As many athletes have discovered, life can change once you reach an Olympic final. So it has proved for Donna Fraser, who missed out on a 400 metres medal by fractions of a second at the 2000 Sydney Games with a world-class time of 49.79sec. Only in her case life changed for the worse.

THE SHEFFIELD Wednesday defender Earl Barrett has been forced to retire from playing due to a serious knee injury, after receiving advice from three specialists.

THE HEALTH gap between rich and poor in Britain is the widest on record and is continuing to grow, researchers report today.

JOHN WELLS was admired for his powerful economic and political analysis and loved for his integrity, kindness and, when his wretched health allowed it, enormous enthusiasm and energy. In his funeral address it was rightly said that though he was an academic he was not a snob; and that he was, it had also to be said, a member of the awkward squads of all the walks of life to which he belonged.

MINISTERIAL MISHANDLING of the much disputed Welfare Reform Bill strengthens the impression that Tony Blair's Government has become its own worst enemy. The Bill's history suggests, on the one hand, a brave determination to put right some of the worst failings of the benefits system, and on the other, a cynical judgement - or misjudgement, more likely - of where the political payout is to be had.

The problem

NO

The following is a precis of the Patten report's major recommendations:

Founded in 1922, the RUC has 8,500 regular officers, 4,300 reservists and 2,700 civilian staff; membership is 92 per cent Protestant.

THE PATTEN report will recommend this morning that the Royal Ulster Constabulary be renamed the Northern Ireland Police Service, and will make scores of proposals designed to change the face of policing in the province.

WHILE, AS obituary columns daily attest, it is no great thing these days to live to 96, it is surely exceptional to mark one's 95th birthday by publishing a new, well-researched and substantial book. What Grandmother Said, published in February last year, was the latest of a number of rare achievements that Dame Alix Meynell accomplished in the course of her long life.

THE BIGGEST crackdown yet on ill-health retirement among police, fire officers and teachers has been launched by the Government after figures showed that the problem was costing taxpayers pounds 1bn a year.

THE BIGGEST crackdown yet on ill-health retirement among police, fire officers and teachers has been launched by the Government after figures showed that the problem was costing taxpayers pounds 1bn a year.