Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca is to cut 1,400 jobs and close three plants in Europe as part of a programme to improve efficiency, the firm announced today.

Thirty six hours of pain face the leaders in the Vendée Globe singlehanded non-stop round the world race, but 3,000 miles of jangling nerves are in prospect for two of the eight boats on the second leg of the Volvo race from Cape Town to Kochi, south-west India.

The family of two boys killed by ex-Plymouth goalkeeper Luke McCormick in a crash on the M6 said today that Government measures to crack down on speeding motorists and drink-and-drug drivers were too little, too late.

Hard to decode what Hillary Clinton was doing, seeing President-Elect Barack Obama in Chicago last week. So here is Dick Morris's take...

Hard to decode what Hillary Clinton was doing, seeing President-Elect Barack Obama in Chicago last week. So here is Dick Morris's take...

Hard to decode what Hillary Clinton was doing, seeing President-Elect Barack Obama in Chicago last week. So here is Dick Morris's take...

Hard to decode what Hillary Clinton was doing, seeing President-Elect Barack Obama in Chicago last week. So here is Dick Morris's take...

Hard to decode what Hillary Clinton was doing, seeing President-Elect Barack Obama in Chicago last week. So here is Dick Morris's take...

Hard to decode what Hillary Clinton was doing, seeing President-Elect Barack Obama in Chicago last week. So here is Dick Morris's take...

The number of new homes being built in England has slumped by a third during the past quarter to reach a record low, Government figures showed today.