Industrial towns in the north east of England may be least able to cope with deep cuts in public spending, BBC-commissioned research suggests.

US President Barack Obama says a small church's plans to burn the Koran are a "recruitment bonanza" for al-Qaeda.

MPs back calls for a fresh parliamentary investigation into allegations of phone hacking by journalists at the News of the World.

BAE Systems announces it is to axe almost 1,000 jobs across the UK, with 740 to go from five sites in England.

Health officials are investigating a second death which is being linked to a Legionnaires' disease outbreak in south Wales.

Economist and former journalist Robert Chote is to become the new head of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

The Bank of England keeps UK interest rates on hold at a record low of 0.5% for the 18th consecutive month.

A British journalist held captive by militants in north-west Pakistan since March is released.

David Cameron and his family pay tribute to their late father Ian, describing him as a man who had "touched a lot of lives".

A business jet and a passenger plane carrying 232 people came close to a mid-air collision over London in 2009, a report reveals.

John Toshack stands down as Wales manager after a six-year reign with immediate effect by "mutual consent."

An explosive EastEnders storyline which could see the end of Peggy Mitchell, played by Barbara Windsor, begins on Thursday.

Kate Silverton sees the pitfalls of trampolining on TV

Pakistan bowler Wahab Riaz will be question by Scotland Yard on 14 September in relation to allegations of corruption.

Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe is ruled out for at least six weeks because of an ankle injury.

Nottinghamshire look to hold off the chasing pack of Somerset, Yorkshire and Lancashire, while Kent and Hampshire battle against relegation.

Southampton withdraw their offer to Scunthorpe boss Nigel Adkins to become their new manager, according to Iron chairman Steve Wharton.

Former Liverpool and Lyon boss Gerard Houllier is named the new manager of Aston Villa.

A Tube train was sent into the path of another train during Wednesday morning's rush hour, it emerges.

A Metropolitan Police officer is charged with assaulting a prisoner in west London.

Scottish ministers and opposition politicians join forces in a bid to ensure the future of two Royal Navy aircraft carriers.

Boundary changes for the next Scottish Parliament elections suggest a possible boost to the Conservatives, according to experts.

Martin McGuinness says he forgot a deathbed conversation he had with the priest suspected of being involved in the 1972 Claudy bombing.

A Strabane taxi driver picks up a pipe bomb and takes it to waste ground.

An anti-human trafficking coordinator is to be appointed in Wales for the first time to tackle the problem.

Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan says next year's referendum on further Welsh powers will use a revised question by the Electoral Commission.

At least eight people are killed as a car bomb explodes at Somalia's main airport in Mogadishu, officials say.

The murder rate has fallen by 8.6% over the past year in South Africa, the latest statistics show.

Investigators in the Philippines say police may have accidentally shot some of the hostages on a bus hijacked last month.

China warns Japan that their wider relationship will suffer if Tokyo mishandles a dispute about a Chinese fishing boat seized in disputed waters.

At least 15 people are killed and more than 60 wounded in a bomb attack in the southern Russian city of Vladikavkaz, local officials say.

Euro MPs call on France to suspend its deportations of Roma (Gypsies), as Paris seeks co-operation from Romania.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Mexican drug violence is looking increasingly like an insurgency, a comment strongly rejected by Mexico.

A mass shooting in a shoe factory in Honduras is blamed on rival street gangs linked to Mexican drug cartels.

A prominent human rights lawyer in Iran, Nasrin Sotoudeh, is detained by the authorities on security charges.

Gunmen open fire on soldiers in southern Yemen, killing at least one and wounding others.

India's first caste-based census since 1931 will take place next year, the cabinet announces.

Taliban leader Mullah Omar says his fighters are on the verge of victory in Afghanistan and the Nato-led campaign has been "a complete failure".

Contractors who worked for BP on the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon oil rig criticise the company's report into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

President Obama defends his opposition to extending Bush-era tax cuts for wealthier people and criticises what he calls Republican obstruction.

Wall Street banking giant Goldman Sachs is fined £17.5m by the UK's financial watchdog.

The UK's goods trade deficit widened to a record high in July after imports rose sharply and exports fell from the previous month.

HM Revenue & Customs says it is impossible to tell how many taxpayers may have to pay interest as a result of tax errors.

Nick Clegg has sought to calm fears over the impact of spending cuts, insisting they will be spread over four years not implemented immediately.

The Commons is to vote for the first time on whether UK troops should remain in Afghanistan - almost nine years after the war started.

Leadership hopeful Ed Miliband raised the most money of any of the Labour contenders during August, Electoral Commission figures show.

High doses of B vitamins may slow the rate of brain shrinkage in older people experiencing warning signs of Alzheimer's disease, a study says.

The government has announced £700m of savings in the national IT programme for the NHS in England, cutting the overall cost to £11.4bn.

Scientists begin a study to determine if an everyday vitamin supplement could help prevent a common birth defect.

The Universities Minister suggests an increased role for private universities as he signals graduates will have to pay more for their degrees.

Education Secretary Michael Gove is to announce an independent review of vocational qualifications for students aged 14 to 19 in England.

Science Minister David Willetts says the research-teaching balance in universities has 'gone wrong', after defending cuts to science research.

Google speeds up its internet search engine by launching a new product called Instant that displays results as soon as users type in queries.

Intel is to launch its first chip with built-in graphics, while established phone chipmaker ARM releases a fast new chip.

A kind of "auto-tune for data" developed by a European team may help increase the capacities of long-haul fibre optic cables.

Researchers say they may have found further evidence for the existence of an unusual type of black hole.

A fungus that 'eats' cine film threatens to irreversibly damage important film archive and record of British social history.

Domestic heat pumps need to be subject to tighter regulations in order for them to deliver widespread energy savings, a report suggests.

Rapper Tinie Tempah leads the way in the nominations for this year's Mobo Awards in Liverpool with four nods.

A former bodyguard for Britney Spears files a sexual harassment lawsuit against the pop star.

Former newspaper editor and Britain's Got Talent judge Piers will replace US TV presenter Larry King on the US network CNN, it is announced.

Its name lives on in the form of a prestigious music prize but whatever happened to Mercury Communications?

The world has a new shortest man - a 27in-tall person from Colombia. but is the title itself in poor taste?

Seventy years ago Britain endured eight months of nightly German bombing. Does this tale of national unity tell the whole story?

MSPs continue with the debate on the Independent Budget Review.

Google revamps search system with launch of 'Instant'

Quentin Sommerville goes on foot patrol with some of the men of the US Army's 101st Airborne division near the village of Zerok in Afghanistan.

The Labour MP for West Bromwich, Tom Watson, used the Commons debate on phone hacking to accuse fellow members of cowardice in the face of Britain's tabloid newspapers.

Meet the Strictly Come Dancing Stars of 2010.

A forest fire in the US state of Colorado has destroyed at least 136 homes, according to officials.

Newsbeat visits the cast of Merlin on location in a soggy Puzzlewood and speaks to the actors who play Merlin and Morgana.

A lion lunged at a trainer as stunned onlookers watched in horror, at Las Vegas's MGM Grand Hotel and Casino.

For the first time at New York Fashion Week there will be a runway show featuring plus size models.

Live coverage from the House of Commons.

Find out how resilient areas of England might be

Plus-size models make New York Fashion Week debut

How does the Catholic church endorse Britain?s only gay Mass?

Inspirational portraits of some of Wales' best-loved stars

Palaeontologists discover what may be the earliest evidence of feathers

Pictures reveal new side to life in trend-setting Soweto