The cut in the top rate of income tax from 50 pence in the pound to 45 pence comes into effect, as does the so-called 'granny tax'.

US officials play down the threat from North Korea, with the White House saying the US "would not be surprised" by a missile launch.

Plans to strip some English councils of their role in the adoption process would be a "reckless gamble", the Local Government Association says.

The former leader of Norfolk County Council reports the authority to the Information Commissioner over a secretly-recorded phone call.

Free MMR vaccination sessions are held at four Welsh hospitals aimed at curbing a measles epidemic across large areas of Wales.

Britain will become a net importer of wheat for the first time in a decade this year because of bad weather, the National Farmers' Union says.

Former South African President Nelson Mandela is discharged from hospital after 10 days of treatment for pneumonia, the government says.

China confirms two fresh cases of bird flu in Shanghai, as it attempts to contain the latest outbreak of the virus in the east of the country.