Government Launches Spy Apprenticeship

The government has launched an apprenticeship scheme for spies, which will target young people regardless of their academic background.

Foreign Secretary William Hague announced the scheme during a visit to Bletchley Park where codebreakers helped to shorten World War II.

The aim of the scheme is to find up to 100 new recruits, primarily for the communications intelligence agency GCHQ in Cheltenham, the successor to Bletchley Park.

They could also find their way into the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) or the Security Service (MI5).

The scheme will focus on attracting talented young people who may have vocational qualifications in science, technology or engineering, but who do not necessarily have a degree.

Until now going to university was traditionally seen as the route into one of the intelligence agencies.

ITV Admit Sperm Bank Hoax

ITV has admitted that This Morning was the victim of a hoax following a story about a new celebrity sperm bank.

CEO Dan Richards appeared on This Morning on Tuesday to discuss FameDaddy, the "first celebrity sperm donor service".

But the broadcaster said it now appears Mr Richards did not run the website but was "an actor working for a TV production company".

ITV has apologised to viewers who were "deliberately misled by this stunt".

Jail For Couple Who Used Cannabis Money To Help Kenyan Village

A couple who ran a cannabis factory have been jailed despite using most of the proceeds of their illicit activities to help a Kenyan village where they were regular visitors.

Michael Foster, 62, and Susan Cooper, 63, made hundreds of thousands of pounds from a sophisticated cannabis growing operation at their Lincolnshire farmhouse, which was only discovered when a police officer chasing a burglar recognised the distinctive smell.

It was described by Lincoln crown court as "the most unusual cannabis growing case of this type".

The couple paid for live-saving surgery for a villager near Mombasa, Kenya, purchased computers for an eye hospital, and paid for schooling for children, the court heard.

But their philanthropic activity was funded by growing cannabis at their farmhouse in Little Sutton.

Judge Sean Morris, jailing them both for three years.

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