Eurozone finance ministers have reached agreement on a vital second bailout for Greece, officials involved in the negotiations say.

The deal, which came after late-night talks in Brussels, is said to be worth 130bn euros (£110bn; $170bn).

Athens needs the funds to avoid bankruptcy next month, when maturing loans must be repaid.

In return, Greece will undertake to reduce its debts to no more than 121% of its GDP by 2020.

After five straight years of recession, Greece’s debts currently amounts to more than 160% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The agreement would mean deeper cuts in public spending that Greece had planned to, the BBC’s Stephen Evans in Brussels says.

It also means that lender to Athens would get less of their money back, our correspondent adds.

The euro rose to $1.3266 from $1.3185 on reports of the deal.

Elections ahead

Eurozone leaders and the IMF said in October that Greek debt should be reduced to a more sustainable level of 120% of GDP by 2020.

Successive rounds of austerity measures, demanded by Greece’s international creditors have failed to restore growth and have provoked clashes between protesters and police.

The Greek government fell last year after ex-Prime Minister George Papandreou called for a referendum on the eurozone rescue package.

He was replaced by Lucas Papademos, an unelected technocrat who is expected to lead Greece until parliamentary elections in April.

Measures passed by parliament last week set out 3.3bn euros’ worth of cuts to salaries and pensions, and health and defence spending.

By Sean Coughlan BBC News education correspondent

Nick Clegg is launching the plan to tackle rising levels of youth unemployment

Firms and charities are to be invited to bid for a payment-by-results scheme to try to get “Neet” teenagers into work or training, in a project launched by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.

The £126m scheme is aimed at 55,000 teenagers in England with poor qualifications who are currently not in education, employment or training.

The aim is for long-term savings from an early intervention.

Labour said the scheme would not help the vast majority of young unemployed.

Ahead of the formal launch, Mr Clegg described the problem of youth unemployment as a “ticking time bomb”.

“Sitting at home with nothing to do when you’re so young can knock the stuffing out of you for years,” said Mr Clegg.

“We urgently need to step up efforts to ensure some of our most troubled teenagers have the skills, confidence and opportunities to succeed.

“Many of them will have complex problems: truancy, teenage pregnancy, a lack of GCSEs and health problems.”

Back to work

The scheme, part of the Youth Contract announced in the autumn, will invite bids for contracts worth up to £2,200 for each teenager who can be sustained in work, education or training for 12 months.

The target group will be 16- to 17-year-olds without any GCSEs at C grade or above.

Almost one in five young people aged between 16 and 24 are classified as Neet – with the most recent figure standing at 1,163,000.

This response from the government is aimed at teenagers at the lower end of this age range who are already at risk of “disengagement” from the world of work.

The organisations that win these contracts will have a free hand to decide their approach – with the emphasis on rewarding a successful outcome.

Payments will be staggered, so that the full amount will be paid only to contractors when young people have remained in work or training for a year.

The funding will reflect the highest level of Neet youngsters in this age group – with £14m available in the West Midlands, where 11.5% of 16- to 17-year-olds are in this category.

The project has been challenged by the ATL teachers’ union, which accused the government of damaging the chances of teenagers “by dismantling the careers and advice service and abolishing the education maintenance allowance”.

“We have deep misgivings that getting charities and businesses to provide support for unemployed youngsters outside the education system will undermine the likelihood of success,” said ATL officer Adrian Prandle.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne also said the Youth Contract would not help most young unemployed people.

Mr Byrne said of Mr Clegg: “He promised big answers to the problem of youth unemployment yet what we have got today is something that won’t help 95% of Britain’s young unemployed.

“This is much too small and much too late to tackle a problem that is likely to cost our country £28bn over the next 10 years.

“The government needs to bite the bullet and put in place a sensible tax on bankers’ bonuses in the next budget to help get 100,000 young people back to work.”

‘Job snobs’

Meanwhile, Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has branded critics of the government’s separate work experience scheme for young jobseekers as “job snobs”.

The scheme offers unpaid work placements in stores such as Tesco and Maplin to 18- to 24-year-olds who have been unemployed for more than three months.

Mr Duncan Smith said in the Daily Mail: “The implicit message behind these attacks is that jobs in retail, such as those with supermarkets or on the High Street, are not real jobs that worthwhile people do.

“How insulting and demeaning of the many thousands of people who already work in such jobs up and down the country.

