US President Barack Obama has used his visit to Turkey to emphasise that the US is not and will never be involved in a 'war on Islam', and that he wants cooperation not conflict between civilisations.

The (Lutheran) Church of Norway says its representatives were due to be present at a court case hearing yesterday on the future of one of the world's most ancient monasteries, Mor Gabriel in Turkey.

Giving animals to the developing world on someone else's behalf for Christians or a birthday has proved very popular. Now you can give a selection of animals in one go, through Christian Aid'd Present Aid site. Visit Christian Aid's Present Aid site here

Eastenders star, Kara Tointon, has made a promotional video featuring Christian Aid's virtual gifts. The clip, which can be seen on You Tube, shows the actress who plays Dawn Swann in the soap, with children from Zambia.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomeos, seen by many of the world's Orthodox Christians as their spiritual leader, has said he backs the bid by Turkey to join the European Union if the Muslim-majority nation meets human rights standards.

The leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church, visiting Pope Benedict XVI in Rome, has spoken of the "genocide" suffered by his compatriots in the Ottoman empire, and said that those with power should ensure that justice prevails.

Turkey's Catholic community wants to mark the 2000th anniversary of the birth of St Paul by improving the status of the country's Christian minorities, as well as reopening a church at the apostle's birthplace in Tarsus.

A world church leader has responded with "strong disappointment and shock" to what he says is the unlawful recent destruction of an historic Orthodox Christian Church by eight officials of a local Ministry of Forestry in Turkey.