Robert Bales, the staff sergeant accused of massacring 16 Afghan civilians as they slept two Sundays ago, is set to meet his lawyers for the first time tonight, even as friends and relatives in US struggled to square what they thought they knew about him with the horror of the accusations levelled against him.

Shares in BP yesterday rose by nearly 2 per cent as the City digested the oil major's £4.9bn settlement with restaurants, fishermen, hotel owners and other businesses and individuals affected by the Gulf of Mexico disaster.

As Super Tuesday dawns, and Republicans in 10 states begin the biggest day in the nomination battle, Guy Adams sees the staunch Christian candidate hit Oklahoma – and the evangelical heartlands

The conservative US publisher and activist Andrew Breitbart, an outspoken critic of mainstream media, died at the age of 43 yesterday in Los Angeles of an apparent heart attack. The Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry wrote: "RIP O Mighty Warrior!" in a message on Twitter, the medium where Breitbart confronted his critics with often abrasive messages. His final message had called a follower "a putz".

Court to rule whether boy who brought gun to school had mental capacity to understand crime

Retired Briton accused of arms dealing says he has fewer rights than Abu Qatada

The world's largest coffee chain already boasts that it offers 87,000 different drink combinations. Now alongside the soy lattes, caramel frappuccinos and espresso con pannas, Starbucks is to begin offering a more potent option.

Spanish police are investigating the death of a US student in Barcelona but say so far do not suspect foul play.

The body of an Iraq war veteran suspected of shooting a park ranger is believed to have been found last night. Twenty-four-year-old Benjamin Colton Barnes apparently died after trudging into chest-deep snow in the Washington state park while trying to elude SWAT team members and other police who were on his trail.

Never has a 50-footer across the final green for an eagle and a victory been so overshadowed. Like everyone who understands the vagaries and rigours of professional golf, the winner Alvaro Quiros would have appreciated why Luke Donald was commanding the spotlight. Here was history to hail.

Englishman pays tribute to his father after making history by completing the Transatlantic double

Woman claims 'D B Cooper', who bailed out of plane with $200,000 ransom, was her uncle.

Activists, angry at a killer whale's continuing captivity in a Florida theme park, are off to court

Home at last, Amanda Knox spent an emotional first 24 hours back on US soil yesterday, enjoying what her father described as the “simple pleasures” of freedom, after almost 1,500 days inside an Italian prison.