Irish Republic swears in Enda Kenny as new leader

The Irish parliament has officially elected Enda Kenny as taoiseach (prime minister), to lead a new government.

Mr Kenny's centre-right Fine Gael won last month's general election, three months after the previous government accepted an EU/IMF 85bn euro bail-out.

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England NHS changes 'risk making child health care worse'

Reforms of the NHS in England are putting the healthcare of children at risk, according to an article in the British Medical Journal. The doctors and academics who wrote it say healthcare for children already lags behind the best European examples.

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UK Credit and debit card fraud 'falls to 10-year low'

Fraud losses on UK credit and debit cards fell to the lowest level for a decade in 2010 as awareness of the issue increased. The amount lost still reached £365.4m, but this was 17% lower than the previous year, the UK Cards Association said. The biggest drop was in the amount lost through cloned or skimmed cards, which fell by 41%.

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Britain suffered defeat in Iraq, says US general

The British army suffered defeat in Iraq when it pulled out of Basra, a senior American general has claimed.

UK forces left the city in 2007, leaving the people to be "terrorised", Gen Jack Keane, a key adviser to the White House told the BBC.

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown described the withdrawal at the time as "a pre-planned and organised move".

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Lloyd's of London profits halve as catastrophes hit

Lloyd's of London, the world's biggest insurance market, has reported a 50% fall in profits for the first half of 2010 as a result of costs from the Chilean earthquake and Gulf oil spill.

Pre-tax profits came in at £628m compared with £1.32bn a year earlier.

Lord Levene, the Lloyd's chairman, described the period as the "costliest on record".

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Australia parliament opens after knife-edge election

Australia's new parliament has opened in Canberra, following the country's closest election in 70 years.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard won the first major test of her Labor government after her nominee was re-elected parliamentary speaker.

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Number of knife carriers in Scotland falls to nine-year low

The number of people convicted of carrying a knife has fallen to its lowest for nearly a decade.

Figures from the Scottish government showed 3,194 crimes of having a knife in public were committed in 2009-10, a drop of 22% on the previous year.

The fall was welcomed by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, who said it showed "tough enforcement" was paying off.

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Colombian police examine Farc rebels' laptops

Experts in Colombia are trying to crack the codes to 15 computers and almost 100 memory sticks belonging to Colombia's largest rebel group.

They were seized on Thursday after a massive raid on a Farc jungle camp.

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Australia say India should not host 2010 Commonwealth Games

India should not have been allowed to host the 2010 Commonwealth Games, according to the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) president John Coates.

Construction delays have hampered the preparations for the Games, which start on 3 October, and the athletes' village was this week called "uninhabitable".

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Some 177 quangos 'to be scrapped' by the government

Some 177 quangos, or taxpayer-funded public bodies, could be scrapped by the government, a leaked document suggests.

The Daily Telegraph says it shows the Health Protection Agency and the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority are two due to be abolished.

A further four bodies are said to be facing privatisation, with an additional 129 set to be merged.

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UK Breaking News: Bermuda gets ready for hurricane Igor

Bermuda is now all set for the coming of Hurricane Igor, a category-two storm anticipated to bring torrential rains as well as very strong winds.

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Hurricane Igor in Bermuda

UK Breaking News: Football and fries: Why McDonald's sponsors sports

"Most of our staff love football and most of our customers love football, so there is a very 'sweet spot' for us there, it is a glue that holds us all together. One thing we are not seeking is brand awareness," says Steve Easterbrook, McDonald's chief for Northern Europe.

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Football and fries: Why McDonald's sponsors sports