GERMAN Chancellor Helmut Kohl, a practising Catholic, thinks Pope John Paul should reconsider his opposition to artificial birth control, according to an interview published yesterday.
Kohl told a Catholic publishing group he had already discussed the issue of contraception several times in private with the Pope, who is to visit Germany this month.
"Many Catholic Christians have problems with the church's position here," Kohl told the North East German Publishing Society. "For me, it is a question of conscience."
Host Nathan Lane poked fun at Julie Andrews during the 50th annual Tony awards for boycotting the awards ceremony because of her protests that only she had been nominated from the cast of her hit Victor/Victoria for an award.
But the real blow came when it was time to announce the award for best actress in a musical. Andrews lost to Donna Murphy, for her role in The King and I.
Comic Bernard Manning, famed for his jokes at the expense of blacks and women, is considering suing for discrimination, it has been reported.
He is furious that Leeds City Council barred him from performing at its three theatres because the authority deems his humour offensive.
French campaigner for the homeless Abbe Pierre (83), at the centre of a recent row over revisionist views of the Nazi Holocaust, is taking a three week holiday in Zermatt, Switzerland, after which he will return to Italy. Abbe Pierre is arguably the most popular person in France.
Lady Dale Tryon, a close friend of the Prince of Wales, is in hospital after falling from a clinic window.
Australian born Lady Tryon (48) suffered a broken back and fractured skull during the fall. She is recovering at the Atkinson Morley Hospital in south London, where a spokeswoman said she was in a critical but stable condition".