Investors in the world's second-biggest listed oil group were yesterday left shell-shocked after news of a 60 per cent fall in profits. Royal Dutch Shell's second-quarter results were 23 per cent below analysts' consensus forecasts and Richard Curr, head of dealing at broker Prime Markets, said they "came totally out of the blue".

The West African nation of Mali voted in presidential elections on Sunday just 16 months after the country descended into chaos in the wake of a coup led by mid-ranking army officials.

There is anxiety at Chelsea that they could lose the exceptional 17-year-old midfielder Bertrand Traoré over the next six weeks before they are able to hand the teenager a professional  contract on his 18th birthday in September.

The 18-year-old arrives on a free transfer

Earning interest is forbidden by Islamic Law

Swatch clocks up rise in profits

The midfielder's previous criminal convictions mean that he'll have to remain in the UK while the rest of the squad head off on a three-match tour of America

A British national kidnapped by gunmen in Nigeria has been released, the British High Commission have confirmed.

Detachments of the French and Malian troops who defeated Islamist rebels in Mali earlier this year took pride of place in France’s traditional Bastille Day military parade along the Champs Elysées  today.

Aroyal palace – even one soon due to host a new arrival – feels like a fitting venue for an imperial swansong. While the HarperCollins garden party in the Orangery at Kensington Palace morphed into a valediction and celebration for the firm's departing CEO Victoria Barnsley, talk also turned on the lowering of other flags. Large-scale publishing in Britain, some guests claimed, has fallen more firmly than ever under the American yoke.

Woodrow West and Ian Gaynair reveal they were offered a bribe before the 6-1 defeat in Portland on Tuesday

The former world champion boxer Herbie Hide is facing arrest after he failed to attend court on drug charges, saying he was suffering from malaria in a Nigerian clinic.

UK-based Minbar Ansar Deen and Boko Haram to be proscribed in the UK under terrorism laws

All secondary schools in the state closed until September after three deadly attacks in recent weeks