Health officials in Germany and the Czech Republic have advised women who had potentially defective breast implants to have them removed.

The implants, made by French company PIP, contain industrial grade silicone, putting them at great risk of rupturing inside the body.

Slovenia voted in legislative elections on Sunday with the centre-right opposition, the Slovenian Democratic Party, expected to win the majority of seats. Party leader Janez Jansa (pictured) was prime minister from 2004 to 2008.

Eighteen Church of England bishops have signed an open letter, criticising the government's proposed welfare changes.

In the letter, in The Observer, the bishops express concerns about plans to limit the amount any household can claim in benefits to £500 a week.

The Vatican says it is taking legal action over the use of an ad showing Pope Benedict kissing a leading imam as part of a Benetton advertising campaign.

The Vatican move comes despite an announcement by the Italian clothing company that it was pulling the ad.

New Italian PM Mario Monti's government of technocrats has passed its first test, winning a vote of confidence in the senate.

As expected, the government won the vote in the upper house of parliament easily, by 281 votes to 25.

Newly-appointed Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti is due to outline austerity measures aimed at steering the country out of its debt crisis.

He will present his plans to the Italian senate ahead of a confidence vote in the upper house.

Mr Monti, who has unveiled a cabinet of technocrats, has revealed little about his plans, but they are expected to follow demands made by the EU.

Greece's main opposition leader has again insisted that Prime Minister George Papandreou must stand down to break political deadlock over the country's debt crisis.

Antonis Samaras of the New Democracy party said after meeting the president that if the PM resigned, "everything will take its course".

Greece was left without news coverage on overnight as journalists went on strike ahead of a two-day walkout by unions seeking to block an austerity bill that the government must pass to avert bankruptcy.

Clapham Junction Local 46 year old man Neville speaks out.   He highlighted a number of wider issues in our current society and government, but is this really the true cause of the riots.

To his audience the anger is justified, but what about the violence and looting?

TWO model sisters wept yesterday as they were caged for six months for ransacking an Argos store.

Shonola Smith and her sister Alicia joined 100 rioters who stormed the Croydon shop on Monday, tearing apart display cases and looting the stock.

The mob included their pal Donness Bissessar, 21 - who joined them again in court, and also got six months.

Violence has broken out for a third consecutive day in London, with riot police deployed and firefighters tackling blazes across the capital.

Shops were looted and buildings, among them a furniture store in Croydon, set alight as police clashed with youths.

Trouble first flared on Saturday after a peaceful protest in Tottenham over the fatal shooting of a man by police.

The prime minister is returning early from holiday to chair a meeting of the government's emergency committee Cobra.

In a lane off Mare Street the wreckage of a burnt-out car still smoulders, surrounded by riot police.

An economist at an influential thinktank has warned that the base rate may spiral 'rapidly' as the Bank of England will need to curb runaway inflation.
Andrew Lilico, of the Policy Exchange think-tank, said: 'To keep inflation (as measured by the Retail Prices Index) down to only 10% for one year, the economy will have to be able to tolerate interest rates of perhaps 8%.'