Armando Iannucci's decision to transfer his profanity-laden satirical style to a US audience more used to sentimental White House dramas has been largely hailed as a success. Veep, the new series from the Oscar-nominated creator of The Thick of It and In The Loop, pulls back the curtain on the office of the US Vice-President.

Unwitting participants in a scientific study were egged on to inflict pain on contestants in a fake TV show

The UK Independence Party has more reason than any other to complain about the British election system: despite winning 900,000 votes at the last general election it has no MPs. In the European Parliament, which is elected by proportional representation, the party has a dozen MEPs.

Professor Stephen Hawking CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA has almost half an alphabet's worth of letters after his name, a grasp of theoretical physics and cosmology second to none, 12 honorary degrees and a list of best-selling books that would put Stephenie Meyer to shame.

The long-serving finance director of Lord Sugar's private holding company, Amshold, has stepped down and left the board in a surprise move.

The long-serving finance director of Lord Sugar's private holding company, Amshold, has stepped down and left the board in a surprise move.

Hundreds line the streets for comedian's funeral

As Russia votes, with one clear leader, Shaun Walker reports from Moscow on the would-be President's plans

With an uncompromising performance at the Leveson Inquiry this week, the Met Police's Deputy Assistant Commissioner showed that she is not to be messed with

Aware of their wafer-thin majorities, Australia's Labor MPs are pondering whether to support Julia Gillard or Kevin Rudd in a Monday's leadership ballot.

As a hard-nosed, tenacious news reporter dedicated to getting the story, Sarah Cullen embodied everything good about ITN in the 1970s and 1980s, when the ITV news provider achieved both public and Establishment recognition. "We subscribe to the generally held view that ITN has the edge over BBC news," declared the 1977 report by Lord Annan's Committee into the Future of Broadcasting.

As the 500th episode of The Simpsons airs in America, Michael Bywater looks back at a record number of guest stars and asks why we're still not jaundiced by our yellow friends

The head of the world's biggest mining company, Australia's BHP Billiton, yesterday said he was ready to add further fuel to the deal frenzy gripping the commodities sector in the wake of Glencore's planned $90bn (£57bn) merger with Xstrata.

The head of the world's biggest mining company, Australia's BHP Billiton, yesterday said he was ready to add further fuel to the deal frenzy in the commodities sector in the wake of Glencore's planned $90bn (£57bn) merger with Xstrata.