News

Turk who tried to kill Pope in fresh release bid

Lawyers for the man who tried to kill Pope John Paul II in 1981 launch fresh bid for his release.

Plans to exhume saint cause stir in Italy

Plans to exhume a much-loved saint on the 40th anniversary of his death are stirring up protest among some Catholics in Italy.

Christian lawyers come out in support of cord blood Bill

Christian lawyers get behind Bill to encourage the collection and storage of umbilical cord blood for medical research.

Odinga says up to 1,000 killed in Kenya crisis

Riots and post-election violence in Kenya may have killed up to 1,000 people, the opposition said on Monday as it halted protests and President Mwai Kibaki invited his main rival to talks.

Pentagon says Iranians threatened U.S. ships

Five Iranian boats made aggressive manoeuvres and showed hostile intent towards three U.S. Navy ships at the weekend in the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil shipping route in the Gulf, the Pentagon said on Monday.

U.S. blames al Qaeda as bombs kill 14 in Iraq

Two suicide bombers struck in a Sunni Arab district of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 14 people including the leader of a U.S.-backed neighbourhood security patrol, police said.

Brown says NHS must embrace wider reforms

The National Health Service faces widespread reforms as it moves to provide more personalised and preventative treatment to patients, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday.

Nuclear power decision due on Thursday

The government will announce on Thursday whether it will give the go-ahead to a new generation of nuclear power stations, Gordon Brown's spokesman said on Monday.

Seven churches bombed in Iraq

At least seven churches in Iraq were bombed Sunday in what appears to be coordinated attacks on Orthodox Christians celebrating New Year's Eve.

Steven Curtis Chapman's 'Change For Orphans' continues to make a difference

Following a 31-city fall swing, Steven Curtis Chapman will head back out on the road with his spring "Live In This Moment Tour an Evening with Steven Curtis Chapman".

Bishop warns of 'catastrophe' facing earth

The Bishop of Wolverhampton, the Rt Rev Clive Gregory, has used a pastoral letter to congregations in the Diocese of Lichfied to warn of the impending "catastrophe" facing the earth through climate change.

Kenya opposition calls off protests as death toll nears 500

Kenya's opposition leader Raila Odinga said on Monday he had called off protests because a "mediation process" to resolve the political crisis that has killed nearly 500 people was about to begin.

Jesuits gather in Rome to elect new 'black pope'

There won't be any white smoke to tell the world he has been elected, but another sort of secret conclave began in Rome on Monday - to chose the worldwide Jesuit leader who is known as the "the black pope".

Bombs kill 14 including Baghdad volunteer leader

Two suicide bombers struck in a Sunni Arab district of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 14 people including the leader of a U.S.-backed neighbourhood security patrol, an Interior Ministry source said.

'Blood diamond' expert called in Taylor trial

Prosecutors called an expert on Sierra Leone's illegal diamond trade that funded one of Africa's bloodiest wars when the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor on war crimes charges began in earnest on Monday.

Brown promises to expand health screening

Free screening for stroke, diabetes, heart and kidney disease is to be introduced over the next three years under plans for the National Health Service unveiled by Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Monday.