AFP - The government on Wednesday called on the Afghan government to intensify efforts and find a political solution with the Taliban to bring the conflict there to an end.

AFP - Talks to avert a strike by British Airways cabin crew over working conditions failed on Wednesday, raising the threat of a walkout as early as next week.

AP - Government debt is growing, as is the deficit. The economy is struggling to get out of recession and there is talk of spending cuts or higher taxes. The unions are on edge. And the currency is plummeting.

AP - Talks between British Airways and a cabin crew union aimed at averting a strike have broken down with no agreement, the airline said Wednesday, again raising the possibility of a walkout by thousands of employees.

Reuters - British Foreign Secretary David Miliband urged Afghans on Wednesday to push energetically for a peace settlement with Taliban insurgents and said Afghanistan's Neighbors must support such an agreement.

AFP - Two women who were raped and abused by their father for over 25 years, becoming pregnant 18 times, on Wednesday won an apology from local authorities for failing to prevent the serial incest.

AFP - The government will unveil a pre-election budget on March 24, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Wednesday, fuelling expectations of a general election in May.

Reuters - Virtual band Gorillaz was leading the race for top spot in Britain's weekly album chart on Wednesday in the inaugural midweek update of music sales broadcast on BBC's Radio 1.

AFP - Exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky won £150,000 ($220,000, 165,000 euros) in libel damages on Wednesday over a claim he was linked to the murder of ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko.

AP - Britain's economic recovery remains fragile, Prime Minister Gordon Brown warned Wednesday, as he paved the way for a national election by announcing the government's budget would be published in two weeks.