| UN considers Syria crisis action |
| The UN Security Council is considering a draft resolution against Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, amid an upsurge in violence. |
|
| NHS 'in peril if shake-up fails' |
| More than 50 GPs involved in new clinical commissioning groups have warned the NHS may be "in peril" if government reforms are derailed. |
|
| Bank scraps charity credit cards |
| Halifax and Bank of Scotland charity credit cards which have helped to raise millions of pounds will be withdrawn, Lloyds Banking Group announces |
|
| Hamid Karzai in Britain for talks |
| The Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, is in Britain to meet David Cameron following France's decision to speed up the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan. |
|
| Brothers face decapitation charge |
| Two brothers are charged with the murder of a man who was found shot, decapitated and burnt in Stockport. |
|
| New Libya torture claims emerge |
| The BBC hears accounts from prison inmates in Libya suggesting that supporters of former leader Col Gaddafi are being tortured in detention. |
|
| Demi Moore 911 call tape released |
| Demi Moore suffered convulsions after smoking an undisclosed substance, according to a tape of an emergency call made on Monday. |
|
| Paisley in pulpit for last time |
| There was standing-room only at Martyrs' Memorial Church in Belfast at a farewell service for the Rev Ian Paisley. |
|
| Fines threat for credit messages |
| Firms face raids and fines of up to £500,000 for sending unsolicited text messages about credit or compensation. |
|
| Sentamu attacks same-sex marriage |
| David Cameron would be acting like a "dictator" if he allowed same-sex unions to be called marriages, says the Archbishop of York. |
|
| Arrests at new Occupy London site |
| Three people are arrested after protesters from the economic justice movement, Occupy London, take over a new building in London's financial district. |
|
| Olympic security test at football |
| Security for the 2012 Olympics will be tested at a Scottish football match at Hampden Park stadium this weekend. |
|
| VIDEO: Raised spirits on demolition site |
| A team of demolition workers has discovered a ghostly image while knocking down a former boarding house. |
|
| Dickens house opens hidden nooks |
| Closed sections of an Elizabethan town house in Kent featured in the work of Charles Dickens are opened to the public for one day only. |
|
| Outrage at RBS boss's bonus deal |
| A £963,000 bonus in shares awarded to Royal Bank of Scotland boss Stephen Hester is strongly criticised by politicians and unions. |
|
| US economic growth rate picks up |
| The pace of US economic growth quickened to a 2.8% annualised rate in the three months to December, the Commerce Department says. |
|
| Parties clash over RBS boss bonus |
| Ministers and Labour clash over who is responsible for RBS chief executive Stephen Hester's contract, amid anger about a £963,000 share bonus offer. |
|
| Doreen Lawrence attacks coalition |
| The mother of murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence says the government is not doing enough to tackle racism. |
|
| Right-to-die case wins first step |
| A man who is almost completely paralysed has won the first step in his legal bid to pursue his right-to-die. |
|
| Babies' brains 'show autism risk' |
| It may be possible to detect autism at a much earlier age than previously thought, say researchers. |
|
| Tuition fees commission set up |
| An independent commission has been set up to examine the impact of increased tuition fees in England. |
|
| Lagging pupils 'don't catch up' |
| Just one in 15 pupils in England starting secondary school "behind" for their age, gets five good GCSEs, official data shows. |
|
| Facebook clickjacking legal row |
| The social network and Washington State sue a marketing firm over claims that it deceived users by hiding 'Like' buttons. The firm denies the charge. |
|
| Top Euro MP quits in piracy row |
| A European Parliament rapporteur has stood down in protest as a controversial anti-piracy agreement is signed by several countries. |
|
| 'Microplastic' threat to shores |
| Microscopic plastic debris from washing clothes is accumulating in the marine environment and could be entering the food chain, a study warns. |
|
| More uses for 'miracle material' |
| Graphene, often described as a "miracle material", can be used to distil alcohol, according to a new study in the Science journal. |
|
| Olympic ceremony 'Wonder' theme |
| Europe's largest bell will ring to start a £27m Olympic opening ceremony inspired by Shakespeare and featuring NHS nurses and 900 local pupils. |
|
| War Horse film boosts book sales |
| Michael Morpurgo's novel War Horse has now sold more copies in the UK in a fortnight than it did worldwide in 25 years. |
|
| The silence over gay footballers |
| Amal Fashanu's uncle was Britain's only openly gay footballer. She tries to find the reasons behind 25 years of silence. |
|
| The alternative map for 2012 visitors |
| Tourism in the UK faces a massive year. Readers from outside the UK offer their alternative must-see spots. |
|
| Live - Pakistan v England |
| Pakistan reach 198-7 in their second innings, a lead of 120 over England, at lunch on day four of the second Test in Abu Dhabi. |
|
| 'Bullet' sent to QPR in the post |
| Police are investigating after a "malicious communication" - reportedly containing a bullet - was sent to Queens Park Rangers' training ground. |
|
| Managers call for calm at Anfield |
| The managers of Liverpool and Manchester United urge players and fans to act responsibly during Saturday's FA Cup fourth-round tie. |
|
| Wilshere suffers injury setback |
| Jack Wilshere suffers a blow in his attempt to recover from an ankle injury sustained in pre-season. |
|
| Sharapova ready for Azarenka test |
| The winner of Saturday's women's final at the Australian Open between Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova will also become the world number one. |
|
| Hospital escape prisoner arrested |
| A prisoner who escaped when two guards taking him to a Suffolk hospital were threatened at gunpoint is arrested. |
|
| Abuse teacher case taken to Gove |
