Homeowners in Cornwall could be forced to ask for permission to use their property as a second house or holiday let.

BBC: Call for second home planning permit in Cornwall

Speculation this time has focused on the fact that Mr Netanyahu made tentative plans to visit Washington, DC, early in May, but the White House let it be known that the president would not be available.

ECONOMIST: America and Israel

Frank Field, a former Labour minister, thinks this could be as much of a vote-winner as the Tory scheme to let council-house tenants buy their homes.

ECONOMIST: Health

The House of Lords should be elected: it is absurd to have political placemen shaping the laws of the land, let alone people who owe their seats to their family tree.

ECONOMIST: Britain��s feuding coalition government