News

Lambeth: Still no consensus on sexuality, dialogue continues

Anglican bishops at the once-in-a-decade Lambeth Conference are yet to reach consensus on the issue of human sexuality but have still taken some "significant" steps forward, assured the Primate of the Anglican Church of Australia on Thursday.

Karadzic in court on genocide charges

Former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic appeared before a U.N. war crimes judge for the first time on Thursday to answer genocide charges and said he had been kidnapped and feared for his life.

Centrica defends steep hike in gas prices

British Gas-owner Centrica said on Thursday it had been "absolutely necessary" to raise household gas prices as first half operating profit fell nearly 20 percent to 992 million pounds.

Housing and consumer downturn fans recession fears

House prices crumbled at record rates and consumer confidence hit historic lows, data showed on Thursday, fuelling fears that a consumer-led slowdown could tip the economy into recession.

UK set on diplomatic course with Iran

The government is "100 percent focused" on a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear dispute and does not want an Israeli strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Thursday.

Prince William to do SAS stint

Prince William is set to spend time with the SAS in the last of his military secondments, Clarence House said on Thursday.

Man arrested over passport theft

A 48-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the theft of 3,000 blank passports and visas from a security van in Manchester, police said on Thursday.

Police say Jersey murder inquiry 'unlikely'

Police on Jersey say they are unlikely to launch a murder investigation, despite the partial remains of at least five children having been found at a former care home, because the bones cannot be dated.

Bus passenger stabbed and beheaded on Canada Prairies

A man sleeping on a Greyhound bus as it rolled across the Canadian Prairies was killed and decapitated by his seatmate on Wednesday night, other passengers who were on the bus told media on Thursday.

Casualties after bus overturns in Poole

Several passengers were injured, some possibly seriously, when an open-topped double-decker bus overturned near Poole harbour on Thursday, police said.

Domestic oil output steady in 2007

Crude production was steady in 2007 from the previous year as new oilfields came onstream to offset drops in output from older oil wells in the North Sea, a government report said on Thursday.

Target-driven police 'letting crooks off lightly'

Police attempts to meet targets have led to serial and even violent offenders getting off lightly, lawyers and magistrates said on Thursday.

Smoking ban cut heart attacks

Scotland's 2006 ban on smoking in public places cut the heart attack rate by 17 percent within one year, with non-smokers benefiting most, researchers reported on Wednesday.

World's oldest joke traced back to 1900 BC

The world's oldest recorded joke has been traced back to 1900 BC and suggests that toilet humour was as popular with the ancients as it is today.

Bomb threat to Gaza Bible bookshop prompts call for prayers

A bomb threat to a Bible bookshop in Gaza run by the Palestinian Bible Society has led to a call for prayers.

Christians, Muslims walk thin line between peace and conflict

Christian and Muslim scholars meeting at Yale University for a discussion on peace and reconciliation this week forewarned that a clash of "global proportions" would inevitably unravel in the near future unless Christianity and Islam learn how to co-exist.