PM stands by 'fair' housing benefit cap

David Cameron dismissed talk of a climbdown over capping housing benefit today despite claims that the policy could drive 200,000 poor people out of major cities.

LimeWire ordered to shut down new

The filesharing website must close after losing a four-year legal battle in the US.

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Afghanistan: Russia steps in to help Nato

Kim Sengupta: Russia returns to war at request of Western states which helped mujahedin to drive its forces out of country 21 years ago.

Leading article: Nato's Afghan endgame begins with a helping hand from Russia

'What sort of woman freely converts to Islam?'

Julie Burchill: Maybe Lauren Booth thinks that if she sucks up to Islamism hard enough she will be spared its rage.

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French drivers are facing substantial fuel shortages as refinery workers strike

French parliament backs pension reform new

France's parliament today gave final backing to a bill to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62, a reform that has major strikes.

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Human ancestors 'colonised Africa from Asia' new

Africa did not give birth to the ancestors of monkeys, apes and humans as is often believed.

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Crew use life rafts to escape from blazing ship

A rescue operation was launched today to save 111 people from a burning ship off the Isles of Scilly.

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An inspection found that at Coldingley Prison inmates defecate into plastic bags and empty urine out of the window

'Degrading' sanitation system forces prisoners to slop out cells

Robert Verkaik: Prisoners are being forced to slop out in their cells because of a "degrading system" of sanitation, say inspectors.

Tariq Aziz was effectively head of the Iraqi government during Saddam's premiership

Tariq Aziz: From Saddam's envoy to a condemned man

David Usborne: Former Iraqi regime's chief apologist sentenced to death.

Wilkinson escapes op but remains doubtful new

Martin Johnson has confirmed that Jonny Wilkinson will not require shoulder surgery - but he remains doubtful for England's clash with New Zealand on November 6.

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Flesh dance: the nude show set for UK debut

Choreographer whose other shows had scenes of simulated masturbation, is set to bring his work to UK. By Rob Sharp.

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Cherie Blair listed her husband's signature on eBay for �25, but it eventually sold for �15 less

Cherie uses eBay to sell Tony's autograph for £10

With her QC's salary and a multimillionaire husband who commands five-figure sums for after-dinner speeches, Cherie Blair could hardly be described as hard up. But in these troubled economic times, it seems that every little helps.

There's less chance that the Bank of England will need to embark on a further early round of quantitative easing

Steady UK recovery and upgrade boost markets

Sean O'Grady: Economy confounds sceptics and City forecasters again by registering another surprisingly strong growth figure.

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A giant panda holds its baby at the Wolong research centre

Record breeding year for the bears who hate to mate

The very existence of China's pandas has long been threatened. The bears are famously terrible breeders and constantly endangered in their natural habitat.

Report highlights threat to biodiversity

Cool tunes: experts say that music - particularly classical - brings us out in goose pimples

Goose pimples: Chills, they're multiplying

It's not just cold weather that gives us goose bumps - research shows that certain songs can have the same effect

A child is given the traditional polio vaccine

Vaccine could end the global scourge of polio

Vaccine is so effective it could become final 'game changer' which eliminates the disease.

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Production of the Sony Walkman will stop as soon as orders have been met

Sony's pioneering Walkman finally plays its last tune

It was as synonymous with the 1980s as the Wham! tunes its leg warmer-wearing owners played on it.

Students at the LSE, which has drawn up a paper on possible privatisation

LSE raises spectre of private universities

Some of Britain's leading universities could consider going private if the Government decides to retain a cap on tuition fees – potentially pricing students out of the market.

One in five primary schools 'full or overcrowded'

Holmes, left, and Steve Redgrave at the 1988 Olympic Games

Andy Holmes: Rower whose partnership with Steve Redgrave sparked a British renaissance in the sport

Andy Holmes, part of the gold-winning crew at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and gold-winning partner to Steve Redgrave at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, was part of Britain's rowing renaissance and helped provide the foundations on which Britain's now long-standing success in the sport is built. The LA gold ended a 36-year drought in the sport.