British bomb disposal expert dies in Helmand

The latest death comes as figures reveal that the Army is seriously short of specialists capable of dismantling explosives

Brown calls summit over Yemen threat

Britain and United States seek international help to stop al-Qaeda from establishing a safe haven on the Arabian peninsula

Opposition leader Mousavi 'ready for martyrdom'

Hossein Mousavi unbowed after a week in which his nephew was killed, his aides arrested and there were calls for his death

‘You’re foreign, go to Hell’

Behind the hospitality in Sanaa, Yemenis have a mistrust of outsiders, fed by the West’s military ventures in the Arab world

Being released is a 're-entry to Earth'

Terry Waite and Brian Keenan have both compared their release from captivity to being a diver returning from the seabed

Economy leads agenda for EU presidency

Spain holds parties to celebrate taking over rotating leadership and says Europe must work to assert itself on global stage

Russia blocks cheap vodka to fight alcoholism

Minimum prices are introduced as part of President Medvedev’s campaign to tackle Russia’s traditional drinking habit

Village battalions at the mercy of their enemies

The Pakistani Army has encouraged villagers to defy the Taleban but, without proper military backing, they pay a heavy price

Hostage survival brings its own traumas

Today’s generation returning from imprisonment or war can be assured of better treatment than was previously available

Yen for babies: Japan's falling birth rate

The Government wants more women to have babies as the birth rate falls and the number of deaths reaches a 62-year high

Designers’ hopes ride on scarcity value of yak hair

Top-tier companies such as Yves Saint Laurent and Arnys are flirting with yak hair yarn as an alternative to cashmere

Brown promises to beef up UK airport security

PM orders review after 'wake-up call' of failed Christmas Day airline attack, and plans meeting on Yemen radicalisation

UK bomb disposal expert killed in Afghanistan

Soldier's death after roadside blast brings UK casualties last year to 108 – the worst year for Armed Forces since Falklands conflict

Pope urges 'respect for difference'

Mankind must co-exist regardless of skin colour, nationality, language or religion, pontiff says in New Year's Day address

Toddler kills cousin with father's gun

As father turns his back, three-year-old boy kills cousin, also aged three, with gun he found in family car

North Korea calls for peace with US

In lengthy New Year message Pyongyang calls for end to 'hostile relationship' with US and nuclear free Korean peninsula

UN to withdraw staff from Pakistan

Eleven UN staff killed in Pakistan in 2009 and 500 people died in attacks since army began October offensive against Taleban

Scientists crack Tasmanian devils' cancer code

Researchers in Australia discover genetic 'fingerprint' of deadly tumour threatening to wipe out Tasmanian devils

Shivering London turns a bright eye to 2010

More than 200,000 people gathered on the banks of the Thames and up to 80,000 joined the Hogmanay celebrations in Edinburgh

Karzai demands US handover gunmen

Call reflects the growing assertiveness of a government that precariously held its position after fraud-riddled elections