News
Spain PM dines with Pope's envoy to clear air
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero met the Pope's representative on Thursday to discuss relations between the Catholic Church and the government ahead of national elections next month.
Communist Cuba says ties 'excellent' with Vatican
The Cuban Government said on Wednesday that it maintains "excellent" ties with the Vatican 10 years after the late Pope John Paul II's visited the communist-ruled island.
Vatican to tighten rules on saint making
The Vatican next week will issue a document tightening the rules for creating Roman Catholic saints, a Vatican source said on Wednesday.
Anglican Covenant will unite, not divide - Sentamu
The Anglican Covenant is "not erecting a great Anglican wall of exclusion", the Archbishop of York tells the Church of England General Synod.
Supermarket probe report may come out Friday
The Competition Commission's long-awaited remedies report on its two-year investigation to ensure better competition in the country's 120 billion pound grocery market could be released on Friday.
Las Vegas Sands not interested in UK casinos
U.S. gambling giant Las Vegas Sands is not interested in running any casinos in Britain after the government there scaled back its plan to open a supercasino in Manchester, a top executive said on Wednesday.
Bank signals moderate drop in interest rates
Interest rates won't fall as sharply this year as financial markets have been predicting, the Bank of England signalled on Wednesday, although at least one more cut in borrowing costs is probably still on the cards.
Lack of sleep unlikely to impact weight over time
Regularly getting 5 hours or less of shut eye a night does not appear to have a considerable influence body weight or waist size over time, according to findings from a long-term study of British workers.
Madeleine case seen nearly over
The investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is close to a conclusion, Portuguese Justice Minister Alberto Costa said on Wednesday.
Georgian tycoon dies suddenly
Georgian businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili, who feared assassination and faced accusations of plotting a coup in his homeland, has died in Britain and British police are treating his death as suspicious.
Curry houses facing kitchen staff crunch
An immigration charity has urged ministers to ease curbs on Bangladeshi migrant workers, in a bid to avert a potential staff crisis in Britain's curry houses.
Chinese 'disgusted' over Darfur pressure
Chinese state media accused Western countries on Thursday of abusing the Olympic Games to pressure Beijing, saying boycotts by movie director Steven Spielberg and others "disgusted" the Chinese people.
Court dismisses U.S. kidnapping suit
A federal judge, saying the case involved a state secret, dismissed a lawsuit on Wednesday against a unit of Boeing that charged the firm helped fly terrorism suspects abroad to secret prisons.
Iran sanctions draft to be revised
Key world powers will revise a draft resolution on new sanctions against Iran over its atomic program and call a vote after a U.N. nuclear report on Iran is issued, Britain's U.N. envoy said on Wednesday.
U.S. House defeats stopgap extension of spy program
In a victory for President George W. Bush, the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday defeated a Democratic bid to temporarily extend an expiring spy law instead of replacing it with a new measure that also would immunize telephone companies from lawsuits.
U.N. East Timor police called 'cowards'
The brother of East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta on Thursday accused United Nations security forces of behaving like "bloody cowards" and said they hid, rather than defended the wounded leader against rebels.