Forces too stretched, says Stirrup
Britain's Armed Forces are "stretched beyond [their] capabilities" by fighting in both Iraq and Afghanistan, the Chief of the Defence Staff said yesterday. Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the most senior officer in the British military, expressed grave doubts about fighting wars on two fronts. His warning came as the 10th British solider was killed in Afghanistan yesterday, in an explosion while checking for mines.
Nato: France is back in the fold 
Tsvangirai calls for peacekeepers
The leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday called for an international peacekeeping force to protect ordinary Zimbabweans living under Robert Mugabe's regime. "We ask for the UN to go further than its recent resolution, condemning the violence in Zimbabwe, to encompass an active isolation of the dictator Mugabe,"said Tsvangirai.
Zimbabwe Today: Moses Moyo, our man in Harare
Labour 20 points behind Tories
Almost a year since taking power, Gordon Brown's prime ministership has been a change for the worse compared with Tony Blair, according to 74 per cent of those questioned in a new poll. The ICM/Guardian poll gives the Conservatives a record 20-point lead over Labour, with support for the Government at 25 per cent - the lowest since ICM polls began in 1984.
The Mole: Latest news from Downing Street
Neo-Nazi guilty of terrorism
A Nazi sympathiser who kept home-made nail bombs under his five-year-old son's bed has been found guilty of terrorism offences. Yorkshire fork-lift truck driver Martyn Gilleard now faces life imprisonment after police, who were in his flat searching for child pornography, found four nail bombs as well as notes talking of a "racial war" against Muslims.
First-time buyers hit by rent rises
First-time home buyers are being squeezed financially on two fronts, as rents rise by up to a third and by a further increase in borrowing costs announced yesterday. Monthly rental bills have risen by an average 11.7 per cent in the past year, according to research by one buy-to-let mortgage lender.
Barclays share sale boosts stocks
Barclays has revealed plans to raise £4.5bn in a share issue, in an attempt to "strengthen its capital base". The British bank has sold shares to new investors such as sovereign wealth fund the Qatar Investment Authority, and existing shareholders including China Development Bank and Singapore's Temasek bank. The announcement saw the bank's shares jump over six per cent when trading began in London this morning.
Nokia buys UK smartphone firm
Nokia has bought the the British software company Symbian in a bid to take on Google and Apple in the race to supply the next generation of mobile phones. Symbian produces operating system software for smartphone technology, which allows handset users to access the internet and play music.