“I doubt I’m the only person who thinks supermarket shelf-stackers add more value to our society than many of those ‘job snobs’ who are pontificating about the government’s employment policies.”

Witnesses said the coach repeatedly swerved towards the verge before the crash

The driver of a coach that crashed in France, killing a teacher, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter.

Derek Thompson, 47, who prosecutors said had earlier admitted that he could not remember the accident, appeared before a magistrate on Monday evening.

Peter Rippington, 59, who taught at Alvechurch School, Worcestershire, died and more than 20 people were hurt in Sunday’s crash at 0230 GMT near Rheims.

The school party had been returning from a skiing trip in Italy.

According to the Foreign Office, seven people remain in hospital, including a 13-year-old girl who underwent surgery in Paris.

Coach ‘swerved’

Mr Thompson was behind the wheel of the coach when it went down an embankment on the A26 motorway near Rheims.

Prosecutor Christian de Rocquigny said: “Witnesses who were driving in the area near the coach saw the vehicle repeatedly swerve towards the verge.

Peter Rippington died in the crash and his wife, Sharon, was also hurt

“The tachograph indicates some unexplained variations in speed in the nine minutes before the accident.

“While being questioned the driver, having denied falling asleep, has acknowledged that it was possible that he did so.”

Mr Thompson, who tested negative for alcohol or drugs, has been released to return to the UK on the condition he will attend a French court at a later date.

French police said there was also no evidence of him having worked excess hours or speeding at the time of the incident.

As part of his bail conditions, Mr Thompson must inform the authorities in France of any travel outside Britain and is banned from contact with victims and families of those involved in the crash.

The school party had been on a skiing trip to Val d’Aosta and was returning to England when the crash happened.

There had been 20 adults – including two drivers and six ski instructors – and 29 schoolchildren on board, Mansfield-based travel company Interski added.

Most of the children have now arrived back in Worcestershire.

School’s tributes

Tributes have been paid to Mr Rippington – whose wife Sharon and daughter Amy were also injured in the crash – at the Church of England middle school, which opened as usual following the half-term break.

Speaking outside the school, Bryan Maybee, chair of governors, offered his condolences to those “affected by this tragic accident”.

He said: “[Peter Rippington was] a dedicated and inspirational teacher. We continue to wish for the swift recovery and safe return of those currently being treated for injuries abroad. “

West Mercia Police said family liaison officers had been put in place at the school.

The public say they want monthly outlooks as well as forecasts for the coming week and fortnight

The Met Office needs new supercomputers to issue confident extreme weather warnings and more accurate long-term forecasts, a group of MPs has said.

A Science and Technology Committee report said that, despite improvements, the public still thought reliable seasonal predictions were not possible.

MPs want the Met Office to produce seasonal forecasts but be clearer about the chances of getting them wrong.

The Met Office said it was looking at ways to develop long-range forecasting.

Labour’s Andrew Miller, the committee chairman, said it was “of great concern” that scientific advances were being held back by “insufficient computing capacity”.

He said he recognised concerns about affordability, but a powerful new supercomputer could deliver “as much as a 10-to-one return on investment”.

Last year, the committee heard from the Royal Meteorological Society that more supercomputers were needed to carry out complex calculations and the potential economic benefits of more accurate forecasts were “enormous” in terms of improved contingency planning for emergencies.

The MPs’ report praised the Met Office’s high standards of accuracy, but warned that media criticism of a “barbecue summer” prediction in 2009 had overshadowed the improvements it had made.

Mr Miller said: “The Met Office is consistently placed in the top three centres in the world for weather prediction, but accurate forecasts are of little use if they are not communicated well and understood by the public.”

He suggested TV and radio weather forecasts use probable risk percentages, as they do in the US.

He added: “The media must be more responsible when it comes to long-range weather forecasting.

“We need a little less tabloid sensationalism and a lot more information about probabilities, so that the public can understand the odds of forecasts getting it wrong.”

The report recommends the Met Office – which provides weather data to the government and the armed forces – work on a 10-year plan for supercomputing resources.

The body is largely funded by the government, with some additional money coming from the Civil Aviation Authority and other sources like the European Union.

The committee report insisted the government must set out its annual funding commitment for the next few years by the end of this financial year.

It also called on the business department to produce a business case on supercomputing by the end of summer.

The Met Office said no additional funding for supercomputers had been secured yet, but it was working with the business department on a business case.

It acknowledged better computers would improve the accuracy, reliability and relevance of forecasts on all timescales.

