News : British Broadcasting Corporation

The energy regulator Ofgem has said power supply companies have been failing consumers.

The BBC's economics editor Stephanie Flanders explains just why the "squeezed middle" is being squeezed.

The world's rarest albatross is confirmed as a separate species by scientists in Canada.

Google blames the Chinese government for problems accessing its e-mail service in the country.

Japanese officials say they are making gradual progress towards regaining control of the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant, although there are concerns of a partial meltdown.

Pensioners and the poorest households are amongst those that have been the worst hit by the recession, a study finds.

US mobile phone company AT&T says it will buy rival T-Mobile making it the largest mobile phone company in the US.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is looking to increase his investments in Asia to tap further into the region's growth.

Japan may need five years to rebuild from the disaster that has caused up to $235bn of damage, the World Bank says.

Oil prices jump after air strikes against Libya raise fears over possible disruptions to crude oil supplies.

The largest collection of Roman coins found in Britain in one pot will stay in its home county.

Going to Harvard from your own bedroom­

Can rich donors rescue the arts from the funding crisis?

The government appears to be gaining control of the public finances and could benefit from a £8bn windfall this year, a report suggests.

Tax authorities venture into Amsterdam's red light district

US drones taking al-Qaeda off battlefield says ex-CIA head

A new way of delivering drugs to the brain has been developed by scientists at the University of Oxford.

Tablets like the iPad and Samsung's Galaxy Tab may have started as consumer devices, but business has been quick to see the possibilities.

Scientists have shown how a single protein may trigger autistic spectrum disorders by stopping effective communication between brain cells.

Australia's Labor government is grappling with potentially combustible plans to introduce a carbon tax.

Middle Eastern stock markets rise sharply, despite regional unrest, after King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia boosted government spending.

Telecoms giant BT says it will raise call charges by 9% and increase its monthly line rental charge by 30 pence from 28 April.

Chancellor George Osborne may scrap the rise in fuel duty planned for April in next week's Budget, he hints to the BBC.

The nuclear crisis unfolding in Japan will not affect EDF's plans to build new reactors in the UK, the firm's boss tells the BBC.

An experiment is held to identify how Iron Age people may have communicated between their hilltop homes 2,500 years ago.