HM Revenue and Customs says some 1.4 million people each owe about £1,500 in tax, while 4.3 million will get an average rebate of £418.

Police declare an overnight curfew in Christchurch, New Zealand, after a powerful earthquake causes considerable damage but no fatalities.

A badly-burnt body is found in undergrowth between the 17th and 18th holes of an East Sussex golf course.

Two people are killed when their plane crashes to the ground after a collision with another aircraft on the Isle of Wight.

Shoes, eggs and plastic bottles are thrown at Tony Blair as he arrives at a book-shop in Dublin to sign copies of his memoirs.

A Tory councillor defects to Labour over cuts to the government's schools building programme, saying she was "ashamed to be a Conservative".

Labour leadership hopeful Ed Balls says the home secretary should make a statement about claims of phone tapping by the News of the World.

Thousands attend rallies in Paris and other French cities to protest at the government's policy of deporting Roma people.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has formed a committee to seek peace talks with the Taliban, his office says.

Nine people, including four tourists, are killed when a light aircraft crashes after taking off from Fox Glacier in New Zealand, say reports.

Chief Constable Peter Fahy says it was "not right" that TV broadcasters covered the last hours of gunman Raoul Moat on a live rolling basis.

An amateur gardener grows what he believes to be the largest potato in the world.

Thousands of people watch Robbie Williams switch on Blackpool's illuminations.

England and Tottenham defender Michael Dawson will miss the game with Switzerland after being ruled out for at least six weeks.

Roger Federer takes on Paul-Henri Mathieu after wins for Caroline Wozniacki and Maria Sharapova and a shock defeat for Jelena Jankovic on day six of the US Open at Flushing Meadows.

England coach Andy Flower says he is satisfied with spin bowling coach Mushtaq Ahmed's role within the team despite previous links with illegal bookmakers.

A lawyer for the three Pakistan players at the centre of allegations of corruption says they are keen for a "timely and satisfactory outcome" to the affair.

England batsman Kevin Pietersen returns to form with 116 as Surrey tie their final CB 40 game with Sussex.

Two police officers who crashed a sports car seized from a suspected drink-driver could face prosecution.

The funeral is held of singer Charles Haddon from Northamptonshire who died in a fall in Belgium.

Scottish event rider Nicola Malcolm is airlifted to hospital after falling from her horse during the Burghley Horse Trials.

One of Scotland's largest councils - North Lanarkshire - warns that it may have to cut more than 1,000 jobs.

Police release the name of a man who was found dead at his apartment in Armagh city on Friday.

A 26-year-old man from the Irish Republic is among nine people killed in a plane crash in New Zealand.

More plans to reduce the number of councillors in Wales are put forward to create what ministers say would be greater fairness for voters.

Villagers told by BT it will cost £550,000 for a broadband connection receive an estimate from another company of £50,000.

Police in Mozambique's capital fire rubber bullets on the third day of riots, as the violence spreads to the central city of Chimoio.

The United Nations' food agency calls a special meeting of policy makers to discuss the recent rapid rises in food prices.

The South Korean Foreign Minister, Yu Myung-hwan, offers to resign after it was revealed that his daughter was offered a job in his ministry.

Japan imposes new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear programme but maintains its oil import schedule.

A Belarus opposition website activist found hanged at his home outside Minsk committed suicide, officials say.

An Argentine court reopens an investigation into alleged crimes against humanity under General Franco in Spain.

Scientists from the US space agency Nasa advise the trapped Chilean miners to exercise and regulate their day and night sleep patterns.

Fidel Castro addresses a rally for the first time since handing the Cuban presidency to his brother Raul in 2006.

Former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair tells the BBC that radical Islam is the greatest threat facing the world.

The US secretary of state warns the current round of Mid-East peace talks may be "the last chance for a very long time".

A bomb kills at least 50 people at a Shia Muslim rally in the south-western city of Quetta, the second attack on Pakistan's religious minority in days.

