Director general denies he compromised the BBC's independence by visiting Downing Street to discuss coverage of the government's spending cuts.

Portuguese judges find an ex-ambassador, a former TV presenter and five others guilty over the sexual abuse of children.

Nigel Farage says he will stand for the leadership of the UK Independence Party, a position he held until last year.

A weakened hurricane Earl skirts past North Carolina's Outer Banks and continues up the US east coast as a "category two" storm.

Two women who were arrested after trying to take a dead relative on to a plane at Liverpool John Lennon Airport will not face charges.

Police in Mozambique's capital fire rubber bullets on the third day of riots, as the violence spreads to the central city of Chimoio.

BP says the cost of its Gulf of Mexico oil spill has risen to $8bn - a rise of more than $2bn in the last month alone.

A bomb kills at least 42 people at a Shia Muslim rally in the south-western city of Quetta, the second attack on Pakistan's religious minority in days.

The United Nations' food agency calls a special meeting of policy makers to discuss the recent rapid rises in food prices.

A teenager pleads not guilty to murdering her 61-year-old father along with three other people.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians are doomed to fail, in the first regional reaction to the talks.

A former MI6 worker is given a 12-month jail sentence for trying to sell top secret material for £2m.

Lord Prescott says he is prepared to take legal action to find out whether News of The World journalists hacked into his phone messages.

Two police officers are suspended from driving duties after crashing a car they had seized from a suspected drink-driver.

Veteran broadcaster Sarah Kennedy is leaving BBC Radio 2's Dawn Patrol show - 34 years after joining the station

Several "potential victims of human trafficking" have been rescued in raids on suspected brothels in Belfast, police say.

A pathologist at the centre of a row over the death of a man during the G20 protests is suspended from the medical register for three months.

The former Liberal Democrat MP Sir Cyril Smith has died, aged 82, the party confirms.

The US economy shed another 54,000 jobs in August, the third month in a row that jobs have been lost, official figures show.

Rory Cellan-Jones tries out 3D video equipment and looks at the latest ultra thin and bright OLED TVs.