007's love nest with Rachel... Craig and co-star share a cottage in the country

By Simon Cable
Last updated at 10:01 AM on 27th December 2010

Only months after saying that she wanted to be a Bond Girl, Rachel Weisz has got her wish.

The actress appeared hand in hand with 007 actor Daniel Craig in the Dorset countryside.

They are enjoying a Christmas break together at a secluded £1,000-a-week cottage after finally going public with their romance.

Hand in hand: Daniel Craig and Miss Weisz take a stroll in the Dorset countryside

Miss Weisz, 40, grew close to 42-year-old Craig while the two British stars played husband and wife in the forthcoming thriller Dream House.

During filming in March, she said: ‘We’ve been getting on really well and yet I still haven’t had an offer to be a Bond girl – but if he asks me I’d definitely do it!’

As recently as four weeks ago, the couple were still denying they were an item.

Craig, who has an eight-year-old daughter with ex-wife Fiona Loudon, arrived at the bolthole last week in his £48,000 black Range Rover.

Licensed to beat the chill: Daniel and Rachel keep warm in woolly hats

Close: Daniel and Rachel on the set of the movie Dream House together in March

Miss Weisz joined him after flying in from New York and driving down in her Fiat 500. The actress has left her four-year-old son Henry in New York with her former fiance Darren Aronofsky.

Wrapped up against the chill, on Christmas Eve Craig and Miss Weisz held hands as they took a two-mile stroll before stopping at a delicatessen to buy food and heading to a pub, where they spent the afternoon together.

Last night they were back at the picturesque property, which boasts a cinema, sauna, gym and a roof terrace. Craig, who sported several days’ stubble, again refused to comment on their relationship.

It is believed the couple now have plans to spend New Year together in the UK.

The actress announced last month that she had split from 41-year-old Mr Aronofsky after a nine-year relationship. They became engaged in 2005 but never married.

Miss Weisz, a Cambridge graduate who won an Oscar for her role in The Constant Gardener, had previously dated Men Behaving Badly star Neil Morrissey and Sam Mendes, now Kate Winslet’s ex-husband.

Craig had been engaged to film producer Satsuki Mitchell after proposing two years ago.

Tied: Daniel Craig had been engaged to film producer Satsuki Mitchell

He and Miss Weisz both own homes near to one another in north London.

There are no suggestions that she may move back to England from her New York home where she has been living near to her son.

It has also emerged that Craig, who has played 007 in Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace, has signed up to star in the next Bond film, scheduled for release in 2012.

There had been fears that he may have to cancel plans to star in the blockbuster after he agreed to play the lead male role in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo trilogy and Steven Spielberg’s The Adventures of Tintin.

Split: Weisz with ex-fiance Darren Aronofsky at the premiere of his new film Black Swan in September, two months before they went their separate ways

Soldier who faced death in burning tank in Iraq set to run 52 marathons to repay medic who rebuilt him

By Jaya Narain
Last updated at 11:53 AM on 27th December 2010

It is a picture that came to symbolise the horror of the Iraq conflict. A British soldier engulfed in flames desperately tries to escape his burning tank.

The ordeal of his comrades trapped below inside the tank can only be imagined.

Five years on, one of those soldiers, who was left facing death from burns to nearly half his body, has completed his rehabilitation and aims to thank the medical staff who helped him – by running 52 marathons in a year.

Targeted by an Iraqi mob: Sgt George Long escapes the Warrior tank. Private Karl Hinett was still inside the vehicle as it blazed

Private Karl Hinett was inside the Warrior which was petrol-bombed by rioters during a raid on an Iraqi jail to free two undercover soldiers.

In the nightmare months that followed, it was the dedication of the doctors and nurses who helped his marathon recovery that inspired him to a new challenge of endurance.

Test of endurance: Private Karl Hinett

Every step of his mission will raise money towards a £3million appeal launched today by The Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham Charity to fund a Home For The Brave, a non-medical centre for injured military ­personnel.

