News

Normal service has resumed on London's Tube network following a 24-hour strike that caused severe disruption. Passengers had to use alternative methods of transport as almost every line was hit by the walkout over jobs. Unions said the action was given "rock solid" support by its members and are planning further strikes in October and November. Transport for London (TfL) maintained more than a third of Lond  Read More...

Customers of Orange and T-Mobile will soon be able to hop between the two mobile networks. The deal is one of the first practical benefits from the recent merger of the two firms, which have 30 million customers combined. The network sharing deal is limited to 2G signals, meaning that customers will see little benefit when using the mobile web. Analysts said that T-Mobile had the most to gain from the merge  Read More...

One of the world's highest paid bankers, Bob Diamond, is to become chief executive of Barclays. The American, who has made about £100m as head of the bank's investment arm Barclays Capital, will replace the current chief executive John Varley next year. Mr Varley was credited with steering Barclays through the financial crisis. Meanwhile, HSBC chairman Stephen Green is also moving on to become a gov  Read More...

Limited services are operating on most London Underground lines after the first in a series of 24-hour strikes crippled the network. Millions of Tube passengers faced major disruption as services on all but the Northern Line were suspended or delayed for most of the morning rush hour. Staff walked out in two waves at 1700 BST and 2100 BST on Monday in a row over job cuts. Unions said support for the ac  Read More...

Four of the "big six" UK energy suppliers are to be investigated amid concerns of mis-selling to customers, the regulator has announced. Npower, Scottish Power, Scottish and Southern Energy, and EDF Energy all face questions over face-to-face and telephone sales of energy contracts. Ofgem said it had received information from a variety of sources suggesting they could have breached new rules. The quartet sai  Read More...

Teachers' unions are branding the government's plan for an expansion of academies in England as a "failure". But Education Secretary Michael Gove said he was "quite encouraged", as the government confirmed that 32 new-style academies are to be launched this term. Outstanding schools were invited to take academy status and opt out of local authority control. A government spokesman said the tight timescale e  Read More...

President Obama has hailed the end of US combat operations in Iraq, saying the US has paid a "a huge price" to "put Iraq's future in its people's hands". In a speech delivered in a rare Oval Office address, he said he was "awed" by the sacrifice of the US military.
But he said America's "most urgent task" was now to "restore our economy". He said the US would continue to support  Read More...

The UK economy grew by more than initially thought in the second quarter of 2010, boosted by a strong performance by the construction sector. The economy grew by 1.2% in the quarter, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, revising up its initial estimate of 1.1% growth. That was the fastest rate of quarterly expansion recorded since the first three months of 2001. But one area that suffered a big fal  Read More...

More than two-thirds of traffic works on main roads will be completed or suspended for the bank holiday weekend getaway, the Highways Agency had said. The agency, responsible for motorways and major trunk roads in England, said the move would help traffic flows. But motorists heading to the South West faced delays after an eight-vehicle pile-up temporarily closed the M5 at Cullompton, near Exeter. The ba  Read More...

Pupils have achieved another GCSE record, with almost seven out of 10 entries (69.1%) being awarded a C grade or above. Results just out show 22.6% of exams sat in England, Wales and Northern Ireland were awarded an A* or an A, up from 21.6% last year. The pass rate rose for the 23rd year in a row, this year to 98.7% of entries. There has also been a big rise in the number of pupils si  Read More...

The government is to refocus public spending on areas that will boost the UK's long-term economic success, Chancellor George Osborne is to say. Britain can move towards recovery without sacrificing growth or becoming less fair, he will tell the City. The future is not about how much government spends, but what it does with the money, he will say. But Labour accused Mr Osborne o  Read More...

UK inflation eased to 3.1% in July from 3.2% in June, the third month in a row that prices have risen more slowly. However, the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) is still well above the Bank of England's 2% target rate. The Retail Prices Index (RPI) slowed to 4.8% from 5% in June, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. The governor of the Bank of England will now have to write to the cha  Read More...

Talks have begun to try to avert strike action that could close six UK airports later this month. The talks between BAA and the Unite union are talking place at the central London offices of the conciliation service Acas. Security staff, engineers, and firefighters have voted to strike over a 1.5% pay offer. Strikes could close Heathrow, Stansted, Southampton, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen airports, BAA ha  Read More...

The result of a union ballot that could lead to strike action at BAA airports this month will be revealed later. The Unite union has asked 6,185 of its members who work for BAA to vote for strike action in a dispute over pay. Unite has called BAA's pay offer of a 1% increase this year "paltry", but the company says it is reasonable. BAA has confirmed its airports would have to close on any strike days. It owns  Read More...