Spinal Fire Scientia Est Potentia

The story of the financial debacle will end the way it began, with the super-hustlers from Goldman Sachs at the center of the action and profiting wildly. Never in U.S. history has one company wielded such destructive power over our political economy, irrespective of whether a Republican or a Democrat happened to be president.

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Here is the link to Thursday's live blog. Please check the page regularly for updates.

7:45am PDT: The BBC has a disturbing first hand video report from a hospital in Port-au-Prince where, last night, injured people waiting for treatment slept amongst dead bodies.

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Greek police fire tear gas to disperse hundreds of lorry drivers protesting in Athens against a government order to end their strike.

A babysitting couple from the West Midlands who left a three-year-old boy with more than 70 injuries are given life sentences.

For those who thought the Taliban was training monkeys to operate machine-guns in Afghanistan, here comes the science.

Massachusetts is poised to become the sixth state to approve a law intended to bypass the Electoral College and elect the president of the United States by popular vote.

A Frenchwoman is charged with killing eight newborn babies and her husband for concealing the bodies after remains were found in a village in north France.

One of three women killed in Bradford died from severe head injuries caused by a knife and the bolt from a crossbow, an inquest hears.

UK house prices fell 0.5% in July, the Nationwide says, cutting the annual rate of house price inflation to 6.6% from 8.7%.

There has been a dramatic fall in the number of pupils excluded from schools in England in the past year, official figures show.

Shares in AstraZeneca rise more than 4% after the drug company reports a rise in profits after strong sales of key drugs.

What would two dozen servers from across the country tell you if they could get away with it? Well, for starters, when to go out, what not to order, what really happens behind the kitchen's swinging doors, and what they think of you and your tips. Here, from a group that clears a median $8.01 an hour in wages and tips, a few revelations that ...

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman says she wants a dramatic cut in the amount of rubbish thrown away by households in England.

A "ground-breaking" Court of Appeal judgement removes the protection previously given to thousands of people in divorce proceedings.

An investigation and a clear up is under way after about 300 litres of red diesel leaks into two rivers from a storage tank.

Sir Winston Churchill's entire archive of papers is to be published electronically in libraries, allowing full public access.

Up to 60,000 people working in the public sector in Scotland could lose their jobs, according to an independent review commissioned by ministers.

Great Britain's Andy Turner and Will Sharman both qualify for the semi-finals of the men's 110m hurdles at the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona.

Russia expands the powers of its FSB secret police amid concern among human rights activists that they may be abused.

In 1,000 tweets the centenarian entertained her 56,000 followers with posts about food, family and meeting Gordon Brown