Best of BBC news

Former Liverpool and Lyon boss Gerard Houllier is named the new manager of Aston Villa.

Detectives investigating the death of a dumped newborn baby visit mosques to try to trace the mother.

England cricket coach Andy Flower says he does not want players banned from using Twitter but says they must do so 'in the right way'.

The BBC's base in Manchester is officially put up for sale as the corporation prepares for its move to Salford.

A man is found guilty of murdering his father, whose remains were found in concrete in a garden in Buckinghamshire.

A police station on Merseyside is partially evacuated after a World War II explosive is handed in.

A Teesside vicar accused of raping a schoolgirl told police her claims were "absolute lies", a court has hears.

A train company says correction work is being carried out on the 140mph Japanese-built Javelin trains linking London and Kent.

A Briton is thought to have drowned after going to the aid of his father, who also died, while the pair swam in the sea off Spain's Costa Tropical.

One of the men convicted of killing 10-year-old Damilola Taylor in south London in 2000 is released from prison.

Devon-based property giant Connaught formally enters administration, putting thousands of jobs at risk.

A £150,000 public artwork erected in Manchester city centre is branded a waste of money by opposition councillors.

The family of a retired pilot who died with his son in a mid-air collision on the Isle of Wight say he once saved more than 100 passengers.

A school where a boy was attacked with a hammer failed to recognise a series of racist incidents prior to the assault, a serious case review finds.

Essex cricket player Danish Kaneria is cleared by police in an investigation into match irregularities.

Newcastle United striker Peter Lovenkrands is fined after being caught driving at twice the speed limit near the club's training ground.

Four animal rights activists admit waging a hate campaign against people linked to a Cambridgeshire animal testing laboratory.

A burglar breaks into a house in Redhill in the early hours and steals a packet of bacon from the fridge.

A driver is found guilty of causing death by careless driving after he left his handbrake off and his van rolled down a slope in London, killing two people.

A terrier is rescued by the RNLI after falling 150ft down cliffs at a Cornish beach.