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Rape case attackers charged with murder

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 29 Desember 2012 | 19.19

INDIAN police charged six men with murder, hours after a woman who was gang-raped and beaten on a bus in New Delhi nearly two weeks ago died in a Singapore hospital.

New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said the six face the death penalty if convicted, in a case that has triggered protests across India for greater protection for women from sexual violence, and raised questions about lax attitudes by police toward sexual crimes.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was aware of the emotions the attack has stirred, adding it was up to all Indians to ensure that the young woman's death will not have been in vain.

The victim "passed away peacefully" yesterday at Mount Elizabeth hospital in Singapore with her family and officials of the Indian Embassy by her side, Dr. Kevin Loh, the chief executive of the hospital, said in a statement.

After 10 days at a hospital in New Delhi, the Indian capital, the woman was brought Thursday to Mount Elizabeth, which specialises in multi-organ transplants. 

Dr Loh said the woman had been in extremely critical condition since Thursday, and by yesterday her condition had taken a turn for the worse, with her vital signs deteriorating.

"Despite all efforts by a team of eight specialists in Mount Elizabeth hospital to keep her stable, her condition continued to deteriorate over these two days," Dr Loh said.

"She had suffered from severe organ failure following serious injuries to her body and brain. She was courageous in fighting for her life for so long against the odds, but the trauma to her body was too severe for her to overcome."

The woman and a male friend, who have not been identified, were on a bus in New Delhi after watching a film on the evening of Dec. 16 when they were attacked by six men who raped her. The men beat the couple and inserted an iron rod into the woman's body, resulting in severe organ damage. Both were then stripped and thrown off the bus, according to police.

Indian police have arrested six people in connection with the attack, which left the victim with severe internal injuries, a lung infection and brain damage. She also suffered from a heart attack while in the hospital in New Delhi.

Indian High Commissioner, or ambassador, T.C.A. Raghavan told reporters that the scale of the injuries the woman suffered was "very grave" and in the end "proved too much."

He said arrangements were being made to return her body to India later today.

The frightening nature of the crime shocked Indians, who have come out in the thousands for almost daily demonstrations.

As news of the victim's death reached New Delhi yesterday, hundreds of policemen sealed off the high-security India Gate area, where the seat of India's government is located, in anticipation of more protests. The area is home to the president's palace, the prime minister's office and key defence, external affairs and home ministries.

The area had seen battles between protesters and police for days after the attack.

Ten metro stations in the vicinity also were closed, Mr Bhagat said.

Police were allowing people to assemble at the Jantar Mantar and Ramlila grounds, the main areas allotted for protests in New Delhi, he said.

Mourners began gathering at Jantar Mantar to express their grief and demand stronger protection for women and the death penalty for rape, which is now punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment. Women face daily harassment across India, ranging from catcalls on the streets, groping and touching in public transport to rape.

They put a wreath studded with white flowers on the road, lit a candle and sat around it in a silent tribute to the young woman. Members of a theatre group nearby played small tambourine and sang songs urging the society to wake up and end discrimination against women.

Dipali, a working woman who uses one name, said the rape victim deserved justice.

"I hope it never happens again to any girl," she said.

Dozens of students of Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi marched silently to the bus stop from where the rape victim and her friend had boarded the bus on Dec. 16. They carried placards reading "She is not with us but her story must awaken us."

Nehra Kaul Mehra, a young Indian studying urban and gender policing at Columbia University in the US, said "We come from a feudal and patriarchal set-up where we value men more than women."

"We kill daughters before they are born. Those who live are fed less, educated less and segregated from boys," she said with a black band of protest around her mouth.

Sonia Gandhi, the governing Congress party chief, assured the protesters in a statement that the rape victim's death "deepens our determination to battle the pervasive, the shameful social attitudes and mindset that allow men to rape and molest women and girls with such an impunity."

The protesters heckled Sheila Dikshit, the top elected leader of New Delhi state, when she came to express her sympathy with them and forced her to leave the protest venue. They blamed her for the deteriorating law and order situation in the Indian capital.

Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director of Human Rights Watch, said the woman's death was a sobering reminder of the widespread sexual violence in India.

"The outrage now should lead to law reform that criminalizes all forms of sexual assault, strengthens mechanisms for implementation and accountability, so that the victims are not blamed and humiliated," Ms Ganguly said.

Prime Minister Singh said he understood the angry reaction to the attack and that he hoped all Indians would work together to make appropriate changes.

"These are perfectly understandable reactions from a young India and an India that genuinely desires change," Mr Singh said in a statement.

"It would be a true homage to her memory if we are able to channel these emotions and energies into a constructive course of action."

He said the government was examining the penalties for crimes such as rape "to enhance the safety and security of women."

"I hope that the entire political class and civil society will set aside narrow sectional interests and agendas to help us all reach the end that we all desire - making India a demonstrably better and safer place for women to live in," Mr Singh said.

Mamta Sharma, head of the state-run National Commission for Women, said the "time has come for strict laws" to stop violence against women. "The society has to change its mindset to end crimes against women," she said.

