Middlesbrough is the area of England least resilient to economic shocks, according to BBC-commissioned research.

Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan criticises the tactics of his opponents, in a BBC interview ahead of Sunday's constitutional referendum.

Five-time champion Roger Federer produces a stunning display to beat Robin Soderling and reach the semi-finals of the US Open.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Mexican drug violence is looking increasingly like an insurgency, a comment strongly rejected by Mexico.

A forest fire in the US state of Colorado has destroyed at least 136 homes, officials say.

A mass shooting in a shoe factory in Honduras is blamed on rival street gangs linked to Mexican drug cartels.

The newly appointed head of UN humanitarian relief Lady Valerie Amos has spent her first day in office touring Pakistan.

Mexico has rejected remarks from the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, that drug-related violence in Mexico increasingly has the hallmarks of an insurgency.

The number of shops closing in Britain is slowing but a north-south divide has emerged, a survey by retail analysts the Local Data Company suggests.

A US pastor says he is not "backing down" from plans to burn copies of the Koran on the anniversary of 9/11, despite international condemnation.

Contractors who worked for BP on the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon oil rig criticise the company's report into the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Scientists begin a study to determine if an everyday vitamin supplement could help prevent a common birth defect.

The plight of Commonwealth Games workers in Delhi

A business jet and a passenger plane carrying 232 people came close to a mid-air collision over London in July, a report reveals.

A BP report says "a series of failures" by BP and its contractors were to blame for the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Former newspaper editor and Britain's Got Talent judge Piers will replace US TV presenter Larry King on the US network CNN, it is announced.

Taliban leader Mullah Omar says his fighters are on the verge of victory in Afghanistan and the Nato-led campaign has been "a complete failure".

David Cameron's father Ian dies in hospital in France shortly after the Prime Minister joined other members of his family at his bedside.

A lion lunged at a trainer as stunned onlookers watched in horror, at Las Vegas's MGM Grand Hotel and Casino.

Google speeds up its internet search engine by launching a new product, Google Instant, that displays results as soon as users type in queries.