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Neighbour felt 'sheer terror' hearing gas explosion

Neighbour Simon Hunter told ITV's Daybreak that he felt "sheer terror" when a gas explosion destroyed a house in Newark, Nottinghamshire.

He said: "There was a massive explosion, the house shook. I looked at my wife and it was just sheer terror, we just didn't know what was going on. My initial reaction was that, we've got a train line behind the property, a train had de-railed."

Youngsters 'need to know how to avoid' internet porn

There is no place for explicit materials in the classroom or school, even in the course of teaching about their dangers, but many young people are exposed to such materials on the internet and phones.

In the face of this young people need to know how to cope with and avoid these distorted views of relationships.

– Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers

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British astronaut Tim Peake to confirm mission date

UK astronaut Tim Peake has been given a date to fly to the International Space Station (ISS).

The date of the mission is yet to be made public but it will not be before 2015.

UK astronaut Tim Peake has been given a date to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) Credit: ITV News

The European Space Agency (Esa) is to release the details and the date of his mission to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) later today.

Peake has been in training for an expedition to the ISS since 2009, and will fly aboard a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur in Kazakhstan.

He was a major and a helicopter pilot in the British Army Air Corps.

Once in orbit Peake will help to maintain the 27,000km/h platform and carry out science experiments in Esa's Columbus laboratory module

Call for porn warnings for primary school pupils

Many parents believe schools should teach children about the dangers of pornography as soon as they are old enough to use the internet. Credit: PA Wire

42% 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.

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.

Fire crews have suspended the search while the building is made safe. Credit: ITV News

A number of roads were closed off in the immediate vicinity and diversions were in place.

Roads were closed off around the explosion. Credit: ITV News
Fire crews found another man's body during search of the collapsed house. Credit: ITV News

Read: Man killed in house gas blast

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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.

On 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.

– Kirk spokesman

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.

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.

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