UK (file photo)

A 30-year-old Afghan has been stabbed to death during a fight between rival gangs of illegal migrants heading for Britain.

Police apologise after mix up causes family to cremate the wrong woman

Police have apologised after Mary Hoctor's body was cremated by the wrong family

Police apologised today after the mis-identification of two dead bodies caused a family to cremate the wrong woman.

The low-energy bulbs that won't fit your light sockets

Energy saving light bulbs

Low-energy bulbs are incompatible with millions of lamps and sockets in homes, it has emerged.

Men who don't find curvy women attractive 'could father children with autism'

autism

Men who do not find the shape of the curvier woman most attractive could be more likely to father children with autism, according to a study.

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Come meet the family... all 69 members who live in the SAME street

neighbours

Serious Fraud Office launches probe into British links to $50bn Madoff scandal

Bernard madoff

Investors and former employees will be quizzed after the Serious Fraud Office launched an investigation into the British activities of alleged fraudster Bernard Madoff.

Muslim extremists hijack radio station's website 'over Cliff Richard songs'

Cliff Richard

The shocked owner of a radio station whose website has been hijacked by Muslim extremists believes it was targeted because they played a song by Cliff Richard.

Boy, 13, killed by car which skidded off icy road as he waited on the pavement for school bus

elliot

A boy has been killed by a car while waiting for his school bus. Elliot Davies, 13, was waiting by the side of the road near his home for a bus to take him to school when the car ran into him.

It could be as easy as popping a pill: Scientists race to unlock 'love drug'

Love drug: Oxytocin is involved in sex and sexual attraction

It looks like bad news for those romantic souls forever musing on the nature of love. A behavioural scientist reckons it is only a matter of time before biologists understand the mysteries of being smitten.

Millions of broadband customers being 'ripped off' by snail's pace service, study finds

internet

Millions of people paying up to £30 a month for high-spreed broadband are getting a snail's pace service, an official study has revealed.

Teenager critically injured as he falls 8 floors trying to escape a gang fight

Seventh-floor plunge: The Bethnal Green flats where the boy fell

A boy plunged more than 80 feet from a tower block balcony in while trying to flee a gang fight.

BT scraps charges on 0870 and 0845 numbers for calls to banks and GPs

BT logo.

Calls to banks, doctors' surgeries and energy companies are to be made free for millions after BT announced it was scrapped charges on its 0870 and 0845 numbers.

To blazes with them! Squirrels blamed for two-hour fire at former MP's home

squirrel

Squirrels have been blamed for starting a fire at a home belonging to a former attorney general. They are believed to have chewed through a power cable.