In the meantime, the Met Office said it was developing the science of long-range forecasts and ways to communicate it.

Currently, a long-range outlook appears on its website for contingency planners, but some members of the public have told the Met Office monthly outlooks would be helpful.

The Met Office has also experimented with probability forecasts, some of which are already being used in mobile phone services and on websites.

By Julian O’Halloran Reporter, BBC File on 4

Diabetes patients should undergo nine different health checks every 12 months

An estimated 1.3 million diabetes patients are missing out on vital and potentially life-saving health checks, the BBC has learned.

NHS figures reveal fewer than 10% of patients are offered the full series of tests in some areas of England.

Health Minister Paul Burstow said the situation was “outrageous” and “unacceptable”.

Primary care trusts in low test areas said they were working to improve services for diabetes patients.

According to National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines, primary care trusts (PCTs) should ensure all diabetic patients are given a series of nine different health checks every 12 months.

These include blood pressure, blood glucose levels, cholesterol, and examinations of the eyes and feet.

The tests are designed to spot the early signs of complications linked to diabetes such as infection leading to gangrene, blindness, kidney failure and heart problems.

The tests are meant to help diabetes patients like bricklayer Will Hogan, 60, to spot potential health risks exacerbated by their diabetes.

Mr Hogan had to have his left leg amputated in August 2011 when an ulcer on his foot became infected.

“Since the amputation, I can’t get around like I could and I will never work again. It is just a nightmare,” he told Radio 4′s File on 4 programme.

Mr Hogan believes everyone should be given the full series of tests.

But although doctors in some areas are testing more than 60% of patients, the National Diabetes Audit for England shows scores of trusts are failing to give all nine tests to even half their diabetes patients and some are testing fewer than 10%.

Minister of State at the Department of Health, Paul Burstow, told File on 4: “It’s outrageous, it’s unacceptable, and that’s why we published the information that exposed this in the first place.”

He added: “The guidance is there, the best practice is understood and we need to make sure that best practice is adopted.”

‘People dying’

But despite the minister’s pledge, Baroness Young, Chief Executive of Diabetes UK, said systematic changes were needed to ensure health care professionals could focus on early intervention.

“The government often says the right things but the stark fact is that people are dying and suffering a dramatically reduced quality of life as a result of lack of political will,” she said.

“This is one of the few problems facing the government that does not require more investment.

“Health professionals are constantly telling us how frustrated they are about the constraints the system places on them and we want the government and the NHS to give them the tools they need.”

More than 967,000 diabetes patients were not given all nine tests, according to figures given to the BBC by the National Diabetes Audit for England.

According to Dr Bob Young, the clinical lead of the audit, the figure could be more than 1.3m if the picture in England is echoed across the UK.

Mid-Essex Primary Care Trust (PCT) came bottom of the league table for comprehensive testing in England. Swindon PCT was also near the bottom of the table. Both trusts gave all nine tests to fewer than 10% of diabetes patients.

A spokesman for Mid-Essex PCT said the trust was in the mid-range for seven out of the nine health care tests, but that it appeared information on the other two tests had not been “captured” by the audit. Mid-Essex PCT says it is making a number of improvements to diabetic care.

A statement from Swindon PCT said: “In eight out of nine areas the figures show we are testing more than 70% of our patients.

“We have written to all GPs to make sure a standardised approach is put in place to ensure patients have all the health checks.”

Dr Stephen Lawrence of the Primary Care Diabetes Society said the low comprehensive test rates could be due to the increasing numbers of patients being diagnosed with the condition.

But he added some trusts needed to reorganise how care was delivered.

“It is a concern if patients are developing complications and suffering when all it needs from our point of view is a reorganisation of the services,” he said.

Listen to the full report on File on 4 on BBC Radio 4 on Tuesday, 21 February at 20:00 GMT and Sunday 26 February at 17:00 GMT. Listen again via the Radio 4 website or download the podcast.

Iran insists its sole focus is peaceful nuclear power generation

Iran may be poised to expand its nuclear programme at an underground site near the city of Qom, a Vienna-based diplomat has told the BBC.

It appears to be ready to install thousands of new-generation centrifuges at the fortified underground plant, the diplomat said.

They could speed up the production of enriched uranium – required for both power generation and nuclear weapons.

The United Nations nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, has not commented.

Its inspectors are due to visit Tehran this week for another round of talks on Iran’s nuclear activities.

Iran says its nuclear work is for purely peaceful purposes, but Western countries express fears that Iran is secretly trying to develop a nuclear bomb.

