Spice Girl Geri Halliwell (25) disclosed yesterday she underwent emergency surgery seven years ago to remove a small lump in her breast, the band's spokeswoman said.
Halliwell was working as a dancer at London's Astoria nightclub when she discovered the lump. "I knew that if the lump was cancerous I would lose my breast," Halliwell told the Sun.
"It was really a tough time. But it made me realise how precious life is."
The lump turned out to be benign, and Halliwell decided to reveal her experience to encourage women to seek proper advice on breast cancer.
A British Conservative Party spokeswoman is to step down from the front bench to care for her son, she announced yesterday. Education and Disability spokeswoman Angela Browning will quit at the next reshuffle - which is likely to be shortly before the summer break.
The MP for Tiverton and Honiton said: "I need to spend more time with my son, who is not in good health, and have decided to return to the backbenches.
"I am most grateful to William Hague for his kindness and understanding in this matter."
French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray said yesterday he is to visit Iraq next week to prepare the ground for a possible jubilee papal visit to the ancient site of the Ur of the Chaldees.
Cardinal Etchegaray, who was presenting the programme for the 2,000th anniversary of Christ's birth, has been invited to attend a pan-Christian congress by the head of the Iraq-based Roman Catholic Chaldean Church, Patriarch Raphael I Bidawid.
The Patriarch told Italian radio that Iraqi Vice-President Tariq Aziz had invited Pope John Paul to Iraq during a visit to the Vatican earlier this month.
The Cardinal stressed that "nothing has yet been decided about a possible visit by the pope".