Masked thieves have stolen an invaluable Christian relic from an ancient monastery in the south of the Irish Republic. The relic, said to be part of the cross on which Jesus died, was kept in a gold and bronze case in the shape of a cross. A local priest appealed to the thieves to return the relic, which he said had an immeasurable religious and emotional value.

BBC News

The man accused of trying to blow up an airliner over the American city of Detroit on Christmas Day in 2009 has dramatically changed all his pleas to guilty. Nigerian-born Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is facing charges of trying to kill the 300 people on board the Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam. Jonny Dymond reports.

2009年圣诞节，一名男子因试图炸毁飞行在底特律上空的飞机被指控，嫌疑人奥马尔·法鲁克·阿卜杜勒－穆塔拉布目前令人意外地对起诉他的全部罪名供认不讳。他因试图杀害300名乘坐西北航空公司航班从阿姆斯特丹起飞的乘客被起诉。Jonny Dymond报道。

After a 45-minute recess at the start of proceedings, US District Judge Nancy Edmunds asked Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab if he wanted to plead guilty and waive his right to a trial. "That's right," he replied. Then each charge was read out to him. Standing in front of the judge, flanked by the defenc and prosecution lawyers, he replied to each one "I plead guilty." In a statement to the court, Abdulmutallab said his attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253 was a religious obligation driven by what he called US attacks upon Muslims.