News

Brown's 'big 4' summit to offer little succour to markets

Sliding stock prices, another bank scandal and a worrying global outlook will give leaders of Europe's four biggest economies plenty to talk about on Tuesday but concrete measures to soothe troubled markets are unlikely.

Queen must die or abdicate for Australian republic

Queen Elizabeth must die or abdicate before Australia can become a republic, said one of the country's leading politicians and former head of the republican movement.

Government to impose higher fees for theological degrees

Controversial plans to reform university funding have indicated that people training to be priests may face a massive rise in tuition fees, according to senior clerics.

Remaining Episcopalians move on after San Joaquin split

Hundreds of Episcopalians joined over the weekend to reconstitute the Diocese of San Joaquin in California, over a month after most of the diocese left the US Episcopal Church.

Images of Hope

What would be your picture of hope? Could you paint something that illustrates hope for you? Could you search in the Bible for inspiration?

Severe winter pushing Iraqi refugees to limit

Officials in the Jordanian Government have warned that the unusually severe winter affecting the Middle East has destroyed crops, and will likely lead to increases in the price of food.

Kenya's Rift Valley burns, death toll soars

Protests erupted in western Kenya and machete-wielding mobs faced off in the Rift Valley on Monday after scores died in ethnic violence, complicating mediation efforts by former U.N. boss Kofi Annan.

Bhutto murder casts pall over Pakistani campaign

Campaigning for Pakistan's general election, now three weeks away, is virtually non-existent as candidates fear militant attacks and many citizens are more concerned about rising prices and power cuts than politics.

Hezbollah demands inquiry into Beirut killings

Hezbollah, Lebanon's most powerful faction, on Monday demanded to know who was behind shooting that killed eight opposition supporters in some of Beirut's worst street violence since the 1975-90 civil war.

Marie Curie asks Christians to pray for terminally ill

Leading cancer charity Marie Curie Cancer Care has created a special faith resource pack to help people address end-of-life issues.

Hezbollah demands inquiry into Beirut killings

Hezbollah, Lebanon's most powerful faction, on Monday demanded to know who was behind shootings that killed seven opposition supporters in some of Beirut's worst street violence since the 1975-90 civil war.

North Korea releases Canadian Christian aid worker

North Korea released at the weekend a Canadian reportedly held by the communist state for two months, a Canadian Embassy official in Seoul said on Monday.

Greek Archbishop Christodoulos dies

The head of Greece's powerful Orthodox Church, Archbishop Christodoulos, died of cancer on Monday at the age of 69.

Brown urges training for jobless

Prime Minister Gordon Brown will set out plans on Monday for far-reaching welfare reform, forcing the jobless to learn skills and enlisting the private sector to help the long-term unemployed find work.

House prices up 2.3 percent

House prices in England and Wales rose at the slowest annual pace since mid-2006 this month as the average time it takes to sell a property reached a seven-year high, a survey showed on Monday.

New political funding row hits Brown's government

A senior minister faced accusations on Sunday that he had accepted illegal political donations, the latest funding row to hit Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government.