An appeal to supermarket bosses backed by churches and parents appears to could lead to a significant shift in the way Halloween is marketed in the UK - with an emphasis on giving more than tricking for treats.

Police from West Yorkshire have transformed thousands of pounds of local criminals’ ill-gotten gains into humanitarian aid to help fight poverty in developing countries.

Literacy remains a major barrier to the development of African countries. Despite the progress achieved since 1990, the absolute number of African adults who cannot read or write has increased to 136 million. Click here to vist the Oxfam Unwrapped Gift Collection

UK chancellor Gordon Brown and other finance ministers at the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations meeting which opened tyesterday in Essen, Germany, must fulfill their two-year-old promise to stop international financial institutions imposing damaging economic policies on developing countries, according to Christian Aid and other church-related development NGOs.

A church charity is urging the Government to grant all disabled children placed away from home unconditional access to an independent advocate.