Chancellor Alistair Darling is to join fellow European Union finance ministers for talks on the global financial crisis as traders were braced for another turbulent day on the markets.

More than £93 billion was wiped from the value of the UK's biggest companies as London's FTSE 100 suffered its biggest fall since Black Monday.

The UK is already in a recession, with business confidence, profits and turnover now at record lows and unemployment set to rise by up to 350,000 in the next year, according to an "alarming" new report.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has announced a nationwide assessment of how ethnic minorities are treated by the police as the race row surrounding the Metropolitan force continued.

The UK should cut its greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by mid-century, the Government's climate change committee recommended.

A drunken footballer who was seen "driving like an idiot" before he killed two young boys has been jailed for seven years.

The widow of police chief Michael Todd said she has "forgiven" him after his inquest heard his tangled love life led to his death.

The number of extended families living under the same roof looks set to increase as more Britons pool their financial resources, research showed.

DIY chain Focus is to cut 750 jobs in the current "difficult economic climate", the company has confirmed.

Human evolution is grinding to a halt, according to a leading genetics expert.

© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2008, All Rights Reserved.