Ireland’s Catholic Church leader has resisted calls to resign after it emerged that he was involved in meetings with child victims of sex abuse forced to sign an oath of secrecy.

Graduate recruitment fell by a huge 11% in 2009 – with only a slight increase forecast for this year – as university-leavers competed with an average 44 applicants for every vacancy.

The UK government has spoken out over the impending industrial action by British Airways (BA) cabin crew, and said the strikes are “unjustified” and “deplorable”.