![Barnes favourite for Booker Prize]()
Julian Barnes is favourite to finally claim one of the literary world's most prestigious prizes when the winner of this year's Man Booker Prize is announced.
The author, who has been nominated three times before but never won, is one of six writers shortlisted for the £50,000 prize, for The Sense Of An Ending.
On Monday night the organiser of the Man Booker Prize said that major book publishers have missed out on this year's award because they are "no longer taking risks" in working with new authors.
Ion Trewin, literary director of the Booker Prize Foundation, said financial worries had meant many larger publishers were "going for the tried and the trusted" and missing out on some of the country's best new writing talent.
Mr Trewin dismissed suggestions that the award had been dumbed down and readability put before literary merit. The shortlist, which includes two first-time novelists, has also been criticised for omitting big names including Alan Hollinghurst and Graham Swift.
The former director general of MI5, Dame Stella Rimington, who is chairman of the judges, said they did not want to produce a shortlist of books that languished half-read and admired on people's shelves.
But last year's chairman and former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion said a "false divide" had been opened up between "what is high end and what is readable". He also said he hoped Barnes, who was nominated in 1984, 1998 and 2005, would win.
A spokesman for booksellers Waterstone's said: "Winning the Man Booker is always a guarantee of reaching a huge audience - it makes the book the must-read for the season. The fact that there has been an element of controversy around this year's shortlist, with much sniping about who made it on and who didn't, has not affected sales. This year's shortlist have sold in record numbers, which bodes well for the winner.
"The favourite is Julian Barnes, fourth time lucky, which is where I would put my money. However, the Booker is seldom predictable, and the field is wide open. It would be great to see a debut writer like Stephen Kelman take the prize home."
Kelman is nominated for his debut novel, Pigeon English, which is the story of an 11-year-old from Ghana who arrives in Britain with his mother to live in an inner-city council estate. Other books include Snowdrops, the debut novel by AD Miller, set after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the first Western to be shortlisted - The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt.
Two Britons have been killed in a charter plane crash in Botswana, the Foreign Office confirmed.
The plane crashed after take-off near an airstrip in north Botswana's Okavango Delta on Friday.
The Associated Press reported that a British pilot and seven tourists from Britain, France and Sweden died while four others, two from France and two from Botswana, survived.
It quoted spokesman Modipe Nkwe from Botswana's Civil Aviation Authority as saying it was a Cessna 208 operated by Moremi Air charter company.
A Foreign Office spokesman said the families of the Britons had been contacted and offered consular assistance.
He could not confirm any details of the crash or the identities of those killed
In a statement on its website, Botswana's Civil Aviation Authority said the Cessna 208 was carrying nine passengers and two crew.
An official report into former defence secretary Liam Fox's links with his self-styled adviser Adam Werritty is expected to find that he breached the Ministerial Code of Conduct.
The findings of Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell - who was due to deliver his report to David Cameron on Monday night - will be published on Tuesday.
The Guardian reported the country's most senior civil servant will deliver a "damning" verdict on Dr Fox's conduct - while accepting that he had not personally gained financially from his relationship with Mr Werritty.
Dr Fox finally resigned on Friday amid a welter of allegations suggesting his close contacts with his best man and former flatmate breached Whitehall rules.
Sir Gus was last week ordered by the Prime Minister to take over an internal Ministry of Defence inquiry in an effort to provide answers to "all remaining questions".
An interim MoD report has already established that the then defence secretary had met Mr Werritty - who handed out business cards describing himself as Dr Fox's adviser even though he had no official role - 40 times since coming to office.
Their contacts included trips abroad and meetings at the MoD - including talks with the Israeli ambassador, dinner with the new US commander of international forces in Afghanistan, and a meeting in Dubai with a defence supplier without MoD officials present.
Sir Gus is not expected to make recommendations on ministers' contacts with lobbyists, as his remit was limited to establishing the facts about Mr Werritty's activities.
