Jon Venables served eight years for murdering James Bulger

Children's Secretary Ed Balls has criticised England's children's commissioner for "ill advised" comments about the killers of James Bulger.

The commissioner, Maggie Atkinson said children under the age of 12 were too young to understand their actions.

The comments led victim's mother Denise Fergus to call for her sacking because of the "twisted" views.

Mr Balls said his sympathies were with Mrs Fergus but he did not want to label any child as "intrinsically evil".

Dr Atkinson suggested James's killers should not have been prosecuted because, aged 10, they were too young.

Moment of contact: Review looked at how victims were treated

A new approach is needed to give greater priority to the care and support of rape victims, a major review in England and Wales has said.

The review's author, crossbench peer Baroness Stern, said debate had been too focused on rape conviction rates.

Her recommendations include offering every rape victim a specialist adviser to help them recover after an attack.

The report acknowledged attitudes and practices had improved but said implementation had been patchy.

Formal talks between BA and Unite broke down earlier this week.

The union representing British Airways cabin crew plans to announce strike dates later this morning, the BBC understands.

Unite has to give at least seven days' notice of any action, meaning strikes could start from Friday 19 March.

The union has pledged not to strike over Easter in the dispute over pay and staffing levels.

The announcement will come at a press conference at 1100 GMT. BA said it was "available for talks at any time".

But the BBC's business correspondent John Moylan said: "It does look like this is going to escalate later. There are always opportunities for a last-minute intervention, but the plan is to announce strike dates."