Protesters threw bricks and bottles Friday at police outside a mosque in London after about 1,000 people showed up to counter a planned a right-wing demonstration there, police said. One person was arrested "to prevent a breach of the peace," police said in a statement. The right-wing demonstration's organizer, Stop Islamisation of Europe (SIOE), said on its Web site one of the demonstration's planners had been arrested. Seven other people were arrested during the melee for possession of "offensive weapons" ...

Police in London said Friday they are investigating an allegation of torture involving a British intelligence officer.

Rio de Janeiro's chances of becoming the first South American city to host the Olympics received a boost when the IOC published its evaluation of the four contenders for the 2016 Games on Wednesday. Rio is competing with Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo for the right to stage the 2016 Summer Olympics, with the final decision being made in Copenhagen on October 2. The IOC report is an important indicator ahead of the vote, making a series of judgments on ...

There was no "double-dealing," no oil deal and no private assurances to Libya in an effort to secure the release of the convicted Lockerbie bomber, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday. Brown took time out from an event in Birmingham, England, to address the issue a day after the British and Scottish governments released more than 100 pages of previously secret documents regarding the release of Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi. The Scottish Parliament also held a heated debate ...

Scotland's leaders feared that the warming of relations between Libya and the United Kingdom would force Scotland to hand over the Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, documents released by the British government Tuesday indicate. Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond expressed his concerns repeatedly to the central government in London about the issue in June 2007, prompting several replies from then-Lord Chancellor Charles Falconer. "No deal has been done to secure the transfer of Mr al Megrahi to Libya," ...

The closure of the transfer window in the Britain marks the end of the close- season trading, with clubs all over the continent tying up last-minute deals to ensure their teams have fresh talent for the coming campaign. Weeks of wrangling over contracts and transfer fees need to be brought to a close by 1600 GMT today, to fall within the allocated time for swaps to occur. The close season has already seen the world record transfer fee for a ...

British Justice Minister Jack Straw confirmed Sunday that he had tried -- and failed -- to keep the Lockerbie bomber out of an agreement to send Libyan convicts back to the north African nation to serve their sentences there. But he insisted that the concession to Libya was irrelevant to the release of Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi from prison this month, since the bomber was freed because he had cancer, not as part of a deal with Libya. Straw ...

Defending champions Manchester United handed title rivals Arsenal their first defeat this season on Saturday night, while Chelsea and Tottenham continued their perfect start to the English Premier League campaign. United came from behind to clinch a 2-1 victory at Old Trafford against the London club, who saw their city rivals make it four wins from four earlier in the day as Chelsea crushed Burnley 3-0 and Spurs snatched a 2-1 victory against Birmingham. Alex Ferguson's United moved into third ...

The State Department is sticking with a strict no-new-settlements policy toward Israel, its spokesman said Thursday, but he held out the possibility that Israelis and Palestinians might eventually take a different path. "The position that the secretary has stated remains our position," spokesman P.J. Crowley said at his daily briefing. "And we continue to discuss with Israel and with the other parties what they have to do on the settlement issue." But he added that, in the end, Israel and ...

The world has a new alliance to save vanishing frogs, toads and salamanders. A coalition of organizations established the Amphibian Survival Alliance this month to conserve species threatened by deadly fungus, habitat loss, pollution, pesticides and climate change. The scientists said amphibians are the world's most threatened group of animals. Though they thrived on Earth for more than 360 million years, one in three of the 6,000 recognized amphibian species are now at risk of extinction and as ...