The head of the German Bishops Conference, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, has admitted that the Roman Catholic Church consciously covered up cases of sexual abuse for decades.  

The weekly German news magazine Focus reported on Sunday that Archbishop Zollitsch, the leader of the German Roman Catholic Church, admitted during an interview with the publication that cases of child sex abuse were known and covered up. "Yes, we did have that," he said, but denied allegations that he personally had suppressed information.

While most cases happened outside the Church, "assaults that took place in such numbers within our institutions shame and frighten me," Zollitsch told Focus. "Every single case darkens the face of the entire Church," he said.

Zollitsch emphasized, however, that the Church has been moving for years in the other direction to uncover and investigate reported cases of sexual abuse.

The archbishop was critical of proposals to file a complaint in every instance of suspected abuse. He said many victims had told him explicitly that they did not desire legal action. He stressed that it was also important to avoid baseless allegations which could ruin the lives of those falsely accused. 

Stephen Byers, the former transport secretary, today insisted he had complied with the MPs' code of conduct after a group of Labour MPs were targeted in an elaborate sting operation in which journalists set up a bogus lobbying company and offered to pay them in return for political influence.

Byers, an arch Blairite, was filmed describing himself as a "bit like a sort of cab for hire" and offering to trade Westminster contacts for £3,000 to £5,000 a day.

Amid condemnation from senior cabinet ministers, the Labour party tried to limit the damage by saying some MPs were "mortified" by how stupid they had been, and promising a crackdown on lobbying by former ministers, rushing forward a manifesto pledge for tighter regulation and monitoring.

Others who were targeted in the undercover operation included former cabinet ministers Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt. Margaret Moran, Labour MP for Luton South, was also involved.

Police detain two more suspects involved in Berlin poker tournament robbery on Saturday after they stole prize money 242,000 euros.  

Two weeks after a spectacular daylight robbery at a poker tournament in Berlin police have arrested all four suspects who had made off with nearly a quarter of a million euros.

The 19- and 20-year-old pair were detained separately around noon and late Saturday at Berlin's main Tegel airport. Both men had informed police through their lawyers that they would be traveling back to Germany from Istanbul and Beirut. Authorities had issued an international arrest warrants for the alleged robbers.

The German leg of the European Poker Tour attracted around 950 participants including German tennis legend Boris Becker who had been eliminated from the competition a day before the March 6 heist.

On Monday, a 21-year-old German national surrendered to police, naming his three accomplices. A 20-year-old suspect was later arrested by police on a routine patrol two days later.

Vince Cable has held unprecedented and detailed talks with the top official at the Treasury about the Liberal Democrats' economic policies - and declared himself willing to serve as chancellor after the next election.

As Whitehall gears up for a possible hung parliament, Cable told the Observer that he had been questioned by Nicholas Macpherson, the Treasury's permanent secretary, about what the Lib Dems' demands would be in a coalition with Labour or the Tories.

Cable was unaware of such meetings having taken place with Lib Dem shadow chancellors before previous general elections. The talks were a sign that the Treasury was "taking seriously" the prospect of his party playing a leading role in economic policy in what could be the first hung parliament since 1974.

"He wanted to know what we attached priority to. He wanted to know what we felt strongly about," Cable said, adding that his ideas on tax and spending were well received. He didn't say to me: 'Yes, minister, but you can't do that'."

Cable, whose credibility has grown throughout the economic crisis, made clear that, if he was to be offered the chancellorship in a hung parliament, he would jump at the chance. He did not want to be "the most unpopular person in Britain" as public spending is slashed, he said, but added: "I wouldn't be in this business if I wasn't willing to take the responsibility if it was to come my way."

The UK faces £300m in fines after failing to meet EU pollution targets, but Britons also pay the price with heart disease, asthma and cancer

More than 50,000 people are dying prematurely in the UK every year, and thousands more suffer serious illness because of man-made air pollution, according to a parliamentary report published tomorrow. The UK now faces the threat of £300m in fines after it failed to meet legally binding EU targets to reduce pollution to safe levels.

Air pollution is cutting life expectancy by as many as nine years in the worst-affected city areas. On average, Britons die eight months too soon because of dirty air. Pollutants from cars, factories, houses and agriculture cause childhood health problems such as premature births, asthma and poor lung development. They play a major role in the development of chronic and life-shortening adult diseases affecting the heart and lungs, which can lead to repeated hospital admissions. Treating victims of Britain's poor air quality costs the country up to £20bn each year.

A resurgent left, and the rapid growth of the Greens, look certain to condemn President Nicolas Sarkozy to two years' hard labour when French regional elections are completed this weekend. Opinion polls suggest that an alliance of the Socialists, the Greens and the harder left is likely to sweep at least 21 of the 22 regions in Metropolitan France after the second round of voting tomorrow.

Despite the low turnout, last Sunday's first round suggests France has undergone a severe electoral earth tremor, if not an earthquake. Jean-Marie Le Pen's far-right National Front has regained some ground, but far more threatening to President Sarkozy may be the recovery of the left.

The Socialists, the Greens and two somewhat harder-left parties scored 49.9 per cent of the vote last Sunday - the highest score for the left in an equivalent nationwide poll for more than half a century.

Berlusconi's supporters attended the premier's "party of love" election rally in Rome ahead of regional polls. Berlusconi used the occasion to launch a blistering attack on his political enemies.

AFP - Hundreds of thousands of people marched through the Italian capital Saturday in a massive show of support for embattled Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi ahead of regional elections.

Berlusconi used the occasion to launch a blistering attack on his political enemies, saying left-leaning judges and centre-left politicians had concocted "a laughable investigation based on the tapping of my calls."

The billionaire prime minister addressed a rally at a packed Piazza San Giovanni in Rome after two giant processions of supporters of his centre-right People of Freedom (PDL) party had wound their way through the city.