A prominent US Pentecostal leader has hailed a world gathering that has been described as bringing together the broadest range of Christian traditions ever assembled at a global meeting, saying that it is "a new Pentecost".

Joining a peace event in Colombia, a Mennonite pastor has warned that, in a nation torn by conflict and violence, peace cannot be reached by a greater investment in the military - but through the action of citizens to build alternatives.

A second round of dialogue between World Council of Churches (WCC) members and Pentecostals has been inaugurated in Baar, Switzerland. A group of Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and Pentecostal Christians met to continue work begun in 2005.

Senior church leaders in Britain have joined their counterparts in Europe and Africa in urging the UK government to play its part in seeking to make trade negotiations between the EU and some of the world’s poorest countries about justice not greed.