Brown accused of ‘buying off’ chief whip with Euro role
Gordon Brown has been accused of clinging to power by 'buying off' Geoff Hoon with the chance to replace Peter Mandelson as European Commissioner next year. As chief whip, it is Hoon's responsibility to tell the PM if his position becomes untenable. Meanwhile, Scottish Labour MPs have blamed Brown for the party's crushing defeat in the Glasgow East by-election. (Observer, Sunday Times)
The Mole: ministers believe Brown's days are numbered 
Obama meets Brown and Cameron
US Democrat presidential candidate Barack Obama spent time with Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Tony Blair yesterday on a brief visit to the UK during his European tour. Obama spent two hours in Downing Street, including an impromptu walk with Brown in St James's Park. He told the Prime Minister: "You're always more popular before you're in charge." (Independent on Sunday, Observer)
US election: Obama is a letdown in Berlin
Bush drops McCain in it
Concern over Iraq torture claims
A committee of MPs reports concerns today about discrepancies in Government answers over the use of torture techniques by British troops in Iraq. The MPs were assured by the former armed forces minister Adam Ingram that techniques such as hooding and sleep deprivation were never used. But the committee claims this contradicts evidence that such techniques were routine. (Observer)
Mosley continues legal action
The Formula One boss Max Mosley, who last week won record damages of £60,000 from the News of the World after it revealed he had taken part in a sado-masochistic sex session with five prostitutes, is pursuing further legal actions in continental Europe. Mosley, son of the British fascist Sir Oswald Mosley, also issued a High Court writ for defamation against the News of the World on Friday. (Sunday Telegraph)
People: Mosley out for blood
Mosley had the right to enjoy S&M in private
Nimrods suffer 300 fuel leaks
Britain's 18 Nimrod spy planes, still in use two months after a coroner called for the entire fleet to be grounded, have suffered more than 300 fuel leaks in the two years since a Nimrod crashed near Kandahar in Afghanistan killing 14 service personnel. The aircraft is essential to operations in Afghanistan, helping ground troops communicate by radio, and the MoD insists it is safe to fly. (Independent on Sunday)
Afghanistan: 100 down and no end in sight
British paratroopers shot dead four Afghan civilians yesterday after their car failed to slow down as it approached an army checkpoint. An investigation into the shooting will be launched, but a spokesman for Nato forces said it was "caused by the reckless actions of the vehicle driver". (Observer)
Prince William (left), who finishes a two-month stint with the Royal Navy on Friday, will swap his uniform for a suit at the end of the year when he leaves the military. He is expected to work for a while as a civil servant in Whitehall in order to learn "how the country operates". (Sunday Telegraph)
A group of people who were overpaid tax credits claim they have found evidence of massive errors and bullying behaviour by the civil servants who administer the scheme. The mistakes, under which people were paid £8bn too much, will cost the taxpayer up to £2.8bn in unrecovered overpayments. (Sunday Times)
A YouGov poll has found that almost a third of Muslim students on Britain's campuses belive that killing in the name of religion can be justified, compared to two per cent of non-Muslims. However, the poll's methodology has been attacked by student groups as being "deeply flawed". (Observer)
Peregrine Worsthorne: tinker, tailor, soldier, imam
A team of British scientists says hairs found in an Indian jungle, and purported to belong to a yeti, are of no known species, and have a "startling resemblance" to those brought back from the Himalayas by Sir Edmund Hillary 50 years ago. The hairs were found in north-east India by a forester. (Independent on Sunday)
People: Sir Edmund Hillary dies
The Speaker of the House of Commons, Michael Martin, had his own official portrait adjusted so that his nose appeared smaller, it has emerged. Artist Andrew Festing says he re-painted the nose after Martin complained it was too big. The picture has hung in Martin's office for four years. (Sunday Times)
Health minister Alan Johnson has agreed for the NHS to be subjected to a costly re-branding, nine years after its present 'identity' was created. Sheila Mitchell, the Department of Health's director of marketing, is to review the current NHS 'brand' so that it will better reflect the diversity of its services. (Sunday Telegraph)
Radovan Karadzic (left), former leader of the Bosnian Serbs, was caught because of a single phone call. Karadzic called a family member, whose line was tapped, from a mobile phone he had registered under his assumed name. He was arrested as he prepared to leave Sarajevo for an extended period. (Sunday Times)
In pictures: Karadzic found in Belgrade
Justice at last for the mothers of Srebrenica
Thabo Mbeki, president of South Africa, has told Robert Mugabe that he can no longer shield him from being charged by the International Criminal Court for the crimes he has committed during 28 years in office. Mbeki, who has been criticised for supporting Mugabe in the past, told Mugabe to give up power. (Sunday Times)
Zimbabwe Today: all the latest from our man in Harare
Life inside the Leadership Academy for Girls etablished by American talk show queen Oprah Winfrey in South Africa will be examined in court this week. On Tuesday, former matron at the school Virginia 'Tiny' Makgabo will face charges of indecently assaulting minors and verbally abusing them. (Independent on Sunday)
More than half of British employers plan to lay off staff within the next few months, according to a new survey. Two hundred senior executives from major companies were questioned, with 53 per cent saying they were likely to reduce headcount, reflecting looming problems for the labour market. (Observer)
Bob Dudley (left), boss of BP's Russian operations, has gone into hiding to escape "extreme harrassment" from Russian authorities. He has set up a secret command centre in Europe from which he will attempt to keep control of TNK-BP, a joint venture between BP and Russian investors. The row over ownership is threatening to turn into a diplomatic incident. (Sunday Times)
The Office of Fair Trading is to announce price-fixing charges against four current and former British Airways executives in a watershed criminal case. The charges relate to events between 2004 and 2006 when BA allegedly colluded with Virgin Atlantic to fix the level of fuel surcharges. (Sunday Telegraph)
Director Terry Gilliam is to launch another attempt to make a film of Don Quixote. Gilliam's first, abortive, attempt was so dramatically dogged by disaster that a documentary about its making Lost in La Mancha became a hit in its own right. The film will once again star Johnny Depp. (Sunday Telegraph)
People: Gilliam rubbishes calls for Ledger Oscar
Eight landscapes painted by East End gangster Ronnie Kray (left) while he was an inmate of Parkhurst prison in the 1970s have been sold at auction in Suffolk for a total of £16,550. Most of the pictures, all signed by Kray and painted on prison issue card, show the same view of a white cottage. (Observer)
Scientists are preparing to test the heart of Polish composer Frederic Chopin to examine the theory that he died of cystic fibrosis, and was not a victim of TB as commonly believed. After his death in 1849 Chopin was buried in France, but his heart was preserved in cognac and kept in a Warsaw church. (Observer)
