Russian rider Alexandr Kolobnev becomes the first rider to fail a doping test during this year's Tour de France.

Two campaigners held in Israel on their way to a protest in Bethlehem are expected to fly back to the UK after being deported.

Qatar's World Cup chief Hassan al Thawadi mounts a vigorous defence of the Gulf state's right to host the 2022 tournament

Sir Alex Ferguson claims that Samir Nasri has agreed to leave Arsenal - but that the French midfielder will probably not join Manchester United.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad has lost legitimacy, after his supporters attack the US embassy in Damascus.

Crowds of nationalists throw petrol bombs and masonry at police during serious rioting in west Belfast.

Banned activist Sheikh Raed Salah entered the UK after details from a security system were passed to the wrong Heathrow terminal, the BBC is told.

More than a third of England's universities have had their plans to charge £9,000 for every single course officially approved by the official watchdog.