Category: news

Umar Gul’s stunning spell inspires Pakistan to a 23-run victory over England and keeps the one-day series alive.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Five men have been arrested by the Metropolitan Police in London in relation to a potential threat to the Pope.

The arrests were made at 0545 BST at addresses in London after counter-terrorism officers received intelligence of a potential threat.

The five men have been taken to a central London police station.

Officers are continuing searches at premises connected to the raids.

In a statement from Scotland Yard, the Metropolitan Police said that the five men had been arrested in an operation launched by officers from the force’s Counter-Terrorism Command.

The five were arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000.

The five men are 26, 27, 36, 40 and 50 years old. They were arrested in an armed operation at business premises where searches are continuing.

Residential premises in north and east London are also being searched. Officers have not found any hazardous items.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The US has charged a pair of former nuclear contractors with attempting to leak nuclear secrets to Venezuela.

The husband and wife team were arrested on Friday in New Mexico and accused of passing nuclear information to an FBI agent posing as a Venezuelan spy.

US citizens Pedro and Marjorie Mascheroni were contractors at Los Alamos National Laboratory, a centre of US nuclear research.

The US justice department did not accuse Venezuela of wrongdoing.

“The conduct alleged in this indictment is serious and should serve as a warning to anyone who would consider compromising our nation’s nuclear secrets for profit,” Assistant Attorney General David Kris said in a statement.

Mr Mascheroni, a 75-year-old native of Argentina, worked as a scientist at Los Alamos from 1979 until 1988, when he was fired after criticising US nuclear research funding priorities, according to court documents. Mrs Mascheroni was a technical writer and editor from 1981 to 2010, the justice department said.

The pair had access to nuclear secrets, including material on the design and manufacture of nuclear weapons, it said.

According to the justice department, in March 2008 Mr Mascheroni met an FBI agent posing as a Venezuelan intelligence operative named Luis Jimenez at a hotel in the US city of Sante Fe.

Mr Mascheroni allegedly said he could help Venezuela develop a nuclear bomb within 10 years and a nuclear energy programme, and described a potential “umbrella” deterrent strategy for the Latin American nation.

“Mascheroni told ‘Jimenez’ that after Venezuela conducted a test of its nuclear weapons, Venezuela could cause an explosion over New York that would result in an electromagnetic pulse that he contended would not kill anybody but would destroy all the electric power in New York,” the federal indictment states.

Mr Mascheroni asked about obtaining Venezuelan citizenship and said he hoped to be paid for his services, the indictment states.

Soon after contact with the agent began, Mr Mascheroni informed his wife about the meeting, characterising it as a “secret”.

In July 2009, Mrs Mascheroni helped her husband write and edit a document containing US nuclear secrets, which Mr Mascheroni then delivered to a “dead drop location” for collection by the purported Venezuelan agent, according to the indictment.

Mr Mascheroni was fired from Los Alamos in 1988 after criticising the US government’s research funding priorities, according to a 1994 judgement in a lawsuit he filed challenging the dismissal. He argued the government should fund a laser project he was working on, rather than another.

He had refused orders to cease his complaints, was transferred to another division, had his security clearance revoked and was ultimately dismissed, the lawsuit stated.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Dr Williams said the Pope was “most welcome” at Lambeth Palace

The Pope has met the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace in London on day two of his visit to the UK.

The meeting with Dr Rowan Williams, the head of the Church of England, was also attended by bishops of both the Anglican and Catholic churches.

It comes at a time when Anglican moves towards appointing women bishops have unsettled relations with Rome.

But the Pope said he wanted to focus on the “deep friendship” between the two churches rather than their differences.

Later, the Pope will address MPs and business leaders in Westminster Hall.

The Lambeth Palace meeting marked the first time a Pope has met the Archbishop at his official residence.

It was viewed as an important event more than 40 years after official talks began about possible reunification of the two churches.

Divisions remain over Roman Catholic opposition to the ordination of women priests. Meanwhile the Church of England’s General Synod left the way open for appointing women bishops at its meeting in July.

The Vatican angered many supporters of women’s ordination by describing it as a “grave crime” to be dealt with in the same process as sex abuse, though it denied it was equating the two.

