The Vatican has defended its transfer of a top official to Washington after he exposed alleged corruption in the awarding of Holy See contracts.

A British passenger plane requested an emergency landing today in Brindisi, southern Italy, because of a suspected bomb on board, the Italian air traffic agency said.

An Italian prosecutor has asked a judge to put 17 former members of the Nazi SS on trial for their alleged role in the worst Second World War-era civilian massacre in Italy – the 1944 slaughter of more than 700 people near Bologna, court officials said today.