The tragedy has forced India to confront the reality that sexually assaulted women are often blamed for the crime, forcing them to keep quiet and discouraging them from reporting it to authorities for fear of exposing their families to ridicule.

Police often refuse to accept complaints from those who are courageous enough to report the rapes, and the rare prosecutions that reach courts drag on for years.

Indian attitudes toward rape are so entrenched that even politicians and opinion makers have often suggested that women should not go out at night or wear clothes that might be seen provocative.

On Friday, Abhijit Mukherjee, a national lawmaker and the son of India's president, apologised for calling the protesters "highly dented and painted" women who go from discos to demonstrations.

"I tender my unconditional apology to all the people whose sentiments got hurt," he told NDTV news.

Several Indian celebrities reacted with sadness over the woman's death. Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan tweeted, "Her body has passed away, but her soul shall forever stir our hearts."

Separately, authorities in Punjab state took action Thursday when an 18-year-old woman killed herself by drinking poison a month after she told police she was gang-raped.

State authorities suspended one police officer and fired two others on accusations they delayed investigating and taking action in the case. The three accused in the rape were arrested only on Thursday night, a month after the crime was reported.

"This is a very sensitive crime, I have taken it very seriously," said Paramjit Singh Gill, a top police officer in the city of Patiala.

The Press Trust of India reported that the woman was raped Nov. 13 and reported the attack to police Nov. 27. But police harassed the girl, asked her embarrassing questions and took no action against the accused, PTI reported, citing police sources.

Authorities in the eastern state of Chhattisgarh also suspended a police officer on accusations he refused to register a rape complaint from a woman who said she had been attacked by a driver.


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French panel overturns 75pc tax on rich

A FRENCH constitutional panel has thrown out a plan to tax the ultra-wealthy at a 75 per cent rate, saying it is excessive.

The constitutional council ruled that the highly contentious tax, which President Francois Hollande promised to impose while campaigning, was unfair. It was intended to hit those with incomes over 1 million euros ($1.29 million).

The French government approved the tax in its most recent budget, but even before many said it would do little to stem the country's mounting fiscal problems and would drive away the wealthiest citizens.

Mr Hollande's popularity, meanwhile, has been tanking as the country's unemployment continued its rise for the 19th straight month.

In recent weeks, Gerard Depardieu - France's most famous actor - moved to Belgium to avoid his home country's high taxes.


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Pakistan to lift ban on YouTube

PAKISTAN provisionally unblocked access to the popular video-sharing website YouTube after taking measures to filter blasphemous material and pornography, officials said.

Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf in September ordered the blocking of YouTube after the US-based website refused to heed the government's call to remove a controversial anti-Islam video.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has notified all internet companies to "immediately unblock/restore complete YouTube website provisionally till further orders".

Weeks of protests in Pakistan over the crudely made Innocence of Muslims film saw more than 20 people killed and caused serious damage in major cities.

Pakistan Interior Minister Rehman Malik said on Twitter that the decision to allow access was due to huge public demand, and that the telecom regulator would install a firewall to maintain a block on unseemly content.

"There was a great demand to unblock YouTube from all sections of society... expect the notification today," Mr Malik said.

"PTA is finalising negotiations for acquiring a powerful firewall software to totally block pornographic and blasphemous material," he added.

The Internet Service Providers Association of Pakistan (ISPAK) confirmed they have also received the notification and welcomed the announcement.

ISPAK Convener Wahajus Siraj said that when the ban first came into force, internet video traffic in Pakistan plummeted by up to 30 per cent.

"It is a good development because many people, especially students and institutions, were using YouTube for education, and were facing difficulties as alternate websites were not as good," he said.

According to PTA there are 2.1 million Internet subscribers in Pakistan.


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Macau-Hong Kong ferry crash injures 26

TWENTY-six people were injured in a collision between a Hong Kong-bound passenger ferry and a buoy in Macau, authorities said.

The ferry crashed into the buoy in Macau's Outer Harbour around 10 minutes after it left the ferry terminal at approximately 12:15 pm (0415 GMT), Macau Maritime Administration senior technical officer Lam Son said.

All of the injured were taken to a local hospital after the ship was towed back to the terminal, Mr Lam said.

"It was said that the boat went off course, so it crashed into a buoy," Mr Lam said, adding the ferry was not speeding and that the visibility was poor at only 0.8 nautical miles.

"Just by looking at the vessel, it doesn't seem to have extensive damage, but initial investigations showed that one of its underwater wings had fallen into the sea," he said.

Mr Lam said there were 175 passengers and eight crew members on board the vessel, and that everyone was accounted for. He also said the waterway reopened after forty-five minutes and that an investigation into the incident is under way.

Twenty-six people onboard suffered minor injuries, a government statement said, adding that "the ship lost power but did not have water leakage nor did it have the risk of sinking".

Television footage showed injured passengers being rushed off the ferry in stretchers, one-by-one, by emergency services.

A lot of passengers fell out of their seats because they were not wearing safety belts, a ferry passenger surnamed Leung told local television news channel Cable TV.