Dr Williams said in his opening remarks that the Pope was “most welcome” at Lambeth Palace.

He then praised the pontiff’s “consistent and penetrating analysis of the state of European society”.

Later, the speech at Westminster Hall is expected to be the most political of the Pope’s visit. He is said to be ready to talk about the important role faith must play in shaping public policy.

Pope Benedict XVI is also likely to stress the value of Catholic social teaching and link it with ideas of community-building contained in Prime Minister’s David Cameron’s concept of the Big Society.

The day will end with the Pope celebrating Evening Prayer at Westminster Abbey, before a state banquet for his entourage is held, although he is not expected to attend.

Earlier, the Pope led an assembly of 4,000 Catholic school children in west London.

He used his address at St Mary’s University College in Twickenham, to say that the safety of children was vital in all schools, an apparent reference to the Church’s child abuse scandal.

Around 300 worshippers attended the prayer service

He also warned against the limitations of celebrity and science.

The pontiff told the crowd young people were often encouraged to model themselves on celebrities.

He said: “My question for you is this: What are the qualities you see in others that you would most like to have yourselves? What kind of person would you really like to be?’

“I’m asking you not to be content with second-best.”

He went on to say having money or a successful career was not enough to make people happy, but true happiness could be found in God.

Tight security surrounded the event, called The Big Assembly.

It took place as the Metropolitan Police revealed five men had been arrested by counter-terrorism officers in central London.

Monks and nuns had waited in long queues and were frisked by police.

Around 100 protesters against the Vatican’s record on gay rights, equality and birth control had gathered ahead of his arrival, amid tight security.

The Church saw it as an opportunity to celebrate the work of more than 2,000 Catholic schools across the UK, in partnership with the state.

But critics said it could fuel hostility to faith schools and serve as a painful reminder of the child abuse scandal within the Catholic Church.

There has been a wave of cases in which Church authorities failed to deal properly with priests accused of child abuse, sometimes just moving them to new parishes.

Lord Patten, who has helped the government co-ordinate the visit, said the Catholic Church was dealing with the crisis.

He said: “For many of us, one of the worst aspects of all this was that the Catholic Church tried to hide what was going on.

“Well, I think everybody has learnt from that and learnt that institutional arrogance, the way institutions behave, can sometimes get tragically in the way of their message.”

Prior to the assembly of school children, the Pope told a gathering of religious congregations that he had particular appreciation “for those whose task it is to ensure that our schools provide a safe environment for children and young people”.

He added that the life of faith can “only be effectively nurtured when the prevailing atmosphere is one of respectful and affectionate trust”.

He also spoke of his “deep appreciation” for those who devoted their lives to teaching and paid tribute to the “outstanding contribution” made by religious orders to education.

Send your pictures and videos to [email protected] or text them to 61124 (UK) or 0044 7725 100 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.

Read the terms and conditions

At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. In most cases a selection of your comments will be published, displaying your name and location unless you state otherwise in the box below. If you wish to remain anonymous, please say so in the box.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Children at a school near Selby have had a play break cancelled and hard ball games banned after neighbours complained to the council about noise.

Barlby Community Primary School has also put up a soundproof fence because it fears a noise abatement order.

The school said the decisions were “regrettable” but necessary to prevent the chance of a notice being served.

Some parents are unhappy about the move, which was also criticised by the organisation Play England.

The measures were put in place after some neighbours contacted environmental health officials.

The school’s afternoon outside break has now been cancelled, and other breaks have been staggered so fewer children are in the playground at the same time.

Parents were also told in a letter that hard ball games were being cancelled.

The move has alarmed some parents.

One parent, called Sharon, told BBC Radio York: “You have got to let your children play when they are studying hard.

“I think the school are doing everything they can to resolve the problem, but at the end of the day my son and his friends enjoy playing outside.”

Laky Sahota of Play England, which promotes free play opportunities for children, said he was concerned that the decision was “not focused on the best interest of the child”.

“They are not considering how important play is,” he said.

‘Regrettable decision’

“Children, on average, are only having 30 minutes of play during the day and that has an impact on their ability to plan and concentrate.”

