Middle East, Britain | featured news

Britain is ready to raise troop numbers in Afghanistan by 500 to 9,500, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Wednesday, providing certain conditions are met.

"There will be consequences" if Iran mistreats a British Embassy employee who was arrested in Tehran, British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Sunday, as cracks began to appear in the Iranian leadership.

The announcement by Iranian authorities to put some embassy staff members on trial for spurring on protests against the government could deepen the diplomatic crisis with the European Union.

Passengers were shocked to discover that Israel had been wiped off the map by Britain's BMI airline, which omitted the Jewish state from its digital charts on flights from London to Tel Aviv.