Pick of the week

Some of the week's most interesting reports

21- 27 April 2002

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BBC News Online presents a round-up of some of the week's more remarkable stories covered by BBC correspondents.

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18 die in German school massacre

Girls outside the school comfort each other

An expelled pupil went on the rampage at a school in the east German city of Erfurt, shooting teachers and children before the 19-year-old killed himself. Fourteen teachers, a policewoman and two female pupils died in the worst school massacre in Europe since the 1996 shooting in Dunblane, Scotland, when 16 children, a teacher and the gunman died.

The BBC's Robert Hall reports

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UN warns of mass starvation in Africa

Mothers hold their malnourished children

The United Nations says millions of people are facing famine in Southern Africa. Its World Food Programme has launched an urgent appeal to raise at least £40m. The situation is particularly acute in Malawi, where hundreds have already died and a state of emergency has been declared.

The BBC's Barnaby Phillips reports

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Man-eater shark prompts police search

The tiger shark contained human remains

Police in Australia are trying to identify human remains found in a tiger shark caught off the north coast of Sydney. The grisly discovery was made by the fishermen who caught the 10-foot long fish. Police are now reviewing unsolved murders, and missing person cases, in an attempt to solve the mystery.

The BBC's Kim Barnes reports

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Pope condemns US Church sex abuse

Cardinal Law - one man under increasing pressure to resign

The Pope makes his strongest condemnation yet of sexual abuse by priests. He tells US cardinals there is no place in the Roman Catholic Church for priests who sexually abused children. It follows unprecedented talks amid sustained criticism of the American Catholic Church's handling of a series of child sex abuse scandals.

The BBC's Brian Barron reports

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Pig happy

Indoors and part of the family

An Australian couple win a court case allowing them to keep their three beloved, albeit controversial, pet pigs. Neighbours in Gisbourne, north of Melbourne, had complained the animals were smelly and noisy but a tribunal ruled against them.

The BBC's Clare Lyons reports

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