News
Tempers flare amid China holiday rail havoc
Tens of thousands of Chinese crammed into a railway station in Guangzhou on Thursday, desperate to get home for a major holiday after days of delay caused by snow and showing signs of losing their patience.
Official says deputy Afghan governor killed in blast
A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a mosque in southern Afghanistan on Thursday killing a deputy provincial governor and at least five other people, officials said.
Israel's Olmert seen surviving war report
Israeli newspapers forecast Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's survival on Thursday after a report criticised the army and his government's conduct during a 2006 war in Lebanon but offered him a political reprieve.
Istanbul factory blast kills 17
An explosion at an Istanbul factory on Thursday killed at least 17 people and injured nearly 40 after it brought down several floors of a multi-storey building, Istanbul authorities said.
Iraq has million-woman social time-bomb
Every week, letters from Iraqi widows spill across Samira al-Moussawi's desk. One wrote to ask whether she should spend what scant money she gets on her infant or on school books for her older son.
Record European profits for Shell
Royal Dutch Shell posted record European company earnings of $27.6 billion (13.9 billion pounds) in 2007, but fourth-quarter profit missed forecasts as a fall in production dampened the benefit of high oil prices.
Family payment Tory MP faces Commons vote
The Conservative MP at the centre of a storm for paying his son almost 50,000 pounds of public money for doing nothing faces a Commons vote on Thursday which is almost certain to suspend him for 10 days.
Jeremy Beadle dies at 59
Jeremy Beadle, one of Britain's favourite television presenters during the 1980s and early 1990s, has died, it was reported on Wednesday.
Jesuits overjoyed as new online journal clocks up thousands of visitors
The British Jesuits' new online journal has clocked up over 13,000 pageviews in its first week. More than 3,000 unique visitors came to the site, and over 10% of them have already become subscribers.
Watchdog criticises 'tough' community orders
Managers policing supposedly tough community service orders allowed criminals to escape punishment for unacceptable excuses on a regular basis, an independent watchdog found on Thursday.
Shell flags lower oil reserve additions in 2007
Royal Dutch Shell added "at least 1 billion barrels" of new oil and gas resources in 2007, Chief Executive Jeroen van der Veer said on Thursday, around half the level the oil giant flagged last year.
'Atonement' dominates Attenborough film awards
Period drama and Golden Globe winner "Atonement" scooped four of six Richard Attenborough Film Awards on Thursday.
Bishop challenges Anglicans to be 'Christ-centred'
The Bishop of Stafford has called on churchgoers to celebrate Anglicanism and "proclaim what God has done and is doing for us in Jesus Christ", but to also undertake an honest self-assessment of where they stand with Jesus.
Australian Anglicans, Catholics to sign covenant
A formal covenant is to be signed between Anglicans and Catholics in New South Wales, Australia, as a sign of warming relations between the two Churches in the state.
Insecure installation blamed for Wombourne gravestone failures
An investigation by the Diocese of Lichfield into the high failure rate of memorial stones in Wombourne Churchyard has blamed poor installation by the original stonemasons.
New laws sought to stop another Northern Rock
The government will propose new legislation to give the authorities more power to intervene in the case of a failing bank to prevent another Northern Rock-style crisis, the Treasury said.