Talks aimed at averting strike action by BA staff have collapsed, raising the possibility of crippling walkouts by thousands of employees.

A former chief of the defence staff has described Labour attempts to cast him as a Conservative as "cheap".

The father of kidnapped British boy Sahil Saeed has returned to Britain from Pakistan, diplomatic sources have said.

Police and local authorities have apologised to a family for failing to protect them from their father who repeatedly raped them, fathering nine children with his daughters.