Suzanne Douglas, who is one of the school’s governors, said: “It’s a regrettable decision, it’s one we did not want to make and we have given a lot of consideration to, but there is a possibility of an abatement notice being served on the school.

“To avoid this happening we are doing all we can to maintain the school as an operational primary school.”

A spokeswoman for North Yorkshire County Council said it was aware of complaints made by some of the school’s neighbours to the environmental health department at Selby District regarding “excessive noise”.

“We are not satisfied that a statutory noise nuisance exists from what amounts to normal use of the school and playground areas,” she added.

“Nevertheless we are taking these complaints seriously and wish to maintain good relationships with local residents.”

She added that an assessment of noise levels would be taking place over the next month.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

A satellite image shows Hurricane Karl approaching the coast of Mexico while Hurricane Igor continues to rage to the east

Hurricane Karl has gained more strength as it moves through the Gulf of Mexico, becoming a major hurricane pushing winds of almost 120mph (195km/h).

The Category Three storm is set to hit Mexico’s coast later on Friday, with the National Hurricane Center warning it could be yet more powerful by then.

Karl has already forced Mexico’s Pemex oil to halt production at 14 offshore wells and evacuate staff.

To the east Hurricane Igor has weakened slightly, but remains a major storm.

Igor, which is pushing sustained speeds of 125mph, is threatening to pass directly over Bermuda on Sunday, the US-based NHC has warned.

Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Bahamas are also likely to feel the effects of storm swells by early on Thursday, with the US East Coast affected by the weekend.

“These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,” the NHC warned.

A third simultaneous hurricane, Hurricane Julia, which is towards the centre of the Atlantic Ocean, has weakened further, with sustained winds of 80mph.

Hurricane Karl is currently located about 70 miles (110km) east-northeast of the port city of Veracruz in Mexico and moving west at a speed of about 9mph.

Mexico’s Veracruz state has already suffered from major flooding in the recent weeks

On Thursday, Karl made landfall as a tropical storm as it passed over the Yucatan Peninsula, dumping heavy rain and bringing down trees and power lines.

The storm is expected to make landfall again on Friday afternoon between Veracruz and Poza Rica, and the Mexican government has issued a hurricane warning for a 186-mile stretch of coast from Veracruz northwards.

The NHC has said that heavy rain from the hurricane brings the threat of “life-threatening flash flooding, especially in mountainous areas” and in coastal areas of a dangerous storm surge “which will raise water levels by as much as two to three metres above normal tide levels along the immediate coast near and to the north of where the centre makes landfall”.

The state of Veracruz has already experienced severe flooding in recent weeks, as Mexico’s rainy season continues.

Nine people in the state have been killed by the floods and the homes of an estimated 80,000 people have been damaged.

Nationwide, 25 people have died and about one million been affected by the floods.

Send your pictures and videos to [email protected] or text them to 61124 (UK) or 0044 7725 100 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.

Read the terms and conditions

At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. In most cases a selection of your comments will be published, displaying your name and location unless you state otherwise in the box below. If you wish to remain anonymous, please say so in the box.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Harvard professor Elizabeth Warren will oversee the creation of a new consumer protection agency

President Barack Obama has confirmed Elizabeth Warren as a special adviser to set up a US consumer agency.

The creation of a Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was part of the Financial Reform Bill signed by Mr Obama in July.

By becoming an adviser rather than head of the agency, Mrs Warren avoids Senate hearings which could have stopped her nomination.

Mrs Warren has angered some lawmakers because of her criticism of banks.

A Harvard law professor, she made her acceptance statement on the White House Blog, saying “the time for hiding tricks and traps in the fine print is over. If the CFPB can succeed at levelling the playing field, we can go a long way toward repairing a gaping hole in the budgets of millions of families”.

Mr Obama said that as the agency was Mrs Warren’s idea, it made sense that she should be “the architect” working with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to get it up and running.

The idea of a consumer agency has been very contentious. Critics believe it adds unnecessary red tape to the financial services sector and makes it more expensive for consumers to get access to credit.

Mrs Warren is not new to Washington. For the past two years she has headed the Congressional Oversight Panel which monitors the $700bn fund set up to rescue banks.

