South African Women's Minister Lulu Xingwana apologises for saying that Afrikaner men were raised to believe that women and children were their property.

More than 40% of councils in England are planning to increase council tax this year, despite being offered cash incentives to freeze bills.

India's finance minister announces an unexpected rise in public spending for the next financial year in an attempt to revive its sluggish economy.

Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg is to lead this year's Cannes Film Festival jury, organisers announce.

Spain's troubled Bankia - formed of the merger of seven savings banks - has made a record loss despite being bailed out with 18bn euros.

Rory Cellan-Jones on the future of Near Field Communication

The head of Mexico's teachers' union, Elba Esther Gordillo, appears in court and is charged with embezzlement and organised crime.

Union head Elba Esther Gordillo, considered Mexico's most powerful woman, has been charged with the use of illicit funds and conspiracy.

Mark Mardell on budget deadlines and government by crisis

Natascha Kampusch has attended some of the first screenings of a film based on her kidnap ordeal

In the coming weeks, the most expensive film ever made in Norway, Kon-Tiki, will open up at cinemas around the world.

Spiralling costs and poor quality legal services are adding to the misery of divorce, the Legal Ombudsman for England and Wales says.

The number of High Street stores closed by retail chains in Britain has soared over the past 12 months, according to research.

Australian police announce the country's largest-ever seizure of the drug methamphetamine, hidden in a shipment from China.

A team led by millionaire and former space tourist Dennis Tito plans to send a "tested couple" to Mars and back in a privately funded mission.

The Japanese government nominates Haruhiko Kuroda to be the next governor of the country's central bank.

Neil Heslin, the father of a boy slain in a mass school shooting in December, has broken down in tears at a US Senate hearing on a proposed assault weapons ban.

The father of a six-year-old boy killed in a mass school shooting in December breaks down in tears at a Senate hearing on a bill to ban assault weapons.