The pound weakens further against the euro, seeing its biggest one-day falls in almost three years, on continuing signs the eurozone economy is improving.

More than 150 nightclubs, restaurants and bars in Brazil are declared unsafe and closed by authorities, following a fire that killed 236 people.

Google agrees to set up a fund to help French media to solve a row with news sites that demanded payment for the search giant to display their links.

Africa Cup of Nations organisers say 43,000 tickets remain unsold for the two semi-finals, in Durban and Nelspruit.

Egyptian protesters have clashed with police outside the presidential palace in Cairo, after a week of violence in which more than 60 people were killed.

The substance found on hundreds of seabirds washed up on the south coast is a "mixture of refined mineral oils", the Environment Agency says.

A suicide bomber attacks an entrance of the US embassy in the Turkish capital, Ankara, killing a security guard, officials say.

Researchers believe that most of the Timbuktu's ancient manuscripts had been moved to safe locations and have not been destroyed, as was feared.

Male artists dominate a listeners' poll to find BBC Radio 6 Music's top 100 tracks of the past 10 years, with Coldplay's Clocks at number one.

Sir Alex Ferguson denies an FA charge over comments he made about an official after a game at Tottenham.

Nigeria's military says it has killed 17 insurgents in helicopter-backed raids on two training camps belonging to the Boko Haram Islamist group.

A Metropolitan Police detective who tried to sell information on the phone-hacking probe to the News of the World is sentenced to 15 months in prison.

Photographer Stephen McLaren's explores New Orleans

Sony is to stop making MiniDisc hi-fi stereo systems, the last of the playback devices it made for the format which it invented.

A Japanese pop star has shaved her head and offered a filmed apology after breaking her management firm's rules by spending a night with her boyfriend.

Men who donate sperm can apply to seek a role in the lives of their biological children, the High Court has ruled.

Why some adults find it tough to wave goodbye to teddy

Algeria are out of the Africa Cup of Nations to the disappointment of Abdulkader Belqadi, a die-hard fan who bought a scooter to follow Les Fennecs (Desert Foxes) around South Africa.

The BBC's Richard Galpin has been given access to the In Amenas gas facility in Algeria, where only a few weeks ago 48 foreign workers were taken hostage and killed by Islamic militants.

A man once labelled Sweden's worst serial killer, Sture Bergwall, secures retrials for three murders after withdrawing confessions made in the 1990s.