News
Amnesty details world executions
At least 24 people a week were executed officially last year and a further 64 sentenced to death, Amnesty International said in a report on Tuesday, adding that this was likely to be an underestimate.
Spanish enclaves offer lifeline for poor Moroccans
Illegal migrants see Spain's enclaves in Morocco as gateways to a better life in Europe, but many Moroccans suffer beatings and pay bribes to go in past razor-wire fences just to be able to return home.
Aid sector sees lingering woes in food aid crunch
A deepening global food crisis requires not only greater funding for food aid going to hungry nations, but long-term investment to improve agriculture productivity, especially in the developing world, officials and aid groups said on Monday.
Brown urges oil producers to counter price surge
Prime Minister Gordon Brown will sound the alarm on Tuesday over surging energy costs, saying oil producing countries must act to counter high prices.
House price balance falls to lowest since 1978
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors house price balance fell in March to its lowest in the 30-year history of the survey, RICS said on Tuesday, sending a strong signal that the housing market is cooling fast.
Tributes paid to Ecuador crash victims
Tributes were paid on Monday to four British gap year students and their tour guide who were killed in a bus crash in Ecuador at the weekend.
Miliband says Zimbabwe poll wait a subversion
Zimbabwean authorities are delaying election results to allow them time to find an "alternative to the will of the people," Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Monday.
Zimbabwe court rejects bid to release poll result
Zimbabwe's High Court on Monday rejected an opposition bid to force authorities to release the result of the country's presidential election after a two-week delay that has stoked fears of violence.
Major quake almost inevitable for California - study
California will almost inevitably be struck by a major earthquake, and possibly a catastrophic quake, sometime in the next 30 years, scientists said on Monday in the most comprehensive geologic forecast for the state.
Two RAF servicemen die in Afghanistan
Two servicemen from the RAF Regiment have died in a roadside blast in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said on Monday.
Potter author in NY court in bid to block book
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling said on Monday a bid by a fan to print an unofficial encyclopedic companion to the boy wizard series left her unsure if she had "the heart" to publish her own version.
TV host was found hanged in railway station
The body of missing BBC children's television presenter Mark Speight was found hanging from the roof of a London railway station, it was confirmed on Monday.
Kidnapped UK journalist freed in Iraq's Basra
A British journalist held for two months by kidnappers in the southern Iraqi city of Basra was rescued on Monday by Iraqi forces sweeping through the city in a crackdown on militants, the Iraqi military said.
Portugal police rap McCann spokesman over leak
Portuguese police forcefully denied they leaked a statement by Kate McCann in which she reportedly said her daughter Madeleine was crying in her room the night before she disappeared nearly a year ago.
Melting mountains a "time bomb" for water shortages
Glaciers and mountain snow are melting earlier in the year than usual, meaning the water has already gone when millions of people need it during the summer when rainfall is lower, scientists warned on Monday.
French minister urges global action on food prices
Governments must take action to regulate surging food prices and stop them being driven by speculative forces, French Agriculture Minister Michel Barnier said on Monday.