The Belgian Roman Catholic Church has begged for more time to deal with widespread child sexual abuse by its clergy because the problem is “so big and touches on so many emotions”.

A suicide bomber and gunmen wearing military uniforms attacked a hotel near Somalia’s presidential palace Monday, sparking a one-hour gun battle with security forces. At least 32 people were killed, including six Somali...

Nigeria’s anti-human trafficking agency says it lacks enough evidence to criminally charge a senator who allegedly took a child bride. In a statement Monday, the National Agency for Prohibition of Traffic in Persons and Other Related Matters said...

The 22-year-old woman, wearing a gauzy blue dress that she had changed into after her release, spoke in a whispery voice. Perhaps the worst part of the whole ordeal, she said, was the place where her kidnappers had chosen to imprison her. That they...

A six-year-old girl is seriously ill in hospital after she was stabbed in the chest at a property in Surrey. Officers found the girl when they were called to an address in Guildford’s Bellfields estate area just after midnight. Surrey Police...

A young Iranian actress named Kiana Firouz will attend the London premiere tonight of a film in which she plays a lesbian seeking asylum in Britain because the Iranian authorities are pursuing her. The Home Office rejects her application and sends her...

More British Airways flights have been cancelled as a second strike by the firm’s cabin crew gets under way. According to live departure boards, 29 scheduled flights due to depart London airports on Saturday morning have already been...

A suicide bomber has exploded a car in Iraq’s western province of Anbar, killing at least seven people and wounding 13, officials have said. The explosion took place in the city of Falluja, about 50km (32 miles) west of the capital Baghdad.

The rapid introduction of full body scanners at British airports threatens to breach child protection laws which ban the creation of indecent images of children, the Guardian has learned. Privacy campaigners claim the images created by the machines are...

The elusive erogenous zone said to exist in some women may be a myth, say researchers who have hunted for it. Their study in the Journal of Sexual Medicine is the biggest yet, involving 1,800 women, and it found no proof.