Thousands of people have been left with worthless HMV gift vouchers as the retailer confirmed it has gone into administration.

When rumours reached Bernard Arnault, the chief executive of luxury goods group LVMH, that an Irish state-run agency could seize control of developer David Daly’s three shops on London’s Bond St, he quicklyapproached him about a deal.

A TEENAGER killed in front of horrified shoppers at the St Stephen’s Day sales died from a “single stab wound to the heart”, police said last night.

Dissident republicans who left a huge van bomb near the centre of Belfast have attempted to undermine the Northern Ireland peace process just hours before party leaders met President Bush in the White House, it was claimed today.