The former soldier, who is funding the challenge using his Army pension, said: ‘These guys have sacrificed so much and I hope people will get behind us.’

Pte Hinett was just 18 when the attack took place on September 19, 2005. The Warrior came under attack from a mob throwing bricks, stones and petrol bombs in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.

There were four other soldiers on board – Sgt George Long, 2nd Lieutenant John Cliffe, Lance Corporal Jo McCann and Private Ryon Burton – who all escaped serious injury.

It was Sgt Long who was seen in the horrific image relayed around the world, his body in flames as he jumped from the turret. Pte Hinett was on fire inside the tank.

Seconds after the picture was taken, he wrestled his way out and on to the ground, where he passed out and was taken to hospital. Doctors feared he would die of his burns.

After emerging from an 11-day coma, he endured a series of operations and skin grafts to help heal his wounds.

The former soldier, now 23, said of the attack: ‘I will never forget that day. Looking back at the images it is hard to believe it was me.

‘A riot had broken out and we were the first tank on the scene. A mob quickly formed around our Warrior.’

He remembers quite clearly the horrifying moment he was hit by the petrol bomb.

He said: ‘What hit me first was a really strong smell of petrol. I never saw it coming at all. Then it engulfed my body as I was drenched in petrol.

‘I guess it must have been the shock at first. As soon as I got a grip I started to register the pain. I’ve never felt anything like it... hot, searing agony. I knew if I wanted to live I had to get out.’

The next thing he remembers is catching sight of his injuries while waiting to be airlifted to hospital.

Pte Hinett, from Tipton, West Midlands, who was in the Staffordshire Regiment – now part of the Mercian Regiment – said: ‘My clothing had been burnt off. My skin was gone and I remember I was raw. I held up my hands and saw lots of dead, melted skin.

‘I talked to myself in a self-mocking way and said, “Look what you’ve got yourself into”. I knew I was going to be OK but I also knew it would be a long road to recovery.

‘It’s been a long haul to get to where I am today. But finally I don’t have to go back to hospital after five long years and I am so grateful for what the doctors have done for me.’

He said: ‘I kind of like my scars if that doesn’t sound too weird... they are part of my identity. I’ve accepted that this is what I’m meant to look like.’

In 2007 he set himself the goal of completing a marathon and although his progress was painfully slow he was pleased to complete it.

Now, as a way of expressing his gratitude to the doctors and nurses, he aims to run 52 in one year, covering a total of 1,363miles and starting in Switzerland on New Year’s Day.

No longer in the Army, Pte Hinett hopes to retrain as a firefighter. He said: ‘I have first-hand experience, after all.’

Smokers to be given free nicotine patches on the NHS... at a cost of £250million

By Sophie Borland
Last updated at 7:36 AM on 27th December 2010

Smokers are to be given free nicotine patches on the NHS.

They will be handed out by surgeries and pharmacies as part of a £250 million Government drive to help people kick the habit.

The patches give smokers a gradual release of nicotine through the skin enabling them to get their 'fix' without the cancer-causing substances such as tar and carbon monoxide found in cigarettes.

As people become less addicted, they gradually use less stronger patches until they don't need to wear any at all.

The Department of Health has not yet been confirmed how many patches in total, or the number that will be provided in each Quit Kit

The patches will be added to the 'Quit Kits' currently handed out to smokers trying to give via the NHS Stop Smoking Campaign.

At the moment this pack only contains items such as a good luck postcard and a elastic band-type toy to help keep their hands occupied and a card with the 'stop smoking' helpline number.

The Department of Health has not yet been confirmed how many patches in total, or the number that will be provided in each Quit Kit.

The patches - which normally cost between £10 and £14 for a week's supply - have been shown to double smokers' chances of quitting.

Often those trying to give up suffer withdrawal symptoms from the substance including depression which in rare cases is so severe people become suicidal.

Health secretary Andrew Lansley wants to drastically increase the numbers of smokers successfully giving up.

The latest figures show that the proportion trying to kick the habit has almost halved in the last three years.

