London - The British government was forced Monday to drop controversial plans to allow terrorism suspects to be detained for up to six weeks without charge after the measure was defeated in the upper house of parliament, the House of Lords.

Home Secretary Jacquie Smith said after the vote, which rejected the measure 309-118, that the proposal to extend detention from currently 28 days to 42 days would be taken out of a package of anti- terrorism legislation.

London  - Peter Mandelson, Britain's new Business Secretary, recalled early from his post as European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner, Monday took his seat in the House of Lords as Baron Mandelson of Foy in the county of Herefordshire, and of Hartlepool.

The elevation to the status of Labour peer in the Upper House of the British parliament had become necessary because Mandelson, 55, no longer has a seat in the House of Commons.

London - In Britain, the NICE decade, defined by Bank of England governor Mervyn King as one of "non-inflationary constant expansion" - has come to an end with a bang.

The government bailout of cash-starved banks - the biggest-ever fundraising effort undertaken on behalf of the country's proud banking sector - is seen as the end of an era in the City of London where the free market reigned supreme and regulation was poor.

London:- What a change? What a U turn? Those who were until recently selling General Musharaf''s four point agenda on Kashmir leading to division of the State of Jammu and Kashmir have made another somersault and have brought out a new ''commodity'' wrapped skilfully in cover of right of self determination.

London, Oct. 13 : A leading rail union called today for an urgent inquiry after a laptop containing personal details of 150,000 workers in the industry was stolen.

According to The Independent, the computer was in a bag taken from an employee of Deloitte which until recently was the external auditor for the RPMI, which administers railway pension schemes.