The tensions behind the spectacle of the papal conclave

Voting ends in a general election on the Mediterranean island of Malta, with opinion polls suggesting a change of government after more than 15 years.

If the Conservatives win the next general election, they may leave the European Convention on Human Rights Act, Home Secretary Theresa May says.

Firefighters fit a chimney on top of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, ahead of the conclave which will begin electing a new pope next week.

Roman Catholic cardinals from all over the world have voted to begin their conclave on Tuesday in order to elect a new Pope.

David Willey on secrecy and security before the papal conclave

Why are some leaders' corpses put on permanent display?

A portrait is attributed to 17th Century master Anthony Van Dyck and valued at up to £1m after being spotted on the BBC Your Paintings website.

Europe's carmakers turn to sports vehicles for profits

Roman Catholic cardinals will begin electing a new pope on Tuesday 12 March, they announce after talks in Rome.

More than 60 people suffered food poisoning at a Danish restaurant described as the world's best eatery, it has emerged.

German pensioners Uwe and Gunther Breuer are freed by Colombian ELN rebels who had held them hostage in north-eastern Colombia since November.

Ten cardinals who could be Pope by next week

Historian Lisa Jardine on the mother of chaos theory

An appeals court in Buenos Aires convicts ex-President Carlos Menem of illegally selling 6,500 tonnes of arms to Croatia and Ecuador during the 1990s.

Inspectors halt meat production at a plant in northern Poland following claims that it was adding rotten meat to its products.

Bulgaria expresses regret that more than 11,000 Jews were deported to Nazi concentration camps from areas under Bulgarian control during World War II.

British newspapers have portrayed her fellow Romanians as "lazy workshy people" the Cheeky Girl singer Monica Irimia said in her This Week film on immigration.

Poland is frustrated after the EU's top court rejected its legal complaint about the EU mechanism for cutting carbon emissions.

The inauguration of the new Czech president Milos Zeman will take place on Friday at Prague Castle.