Extensive sales of Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland assets are expected, under EU pressure for scaling back of state-aided banks, the BBC understands.
The government, which holds a 70% stake in RBS and a 43% stake in Lloyds after last October’s bailouts, hopes to announce the sell-off plans on Tuesday.
EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes [...]
By Gary Duffy,BBC News, Rio de Janeiro
There are more people of African descent in Brazil than in any country outside the African continent itself, but the higher you go in Brazilian society the less evidence there appears to be of that reality.
Critics say part of the blame lies with a system which has often failed [...]
Britain still has a taste for being a world power – and a determination to be a key influence on the United States, a senior defence analyst has told the BBC.
But it faces a choice on how to play out that role, says Michael Codner, head of military sciences at the Royal United Services Institute.
"It’s [...]
India’s massacre of the Sikhs after Indira Gandhi death
By Jane ElliottHealth reporter, BBC News
At first sight an airline pilot, a car plant worker and a hospital surgeon would appear to have little in common.
But the NHS is learning from the aviation and automotive industries as it introduces new safety protocols to reduce the risk of accidents in the operating theatre.
Whether it is [...]