Update: 12:45

75% of Earth's surface damaged by 2030
More than 70 per cent of the Earth's land surface could be affected by the impacts of roads, mining, cities and other infrastructure developments in the next 30 years, according to a United Nations report launched in London today. The Global Environment Outlook 3 by the UN Environment Programme, says that in Britain more than 75 per cent of the land may well be affected by habitat disturbance and other kinds of environmental damage as a result of rapid and poorly planned infrastructure growth.

England basking in prosperity
Every area of England has been boosted by strong economic growth and falling unemployment since the mid-1990s, but inequality between regions has widened, research claimed today. The rate of change between neighbourhoods has varied, leading to greater polarisation between areas with the lowest and highest proportions of residents claiming means-tested benefits, according to analysis for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation carried out by researchers at Oxford University and the London School of Economics.

Oxford researchers need diabetic volunteers
Diabetics are needed in Oxford to help with research into a new computer program designed to persuade patients to eat a healthier diet. Researchers at Oxford University's diabetes trial unit, based at the Radcliffe Infirmary, are looking for 130 willing participants.