A grandfather from Kent who is accused of selling parts for Iranian missiles will be extradited to the US within 10 days, his lawyer said yesterday.

The deal

Moves to reintroduce more setting and streaming in UK  state schools are fuelling a “vicious cycle” of underperformance,  particularly amongst disadvantaged youngsters, a top-level international study warned yesterday.

Almost one in five young people in the UK are not educated to A-level standard, leaving the nation lagging behind countries such as Slovenia and Estonia.

Iranian buyers have defaulted on payments for about 200,000 tonnes of rice from India in a sign of the mounting pressure on Tehran from a new wave of Western sanctions.

Over the last few years, building societies have been a dominant force in the mortgage market, particularly with fixed-rate products. Even though mutuals already have a big presence in the bestbuy tables, the battle for mortgage supremacy stepped up another gear this week when Yorkshire Building Society, through its Chelsea brand, hit the market with a five-year fix at a record low rate of just 3.19 per cent, maximum 70 per cent loan-to-value (LTV) ratio.

Millions will be charged twice as much for going into the red.

Neil Kuschel's guide to international expansion for small businesses

The Bank of England's hopes of an export-led recovery were dealt a blow yesterday as the UK's goods trade gap with the rest of the world hit £8.6bn.

A worsening trade deficit is set to dampen hopes of an export-led recovery and end the recent run of upbeat news on the UK economy, City experts fear.

Britain's manufacturing base is contracting at the fastest pace for two years.

Changes to family and tax policies would boost the economy

The run up to Christmas is the most expensive time of the year for most of us so it's a great help if your employer enters into the festive spirit and stumps up your December salary a week or two in advance. This may initially prove to be a godsend with a seemingly endless number of presents to pay for plus additional parties and nights out celebrating with family and friends.

UK balance of payments improves sharply, but economists cast doubt on reliability of figures