| The MP for a town where a teacher sexually abused young pupils says he will take up the issue with Education Secretary Michael Gove. |
|
| Accused 'can't remember killing' |
| The teenager accused of murdering Jack Frew tells a court he did "not recall stabbing him 20 times and slitting his throat". |
|
| Communities to 'appraise' nature |
| Communities could be encouraged to make their own assessments of the direct benefits they get from nature. |
|
| O'Hagan accused 'to help police' |
| A man previously accused of murdering journalist Martin O'Hagan has agreed to co-operate with police investigating the LVF killing, a court hears. |
|
| McNarry leaves UUP assembly group |
| The Ulster Unionist MLA David McNarry resigns from the Ulster Unionist assembly group. |
|
| Warnings for pursuit death police |
| Five South Wales Police officers receive written warnings for disobeying orders to stop pursuing a man who went on to crash into a wall and later died. |
|
| Prop Thomas has heart operation |
| Wales prop Rhys Thomas undergoes heart surgery after being taken ill during training with the Scarlets. |
|
| Senegal Wade ruling fuels clashes |
| Violence breaks out in Senegal after the country's top court rules that President Abdoulaye Wade can run for a third term in office. |
|
| Gabon 3-2 Morocco |
| Co-hosts Gabon snatch an incredible late winner to put them through to the quarter-finals and send Morocco out. |
|
| Tibetan 'dies in Sichuan unrest' |
| Chinese security forces have shot dead a young Tibetan in Sichuan province, campaign groups say, in what would be the third such killing this week. |
|
| Musharraf delays Pakistan return |
| Pakistan's former military leader Pervez Musharraf has decided to postpone his return to the country, one of his aides says. |
|
| Spain jobless passes five million |
| Spain's unemployment figure rose above the five million mark in the last quarter of 2011, official figures show. |
|
| Italian cruise firm offers payout |
| The Italian firm that owns the stricken cruise ship Costa Concordia reaches an agreement on compensation with several Italian consumer groups. |
|
| Nobel plea for Mexico journalists |
| A host of international writers including several Nobel laureates issue a joint statement condemning attacks on journalists in Mexico. |
|
| Funeral for Rio collapse victim |
| The funeral is held for the first of 14 confirmed victims of Wednesday's building collapse in Rio de Janeiro, as the search continues for about 12 missing people. |
|
| Bahrain criticised over tear gas |
| Amnesty International has called for an investigation into what it says is the misuse of tear gas by Bahraini security forces. |
|
| Car bomb kills Baghdad mourners |
| A suicide car bomber kills at least 32 people in a Shia district of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, with a funeral procession caught in the blast. |
|
| Romney back into lead in Florida |
| Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney pulls away from nearest rival Newt Gingrich in Florida opinion polls, although his national lead slips. |
|
| Barefoot Bandit sentenced again |
| The notorious 20-year-old former fugitive known as the Barefoot Bandit is sentenced by a federal judge to six-and-a-half years in prison. |
|
| Day in pictures: 27 January 2012 |
| 24 hours of news photos: 27 January 2012 |
|
| In pictures: Rio de Janeiro building collapse |
| Buildings fall in city centre |
|
| Your pictures: Frozen |
| Readers pictures on the theme frozen |
|
| In pictures: Alabama storms |
| Severe storm hits the US state of Alabama |
|
| In pictures: Norman Parkinson |
| Vintage prints of fashion photographer on show |
|
| Day in pictures: 26 January 2012 |
| 24 hours of news pictures: 26 January |
|
| Day in pictures: 25 January 2012 |
| 24 hours of news photos: 25 January 2012 |
|
| In pictures: Brazil police move in to evict squatters |
| Brazilian officers storm an illegal settlement |
|
| VIDEO: House of Commons |
| The government has said it will not allow any more time to debate a bill on moving UK time forward by an hour, despite calls from MPs on all sides of the House for it to do so. |
|
| VIDEO: Barefoot Bandit sentenced again |
| The notorious 20-year-old former fugitive known as the Barefoot Bandit has been sentenced by a federal judge to six-and-a-half years in prison. |
|
| AUDIO: Demi Moore 911 tape is released |
| A tape recording of the 911 call made by friends of Demi Moore, after she suffered convulsions having smoked an undisclosed substance, has been released. |
|
| VIDEO: Child's toy launched into space |
| While America is running down its manned space programme - further north - two Canadian students have shown that flying into space does not always have to be rocket science. |
|
| VIDEO: Blizzards hit south-eastern Europe |
| Snowstorms and sub-zero temperatures have hit parts of south-eastern Europe, leaving at least one person dead and thousands more without power. |
|
| VIDEO: Bats find shelter in Israeli bunkers |
| Bats are finding a surprising haven in abandoned Israeli bunkers, researchers say. |
|
| VIDEO: Inside the 2012 Olympic apartments |
| BBC Breakfast's Tim Muffett has had a look around the athletes' apartments in the 2012 Olympic Village. |
|
| VIDEO: Homes for families of injured troops |
| The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham is joining with a US charity to offer accommodation on site for the relatives of injured servicemen. |
|
| VIDEO: Cricketer D'Oliveira remembered |
| A memorial service for the Worcestershire and England cricketer Basil D'Oliveira has been held at Worcester Cathedral. |
|
| Virtual warfare |
| John Cantlie's conflict photographs re-imagined |
|
| Are garden birds leaving home? |
| Where have the garden birds gone? |
|
| 'I used to cry with pain at work' |
| 'The operation that saved me from enduring pain' |
|
| ReRAM and the memory chip contest |
| The race to make RAM that survives a power cut |
|
| Escaping the Gestapo |
| Betrayal and escape in the French Resistance |
|
| Week in pictures: 21-27 January 2012 |
| News photos from around the world |
|
| Shakespeare shaping London 2012 |
| Shakespeare's Tempest shapes the 2012 ceremonies |
|
