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Mohamed Al Fayed, the Egyptian-born businessman who owned the department store Harrods, has died aged 94. His death comes almost 26 years to the day after the car crash in Paris that killed his eldest son, Dodi, and Diana, Princess of Wales, on 31 August 1997. Fayed was born in Alexandria and was the son of a schoolteacher. In his homeland, he launched his own shipping business, before becoming an adviser to one of the world’s richest men, the Sultan of Brunei, in 1966. When he arrived in the UK in the 1970s, he joined the board of the mining...

Pell was reportedly reprimanded for “interfering in sovereign business” by looking into the Vatican Secretariat of State’s dealings with a Swiss bank with a long track record of violating fraud safeguards.The Holy See’s relationship with a disreputable Swiss bank triggered an internal dispute between the Secretariat of State and Vatican financial authorities. At the center of the conflict was a multimillion-dollar line of credit used to fund a controversial investment in London property speculation. Sources inside the Vatican’s Prefecture for the Economy confirmed to CNA that a substantial part of the $200 million used to finance the Secretariat of State’s...

ABOARD THE PAPAL PLANE - Pope Francis said Tuesday that the latest round of financial scandal at the Vatican is actually a success story, because the situation was revealed thanks to an internal Vatican probe, which he said demonstrates that new controls are working. The pontiff also called both owning and deploying nuclear weapons “immoral,” saying that point should be added to the Catholic catechism, and suggested that it might be time to re-think the veto power wielded by a handful of countries in the United Nations Security Council. His comments came during an airborne news conference on the return...

Al Fayed quizzed over 'sexual assault' Oct 22, 2008 Mohamed al Fayed has been interviewed under caution in connection with an allegation of sexual assault against a girl aged under 16. Skip related content Related photos / videosAl Fayed quizzed over Video: Al Fayed quizzed over 'sexual assault' The Harrods owner voluntarily went to a police station in west London to answer questions about the alleged incident in May. His spokeswoman Katharine Witty said he vehemently denies the allegation and is confident his name will be cleared. She added: "We confirm that Mohamed al Fayed today voluntarily attended an interview...

Discrimination against British soldiers in uniform to become a criminal offenceby MATTHEW HICKLEY - More by this author » Last updated at 16:35pm on 19th May 2008New laws will make it a criminal offence to discriminate against Britain's soldiers, sailors and airmen wearing uniform in public, under Government proposals outlined yesterday. Courts will also hand out tougher punishments to anyone who assaults or threatens a serviceman wearing the Queen's uniform - which will become an 'aggravating factor' during sentencing. Other measures designed to boost recognition and respect for the UK armed forces include a drive to encourage thousands more...

Including on Remembrance Day, a.k.a. British Veterans Day. Their pathetic, incredible explanation: The store has stood by their dress policy, saying: “There is a long-standing tradition at Harrods that would normally preclude customers who are wearing non-civilian attire from entering the store. “A lot of people assume that somebody in uniform is either there on official duty, which could cause them alarm, or they assume they’re a member of staff and ask them where the lavatories are and so on.”

Some call it corny. Others call it ghastly. And some will no doubt find it magnificent. But whatever it may be, the life-size statue of Princess Diana and her companion Emad "Dodi" Fayed will soon be among the pricey food and clothing displays at London's Harrods department store. Dodi's father Mohamed al Fayed — the multimillionaire owner of Harrods — had tried years ago to erect a 10-foot-high memorial to the couple, but public reaction had foiled his plans.Now, on the eighth anniversary of the tragic car crash that killed Lady Di and her boyfriend in Paris on Aug. 31,...