cuts to the uk's armed forces may leave them unable to fulfil required tasks after 2015, a report by mps has warned. the commons defence committee rejected the prime minister's assurance of a &q

  raids on shops suspected of selling counterfeit alcohol are to be carried out by revenue and customs. prosecutions were made after raids in a pilot scheme at premises in peterborough, newcastle, boston,

  more than 2,000 charities across england have had their funding cut or withdrawn altogether by local councils, according to research. an anti-cuts campaign produced the findings from more than 250 respo

  syrian security forces have fired shells in the city of hama, as prayers ended on the first day of the muslim holy month of ramadan. rights groups say around 130 people have been killed by the authoriti

  us president barack obama has condemned the syrian authorities' crackdown on protesters on sunday, which activists say has left more than 130 dead. mr obama said he was appalled by the government

  the top us military officer has said the border region between afghanistan and pakistan is still the world's most dangerous area, calling it the epicentre of terrorism. in a bbc interview adm mike m

  a nottinghamshire police officer has been charged with two counts of sexual offences against a child. inspector russell dew, 44, based at mansfield police station, is accused of sexual activity with a c

  weekend unrest in kashgar, in china's western xinjiang region, has left at least 15 people dead, state media say. the violence began on saturday when two men killed a truck driver, then drove his lo

  an iranian man who was ordered to be blinded for carrying out an acid attack on a woman has been pardoned by his victim, state television has said. ameneh bahrami had demanded qisas, a rarely used retri

  two knife-wielding men have killed at least six people in an attack in china's western xinjiang region, official media say. the assailants reportedly stabbed a truck driver before attacking a crowd

  troops started moving into the city from several directions at dawn and residents told the bbc there was intense gunfire. at least three tanks were seen near a mosque and there were reports of some resi

labour accuses the government of switching health spending in england away from poorer areas towards richer parts of the country