POLITICS

Human rights activists say Syrian forces continue the violent crackdown on civilians as new reports suggest that at least 24 civilians were killed, following attacks in various cities.

In the face of the arrest and court appearance of LulzSec Anonymous spokesman Jake Davis, the two hacker collectives have issued a slew of statements promising to continue fighting.

Police in China's western Xinjiang region say they have fatally shot two men who participated in a killing spree that is being blamed on Pakistani-trained terrorists.

A controversial Eastenders storyline, which encompassed a cot death followed by a baby swap, has been cleared by Ofcom today.

After weeks of debate, struggles and hesitation, a divided US House of Representatives has approved a massive austerity plan to prevent the U.S. from entering into default.

The world's first space flight will include a mix of celebrities, scientists, and entrepreneurs who will all have to fork out $200,000 (£123,000) per seats for the two-and-a-half hour ride in the "SpaceShipTwo".

As Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing the strongest wave of protests since he took office, he was forced to announce that members of his government would meet protesters to try and calm public discontent.In the last two weeks, tens of thousands of Israelis have taken to the streets to demonstrate against the rising living costs, putting pressure on Netanyahu and asking for reforms.

Amy Winehouse's father, Mitch, is meeting the Home Office minister James Brokenshire to discuss plans to set up a drug rehabilitation centre in his daughter's name.

The Foreign Office has warned non-Muslims holidaying in Dubai this summer that eating, drinking or smoking in public places during the Holy month of Ramadan that starts on Monday August 1 could see them trespassing the law and end up in jail.

The UK Government claims to have saved £3.75 billion in 10 months as a result of job cuts, marketing savings, computing cutbacks and fewer consultants.

Pope Benedict XVI has called for an "international mobilization" to help the victims of a severe drought in Eastern Africa, which has been hit by drought and is now threatened by a famine that could endanger the life of more than 11.8 million people.Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia are the countries the most hit by the drought and aid agencies worry a lack of funds could hamper international effort to bring the situation under control.

The Metropolitan police warned it will launch a harsh crackdown on troublemakers planning to attend this year's Notting Hill Carnival.Officials have said they will gather intelligence on troublemakers and London based gangs to find out about any planned trouble in the weeks leading up to the carnival, warning that officers from the Met's Territorial Support Group (TSG) will be executing search warrants across the capital.

According to the National Transition Council sources, on Sunday, rebel fighters became engulfed in an eight-hour gunfight against what their leaders called the "fifth column" of Gaddafi loyalists in Benghazi.While previous warnings that more background checks and a higher training standard were necessary to prevent rogue elements from infiltrating the rebel movement have been issued by political analysts for months, it seems now that dissident elements from within the movement are thre...

British police have detained a third suspected LulzSec member, meaning that if LulzSec's claims are true, up to half of the hacker group could already have been caught by the world's law enforcement.

A new slew of cyber attacks have hit South Korea-based SK Communications service, Cyworld and NATE leaving as many as 35 million account holder's personal information compromised.

China blamed Muslim extremists for a deadly attack on Sunday in its north-western Xinjiang region, even saying that the militants had been trained in camps in Pakistan.

Just after Apple boasted record breaking iPhone and iPad sales figures, tech giant Samsung has introduced a new policy clarifying it will no longer release any data regarding smartphone and tablet sales figures and forecasts.

Trinity Mirror Facing High Court Action Over Allegations of Phone Hacking

John Prescott does it a lot. Nick Clegg has been known to do it. And the speaker's wife is always at it. Twitter has taken the political world by storm, with more than a third of MP's signed up to the social media tool.

Syrian forces killed nearly 142 people when the army stormed the city of Hama, which is seen as the hub of the anti-Assad movement, to crush government dissent on the eve of Ramadan, according to political activists.According to Al Jazeera, the Syrian government forces continued the crackdown on Monday morning, launching fresh attacks on the town in another attempt to eradicate anti-government protest.Sunday's attack on Hama led to international outcry and was said to be one of...

Phone Hacking Scandal: Metropolitan Police Accused of ‘Endemic Corruption’

Barack Obama has announced he has reached an agreement with both Republican and Democratic congressional leaders. Addressing the nation from the White House, the President remained cautious as he warned: "We are not done yet."

President Barack Obama has called for Democrats and Republicans to overcome their divisions and reach a deal over raising the debt limit before a deadline on Tuesday.Calling for unity in the face of adversity, the leader on Friday, positioned himself as a leader who insisted political rivalries should not get in the way of the U.S.'s future, by telling the press, and the Americans that he was ready to work with Democrats and Republicans alike through the weekend to reach a consensus and...

The head of the Libyan rebels' armed forces and two of his aides were killed by gunmen on Thursday, and despite officially confirming the news, the death of Gadhafi's former close friend is still surrounded by mystery.

US Republican leaders are frantically trying to rescue their deficit-cutting bill hours as the party, fractured and divided, struggles to find a consensus.A House of Representatives vote planned on Thursday night had to be re-scheduled after the plan proposed failed to heal the rift that divides the Conservative leading observers to say an internal revolt now threatens the party, which in due of the Presidential elections in 2012, does not come as good news for their partisans.

A light aircraft crashed into two properties in Salford, Greater Manchester.Police arrived to Newlands Avenue in Peel Green, Salford, just after 12.20pm, according to reports.

A major clinical trial will investigate whether stem cells can be safely used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS), it has been revealed.If suitable, this new technique could effectively enable to slow, stop or even reverse the damage MS causes to the brain and spinal cord.The trial will be based on 150 patients, all coming from various European countries and is set to start later this year.

A Polish report has found that Russia was partly to blame for the air crash last year which killed then-President Lech Kaczynski.While the report acknowledged that pilot error was the main reason behind the crash, it also blamed air controllers and poor lighting at Smolensk for the accident.

Star of the headlines since a New York maid accused him of sexually assaulting her, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, a previous favourite to run against French President Nicholas Sarkozy in the 2012 presidential elections, is now embroiled in two different cases both serious charges of attempted rape and sexual assault. In order to better understand the affairs, here is a review of each cases, and the women behind them.