THE discovery of the Aids virus and the role of viruses in cervical cancer has led to Germany’s Harald zur Hausen and French researchers Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier sharing the 2008 Nobel Prize in medicine.

Germany’s Harald zur Hausen and French researchers Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier shared the 2008 Nobel Prize in medicine today for discovering the Aids virus and the role of viruses in cervical cancer.

A top Vatican official acknowledged today what many observers have long suspected: that Pope John Paul suffers from Parkinson’s disease. But he said the Pontiff’s prayers had helped him cope with the degenerative neurological disorder.

Pope John Paul is to begin a new round of travel after a nine-month pause that could take the frail pontiff as far as Mongolia.