The owner of restaurant brands KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell reports another set of strong figures, helped by growth in China.

An assault by the Syrian army on the restive city of Homs enters its fourth day as Russia's foreign minister is due in Damascus for talks.

POLICE say a large amount of human blood has been found in a cubby house at a Sydney primary school.

AUSTRALIAN construction activity contracted in January for the 20th consecutive month, but the rate of decline is beginning to slow, a report shows.

A MAN said he was just trying to wake his stepdaughter to watch New Year's Eve fireworks when his hand accidentally slipped into her underwear, a court has heard.

A MAN has been accused of trying to murder a woman by setting fire to her Brisbane home.

The Treasury is criticised for the way it monitors government spending and manages risk, in an MPs' report.

Rescue efforts continue for survivors of a 6.7 magnitude quake that shook the central Philippines on Monday, leaving at least 15 dead and 44 missing.

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will lead global celebrations marking the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens's birth later.

Amanda Knox, the American woman cleared of murdering British student Meredith Kercher, has asked an Italian appeals court to overturn a conviction for slander she received during the trial.

Fashion designer Mary Quant put the swing into the Sixties. Today, in the final instalment of our exclusive serialisation of her memoirs, she reveals the toll that fame took on her family life — and her sanity...

Mexico's conservative ruling party is gambling that a country known for machismo is ready for a female president and have chosen a devout Roman Catholic and popular former congresswoman as their standard bearer.

The body of a Chinese worker who fled a camp in Sudan when rebels attacked has been found, says China, while 29 kidnapped workers are still missing.

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A new law making stalking a specific offence is needed in England and Wales to stop harassment ending in violence, MPs and peers have said.

A US judge has ordered the return of a 16th century Italian painting to the heirs of a Jewish man who owned the Baroque work before World War II.

AS the school year gets under way, new research is adding further weight to evidence that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, especially for children who are learning.

AUSTRALIAN shares have risen slightly as the markets await the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) interest rate decision.

National Australia Bank vows to offer the lowest mortgage rate of the big four banks for the rest of this year as it announced an unaudited quarterly profit of $1.6 billion.

The 32-year-old smirked as he was led into Oslo district court, handcuffed and dressed in a dark suit for his last hearing before going on trial in April.

Macquarie Group, the largest investment bank in Australia, says it expects full year profits to drop 25%, as a weak market hurts its business.

The Scottish capital of Edinburgh appears to be the worse culprit, with much of its skyline coloured yellow in a series of images released as part of a British Gas initiative to cut power use by small and medium-sized firms.

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POLICE are investigating a fire at a north Perth house where a man was shot and killed two months ago.

A new book by the exorcist of Rome tells how two ‘possessed’ men were brought to St Peter’s Square in May 2009 to be cured by the Pope.

A SERIAL sex predator could be free in two-and-a-half years despite a judge saying there's a substantial risk he will attack when released.

A WATER features company owner accused of murdering a business rival recruited men to bash him to teach him a lesson, a Sydney jury has been told.

Italy activates emergency measures to conserve gas supplies as freezing weather continues to grip the country and much of Europe.

Felix Baumgartner, the Austrian planning to sky dive from a record-breaking altitude, has announced he will make the attempt later this year.

With 172 days before the start of the tournament, financial executive David Gilliver has paid homage to the eagerly anticipated games with these incredible Olympic rings.

Gill Jordan's four-minute spoof 'mockumentary' features fictional mother-of-two Doreen, who claims a host of state handouts to feed her family. She has been compared to Miranda Hart, star of the eponymous BBC show.

The legendary Ferrari 250 GTO is the world’s most sought-after car, especially as there were only 39 models built between 1962 and 1964.

Speaking for the first time, Mark described the chilling detail the split-second his life changed forever - and how he begged for death.

Paul Kibler, 51, from Sutton Coldfield, West Midlands, was delighted when he found out he'd scooped the prize after wife Marie, 64, jokingly shouted down the stairs to her husband 'win the lottery for me'.

Ben Long, 33, spent months in Lancaster building a larger-than-life dog, stag and horse out of metal poles and screws.

The figures released under the Freedom of Information act will come as a disappointment after the Government put pressure on the best universities to ensure they took in students from a range of backgrounds.

Olga Kulakova, 27, only picked up a camera for the first time a year ago, but some dedicated late-night shooting sessions in freezing conditions led to this view of the cosmic ballet over the night sky in Kazakhstan.

