Microsoft said it has now sold 175m Windows 7 licences. Photograph: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images Microsoft added to the growing sense of recovery in the technology sector last night by reporting record quarterly revenues, driven by strong sales. The software giant pipped Apple, one of its greatest... 

A Santander branch in London: the Spanish bank is about to become the biggest presence on UK high streets with 1,643 outlets. Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/ Reuters/Corbis Spanish bank Santander is on course to overtake HSBC as a dominant presence on the UK high street over the next 24 hours,... 

Recession worries appear to be cutting voter support for the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Voters fear the return of recession and are divided on cuts in state spending, according to a Guardian/ICM poll published today. A narrow majority also believe... 

Diane Abbott ‘came across terribly’ in Victoria Derbyshire’s live debate with Labour candidates for the leadership. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images On Thursday morning, from Stevenage, Victoria Derbyshire hosted a live – and lively – debate between the five Labour... 

Andrew Roth at home in London in 1999. A Guardian contributor, he was known for his pithy Parliamentary Profiles. Photograph: Lina Ahnoff It is fitting that the obituary of Andrew Roth, who has died aged 91 of prostate cancer, should appear on this page. Not only did he write many of the obituaries...