Culture Minister David Lammy and Public Health Minister Caroline Flint today welcomed encouraging new research into the positive effects of Dance on the health of children, at a launch of the joint publication Dance and Health – The benefits for people of all ages, at the Laban dance conservatoire in Deptford, South London.

   Arriva has joined forces with Transport for London to trial the world's first double decker hybrid bus. The groundbreaking bus will reduce CO2 emissions by more than 30 per cent, by using a combination of an electric engine and small diesel engine, which keeps the battery pack charged. Also when the vehicle brakes, energy which would normally be wasted is also recycled and used to charge the battery.

   2007 BUDGET: TRANSPARENCY CALL AS IRAQ FUND TOPS £7.4BN (21 March 2007). Analysts called for Gordon Brown to come clean over the rising costs of the Iraq war after he announced a further 400m GBP for overseas military spending in today's Budget [1]. The increased allocation to the government's 'Special Reserve' brings the total set aside to cover the UK's 'international obligations', including Iraq, to 7.44bn GBP. This is more than double the £3bn allocated to the fund when it was established in 2002 to cover "the full costs of the UK's military obligations" in Iraq.

    The Draft Culture (Scotland) Bill does not do enough to ensure children benefit from cultural experiences. Children in Scotland welcomes the Scottish Executive’s proposals for cultural entitlements to be established and delivered by local authorities, but doesn’t believe the proposals are strong enough for children and young people. Entitlements should be supported by the use of specially trained arts professionals and improved initial education for those working in children’s services, especially to benefit children in rural areas where access to the arts can be limited by costs and by poor transport.