PM PLEDGES GP COVER 7 DAYS A WEEK

Every NHS patient in England will be guaranteed access to a GP seven days a week by 2020 if the Conservatives win power in next year's election, David Cameron has said.

The Prime Minister also announced a £100 million investment in improving access to family doctors, ensuring that more people will be able to see their GP between 8am and 8pm on weekdays and weekends.

And he unveiled plans to bring back named GPs with responsibility for individual patients - scrapped by the previous Labour government - as part of a new GP contract being launched by NHS Employers.

UK HOSTAGE APPEARS IN NEW IS VIDEO

Islamic extremists have released another propaganda video appearing to feature British hostage John Cantlie.

Site Intelligence Group, which monitors Jihadist groups, described the latest footage as the second episode in a series involving the photojournalist.

The clip, which lasts for five and a half minutes, shows Mr Cantlie sitting at a desk dressed in the now-familiar orange outfit worn by other Islamic State (IS) hostages.

MORE TRUSTS MISSING CANCER TARGETS

The number of hospitals failing to meet cancer waiting time targets has trebled in just one year, Labour has warned.

Fresh analysis of a report concerning the performance of NHS Foundation Trusts - bodies seen as a hallmark of excellence in the health service - showed a growing number failed to meet the target of treating 85% of patients within 62 days of an urgent GP referral.

The report, by healthcare regulator Monitor, says that "performance against cancer waiting time targets has steadily deteriorated over the past year".

JUDGE TO RULE ON LIFE-SUPPORT BOY

A High Court judge is today due to decide whether a little boy with brain damage should be taken off a life-support machine.

Specialists have told Ms Justice Russell that the youngster - who turned one earlier this year - has suffered "profound irreversible brain damage".

They say it is in the child's best interests for "live-sustaining intensive care" including "mechanical ventilation" to be withdrawn.

CHILDREN VICTIMS OF REVENGE PORN

Children as young as 11 have been victims of revenge pornography, with their perpetrators often evading justice due to loopholes in the law, new figures show.

Campaigners and politicians have called for tough legislation to be introduced to tackle those who share naked images and videos without the victim's consent.

Figures uncovered by the Press Association show that schoolgirls are among those targeted, while adults have been blackmailed into having sex with their tormentor after indecent - and previously private - images were posted on the internet.

FORCE UNDER FIRE OVER YOUNG IN CARE

The under-fire police force at the centre of the Rotherham child abuse scandal has faced fresh criticism from inspectors over how well it deals with vulnerable children in care homes.

South Yorkshire Police had "limited understanding" of the risk posed by offenders who target vulnerable children while officers showed an inconsistent response to child sexual exploitation, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC) said.

In one case, officers failed to sufficiently protect three girls identified as at risk, who were sexually assaulted by several men and were reported missing from care on several occasions.

WORLD WILDLIFE 'HALVED IN 40 YEARS'

Wildlife populations around the world have more than halved in just four decades in the face of unsustainable human consumption, a report has warned.

Mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish have declined on average by 52% from 1970 to 2010, according to WWF's Living Planet Report, which uses information on 10,380 populations of 3,038 species to see how global wildlife is faring.

Experts from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), which maintains the database of information on the species, said the figures meant that where in 1970 there was a population of 100 animals, now there were only 50.

'GATE WARNING' OFFICER AT INQUEST

A senior police officer who asked for exit gates to be opened at the fateful 1989 FA Cup semi-final at Hillsborough will give evidence today at the inquests into the deaths of 96 Liverpool supporters.

Former superintendent Roger Marshall made several radio requests for three exit gates to be opened as congestion built up outside the Leppings Lane turnstiles ahead of the kick-off and is said to have said somebody would be "killed if the gates weren't opened".

Exit Gate C was then opened at 2.52pm on the orders of the match commander, Chief Superintendent David Duckenfield, with the jury hearing that an estimated 2,000 Liverpool fans came through and "a significant number" headed for a central tunnel leading to the terraces of pens three and four behind the goal.

'I PRAY LYNDA SEES CHRISTMAS'

The husband of actress Lynda Bellingham said losing her will "create the biggest hole in my life", as he comes to terms with her decision to end chemotherapy treatment.

Michael Pattemore said he does not know how he will cope without her, but said he is comforted by her being "at peace" after making her choice.

He has told Yours magazine: "I am the most positive-thinking guy in the world. Unfortunately it doesn't matter how positive I am on this one, the Good Lord is going to take her. End of. It's scary and it's going to create the biggest hole in my life."

SEPTEMBER TO BE 'DRIEST ON RECORD'

This is set to be the driest September across the UK since records began in 1910, with exceptionally low rainfall for many parts of the country, the Met Office said.

It is also likely to finish in the top five warmest, with UK mean temperatures significantly above the monthly average.

Using figures from September 1-28, the UK as a whole has received 19.4mm (0.8in) of rain, just 20% of the normal amount of rainfall which would be expected for the month. Before this one, the driest September on record was 1959 with 23.8mm (0.9in).