News

Eau dear -- bottled water is a rip-off!

Restaurants are pushing customers into buying expensive bottled water instead of offering them tap water for free, the government's consumer watchdog said on Friday.

Second body found at Margate house

A second body was found on Friday at a house in Kent where extensive searches are under way as part of a nationwide investigation into unsolved cases of missing girls.

Britons face over pound a litre petrol for first time

Drivers are forking out over a pound for a litre of petrol or diesel for the first time, the Automobile Association said on Friday.

McCann friend speaks out over Madeleine

A woman who believes she saw a man carrying Madeleine McCann through a Portuguese resort shortly before the girl disappeared in May has insisted she is not a fantasist.

German amateur cracks World War Two code

British computer experts acknowledged defeat on Friday after a German amateur radio enthusiast won a challenge to crack secret messages encoded by a World War Two cipher.

Web site locates 9 child sex offenders

A police Web site has tracked down nine of Britain's 13 most wanted paedophiles in the past year, the specialist crime team in charge said on Friday.

Three die in Uganda as floods submerge slum

Flash floods in Uganda's capital Kampala killed at least three people on Friday and washed away scores of houses, shops and vehicles, witnesses said.

Russia readies nuclear fuel bound for Iran

Russia said on Friday that the United Nation's nuclear watchdog would soon start inspecting and sealing nuclear fuel bound for an Iran's first atomic power plant.

Art lover fined for kissing painting in France

An art lover who kissed a $2-million (980,866 pound) painting, leaving red lipstick smears on the canvas, was fined by a French court on Friday and ordered to carry out 100 hours of community work.

Spain's aloof king suffers

Decades of immunity to bad publicity seem to have ended for Spain's King Juan Carlos, who is suffering an "annus horribilis" with his picture burnt on the street and family strife spilling into the open.

Iran wants Western

Iran called on its Western foes on Friday to apologise to the Islamic Republic after the release of a U.N. nuclear agency report which Tehran said showed it had been telling the truth about its atomic plans, according to state media.

Georgian president said to name new PM

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili will sack his prime minister and name a replacement after a cabinet meeting on Friday evening, the presidential press service said.

Turkey urges Kurd rebels to disarm amid Iraq tension

Turkey will not send troops into northern Iraq against Kurdish separatists should the militants disarm, ruling AK Party members were quoted as saying on Friday, in an apparent change of tack aimed at ending the border crisis.

CAFOD responds to 'worst humanitarian crisis in Africa'

As violence escalates in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, CAFOD is providing desperately needed humanitarian assistance to those forced from their homes by the fighting.

Christians to join in ecumenical service to God's creation

Christians of all denominations will share a service of worship and will demonstrate against climate change in London next month.

Kobia to visit Philippines amid human rights concerns

The General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, Rev Dr Samuel Kobia, is to visit the Philippines amid ever greater threats to human rights in the country.