The US company has drawn up plans for the closure of its Chinese search engine and is now

The head of the Catholic Church in Ireland says he was at meetings when two alleged victims of a paedophile priest signed an oath of silence. ...

France holds regional elections that are expected to reflect disenchantment with President Sarkozy's government. ...

Transport Secretary Lord Adonis attacks the planned strike by British Airways cabin crew staff, calling it "totally unjustified". ...

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao warned other countries that pressuring China over its currency policy was equivalent to protectionism ...

Tens of thousands of anti-government protestors have descended on Bangkok for six days of protests designed to force the government to resign and call elections ...

Russia and the US are close to concluding a new nuclear disarmament treaty, officials in Washington and Moscow say. ...

Panic is sparked in Georgia after a bogus TV news report says Russian tanks have invaded and the country's president was dead. ...

Tens of thousands of Italians stage a protest in central Rome against the government of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. ...

About 500 volunteers holding flaming torches are illuminating Hadrian's Wall from coast to coast. ...

The Vatican denounces efforts to involve the Pope in a child abuse scandal dating back to his time as archbishop in Germany. ...

Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, hit back strongly at Israel following its humiliation of Joe Biden, the vice-president, when it announced new settlement construction du ...

Republicans have warned Chris Dodd, the Democratic chairman of the Senate banking committee,

Members of the eurozone are working on the details of a possible bail-out for Greece ahead of a meeting in Brussels on Monday, although obstacles to a final agreement have yet to b ...

The children's commissioner for England says the age of criminal responsibility should be increased from 10 to 12 years. ...

The EU is putting the finishing touches to a multi-billion euro bail-out for Greece after weeks of crisis, senior officials tell the BBC. ...

Officials in Georgia announce a scheme to let prisoners shorten their jail terms by spending time in a monastery instead. ...

Children's strange misconceptions about science are revealed in a science knowledge quiz. ...

Police in the Irish Republic release three of the seven Muslims arrested over an alleged plot to murder a Swedish cartoonist. ...

Portugal's parliament backs an austerity budget aimed at cutting its deficit to the level permitted for countries using the euro. ...

The European Central Bank chief tentatively backs the idea of a bail-out fund to bolster the eurozone's financial stability. ...

China and the US traded barbs over the economy and human rights, raising the temperature ahead of a possible showdown over currency policy next month ...

A meeting between Stanley McChrystal, the top Nato general in Afghanistan, and Colonel Abdul Raziq, a suspected drug baron, illustrates a central dilemma: relying on local strongme ...

The Pope once unwittingly approved housing for a priest accused of child abuse, his former diocese in Germany says. ...

A Japanese website called Ameba Now is one of the first signs of micro-blogging website Twitter's vulnerability to competition. The rival has reached 1m visitors in the three month ...

The Obama administration is set to nominate Janet Yellen, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, as vice-chairman of the central bank ...

The Obama administration plans to nominate Janet Yellen, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, as vice-chairman of the US central bank ...

A zebra at Zurich Zoo appeared doomed when visitors saw its head in the mouth of a hippo, but it was only cleaning its teeth. ...

The UK carrier will be hit by seven days of strikes later this month after talks between the airline and unions to avoid industrial action over cost-cutting measures broke down ...

A long-serving Conservative MEP, expelled in a row over the party's new allies in Europe, has joined the Liberal Democrats. ...

The UK's prime minister says France and Britain are united on the need for a global bank levy, after warm talks in Downing Street with the French president ...

Listing allows firm, founded by cousins Henry Kravis and George Roberts, to match their great rival Blackstone, which completed its IPO at the top of the market in 2007 ...

Factory output in the eurozone rose 1.7% between December and January, the biggest monthly rise since records began. ...

Portuguese police arrest a suspected Eta Basque militant who was trying to catch a flight from Lisbon to Venezuela. ...

BA cabin crew will go on strike for three days from 20 March and for four days from 27 March in a dispute over pay and staff levels. ...

The return of seven-times champion Michael Schumacher has raised fans' hopes for a vintage campaign, but worries persist over the sport's fragile financial structure ...

Pope Benedict XVI meets Germany's top bishop amid a crisis over abuse of children by priests in his native country. ...

Dr Rowan Williams is given an award on the decree of the Russian President for his literature on the country. ...

Industrial production in the eurozone grows at its fastest level for over 20 years in January, amid signs of a far more sustained recovery than had been seen previously ...

Two suicide bombers attacked military vehicles in the Pakistani city, killing at least 39 people and wounding almost nearly 100, officials say ...

The UK carrier will be hit by seven days of strikes later this month after talks between the airline and unions to avoid industrial action over cost-cutting measures broke down ...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will hold separate talks in London later with Gordon Brown and Tory leader David Cameron. ...

Members of the BNP or any group that might promote racism will not be banned from teaching in England, the government says. ...

London has lost its crown as the pre-eminent home of banking and finance, as it tied for the first time with New York in the latest ranking of financial centres ...

Global Markets Overview: Many analysts had suggested that once the S&P breached 1,150, as it did on Friday, that would reinvigorate traders and help push stocks higher ...

Norwegian fertiliser producer says it will not increase its all-cash $4.1bn offer for US Terra, paving the way for US CF Industries

Sir Brian Pitman, the former chairman and chief executive of Lloyds TSB and one of the most respected bankers of his generation, has died suddenly at the age of 78 ...

About 24,000 clients of HSBC's private banking operation in Switzerland had personal details stolen, the bank admits. ...

Liverpool face an uphill task to progress from the last 16 of the Europa League after Eden Hazard's goal gave a lively Lille side a first-leg lead. ...

Three first-half goals see Juventus take command of their Europa League last-16 tie with Fulham but Dickson Etuhu's goal gives the Cottagers' hope. ...

Turkey withdraws its ambassador to Sweden after the parliament votes to describe as genocide the killing of Armenians in WWI. ...

EU launches new tests in bid to attract top talent ...

Yukio Hatoyama, the Japanese prime minister, called for

French President Nicolas Sarkozy will hold separate talks in London later with Gordon Brown and Tory leader David Cameron. ...

Fifty-one decapitated skeletons found in a burial pit in Dorset were those of Scandinavian Vikings, scientists say. ...

A one-year probe into the collapse of Lehman Brothers found

The capital market issue would mark a significant departure for one of the world's largest and most profitable commodities traders, which has traditionally relied on bank credit li ...

New York and London have been ranked as the joint-top global financial centres according to new research. ...

Nine members of a Russian white supremacist group are jailed for up to 22 years in connection with the killing of an African man. ...