Two women who were repeatedly abused and raped by their father for three decades - bearing seven of his children - have received an unreserved apology from authorities who failed to protect them.

Gordon Brown has admitted that recession-hit Britain faces more "bumps in the road" - but declared he has the character to lead the country to economic recovery.

Blue comic Roy 'Chubby' Brown hit a 21-year-old woman in the face during a foul-mouthed dispute in a supermarket car park, a court has been told.

More than half of Britons would rather shift excess weight through drastic surgery than diet or exercise, a poll has suggested.

A motorist has escaped a driving ban after being caught playing chicken with a train on a railway crossing.

A man who sold alcohol to a child on Facebook has been given a 12-month community order, police said.

Football-mad Gordon Brown made a request to appear alongside former stars of the game on TV's Match of the Day 2, but was turned down.

A coroner has warned of the dangers of climbing into commercial wheelie bins after a teacher was found dead among rubbish at a waste transfer site after a night out drinking in a seaside city.

Paris gossips were trying to sort out fact from fiction as the blogosphere raised tantalising questions about the glamorous pop 'n' politics marriage of President Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni.

The father of a five-year-old British boy held captive in Pakistan has returned to the UK, sources said.

Mystery surrounds the death of 75 starlings after they crashed on to a driveway, an animal charity said.

A father who stabbed his teenage daughter to death and then drove her dead body around for 10 hours has been found guilty of murder.

A former head of MI5 has claimed that US intelligence agencies had deliberately concealed their mistreatment of terror suspects.

Two British plane spotters are back home after avoiding a 10-year sentence in an Indian jail on spying charges.

Katie Price has insisted her marriage to Alex Reid is "legal" and genuine.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has sent his "sincere condolences" to the family and friends of three asylum seekers who died in an apparent suicide.

Boris Berezovsky has won £150,000 High Court libel damages over claims on a Russian TV broadcast about the radiation poisoning murder of Alexander Litvinenko.

The failure to rehabilitate tens of thousands of serial criminals is costing the country up to £10 billion a year, a report has said.

A female deputy head of a special school had sex with one of her pupils four times in the toilets of the British Library, a court heard.

Tess Daly has said her marriage to fellow TV presenter husband Vernon Kay is "worth fighting for" after he admitted sending explicit messages to a string of women.

Northern Rock will pay £14.9 million in bonuses to staff after losses narrowed last year.

Andrew Lloyd Webber and stars of Love Never Dies have received a standing ovation at the world premiere of the stage musical.

A psychiatric assessment of James Bulger killer Jon Venables compiled prior to his release said he posed only a "trivial" risk to the public, it has been reported.

Hopes of a deal to avert a strike by thousands of British Airways cabin crew are hanging in the balance after a deadline to reach an agreement was extended.

Rules to improve child protection introduced after the Baby P tragedy may in fact leave vulnerable youngsters at greater risk, council leaders have warned.

Supermarket giant Asda is to offer 15,000 youngsters the chance of a week's worth of "real" work experience rather than simply making tea or running errands, it has been announced.

Andrew Lloyd Webber and stars of Love Never Dies received a standing ovation at the world premiere of the stage musical.

Fraud losses on UK credit and debit cards fell by 28% during 2009 as a raft of industry initiatives paid off, figures have shown.

Training of troops involved in an operation which led to the death of the first female British soldier in Afghanistan was inadequate, a coroner said.

The British National Party has been accused of "indirectly" discriminating against black and Asian people even though the party no longer bars them from joining.

The decision of the Northern Ireland Assembly to agree to the devolution of policing and justice powers will build on the gains of the peace process, the British and Irish governments have said.

Tributes have been paid to two British soldiers killed on the same day in Afghanistan.

The Football Association has launched an inquiry after England football boss Fabio Capello and his players were bugged during a pre-match meeting.

Hopes of a deal to avert a strike by thousands of British Airways cabin crew are hanging in the balance after a deadline to reach an agreement was extended.

The police force monitoring serial sex attacker Peter Chapman before he fled to kidnap, rape and murder Ashleigh Hall has referred itself to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Dog owners could be required to insure themselves against the risk of their pet attacking someone, Home Secretary Alan Johnson has announced.

Fresh walkouts by civil servants are expected in the coming weeks following a 48-hour strike which union leaders said had caused huge disruption to public services across the UK.

BBC Trust chairman Sir Michael Lyons has hit back at the body's critics, saying it should not be replaced by a "glorified complaints office".

The BBC should stop scrabbling for audiences and worrying about how to get "an extra million idiots" to watch shows like Snog, Marry, Avoid?, radio presenter Libby Purves said.

A jealous lover has been given a life jail term and ordered to serve at least 22 years for killing his girlfriend after seeing her on Facebook with another man.

A prisoner detained under mental health laws for slitting the throat of a butcher is being hunted by police after escaping from hospital.

The husband of a pregnant woman has been remanded in custody charged with attempting to murder her and her eight-year-old son after a car blast in a village.

Labour donor Lord Paul has said he is prepared to give up his controversial non-dom status and pay full tax in the UK.

James Bulger killer Jon Venables could be murdered by vengeful vigilantes if his new identity is revealed, the judge who granted his anonymity has warned.

Hospital patients are routinely treated in TV rooms, mop cupboards and corridors because hospitals are too full, a survey has suggested.

There were fresh indications that the general election could produce a hung Parliament with polls showing the Tories failing to secure an overall majority.

Crucial talks aimed at averting strikes by British Airways cabin crew are set to end on Tuesday with time running out on reaching a deal before industrial action is called.

A group of neighbours are expected to stage a demonstration to remember three asylum seekers who died after they fell from a high-rise block of flats.