According to the Financial Reform Bill, she will have a year to create the agency, with a possible six-month extension, before the head of the CFPB will have to be announced.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Birmingham and Scotland forward James McFadden faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines after suffering anterior cruciate ligament damage to his left knee.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The 40-year-old said she wanted to offer hope to others in her situation

A woman who launched a legal bid to have gastric bypass surgery after a health trust refused funding has been told it will be paid for by the NHS.

Hazel Kent, of Bracknell, Berkshire, claimed it was her only hope to lose weight, but funding was rejected due to her body mass index being too low.

The 40-year-old was to take Berkshire East NHS Primary Care Trust (PCT) to court in a bid to overturn the ruling.

She has since been told the trust will now pay for the £15,000 surgery.

Ms Kent lost seven-and-a-half stone (49kg) in 2001 after having a gastric band fitted but it had to be removed due to medical complications.

‘Don’t give up’

The mother-of-three first applied for funding two-and-a-half years ago but the PCT said Ms Kent’s body mass index was not high enough.

Its guidelines state anyone undergoing the surgery should have a BMI of at least 50, while Ms Kent’s is 37.8.

Ms Kent had a gastric band fitted in 2001 and shed seven-and-a-half stone (49kg)

The trust, which has refused Ms Kent funding four times, added that other criteria had to be met in order for patients to have the operation.

The operation involves creating a small stomach pouch and bypassing part of the small intestine to make the digestive system shorter.

Surgeons believe it is effective in weight loss because a person will only eat a small amount of food.

Ms Kent, whose weight has steadily increased back to 15st 10lbs (100kg), had hired a solicitor and the case was set to be heard at the High Court in Manchester in October.

“I feel fantastic,” she said.

“When I first heard the news I did feel slightly deflated because going to court was not just for me, it was for other people like me and this was a landmark case.

“I just stuck to my guns and I just want to say to people don’t ever give up. This is going to change my life dramatically and was my only hope.”

Ms Kent said she had tried diets and exercise in order to lose weight but this had not worked.

She said having the operation would save the NHS money in the long-term as being overweight could lead to a string of other health conditions.

In a statement East Berkshire PCT said: “When our case review committee considers an individual case it takes into account policies set by the Berkshire priorities committee, guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, and each patient’s individual circumstances.

“The decision-making process includes a right of appeal. We are unable to discuss this or any other individual case in detail due to our commitment to patient confidentiality.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

A 15-year-old boy was seriously injured after being stabbed at a bus stop by a group of up to four teenagers, Strathclyde Police have said.

The incident happened at about 1245 BST in Paisley Road West at the junction with Midlock Street, Glasgow.

Officers said the group headed east along Paisley Road West in a blue car.

The victim was taken to Glasgow’s Southern General Hospital suffering from stab wounds. He is said to be serious but stable.

DC Mark McLennan said there was no clear motive for the assault.

He added: “Officers are carrying out door-to-door enquiries and checking local CCTV to establish exactly what happened.

“The area would have been particularly busy at this time of day.

Therefore, I would appeal to anyone who was in the area of Paisley Road West this afternoon and who witnessed the attack or saw anyone acting suspiciously to contact us.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Security has been stepped up across the country ahead of the poll

Voters in Afghanistan are due to cast their ballots in key parliamentary elections, despite fears of violence and threats from Taliban militants.

More than 2,500 candidates are vying for 249 seats in the lower house of parliament, the Wolesi Jirga.

Some 280,000 soldiers and police are being deployed around the country.

The poll is seen as a test of credibility for Mr Karzai after last year’s presidential elections, which were marred by widespread fraud.

Mr Karzai – under strong diplomatic pressure – eventually accepted that irregularities had occurred but his main rival, Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew from a run-off saying the vote could not be free or fair.

Washington is watching Saturday’s poll closely, as US President Barack Obama prepares a war strategy review in December that is expected to consider the scale of plans to start withdrawing American troops from next year.

Nearly 6,000 polling stations in 34 provinces are due to open at 0700 local time (0230 GMT) and will close at 1600 local time (1130 GMT). But about 1,000 will not open because of security fears.

