News
Doctors to face regular tests of competence
Doctors will have to show they are fit to practice once every five years under plans to be published by Chief Medical Officer Liam Donaldson on Wednesday.
Bank split three ways on rate direction in July
One Bank of England policymaker wanted to hike rates this month, another wanted a cut but the remaining seven chose to keep borrowing costs steady as both the inflation and growth outlook had worsened.
Watchdog urges doctors to cut antibiotics
Doctors should slash the number of times they prescribe antibiotics for respiratory tract infections because the drugs rarely help, the country's drug cost watchdog said on Wednesday.
British soldier killed in Afghanistan
A British soldier was killed and two others were wounded when their patrol came under attack in southern Afghanistan, Britain's Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.
NICE confirms limited use of drug stents
Drug-coated stents - used to prop open clogged coronary arteries - can continue to be used on Britain's state health service but only for certain high-risk patients, the country's health cost-effectiveness watchdog said.
Christian Bale denies assault allegation
Actor Christian Bale, star of the new Batman movie "The Dark Knight," on Tuesday denied allegations of assault made by his mother and sister after he was questioned by London police.
Obama vows support for Israel in Jerusalem visit
U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama pledged staunch support for Israel during a visit to Jerusalem on Wednesday and said, if elected, he would work to invigorate the Middle East peace process.
Rice to push North Korea on verifying disarmament
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will push North Korea's foreign minister hard in their first ever meeting on Wednesday to prove the North's disarmament efforts are serious, U.S. officials said.
Iran vows no retreat in nuclear row
Iran will not "retreat one iota" over its disputed nuclear programme, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday.
China eyes nuclear plant for quake-hit province
China's earthquake-hit Sichuan province hopes to build its first nuclear power plant within as little as five years, but has chosen a site it says is geologically sound, state media said on Wednesday.
Last Three Gorges Dam migrants evacuate as water rises
China has finished evacuating the last town to be submerged by the giant Three Gorges Dam, making way for water levels in the reservoir to rise to their final height of 175 metres above sea level, state media said.
Brazil boom breeds new generation of millionaires
When Fabio Calderaro was a 23-year-old cadet at Brazil's military academy in 2000, he invested a couple of thousand dollars in the stock market.
Dolly becomes hurricane as churns toward Texas
Dolly became a hurricane on Tuesday and bore down on southern Texas, but forecasters don't expect it to pack too much of a punch when it comes ashore near the Mexican border on Wednesday.
WSI increases 2008 Atlantic hurricane forecast
WSI Corp increased its forecast for the number of named storms and hurricanes for the 2008 hurricane season due to warming in the Atlantic basin, the private forecaster said on Tuesday.
Banana row simmers at WTO
A long-running row over bananas that threatens to derail talks on a new global trade pact simmered on Tuesday with no immediate solution in sight.
Gay bishop must resign or confess, says Sudan church head
The head of the Anglican Church in Sudan said on Tuesday that unity could be restored to the troubled Anglican Communion only when the openly gay Bishop Gene Robinson resigns or confesses he has "made a mistake" in embracing homosexuality.