Currently only 17 per cent of smokers are attempting to give up down from 32 per cent in 2007.

But over the same time period the amount of money pumped into the NHS Stop Smoking campaign has risen from £51 million.

Figures show that just over a fifth of adults in Britain smoke of whom two thirds would like to give up.

On average smokers' life expectancy is reduced by around ten years and half will die of a related illness such as lung cancer, heart disease, and lung disease.

Ministers are also expected to launch a scheme to give out free gym and swimming pool vouchers within the next few days/

Up to five million 'voucher chequebooks' are likely to be made available over the coming weeks from locations including ASDA supermarkets, GP surgeries and schools.

Each chequebook is thought to contain 20 vouchers, which will give families discounted sessions at their local gym or pool.

It is not yet clear whether they will handed out on a first-come first-served basis or will only be given to certain priority groups such as the obese.

The scheme, which will be included as part of the Change 4 Life drive, was first announced in November as part of the Government's public health white paper.

Jogger knocked down and killed after motorist 'lost control of car on icy road'

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 3:30 AM on 27th December 2010

A jogger was knocked down and killed today after a woman motorist lost control of her Mini Cooper on an icy road and mounted the pavement where he was running.

Police said tonight that despite numerous inquiries, they had been unable to find out who the dead man was because he was carrying no identification.

The tattooed man, aged in his late 40s to early 50s, suffered fatal injuries when the out-of-control silver car mounted the pavement and struck him.

Collision: The A28 Canterbury Road at Birchington where a Mini Cooper lost control and collided with the jogger

He was rushed by paramedics to hospital where, despite doctors' best efforts to revive him, he was declared dead.

A spokesman for police in Kent said tonight that they were desperately trying to identify the dead runner.

He was described as being 5ft 10ins tall and was wearing dark tracksuit bottoms and a black, white and blue tracksuit top. He also had tattoos on both arms.

The spokesman added: 'At 9:30am, a silver Mini Cooper was travelling along the A28 Canterbury Road at Birchington towards the Thanet Way when it lost control and collided with a pedestrian who was on the footpath travelling in the opposite direction.

'The man was taken to the Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Hospital at Margate, where he was pronounced dead.

'The woman driver of the Mini was taken to hospital for minor injuries. She was not arrested.'

The London-bound carriageway of the busy route was closed for more than four-and-a-half hours to allow accident investigator's to probe the collision.

The spokesman said no arrests had been made.

Anyone who can help identify the man has been asked to call Kent Police so that officers could break news of his death to his relatives.

A thousand post offices closed or were put up for sale this year

By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 7:34 AM on 27th December 2010

More than 1,000 post offices have shut or been put up for sale in the past 12 months, research reveals today.

There was a ‘growing trend’ of closures in 2010, according to the Communication Workers Union, which warned that the situation would get worse if the Government presses ahead with controversial plans to privatise Royal Mail.

A study by the union showed that many closures do not appear on official lists because they are labelled as ‘temporary’.

Rare sign: More than 900 post offices were put up for sale this year while a further 162 are listed as 'long-term temporary closures'

Some 162 post offices were listed as ‘long-term temporary closures’ this year and more than 900 were put up for sale.

The union said many are likely to stay closed indefinitely and those that do re-open are liable to provide a diminished service, such as an outreach van, with no provision of financial services.

The CWU said almost ten per cent of the entire network was up for sale.

Many sub-postmasters are retiring or leaving the business because of the low levels of revenue generated in sub-offices, and in many cases it is difficult to find alternative premises or service providers, according to the CWU.

Seriously concerned: CWU chief Billy Hayes

General secretary Billy Hayes said: ‘Post offices have been closing at an alarming rate this year, but didn’t register because they are misleadingly classed as temporary closures.

‘We’re seriously concerned about empty Government rhetoric on avoiding post office closures.

‘These promises are contradicted by the Government taking business away from the Post Office and by the planned privatisation of Royal Mail.’

