Polls have just closed in England, Scotland and Wales, where people have been voting in local elections. There have also been contests for the post of mayor in three cities, including London. The BBC's political correspondent says the results across the country will be seen as a popularity test for Britain's coalition government at a time when it was doing badly in opinion polls.

The head of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland is coming under increasing pressure to resign over his handling of a child sex abuse inquiry. Cardinal Sean Brady says he won't resign over allegations that when he was a young clergyman he knew about a number of children who'd been abused by a

paedophile

priest but did not tell their parents. The Irish Deputy Prime Minister Eamon Gilmore told parliament that anyone who didn't act against cases of abuse at the time should step down.

"I've always believed in the separation of Church and state. I think it is the job of government and of the state to enact our laws and to ensure that those laws apply to everybody whether they belong to a church or not. But it is my own personal view that anybody who did not deal with the scale of the abuse that we have seen in this case should not hold a position of authority."

Two British men who have been completely blind for many years have had some of their vision restored by

pioneering

surgery. Electronic chips were fitted behind the men's

retinas