For nearly two decades, the Democratic Republic of Congo has been in a state of almost permanent conflict. The United Nations' mission here is the largest peacekeeping force anywhere in the world, and yet, Goma fell today to just few hundred men. The UN and the Congolese government have accused Rwanda of supporting the rebels. Rwanda denies the accusation. But this mineral-rich part of eastern Congo now once again threatens to pull neighbouring countries into a wider African war.
Efforts to allow women to become bishops in the church of England have been defeated. The proposal failed by a few votes to get the required two thirds' backing among lay members of the general synod that church's governing body. Bishops and clergy backed the plan by a clear margin. Supporters have called the vote disastrous and damaging. The Reverend Rose Hudson Wilkin says she's disappointed by the result.
I believe passionately that women should be in leadership within the House of Bishops, and so I think it is a sadness today for the church. When I came out and felt the rain, I thought showers of blessing, but actually no, tears from God, tears at the decision we've just made.
Opponents say there is no scriptural backing for women bishops although many other Protestant churches already consecrate them.
World News from the BBC
The United Nations says there has a dramatic fall in the rates of HIV infections in many countries, where more people are receiving treatment than ever before. The UNAIDS program called it as a historic slowing down of the epidemic. The most marked changes have been in the worst affected African countries. In Malawi and Botswana, infection rates fall by more than 70%.