Senior ministers rallied round Gordon Brown after he suffered the humiliation of another catastrophic by-election defeat for Labour.

Labour's by-election humiliation was compounded with a national opinion poll showing it had slumped to a record 22-point deficit behind the Tories.

Campaigners warned of a "hammer blow" to consumers as energy supplier EDF increased its electricity prices by 17% and gas prices by 22%.

US presidential hopeful Barack Obama flew into London for the final leg of a marathon overseas tour dubbed "Obamania" after attracting huge crowds in Berlin.

Shaken but relieved airline passengers were continuing their journeys after surviving a terrifying ordeal in which a gaping hole appeared in their jumbo jet 30,000ft up.

More than 15% of English national test results for 14-year-olds are still not available, it has been announced.

The number of pairs of puffins breeding on the Farne Islands has fallen by a third in the past five years, the National Trust said.

A British Army dog handler has been killed by insurgents in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said.

A footballer was sentenced for a burglary of a nightclub staffroom during which cash and mobile phones were stolen.

A nanny accused of killing the infant son of two police officers said she had been "totally vindicated" after a judge directed a jury to find her not guilty.

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