Swine Flu Kills Soldier

A bombardier in the Royal Artillery has become the first UK serviceman to have died from the swine flu virus. He died in a Surrey hospital last Friday, two weeks after falling sick. It is understood he had underlying health problems. In a statement, the Ministry of Defence said: "Our thoughts go out to his family, who were at his bedside at the time." The soldier, who comes from Coleraine in Northern Ireland, is the 28th person known to have died after getting swine flu in England. Three people have died in Scotland. Last week health officials said there were indications the number of swine flu cases in England is no longer rising rapidly and may have "plateaued".

Banks Warned On Bonuses

The Shadow Chancellor George Osborne has warned that banks must not abuse taxpayer support following reports that UK banks will pay over £4bn in bonuses this year. The Tory politician stressed: "Banks should watch out that they do not misuse taxpayer support - it's designed to facilitate lending, not mega pay deals. Without taxpayer support, the whole system faced failure," he insisted and warned that another round of unacceptable bonuses was on its way – but Labour have failed to take action to stop it.

Nature Best For Models: MP

Airbrushing models to make them appear more "beautiful" in advertisements aimed at children should be banned, an MP said. Liberal Democrat Jo Swinson said the practice of altering pictures can harm young people's health and self esteem. The East Dunbartonshire MP said: "We need to achieve a change in the media and in the way women are pressurised to conform to a narrow image of beauty - it's a lofty ambition but it's important to make a start."

Degrees Slammed

Universities are failing to safeguard standards leading to a rapid rise in top degrees, a committee of MPs has said in a report. The committee said the system for safeguarding quality was out of date and inconsistent and said they was complacency in leadership. However, universities rejected the weekend accusations and said the report was "ill thought-through." The Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee said it was unacceptable that vice-chancellors could not give a straightforward answer to whether degrees awarded at different universities required the same intellectual standards.

Lottery 'Luck Of The Irish'

A man from Northern Ireland has matched the winning numbers and scooped £4.5m on The UK's National Lottery. The man from the Greysteel area of Co Londonderry matched five numbers and the bonus ball in Saturday night's draw. Seamus Duffy was the only winner of Saturday's Lotto jackpot and is said to be "over the moon". He will pick up a winning cheque for £4,593,096 from Camelot today (Tuesday).

(BMcC/KMcA)