News
Brown defends terrorism plans
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday he would stick to his plan to detain terrorism suspects for longer before they are charged, despite the prospect of a humiliating defeat in parliament.
Man arrested after 15-year-old girl stabbed
A man in his 30s was being questioned by police on Tuesday after a 15-year-old schoolgirl, who was found stabbed in a lift, became the 16th teenager to die violently in London this year.
'Good' bacteria may ease hay fever symptoms
A probiotic drink a day may help keep hay fever away, researchers said on Tuesday.
UK slips in clean beach rating
German, British and Portuguese beaches slipped most last year in a list of Europe's cleanest bathing sites, while the Netherlands again came out best, an EU report said on Monday.
Ian McEwan's new novel is on climate change
Best-selling author Ian McEwan surprised an audience at the Hay literary festival in Wales on Sunday by reading a preview extract from his novel in progress, due in about two years.
Plain packs seen as a risk to cigarette profits
Cigarette makers face a new and serious risk to their profits if the government rules that cigarettes should only be sold in plain packaging, undermining the power of brands, analysts said on Monday.
Brown urges G8 leaders to pressure oil producers
Next month's G8 summit of wealthy nations should push oil producing nations to increase supply, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday following talks with visiting Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda.
UK 'must attract more skilled workers'
The new points-based immigration system will not be enough to ensure sufficient numbers of high-skilled workers come to Britain, while a hostile atmosphere will deter others, according to a report.
Scottish resilience in play as house prices fall
Scotland's housing market is cooling like elsewhere in Britain, but with the nation's most affordable mortgages experts think it may escape the worst of the property downturn as it did in the 1990s.
Heathrow service said a national embarrassment
Service levels at London's Heathrow Airport are a "national embarrassment", the head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Monday.
Parents told how to teach drinking to children
Parents are to be given advice about how much alcohol their children can safely drink, under government plans aimed at curbing binge drinking.
Mortgage approvals tumble to record low
Approvals for new home loans in fell to a record low in April, official figures showed on Monday, raising fears that the housing market is in for a protracted and painful slowdown.
World Refugee Sunday to rouse church conscience on refugee issues
Churches around the globe will unite in prayer on "World Refugee Sunday 2008" later this month in an effort to remember the millions who have been displaced.
Algeria Muslim body slams Christian evangelists
Algeria hit back on Saturday at foreign accusations minority Christians are harassed, saying Protestant evangelicals were secretly trying to divide Algerians to colonise the mainly Muslim north African country.
Obama resigns from controversial church
Democratic presidential front-runner Barack Obama has resigned from Trinity United Church of Christ, his spokesman said on Saturday, further distancing himself from a source of controversy as he gears up for the general election.
Egyptian Christians, Muslims clash, killing one
One Egyptian Muslim was killed and four Christians were wounded and on Saturday in a clash over disputed land near a Christian monastery in central Egypt, security sources said.
