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	Thursday, 17 July, 2008, 1:00 GMT 09:00 +08:00:Asia/Shanghai




TOP STORIES

	Migrant criminal network exposed A network of criminality in one of the UK's largest illegal immigrant communities is exposed by a BBC News investigation.

	Compensation call over Equitable The government is told to set up a compensation fund for policyholders in the Equitable Life and apologise for past regulatory failures.

	Better support for forces on way Better support for armed forces personnel, veterans and their families is set to be announced by the government.

	Huge gap in world cancer survival There is a huge variation in cancer survival rates across the world, an in-depth global study shows.

	Brown defends fuel duty decision The planned 2p fuel duty rise is postponed - but Gordon Brown denies the move is linked to next week's by-election.




WORLD

	Beirut welcomes freed prisoners Hezbollah's leader gives a personal welcome in Beirut to militants released by Israel in return for two soldiers' remains.

	Betancourt rescuer wore Red Cross Colombia's president admits a Red Cross symbol was worn by one of the military team that freed 15 hostages from Farc rebels.

	Dozens die in Egypt train crash At least 37 people are killed in a collision between a train and several vehicles at a level crossing in northern Egypt.




AFRICA

	Thousands flee Nigerian militants Thousands of people have fled the Niger Delta town of Bonny after militants threaten to "behead" residents.

	Zimbabwe inflation at 2,200,000% Zimbabwe's annual rate of inflation has increased to 2,200,000%, official figures show.

	Malaria gene 'increases HIV risk' A gene which protects against malaria increases vulnerability to HIV infection by 40%, say scientists.




AMERICAS

	Betancourt rescuer wore Red Cross Colombia's president admits a Red Cross symbol was worn by one of the military team that freed 15 hostages from Farc rebels.

	Court seeks to stay US executions The US is advised not to execute five Mexican nationals on death row by the International Court of Justice in the Hague.

	US inflation rate at 17-year high US inflation rises at its fastest annual rate in 17 years in June, figures show, driven by rising energy prices.




ASIA-PACIFIC

	Malaysia's Anwar Ibrahim arrested Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim is arrested over allegations of sodomy, in a move that elevates political tensions.

	Thai-Cambodia stand-off continues Cambodian and Thai officials call for dialogue as a military stand-off at an ancient border temple enters a second day.

	Stand-off at Beijing 'nail house' A Beijing family is defying a court order to leave its home - a potentially embarrassing row in the Olympics run-up.




EUROPE

	Irish wary of 'second vote' idea Irish ministers look askance at the French president's remark that the Republic of Ireland should vote again on the Lisbon Treaty.

	Turkish court adviser backs AKP An adviser to Turkey's Constitutional Court recommends it should not shut down the governing AK Party, officials say.

	Italy plans to extend ID scheme Italy's government seeks to defuse a row over its ID scheme for Roma people by proposing everyone is fingerprinted.




MIDDLE EAST

	Beirut welcomes freed prisoners Hezbollah's leader gives a personal welcome in Beirut to militants released by Israel in return for two soldiers' remains.

	Saudi king appeals for tolerance King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia calls on all faiths to turn from extremism at the opening of an interfaith conference in Madrid.

	Dozens die in Egypt train crash At least 37 people are killed in a collision between a train and several vehicles at a level crossing in northern Egypt.




SOUTH ASIA

	US troops abandon Afghan outpost American troops abandon a remote village in eastern Afghanistan where militants killed nine US soldiers on Sunday.

	Afghan team probes 'nuclear dump' The Afghan president sets up a team to investigate claims Pakistan dumped nuclear waste in South Afghanistan.

	Migrant criminal network exposed A network of criminality in one of the UK's largest illegal immigrant communities is exposed by a BBC News investigation.




UK

	Migrant criminal network exposed A network of criminality in one of the UK's largest illegal immigrant communities is exposed by a BBC News investigation.

	Better support for forces on way Better support for armed forces personnel, veterans and their families is set to be announced by the government.

	Brown defends fuel duty decision The planned 2p fuel duty rise is postponed - but Gordon Brown denies the move is linked to next week's by-election.




ENGLAND

	Canoe man 'begged to come home' The wife of a man who faked his own death told police he had begged her to let him come home after disappearing, a court hears.

	Pair guilty in river murder case Two 18-year-old men are found guilty of murdering a teenager who was beaten and thrown into a Bedfordshire river.

