A ban on TV and radio adverts for casinos, betting shops and online gambling sites is to be scrapped. The new rules will come into operation in September as part of the Gambling Act 2005. Adverts will still be banned during shows aimed at under 18s – and anyone who appears to be under 25 cannot be shown gambling on TV or on radio.

An independent inquiry is to be launched after a charity highlighted six deaths of people with learning disabilities in NHS care. Mencap’s report says there is widespread ignorance in the NHS which has resulted in “institutional abuse”.

UK scientists have identified a way of using light to rapidly detect the presence of bacteria. The technology could have wide applications in wound healing, counter-terrorism and screening patients for MRSA infection.

{mosimage}The team at Sheffield University are developing a portable kit in which specially designed molecules emit a light signal when bound to bacteria.

Current laboratory-based detection of bacteria can take hours or even days. The team have spent five years designing special large molecules, or polymers, which can bind to cells. Once bound the polymer changes shape and emits a light signal.

This can either be a coloured light, such as a red glow, or a light that is invisible to the naked eye but can be detected under a fluorescent lamp, depending on the type of polymer that is used.

With funding from the Ministry of Defence, the researchers are now developing polymers which can attach to bacterial cells. Putting the polymers into a wound would show doctors whether there was a bacterial infection by the presence of a light signal.

The technology would be particularly useful in a war-zone where laboratory facilities are not readily available, said the researchers. The kit, which could be available in three years, could also be used to detect deliberate release of bacteria, for example in an anthrax attack.

A paedophile who molested a 14-year-girl after meeting her on the internet has been sentenced to 14 months in jail. Gareth Crowther, 37, of Nether Langwith, Nottinghamshire, groomed the teenager in a chat room, Gloucester Crown Court heard.

Hospital staff missed warning signs in a baby suspected of being the youngest victim of MRSA, an inquest has heard. Luke Day died in Ipswich Hospital, Suffolk, in February 2005, just 36 hours after being born.

The Government’s maternity tsar yesterday blamed TV dramas for the huge increase in the number of Caesarean sections performed in the UK. Gwyneth Lewis, national clinical lead for maternity services, said that, while Caesareans save lives in some cases, there is a need for more “normalisation” of pregnancy.

A milestone has been reached in a campaign to raise £1m for a children’s hospice in Cumbria. The Jigsaw Appeal charity was launched in June 2005, with the aim of raising enough cash to extend and convert the unit at the Eden Valley Hospice.