Downing Street has not said whether the report will be published in full or whether some details will have to be redacted, although officials have indicated that they intend to be as open as possible.
"We will be transparent about this," the Prime Minister's official spokesman said. "We have asked Gus O'Donnell to establish the facts and we will be clear about what those facts are. Gus has not been asked to make recommendations. He has been asked to establish the facts and that's what he will do."
Two Britons have been arrested in Kenya, police said.
The pair, believed to be from Cardiff, were detained near the border with Somalia, South Wales Police said.
The force was in contact with local law enforcement to establish the circumstances of the detention, a spokesman said. Their families have been notified.
The force said: "South Wales Police are currently in liaison with the Kenyan authorities in respect of two British nationals who have been detained near to the border with Somalia.
"The identities of these persons have yet to be formally confirmed, both are believed to be from the Cardiff area. The families of these persons have been notified.
"These persons are being detained under Kenyan law and the force is liaising with local law enforcement to establish the circumstances of their detention.
"South Wales Police is also in contact with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the British Embassy in Nairobi."
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are aware of reports of two British nationals detained in Kenya on October 16 and we are seeking normal consular access."
The Government is under pressure to release all documents relating to the 1989 Hillsborough disaster, including confidential Cabinet minutes, after MPs backed a motion calling for full disclosure.
After an emotionally charged debate, triggered by an online petition signed by 140,000 people, the Commons approved the motion tabled by backbench MPs without a vote.
Home Secretary Theresa May told the chamber: "I will do everything in my power to ensure the families and the public get the truth."
Some 96 Liverpool fans lost their lives in the crush at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield where they had gone to watch their team's FA Cup semi-final tie against Nottingham Forest.
Mrs May said the Government would release the papers to the Hillsborough Independent Panel. The panel, chaired by Bishop of Liverpool James Jones, was set up to look at the options for creating an archive of Hillsborough material and ensuring the maximum possible public disclosure of the information. It began its work in February last year.
The Prime Minister's spokesman said earlier it was a matter for the panel to decide when to pass on the official documents to the Hillsborough families or to publish them more widely.
The debate was led by Labour MP Steve Rotheram, a former lord mayor of Liverpool, who called for David Cameron to make a public apology for the failures of government at the time of the disaster.
Mrs May told MPs: "Let me say here and now, in this House and on the record, that as Home Secretary I will do everything in my power to ensure the families and the public get the truth.
"As a Government we fully support the Hillsborough Independent Panel and the process the panel is leading to disclose the documents telling the whole story. No Government papers will be withheld from the panel, no attempts to suppress publication will be made, no stone left unturned."
She said there may be some redactions, but stressed that any decision to remove details would be a matter for the panel.
Julian Barnes is favourite to finally claim one of the literary world's most prestigious prizes when the winner of this year's Man Booker Prize is announced.
The author, who has been nominated three times before but never won, is one of six writers shortlisted for the £50,000 prize, for The Sense Of An Ending.
On Monday night the organiser of the Man Booker Prize said that major book publishers have missed out on this year's award because they are "no longer taking risks" in working with new authors.
Ion Trewin, literary director of the Booker Prize Foundation, said financial worries had meant many larger publishers were "going for the tried and the trusted" and missing out on some of the country's best new writing talent.
Mr Trewin dismissed suggestions that the award had been dumbed down and readability put before literary merit. The shortlist, which includes two first-time novelists, has also been criticised for omitting big names including Alan Hollinghurst and Graham Swift.
The former director general of MI5, Dame Stella Rimington, who is chairman of the judges, said they did not want to produce a shortlist of books that languished half-read and admired on people's shelves.
But last year's chairman and former Poet Laureate Andrew Motion said a "false divide" had been opened up between "what is high end and what is readable". He also said he hoped Barnes, who was nominated in 1984, 1998 and 2005, would win.
