Moody’s cut Ireland’s credit rating this morning, citing weaker growth prospects and the cost of rebuilding the country’s crippled banking system Photograph: Martin Argles for the Guardian Credit ratings agency Moody’s has downgraded Ireland’s debt rating, adding... 

Karen Millen shop in London. The firm is now part of the newly formed group Aurora Fashions owned by Kaupthing. Photograph: David Sillitoe for the Guardian The fashion chains Oasis, Karen Millen, Coast and Warehouse, which became entangled in the failure of Icelandic group Baugur, have reported... 

Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi was released by Scotland on compassionate grounds. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images The new coalition government regards the release of the man convicted of the Lockerbie plane bombing as a “mistake”, Britain’s ambassador to the US has said. Sir... 

The regional ban was made because YouTube hosted Russia for Russians, an ultra-nationalist video. Photograph: The Guardian Russia’s blogosphere reacted with anger today after a regional court banned YouTube because it carried a single video containing “extremist” content. The... 

Rex Bionics Hayden Allen, who injured his spinal cord five years ago, tests out Rex, the robotic exoskeleton. “I’ll never forget what it was like to see my feet walking under me the first time I used Rex,” said Hayden. Wheelchair users were given hope of improved mobility Thursday as a New... 

Michael Gove said last month 1,114 schools across England had applied to become academies. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images Only 153 schools have applied to become academies despite a government fanfare claiming the number was more than a thousand, official figures revealed today. The...