Balls attacks rebel MP Field
Gordon Brown's closest ally Ed Balls has attacked the leader of the 10p tax rebels, Frank Field, for using the issue to deliberately damage the government. The secretary of state for children, schools and families rounded on Field in Parliament after the Labour backbencher said that Brown would quit before the next general election.
The Mole: PM under siege 
Sichuan quake death toll rises to 10,000
The worst earthquake to hit China since 1976 has killed at least 10,000 people in the south-western Sichuan province, with thousands more victims trapped in the rubble of collapsed schools, hospitals, factories and houses. Chinese state media is reporting that 10,000 people are thought to be buried in one town alone near the epicentre of the earthquake. Premier Wen Jiabao has called for an "all out" rescue effort.
In pictures: After the quake
Economic miracle is to blame for deaths
Clinton aims for big win in Virginia
Hillary Clinton is on course to win her biggest victory of the Democratic nomination race, in today's primary in working-class West Virginia, with opinion polls suggesting she is at least 20 points ahead of rival Barack Obama. But even a big win for Clinton could still be too later to turn around her White House bid, with Obama just 159 delegates short of the 2,025 needed to secure the Democratic nomination.
US election: latest news, gossip and analysis
UN puts pressure on junta
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and Prime Minister Gordon Brown have increased diplomatic pressure on Burma's military junta, demanding that aid agencies be given full access to help cyclone victims. Ban Ki-Moon expressed his "immense frustration" at Burma's slow response. Brown pledged that Britain will use its chairmanship of the UN Security Council to press for action within the next 24 hours. The first British aid flight is set to leave for Rangoon tonight.
Pros & Cons of a 'relief invasion'
The Burma File: The latest news from Rangoon and more
In pictures: Burma cyclone chaos
Junta left their people for dead
Pakistan coalition at risk
Pakistan's fragile coalition government is under threat after Nawaz Sharif, the head of the Pakistan Muslim League, said that he was pulling his party out of the country's six-week-old coalition Government. Sharif has announced that all nine ministers from his party will resign today, because of differences with the Pakistan People's Party over the reinstatement of judges sacked by President Musharraf.
Hezbollah take crucial stronghold
Fierce fighting between Hezbollah and pro-government forces on Monday ended with Hezbollah fighters taking control of a key mountain-top village in the Druze heartlands south-east of the capital Beirut. The capture is seen by analysts as a strategic gain which could be used in attacks on Israel. "Hizbullah will very soon spread all over," said Professor Ahmad Moussali, an expert on Islamist groups.
Treasury U-turns on corporate tax
Chancellor Alistair Darling has been forced to water down controversial changes to the UK corporate tax system, after pressure from big business. The Treasury has drawn up a new set of tax plans after extensive consulation with UK companies, after several multinational British companies threatened to move their headquarters amid concerns that profits made overseas would be taxed.
The Mole: Darling must move fast on tax package
Surveyors signal deep slump
The drop in house prices has seen its most dramatic fall for 30 years, according to figures from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The number of surveyors reporting that house prices had fallen rather than risen increased to 95.1 per cent last month, up from 79.4 per cent in March. This is the biggest margin since the figures were first compiled in 1978.