A spokesman for booksellers Waterstone's said: "Winning the Man Booker is always a guarantee of reaching a huge audience - it makes the book the must-read for the season. The fact that there has been an element of controversy around this year's shortlist, with much sniping about who made it on and who didn't, has not affected sales. This year's shortlist have sold in record numbers, which bodes well for the winner.
"The favourite is Julian Barnes, fourth time lucky, which is where I would put my money. However, the Booker is seldom predictable, and the field is wide open. It would be great to see a debut writer like Stephen Kelman take the prize home."
Kelman is nominated for his debut novel, Pigeon English, which is the story of an 11-year-old from Ghana who arrives in Britain with his mother to live in an inner-city council estate. Other books include Snowdrops, the debut novel by AD Miller, set after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the first Western to be shortlisted - The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt.
People with weak immune systems or underlying medical conditions are at increased risk of infection from controversial fish pedicures, experts have warned.
Questions have been raised in recent months over the beauty craze which sees customers place their feet in tanks of water containing dozens of tiny Garra Rufa fish which nibble on dead skin.
While the pampering carries a "very low" risk for healthy clients, those with conditions including diabetes and psoriasis have now been advised against the indulgence.
The pedicures - which are popular in Asia - have been banned in some US states, including Florida, Texas, New Hampshire and Washington amid fears that infections could spread through open wounds.
The Health Protection Agency (HPA) has issued new guidance after a panel found fish tank water contained a number of micro-organisms and that infections could be transmitted either from fish to person (during the nibbling process), water to person (from the bacteria which can multiply in water), or person to person (via water, surrounding surfaces and the fish).
While it advised certain individuals to avoid treatment, it said any risk was "very low" for healthy clients when spas adhered to strict codes of cleanliness.
Dr Hilary Kirkbride, consultant epidemiologist at the HPA, said: "Provided that good standards of hygiene are followed by salons, members of the public are unlikely to get an infection from a fish spa pedicure, however the risk will be higher for certain people."
Garra Rufa fish - a type of toothless carp - have become increasingly popular in salons across Britain, in part because of their novelty value. Dr Paul Cosford, director of health protection services at the HPA, said the risk posed by the fish tanks could be kept to a minimum if spas followed "strict standards of cleanliness".
Anyone considering a fish pedicure can help reduce health risks by ensuring cuts or infections on the feet or legs are given time to heal before treatment. Clients are also urged to wait at least 24 hours after having a leg wax or shaving to minimise the chances of contracting an infection.
The HPA guidance has been endorsed by the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health and the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland.
Sir Richard Branson shook up a big bottle of champagne and took a swig while christening the world's first built-from-scratch commercial spaceport.
Sir Richard's Virgin Galactic will stage its commercial space tourism venture from Spaceport America in a remote patch of desert in southern New Mexico.
Sir Richard was joined by Governor Susana Martinez, astronaut Buzz Aldrin and scores of would-be space travellers at the terminal-hangar for the dedication.
It had been nearly a year since Sir Richard was in New Mexico to celebrate the completion of the runway.
"The building is absolutely magnificent," he said. "It is literally out of this world, and that's what we were aiming at creating."
With the spaceport and mothership completed, the company is now finalising its rocket tests.
"We're ticking the final boxes on the way to space," Sir Richard said.
He hopes enough powered test flights of Virgin Galactic's sleek spacecraft can be done by the end of 2012 to start commercial suborbital flights from the spaceport soon after.
More than 450 people have purchased tickets to fly with Virgin Galactic. About 150 of them attended the ceremony. Before getting to enter the hangar, the crowd was treated to a flyover by WhiteKnightTwo, the mothership that one day will help take space tourists on suborbital flights.
The spaceport will be a launch station for people and payloads on the rocket ships being developed for Virgin Galactic. With custom metal panelling and massive panes of glass, the state-of-the-art terminal rises from the desert floor to face the nearly two-mile concrete runway.
