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POOR Alistair Darling has inadvertently achieved the extraordinary. The Chancellor has helped inspire a smattering of pity for real-estate agents.

Quangos, which aim to rejuvenate regional economies, are wasteful and should be scrapped, a report says.

EMBARRASSED SNP managers moved quickly last night to suspend one of their councillors who was filmed firing a Kalashnikov assault rifle at a military camp in Pakistan.

A CAMPAIGN to scrap the historic requirement on MPs to swear allegiance to the monarch was described last night as an "attack on the state".

A lack of parent and adult role models drives young people to gangs, a survey by the Prince's Trust suggests.

18 out of 20 Premiership football clubs are failing to provide enough space for disabled fans, while also increasing the price of disabled season tickets, according to research by the Liberal Democrats. The research shows that:· Only two Premiership clubs out of 20 meet government guidelines for the provision of disabled spaces in stadiums.· One third of Premiership clubs have less than half of the recommended number of spaces· Premiership clubs have added only 19 new spaces in total this summer, despite a shortfall of almost 1,500· Season ticket prices for disabled fans have increased by over £25 on average compared to last season· Labour promised to deal with this issue 13 years ago, but has recently ministers admitted they don’t even hold information on facilities for disabled supporters Commenting, Liberal Democrat Shadow Culture, Media and Sport Secretary, Don Foster said: "It’s shameful that so many Premiership clubs can’t be bothered to provide enou

Liberal Democrat Shadow foreign Secretary, Edward Davey today called for greater European cooperation to catch the criminals who operate across borders in the 27-nation European Union. Launching the Liberal Democrat policy paper Shaping Our World Through a Strong Europe, he called for an emphasis on effective and pragmatic EU policies to tackle the challenges posed by greater economic competition, freedom of movement and the communications revolution. Liberal Democrat proposals for better co-operation on crime include:· Greater cooperation between European police forces to build on the success of initiatives such as Operation Koala, which led to the arrest of 93 paedophiles, some of whom were based in the UK.· A presumption that the UK will opt-in to EU measures to tackle cross-border crimes such as paedophile networks, cyber-crime, human trafficking, money laundering, drug smuggling and gun-running.· Support for initiatives such as a Europe-wide missing child alert system

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Patricia O'Brien of Ireland as the new United nations legal chief, making her the first woman in the Organization's history to hold that post.

Women's voices are still being left out in the battle against HIV/AIDS, despite frequent calls for their increased participation in determining resource allocation over the disease, according to a new United nations-backed study.

Businesses in North East England are among the more confident in the country amidst the challenging conditions of the global slowdown and the credit crunch, according to new research released today.