LONDON (Reuters) - State-owned Royal Bank of Scotland paid out nearly a billion pounds in bonuses to staff for last year despite posting a fourth-quarter loss of nearly 2 billion pounds after big losses in Greece and Ireland and costly restructuring. RBS, 82 percent owned by the government after being rescued during the …

Around 1.6 million council workers are to have their pay frozen for a third year in a row, local authority employers have announced.

Taxpayer-backed Royal Bank of Scotland ran the gauntlet of public outrage as it unveiled losses of £2 billion and paid staff nearly £1 billion in bonuses.

Singer Charlotte Church has settled her phone hacking damages claim against News of the World publisher News Group Newspapers, the High Court heard.

LONDON (Reuters) - The newly appointed managing director of Argos, the catalogue and store chain, said he has been given a free rein to examine all options for the struggling business, including closing some of its 750 shops. John Walden, a 52-year-old American who started his job at the Home Retail owned business three …

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has called for the Health Bill to be withdrawn - just three days after meeting the Prime Minister to discuss the controversial reforms.

KABUL (Reuters) - An Afghan soldier joined protests on Thursday against the burning of copies of the Koran at a NATO base and shot dead two foreign troops, Western military sources said, as the Taliban urged security forces to turn their guns on foreigners. Protests against the burning of copies of Islam's most holy book …

AMMAN/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian tanks pushed into a rebel stronghold in the battered city of Homs Thursday and U.N. investigators accused President Bashar al-Assad's government of crimes against humanity. Rockets, shells and mortar rounds rained on the Baba Amro district, where armed insurgents are holed up with terrified …

MESA, Arizona (Reuters) - Mitt Romney is fighting his way back into the driving seat in the Republican presidential race, putting in a strong debate performance in Arizona and gaining in polls against conservative rival Rick Santorum. An aggressive Romney repeatedly put Santorum on the defensive in a CNN debate on Wednesday …

VIENNA/TEHRAN (Reuters) - The U.N. nuclear watchdog's latest mission to Iran failed to budge a defiant Tehran over its disputed nuclear programme, sending oil prices to a nine-month high over fears of an increasing risk of confrontation with the West. The United States criticised Iran on Wednesday over the collapse of the …

A smiling ex-Philippine president Gloria Arroyo pleaded not guilty Thursday to rigging an election, denouncing the charge that could see her jailed for life as part of a relentless vilification campaign.

The Syrian government has denied responsibility for the deaths of the two foreign journalists killed in Homs, as Foreign Secretary William Hague ruled out the possibility of military intervention.