German Chancellor Angela Merkel defends the Danish cartoonist Kurt Westergaard, whose drawings of the Prophet Muhammad caused outrage in 2006.

BP's internal investigation into the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico finds that "a series of failures" was to blame

Labour MPs have rejected a move to allow the new party leader to choose who serves in the shadow cabinet.

President Obama urges Congress to approve billions in tax breaks and spending to boost the US economy ahead of November's elections.

Wall Street banking giant Goldman Sachs is fined £20m by the UK's financial watchdog, the BBC learns.

England batsman Kevin Pietersen hopes to play for South African franchise Kwa-Zulu Natal in two matches as a warm-up for this winter's Ashes.

Former Liverpool and Lyon boss Gerard Houllier is named the new manager of Aston Villa.

Closing dozens of small embassies to save money would be a "false economy" as they do not cost much, says William Hague.

Palaeontologists uncover a new dinosaur with what may be the earliest evidence of feathers.

Gunmen in Iraq have killed an Iraqi TV journalist - the second in as many days - while four other people were killed in two attacks in the capital Baghdad.

A small US church says it will defy international condemnation and go ahead with plans to burn copies of the Koran on the 9/11 anniversary.

A man is found guilty of murdering his father, whose remains were found in concrete in a garden in Buckinghamshire.

The Scottish Secretary says he can give "no guarantees" about the future of two Scottish RAF bases.

Ferrari have avoided further punishment for using banned team orders, a Formula 1 disciplinary hearing in Paris has ruled.

John Higgins is cleared of all match-fixing allegations but admits bringing snooker into disrepute, resulting in a £75,000 fine and a ban until November.

The imam of an Islamic centre planned near New York's Ground Zero vows to name its financial backers amid accusations it is funded by extremists.

A Briton is thought to have drowned after going to the aid of his father, who also died, while the pair swam in the sea off Spain's Costa Tropical.

Parliament is to debate allegations that MPs had their mobile phones hacked into by News of the World journalists.

Caroline Wozniacki, Dominika Cibulkova, Robin Soderling and Roger Federer are going for semi-final spots at the US Open.

US President Barack Obama is giving a speech on the US economy.