AFGHAN ELECTIONS

Date of voting: 18 SeptemberNumber of eligible voters: about 10.5 millionNumber of seats: 249Total number of candidates: 2,514, including 406 womenTotal number of polling centres: 6,835Polling centres closed because of security concerns: 1,019Estimated cost: $150m (£95.5m), paid by international partnersQ&A: Afghan elections

There are more than 10 million registered voters, but the UN says a turnout of five to seven million would be a success, given the difficulty of holding a poll in the middle of a war.

Afghan soldiers and army will be guarding the polls, backed up by nearly 150,000 foreign troops.

Ahead of the vote, President Karzai urged Afghans to cast their ballots, despite threats from the Taliban to attack voters and election officials.

“Tomorrow’s election is very important. I hope all our people in all corners of the country, in any village will go to the polling centres and to vote for their favourite candidate,” Mr Karzai told reporters on Friday.

The Taliban have warned voters to boycott the poll and “stick to jihad”.

In what correspondents say is a thinly veiled threat, the insurgents have said in a statement that they have “already chalked out certain measures… to frustrate this American process and will implement them on the day when the illegitimate process of elections is conducted”.

The Taliban has already claimed responsibility for kidnapping two parliamentary candidates and 18 poll officials and campaign workers in separate incidents in the run-up to the elections.

Another major concern for Afghan election officials and international observers is that the polls will not be free or fair.

Mr Karzai on Friday admitted that “under the circumstances we must expect that there’ll be irregularities, there’ll be problems and there’ll be allegations as well”.

The UN special envoy to Afghanistan, Staffan de Mistura, also acknowledged earlier this week that the elections “will not be perfect”.

On Tuesday, officials from Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) said 3,000 forged voter registration cards had been confiscated in the central province on Ghazni.

However, IEC officials stressed that they had taken a number of measures – including the usage of an indelible ink to avoid double voting – to prevent fraud.

Preliminary results are to be announced on 22 September, with the final results due on 31 October.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Legionnaire’s kills between between 10 – 15% of its victims

The 20th case of Legionnaire’s disease has been confirmed in the Heads of the Valleys’ outbreak, in south Wales.

Three people have died from the disease, but only one of the deaths was linked to the valleys’ outbreak.

Bev Morgan, 49, from Rhymney, in Caerphilly county, died in hospital on Sunday in the outbreak in south Wales.

Public Health Wales is still waiting results of tests from three industrial sites in the area to find the source.

Investigations are focussing on a cluster of seven people linked to Rhymney.

A further potential cluster of four people in the Cynon Valley is being investigated. The other nine people have various links and connections across the outbreak area.

The 20th case is the first new case since 10 September.

The outbreak area is the corridor 12km (7.5 miles) either side of the Heads of the Valleys road between Abergavenny in Monmouthshire and Llandarcy in Neath Port Talbot.

Map showing the areas, mostly in the valleys, where the investigation is concentrating

A solicitor representing victims has called for tighter regulations to help prevent outbreaks.

Philip Banks, of solicitors Irwin Mitchell, said there needed to be better regulation of cooling towers and other equipment which have been at the centre of the investigation.

“A system could be put in place, for example an MoT system where companies have to have a certification system in place [where] they are maintained, inspected, disinfected and cleaned,” he said.

“That would be a step forward to stop this happening again.”

Public Health Wales has defended its decision to delay alerting the public to the outbreak.

Public domain

Doctors were told about the outbreak on 3 September but the authorities did not inform people until four days later.

Some GPs have raised concerns over the length of time taken.

However, Dr Gwen Lowe, a consultant in communicable disease control for Public Health Wales, told BBC Wales’ Week In Week Out the delay was necessary so the health protection team could accurately assess the situation.

She said: “The reason why we delayed the public announcement of the outbreak was to allow our clinical colleagues and our GP colleagues to have that information to enable them to act, to make sure we had all the relevant information that we needed.

“You can imagine that once you declare an area you’re interested in, people’s recall of where they have been actually becomes a bit muddied by the information that is in the public domain.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

John Higgins expects his comeback to snooker to be difficult when he returns from a six-month ban for bringing the sport into disrepute.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Dr Williams said the Pope was “most welcome” at Lambeth Palace

The Pope has met the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace in London on day two of his visit to the UK.

