The second phase of the Help to Buy scheme will start next week instead of in January, the Conservatives announce on the eve of their party conference.

The government is to offer armed forces personnel buying their first homes interest free loans towards a deposit.

US Senate Majority leader Harry Reid warns his Democratic-led chamber will reject a House Republican bill which aims to avert a government shutdown.

A free-trade zone in Shanghai, China's economic hub, launches as the world's second-biggest economy prepares to test long-awaited economic reforms.

Industrial giant Siemens is to cut up to 15,000 jobs, a third of them in Germany, as part of a cost-cutting programme.