Funeral services for Mormon church president Gordon B. Hinckley this week could draw tens of thousands of mourners with the church estimating that between 50,000 and 160,000 will attend two days of public viewing and Saturday’s funeral.

Two world religious leaders, the Greek Orthodox Church’s Archbishop Christodoulos, and Mormon president Gordon Hinckley, have died, it was announced today.

A judge has relaxed restrictions on John Hinckley, the man who shot former US president Ronald Reagan, to allow him his first overnight visits outside the Washington area in almost 25 years.

The president of the Mormon church travelled to the Vermont hillside where the church’s founder, Josephy Smith, was believed to have been born, in preparation for a celebration today to mark the 200th anniversary of Smith’s birth.

Failed assassin John Hinckley, who has been in a psychiatric hospital since trying to kill former US President Ronald Reagan in 1981, is applying for more freedom today.

Nancy Reagan offered a touching tribute to her late husband today, writing: “I think they broke the mould when they made Ronnie.”

THE man who tried to kill Ronald Reagan won permission for un-monitored daytrips with visits to with his parents, a decision criticised by the former president’s family.

THE man who shot President Reagan no longer poses a danger to himself or others, a hospital psychiatrist testified yesterday.

Washington