POLITICS

Pakistan appear to be sliding into a mix of political and ethnic violence a little bit more every day and as violent protests have gripped the country's largest city for the fourth straight day, on Friday police and paramilitary troops were given orders to shoot suspected assailants on sight.

Andy Coulson arrested in connection with phone hacking and illegal payments to corrupt police officers

While its AntiSec campaign continues, Anonymous hackers have released a recruitment video for a new three phase coordinated plan it promises will change the world.

Syria accused the United States of meddling after the US ambassador visited the flashpoint city of Hama, where hundreds have fled fearing a crackdown ahead of anti-regime demonstrations on Friday.Despite the US State Department insisting Mr Ford's visit was to show solidarity with protesters, reports incriminating the U.S rapidly emerged in the media, with some news agencies even reporting that the ambassador had come to hold talks with the opposition.

An earthquake registering 5.6 on the Richter Scale shook the Pacific off Honshu, Japan, the U.S. Geological Survey said Thursday.

Thunderstorms threatened to delay the last space shuttle launch, set for today, and a lightning strike near the pad briefly caused NASA engineers to question whether the launch should take place at all.

Has David Cameron's image been tarnished by the phone scandal that saw the end of the News of the World.

Thousands converged onto Cairo's Tahrir Square on Friday ahead of mass rallies planned nationwide to push the ruling military council to speed up the pace of reform, an AFP correspondent said.

While announcing that the U.K. had exceeded its target to reduce its carbon emissions, Energy Secretary Chris Huhne warned that global warming and its affects could reverse the progress of civilisation leading to all-out wars between nations.

Andy Coulson is set to be arrested on Friday morning over allegations of his involvement in the News of the World phone hacking scandal

A gunman opened fire in two homes in the US state of Michigan on Thursday and killed seven people, including two children.Following the killing, the man attempted to escape police forces and was chased through the city centre, taking three hostages with him.

James Murdoch has revealed that this Sunday's News of the World will be the last edition.

Residents of New Zealand's second city of Christchurch will be provided with more mental health and counselling services after they had to endure thousands of minor earthquakes and aftershocks over the last 10 months in addition to the major quakes of February and June.

The US has warned airlines of a potential threat from militants surgically implanting explosives.The Department of Homeland Security recently issued a memo to security officials and foreign counterparts alerting them to the threat of "body packing".

With the U.K. this week, joining the growing cacophony of countries calling for a unified global anti-cybercrime agency, analysts have already begun to question whether such a response could actually deal with hacking collectives like Anonymous.

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has pledged his support to South Sudan, which gains its independence from the north on Saturday.

Some 30 children and their teachers have been freed unharmed after being held hostage for several hours at their kindergarten in Malaysia.Police used tear gas before storming the compound in a suburb of Muar town in Johor state.

Somalia is close to famine, causing over a 1,000 people a day to travel over the border into Kenya and Ethiopia, according to the United Nations.

A round up of all the news from the British newspapers for 7th July 2011.

A tsunami sparked by a powerful 7.6-magitude quake failed to materialise on New Zealand's shores, but Civil Defence says people should expect high tides within the next 24 hours.

After its hacker allies RedHack enacted successful attacks against over 1000 Turkish websites in the name of Operation Anti-Security, Anonymous has re-joined the fight hacking a further 74 Turkish Government owned websites.

A senior Chinese diplomat visited the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi and met members of the opposition, state media said Thursday, as Beijing becomes more deeply engaged in the war-torn nation.Chen Xiaodong, in charge of North African affairs at the foreign ministry, met with officials of the opposition's National Transitional Council (NTC), the official Xinhua news agency said.

David Cameron has announced a new data revolution which will allow members of the public to see how their local services are performing

China's official media on Thursday rejected recent reports suggesting former president Jiang Zemin had died, describing them as "pure rumour".

Just after announcing its latest complaint against Samsung, it has been revealed that Apple has been denied its request to force Amazon to stop using the "Appstore" title for its digital download shop.

The UK will withdraw another 500 troops from Afghanistan next year, as armed forces begin to transfer combat duties to the Afghan security forces, the prime minister announced on Wednesday.

iPhone and iPad maker Apple has filed another complaint, this time to the U.S. International Trade Commission attempting to block the import of Samsung smartphones and tablets.

Just after the Italian Police reported the successful arrest of several Anonymous members the hacker collective posted a statement promising revenge attacks.

The events of the last week may have shaken any faith that people may have had in journalistic standards in Britain.