	Soham inquiry changes 'not made' The government is criticised for failing to implement almost a third of the recommendations made after the Soham murders.




NORTHERN IRELAND

	Death driver's sentence increase The Court of Appeal increases the sentence of a teenage drunk driver who killed two men in County Down.

	Men released over police shooting Three men are released without charge in Londonderry over the attempted murder of an off-duty policeman in the city last year.

	Pollution kills fish in Co Tyrone At least one hundred fish have been found dead in a river in County Tyrone.




SCOTLAND

	Man due in court over Moira death A 32-year-old man is returned to Scotland from Slovakia in connection with the murder of Moira Jones.

	Parties countdown to by-election Political parties campaign hard in Glasgow East on Thursday with the by-election vote just over a week away.

	Glasgow graduates suffer for art Fewer graduates from Glasgow School of Art are employed or studying than elsewhere in the UK.




WALES

	Mother's mental health petition A woman whose son was among a series of apparent suicides in Bridgend county petitions for improved services.

	Police hunt flat fire arsonists Officers are investigating a flat fire in which 13 residents were evacuated in the middle of the night.

	Severn tidal 'fence' idea floated Rivals to a £15bn Severn barrage project put forward an alternative tidal energy plan.




POLITICS

	Brown defends fuel duty decision The planned 2p fuel duty rise is postponed - but Gordon Brown denies the move is linked to next week's by-election.

	MPs vote to review expenses rules MPs take a step towards reforming their controversial system of expenses for second homes.

	Witness anonymity bill is passed Emergency legislation to allow witnesses in sensitive criminal trials to give evidence anonymously clears Parliament.




BUSINESS

	Compensation call over Equitable The government is told to set up a compensation fund for policyholders in the Equitable Life and apologise for past regulatory failures.

	Banking rally boosts US markets Better news from the banking sector and a further sharp fall in oil prices boost US stock markets.

	EU to target rogue download firms Hundreds of mobile phone download sites are expected to be investigated after an EU-wide sweep of services.




ENTERTAINMENT

	Ronnie Wood is admitted to rehab Rolling Stone guitarist Ronnie Wood is admitted to rehab, a spokeswoman for the star confirms.

	Brand apologises for prank call Comedian Russell Brand apologises for making a hoax call to the police during a show on stage in Northampton.

	Injury forces Tate to cancel show The first public performance of a play starring Catherine Tate was cancelled because the actress suffered an ankle injury.




SCIENCE/NATURE

	Sea die-out blamed on volcanoes Undersea volcanic activity has been blamed for a mass extinction in the seas 93 million years ago.

	Fishing ban brings seas to life Five years without fishing around the UK's Lundy Island have led to revival of its lobsters and other sea life.

	Malaria gene 'increases HIV risk' A gene which protects against malaria increases vulnerability to HIV infection by 40%, say scientists.




TECHNOLOGY

	Nintendo shows off new Wii add-on Nintendo unveils a highly-sensitive motion controller add-on for its Wii system at the E3 conference in Los Angeles.

	Blizzard wins Warcraft bot battle World of Warcraft maker Blizzard has won the first stage of a legal battle with the maker of software that automates game play.

	NZ teenage hacker charges dropped A New Zealand teenager who admitted to taking part in an international cyber-crime network is freed without a conviction.




HEALTH

	'Wide variations' in Ritalin use Prescribing rates for the attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drug Ritalin vary widely across England, figures show.

	Huge gap in world cancer survival There is a huge variation in cancer survival rates across the world, an in-depth global study shows.

	Diabetes limb loss 'could be cut' A discovery by scientists may help reduce the risk of people with diabetes losing a limb.




EDUCATION

	Test pupils were marked 'absent' Test papers are being returned unmarked with pupils wrongly recorded as having been absent.

	Balls: 'Test delays unacceptable' Schools Secretary Ed Balls tells MPs lessons must be learned from problems with this year's marking of Sats tests.

	Degree standards 'need scrutiny' The university watchdog is to face MPs over worries about degree standards.

ON THIS DAY NEWS FROM THE BBC ARCHIVES

1976: African countries boycott Olympics
The opening ceremony of the 21st Olympic games in Montreal is marred by the withdrawal of 25 African countries.

1979: Sandinista rebels take Nicaraguan capital
The left-wing Sandinistas take control of the Nicaragua after 46 years of dictatorial rule by the Somoza family.

1974: Bomb blast at the Tower of London
An explosion in the Tower of London leaves one person dead and 41 injured.

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