UK - A criminal trial is to be heard without a jury for the first time in England and Wales after attempts to prosecute a suspected gang of armed robbers was allegedly hit by jury nobbling.
BRUSSELS - European Union leaders agreed in principle on Thursday on tighter rules to supervise banks and on the creation of regional regulatory bodies to help prevent another global economic crisis, EU presidency sources said.
IRAN - More than 100,000 people have attended a "day of mourning" rally in Tehran to remember eight people killed while opposing Iran's election result. The rally was called by presidential challenger, Mir Hossein Mousavi.
WASHINGTON - Norfolk-based group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals wants the flyswatter-in-chief to try taking a more humane attitude the next time he's bedeviled by a fly in the White House. PETA is sending President Barack Obama a Katcha Bug Humane Bug Catcher, A DEVICE THAT ALLOWS USERS TO TRAP A HOUSE FLY AND THEN RELEASE IT OUTSIDE.
WASHINGTON - The National Security Agency is facing renewed scrutiny over the extent of its domestic surveillance program, with critics in Congress saying its recent intercepts of the private telephone calls and e-mail messages of Americans are broader than previously acknowledged, current and former officials said.
YEKATERINBURG, RUSSIA - The global financial crisis has reduced the differences between nations and created the opportunity to form a new world order, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Wednesday.
LYBIA - "Thirteen cases of the plague have been recorded in a village 30 kilometres (20 miles) away from Tobruk. Eleven people have already (been treated and) left hospital," he said, without reporting any deaths.
BRUSSELS - EU leaders are set to grapple with two particularly thorny issues at a summit in Brussels - the Lisbon Treaty and how to tighten financial regulation. The leaders also have the easier task of nominating the conservative Jose Manuel Barroso for a second term as EU Commission president.
GERMANY - Shoppers in Germany will soon be able to buy gold as easily as bars of chocolate after a firm announced plans to install vending machines selling the precious metal across the country.
UK - A group of witches is claiming religious discrimination after church leaders banned them from using its social club.
ST PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - A Florida tent city for hundreds of homeless people lies at the end of a dead-end street, but residents say they have not given up hope of a better life despite the US economic downturn.
UK - The anti-cancer properties of carrots are more potent if the vegetable is not cut up before cooking, research shows. Scientists found "boiled before cut" carrots contained 25% more of the anti-cancer compound falcarinol than those chopped up first.
EUROPE - European Civil Liberties Network, (ECLN) published a Statement calling on civil society groups and individuals to voice their opinions on the EU's Stockholm programme and work towards a democratic Europe.
EUROPE - Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments: "What stands out are the proposals related to the Future Group report. A promise to balance better data protection and EU standards for "Privacy Enhancing Technology" with the law enforcement agencies demands for access to all information and communications.
UK - Marriage should be promoted by the Government to end the 'SOCIAL ANARCHY' of family breakdown, a senior judge said last night. Mr Justice Coleridge accused mothers and fathers who fail to commit to each other of engaging in a game of 'pass the partner' that has left millions of children 'scarred for life'.