British academic Matthew Hedges has landed in the UK the day after he was pardoned by the UAE government after he was jailed for spying.

More to follow.

Our live updates here have finished for the day - thank you for joining us.

Any breaking news, sport or travel will appear here automatically.

You can stay up to date online, on BBC Newcastle, BBC Tees and on Look North.

We'll be back with more live updates from 08:00 on tomorrow.

If you want to get in touch with any news or send us photos you can tweet us, external, contact us via our Facebook page, external or email us.

Taxi driver Derrick Devine is recovering after he was attacked and beaten by a gang of teenagers in Peterlee last night.

He said: "A bunch of lads and lasses came down on their bikes and started being awkward in the middle of the road, and they wouldn't move.

"I asked them to move but there was hand gestures and stuff, I forced them to move round the side of the car by inching forward, and (one of the youths) punched the wing mirror straight off.

"I got out the car to retrieve it, and as I went down to pick the bits up I was whacked in the face with an instrument of some kind, and I didn't see it coming.

"Then they just walked away as if nothing had happened."

Durham Police is appealing for anyone who saw the assault on Essex Place to come forward.

Police are warning that a particularly dangerous batch of heroin may be in circulation after three people in Durham became unwell over the weekend.

On Friday evening, two men aged 26 and 39 became unwell within minutes of each other after taking unknown substances in Durham City - they were taken to hospital but have since been discharged.

A third man, aged 56, became unwell in the Gilesgate area on Sunday, and remains in a stable condition in hospital.

Detective Sergeant Mark Garfoot, from Durham CID, said: "Because these incidents have happened so close together and around the same area, we fear that there may be a bad batch of drugs in circulation.

"We would urge users not to risk their life by taking substances without knowing exactly what they are."

A new therapy for children with curved spines was approved for general use after tests only on pigs and dead bodies, an investigation has revealed.

Magec rods are supposed to help straighten the spine, but testing by engineers at Newcastle University found titanium metal debris had been leaking into children's spines.

Experts are also concerned that the the rods appear to snap too easily and say they are "very surprised" at how little evidence was needed to get them approved.

Manufacturers Nuvasive said there was always risk in treating scoliosis and Magec had rebuilt families' lives.

The Royal College of Surgeons is calling upon the Government to better regulate medical implants.

Image source, Getty Images

New research by the British Red Cross suggests one in five UK adults don't have any close friends.

The wife of spying row academic Matthew Hedges has spoken of her relief after he was pardoned from a life sentence.

Daniela Tejada told BBC News the whole experience was "overwhelming" but that she was "elated" to have him return home from the UAE.

She said: "No-one ever prepared me to face this situation, let alone celebrate it, so I'm happy to have him back.

"My hopes had been shattered on so many occasions I didn't actually know if I should raise them up again.

"It's come as a very sudden, very happy surprise.

"I have no clue (how his release happened). The UAE saw it in their hearts to really have a compassion for Matt and his family.

"For me I'm just 27, and we were just starting our lives, so I'm just thankful this opportunity has been given back to us.

"In my heart I know what Matt is - he's a PhD researcher, and that's all that matters, the most important thing is we'll have him back safely and he will be able to finish his thesis.

"We're going to catch up on some sleep and have our winter barbecue, which was postponed from the spring."

Sunderland avoid losing midfielder Max Power for five games after his third red card of the reason is rescinded on appeal.

Hartlepool Mail
Newspaper

Here's today's front page and a link to our top story, external.

Image source, Hartlepool Mail

Mitesh Patel, 37, denies murdering his wife so he could claim a £2m life insurance payment.

The Shields Gazette

Here's today's front page and a link to the top story, external.

Image source, Shields Gazette

We'll now move on to look at some of the other stories happening today across the North East.

The news about the release of Durham academic Matthew Hedges has dominated our coverage today. Here is a recap of the main points:

• Shortly after 08:00 it was revealed the 31-year-old had been pardoned by the UAE government five days after he was sentenced to life in prison for spying
• Mr Hedges' wife Danieal Tejada, who has campaigned for his release, said she 'cannot wait to get him back home' later saying she had been 'brought back to life' by the news
• The UAE government said the information Mr Hedges collected 'went far beyond standard academic practice' and later said the life sentence he received 'was fair'
• Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he never saw any evidence for the spying charge
• Organisation Detained in Dubai called on the government to increase its travel warnings to the UAE
• Arab online users criticised Mr Hedges' pardon
• At about 13:30, it was confirmed Mr Hedges was out of detention
• The Prime Minister Theresa May thanked the UAE government for the pardon

Image source, DANIELA TEJADA

BBC Radio Devon

There's relief at the University of Exeter at the news its former academic, Matthew Hedges - who was jailed for life for spying in the United Arab Emirates last week - has been pardoned.

The 31-year-old was among hundreds of prisoners granted clemency to mark the UAE's national day.

It's thought he could be back in the UK as early as Tuesday.

Dr Joao Florencio is from the University and College Union at the university and wants to ensure "situations like this don't happen again"....

Paul Adams
BBC diplomatic correspondent

For all the talk of clemency and warm mutual relations, this morning's announcement came with a sting in the tail.

In releasing Matthew Hedges, the government of the United Arab Emirates went out its way to restate the case against him.

The evidence released merely confirms what many already knew about Matthew Hedges - that he once worked for a consultancy in the UAE which specialises in military and security conferences, that he left and came back as a PhD student.

But the list of subjects Mr Hedges was looking into clearly did take him into sensitive areas - the country's military capabilities, the ruling family and its networks and, perhaps most significantly, the UAE's military and political role in the war in Yemen.

In any other country, the UAE argued, these would be considered serious threats to national security.

And there, perhaps, is the problem. The authorities may have taken enquiry to mean espionage.

Other academics with experience of working in the Gulf have noted that in the UAE, asking these sorts of questions is becoming a risky business.

Matthew Hedges is released from jail despite the United Arab Emirates maintaining he is a spy.

David Haigh is the former managing director of Leeds United Football Club.

He was arrested in 2014 in Dubai, accused of fraud and embezzlement by the Bahraini former owners of the club. After 22 months in prison, he was released.

He said that Matthew Hedges now has a conviction for a criminal offence and that is a human rights abuse because he did nothing wrong.

He said that the UAE need to make it clear that he is innocent: "When he travels and he has to fill in any immigration form in any country and it says, have you been convicted of a criminal offence?

"He's now going to have to write yes, espionage, sentence 25 years. You know there's all these types of things which are just completely unacceptable and if, you know, if the incidence is that people believe that he is innocent, and he is innocent. He shouldn't be pardoned, he should be acquitted."

Image source, PA

The PM has thanked the UAE government for pardoning Durham academic Matthew Hedges.

Prime Minister Theresa May's official spokesman said: "We welcome the news that Matthew Hedges has been pardoned.

"As we've been clear, we didn't agree with the charges but we are grateful to the UAE government for resolving the issue.

"The Foreign Secretary has been consistent in raising the case at the highest levels, including the Emirati foreign minister, who he spoke to yesterday, and the Crown Prince, who he spoke to last week."