Scientists are developing a test that could dramatically boost IVF success rates from a single cycle of treatment.
The technique, from experts at Oxford University, checks for chromosomal abnormalities in the developing embryo but also looks at two new markers that could potentially cause pregnancies to fail.
Over time, researchers hope they can increase success rates towards the 100% mark from just one cycle of IVF.
The scientific community is so excited by the novel technique that the study has won a prize from the US Society for Assisted Reproductive Technologies. At present, only around 30% of IVF cycles worldwide result in a pregnancy, with many failing due to chromosomal abnormalities.
Dr Dagan Wells's team at Oxford have already pioneered a technique for checking embryos for these abnormalities. Embryos are grown for five days in the lab and analysed to check the chromosome number.
Only those embryos that are healthy are considered suitable for IVF transfer - increasing the chance of pregnancy to 70% per cycle. "The vast majority of embryos transferred worldwide have no genetic screening and 85% of these fail to establish a pregnancy," Dr Wells said.
"If you transfer to the uterus embryos that are confirmed to be chromosomally normal and develop well, reaching the blastocyst stage, the chance of producing a child is very high, about 70 that don't make it. Why? We need a better understanding of the biology, allowing us to bridge that gap and approach 100% success."
The new technique combines the checking of chromosomes with the appearance of telomeres, which cap chromosomes and are linked to healthy cells. Another marker examined by the test is the number of mitochondria - the power houses of a cell.
"Chromosomes are a big part of the story but they are not the be all and end all," Dr Wells said. "There are many aspects of biology that make up a viable pregnancy. Two other good candidates that may affect embryo competency are telomeres and mitochondria."
Tony Rutherford, chairman of the British Fertility Society, said: "This exciting novel technique is taking the molecular assessment of the embryo to a new level, and clearly is an important tool for research into embryo health. Selecting the right embryo for replacement in a cost-effective, reproducible manner potentially has enormous benefits for patients, clinics and the health service overall."
Family doctors have been warned by the health service ombudsman to "get the basics of communication right" amid a rising number of complaints investigated by her office from patients who have been struck off GP lists.
Ann Abraham said just over one in five, or 21%, of complaints about GPs investigated by her office last year were about people being removed from GP patient lists, an increase of 6% since 2009/10.
Her office accepted 13 complaints for investigation about removal from GP patient lists and completed 10, all of which were upheld, she said in a review of complaint handling by the NHS in England in 2010/11.
Overall the number of complaints received about GPs stood at 2,581 last year, or 17% of a total of 15,066 health service complaints received by her office.
Ms Abraham said aggression or abuse were "never acceptable" but NHS contracts obliged GPs to give a warning before removing patients, with the exception of cases where this would pose a risk or was unreasonable to do so.
She said there was evidence that some GPs were not following British Medical Association (BMA) guidance that the behaviour of one family member should not mean the automatic removal of other relatives.
"In the cases we have seen, GPs have applied zero tolerance policies without listening to and understanding their patients or considering individual circumstances," she said in her report.
"Decisions to remove a patient from their GP's list can be unfair and disproportionate and can leave entire families without access to primary healthcare services following an incident with one individual.
"It is not easy for front-line staff to deal with challenging behaviour, and aggression or abuse is never acceptable.
"However, patients must normally be given a prior warning before being removed from a GP's list."
Inflation is expected to hit a three-year high, landing the Government with a bumper bill for increased state benefits and underlining the squeeze on household incomes.
September's consumer prices index (CPI) will be used to determine next April's rise in the basic state pension, piling pressure on the public purse but bringing some relief for hard-pressed pensioners.
Based on City forecasts for CPI of 4.9%, the basic single state pension will increase by £5 to £107.15 a week, while the joint state pension will increase by £8 to £171.35. Employment benefits, such as Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) and income support are also calculated using the September CPI rate, meaning the JSA could increase by £3.31 to £70.81 a week.
