The circumstances of Mr Hamami’s death remain unclear, but in Syria’s war all politics are local

Chancellor George Osborne will be forced to abandon the Government ring fence-around the NHS and pension budgets and further cut public spending if he is to keep pledge not to raise taxes after the 2015 election, a leading think tank has said.

Al-Shabaab says it used remote-controlled bomb

The limits of the cuts are being reached – and now nowhere is safe from the axe

When George Osborne spoke today he evidently felt he was responding to the public mood. How long will that mood last?

Chancellor also announced £300bn of new capital spending projects by the end of the decade  - including the largest programme of road building in 50 years

There is growing speculation that spending on schools will be squeezed by £1bn, even though it is officially one of three 'ring-fenced' budgets along with health and overseas aid

Chancellor has demanded £11.5bn in spending reductions, with most Whitehall departments required to find savings of up to 10%

The schools budget is under threat as the Treasury seeks another £11.5bn of cuts despite David Cameron’s previous promises to protect the funding.

Whitehall departments are to face fresh spending cuts over the next two years, with the money saved spent on infrastructure projects, Chancellor George Osborne told a pre-Budget meeting of the Cabinet today.

David Cameron has said that the Government needs to go “further and faster” to bring down the deficit after the loss of Britain’s coveted AAA credit rating.

Oxfam is to donate its 70-year archive to Oxford University's Bodleian Libraries, it was announced today.

If David Cameron wants to up military spending he should have the courage to say so