Urgent reform is needed if apprenticeships in the UK are to be more successful in resolving skills shortages, an 11-month inquiry concludes.

NHS doctors in Scotland are being asked whether they are willing to go on strike to defend pension changes.

Some of the earliest signs of Alzheimer's disease have been detected in a US study, more than two decades before the first symptoms usually appear.

The standard of care for diabetes in England is "depressingly poor", causing unnecessary deaths and disabilities, a parliamentary committee says.

A Goffin's cockatoo has surprised researchers by spontaneously making and using "tools" to reach food.

A man who claims he was abused by a senior Conservative in the 1980s has given a muted welcome to the inquiry into abuse in north Wales announced by the prime minister.

Online government services which "fall short" are to be redesigned by 2015 in an effort to save up to £1.8bn a year, the BBC understands.

Millions of Americans are voting on whether to re-elect President Barack Obama or choose Mitt Romney with polls predicting a tight race.