Winners of Sound of 2013, Haim, speak to BBC News about their musical influences at Madame Tussauds in London.

The US state department has said a planned visit to North Korea by Google chairman Eric Schmidt is unhelpful.

Two brothers raised in Afghanistan design a prototype landmine destroyer based on a toy they played with as children.

The government should rule out using peak-time train fare rises to manage passenger numbers, MPs have said.

Venezuela's President, Hugo Chavez, is suffering from "complications" brought on by a "severe lung infection" which developed after surgery, officials say.

Dame Helen Mirren has been honoured with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.

A man accused of leading an al-Qaeda plot to set off bombs in Manchester has been extradited to the United States.

French actor Gerard Depardieu has obtained Russian citizenship, according to a brief statement posted on the Kremlin website.

A Bristol guesthouse is taking the idea of caravanning to new heights, receiving planning permission to put caravans on its roof.

Alfie Fripp, the man thought to be the longest-serving British prisoner of war during World War II, has died at the age of 98.

After his release from Dublin's Mountjoy prison, Sean Quinn Sr - once Ireland's richest man - says he found his spell in jail for contempt of court "tough".

A 12-year-old boy has taken on supermarket giant Tesco to try to stop a new store being built in his Essex town.

Falklands War veteran Simon Weston has said he supports people on the islands in their right to self-determination and their choice to be British.

The BBC's Yogita Limaye took a bus ride in Delhi and asked women how they felt about travelling on the city's public transport system.

David Cameron has strongly rebuffed a call by Argentina's president for the UK to return the Falkland Islands.

A record 600 seal pups have been born this year on a beach in north Norfolk, 100 times the figure a decade ago.

The Irish mountaineer and charity fundraiser Ian McKeever has died while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.

A 15-metre high rubber duck has taken to the water in Sydney's Darling Harbour as part of a rehearsal for a festival at the weekend.

Rising river levels and regular flooding are hitting businesses hard, according to one North Yorkshire businessman.

Attempts to rescue a Shell drill rig grounded off the Alaskan coast have been delayed because of high seas and strong winds.