WORLD NEWS

Pope Francis has said that he thinks same-sex couples should be allowed to have “civil unions”. He made the comments, which are a significant departure from Vatican law and his predecessors, in a documentary directed by Evgeny Afineevsky. “Homosexual people have a right to be in a family,” he said …

A California dad has been sentenced to 78 years in prison for stabbing his three sons to death.   Luiz Fuentes, 38, who entered his plea in a downtown courtroom on Tuesday, October 20, was immediately sentenced to 78 years to life in prison by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge …

US President Donald Trump has admitted he has a Chinese bank account, according to a report by the New York Times. The account is controlled by Trump International Hotels Management and paid local taxes between 2013 and 2015. It was set up “to explore the potential for hotel deals in Asia”, …

Police have arrested 14 suspects for “trying to smuggle cocaine” through Ethiopia’s main airport in the capital, Addis Ababa. Ethiopian federal police said the suspects, 13 Nigerians and one Brazilian, were found with 14kg of cocaine concealed in their luggage, underwear and had even swallowed some of it. The suspects …

US President Donald Trump has said Sudan will come off a list of state sponsors of terror if it pays compensation of $335m (£259m). Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok responded by saying the funds had been transferred but there was no immediate US confirmation. Sudan has been listed since 1993 …

French police have raided the homes of dozens of suspected Islamic radicals following the beheading of a teacher who showed controversial cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his pupils. Some of those being questioned are believed to have posted messages of support for the killer of Samuel Paty. The government …

When Candice Mama was nine years old, she secretly opened a page in a book she wasn’t meant to look at. The picture she saw there revealed something terrible – the dead body of her murdered father. But years later Candice went on to meet and forgive the killer – …

Italy has announced a new raft of measures to tighten restrictions amid a surge in coronavirus cases. A mask-wearing PM Giuseppe Conte said the measures were needed “to avoid a new lockdown”. Mayors will get powers to close public areas after 21:00 and the opening times of restaurants and the …

A city in eastern China has started offering a coronavirus vaccine to the general public – although it has not yet completed clinical trials. Hundreds of people have been queuing outside a hospital in Yiwu, where nurses are administering the injections for a fee of around $60 (£45). Source:  BBC

The US is to execute a female federal inmate for the first time in almost 70 years, the Justice Department said. Lisa Montgomery strangled a pregnant woman in Missouri before cutting out and kidnapping the baby in 2004. She is due to be given a lethal injection in Indiana on …