By Sportsmail Reporter Last updated at 12:46 PM on 21st December 2011 England lock Courtney Lawes has signed a new deal with Northampton that will keep him at Franklin’s Gardens until 2015. Dressed to impress: Courtney Lawes Lawes, who has 13 England caps, helped Northampton win the European Challenge Cup in 2009 and last year’s LV= Cup after making his debut against Esher four years ago. Northampton finished runners-up in the Heineken Cup last season [...]

Little girl also lost her fingers, half a thumb and half a palm after illness She became inspired to walk again after meeting the first man in UK to receive bionic leg prosthetics by Kerry Mcqueeney Last updated at 2:27 AM on 20th December 2011 A child’s first steps are always special. But this brave little girl gave her parents the best Christmas present they could have hoped for when she walked for the first [...]

By Sportsmail Reporter Last updated at 1:25 PM on 20th December 2011 Military personnel returning from Afghanistan will not lose their leave in order to protect the London 2012 Games, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond has pledged. The Ministry of Defence confirmed last week that 13,500 military personnel, more than the 10,000 that were deployed to Afghanistan, will be part of the 23,700 security force for the Games. Service: 13,500 military personnel will be part of [...]

by Sophie Borland Last updated at 1:19 PM on 20th December 2011 Poor English: Daniel Ubani, who gave a lethal dose of morphine on his first shift Britain has won the right to test foreign doctors and nurses on their ability to speak English following a landmark ruling from Brussels. There is mounting concern that patients are being put in danger by a ban that prevents watchdogs from checking the language skills of European doctors [...]

by Graham Smith Last updated at 8:09 AM on 20th December 2011 A young mother who has tried every form of contraception possible has baffled doctors by falling pregnant six times in five years. Gemma Potter, 23, has repeatedly conceived despite using condoms, the pill, the coil, progesterone injections and an implant. She and her husband Glenn, 27, now have three children – Shaun, four, Jessica, three, and Sophie, two – and have suffered two [...]

By Sportsmail Reporter Last updated at 12:37 AM on 21st December 2011 Axed Sunderland boss Steve Bruce has said he would be interested in becoming the next coach of South Korea after being approached by officials from the country’s football association. Bruce was ousted from his role at the Stadium of Light last month but could be back in work by the new year with the 2002 World Cup semi-finalists. The former Manchester United defender [...]

By Daily Mail Reporter Last updated at 11:03 PM on 17th December 2011 All parents will be familiar with the frustration of trying to pacify a  disobedient toddler from time to time. However, doctors have discovered some children have a condition which means they are unable to cope with any sort of demand. Little is know about Pathological Demand Avoidance Syndrome (PDA) at present, but experts believe the reported numbers of sufferers is just the [...]

By Fiona Macrae Last updated at 8:58 AM on 19th December 2011 Breakthrough? Scientists have discovered a compound which switches off appetite, without the usual side effects It is the perfect excuse to have another mince pie. A diet pill that doesn’t make you ill has been developed by scientists. The drug, which switches off appetite using hormones that are created naturally in the stomach when it is full, is billed as the first to [...]

By Sportsmail Reporter Last updated at 1:03 AM on 20th December 2011 New Fed Cup captain Judy Murray believes great Britain have a good chance of making it into the World Group next year. Murray will lead the team for the first time in Israel in February, when Britain will be among 15 sides from Europe/Africa Zone Group I bidding for one of the two places available in World Group II. On the move: Murray [...]

by Angela Brooks Last updated at 3:55 AM on 20th December 2011 More than 18,000 women have a mastectomy every year in England alone. Colette Hatley, 51, a payroll administrator from Ipswich, was the first in the country to undergo robot-assisted breast reconstruction. ‘They give you a tummy tuck and use that removed tissue to tailor a new breast for you,’ said Colette Hatley on DIEP flap reconstruction Five years ago, at 47, I was [...]