Chen Guangcheng's brother has fled his closely guarded village in eastern China to seek legal advice in Beijing, his lawyer said.

Two convicted criminals who attacked prison officers and held a mutiny inside their jail have been handed longer sentences.

A father who was facing trial for a crime he thought he was acquitted of 17 years ago said today he had been through hell but was relieved that Portuguese authorities had dropped their extradition request.

A woman blinded in an horrendous violent assault by her boyfriend has urged people suffering domestic violence to come forward.

Three teenagers have been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a city centre stabbing which left a man in a critical condition.

The lawyer of the Russian banker who was shot and seriously injured in a suspected contract hit in east London was due to arrive in Britain last night to meet Scotland Yard detectives.

Three men jailed for life for a gang-related shooting that left a five-year-old girl paralysed were told today their ruthless crime was "an attack on society itself".

Wanted: 23 "missing" poets. Must be from Burkina Faso, Papua New Guinea, Liechtenstein or one of 20 other nations still missing from the roster of a record-breaking poetry event scheduled to form part of this summer's Olympics cultural programme.

Mother whose eyes were gouged by partner makes emotional testimony to court

A mother-of-two whose boyfriend throttled her unconscious and gouged out her eyes said today he "robbed me of one of the most precious things in life".

A man accused of killing seven people at a Christian college in California told a television station he was deeply sorry about the shooting rampage, the deadliest US campus attack since the massacre at Virginia Tech in 2007.

An Albanian man accused of multiple murders in his home country has been arrested in the UK after 15 years on the run, Scotland Yard said.

A father of two who suffered horrific injuries in a bottle attack at a celebrity-packed party held by smartphone firm BlackBerry died this morning, police said.

Caryl Brahms, an astute critic and a funny writer, said that characters in Chekhov always harked back to their beginnings but learnt no lesson from their past; they were content to sit around the samovar and talk.