Mr Hayes added: ‘Who’s going to buy a business which stands to lose a substantial part of its income?’

Ministers have pledged there will be no repeat of the closure programme seen under the previous Labour government, arguing that the plan to privatise Royal Mail will safeguard the branch network.

A Department for Business spokesman said: ‘This is scaremongering from the CWU. The reality is that at least 200 branches change hands every quarter.’

A Post Office spokesman said: ‘The Government has already said there is no programme of closures.

‘The figures quoted by the CWU simply reflect the number of temporary closures and the number of branches that change hands. The important thing to remember is that the majority of branches re-open when there is a temporary closure.

‘In fact, more than 200 branches change hands every three months and historically up to ten per cent of the network of more than 11,500 branches will change ownership annually.’

Apply for your university place AFTER you get A-level results

By Kate Loveys
Last updated at 7:31 AM on 27th December 2010

Reforms: Ministers hope to improve social mobility

A dramatic shake-up of university admissions could see students waiting for their A-level results before applying for degrees.

Teenagers currently apply for courses on the basis of the grades their teachers predict they will achieve – even though up to half of estimated grades turn out to be wrong.

The new plan would mean prospective students could apply only after they have been awarded the marks necessary to secure a place at their university of choice.

The reform would require an overhaul of the current system, with speedier marking and A-level exams taken earlier in the academic year.

It is designed to help state pupils who are often predicted lower grades than they go on to achieve.

It is one of a number of proposed changes – for inclusion in next spring’s education white paper – aimed at minimising the damage that the hike in tuition fees could have on social mobility.

Universities minister David Willetts has given his provisional backing to the plan.

The changes have been prompted by Oxford University research commissioned by Mr Willetts’ department which shows that the most able candidates from comprehensive schools are disadvantaged by the current system.

This is because their teachers underestimate the grades they go on to receive – often because they have less experience than those in independent and grammar schools of dealing with such high achievers.

As a result, many highly capable candidates do not apply for the country’s top universities.

Mary Curnock Cook, of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, the most senior figure in the admissions system, has strongly backed the plans and believes they could be implemented within five years.

She believes the chief hurdle is the time taken by exam boards to mark students’ papers.

For the reform to work, A-level results would need to be available by early summer to allow time for students to apply for courses starting in late September or early October.

At present students receive their results in August, nine months after receiving their predicted grades.

Mrs Curnock Cook said: ‘I have come to the conclusion that probably the biggest single reform that we can do in the qualifications arena and higher education is to move to a post-qualifications admissions system.

‘This is something that’s been put in the “too difficult to handle box” for a very long time.’

Mrs Curnock Cook said she was ‘shocked’ by the time taken by exam boards to mark papers, asking: ‘What’s happened to technology?’

She added: ‘I cannot believe that in the next five years we cannot speed up the marking of exams.’

The proposal will be studied by exam watchdog Ofqual.

Its chief executive, Isabel Nisbet, said: ‘We will actively consider the proposals with Ucas and with the awarding organisation we regulate.’

Backing: Universities Minister David Willetts approves of the scheme

Mr Willetts stressed the need for the reform.

He said: ‘The big argument in favour is that in terms of social mobility, there is some underestimation in the forecast of A-level grades of teenagers at mainstream, non-academic schools.

‘There are some people from tough backgrounds who do better at their A-level grades than predicted and might have got to a more competitive university if it had been possible to judge them on their actual performance, not their predicted performance.’

However, Simon Lebus, of exam board Cambridge Assessment, questioned the feasibility of the proposals.

‘If you wanted to have results at a certain time, I am sure awarding bodies could bring it forward a week or two weeks,’ he said.

‘The issue is about schools having the ability to receive the results earlier in the summer holidays and how set-up the universities would be to handle many thousands of applications over a shorter period.’

Could this be the end of GCSEs?

GCSES have ‘run their course’ and should be scrapped, according to a leading headmistress.

With the school leaving age set to be raised to 18 – when students sit exams such as A-levels – national tests at 16 are no longer relevant, Dr Helen Wright, the new president of the Girls’ Schools Association has claimed.

