The brother of a murdered Chechen rebel has appealed for help and protection in an open letter to Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, who he believes is not informed of the "true state of affairs" of political murders in Chechnya.

The Russian ambassador to NATO has dismissed concerns about recent war games between Russia and Belarus close to the Polish border, which NATO says were "the largest since the end of the Cold War."

Russia's Constitutional Court has ruled to extend a moratorium on the death penalty that had been set to expire in January 2010, but has yet to ban the practice altogether.

Amnesty International has welcomed the conviction of three Turkish soldiers for "intentionally wounding" a conscientious objector while he was in military custody.

The BBC's top female newsreaders have laid on their most risqué dance routine yet for Children In Need - gyrating to Beyoncé's songs Crazy In Love and Single Ladies.

Olevels could be reintroduced to English schools as growing numbers of pupils take the traditional exams overseas.

Lord LloydWebber has paid out nearly £1.5million from his art charity to HM Revenue and Customs to settle a long running row over a gift aid claim on a 19th century masterpiece The Daily Telegraph can disclose.

Pull out part of a Tory defence "revolution" being drawn up by Dr Liam Fox the Shadow Defence Secretary.

Floodhit communities were coming to terms with the devastation wreaked by a "biblical" deluge and batten down for a weekend of rain.

Senior Foreign Office officials have claimed more than £90000 in taxpayerfunded expenses in just three months.

The president of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai is sworn in for a second term as the world watches to see if he can deliver on his pledges to clean up his government.

Great Ormond Street Hospital failed to answer senior doctors' justified concerns about the clinic which failed Baby P according to two secret reports.

From a devastating food crisis in Guatemala to water cuts in Venezuela El Niño has compounded drought damage across Latin America this year.

Police are treating dog mess as a crime priority by launching patrols to catch owners who let their pets foul the pavements and issuing them with £50 fines.

After an Asia tour lacking in fanfare Barack Obama returned home to a tough set of problems: Afghanistan rising unemployment trundling health care reform.

Fazle Noor Tapash a Bangladeshi politician and lawyer was in court to see the verdict that may lead to the murderers of his parents being hanged 34 years on.

Gordon Brown should demand the "immediate" return of the Lockerbie bomber to serve his sentence in a Scottish jail - because he is still alive exactly three months after his controversial release according to an American senator.

Promotional posters for a new Bollywood thriller which show leading actress Kareena Kapoor from behind and apparently naked from the waist up have got some people's backs up in India.

Historic heirlooms of the family of the Duke of Kent realised more than £2 million at auction at Christie's almost double what was expected.

Wealthy Britons left right and centre have pledged to move abroad in protest at Labour's 50p rate of income tax. But will the promised exodus materialise asks Neil Tweedie?