BBC News with Gaenor Howells
A court in the United States has found a disgraced financier, Allen Stanford, guilty of swindling $7bn from investors in a huge international fraud. The scheme centred on his bank in Antigua. Prosecutors alleged that Stanford used his investors' funds to fuel an extravagant lifestyle. This report from Peter Biles.
Allen Stanford had pleaded not guilty to defrauding 30,000 investors from more than 100 countries. It was one of the largest pyramid schemes in US history. The jury of eight men and four women found him guilty on all but one charge of wire fraud. He faces up to 20 years in jail for the most serious charges, but could be imprisoned for longer. Prosecutors said Mr Stanford issued fraudulent certificates of deposit through an offshore bank in Antigua. He was renowned for his lavish lifestyle and created a 20/20 cricket tournament in the West Indies in 2008.
Voting is well underway on the busiest day of the race to choose a Republican candidate to challenge Barack Obama for the US presidency. Candidates are competing in 10 states on what's known as Super Tuesday with Mitt Romney hoping he can pull away from his nearest rival Rick Santorum. This report from Paul Adams.
There have been bigger, more Super Tuesdays in the past, but with a quarter of the delegates needed to win up for grabs, it's a very important day indeed for the four Republican candidates still vying for a chance to take on Barack Obama in November. Mitt Romney has the most wins and delegates so far, and a sense of renewed momentum too after a string of recent wins. By the end of the day, he could be unassailable, particularly if he manages to beat Rick Santorum in the most closely watched race: the Midwestern state of Ohio.