Secret “doomsday” plans for 20% cuts in public spending are being prepared by senior civil servants, who fear politicians are failing to confront the scale of the budget black hole.

Two BBC bosses have racked up the biggest pensions in the public sector, together worth more than £14m.

Police want to question 30 doctors, nurses and chemists who may have helped to supply Michael Jackson with prescription drugs as his family argue over the final details for his memorial service, which is to be held on Tuesday.

The British Army has been ordered to park up its Challenger 2 tanks for the next three years to release crews to drive the new mine-resistant vehicles in Afghanistan.

Police have described a fire that spread through a residential tower block, killing six people including a three-week-old baby, as “potentially suspicious”.

A once-struggling Iraqi has become rich by working with Americans first as an interpreter and then on construction projects.

Ban Ki-moon said his request to see the democracy leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi had been rejected by Myanmar’s ruling generals.

President Obama is pushing for new global rules, treaties and alliances to establish a nuclear-free world, a vision he developed as a college student.

Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. presided over a naturalization ceremony that included 12 soldiers from Iraq, and his blunt remarks.

One person was killed and four others were critically injured Saturday when a truck carrying fireworks on North Carolina's Outer Banks exploded, officials said.