The church needs to learn to listen more as well as giving advice when it comes to supporting people considering suicide, a senior Kirk minister has claimed.

Bishop David Chillingworth has been elected Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church. In accepting, he said an open and secular society was one in which smaller churches could make a distinct and constructive contribution.

Chancellor Gordon Brown has been jointly challenged by Catholic and Protestant leaders in Scotland to cut back spending on nuclear weapons and to focus on aid, trade and debt targets.