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Porn warnings for primary pupils called for
More than 40% of parents believe schools should teach children about the dangers of pornography as soon as they are old enough to use the internet, a survey suggests.
It reveals that the majority of parents do not want it to be left to them alone to educate their youngsters about the controversial issue, and a large proportion think that pupils as young as five or six should be given lessons on the subject.
The survey, which questioned around 1,000 parents, found that six in ten parents are worried or very worried about their sons and daughters seeing violent or sexual material on the web.
But the poll also reveals that the majority (80%) of parents feel confident in protecting their children online.
While just over half (51%) said that pupils should not be taught about the dangers of pornography until they are teenagers, 42% said that they should be educated as soon as they are old enough to access the internet, even if they are as young as five or six.
More than eight in ten (83%) said issues around pornography should form part of sex education lessons.
Tech firms chase startup edge as Yahoo 'buys Tumblr'
The purchase of Tumblr by Yahoo would add to established Internet companies like Google and Facebook that have spent $1 billion or more each buying startup companies in the battle for competitive edge in the technology business market.
Facebook last year paid cash and stock initially valued at about $1 billion to buy popular photo-sharing service Instagram, according to figures quoted in The Wall Street Journal.
Google paid $1.65 billion in stock seven years ago for YouTube, the online-video giant.
In a smaller deal, AOL bought Huffington Post for $315 million in 2011.
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Search for survivor suspended at gas blast house
The search for a man trapped in rubble has been suspended while the terraced house that was demolished in a suspected gas explosion is made safe.
Fire crews found another man's body at around 5.15pm during a search of the collapsed house on Sunday in Wright Street, Newark, in Nottinghamshire.
A number of roads were closed off in the immediate vicinity and diversions were in place.
Church of Scotland to debate subject of gay clergy
The governing body of the Church of Scotland is to debate the controversial subject of gay ministers today.
The institution's General Assembly will consider whether to allow people in same-sex relationships to be ordained as ministers.
A theological commission was appointed two years ago to produce a report on the issue for the Kirk's annual gathering in Edinburgh.
– Kirk spokesmanOn one hand the report offers the Church a way of allowing the ordination of ministers in same-sex relationships who have entered into a civil partnership, while protecting both individuals and congregations who in conscience do not agree with the theological principles which underpin that choice.
On the other hand the report, while reaffirming its belief that homophobia is sinful, invites the Church to reaffirm its traditional stance that the only appropriate expression of sexual activity should be within marriage between one man and one woman.
The report does not make any recommendation and leaves the issue open for the members of the General Assembly to decide.
The ordaining of ministers in same-sex relationships has divided the Kirk since traditionalist members attempted to block the appointment of gay Reverend Scott Rennie in 2009.
Britain's first official astronaut to be revealed
Britain is putting its first official first person into space with details of his mission to be released later today.
Major Tim Peake, who is 41, has been training for the mission to the International Space Station since 2009.
The date of his blast-off has not yet been made public but it will not be before 2015.
Watch Tim in basic training:
Previous Britons in space have paid to go as space tourists or became American citizens and were launched by NASA.
Entire US neighbourhoods destroyed by tornadoes
Tornadoes ravaged the upper Midwest in the US yesterday after forecasters warned they would hit the area along with the weekend's storm.
According to the National Weather Service, 19 tornadoes struck Oklahoma, Kansas.
Entire neighbourhoods have been destroyed and cars and trucks were turned over.
A mobile home park in Shawnee was among the worst hit areas and reports said one person died when the twister ripped up the whole park.
Search and rescue operations were under way last night.
Dozens of counties in Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and Missouri have been placed under tornado watches and warnings.
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British father alleged to have killed his children is named
A British father is due to appear in court in France today, where he is expected to be formally charged with slitting the throats of his two young children.
Julian Stevenson, 47, is alleged to have killed his daughter, five, and son, 10.
He was entrusted with them for the first time since separating from his French wife.
It is thought she discovered the bloody scene when she arrived at his flat on Saturday afternoon and found her former husband standing on the stairway in blood-stained clothes
Reports suggested she had gone to his home, in Saint-Priest, to the south-east of Lyon, after he failed to return the children following the visit.
Stevenson was held after witnesses reportedly spotted him fleeing the area on roller skates and taken into custody on Saturday evening.
Report: 'Yahoo to buy Tumblr for $1.1 billion'
Blogging platform Tumblr has been bought by Yahoo Inc for $1.1 billion (£720m), according to reports in The Wall Street Journal and The Guardian.
The deal would represent a major power shift in the technology business, according to the WSJ.
It is understood that former Google executive Marissa Mayer, now in control of Yahoo, secured the deal yesterday afternoon when it was approved by the board.
A press conference is scheduled for this afternoon in New York's Times Square, close to Tumblr's headquarters.
David Karp founded Tumblr in his bedroom in his mother's apartment in 2007 when he was 21.
It had 75,000 users in a fortnight and now there are roughly 110 million.
Sir Richard Branson is among investors who have poured $125m into the company.
'Gay marriage a tipping point' claim grassroot Tories
Bob Woollard, chairman of the Conservative Grassroots group which organised the protest letter to the Prime Minister said: "Same sex marriage is really a tipping point, a bellwether issue if you like - people have just said 'I've had enough, I'm off, I will never vote Conservative again'.
"Scores and scores and scores of people that we have all spoken to, probably hundreds of thousands of people have said: 'I've had enough, that's it now, we can't cope with this so-called modernisation agenda'."
But a rival letter, signed by more than 100 Tory activists, called for Conservative MPs to "deal with the Bill then move on together as a party".
The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill will be debated over two days, with its third reading - the final hurdle in the Commons - tomorrow.
Gay marriage legislation returns to the Commons
The coalition's controversial gay marriage legislation returns to the Commons today with Tory MPs and activists deeply split over the issue.
The move has been championed by David Cameron but he has faced Conservative opposition at all levels from the grassroots to the Cabinet .
A group of more than 30 current and former local party chairmen warned that the plans would drive Tory voters to the UK Independence Party and make a Conservative election victory in 2015 impossible.
