British Airways has announced the cancellation of all its flights for two days next week from London's Heathrow airport, and many from Gatwick, due to a planned strike by cabin crew.

The European Union's highest court has ruled that Britain's pension rules provide inadequate protection to workers whose companies go bankrupt.

The government will stand firm in a row with the Catholic church over proposed laws on adoption by gay couples, a cabinet minister has said.

Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has offered 24.3 million pounds at the Paris donors' conference for Lebanon to assist Palestinian refugees.

Manchester United captain Gary Neville is glad that former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson did not become the manager at the club.

An attempt by Brazilian steelmaker CSN to buy Anglo-Dutch group Corus could be blown off course by a legal row in Brazil, a business daily has reported.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is lining up Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini to replace Jose Mourinho in case the Blues manager leaves at the end of the season.

Officials in India are embarrassed over an open invitation to Jade Goody, tormentor of Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty on a reality TV show, to visit India, a newspaper reported.

The Grenadier Guards, the celebrated 350-year-old British military regiment, have appointed the first ever black officer in their history, the defence ministry has confirmed.

The British defence ministry denied there was any rift with the United States over the two countries' plans for troop levels in Iraq following comments made by the US ambassador to the war-torn country.

Julio Baptista scored twice as Arsenal staged a superb fightback to earn a 2-2 draw in the first leg of their League Cup semi-final at Tottenham.

Leading shares have ended sharply higher, boosted by strength in energy and banking stocks, with investors hoping the recent run of interest rate hikes may soon be coming to an end.

The pound slipped further after Bank of England minutes revealed that the decision to raise interest rates earlier this month was made thanks to an unexpectedly close 5-4 vote.

Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett has accused Iran and Syria of spitting in the eye of the West, but vowed to continue trying to engage with them due to their regional importance.

Christie's auction house has gone ahead with a controversial sale of former Greek king George I's belongings, despite a call from Athens to halt it.

Six men accused of plotting to bomb London's public transport failed because the detonators of their home-made devices were not powerful enough, a forensic expert has told their trial.

The government will take action against anyone found to have colluded with paramilitary killers in Northern Ireland in a damning report this week, Prime Minister Tony Blair has said.

British Airways has said that trade union officials have called off the first 24 hours of a planned three-day strike by the airline's cabin crew.

A committee of lawmakers has criticised Prime Minister Tony Blair's government over the cost of London's 2012 Olympics, saying they were "very disappointed" over spiralling estimates.

Bank of England policymakers voted narrowly for a surprise interest rate increase to 5.25 percent in January, dampening the outlook for another quarter-point rise next month.