In one of her first interviews as president, Dr Wright said a shake-up of how secondary school pupils are assessed is needed.

She said: ‘On one level we are raising the school leaving age to 18, so why do we need to focus on the age of 16?

‘Why shouldn’t we be looking at children earlier or later?

‘Shouldn’t we be scrapping the exam at 16 or diminishing its value or importance?’

Dr Wright, who is headmistress of St Mary’s School Calne in Wiltshire, admitted that revamping the system is a ‘big ask’. But she said: ‘If we are not asking these questions we are not thinking big thoughts and we are not actually going to move forward.’

Conceived together, born 11 years apart: Deep-frozen third sister arrives after record gap

By Lucy Laing
Last updated at 11:22 AM on 27th December 2010

It's hardly surprising that Ryleigh Shepherd is the image of her 11-year-old twin sisters when they were babies. For despite being born in different centuries, the three were all conceived on the same day.

While the embryos of twins Megan and Bethany were implanted in their mother in 1998, Ryleigh’s was frozen for more than 11 years.

Experts say they know of no other case where three siblings from the same round of fertility treatment have been born with such an age gap.

Safe in her big sisters' arms: Baby Ryleigh at home with twins Bethany (left) and Megan

‘When Ryleigh arrived she looked like both the girls did when they were born 11 years before,’ said their mother Lisa, 37. ‘It was uncanny.’

Mrs Shepherd and husband Adrian, 45, married in 1994. They were keen to start a family but she had been diagnosed with endometriosis and polycystic ovaries so they knew their chances of her becoming pregnant naturally were slim.

‘I was given drug treatments to help me conceive, but nothing worked,’ she said at the family home in Walsall. ‘It was devastating.’

In September 1998, the couple underwent treatment at Midland Fertility Clinic. Doctors collected 24 eggs, 14 of which were successfully fertilised with Mr Shepherd’s sperm.

Two embryos were implanted and the remaining 12 placed into freezer storage.

Mrs Shepherd, a sales manager, said: ‘We knew there was a chance the treatment wouldn’t work, so we tried not to get our hopes up.

Proud parents: Adrian and Lisa Shepherd. Lisa said it was uncanny to see how much Ryleigh looked like her sisters when she was born

‘I did a pregnancy test after a week which was negative. That was so disappointing. But a week later when the clinic did another test, it was positive.’

Scans showed Mrs Shepherd was expecting twins.

The pregnancy went smoothly and the twins were born by caesarean section at Walsall Manor Hospital, Megan weighing 4lb 4oz and Bethany 3lb 3oz.

Their mother said: ‘It was so emotional when they were born and even though they had been six weeks early they made a really good recovery and we were allowed to take them home just three days later.’

When the girls were nine, the couple started to consider another baby. ‘We had been so busy raising the twins that it wasn’t until then that we stopped to think about having another one,’ said Mrs Shepherd, whose husband is an engineer for Network Rail.

‘So we asked the girls what they thought about having another addition to the family and they really wanted it.’

Record breakers: Bethany and Megan Shepherd as babies 11 years ago

In December 2009, the couple returned to Midland Fertility Clinic for another cycle of IVF, using the embryos stored ten years previously.

Mrs Shepherd said: ‘It seemed strange to think that we were using embryos that we had stored all those years ago, that were conceived at the same time as the girls. We knew that if we had another baby it would in effect be the girls’ triplet as they were all conceived at the same time.

‘We didn’t know if it would work, and we agreed that we would just have one go with one embryo and if it didn’t work we wouldn’t try again. It was one last chance, and if it was meant to be, then it would happen.’ Ryleigh arrived last month, weighing a healthy 7lb 10oz.

Mrs Shepherd added: ‘The girls are thrilled to have a sister – and they know that she was conceived at the same time that they were, but has been in the freezer.

‘She’s a really happy baby and has got a really good appetite – it’s as though she’s making up for lost time.’