More than 40 Labour MPs have called for a radical change in direction for the party’s election strategy. In a statement reflecting growing unease within the party, they call for a switch away from cuts in favour of investment in housing, public services and climate.

• Coalition for Labour Victory: full list of MP signatories

Civil servants across Britain will vote from this week on strike action over cuts to their redundancy pay. But the Public and Commercial Services Union will be balloting alone after five other unions agreed to put an improved offer to their members.

Sir John Chilcot, the chairman of the ongoing inquiry into the Iraq war, is involved in a battle with Whitehall to force the release of sensitive documents on the conflict which are being withheld from the public, but are available to witnesses and members of his team.

More than 50 Labour MPs in David Cameron’s top 200 target seats have announced they are to stand down at the genral election, including former ministers and Cabinet members.

Democratic Unionist Party leader Peter Robinson is this week facing an open rebellion from his Assembly group as he attempts to seal a deal with Sinn Féin on devolving policing and justice powers to Stormont. And his Ulster Unionist Party counterpart, Reg Empey, is facing a similar rebellion over his party’s secret talks to form an election pact with the DUP – a move opposed by many middle ground Unionists in his party anxious not to scupper the current pact with David Cameron’s Conservative Party.

The recent decision by outgoing Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko to confer his country’s highest award on a controversial Second World War figure has been criticised by Jewish organisations.

by René Lavanchy
The Foreign Office has refused to answer MPs’ concerns about the identity of more than 1,000 Colombians killed by troops under the command of a British-trained officer.
The bodies, buried in a mass grave said to be the biggest in South America, were discovered by a parliamentary delegation to Colombia last year. An MP [...]

Despite the impact of the financial crisis over the last year, the majority of Britons are satisfied with their personal circumstances, while at the same time believing the overall situation in society has got worse.

Relations between the United States and China have hit a new low point following Washington’s announcement that it intends to supply Taiwan with an arms package worth $6.4 billion (£4 billion).

Challengers to Unison general secretary Dave Prentis were promising to change the union’s Labour link as nominations for the union’s general secretary election opened this week.

Labour manifesto co-ordinator Ed Miliband has promised to make co-operative ideals a part of the general election manifesto, as he launched a new political group for Labour and Co-op parliamentarians this week.

The RMT has welcomed an assurance from the Transport Secretary Lord Adonis that Network Rail’s controversial “restructuring proposals” – which put 1,500 jobs at risk – are being carefully scrutinised. The Office of Rail Regulation has intervened to examine the proposals after the union raised serious safety concerns over the threat by the company to cut the maintenance jobs.