Latest news and comment from the British Isles | UK news

Atheist buses go nationwide

A project which saw London buses carrying the slogan 'There's probably no God' is to be extended
Temperatures drop to -10C

Britons tackle snow and ice as forecasters warn mercury will fall further in south tonight
- Driver who skidded on ice killed by train
Baby P director appeals against sacking

Lawyers for Sharon Shoesmith to argue that Haringey should have given notice or compensation
Police launch online crime maps

Colour-coded maps show levels of burglary, car crime and other offences across England and Wales
- Met police officer numbers 'will not be cut'
- Home Office flouted guidelines in 10 ways over knife crime statistics
Debenhams and Next weather the gloom

Shares in both companies rise as they report relatively robust trading over the Christmas period
- The high street: Who has won and who has lost
House prices fall by 16% in 2008

Nationwide says 2008 showed biggest annual drop in prices since it started publishing its index

In pictures

Snow business

Winter scenes from around the country as a further cold snap bites
Food firms urged to make sources clearer

Environment secretary urges manufacturers and supermarkets to be more open
Levy to be forced on gaming firms

Plans are afoot to levy a £5m annual charge on gambling firms to fund treatment of addicts
- Blog: will the government outlaw betting?
Level crossing death: tributes paid

Family and colleagues pay tribute to woman killed on level crossing
Church's prayers for redundant workers

Bishop leads attempt to put into words anxieties of those losing jobs and guilt of colleagues left behind

Multimedia

Aluminium maker Alcoa announces 15,000 job losses and cuts in output

7 Jan 2009: America's largest aluminium maker, Alcoa, is to cut 15,200 jobs and reduce smelting capacity
Stonewall's workplace equality index

7 Jan 2009: Top 100 gay-friendly employers
Gay-friendly employers are out and proud

7 Jan 2009: It pays to be a workplace that is openly supportive to gay staff, writes Ben Summerskill
Cuts to cause 'austere' future for schools

7 Jan 2009: £45bn school rebuilding programme under threat as finance diverted to beat economic gloom
Banks and police among most gay-friendly employers

7 Jan 2009: Survey of workplace diversity shows public sector beaten in equality ratings by investement banks and consultants
Brian Paddick: Equality in the police has improved

7 Jan 2009: Former deputy assistant commissioner Brian Paddick explains how far the police force has come in its attitude to gay people
Government drive will not reduce number of low-paid jobs, warns thinktank

7 Jan 2009:
IPPR report predicts that occupational make-up of UK will change little in next decade
Kennington Kids' artwork to go on show at London's City Hall

Gallery (9 pictures), 7 Jan 2009:
Teenagers' artwork to go on show at London's City Hall

Art doyenne's lobbying link

7 Jan 2009:
Charlotte Higgins: Husband of voracious collector Anita Zabludowicz is major donor to the British Israel Communication and Research Centre
MI5 chief - terror trials have reduced al-Qaida threat

7 Jan 2009:
Jonathan Evans warns that Israeli attacks on Gaza may give extremists more ideological ammunition
Curried pasties and soup as Arctic hits UK

7 Jan 2009:
South-west of England to face lowest temperatures as Met Office says cold snap will continue
Britons stock up for the cold snap

7 Jan 2009:
Sales of hot chocolate, heating oil and electric blankets soar while ambulances see increase in callouts
In Derby's doldrums: Families fear worst in city braced for big job losses

7 Jan 2009:
East Midlands predicted to be one of the areas worst hit by job losses as Gordon Brown visits
Fictional adventure in the Baltic launched 100 years of spycatching

7 Jan 2009:
Secret Service Bureau established in 1909 after rumours of German spies in naval ports
Opening up, but not lifting the lid

7 Jan 2009:
The man on the frontline with the British intelligence agency MI5 reveals his company's new degree of openness