This is another warning that Iran may be stepping up its controversial nuclear work, despite increasing international sanctions, says the BBC’s Bethany Bell in Vienna.

Mr Balls believes giving those on modest incomes more money to spend would boost growth

Labour shadow chancellor Ed Balls has called for “decisive action … to boost growth”, offering suggestions for tax cuts in next month’s Budget.

Mr Balls’s ideas include a VAT cut, a 3p income tax cut for a year, bringing forward the planned personal allowance rise to £10,000 and higher tax credits.

No tax cut could mean “a permanent dent in our nation’s prosperity”, he said.

The Conservatives said excessive borrowing and debt under Labour had led to the current financial mess.

Writing in the Sunday Times, Mr Balls said: “Some people may be surprised to see Labour prioritising tax cuts. But in a crisis there is a premium on what works effectively and quickly to get our economy moving.”

He said that such a cut should be funded by borrowing, not more spending cuts.

He claimed it was “absurd” to argue that the £12bn cost of reversing the government’s 2.5% VAT rise was unaffordable, when borrowing was £158bn higher than planned because of slower growth and higher unemployment than had been forecast.

“Such a tax cut now would boost confidence, help families feeling the squeeze and help get our economy moving again.”

He added: “Without that decisive action in the Budget to boost growth, I fear we are in for a lost decade of slow growth and high unemployment which will leave a permanent dent in our nation’s prosperity.”

‘Menu of options’

As well as Mr Balls’s proposed VAT cut, “in an attempt to put pressure on the chancellor ahead of next month’s Budget, he also sets out an alternative menu of options which he thinks might appeal to some Conservative and Lib Dem backbenchers”, says BBC political correspondent Iain Watson.

“If George Osborne can’t bring himself to reverse his VAT mistake, he has other options,” Mr Balls wrote.

“For the same amount of money, he could cut the basic rate of income tax by 3p for a year. Or raise the income tax personal allowance to over £10,000. Or increase tax credits for almost six million working people by around £2,000.

“It would be better to cut VAT now – it’s fairer and quicker and would help pensioners and others who don’t pay income tax. But any substantial tax cuts to help households and stimulate the economy would be better than doing nothing.”

Conservative deputy chairman Michael Fallon responded: “This government’s credible plan to start living within its means is keeping interest rates low for families and businesses.”

He pointed out that the International Monetary Fund, Institute for Fiscal Studies and Bank of England governor Sir Mervyn King had backed the government’s strategy in recent weeks.

“But Ed Balls has clearly learnt nothing from his time as Gordon Brown’s right-hand man,” Mr Fallon said.

“He wants billions of pounds of more borrowing and more debt, exactly how Labour got us into this mess in the first place.”

Police have said Stephen Farrow is “dangerous and should not be approached”

A “dangerous” man suspected of murdering a vicar has been spotted in East Sussex, police have said.

Stephen Farrow, who is wanted over the stabbing of the Reverend John Suddards, near Bristol, has been seen in the Hastings and Rother area.

Avon and Somerset Police said anyone who saw the 47-year-old, who is white and 6ft 4ins tall, should not approach him but should call 999.

Mr Suddards, 59, was found stabbed to death in Thornbury on Tuesday.

His body was discovered at the vicarage of St Mary’s Church in Castle Street.

Sussex Police said it was carrying out high visibility patrols in the Hastings and Rother area.

A 43-year-old man arrested on suspicion of murder has been released on police bail.

John Suddards was found stabbed to death inside his vicarage on Tuesday

Avon and Somerset Police said Mr Farrow goes by a variety of names – including Steven Lewis and Adrian Capel Farrow – and travels widely and regularly.

Det Ch Insp Simon Crisp said he travelled mainly by bus but was also known to walk and hitchhike and could be living rough in a tent.

He said Mr Farrow, who has a scar on his right brow, “may seek to exploit the charity of the church community” and parishioners have been warned to be on their guard.

He is also known to frequent Norfolk, the Midlands, the South East, Devon and Cornwall.

Whitney Houston sang at the New Hope Baptist Church as a child

Friends and relatives of US singer Whitney Houston are gathering in Newark, New Jersey, for her funeral.

Some 1,500 guests will attend the private ceremony at the New Hope Baptist Church. Houston’s body will then be buried at a local cemetery, alongside her father.

Security will be tight, with fans kept away, although the funeral service will be streamed live on the internet.

