POLITICS

According to BBC news, Somalia's al-Shabab Islamists have denied lifting their ban on Western aid agencies and say UN reports of famine are "sheer propaganda".The UN on Wednesday said that parts of Somalia were suffering a famine after the worst drought in 60 years, and millions of people are desperately trying to survive.

Euro Crisis: Is The Greek Package Simply a Selective Default?

Beer has just become officially classified as alcoholic in Russia, after President Dmitry Medvedev signed a bill to try and grasp control on sales of the drink.

Euro Crisis Divides British Government

Scotland Yard have announced that the police team investigating phone-hacking has increased from 45 to 60 officers, amid speculation that the investigation may start to look at other newspapers beside NOTW.

Reports that Eurozone leaders have reached a provisional agreement on how to tackle the debt crises in the Eurozone have pushed up global stock markets.

Four elderly Kenyans today won a ruling which takes them one step nearer to winning damages from the Government over alleged colonial atrocities during the Mau Mau uprising.

The law firm that Rupert Murdoch claims failed to raise awareness over evidence of police bribes at News International will now be given the chance to give their version of events to police and MP's, after previously being prevented from doing so by client-lawyer confidentiality.

Hacker collectives LulzSec and Anonymous have sent a new message to the U.S. FBI after the law enforcement agency promised to increase the ferocity of its campaign against hacking.

Prince Andrew is expected to stand down as Britain's trade envoy, four months after his links to a sex offender prompted calls for him to resign

A magnitude-6.2 earthquake hit off the Solomon Islands in the Pacific Ocean northeast of Australia on Thursday morning, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

Chinese President Hu Jintao told his South African counterpart, Jacob Zuma, on Thursday that China will continue to work with the African Union in finding a solution to the Libyan crisis, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Stepping Hill Hospital Sabotage: Two More Patients Die

A tweet posted by hacker collective LulzSec indicates that the group is delaying the release of the Sun newspaper's email database to ensure that it does not hamper the police's ongoing investigation of News International.

A teenager is "lucky to be alive" having drunk 44 pints of cider before attacking a promising young footballer, a court heard.

Beware, Superman, Batman or even Spiderman, Al Qaeda sympathisers are planning to produce a children's cartoon film to inspire young Muslim viewers to take up armed violence against the West, so Superjihadist might soon appear on the screens, security specialists who monitor militant websites say.

As the Muslim world prepares to enter Ramadan, it seems that Libya's rebels asked France for extra arms to help them overrun Tripoli within "days", indicating they are preparing for a pre-Ramadan offensive against Muammar Gaddafi' s forces.

The Somali president issued an urgent appeal for international aid as his drought-stricken country faces a famine that has left half of the population in dire need."The situation is very severe. The conditions are very harsh," President Sheikh Sharif Sheik Ahmed told CNN Wednesday during an exclusive interview at his residence in Mogadishu.

Britain's Chancellor George Osborne has warned European leaders to 'get a grip' ahead of the Brussels Summit later today or risk a financial crisis that would be as deep as the 2008 recession

China says the Philippines infringed its sovereignty on Wednesday by sending a delegation of politicians to a disputed island in the South China Sea.Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said China had "indisputable sovereignty" over the island, in the Spratlys chain.

A wild leopard has mauled six people after it strayed into an Indian village in an attack that was caught on camera.The big feline first attacked a forest guard at Prakash Nagar village in West Bengal.

Eurozone leaders will meet in Brussels today to discuss a deal to save both the Euro and the Greek economy

Thrust into the spotlight after she defended Rupert Murdoch from a shaving foam attack during the select committee hearing; is Wendi Deng more than just a loyal wife to the powerful media mogul?

The Libyan conflict is now being treated as a civil war, but while the Transitional National Council (TNC) is now recognised as the legitimate representative of the people of Libya by various international states including the U.K., France and most recently, the U.S., not much is known about who the Libyan people really support.

Thirteen people were killed in a powerful earthquake that hit Uzbekistan's heavily populated Ferghana Valley region early Wednesday, emergency officials said.A magnitude-6.2 quake in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan hit shortly after midnight in a mountainous area some 22 miles (35 kilometres) away from the eastern Uzbek city of Ferghana, which has a population of more than 200,000.

Unions have criticised Government plans to increase competition for the NHS and give patients greater choice, for fear that it will pave the way for widespread privatisation.

Political donations by News Corp., its employees and their families were evenly split between Democrats and Republicans, with President Obama the all-time leading recipient, according to a report from the Sunlight Foundation.

Although the Islamist group banned television during its time in power between 1996 and 2001, since being ousted of power by the U.S. after being accused of harbouring al Qaeda militants blamed for the September 11 attacks on the United States, the Islamist group has increasingly become aware of the necessity to use new technology and its communication tools now includes websites, mobile phone text messages, emails and posts on Twitter and Facebook.

Former tabloid editor Piers Morgan has demanded an apology from an MP who made claims about him admitting to phone hacking, at the London hearing on Tuesday which quizzed Rupert Murdoch.