EUROPE was yesterday battling to cope with the Arctic freeze amid warnings over the cost of the lengthy cold snap which has seen thousands of flights and train journeys cancelled and caused dozens of deaths.

The back-from-the-dead canoeist who reappeared five-years after vanishing, was arrested on suspicion of fraud, police in England said today.

British government vets have lifted tight foot-and-mouth restrictions on Northumberland farmers after completing extensive blood sampling of bloodstock.