Elsewhere, Sir Mervyn King, governor of the Bank of England, which is tasked with keeping inflation down, is expected to mount a strong defence of the Bank's handling of the economic crisis in a keynote speech.
Next year's benefit rates are not formally unveiled until later this year and will be the first to be calculated using CPI rather than the retail prices index (RPI) rate of inflation, which is expected to rise from 5.2 in September.
Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said: "The move from RPI to CPI to calculate pensions inflation will take millions out of pensioners' pockets - just as we need people to be spending to kick-start our flagging economic recovery."
The increase in state benefits will put more pressure on Chancellor George Osborne, who is battling to slash the nation's budget deficit, as unemployment hit a 17-year high of 2.57 million in the three months to August.
Some economists believe that inflation could spike at 5.1 in August - after price hikes from major energy providers, including Scottish & Southern Energy, E.ON, British Gas and Scottish Power.
The figures are unlikely to overly concern the Bank of England, which has already forecast inflation to rise to 5% this year and recently increased its quantitative easing programme in a sign that growth problems outweighed the threat inflation poses to the economy.
The inflation rate will underline the increasingly difficult conditions faced by households - after figures last week revealed weekly earnings grew at just 1.8%.
Two Britons are being questioned by an anti-terror unit in Kenya after they were arrested near the border with Somalia, police said.
The pair are believed to be from Cardiff and are UK citizens, although police said one is of Somali descent and the other Pakistani.
Charles Owino, deputy spokesman for the Kenyan police, said: "They were arrested crossing into Somalia. They are under investigation by the anti-terrorism unit of the Kenyan police."
South Wales Police have been in contact with officers in the African country to try to get more information about why the pair were detained.
A statement from the force said: "South Wales Police are currently in liaison with the Kenyan authorities in respect of two British nationals who have been detained near to the border with Somalia.
"The identities of these persons have yet to be formally confirmed, both are believed to be from the Cardiff area. The families of these persons have been notified.
"These persons are being detained under Kenyan law and the force is liaising with local law enforcement to establish the circumstances of their detention.
"South Wales Police is also in contact with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the British Embassy in Nairobi."
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are aware of reports of two British nationals detained in Kenya on October 16 and we are seeking normal consular access."
David Cameron has faced demands from Labour to appear before the Commons on the Adam Werritty affair.
The findings of an official report into resigned defence secretary Liam Fox's links with Mr Werritty are expected to be published later on Tuesday.
Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell is said to have found that Dr Fox breached the Ministerial Code of Conduct but did not gain financially from the relationship.
It is unclear whether the report will be published in full or whether some details will be redacted.
However the Labour frontbench is to call for the Prime Minister to make a statement to MPs about contacts between Mr Werritty - a close friend and self-styled adviser of Dr Fox - and all Government ministers.
"David Cameron must come to the Commons to make clear the full extent of the links between his ministers and Adam Werritty's activities," a Labour source said. "It is time for full transparency."
Dr Fox finally resigned on Friday amid a welter of allegations suggesting his close contacts with his best man and former flatmate breached Whitehall rules. Sir Gus was ordered by the Prime Minister to take over an internal Ministry of Defence (MoD) inquiry in an effort to provide answers to "all remaining questions".
An interim MoD report has already established that the then defence secretary had met Mr Werritty - who handed out business cards describing himself as Dr Fox's adviser even though he had no official role - 40 times since coming to office.
Their contacts included trips abroad and meetings at the MoD - including talks with the Israeli ambassador, dinner with the new US commander of international forces in Afghanistan, and a meeting in Dubai with a defence supplier without MoD officials present.
Sir Gus is not expected to make recommendations on ministers' contacts with lobbyists, as his remit was limited to establishing the facts about Mr Werritty's activities.
Hamas have released an Israeli soldier in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.
The deal ends a five-and-a-half-year campaign to free him that has seen many Israeli military offensives in Gaza, an Israeli blockade on the territory, and numerous rounds of failed negotiations.
