Your account has been frozen. For your available options click the below button. To read this article in full you must have registered and have a Premium Content Subscription with the The Scotsman site. Full Article at The Scotsman

Since Anne Owers was appointed in 2001, the prison population in England and Wales has grown by 27% – leaving her worried about safety. Full Article at Guardian Unlimited

• Royal Marine Corporal Bradley Malone made it a double celebration as he received the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross from the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace yesterday for outstanding bravery in Afghanistan. Full Article at The Scotsman

THE battle for league honours is temporarily set aside this weekend but pride and kudos is very much at stake in North Wales rugby’s match of the day between Nant Conwy and Mold. Full Article at The Daily Post

Wales international Church missed the Royals' 4-2 home defeat to Crystal Palace on Tuesday evening with a back injury. The 20-year-old received the knock last weekend but is now back in contention for a starting berth. Full Article at Footymad

A man has died after falling from a first-floor balcony in New South Wales's upper Hunter Valley. Police say the 37-year-old was found critically injured on the landing of a hotel in Scone, on the New England Highway, at 1:30 (AEDT) this morning. Full Article at ABC Online

The New South Wales Education Department is being sued over a drowning death in 2006. Amarni Dirani, 8, drowned at Glenbrook Public Pool in the Blue Mountains while on a school excursion despite the presence of teachers and lifeguards. Full Article at ABC Online

Drought is a frequent visitor in Australia. Full Article at NASA

The Rural Fire Service (RFS) says crews from Queensland and the ACT will help New South Wales firefighters try to gain the upper hand over more than 90 fires burning across the state this weekend. Full Article at ABC Online

So this was the view that greeted explorer Samuel Hearne in 1771, when he became the first European to reach the Arctic coast of North America: a vision of small islands rolling away to the horizon. Full Article at National Post

Trees are under the biggest threat since 20 million were wiped out by Dutch elm disease in the 1960s, with the spread of a “sudden death” fungus previously found in oak trees to a range of different species. Full Article at Times Online

CARDIFF, Wales, Dec. 11 (UPI) -- Men with a history of juvenile delinquency have an increased risk of becoming disabled or dying by age 48, researchers in Wales found. Full Article at United Press International

There are times when football seems to be one long winter of discontent. And there is the Indian summer of Ryan Giggs. Full Article at Times Online

Seren’s series of modern retellings of the Mabinogion — a collection of medieval Welsh tales predating the 14th century — is launched by Russell Celyn Jones’s wry but strangely stumbling updating of the story of the young noble Pwyll, who kills a... Full Article at Times Online

A Sydney police officer has been seriously injured during day one of a 48-hour nationwide operation targeting alcohol-fuelled violence. Full Article at ABC Online

Kathy Marks enjoys the view of Sydney Harbour, her favourite spot in the capital of Australia’s New South Wales. Ian Waldie / The National Something odd happened after I moved to Sydney from London 10 years ago: I lost my itchy feet. Full Article at The National Newspaper

The colonisation of Britain by Islam continues unabated with the news that an officially recognised Sharia law court is to be established in Wales. The proposal to start a Sharia law tribunal in Cardiff will give Wales its first such court. Full Article at BNP.org.uk

Jonathan Pryce has been honoured with a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) title from the Prince of Wales for his services to the dramatic arts. Full Article at Broadway World

HOLLYWOOD star Jonathan Pryce described his happiness at receiving a CBE from the Prince of Wales today. The versatile actor, equally at home on stage, screen or television, accepted the honour for services to drama. Full Article at Wales Online