Peace is a divine gift, Pope Benedict XVI said Tuesday in his traditional New Year's Day mass, stressing the role of the family as an agent of peace.
Cunard's £300 million MS Queen Victoria - which was officially launched by Camilla in Southampton three weeks ago when she failed to successfully smash the champagne bottle on its side - has been struck by a potentially fatal stomach bug.
Flying 350,000km and visiting 39 countries, Ban Ki-moon has put tireless energy into his first year as UN secretary-general but has struggled to raise the profile of the much-criticized body.
Smoking has been banned in bars in the capitals of France and Germany but the laws will not be enforced immediately.
Privacy protection for individuals worsened around the globe in 2007, as governments stepped up surveillance and data-gathering to improve security, according to a report by two advocacy groups.
Oil prices of near 100 dollars per barrel caused alarm in consuming countries in 2007 and analysts forecast another tense crude market this year with triple-figure records a real prospect.
Crude oil rose to $100 a barrel for the first time in New York as record global fuel consumption threatens to outpace production.
Kidnappers in the north Somali region of Puntland have freed two aid workers from the Spanish branch of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).
It can be said that the year that is coming to an end will be remembered for the weather related erratic news and the Nobel Peace Prize jointly shared by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and environmental campaigner former US vicepresident Al Gore that helped turn public opinion awareness into global concern.
The number of animals, plants and other organisms continued to decline in 2007, but for some the threat of extinction had been successfully warded off, the environment organization the WWF said Thursday.