The meeting with Dr Rowan Williams, the head of the Church of England, was also attended by bishops of both the Anglican and Catholic churches.

It comes at a time when Anglican moves towards appointing women bishops have unsettled relations with Rome.

But the Pope said he wanted to focus on the “deep friendship” between the two churches rather than their differences.

Later, the Pope will address MPs and business leaders in Westminster Hall.

The Lambeth Palace meeting marked the first time a Pope has met the Archbishop at his official residence.

It was viewed as an important event more than 40 years after official talks began about possible reunification of the two churches.

Divisions remain over Roman Catholic opposition to the ordination of women priests. Meanwhile the Church of England’s General Synod left the way open for appointing women bishops at its meeting in July.

The Vatican angered many supporters of women’s ordination by describing it as a “grave crime” to be dealt with in the same process as sex abuse, though it denied it was equating the two.

Dr Williams said in his opening remarks that the Pope was “most welcome” at Lambeth Palace.

He then praised the pontiff’s “consistent and penetrating analysis of the state of European society”.

Later, the speech at Westminster Hall is expected to be the most political of the Pope’s visit. He is said to be ready to talk about the important role faith must play in shaping public policy.

Pope Benedict XVI is also likely to stress the value of Catholic social teaching and link it with ideas of community-building contained in Prime Minister’s David Cameron’s concept of the Big Society.

The day will end with the Pope celebrating Evening Prayer at Westminster Abbey, before a state banquet for his entourage is held, although he is not expected to attend.

Earlier, the Pope led an assembly of 4,000 Catholic school children in west London.

He used his address at St Mary’s University College in Twickenham, to say that the safety of children was vital in all schools, an apparent reference to the Church’s child abuse scandal.

Around 300 worshippers attended the prayer service

He also warned against the limitations of celebrity and science.

The pontiff told the crowd young people were often encouraged to model themselves on celebrities.

He said: “My question for you is this: What are the qualities you see in others that you would most like to have yourselves? What kind of person would you really like to be?’

“I’m asking you not to be content with second-best.”

He went on to say having money or a successful career was not enough to make people happy, but true happiness could be found in God.

Tight security surrounded the event, called The Big Assembly.

It took place as the Metropolitan Police revealed five men had been arrested by counter-terrorism officers in central London.

Monks and nuns had waited in long queues and were frisked by police.

Around 100 protesters against the Vatican’s record on gay rights, equality and birth control had gathered ahead of his arrival, amid tight security.

The Church saw it as an opportunity to celebrate the work of more than 2,000 Catholic schools across the UK, in partnership with the state.

But critics said it could fuel hostility to faith schools and serve as a painful reminder of the child abuse scandal within the Catholic Church.

There has been a wave of cases in which Church authorities failed to deal properly with priests accused of child abuse, sometimes just moving them to new parishes.

Lord Patten, who has helped the government co-ordinate the visit, said the Catholic Church was dealing with the crisis.

He said: “For many of us, one of the worst aspects of all this was that the Catholic Church tried to hide what was going on.

“Well, I think everybody has learnt from that and learnt that institutional arrogance, the way institutions behave, can sometimes get tragically in the way of their message.”

Prior to the assembly of school children, the Pope told a gathering of religious congregations that he had particular appreciation “for those whose task it is to ensure that our schools provide a safe environment for children and young people”.

He added that the life of faith can “only be effectively nurtured when the prevailing atmosphere is one of respectful and affectionate trust”.

He also spoke of his “deep appreciation” for those who devoted their lives to teaching and paid tribute to the “outstanding contribution” made by religious orders to education.

Send your pictures and videos to [email protected] or text them to 61124 (UK) or 0044 7725 100 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here.

Read the terms and conditions

At no time should you endanger yourself or others, take any unnecessary risks or infringe any laws. In most cases a selection of your comments will be published, displaying your name and location unless you state otherwise in the box below. If you wish to remain anonymous, please say so in the box.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

A drill reaches the 33 men trapped in a Chilean mine since early August, but it will take several weeks to widen the hole to free them.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.