The failure to tackle female genital mutilation (FGM) is a "national scandal" with as many as 170,000 victims in the UK, MPs say.

Some four million people in South Sudan are likely to face critical food shortages next month, British aid agencies warn.

Two men have been shot and a third has been stabbed in the Sparkbrook area of Birmingham, police say.

Last year's BBC Children in Need appeal raised a record total of £49.6m, the corporation announces.

One of the women who accused Lord Rennard of sexual harassment quits the Lib Dems, saying the peer is a "thorn in the side" of the party.

Veteran Labour politician Dennis Skinner is voted off the party's governing body by fellow MPs.

Councils need to stop moaning and help redesign the system of local government finance, new Local Government Association head David Sparks says.

Fabien Cousteau and his team have broken the record for the number of days spent living under water - a record set by his grandfather the famous ocean explorer Jacques Cousteau.