Guardian Daily podcast: Falling oil prices; plus the British Library's book vandal

Murdo Macleod/Guardian

As the world economy sinks deeper into recession, a particular kind of story is cropping up regularly in the media. Call it the how to cope with recession story. They range from the prosaic – how shoppers are turning away from more upscale supermarkets such as Waitrose to the discounters, like Lidl and Aldi in the UK – to the less obvious. Continue reading...

Britain already has one of the world's best road safety records and the number of people killed or injured has fallen dramatically in the last decade. The downward trend continued last year. Continue reading...

Guardian Daily podcast: Woolworths for sale for £1, and Bush scraps laws protecting environment

In the 16th century, anyone classed as a "vagabond" faced prison, the forfeiture of their lands and goods or even death. The law was aimed at the Romany Gypsies, who are thought to originate from India. Continue reading...

Recriminations are flying thick and fast among rightwing activists after someone, possibly a BNP malcontent, posted the party's entire membership on the internet. Continue reading...

Tories scrap adherence to Labour spending plans, plus pioneering organ transplant

Operating skiffs with powerful outboard engines, GPS systems and satellite phones, the Somali pirates who seized a Saudi supertanker have left officials open-mouthed in astonishment at their audacity. Continue reading...

Guardian Daily: Pakistan's battle against Islamist militants and organ donation plans rejected

What do you get for renouncing Taiwan and embracing Beijing instead? If you take Costa Rica as a guide, it wins you not only a shiny new national sports stadium but also a visit from Hu Jintao.

The Chinese president touched down in the Central American nation last night, straight from the G20 economic summit in Washington. He brings with him plans for a free trade deal between the nations, planned to come into force by 2010.

Beijing has already promised nearly £50m, plus the loan of its finest engineers, to build a 45,000-seat national sports stadium in place of the previous crumbling 1920s version, now demolished. Continue reading...

A 1982 photograph showing Kim Il-sung, left, and son Kim Jong-il inspecting a Pyongyang football ground

Was Kim Il-sung, North Korea's former dictator, a member of CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) underneath that bloodcurdling rhetoric? Unlikely as that may sound, this is what a newly declassified Chinese document purports to reveal.

In a letter dated October 30 1964, the father of Kim Jong-il – North Korea's current leader - told the then Chinese prime minister, Zhou Enlai, that North Korea favoured banning and destroying all nuclear weapons, according to a text released by South Korea's Yonhap news agency. Continue reading...

George Bush staunchly opposed the idea of a timetable for leaving Iraq, but the Iraqi cabinet has approved a security pact that will mean the withdrawal of US troops within three years. The media see the development as a sign of the Iraqi government's increasing confidence. Continue reading...

As Barack Obama basks in yet more positive press, this time following his first post-election TV interview, there is particular interest about his plans in a small corner of the UK: Watford.

The Hertfordshire town might, it seems, be the destination for the soon-to-be President Obama's first major international summit. Continue reading...

In our daily audio show, Mike Duran and guests discuss medical records, Polish contractors in Iraq and why we turn to sex while the credit crunch bites

George Osborne. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid

George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, is getting flak for attacking Gordon Brown for trying to borrow his way out of trouble. Continue reading...