National / International News

What inspires the names given to insect species?

France's Catholic Church soldiers on but young stay away

A presidential election to replace late Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez will be held on 14 April, the country's electoral commission says.

Quirky global countdown to Commonwealth Games

The tourism secretary in the central Mexican state of Jalisco has been shot dead in an apparent ambush, 10 days after he was appointed.

Holding out for a therapy for a rare and challenging syndrome

A £60m fund is launched by the Scottish government to help councils target areas of fuel poverty and better insolate homes.

The Catholic Church in Scotland has failed to provide "compassionate and pastoral" support on issues of sexuality, its head of media says.

Preparations at the site of Tuesday's papal conclave include a high-tech scrubbing of the chapel for bugs and electronic monitoring equipment. Wi-Fi will be blocked throughout Vatican City, and cardinals with Twitter and Facebook accounts have been warned.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

Britons must work to preserve rural areas for "our successors, particularly grandchildren", grandfather-to-be Prince Charles says in a BBC interview.

Living in the home towns of Stalin and Hitler

How war in Syria is smashing humanity's shared past

A BBC survey for Late Kick Off shows clubs are worried about the financial health of the Football League.

Diplomats investigate claims by Nigerian militant group Ansaru that it has killed seven foreign hostages, including a Briton.

Gavin Hewitt on tensions behind the papal conclave

Venezuela's elections commission announced Saturday that voters will go to the polls on April 14. Henrique Capriles, who opposed Chavez in the last election, is expected to face interim leader Nicolas Maduro.

» E-Mail This     » Add to Del.icio.us

A group of 21 Filipino UN peacekeepers captured by rebels in Syria earlier this week arrive in Jordan after being released.

Voting ends in a general election on the Mediterranean island of Malta, with opinion polls suggesting a change of government after more than 15 years.

A taxi driver who was filmed being dragged behind a police van in South Africa before being found dead is buried in his native Mozambique.

If the Conservatives win the next general election, they may leave the European Convention on Human Rights Act, Home Secretary Theresa May says.