News BBC News with Julie Candler

The government in the Netherlands has collapsed with the prime minister and his cabinet resigning in a row over European budget rules. The outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte now has to tell parliament whether his caretaker administration can amend the budget within the next week to conform with European demands on debt reduction. The Dutch Finance Minister Jan Kees de Jager said he was confident the government could resolve the crisis.

"The Netherlands has shown it has a strong reputation for budgetary discipline. I'm convinced that the Netherlands, because it's in the best interests of everyone, can find the support to adopt the measures needed to have solid public finances."

The former prime minister of Iceland who was put on trial accused of negligence over his country's economic collapse in 2008 has been cleared of the major charges. Geir Haarde was found guilty of failing to inform or consult cabinet colleagues at the time, but was acquitted on three other counts and told he would not be punished. The leader of Mr Haarde's Icelandic Independence Party, Bjarni Benediktsson, said the charges should never have been brought.

"I've always been of the opinion that this was a political procedure from the beginning, from the outset. And I believe that we need to make sure in Iceland that we never again have criminal proceedings against politicians which stem from political opponents like we have in this case."