National / International News

The case for an independent Scotland retaining the pound in a currency pact with the rest of the UK is not clear, according to Treasury analysis.

A former Dutch foreign ministry worker is jailed for 12 years for passing hundreds of sensitive political and military documents to Russia.

Ministers back down and announce plans to make clear that caste discrimination will be covered by the Equality Act.

HSBC is cutting 3,166 UK jobs as the bank continues efforts to reduce costs.

Chancellor George Osborne has said he found the funeral of Lady Thatcher "emotional and moving", after being asked about whether he wept at the funeral.

One of the UK's top union leaders says Labour can only win the next general election by opposing spending cuts.

The first arrest is made in the investigation into allegations of historical child abuse in north Wales.

EDF is cutting its spending on its planned new nuclear power plant at Hinkley Point in Somerset to control costs, and says it will reduce the number of people working on the project.

A cab driver is jailed for life after murdering a fellow taxi driver in Saughton park in Edinburgh.

Tehran denies any links to al-Qaeda after Canada arrests two men it says were planning to derail a train with support from militant elements in Iran.

BBC One controller Danny Cohen is to be the new director of television, director general Tony Hall says.

ITV's detective drama Broadchurch is commissioned for a second series after 8.9 million viewers watched the final episode.

Is this man the greatest test pilot ever?

Linked by a common currency, the countries in the euro zone are roped together like climbers scaling a cliff face. If one or more loses their footing, the rest  could come crashing down.

That is the threat contained in a survey out today. Markit’s April Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for the euro zone shows Europe’s biggest economy -- that of Germany -- is stumbling. Private sector output in Germany has fallen for the first time since last November.

There was slightly better news from France, where the PMI survey indicated that the private sector contracted at a slower rate in April than before. But Germany’s slowdown seems likely to drag the rest of Europe down with it.

In a recent interview with Marketplace Morning Report host Jeremy Hobson, French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici blamed the euro zone for his country’s economic malaise:

“The problem is the euro zone is the place where we live,” he said. "The difficulty is the euro zone is going to have a second year of recession. It’s very difficult for a country like France to grow when its own environment is weak.”

The PMI survey doesn’t offer much hope of early improvement. Analysts say it indicates that the downturn in the euro zone is intensifying.

On the eve of the Little Master's 40th birthday, BBC Sport asks the experts to pick their favourite Sachin Tendulkar innings.

A baby found dead in a country lane in Greater Manchester lived for two hours, a doctor concludes.

Tributes are being paid to a Scottish holidaymaker who died on a golf course at a Spanish resort.

An idea that the Universe tries to maximise its future disorder, or entropy, seems to drive the development of a wide array of behaviours in simulations.

Russia's Caucasus region has been beset by conflict since the 1990s, and faces an ongoing Islamist insurgency today. Was it also linked to the Boston bombing?

Nokia has won a case calling for HTC to stop using microphone technology developed by the Finnish phone maker.