Pope Benedict XVI has met privately with a delegation of Canadian native people to express his sorrow for the abuse suffered by indigenous children in Canadian residential schools. The meeting took place at the end of last week.

More than 200 young people from many faith backgrounds, travelling from Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Africa, Tanzania and the United States, gathered this month at the Kenya Youth Peace Summit in Nairobi.

The UK government has been accused of ignoring research evidence on the harmful effects of gambling, as parliament agrees to double the amount of money that can be staked and won on fruit machines in pubs and amusement arcades.

An alliance of nine Christian organisations (including representatives of major denominations) is calling on the government to reject moves to further liberalise Britain's gambling laws.