Detectives are questioning a man in connection with the mugging of a senior British diplomat who was attacked while walking through a cemetery and left partially blinded.

"Bring on Barça" is the headline in the newsletter Chelsea send out to their junior members, but for now the Catalan conquistadors can wait. Having salvaged a fortuitous 2-1 victory against Wigan Athletic on Saturday, Roberto Di Matteo's charges must now withstand an ebullient Fulham in tonight's west London derby.

A busy west London flyover that closed before Christmas due to major structural problems will partially reopen before this morning's rush hour, transport chiefs have said.

Fulham today submitted a planning application to increase Craven Cottage's capacity to 30,000 from 25,700.

A transplant surgeon has joined the ranks of organ donors by giving up one of his own kidneys to save his mother's life.

Police are searching for a former Albanian intelligence officer wanted for torture and kidnapping who jumped bail last week, failing to appear at his extradition hearing in London on 1 December.

Women made up two in three of all council staff who lost their jobs in the past 15 months – and in some councils made up all job cuts, the GMB union has said.

Private investors will fund intensive programmes for troubled families under a trial launched by the Government.

A London council is charging personal fitness trainers £350 a year to use its public parks.

To the first free schools conference on Saturday, held at Westminster Academy, an academy established under the Labour programme, where millions have been splashed out to give the pupils swanky new buildings.

There is nothing like a really good pantomime dame to satisfy an audience's deep desire to be dominated. This is proved again, to deliriously enjoyable effect, in Dick Whittington and His Cat at the Lyric Hammersmith. It's hard to believe that Shaun Prendergast is making his first foray into stage-damehood with this magnificent performance as Sarah the Cook. Modelling a succession of outrageous outfits and dominating the proceedings with his raucous gravel-voice and his wickedly glinting, manic personality, he comes across as the gaudy love-child of Dame Edna and Timmy Mallet.

Education Secretary Michael Gove today outlined what he described as "a formidable reform programme" for schooling.