The Campaign to Protect Rural England issued the warning as it published detailed maps of areas vulnerable to development.

Fast declines in some UK and European ladybirds are being caused by the spread of the invasive harlequin species, scientists show.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott invited MPs to muse on Judas's betrayal of Jesus before channelling Clint Eastwood's rogue cop Dirty Harry as the parliamentary year got off to a spirited start in Canberra today.

A magistrate has refused to grant bail to wounded bikie Vincenzo Focarelli.Focarelli is in the Royal Adelaide Hospital recovering from gunshot injuries.His lawyer David Edwardson told Adelaide Magistrates Court police had arrested...

Language lecturer Keri Opai compared the New Zealand Wars, which killed 20,000 Maori, to the extermination of six million Jews in World War II.

On the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Dickens, look back the literary achievements and scandalous life of the acclaimed English novelist.

A US army officer has accused the American military of painting a misleading picture of progress in the war in Afghanistan.

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RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: Back in 2005, Mr O’Shea and his wife Jean scooped the top prize in the EuroMillions Lottery. Since then, he has pocketed £31,500 in state handouts. Oh, and every three years they get a free car courtesy of the Motability rac...

The 32-year-old smirked as he was led into Oslo district court, handcuffed and dressed in a dark suit for his last hearing before going on trial in April.

This paper warmly welcomes the decision by Network Rail’s top six executives to forgo their bonuses this year and allocate the money instead to improving safety at level crossings.

CRAIG BROWN: Just what is it about Charles Dickens that makes him the subject of so many round-table discussions?

QUENTIN LETTS: Mild excitement: Sir Bob Kerslake, new head of the Civil Service, was to make his first public appearance. Let us not oversell the proposition.

JAMES SLACK: Mind how you go if out in London next week. You might just find yourself bumping into one of the world’s most wanted terror suspects on the school run.

RUTH SUNDERLAND: The markets seem still to reckon some sort of deal will be done. It may well be, but it will not deal with the real problem, which is that Greece is hopelessly hobbled by its debt burden.

A blacksmith is flinging molten iron against a wall in Nuanquan, in the Hebei province of China, as part of the Lantern Festival which marks the end of the Lunar New Year.

The country's Water Resources Minister claimed that mermaids have been hounding workers away from the two planned new reservoirs.

The audiotape of Malcolm X's 1961 speech in Providence, Rhode Island, was discovered by a Brown University student after he stumbled across a reference to it in an old student newspaper.

THE Australian dollar has fallen while trading within a tight range ahead of a key RBA interest rate decision.

Dr Rowan Williams said that condoning assisted suicide would undermine the sanctity of life - and he compared its effects to the legalisation of abortion a generation ago.

SCIENTISTS have sequenced the genome of the unusually lethal strain of E. coli that spread panic across Europe over the summer after it infected thousands and left more than 50 dead in Germany.

A FEDERAL judge for the first time in US history has heard arguments in a case that could determine whether animals enjoy the same constitutional protection against slavery as human beings.

AS Federal MPs gather in Canberra for the first parliamentary sitting of the year, a new survey has found 60 per cent of Australians don't believe what their political leaders say.

Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch have all hinted that a devolved Scotland should not expect to be handed the top rating, which could spell misery for Scottish borrowers.

OFFICIALS in Texas are looking for a mountain lion that attacked and injured a six-year-old boy as he walked with three other people in a national park.

Since getting Denver I have become so attached to him that my tax return might as well state I’m on ‘pet-ernity’ leave, writes RUTH CAVEN.

POLICE have busted an interstate drug trafficking operation in which large quantities of cannabis were allegedly moved between Adelaide and Sydney.

Doreen Williams was treated appallingly in hospital where she died after seven days. When her daughter tried to complain to the General Medical Council, she got nowhere.

The film shows the middle-aged white woman direct a tirade of abuse at Asian passengers on a Central line train.

Gardener Paul Kibler toasted a £2.2million lottery win yesterday – 10 months after fracturing his skull by falling 15ft off a ladder.

Reuters - Greek political leaders face crunch talks on Tuesday to hammer out a deal on unpopular reforms that have prompted the country's biggest labor unions to walk off the job.

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British Gas released the pictures of the skylines of London, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham to help illustrate research into the wastefulness of some companies.

