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The Vatican has clarified Pope Benedict XVI’s comments on condoms, saying their use by men and women to prevent HIV could be an act of “responsibility”. The clarification follows comments suggesting Pope accepted their use only in exceptional circumstances. But the Vatican’s senior spokesman said the... 

Calls are mounting for Irish leader Brian Cowen to quit over the country’s 90bn-euro (£77bn, $124bn) bail-out by the EU and IMF. Mr Cowen has phoned opposition leaders in what is seen as a bid to win support for delaying an election until a new budget is passed next month. He announced on Monday that a general election... 

Police in three countries have arrested 10 radical Islamists over a terrorist plot to attack Belgium, Belgian federal prosecutors say. They were detained in police swoops in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany after a year-long investigation by police in the Belgian city of Antwerp. An “international jihadist terrorist... 

An impostor posing as a leading Taliban negotiator held secret talks with Afghan officials, report US media. The Afghans thought they were dealing with Mullah Akhtar Mohammed Mansour, a top Taliban commander. But he may not even have been a member of the Taliban, reports the New York Times, which broke the story. He was paid... 

Prince William and Kate Middleton will marry on Friday 29 April at Westminster Abbey, Clarence House has announced. The couple, both 28, got engaged while on holiday in Kenya in October. Prime Minister David Cameron said it would be “a happy and momentous occasion” and would be marked by a public holiday. The Royal... 

Two of Afghanistan’s most senior election officials have been suspended, hours before results were finally due to be released from the September poll. It is not clear why the attorney general acted against the spokesmen of the Independent Election Commission and Electoral Complaints Commission. A judge is expected to receive... 

South Korea says it will retaliate with missile strikes against the North if faced with “further provocations”, after an exchange of fire in which two South Korean marines were killed. President Lee Myung-bak was responding to the shelling of an inhabited island close to a disputed maritime border. The South returned... 

London: The date and location have been set: the wedding between Prince William and Kate Middleton is to take place on Friday, April 29th at Westminster Abbey. An aide to Prince William said on Tuesday that the couple had chosen the Abbey, where Queen Elizabeth was also married, for its “staggering beauty” and because... 

Phnom Penh: Injured survivors lay on the floors of hospitals in the city on Tuesday and the dead were loaded into coffins after one of the worst stampedes in recent years killed at least 378 people at a holiday celebration the previous night. The cause of the stampede during Cambodia’s annual water festival was unclear,... 

London: A maid in Kenya was told about the engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton – before even the Queen was informed. Margret Lekartgi, a 22-year-old maid, has known about William and Kate’s engagement for a month – while even the Queen, Prince Harry and Prime Minister David Cameron were not aware. Lekartgi...