TITANIC COMPOSER JAMES HORNER DIES

Oscar-winning Titanic composer James Horner has died in a plane crash in southern California.

A single-engine plane registered to the 61-year-old crashed at about 9.30am local time yesterday near Quatal Canyon in Los Padres National Forest, Ventura County fire spokesman Mike Lindbery said. The pilot was killed, and no-one else was on board.

Jay Cooper, a lawyer for Horner, said the plane was one of several owned by the composer, and that no-one has heard from him since the crash.

HOPES RISE FOR GREEK DEAL THIS WEEK

Greece has finally offered economic reforms that creditors consider closer to being acceptable, giving Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras a few days to clinch a deal that might stop the country leaving the euro.

While a firm deal between Greece and its lenders to get Athens more loans remained elusive at an emergency summit yesterday, leaders from the 19 euro nations said Mr Tsipras's new reform plan offered the basis to break a four-month deadlock in talks.

"We are advancing toward an agreement," said President Francois Hollande of France. But the gap separating what Greece wants to yield in painful reforms and what creditors are demanding before providing more funds remained sizeable.

BID FOR GP FAST-TRACK CANCER TESTS

GPs are being urged to fast-track cancer testing in new guidelines designed to halve the number of people who die as a result of a late diagnosis.

For the first time the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) is encouraging GPs to take a "symptoms-based approach" of matching a symptom such as stomach pain to possible cancers.

Patients are also being encouraged to tell their family doctor if they believe they have a cancer symptom.

GOVE URGES JUSTICE SYSTEM OVERHAUL

Michael Gove will launch a stinging attack on the "two-nation" justice system that allows the wealthy to enjoy "gold standard" services while "badly" failing many victims of crime.

The poorest are at the mercy of a "dysfunctional" system while the well-off can secure the finest legal provision in the world, the Justice Secretary will say.

Urgent reform of courts in England and Wales is needed to bring to an end flaws in the process that have an "unforgivable" human cost, he will urge.

HATE 'EVERDAY REALITY' FOR GAYS

Some gay people in sleepy villages and rural towns are being relentlessly bullied because of their sexuality - leaving some too scared to leave the house, an expert has warned.

A new study suggests hate crime is an "everyday reality" for many lesbian, gay bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people who said harassment and verbal abuse is "part and parcel" of their lives.

But they are not reporting it because they fear police will not take them seriously or they might be "outed" to their families.

COUNCILLORS TO DISCUSS FRACK PLANS

Councillors will meet today to discuss plans to frack for shale gas.

Energy firm Cuadrilla wants to develop two new sites between Preston and Blackpool to explore for shale gas by drilling, fracking and testing the flow of gas.

A report from Lancashire County Council planning officials recommended that one of the sites - at Preston New Road near Little Plumpton - be passed subject to a number of conditions being met, such as hours of working, control of noise and highway matters.

DISABLED CONSUMERS' COSTS TARGETED

Disabled people should be "bold and loud" and demand more as consumers to combat the financial penalties they face over everyday living costs, an inquiry has found.

Businesses are being encouraged to improve the experiences of disabled customers and better recognise the value of the so-called "purple pound" - valued at £212 billion.

The Government and regulators are also being urged to intervene when unfair extra costs are heaped on disabled people.

CLIMATE CHANGE 'THREAT TO HEALTH'

Climate change could have "potentially catastrophic effects" for human health, undermining all the health gains in the last half century, experts have warned.

But tackling climate change by cutting emissions from energy, transport and agriculture could provide a great global health opportunity, with benefits ranging from improved diets to fewer deaths and disease caused by air pollution.

Experts who contributed to The Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change said funding to keep global temperatures from rising by more than 2C, seen as a threshold above which the worst impacts are expected, was a good investment.

CHILDREN IN CARE REVIEW LAUNCHED

A review into why children in care are more likely to end up in the criminal justice system has been launched, aimed at stopping the "depressing route from care to custody".

Children in care aged between 10 and 17 are more than five times as likely to end up in trouble with the law than those not in care, the Prison Reform Trust said.

Almost two-thirds of children looked after by the state are in care because they have been abused or neglected, the charity added.

QUEEN ON STATE VISIT TO GERMANY

The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh arrive in Berlin today for a four-day state visit to Germany.

During the tour the Queen and Philip will be guests of honour at a state banquet, travel to the Bergen-Belsen prisoner of war and concentration camps and hold a private meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The camps, now a memorial to those who died at the hands of the Nazis, were liberated 70 years ago by British troops and the visit will be a personal and reflective one for the monarch with the minimum of ceremony.