Three MPs and a peer tell a court they are not guilty of charges of false accounting in relation to their expenses claims.

Plans for a new high-speed rail line between London and Birmingham are announced by Transport Secretary Lord Adonis.

A man with learning difficulties dies outside his Greater Manchester home after suffering years of abuse from youths.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw meets the mother of murdered toddler James Bulger to discuss the return to prison of one of her son's killers.

Chancellor Alistair Darling warns people not to expect a "giveaway" when he unveils the government's Budget later this month.

Sebastian Pinera is sworn in as president of quake-hit Chile, as a 7.2-magnitude aftershock strikes the centre of the country.

First results from Iraq's election show PM Nouri Maliki's grouping leading in two southern provinces, officials say.

The Foreign Office says a five-year-old boy from Oldham kidnapped in Pakistan has not been released.