News
Oil hits record after U.S. inventory surprise
Oil hit a record high near $115 a barrel on Wednesday after a U.S. government supply report showed an unexpected drop in crude inventories in the world's top consumer.
Berlusconi "wants more EU influence", targets ECB
Italian prime minister-elect Silvio Berlusconi said on Wednesday he would help the EU regain the influence he said it had lost since he was last in power and called for the European Central Bank's mandate to be broadened.
Double chart success for Jeremy Camp
Jeremy Camp returns home from hit tour with TobyMac, headlining Festivals and ppreparing for studio time
PM endorses new Micah Challenge book on church responsibility to poor
Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Tory leader David Cameron and Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg endorse new book tackling church's responsibility to the poor.
Britain's Christians must support Holy Land believers - Archbishop
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has urgently appealed to Christians in the UK to become better informed of the crisis affecting fellow believers in the Holy Land, who he says "feel ignored or forgotten" by Western Christians.
Lebanon: Muslims and Christians tackle migration together
"Migration is a human concern, not a Muslim or a Christian one, and therefore Christians and Muslims must act on it together," said representatives of Lebanon's six largest faith communities at the Public Hearing on Migration and the Changing Ecclesial Landscape which opened in Beirut on Monday.
Hamas says Carter will meet two of its leaders
Hamas said on Wednesday that former US President Jimmy Carter would meet two of its leaders from Gaza in Egypt, in further defiance of Israeli leaders, who have shunned him over his contacts with the Islamist group.
Bush welcomes Pope to US
Pope Benedict, on his first papal visit to the United States, meets President George W Bush at the White House and US Roman Catholic bishops at a Washington basilica on Wednesday, his 81st birthday.
Tutu supports World Vision child sponsorship appeal
Archbishop Desmond Tutu is lending his support to a new World Vision campaign appealing to Londoners to sponsor a child in need.
Brown to urge credit crunch action on U.S. trip
Plagued by crumbling popularity and slumping house prices at home, Prime Minister Gordon Brown will tell Wall Street bankers on Wednesday to reveal their losses quickly to help end a global credit crunch.
U.N. council and AU to debate Zimbabwe
Leaders of key members of the U.N. Security Council and the African Union meet at U.N. headquarters on Wednesday where they are expected to debate the crises in Zimbabwe, Sudan and Somalia.
Plane crash in Congo kills at least 33
A Congolese airliner crashed into a market district in the eastern city of Goma on Tuesday, killing at least 33 people and injuring 80, the government said.
China steps forward in new bid to end Iran dispute
China edges nearer the centre of contention over Iran's nuclear ambitions on Wednesday by hosting talks of diplomatic powers on whether to offer stronger incentives to Iran to curb atomic work.
Bus crash kills 40 children in western India
At least 40 school children were killed on Wednesday when their bus veered off a bridge and plunged into a canal in western India, police said.
Olympic torch kicks off Asian journey in Pakistan
The Olympic torch arrived in Pakistan early on Wednesday on the first leg of its relay in Asia amid security worries that led to a change of venue in the country's capital, Islamabad.
Evangelical Alliance head calls on Christians to transform society
Evangelicals should be recognised as good news people, says Evangelical Alliance General Director Joel Edwards.