VATICAN - The Vatican has admitted that Charles Darwin was on the right track when he claimed that Man descended from apes. A leading official declared yesterday that Darwin's theory of evolution was compatible with Christian faith, and could even be traced to St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas.
MELBOURNE - Australia is bracing for its second bush fire crisis in two weeks after hot, dry conditions returned to the southeastern state, pushing flames closer to towns and suburbs. Hundreds were evacuated after a wind fanned four fires burning across the state.
GERMANY - Police in Germany investigating a brutal attack by neo-Nazis on left-wing activists just over a week ago have uncovered close ties between far-right groups in Germany and Sweden.
GERMANY - As the global economic crisis takes hold, hardly any other country has seen its fortunes wane as brutally as the United Kingdom. Once a model economy, the country has been overcome by a deep sense of uncertainty.
UK - Fascism feeds on a sense of personal injustice. Swanley St Mary's is a ward of Sevenoaks District Council that has usually been a comfortable Labour seat. In recent years, the number of black and Asian residents has increased and racial resentment has been rising.
UK - The spot gold price broke through the psychologically important $1,000 level on Friday as global markets fell and investors sought a safe haven.
IRELAND - About 100,000 people have taken part in protests in Dublin city centre to vent their anger at the Irish government's handling of the country's recession. They oppose plans to impose a pension levy on 350,000 public sector workers.
CHINA - China is preparing to open a new phase in its race for the world's resources by using its huge currency reserves to buy foreign oil and gas companies. This proposal may risk a backlash from countries who fear that China is using the world's economic crisis to tilt the balance of trade and diplomacy in its favour.
LONDON - Amnesty International has called for A GLOBAL ARMS EMBARGO to be placed on Israel following the recent Gaza conflict.
UK - A £500 billion banking bail-out will be at the centre of a rescue package announced by Gordon Brown this week amid desperation over the Government's failure to save the economy.
UK - Police are preparing for a "summer of rage" as victims of the economic downturn take to the streets to demonstrate against financial institutions, the Guardian has learned.
LATVIA - Latvia's center-right coalition government collapsed Friday, a victim of the country's growing economic and political turmoil and the second European government, after Iceland, to disintegrate because of the international financial crisis.
USA - Alan Keyes, a 2008 presidential candidate who is also a plaintiff in one of the many lawsuits challenging Barack Obama's constitutional eligibility to occupy the Oval Office, charged at a pro-life rally that unless Obama's social and economic policies are stopped, the United States as we know it is over.
USA - The congressman, Republican Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, a candidate for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, once again has introduced a bill that would get rid of the private organization that sets interest rates and establishes monetary priorities.
MENDOTA, CALIFORNIA - The nation's biggest agricultural engine, the sprawling Central Valley of California, is being battered by the recession like farmland most everywhere. But in an unlucky strike of nature, the downturn is being aggravated by a severe drought that threatens to drive up joblessness, increase food prices and cripple farms and towns.