About 2,500 jobs are saved after administrators KPMG agree to sell most of Connaught's failed social housing group.

7-Eleven, the largest convenience store chain in the US, has offered $2bn to buy smaller rival Casey's General Stores.

A malicious program that falsely promises free access to sex movies is racking up victims around the world, warn security firms.

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson refuses to discuss Wayne Rooney's current off-field problems ahead of Saturday's match at Everton.

Shares in Germany's Deutsche Bank fall sharply after reports that it is planning to raise 9bn euros to shore up its finances.

More than 230,000 elderly people in Japan who are listed as being aged 100 or over are unaccounted for, officials said following a nationwide inquiry.

A man who raped and abused two women in the Highlands and Glasgow is jailed for 10-and-a-half years.

More than a third of freshwater turtle species are now threatened with extinction, Conservation International says.

The US pastor who attracted worldwide condemnation for his threat to burn copies of the Koran says his plan is now on hold.

The head of Guinea's election commission and another senior official are sentenced to a year in prison for fraud during June's first round presidential vote.

Jenson Button set the pace in first practice at the Italian Grand Prix as his McLaren team traded fastest times with championship rivals Red Bull.

Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe is ruled out for up to three months after having ankle surgery.

An amateur cameraman has filmed the scene from Atrani in southern Italy when a mudslide crashed through the village.

A justice minister says he paid private detectives to investigate his colleagues because he was upset about "malicious" newspaper stories.

France will not stop deporting Roma (Gypsy) people, French Immigration Minister Eric Besson says on a visit to Romania.

A court in India's Manipur state issues warrants for the arrest of nine policemen charged with killing an unarmed man.

Labour attack government plans to cut the annual welfare bill by a further £4bn, one MP saying the move is "scapegoating" the poor.

Kent and Hampshire continue their scrap for points in the battle against relegation, while Sussex will win the Division Two title if Glamorgan fail to beat Surrey.

Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams defends Martin McGuinness over his recollections of a meeting with a priest suspected of involvement in the Claudy bombings.

England are batting first in the opening one-day international against Pakistan, with the match reduced to 41 overs per side.