bbc news

Afghanistan's election is thrown into confusion after President Karzai's rival says he will pull

A new Afghan administration must make tackling corruption a "key priority", Gordon Brown has told

A 24-year-old football fan dressed as a sheep suffers burns to his arms and legs when he was set

Two members of the panel advising the government on drugs have resigned in protest at the sacking

A European satellite is set to provide major new insights into how water is cycled around the

A support group contacts the press watchdog after a paper prints a picture of a man shortly after

Sir Chris Hoy leads his sprint team to victory while British pursuit teams clinch gold in record

Sri Lanka's government protests that its army chief faces questioning by US officials about alleged

Paula Radcliffe fails to defend her New York Marathon title, finishing fourth behind winner Derartu

Two more people die after contracting swine flu, taking the total number of H1N1-related deaths in

Former US President Bill Clinton attends the unveiling of a statue to himself in Kosovo's capital

Sebastian Vettel cruises to victory at the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP ahead of Red Bull team-mate

A man is arrested on suspicion of murder after two bodies are found in a house in Norfolk, police

Chancellor Alistair Darling confirms that Lloyds, RBS and Northern Rock will be broken up and parts

The female student punched and groped by jailed footballer Marlon King calls for him to be banned

Iraqi MPs say they are not yet ready to pass an election law that needs to be approved urgently if

Police searching for a rapist who escaped from immigration officials in London liaise with

Fire crews say they were involved in five rescues in the wake of flooding incidents across the

Italian police arrest two more suspected mafia bosses, a day after seizing their brother near

Birmingham host Manchester City in the Premier League and Cardiff take on Nottingham Forest in the

Singer and pianist Sir Elton John is said to be "absolutely fine" despite being forced to postpone

Engineers hope to restore gas supplies to hundreds of villagers after a mains explosion, within 24

MPs who currently employ relatives should not have to axe them under expenses reforms, Harriet

South Sudan's makes his strongest call yet for voters to back independence from the north in a

The new head of the intelligence service MI6

Actor and presenter Stephen Fry and another user of website Twitter apologise to each other after

A British soldier was killed in an explosion in Afghanistan's Helmand Province, the Ministry of

The government plans a financial overhaul with three new banks. Who will gain most from this?

A government cargo plane crashes in the Russian far-east, killing all 11 crew members on board,

Immigration officers have warned bosses that new rules designed to stop bogus students entering the

The first of two rises in UK airport departure tax has come into effect, adding up to £30 to the

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Israeli-Palestinian peace talks must resume "as soon as

Britain's choices on power and influencing the US

Delhi 1984: Memories of a massacre

The majority of women at high risk of having a fracture are not getting the recommended bone

Six Chinese Uighur prisoners from Guantanamo Bay have been transferred to the Pacific island nation

Artist and film-maker Sam Taylor-Wood, 42, says she is engaged to her 19-year-old actor boyfriend

East German values gain new respect in unification partner

This isn't industrial action. It's actually industrial inaction

The internet regulator approves plans to allow non-Latin-script web addresses, in a move set to

Information about swine flu and the potential threat it poses.

Bears don't like honey and nine other snippets

The Gulf monetary council, the prelude to a regional single currency, will be established in 2010,

Do legal-looking notices make any difference?

Chancellor Alistair Darling confirms that Lloyds, RBS and Northern Rock will be broken up and parts

China's manufacturing sector grew in October at its fastest rate in 18 months, a survey suggests.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has taken over regulation of the way banks treat their

The first of two rises in UK airport departure tax has come into effect, adding up to £30 to the

People in couples would inherit more when their partner dies without leaving a will under plans

As many as 70,000 postal workers are striking on the final day of the current three days of

Halifax Bank of Scotland has modified changes due to come in for customers who have authorized

Motorists warned they are neglecting their vehicles

The British Government has been losing out on as much as £1 in every £6 that it could be collecting

Global shares fall sharply after figures showing a drop in US consumer spending raise doubts about

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says Ukraine may be having problems paying for gas, raising

EU leaders agree a conditional deal to help other nations fight global warming, ahead of the

BP is fined a record $87m by the US authorities for failing to correct safety violations at its

Lloyds Banking Group is prepared to pay nearly £2.5bn to avoid the Government Asset Protection

US consumer spending falls for the first time in five months, coinciding with the end of the car

The Unite union is to seek an injunction against the imposition of new contracts for 14,000 British

The administrators of First Quench, the owner of Thresher and Wine Rack, warn of store closures and

Unemployment levels across the 16 countries that use the euro rise to 9.7% in September, the

UK house prices were higher year-on-year in October - the first annual rise for 19 months, the

German retail sales fall for the second consecutive month in September, as the economic downturn

National Express is criticised by its largest shareholder for not properly assessing a proposed

Shares in all 28 companies on China's new Nasdaq-style stock market have a positive start as it

Advertising giant WPP announces a drop in quarterly revenues but says things are 'less worse' than

Postmen around the world talk about their work

Sony reports a loss for a fourth consecutive quarter, hit by slow mobile handset sales, but narrows

The doors are closing at the UK's last remaining piano maker, Kemble and Co, after nearly 100 years

Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, now plans to keep customers even after they die - by

Brazil's Senate foreign relations committee approves Venezuela's request to join the South American

Train companies say longer rail franchises would allow them to provide better quality services and

Playing for big stakes in top Asian golf tournaments

Why Halloween is now a big UK money-spinner

Workers at closure-threatened Diageo plants in the west of Scotland have voted to hold a full

Who does the public blame for postal disruption?

Exxon Mobil, the world's largest oil company, reports a 68% drop in profits, disappointing

President Barack Obama welcomes the return of US economic growth, but says there is still a long

First Quench, the owner of Threshers, The Local, Wine Rack, and Haddows, goes into administration.

A mortgage lender has been fined £2.8m by the Financial Services Authority for mistreating

Lloyds Banking Group confirms it is looking into raising capital, allowing it to avoid the UK