Houston, 48, was found dead in a hotel in Los Angeles a week ago.

Officials are waiting for the results of toxicology tests that will help them ascertain how she died.

‘Private viewing’

The New Hope Baptist Church is where a young Whitney Houston sang in a gospel choir run by her mother.

The 1,500 invited guests will include some of the biggest names in showbusiness.

Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin will sing, while Kevin Costner, who starred opposite Houston in The Bodyguard, will be one of the speakers, as will Clive Davis, her musical mentor.

Houston will be buried beside her father at Fairview Cemetery, Westfield

There will also be contributions from Houston’s cousin Dionne Warwick and singer Alicia Keys.

Houston’s ex-husband Bobby Brown will also attend, with the couple’s only child Bobbi Kristina.

The BBC’s Michelle Fleury in Newark says there has been a lot of debate about his attendance because of the well-publicised problems of the couple’s marriage, and also talk about how much time he will spend with his daughter.

The ceremony will also be streamed on the BBC News website at 12:00 EST (17:00 GMT).

Houston will then be buried beside her father, John Russell Houston, at Fairview Cemetery in Westfield.

A number of Houston’s relatives attended a private viewing service at a Newark funeral home on Friday night amid tight security.

Houston was one of the world’s leading musical artists from the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, selling 170 million records worldwide.

Sales of her records have soared since her death was announced last Saturday.

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The BBC’s Jim Muir: “We’re told that security forces opened fire.”

Syrian troops have fired on mourners during a funeral that turned into a demonstration in Damascus, killing at least one person, activists say.

The shooting occurred at a funeral for people killed during a protest against President Bashar al-Assad on Friday.

The violence comes during a visit by a Chinese envoy, who urged dialogue in a bid to defuse the 11-month crisis.

State TV quoted him as saying he backed government plans for a referendum on a new constitution followed by elections.

The opposition has called for a boycott of the 26 February referendum, saying it cannot be held as violence continues.

Appeal for calm

Activists say there was a huge turnout for Saturday’s funeral in the Mezzeh district on the western edge of Damascus. Mourners were burying three youths shot dead during protests following Friday prayers.

The funeral procession turned into one of the biggest demonstrations the capital has seen, with thousands of people chanting slogans calling for an end to the Assad regime.

According to activists, security forces opened fire, killing at least one protester and injuring several others.

Zhai Jun said that “a nation cannot develop without stability”

Despite the current crackdown, there were similar protests after Friday prayers in many parts of the country.

Opposition activists say government forces on Saturday renewed their bombardment of the restive central city of Homs.

The violence came after Chinese envoy Zhai Jun held talks with President Assad in Damascus.

Syrian TV quoted Mr Zhai as saying: “The position of China is to call on the government, the opposition and the rebels to halt acts of violence immediately.

“We hope that the referendum on a new constitution as well as the forthcoming parliamentary elections pass off calmly.”

After the meeting, Mr Assad was quoted as saying: “What Syria is facing is fundamentally an effort to divide it and affect its geopolitical place and historic role in the region.”

China was one of the nations that voted against a recent UN General Assembly resolution calling on Mr Assad to stop his 11-month crackdown on dissent and step down.

Beijing, along with Moscow, has insisted outsiders cannot force regime change in Syria.

‘Torture’

Opposition activists said government forces were continuing their two-week rocket and artillery attack on the opposition stronghold of Baba Amr in Homs on Saturday.

Activist Mohammad al-Homsi told Reuters news agency: “Troops have closed in on Baba Amr and the bombardment is mad, but I don’t know if they are willing to storm the neighbourhood while it is snowing.

“There is no electricity and communications between districts are cut, so we are unable to get a death toll.”

The BBC’s Jim Muir in neighbouring Lebanon says the Syrian government clearly wants to quell all armed resistance and seal its borders to prevent supplies to the opposition.

Meanwhile the human rights group Amnesty International said it had obtained new evidence of torture being used by Syrian forces against opponents.

Amnesty researcher Neil Sammonds said one man told him that part of his hand was blown off with explosives after he refused to pray to a photograph of President Assad.

Other Syrians at a camp in Jordan said detainees were subjected to protracted beatings. One prisoner said he had been forced to witness the rape of another male detainee.

Syria restricts access to foreign media and it is often not possible to verify some reports and casualty figures.

Human rights groups say more than 7,000 people have died throughout Syria since last March.

The government says at least 2,000 members of the security forces have been killed combating “armed gangs and terrorists”.