Reporters film and take pictures of the stoves where the ballots will be burned during the conclave, inside the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, yesterday. Cardinals have set Tuesday as the start date for the conclave to elect the next Pope, signalling that they were wrapping up a week of discussions about the problems of the Church and who best among them might lead it. Tuesday will begin with a Mass in the morning in St Peter’s Basilica, followed by the first balloting in the Sistine Chapel in the afternoon.
Rebels free hostages
A Colombian rebel group has released two German citizens who were kidnapped four months ago.
The International Committee of the Red Cross says the National Liberation Army freed 72-year-old Guenther Otto Breuer and his 69-year-old brother, Uwe Breuer. They were flown in a Red Cross helicopter to a rural part of the Colombian department of Norte de Santander.
The Breuers were abducted on November 3 in Teorama, a town in a troubled coca-growing zone near Venezuela with a strong guerrilla presence. At the time, the group accused the brothers of being spies. (PA)
Anchorman keeps papers
A federal appeals court is allowing a Mississippi TV presenter to keep documents and other material tied to the Rev. Martin Luther King.
His estate sued WLBT-TV anchorman Howard Ballou in September 2011, wanting to take possession of the material.
The lawsuit said Mr Ballou’s mother, Maude Ballou, worked as King’s secretary from 1955 to 1960 and kept the items. She said the civil rights leader gave them to her. (PA)
Cheerleader libel retrial
A defamation suit involving a gossip website and a former Cincinnati Bengals cheerleader convicted of having sex with a teenage student will go to trial again this summer.
Former high school teacher Sarah Jones is seeking $11 million over a pair of 2009 posts on thedirty.com that said she had sex with every Bengals player and probably had two sexually transmitted diseases. She pleaded guilty in October to having sex with a 17-year-old student.
A January trial resulted in a hung jury and yesterday a judge set a retrial date for July for her lawsuit against the Arizona-based site and its operator, Nik Richie. (PA)
Cruise ship returns
A cruise ship has returned to South Florida after finishing a Caribbean voyage that saw more than a hundred people develop a gastrointestinal illness on board.
Royal Caribbean International reported that 105 of 1,991 guests and three of 772 crew members experienced a possible shortlived norovirus illness during the 11-night trip.
They have responded well to over-the-counter medication being administered on board the ship. (PA)