The Chinese unit of Citigroup wins approval to launch credit cards in China, the first non-Asian bank to do so.

The Diamond Jubilee cannon has been fired.The Queen could hardly have contrived a more understated start to her colossal anniversary year.

A MAGISTRATE has refused to allow shot bikie Vince Focarelli to be released on bail.

IT was so waterlogged in Bulgaria today that a dam broke and submerged an entire village under 2.5m of freezing water.

PERSONAL accounts of how poor job security can turn lives upside down will be heard at a national inquiry from next week.

FEMALE TV anchor refers to sausage-eating competition as "Pick a d--k".

A DRUG tipped for widespread use to prevent breast cancer in post-menopausal women also accelerates loss of bone density, thus potentially boosting the risk of fractures.

FEDERAL Financial Services Minister Bill Shorten has accused Australia's big banks of turning their backs on the taxpayers who helped them in favour of short-term profits.

FEDERAL Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has rallied coalition MPs on the first parliamentary sitting day of the year, saying if the government wants to make the economy the centre of debate then "make my day''.

POLICE have arrested four people in connection with a highly sophisticated clan drug lab following a siege in Maribyrnong.

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By a ripper stroke of luck, these two rare albino wombats were rescued.

NHS chiefs are forking out more than £100million a year to treat drug addicts in prison, thanks to a human rights ruling.

Schools Minister Nick Gibb has said that children should "always have a book on the go" as he announced plans for a new national reading competition.

The majority of Brits were so cynical when it came to accepting a genuine offer of goodwill that they turned down free money, research has revealed.

Hundreds of thousands of young people are being subjected to cyberbullying, with many being victimised for a year or more, new research suggests.

The international community will fail to provide effective help during humanitarian emergencies unless aid charities and governments based in the world's poorest countries are given more resources to prevent disasters from developing in the first pla...

More than one in four youngsters in the UK are growing up in families facing multiple challenges such as parental depression and financial hardship, according to new research.

One in seven shops on the UK's high streets stood empty in 2011 and further closures are expected this year as more people shop online and in out-of-town centres.

The Treasury was "surprised" to learn that £10.9 billion of unpaid tax had been written off by HM Revenue & Customs in one year, according to an influential group of MPs.

Those who drank the most green tea were the least likely to develop 'functional disability' according to the Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine.

AUTHORITIES are searching for a rock fishermen and a teenager who are feared to have drowned in separate incidents on the NSW coast.

FLOOD-HIT communities in inland Queensland have been warned to prepare for severe thunderstorms, damaging winds and large hailstones.

Campaigners hope the ruling in the case of Rocky Gurung (pictured) will be the first step towards restoring some common sense to the country’s deportation and human rights laws.

FLAGS on Victorian government buildings are flying at half-mast to commemorate the third anniversary of the Black Saturday bushfires.

Infants given finger foods during weaning gain less weight than those who are spoon-fed purees by parents, a study shows.

The malicious messages to Dr John Sentamu have prompted a police investigation by North Yorkshire Police, it was revealed yesterday.

Leaked documents reveal the savage cuts that will cost thousands of NHS jobs and could lead to a hospital being closed.

George Osborne told MPs the Bank was set to win powers to vary what mortgages customers can buy to prevent overheating in the housing market.

Mr Farmer, 69, who was dubbed ‘Mr Copper’ after he made his £100million fortune in the international metal markets, now runs RedKite Capital Management, a hedge fund.

A number of centres in England were found to be handing out drugs which could have lethal side effects, a health watchdog has revealed.

Justice Secretary Kenneth Clarke (pictured) said the Government would legislate to make mediation compulsory for anyone wishing to go to court over an acrimonious separation.

Sales of teapots have fallen 40 per cent in the past five years, but they must be defended to the last drop, says Alexander McCall Smith.

Dr Paisley was taken to Ulster Hospital, Dundonald, on the outskirts of east Belfast, on Sunday, his wife confirmed.

Ed Davey, who was appointed on Friday following Chris Huhne's resignation, declared he declared he would not block plans for a new generation of reactors.

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT: The Foreign Secretary announced plans to support Syrian rebels as government forces launched yet another bloody attack on the city of Homs, killing 50 more.

Many of the planned rises are being pitched at levels just below a new 3.5 per cent trigger for a local referendum, and means households will have to find an extra £50 on top of the average £1,200 a year bill.