Organic milk ‘not healthier’

Parents who buy organic milk for their children, believing it to be healthier, are wasting their money, a new study by scientists at Glasgow University’s veterinary school suggests. They claim to have shown that organic milk is no healthier than that produced by conventional farming methods but rather contains fewer essential vitamins. Levels of vitamins A and E, which help fight cancer and boost the immune system, were up to 15% lower in organic milk, which typically costs almost a third more.

Vatican sidelines gay priest

The Vatican has suspended a senior priest who confessed his homosexuality in a television interview after background shots of his office confounded efforts to hide his identity by disguising his face and voice. A Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said it “had to intervene decisively and severely”.

Opik’s Welsh exit

Lembit Opik is stepping down as leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, saying that they should be led by the party’s Welsh Assembly group leader. The Montgomeryshire MP, 42, who is famed for his relationship with the Cheeky Girl singer, Gabriela Irimia, wants to focus on constituency work and plans to run for party president next year.

Parents ‘naive on cannabis threat’

Parents are naive and complacent about the widespread use of cannabis among teenagers, according to Simon Burne, the drugs spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers. “There is a group of parents that are complacent and turn a blind eye to drug use,” Burne told Radio 4’s Today.

Rice backs Russia rights activists

Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, told Russian human rights activists she wanted to help them build institutions to guard against the “arbitrary power of the state” in a Moscow meeting.

Tesco in property website row

Tesco has had to halt part of its property website and refund customers after the Office of Fair Trading warning the supermarket giant it was acting as an estate agent and would need to abide by laws that control the industry. Tesco told Radio 4’s Money Box it was considering launching a full estate agency.

Honour killing charge

A man accused of being involved in the “honour killing” of a woman whose body was found in a suitcase was remanded in custody. Amir Abbass, 22, appeared before south London magistrates, charged with conspiracy to murder Banaz Mahmod. In July, her father and uncle were jailed for life for her murder.

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