Violence in Afghanistan will get worse before it gets better, the UK's most senior military commander in the country tells the BBC.

Tropical Storm Earl reaches Nova Scotia, on the eastern Canadian coast, with tens of thousands of people experiencing power cuts.

The US economy shed another 54,000 jobs in August, the third month in a row that jobs have been lost, official figures show.

HSBC may quit its London headquarters if the UK government decides to break up big banks, a senior executive says.

The Brazilian state oil company, Petrobras, unveils plans to sell up to $64.5bn of new stock, in one of the world's largest share offers.

BP says the cost of its Gulf of Mexico oil spill has risen to $8bn - a rise of more than $2bn in the last month alone.

A poll commissioned by Ed Miliband's leadership campaign finds voters are less likely to vote Labour if there is not a shift from New Labour policies.

The former Liberal Democrat MP Sir Cyril Smith has died aged 82, his family and party confirm.

Defence Secretary Liam Fox rules out the UK sharing aircraft carriers with France as part of closer defence co-operation.

Israeli scientists believe they have identified why Arabic is particularly hard to learn to read.

Tests on a type of breast implant filled with an unapproved gel have shown no evidence they are unsafe, UK experts say.

Gardeners are being warned about the risk of Legionnaire's disease from compost after a pensioner developed the disease after handling compost.

One in four state primary schools in England has no male teacher, statistics show.

Fewer children are learning to play a musical instrument than in their parents' generation, a survey suggests.

England's first city-wide lottery system aimed at solving the problem of allocating places at over-subscribed schools failed to give poorer children equal access to top schools, academics say.

Sony has won a permanent ban in Australia of a hack for its PS3, but the code behind it has been released for free on the web.

A potentially revolutionary circuit component, once a laboratory curiosity, is to be mass-produced for the first time.

The global disparity in access to broadband around the world and the cost of a connection is revealed by UN figures.

Nasa is aiming to get closer to the Sun than ever before, with plans to plunge a car-sized unmanned spacecraft into the star's outer atmosphere.

The re-introduction of wolves to a US National Park has not helped re-establish quaking aspens, as many researchers had hoped.

Ultrafine measurements of atmospheric gases could help scientists track down the last sources of CFCs thought to be slowing the recovery of the ozone layer.

Three of the world's most successful club DJs join forces to pay tribute to those who died at the Love Parade festival in Germany in July.

Veteran broadcaster Sarah Kennedy is leaving BBC Radio 2's Dawn Patrol show - 34 years after joining the station

Cheryl and Ashley Cole are granted a divorce at the High Court after four years of marriage.

The world is on the verge of a bed-bug pandemic, according to a report - how did the tiny biting insects come to pose such a threat?

Tony Blair's memoirs has become the fastest selling autobiography in Britain. But what are the biggest overall sellers?

Tony Blair used alcohol as a 'prop' during his time in power but how many of us do the same?

Eggs and shoes have been thrown by anti-war protestors at former Prime Minister Tony Blair as he arrived at a book signing in Dublin.

The former Pakistan cricket captain, Imran Khan, has said that if players are found guilty of spot fixing, they should not be given a life ban, which some officials are demanding.

The Modified Toy Orchestra is a band made up of five musicians - and 48 tweaked toy instruments.

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake strikes New Zealand's South Island, causing widespread minor damage and power cuts.

Rory Cellan-Jones tries out 3D video equipment and looks at the latest ultra thin and bright OLED TVs.

New-born twin giant pandas made their first public appearance at a zoo in Japan on Friday in Shirahama.

In an attempt to reach people who do not normally go to the cinema, Shetland film festival is targeting their pets.

Hundreds of sharks have been spotted off the Queensland coast.

Should a journalist bear witness, or interfere to help save a life?

Author Ian McEwan on writing, walking and quantum mechanics

The merciless drugs gang spreading fear in Mexico

The spending review's political arm-wrestling contest

The most famous comic you've never heard of

Striking pictures from around the world this week