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Bank of England slashes interest rates by 0.5% to 1.5% - the lowest level in its 300-year history

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.

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.

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.

UFO blamed for wrecking wind turbine after 65ft-long blade is ripped off

Turbine

An investigation was under way today into how a wind turbine had a 65ft-long blade torn off after locals claimed UFOs were behind it. There were reports of strange ‘flashing orangey-yellow spheres’.

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.

What did we do wrong? Parents who took their young son for a walk on frozen pond deny they were reckless

Hughes frozen pond

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.

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.

Love thy neighbours: SIXTY-NINE members of one family live on the same street

neighbours

Cotswold Gardens in Gateshead is home to 69 members of the Hall family, ranging in age from four weeks to 76 years.

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.

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.

We're outliving our eyeballs, says study

eyeball

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

Mystery of the tree covered in SHOES... and £265,000 of lottery funding can't solve it

No one knows where or why the shoes appear in the tree - despite £265,000 of National Lottery money being granted to the cause

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

Berry

Revealed: Blair demanded new picture of himself on U.S. medal as it made him look 'awkward'

Tony Blair and George W Bush

The mystery behind the delay in Tony Blair accepting the Congressional Gold Medal he was awarded more than five years ago has finally been solved.

Single father turned away from swimming pool... because health and safety say he can't supervise two sons

Hillsborough Leisure Centre

A single father was left stunned after he was turned away from a swimming pool when staff told him he could not provide proper supervision for his two sons.

Blundering funeral firm buries wrong man despite vicar's protests... then secretly digs up and replaces coffin

The Rev Andrew Mannings

Mourners gathered, family members paid their last respects as the coffin was lowered. But the upset for one family got worse when they learned they had buried the wrong man.

The beasts we could raise from the dead: Return of the mammoth is 'only a matter of time'

woolly mammoth

The dodo, sabre-toothed tiger and woolly mammoth head the list of animals that scientists would like to bring back from extinction.

Pietersen lands at Heathrow after ending his reign as England cricket captain

Kevin Pietersen

Kevin Pietersen arrived back in the UK this morning after his tempestuous reign as England cricket captain came to an end yesterday.

Our sunken gas treasure: £600m project to store supplies in salt caverns

North Sea gas

A project to store gas in undersea salt caverns will go ahead. Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has approved a £600m scheme to pump gas into structures under the Irish Sea.

Playing outside can prevent children becoming short-sighted

Children

Playing outdoors dramatically cuts a child's risk of becoming short-sighted, research shows. It challenges the belief that the condition is caused by watching TV or reading in dim light.

That's cool: British student invents a solar-powered fridge in her grandfather's potting shed

 Emily Cummins

Council tax forces thousands of families and pensioners into bankruptcy

The council tax

Families and pensioners are being forced into bankruptcy after falling just a few hundred pounds behind with their council tax payments.

Mother gives birth at home to baby boy ... then FIVE hours later gets up to make family Christmas dinner

Karen Holmes

For most mothers, providing a perfect Christmas Day meal for the family is achievement enough. But Karen Holmes managed to have a baby, too.

'Pilot sent me a saucy text then said it was meant for his wife'

Ed Murray

A married luxury jet pilot sexually harassed an air hostess, an employment tribunal heard yesterday. Rachel Quinn, 29, claimed Captain Ed Murray, 63, sent an inappropriate text message.

Apple makes iTunes available to all MP3 players - but increases cost of premium tracks to 99p

apple

Apple is opening up the digital music market by making songs purchased from its iTunes online store playable on any MP3 player. Until now, most tracks bought from its library could only play on iPods.

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.

Boo, hiss! Health and Safety bans Jack from climbing his beanstalk

panto

Health and safety regulations have turned getting the show on to the stage into such a performance that a theatre company fears being shut down before the curtain goes up.

Mirror image: Mystery vision of the four-eyed spookfish is finally revealed

Spookfish

A 'four-eyed' deep-sea fish is the first discovered to use powerful mirrors for eyes instead of lenses, scientists revealed today.

Benedict Brogan
Robin Page
Peter Hitchens
Mary Ellen Synon