A million homeowners could face negative equity says City
More than a quarter of a million British householders have slipped into negative equity, City analysts say. The investment bank Citigroup says house prices have fallen seven per cent since the autumn, and could drop to 15 per cent by the end of 2009. The collapse has led to large numbers of people owing more than their properties are worth - possibly as many as 1 million people by the end of next year. (Observer)
The Mole: bill after bill but none set Labour hearts glowing 
Prince to tackle pirates of the Caribbean
In his new role as a naval sub-lieutenant, Prince William is to serve on HMS Iron Duke patrolling the Caribbean. The Prince will help monitor the 'modern pirates' of the hard drugs trade after it was decided he should not serve on a Royal Navy ship in the Gulf in case his presence provoked a terrorist attack. The Prince could be armed as he joins boarding parties stopping cocaine trafficking. (Sunday Times)
William on mission to Afghanistan
MPs demand purge of ‘Scots mafia’
Labour MPs including Keith Vaz have called on Gordon Brown to purge his so-called Scots mafia of ministers and elevate more "English voices" to senior positions, amid concerns the party is losing touch with English voters. In another challenge to the PM's authority, Work and Pensions Secretary James Purnell has refused to fire the speechwriter who last week described Mr Brown's time in office as a "tragedy". (Sunday Times, Independent on Sunday)
The Mole: the latest from Westminster
A very British divorce
Labour has ‘failed’ on youth crime
A leaked internal Government report says that Labour's 10-year strategy for tackling youth crime has failed. Twenty-five per cent of under-18s have committed an offence, and re-offending rates have changed little since 1997, despite a massive increase in the youth crime budget. The report contradicts Labour claims that the Government has significantly reduce the rates of youth offending. (Observer)
Tory strategist quits the UK
Steve Hilton, David Cameron's director of strategy seen as the man behind the Tory revival, is to leave the UK. He will continue as an adviser to the party on a consultancy basis from his new home in California where his wife is taking up a job as vice-president of global communications for Google. Hilton's departure is seen as a sign that the modernisation of the Conservatives may now slow. (Sunday Telegraph)
The man pulling Dave's strings
Arrests were made for drunkenness and tube stations had to be closed in London last night after partygoers gathered on the Circle Line to celebrate the last day of legal drinking on the Underground after new Mayor of London Boris Johnson decided to ban the consumption of alcohol on public transport. (Independent on Sunday)
Newish man: drinking alone on trains
A 64-year-old woman had to pay for her treatment as she died of cancer because she had previously paid for a drug she hoped would prolong her life, but which was not available on the NHS. Linda O'Boyle was told that as she had paid for private care in the past she was banned from free NHS care. (Sunday Times)
Children are more than twice as likely to die before adulthood if they are fathered by a man over the age of 45, according to a large-scale study which was the first of its kind ever carried out in the West. The researchers believe the declining quality of sperm as men age is to blame. (Sunday Telegraph)
The parents of two small children who died of stab wounds at their home in south London have been arrested. A six-month-old baby is fighting for her life in hospital, and a five-year-old boy and his four-year-old sister are dead after the incident on Friday night in Carshalton. (Observer)
The Conservatives have accused the Government of covering up a report which linked fortnightly rubbish collection with increased health risk from rats, flies and seagulls. The £27,000 study was released in response to a series of parliamentary questions tabled by Conservative MPs. (Sunday Telegraph)
The Taliban is "on the run" in southern Afghanistan, according to the Army's most positive assessment yet of their campaigns in Helmand province. Brigadier Gordon Messenger said the Taliban's command structure had been fractured and its fighters are "very much on the back foot". (Observer)
The chief of Zimbabwe's army told his soldiers yesterday they would have to leave the military if they did not vote for Robert Mugabe in next month's presidential run-off election. Meanwhile, the International Crisis Group said the military had played a key role in preventing opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai coming to power. (Observer)
Zimbabwe Today: all the latest from our man in Harare
Hillary Clinton (left) is to be offered a "negotiated surrender" from the Democrat presidential candidacy race in plans being drawn up by aides to Barack Obama intended to spare her dignity, and the party's. Mrs Clinton would be given the chance to draw up Obama's healthcare reforms if she quite the race now. (Sunday Telegraph)
US Election special: the latest news, gossip and analysis
China ignored accurate earthquake warnings from five top seismologists before the devastating shocks which struck Sichuan province, killing more than 68,000 people. The country's authorities now seem to be trying to cover up the warnings, with none of the experts being available for interview. (Sunday Times)
Chinese see seismic change in their premier
In pictures: after the quake
City analysts predict that low-coast airline Ryanair will ground at least 10 per cent of its fleet over the winter, and is set to slash its profit forecasts. Outspoken chief executive Michael O'Leary (left) has already warned that if oil prices go to $135 and passenger yields drop by 5 per cent, the company will only break even. (Observer)
When budget airlines get expensive
British private equity firms, backed by the CBI, are lobbying MEPs to halt proposed EU legislation they see as detrimental to business. The new rules would insist on greater disclosure from private equity and hedge fund managers about their investments. The Commons Treasury Select Committee made similar calls last summer. (Independent on Sunday)
Daniel Hannan: guerrilla tactics advance the EU project
A group of the biggest institutional investors in the Royal Bank of Scotland is secretly plotting to replace chairman Sir Tom McKillop in a rebellion sparked three weeks ago when RBS unveiled a drastic plan to raise £12bn in fresh equity, the biggest capital raising in British stock market history. (Sunday Telegraph)
New figures suggest that UK readers may be fed up with so-called 'misery memoirs'. Autobiographical stories of childhood abuse or drink and drug addiction generated £24m profit a year at the height of the boom, but the market was damaged when the veracity of some of the books involved was questioned. (Independent on Sunday)
People: author undone by moral turpitude
Demand for art by some of the best-known names in the UK is being fuelled by Russia's billionaire oligarchs. Roman Abramovich paid a world-record amount of £43m for Francis Bacon's Triptych, 1976 at auction recently, and other industrialists are said to appreciate the "dark humour" of British art. (Independent on Sunday)
People: did Roman buy Freud and Bacon?
Rising star portrait painter Jonathan Yeo (left) has created a portrait of painter Lucian Freud made with cuttings from pornographic magazines. Yeo's previous works include conventional pictures of Tony Blair and the Duke of Edinburgh, as well as a genital collage of President Bush. (Sunday Times)
