UNITED KINGDOM

The UK has officially recognized the Syrian opposition as a legitimate representative of the county's citizenry.

Nancy Kissel, the American housewife nicknamed the milkshake murderer who was convicted of killed her husband in 2003 in Hong Kong, is seeking a third appeal.

MacLaine, who will play Lady Cora's mother in season three of the PBS-Masterpiece show, has begun to post Twitter updates from the England set to help Downton Abbey fans eager to learn about season three now that the second season finale has aired. Check out her Twitter posts here, and get season three spoilers from the cast and crew.

Syrian National Council member Bassma Kodmani said unnamed countries were already providing communications equipment, body armor and night-vision goggles to the Free Syrian Army. Western governments have in the past denied claims that they're arming foes of President Bashar al Assad. The news came as the Red Cross finally reached the besieged city of Homs, evacuating women and children.

Five new developments in the ongoing situation in Syria, including the potential arming of the Free Syrian Army and attempts at peace.

Lloyds pushed back a key target of its turnaround plan as the part state-owned British bank posted a 3.5 billion pound ($5.5 billion) annual loss and said a tough economic outlook would hit revenues and income this year.

Some climate scientists believe that a massive drought struck the regions of Classic Mayan Civilization and persisted for 200 years from AD 800 to 1000, around the same period when the civilization collapsed.

Gowan also added to the news service that Despite Annan's personal profile, the key to successful mediation is for him to have genuine political support from across the international system. If the Russians and Chinese don't give him sufficient support, Assad and his supporters are likely to refuse to talk seriously.

After the phenomenal success of the Harry Potter series globally, J.K. Rowling is all set to publish a new novel for adults. Although I've enjoyed writing it every bit as much, my next book will be very different to the Harry Potter series, Rowling said on her official website, which is currently being refreshed. Further details will be announced later in the year according to the website.

A new treatment given to 132 skin cancer patients in the U.S. and Australia almost doubled their survival, according to New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers used the drug Vemurafenib (Zelboraf) on patients and found that they lived for average 16 months as compared to those who underwent conventional treatment and survived for only nine months on average.

Lloyds will bear brunt of writedowns and restructuring costs, as it sells non-core businesses and cuts thousands of jobs.

Apple Inc on Thursday adopted a measure long desired by investors and corporate governance activists, granting its shareholders a bigger say in the appointment of directors to the board of the world's most valuable technology company.

On Thursday Al Jazeera was named as News Channel of the Year at the Royal Television Society Awards. But despite its numerous plaudits and fans the Qatar-based network has virtually no presence in the U.S.

Read about the top National Enquirer stories from the Whitney Houston casket photo to the John Edwards lovechild scandal.

Apple’s directors dodged the question of what to do with nearly $98 billion in cash and investments that’s waiting to be used. Here's what they could buy.

J.K. Rowling announced on Thursday that her highly anticipated new book is geared toward adults and is very different from her Harry Potter series.

Sunday night's season finale was watched by some 5.4 million viewers on PBS.

Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling is finally putting the pen to paper for a new set of books. According to CBS, Rowling has signed a deal with Little, Brown Book Group n the United States and Britain. Little, Brown will be publishing her first novels aimed at adults.

With citizens of debt-burdened European countries growing more disillusioned over spending cuts and other austerity measures, it may not be long before hard-line parties opposed to such policies begin to siphon support.

The European Commission wants euro zone leaders to overcome German objections and back a bigger rescue fund to nudge the IMF into helping troubled European economies, the EU's top economic official said on Thursday.

In the latest development in the ongoing News Group Newspapers (NGN) saga, the UK media giant and former publisher of News of the World has avoided another trial by settling their case with Welsh soprano Charlotte Church.