The swap got under way early on Tuesday as militant group Hamas took Sergeant Gilad Schalit across Gaza's border with Egypt, which brokered the deal. Israel simultaneously began freeing the Palestinian prisoners.
Sgt Schalit will be flown by helicopter to an air force base in central Israel, where he will meet his parents, as well as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the defence minister and military chief of staff.
Sgt Schalit's father Noam made a brief television appearance on his way to the base. Asked whether this was the happiest day of his life, he said: "Yes, you can make that assumption."
Mr Schalit has led a massive campaign to press the Israeli government to bring the 25-year-old home. Sgt Schalit was 19 when he was captured.
Before dawn, convoys of white vans and trucks transported hundreds of Palestinian prisoners to the locations in the West Bank and on the Israel-Egypt border where they were to be freed.
In Gaza, Hamas militants deployed in force along the road leading into Egypt where Sgt Schalit was taken. Hundreds of returning Palestinians were expected to enter Gaza on the same road. Preparations for a mass rally to greet the prisoners took place in a large field in Gaza City.
The exchange, negotiated through Egyptian mediators because Israel and Hamas refuse to talk directly to each other, is going ahead despite criticism and court appeals in Israel. Nearly 300 of the prisoners were serving lengthy sentences for involvement in fatal attacks.
The exchange involves a series of staged releases, each one triggering the next. The Red Cross and Egyptian officials are involved in the movement of prisoners. When Tuesday's exchange is complete, 477 Palestinians held in Israeli jails, including 27 women, will have been released, several of them after decades.
IndyCar driver Dan Wheldon died of blunt head trauma after a spectacular 15-car wreck at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, a coroner has said.
Coroner Michael Murphy said that a post-mortem examination found the 33-year-old two-time Indianapolis 500 winner died of head injuries at the Las Vegas hospital where he was taken after Sunday's crash.
Mr Murphy ruled it an accident.
Wheldon was pronounced dead at 1.54pm Sunday local time at University Medical Centre in Las Vegas.
The race was called off after Wheldon's death.
Campaigners have been left baffled and angry by a long-awaited review of extradition arrangements which found the current treaty between the US and the UK is balanced and fair.
Civil rights campaigners, supporters of those facing extradition, MPs, peers, and influential parliamentary committees have all called for the treaty to be renegotiated, saying it puts Britons at a disadvantage. Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has said the treaty is "lopsided" and the Government will now be under pressure to ignore the findings of the report.
But retired Court of Appeal judge Sir Scott Baker, who led the review, found the UK-US treaty was not biased against Britons. He also said proposed measures to allow a judge to refuse extradition where the alleged offence took place wholly or largely in the UK should be ruled out.
Shami Chakrabarti, director of Liberty, said she was "baffled" by the review's findings: "Britain's rotten extradition system stinks of human rights abuse and rank hypocrisy. It's time we stopped parcelling people off around the world like excess baggage and remembered the duty of all governments to protect their people and treat them fairly."
Critics argue that it is unfair for the US to require "sufficient evidence to establish probable cause" before agreeing to extradite anyone to the UK, while Britons are not afforded the same protection. But today's 486-page report, which has been produced at a cost of about £250,000, said: "There is no practical difference between the information submitted to and from the United States."
The review contradicts the findings of the Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR), which called for the Government to renegotiate the UK's extradition treaty with the United States to ensure British citizens get the same protection as Americans.
The review also found that, despite the JCHR's recommendation, judges should not be given the power to refuse extradition requests if the alleged offence took place wholly or largely in the UK.
But it called for new "guidance to be drawn up, made public and followed by prosecuting authorities when deciding whether or not to prosecute in the United Kingdom a case involving cross-border criminal conduct". Sir Scott called for greater openness and transparency.
