Tim Castle

Britain's phone-hacking scandal can't be blamed on competitive pressures, editors said at a probe into the <i>News of the World</i>-sparked furore.

The family of Amy Winehouse sought "privacy" from the public eye on Sunday, one day after the young, beehive-haired soul singer's untimely death.

News Corp executive James Murdoch was under pressure on Monday over his handling of a phone-hacking scandal.

British singer Amy Winehouse, whose hit single <i>Rehab</i> became the anthem for troubled celebrity culture, has been found dead.

Rupert Murdoch's British news arm faces a rush of fresh compensation claims and could be exposed to criminal prosecution.

David Cameron's Conservatives and the smaller Liberal Democrat party have agreed to form Britain's first coalition government since 1945.

Liberal Democrats still courted by major British parties as Gordon Brown announces he will step aside to try to keep his Labour Party in power.

The head of the Anglican church urged a halt on Saturday to ''systematic humiliation'' of British MPs in an expenses scandal.

Britain's Prince Harry apologised on Saturday after a newspaper website published video footage showing him calling an Asian army colleague a ''Paki''.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown turned to old hand and former enemy Peter Mandelson on Friday in a government reshuffle.

Britain's Labour Party suffered its worst local election defeat on record and lost control of London on Friday, forcing Prime Minister Gordon Brown to rethink his strategy to avoid losing the next national poll. Conservative Boris Johnson, a journalist-turned-lawmaker prone to gaffes, wrested the prized post of London mayor from Labour's maverick Ken Livingstone.

Fifteen potential sites for new ''eco-towns'' across England have been published in a drive to tackle a national housing shortage while minimising damage to the environment. Each site would provide between 5 000 and 15 000 low carbon emission homes in the first new towns since the 1960s.