A SENIOR Vatican figure has defended a decision not to defrock an American priest accused of molesting deaf boys, saying the lengthy trial process would have been “useless” because he was dying.

Search crews were lowered by ropes from helicopters through dense jungle searched the wreckage of a Brazilian jetliner that apparently clipped an executive jet and slammed into the ground in the Amazon rain forest, probably killing all 155 people aboard.

SOME newspapers go to extra lengths to satisfy their readers. The New York Times has just announced the appointment of its first perfume critic, who will assess and rate the various scents on the market.