News
Barratt Developments cuts 1,200 jobs
Barratt Developments (BDEV.L: Quote, Profile, Research) will cut nearly a fifth of its workforce to cope with the housing market downturn, joining other builders taking similar measures, and will not pay a final dividend for 2007-08.
Hospitals told to improve maternity services
The government's healthcare watchdog has told hospitals to improve maternity services in England after a survey found shortages of beds, dirty bathrooms and sparse consultant attendance on wards.
Davis poll poses security versus liberty question
Voters in a small Yorkshire constituency went to the polls on Thursday, urged by Conservative politician David Davis to take a stand against what he calls the steady erosion of Britons' fundamental freedoms.
Salman Rushdie wins 'Best of Booker'
Author Salman Rushdie won the "Best of the Booker" prize on Thursday to mark the 40th anniversary of one of the world's most prestigious literary awards.
Four teenagers charged with boy's stabbing
Police said on Thursday they had charged four teenagers, including a girl, with the murder of Shakilus Townsend, stabbed to death in south London last week.
Visas from more countries to be considered
Britain announced on Thursday that it is considering expanding visa requirements to citizens from 11 additional countries including South Africa.
Report calls for end to detention of child asylum seekers
Britain should stop detaining thousands of children of foreigners seeking asylum, the Independent Asylum Commission said in a report published on Thursday.
WITNESS - Burial abroad brings double loss
I was a child when my dad died. Johan Cruyff's great Holland side had just lost the soccer World Cup and my father had been in southern France, on his way to Spain to join us on holiday.
Zimbabwe's MDC to start talks with ruling party
Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change will on Thursday hold preliminary talks with President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party on ending the country's political crisis, an MDC source said on Thursday.
Verification tops agenda for N.Korea nuclear talks
A new round of talks aimed at disarming North Korea will focus on verifying the North's own account of its nuclear programmes, the chief U.S. envoy said on Thursday.
Faster, cheaper iPhone to draw crowds around globe
The new iPhone is expected to attract hordes of buyers when it goes on sale on Friday in more than 20 countries, helping Apple Inc handily beat its target to sell 10 million of them by the end of 2008.
Newest fertility treatment may be a diet
The newest low-tech fertility treatment may be a diet, researchers said on Wednesday after learning that obese men have more abnormal sperm and make less semen.
South China tigers teeter on brink of extinction
Dragging on a cigarette between his wrinkled lips, Hou Fengqi fingered a dusty bamboo bow and rusty iron-tipped arrows, before recounting his days as a "tiger hunting hero" in the rugged hills of southern China.
Report calls for end to detention of child asylum seekers
Britain should stop detaining thousands of children of foreigners seeking asylum, the Independent Asylum Commission said in a report published on Thursday.
Six dead in Leicestershire crash
Six people have been killed after a serious crash involving a car and a lorry near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, police said on Thursday.
Pentagon reopening aerial tankers contest
Defence Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday reopened a bitter $35 billion (17.7 billion pounds) aerial tanker contest after the selection process that picked Northrop Grumman Corp and EADS over Boeing Co was found to be flawed.