News
Britain may push for changes in EU biofuel targets
Britain will push for changes in European Union biofuels targets if a review of British policy shows rising biofuels production drives up food prices and harms the environment, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Tuesday.
Targeting clients to fight prostitution
Would the hundreds of men who paid to have sex with "Alicia" have cared if they knew she was being held captive by a trafficker who raped her and pimped her, and that she was infected with HIV?
2012 budget was 'wishful thinking'
The initial budget for the 2012 London Olympics was "unrealistic and wishful thinking", a group of MPs said on Tuesday.
RBS unveils 12 bln pound rights issue
Royal Bank of Scotland announced a record 12 billion pound rights issue on Tuesday to cover a potential 5.9 billion pound writedown on the value of toxic assets and help rebuild a stretched balance sheet.
British soldier killed in blast in Afghan south
A British soldier was killed in the southern Afghan province of Helmand when his vehicle was hit by a suspected minestrike, the Ministry of Defence said late on Monday.
Clients blind to trafficked women's fate
The man who destroyed "Alicia's" life couldn't have done it without the hundreds of others who were willing to pay him to have sex with her.
Bank unveils credit crunch plan
The Bank of England unveiled an ambitious plan on Monday to swap banks' risky mortgage assets for at least 50 billion pounds of government debt in the latest bid to spare the country from the ravages of a global credit crunch.
US dismisses Carter report that Hamas will accept peace deal
The United States brushed off on Monday former US President and prominent Baptist Jimmy Carter's report that Hamas would accept a peace deal with Israel if the Palestinians voted for it, saying the group's basic stance had not changed.
Winehouse gets three Ivor Novello nominations
British singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse has been nominated three times for coveted Ivor Novello Awards, including twice in one category.
Dalai Lama meets U.S. envoy; asks for help
The Dalai Lama told the the U.S. special envoy for Tibet on Monday he appreciated U.S. concern with China's handling of the political unrest in Tibet and said "we need your help."
Britain backs militant reconciliation efforts
Britain backs efforts to reconcile with Islamist militants on the Afghan-Pakistani border, an area with links to terrorist attacks in Britain, a senior British minister said on Sunday.
Tsvangirai appeals for UN intervention in Zimbabwe
Zimbabwean opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai appealed to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday for the world body and the African Union to intervene in his country's post-election crisis.
UK's Brown offers olive branch to tax rebels
Prime Minister Gordon Brown held out an olive branch on Monday to rebels in his Labour Party angered by tax rises for the poorest in Britain, but failed to quell the biggest parliamentary revolt of his premiership.
Cuba breaks up sit-in, arrests women dissidents
A group of Cuban women peacefully demonstrating for the release of their jailed husbands were roughed up by a mob and arrested on Monday near the offices of President Raul Castro.
Saudi "guardianship" key to women rights abuse-HRW
Saudi Arabia's system of male "guardianship" or wide-ranging control over women lies at the heart of rights abuse in the conservative Islamic state, U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday.
US court rejects appeals by 11 death row inmates
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday followed up on its ruling last week upholding the commonly used lethal injection method of execution and rejected appeals by 11 death row inmates in seven states.