Prime Minister Gordon Brown is demanding the "immediate and unconditional" release of British hostages being held in Iraq, following a militant group's claim that one of five men they kidnapped last year had committed suicide.

Gordon Brown is holding talks with both Israeli and Palestinian leaders on his first visit to Jerusalem as prime minister.

A British schoolgirl is in a serious condition in Italy after reportedly falling 30 feet from her hotel window.

Patients groups have criticised plans to pay surgeons bonuses linked to their performance on the operating table.

A 16-year-old arrested in connection with the fatal stabbing of an 18-year-old who died just yards from his south London home has been released on bail, police said.

Gordon Brown's Labour Party is trailing the Conservatives by more than 20 points nationally, according to an opinion poll released ahead of Thursday's Glasgow East by-election.

The Camden Primary Care Trust had an "informal meeting" with Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group earlier this year, it is confirmed.

The Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) is "researching" Scotland Yard contracts that were awarded to a company owned by a friend of Sir Ian Blair.

Assurances from the US that it does not use torture can no longer be relied upon by the British authorities, an MPs' report has warned.

England's exams regulator is in discussions with the company behind this year's Sats fiasco to ensure that there is no repeat of the problems which delayed the delivery of millions of schoolchildren's test results.

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