National / International News

A group of parents form a "vigilante" group to confront paedophiles by posing as young girls online.

A Tory councillor resigns after telling a national newspaper the children of Pakistani families would fail to "rise to the top".

After a US judge held himself in contempt when his mobile phone went off in court, Charles Nevin wonders whether it set a dangerous precedent.

A man accused of killing a British soldier in a Cyprus nightclub changes his plea and admits manslaughter.

The BBC obtains police video showing officers standing by while Buddhist rioters attacked minority Muslims in the flashpoint Burmese town of Meiktila.

A co-accused of Dale Cregan admits the murder of a man in a gun and grenade attack in Manchester.

Prime Minister David Cameron has defended controversial plans to get trainee nurses to first work as healthcare assistants to improve patient care.

The 27-year-old singer wins album, pop album and single of the year for her hit Call Me Maybe.

Liverpool fine Luis Suarez for biting Chelsea's Branislav Ivanovic but insist he still has a future at the club.

The coming end of EU work restrictions for people from Romania and Bulgaria is having little impact on their plans to move, BBC surveys suggest.

The UK government is preparing to sell its one-third stake in Urenco, the world's second-largest provider of nuclear fuel.

Italy's renowned textile industry is changing dramatically. Thousands of mainland Chinese are swarming over to an Italian town near Florence called Prato. They have been able to buy premises cheaply from Italian businesses that are going bust.

Approximately 4,000 Chinese-run clothing factories in Prato are turning out one million garments a day. The demand for cheaply made, mass produced clothing or "fast fashion" forces workers in the crowded factories to keep pace.

Chinese entrepreneur Xu Lin, who's long established in Prato, says that without the Chinese, the situation would be far worse.

"The Chinese are buying Italian wool from companies here. The Chinese are also creating employment for Italians as fast fashion is growing," says Xu.

It may puncture local pride that the Chinese are producing fashion garments faster than the Italians ever could. But driving down prices is only one part of the equation. To the discerning eye, Chinese clothes with the enviable "Made in Italy" label are easily identified as cheap knock-offs of top, catwalk designs.

Lu Chen, a Chinese model who's been living in Milan for five years, says when it comes to fashion design, the Chinese currently lack creativity.

"Lots of Chinese come over to Italy to study design at one of the big fashion schools. But the Chinese are strong only when it comes to copying. I don't feel that they have the same ability as Italians to move fashion forward," says Chen.

Marco Landi is president of the Tuscany branch of trade body CNA, which represents small and medium-sized firms. He and a number of other Italians say the growing number of Chinese millionaires on the mainland could benefit from Italian know-how.

"Chinese buyers need to take on board that the way and quality of life here in Tuscany is the best that there is," he says. "This is reflected in the quality, creativity, inventiveness and detail of our fashion."

The Chinese newcomers have opened up the market in mainland China in a way Italians never could. They've also brought the aspirational "Made in Italy" label to millions who might otherwise be quite happy with their locally-made clothes.

 

Dutch police arrest an ex-British School pupil following a mass shooting threat that led to the closure of schools in the city of Leiden.

A councillor is charged with causing an explosion after a series of blasts saw residents evacuated from their homes in the north Wales town of Denbigh.

Reforms to energy tariffs could leave consumers struggling to find the best deal, says Which?, but the regulator argues the changes have been misrepresented.

Chrissy Amphlett, lead singer of the Divinyls' who had a 1990s hit with I Touch Myself, dies aged 53 in New York surrounded by close friends and family.

Also: A rare recording of Flannery O'Connor speaking on "The Grotesque in Southern Literature," New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg writes a poem; and the best books coming out this week.

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Proposals to help struggling pub tenants are unveiled by the government, including a new code of practice and a "powerful" adjudicator.

An attempt to allow US-style political advertising on British TV fails after European judges rule the UK's blanket ban does not breach free speech.

Bangor City Football Club lodges a complaint after a player was allegedly racially abused during a match.