Your morning briefing: What you should know for Thursday, September 20

Review into railways after timetable shambles

A major review of Britain's railways has been launched as an investigation into May’s timetable chaos found nobody took charge of tackling the crisis.

The Government said the review will be the most significant since privatisation and will look at all parts of the sector, including accountability, the franchising system and value for money for passengers and taxpayers.

An investigation by the Office of Rail and Road regulator into the May timetable change concluded Network Rail, Govia Thameslink Railway, Northern, the Department for Transport and itself all made mistakes.

The May 20 timetable change saw services crippled in the north and south-east of England.

New twist in latest Novichok scare

Investigators probing the nerve agent scare at a Salisbury restaurant are reportedly likely to consider if it was a hoax .

Alex King and his wife Anna Shapiro were taken to hospital after apparently becoming ill in a restaurant on Sunday, sparking fears they had been poisoned by Novichok.

Mr King is reported to have once infiltrated a meet-and-greet with the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall at a film premiere as a prank.

A police source told the BBC that they couldn't rule anything in or out until investigators spoke to Mr King about the incident.

More bad weather on the way

Heavy rain and strong winds are set to once again batter parts of the British Isles.

Two people were killed yesterday in Storm Ali yesterday and a new weather system moving in from the Atlantic has prompted further warnings of possible flooding and travel disruption.

A yellow weather warning for rain across Wales and the north of England is in place for most of Thursday, while a warning for winds of up to 65mph kicks in from 6pm across much of the rest of England.

The unsettled weather is due to last the rest of the week and is caused by a jet stream from Canada, the Met Office said.

Paisley narrowly retains seat after holiday scandal

Ian Paisley has thanked the voters of North Antrim for their "unwavering support" after Westminster's first ever recall petition fell narrowly short of the numbers needed to unseat him.

Mr Paisley escaped being ousted as an MP when 9.4 per cent of the electorate signed the petition .

The threshold was 10 per cent.

The petition device was initiated after it was revealed he failed to declare two family holidays paid for by the Sri Lankan government.

Ronaldo sent off and City lose in Champions League

Manchester City started their Champions League campaign last night with a shock 2-1 loss at home to Lyon.

Neighbours Manchester United had a more regulation 3-0 win at Swiss team Young Boys , while Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off on his European debut for Juventus in their 2-0 victory over Valencia.

Mercury Prize winner revealed tonight

South Tyneside singer-songwriter Nadine Shah is currently the bookmaker's favourite to win the prestigious Mercury Prize tonight.

Arctic Monkeys, Lily Allen and Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds are also on the shortlist of 12.

This year's winner will be announced at a ceremony at the Hammersmith Apollo in London.

On this day...

1258: Salisbury Cathedral was consecrated.

1917: The first RSPCA animal clinic was opened in Liverpool.

1931: Britain came off the gold standard to stop foreign speculation against the pound. The devaluation brought strikes and even a near mutiny on 15 navy ships berthed in Scotland.

1944: Guy Gibson, British pilot and Victoria Cross winner for his "Dambusters" action against the Mohne and Eder dams, was killed when his aircraft crashed in Holland on its way back to base.

1946: The first Cannes film festival opened.

1961: The first non-stop swim across the Channel and back was started by Argentinian Antonio Albertondo; he successfully completed the feat after 43 hours 10 minutes.