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Northampton Saints hit with £60,000 fine for George North Wales appearance
Northampton Saints have been fined £60,000 by a Premiership Rugby disciplinary panel for allowing star winger George North to play for Wales against Australia last month.
The fixture fell outside the International Rugby Board's designated Test window, meaning that North shouldn't have been released by his club.
However, the 21-year-old has a clause in his Saints contract which permits him to feature in all Wales Test matches.
Northampton admitted the breach and will not appeal the sanction.
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Essex handed a boost as Ravi Bopara signs contract extension
Essex have announced that England cricketer Ravi Bopara has signed a new one-year contract with the club.
28-year-old Bopara has been with Essex since 2002, and has played nearly 150 First-Class matches for the county.
The all-rounder's new deal will run until the end of the 2014 season, and Bopara says that he is happy to be staying with the club:
“I am delighted to have signed a new contract with the club for a further year," he told the Essex official website.
"I was pleased with how my season went in 2013 both domestically and Internationally for Essex and England, respectively.
"I am now looking to continue this form into the new season with Essex where we can hopefully win some silverware.”
Text Santa appeal: Beat Bullying
As part of our Text Santa appeal, we are supporting six charities, helping them to raise money and awareness of the work they do.
The next charity we are going to tell you about is Beat Bullying. The charity is tackling a growing problem, fuelled by how easy it is to put hateful anonymous posts on social networking sites.
Click below to watch a report from ITV News Anglia's Natalie Gray
For more details about our Text Santa appeal, click here
100% of donations made by viewers are evenly distributed to ITV's chosen charities within three months of each televised appeal.
All Text Santa operating costs including staffing and the programme itself are funded directly by ITV as part of its corporate giving, and not from its corporate partners or viewer contributions.
Roads Minister Robert Goodwill MP satisfied that region's roads are ready for winter
The Roads Minister Robert Goodwill MP has been at the Highways Agency's East Regional Control Centre in South Mimms to look at how they're preparing for the severe winter weather ahead.
With forecasters predicting an unsettled winter, he said they're ready for the worst and won't be caught without enough stocks:
"I've come here to see for myself the level of preparedness from the Highways Agency network, but also to reassure people that local authorities are also well stocked up and well geared up to deal with what the winter wants to throw at us."
Tributes paid to student who died at Bedford nightclub
Tributes have been paid today by friends and family of a young student who collapsed and died at a nightclub in Bedford over the weekend.
Friends of Shamilia Seetal have posted tributes on Facebook after she collapsed at the Elements nightclub on Friday night.
It would have been her 21st Birthday on Christmas Eve.
Earlier an Inquest was opened and adjourned into her death which is not being treated as suspicious.
Police are investigating whether the 20-year-old had taken an ecstacy pill.
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Winchester teenager killed in avalanche
A teenager from Hampshire has been killed in an avalanche while skiing in Austria with his family.
The boy's father is seriously injured and his twin brother is reported to be uninjured.
The 16-year-old boy was buried under an avalanche at the resort of Lecham Arlberg.
Austrian police said the instructor who was giving them a ski lesson will face criminal investigation.
A police spokesman said:" The father and his boy were buried. The ski guide was able to get away from the avalanche and immediately after he called rescue teams. He then startedtrying to free the two who were buried. The rescue team finally rescued thefather and got the boy out some time later."
Charity hoping to combat homelessness
A Chelmsford charity has begun its winter project to ensure as many homeless people as possible are kept off the streets.
Read the full storyColchester MP criticises former Chief Executive of town's hospital for "leaving others in the lurch"
Colchester MP Sir Bob Russell says that the under-fire Colchester Hospital is "not a sinking ship" and that Chief Executive Dr Gordon Coutts should have continued in his role.
Dr Coutts resigned from his position earlier today following allegations that staff were bullied into changing cancer patient records.
“Colchester General Hospital is not a sinking ship and therefore the captain and its senior officers, in this case the Chief Executive, should have remained at the helm until such time that he or they were told to leave should this become the conclusion of the current investigations.
“In my opinion Dr Coutts should have stayed, at least for now, until the investigations into what happened under his stewardship are concluded. Leaving others in the lurch is not what the leadership should be doing."
Read more: Colchester Hospital Chief Executive to stand down