But he added that the Home Secretary's powers to examine human rights matters arising over extradition proceedings should be transferred to judges. Limiting the Home Secretary's role would "remove any perception that decisions are taken for political reasons or influenced by political considerations", it said.
The review also said a proportionality requirement needed to be introduced into the European Arrest Warrant system to prevent them from being used "in cases which do not justify the serious consequences". And it called for "careful but urgent consideration" to bringing back non-means-tested legal aid for extradition proceedings.
A young mother was beaten to death by her violent ex-partner after police failed to intervene 11 times, investigators have said.
Casey Brittle, 21, repeatedly called Nottinghamshire Police before she was murdered by Sanchez Williams in front of her two-year-old daughter.
Amerdeep Somal, a commissioner at the Independendent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), said Sanchez, from Nottingham, was "well-known to local police for his propensity for violence and threatening behaviour".
"In this case it is clear that a number of officers failed to perform to the level expected of them and basic actions, that may have helped others see the full picture of her suffering, were not completed," the commissioner said. "No consideration was given to why Casey was reporting domestic abuse but then subsequently saying that she did not want police help."
Ms Brittle died from a series of injuries to her head, including a fractured jaw, cuts and bruising in October last year.
Williams, of Lathkill Close, Nottingham, was jailed for life after he admitted murdering Casey at her home.
Police received allegations of domestic violence and abuse against Ms Brittle between September 2008 and August 2010. The police watchdog recorded a number of force and individual errors.
An IPCC spokesman said: "Aside from failures by individual officers, the investigation identified the lack of a thorough corporate approach to domestic abuse from Nottinghamshire Police. This resulted in a lack of knowledge and support for officers in their attempts to provide victims with the necessary support."
Nottinghamshire Police has said it unreservedly accepts the recommendations of the IPCC report. In a statement released by the force, Paul Broadbent, assistant chief constable of Nottinghamshire Police, said he deeply regretted Ms Brittle's death and the circumstances surrounding it and that he had apologised to the woman's family.
He said the force had revised its approach towards responding to, and identifying, incidents of domestic violence and abuse since the incident.
A pit manager who survived a flooding incident in which four miners died has been arrested on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter.
Malcolm Fyfield, 55, was held by officers from South Wales Police investigating the accident at the Gleision Colliery near Swansea last month.
David Powell, 50, Philip Hill, 44, Garry Jenkins, 39, and Charles Breslin, 62, died after floodwater engulfed a tunnel where they were working on the morning of September 15.
Fyfield was able to escape from the mine and was taken to hospital. His condition was reported as critical at the time.
South Wales Police did not name the suspect, who was arrested in the Swansea Valley on Tuesday morning and is being held at Port Talbot police station.
The victims' families and community leaders were informed of the arrest.
Detective Chief Inspector Dorian Lloyd, the senior investigating officer in the case, said: "The arrest follows consultation between South Wales Police, the Health and Safety Executive and the Crown Prosecution Service to review the evidence gathered to date.
"We continue to work closely with the bereaved families throughout this process and I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the communities affected by this incident for their continued support and patience.
"We will do everything possible to fully understand how these four men lost their lives."
Foreign workers from outside the European Union will be banned from coming to the UK to work as secondary school biology teachers, vets and orchestral musicians, the Government has announced.
The move will see the number of jobs open to non-EU migrant workers fall by 40,000 to 190,000 after the Government accepted the recommendations of its advisers, the Migration Advisory Committee (Mac), the Home Office said.
Some 28 job titles will be removed from the list from next month, including secondary school biology teachers, veterinary surgeons, and pharmacists.
A further occupation, rank-and-file orchestral musicians, will also be removed from the list, but the practical arrangements will take longer to ensure that orchestras can comply with the necessary requirements.
Immigration Minister Damian Green said: "Alongside our limits on overseas workers, we are taking action to provide businesses with the skills they need from the British workforce and reduce their need for migrants.
"We want the brightest and the best people from outside the EU with the skills we can benefit from in the UK."
