♦ Fans await Russian visa details

Champions League organiser Uefa is confident English supporters will be able to get Russian visas in time for the final in Moscow. More than 42,000 fans will travel to Russia to watch Manchester United meet either Chelsea or Liverpool on 21 May. "We are finalising an express way to get visas," Uefa spokesman William Gaillard told BBC Sport.	1 vote

♦ More drivers caught using phones

The number of drivers caught using mobile phones at the wheel has increased by nearly a third, according to Ministry of Justice figures. Police in England and Wales issued 164,900 fixed penalty notices in 2006 up 38,100 on the previous year. Using a hand-held phone while driving became illegal in 2003. Of 12.7m driving offences dealt with by police or local authority penalty charge notices...	1 vote

♦ Mother to collect Scarlett organs

The mother of murdered north Devon teenager Scarlett Keeling is due to collect her daughter's missing organs in India. Scarlett, 15, was raped and murdered in a resort in Goa in February. Her semi-naked body was found on a beach. Earlier this month a third post-mortem examination revealed that some of her organs had been removed.	1 vote

♦ McCanns tell of 'desperate' night

Kate and Gerry McCann have spoken movingly of the night their daughter Madeleine vanished, a year after the three-year-old disappeared. In an ITV1 documentary, the couple recall their all-night vigil and desperate dawn search for their daughter after she went missing. They also reveal the extent of hate mail they receive, showing one message calling the pair "scum".	1 vote

♦ Serbia press exposes rifts on EU

Whether a victory or a "betrayal of Serbia", Belgrade's pre-membership deal with the EU is revealed by Serbia's press as deeply divisive both for its political establishment and its people. Most dailies focus on the divisions between pro-Western President Boris Tadic and his Prime Minister, Vojislav Kostunica, who has promised to have parliament annul the agreement at the first opportunity.	1 vote

♦ Virgin platform for BBC iPlayer

The BBC has signed a deal with internet and phone provider Virgin Media to make its iPlayer service available on TV. Virgin Media customers will be able to catch up on the past week's programmes without the need for downloading. Malcolm Wall, the company's CEO of content, said it was "proud to be working with the BBC to continue to lead this revolution in TV viewing".	1 vote

♦ Charged Jersey man, 68, in court

A 68-year-old man charged with raping and sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in Jersey has appeared in court. Police say the offence does not relate to the investigation into the Haute de la Garenne children's home, but is part of a wider inquiry into child abuse.	1 vote

♦ Top 10 most controversial ads

The "Get unhooked" advert aimed at getting people to quit smoking was the most complained about advert last year. The Department of Health advert prompted 774 complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). The number of adverts complained about in 2007 was the highest ever at 14,080 and key grievances were violence and misleading claims about being green. But 2...	1 vote

♦ Kenya cabinet cash shortfall

Can the US economy be revived? The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites. This page is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with style sheets (CSS) enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience.	1 vote

♦ Are you blushing?

Some women outline their lips in blissful ignorance. They can create a pink pout, darken their lashes with mascara, or add color to their cheeks without a second thought. Others peer at their reflections in the mirror and see... Charles Darwin. Darwin's the guy who first suggested that beauty might have evolutionary significance.	1 vote

♦ Reports of 'GTA IV' freezing-up problems

Uh-oh. For all the champagne toasts that are no doubt going on over at Take-Two Interactive and its subsidiary Rockstar Games over the grand launch day of Grand Theft Auto IV , there's a bit of a dark cloud brewing. According to a post on CNET News.com sister site GameSpot...	1 vote

♦ 'EA Land' closing just weeks after debut

Earlier this month, I wrote that Electronic Arts had made an announcement to members of its long-running but poorly received virtual world, The Sims Online , that it was re-branding the service as EA Land. On Tuesday, however, EA announced on the official EA Land blog that it is now planning to shut the service down altogether.	1 vote

♦ Latest quad-cores creep into consumer desktops

Quad-core processors boasting lower power and packing more transistors are arriving at mass-market retail. These latest quads from Advanced Micro Devices and Intel are now populating consumer desktops from Hewlett-Packard and Gateway, among other prominent PC makers. What makes them different? Intel's are made on a 45-nanometer (nm) process and AMD's run at lower power. First up...	1 vote

♦ Giant River Stingrays Found Near Thai City

This is the seventh story in a continuing series on the Megafishes Project. Join National Geographic News on the trail with project leader Zeb Hogan as he tracks down the world's largest freshwater fishes. When anglers called that March afternoon to say they had caught a giant freshwater stingray near this bustling Thai city, biologist Zeb Hogan couldn't believe it.	1 vote

♦ PHOTO IN THE NEWS: Seattle Pigeons Attacked With Darts

What's This? April 29, 2008— Pigeons in Seattle, Washington, are under attack by an unknown assailant with a dart gun, officials say. Local authorities have received several reports of pigeons found in the city center with 3to 4-inch (7.5to 10-centimeter) metal darts through their skulls. At least three birds, including the one pictured here...	1 vote

♦ Review: Altec Lansing Orbit-MP3 portable speaker

ProsPortable; great overall audio quality; sturdy. Cons Needs better on/off indicator; battery power only. Measuring 3.63 inches in diameter, the Orbit-MP3 uses a 3.5mm plug to connect to your iPod, iPhone (the plug fits into the iPhone's recessed jack), or any device with a headphone jack (Altec Lansing also includes a 2.5mm adapter). The Orbit-MP3’s audio cable is 9 inches long...	1 vote

♦ With this setup, who needs the oxygen?

After having witnessed their rise in the bacchanalian heydey of the dot-com boom, we've always had an odd fascination with oxygen bars. And yes, we admit that it probably has something to do with Dennis Hopper's character in Blue Velvet too. That aside, the "Entertainment Oxygen Lounge" may prove too difficult to resist even for skeptics like us.	1 vote

♦ Tim O'Brien, 'Chameleon': Free MP3 of the Day

O'Brien is known for his traditionalist outings (2005's "Fiddler's Green" is a stunning tour of classic folk varietals). But even then he's looked a lot like a modern solo bard, and it's that persona that appears in "Chameleon." The LP is nearly ideal: coffeehouse ruminations with a serious folk grounding.	1 vote

♦ PhoneValet update improves audio compression

Parliant on Tuesday announced the release of PhoneValet Message Center 5.4, an update to its telephony software for Mac OS X. It’s a free upgrade for registered users of 5.x; PhoneValet is priced at $169.95 per line. PhoneValet Message Center turns a Mac into a call center, complete with automated attendant, voice mail tree, call blocking, recording and logging capabilities, and more.	1 vote

♦ Xerox showcases erasable paper, smart documents

Since its establishment in 1970, the Palo Alto Research Center, funded by Xerox, has created numerous technologies available on PCs today, including Ethernet, the graphical user interface (GUI) and the computer mouse. The laboratory, with other Xerox research facilities, is now trying to help its parent company and other start-ups by focusing on printing and other innvoations to access...	1 vote