"Once the collision happened, I thought about the Lamma Island accident, so my wife and I immediately looked for life jackets to put on our son and ourselves," Mr Leung said, referring to the deadly October ferry collision in Hong Kong.

Thirty-nine people died and 87 were injured in Hong Kong's worst maritime disaster in decades, when a high-speed ferry collided with a pleasure boat carrying around 120 passengers on a company trip to watch National Day fireworks.


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British girl missing in Pakistan returns

Written By Unknown on Jumat, 28 Desember 2012 | 19.19

A SIX-YEAR-OLD girl is on her way home to Britain more than three years after she was abducted by her father and taken to Pakistan, police say.

Atiya Anjum-Wilkinson disappeared in November 2009 after going to stay with her father, Razwan Ali Anjum.

The former insurance salesman told the girl's mother, Gemma Wilkinson, that he was taking Atiya to Southport in northwest England but instead took her to the Pakistani city of Lahore.

He told his former partner that she was "never going to see Atiya again".

Anjum is currently serving a prison sentence in Britain for refusing to reveal his daughter's whereabouts despite a court order.

Just last month, her 32-year-old mother launched a fresh appeal for information about her daughter.

But sources told Britain's Press Association agency that Atiya had been found in Pakistan after new information had come to light.

Police said Atiya was due to arrive at Manchester Airport later on Friday.

Anjum, who is in his late 20s, was given a fourth consecutive jail term by a High Court judge in April after he refused to reveal where his daughter was.

He indicated that Atiya was in Pakistan or Iran but said he did not know her exact whereabouts, a claim which the judge in the case said was "absurd".

Another judge has previously said the case was "as bad a case of child abduction as I have encountered".

It is thought Atiya was found after police issued a computer-generated image of what Atiya would look like now - a day before her sixth birthday in November.

Speaking then, her mother said: "It's been an absolute nightmare. As to her whereabouts we know nothing. We've had no contact.

"I'm worrying every day, every single day. Everything is affected by it. When I close my eyes I see her."


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Sydney men arrested after police car crash

TWO men have been arrested after a car collided with a police vehicle in southwest Sydney.

The crash occurred on Graham Avenue at Casula about 6pm (AEDT) on Friday.

The car was similar to one involved in an alleged robbery at Casula on Thursday night, police said in a statement.

The men were arrested at the scene and taken to Liverpool police station.

No one was injured in the crash.


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Seoul retrieves N. Korean rocket debris

SOUTH Korea has recovered what it believes to be debris from the engine of the long-range rocket launched by North Korea this month, the defence ministry says.

"If it is confirmed to be engine debris, it will be very useful for analysing North Korea's missile technology," a ministry spokesman said on Friday.

He said navy ships had retrieved six chunks of debris from the rocket that was launched - to international condemnation - on December 12.

Pyongyang said the launch was a purely scientific mission aimed at placing a polar-orbiting earth observation satellite in space.

Most of the world saw it as a disguised ballistic missile test that violated UN resolutions imposed after the North's nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.

Two days after the launch, the South recovered an oxidiser container, which had stored red fuming nitric acid to fuel the first-stage propellant.

After studying the oxidiser tank, military experts said the rocket launch amounted to the test of a ballistic missile capable of carrying a half-tonne payload up to 10,000 kilometres.

The success of the launch was seen as a major strategic step forward for the isolated North, although missile experts differed on the level of ballistic capability demonstrated by the rocket.


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Russia urges Assad to talk to opposition

Peace envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi called for real change and a transitional government in Syria. Source: AAP

RUSSIA is urging Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to meet the opposition and keep all options open for a transitional government.

The call came on Friday as Moscow tried to save the tattered peace process by hosting a top Assad envoy and planning a meeting on Saturday with Syria peace mediator Lakhdar Brahimi.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Moscow won't be backing international calls for Assad to step down and wants the Syrian people to decide their country's fate.

But he emphasised that Moscow wanted Assad to put all options on the table after 21 months of violence and more than 45,000 deaths.

"We actively encouraged ... the Syrian leadership to maximally put into action its declared readiness for dialogue with the opposition," Lavrov told reporters, when asked about his meeting with Syria's Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad.

He said Russia hoped to see Assad's government "underscore that they are open to discussing the widest range of items in line with the agreements reached in Geneva on June 30."

That accord - rejected by the Syrian opposition - sought to quickly establish an interim coalition government but made no direct call on Assad to step down.

Russia has been chastised by Western and Arab nations for continuing to supply Damascus with weapons and refusing to accept that no solution was possible with the regime still in power.

Yet the West lacks direct access to Assad and needs Russia to tell the regime that its days are numbered.

Moscow is now moving to distance itself from the rulers of its last big ally in the Middle East.

President Vladimir Putin has twice this month said Moscow has no intention of propping up Assad.

Officials have confirmed preparations for an evacuation of Russian nationals if the regime falls.

The armed opposition is making gains and Moscow admits that Assad's forces may not hold out for much longer.

Efforts to revive the peace process will continue in Moscow on Saturday following Brahimi's visit to Damascus for talks with both Assad and the opposition.

Brahimi has been discussing the details of a transition government with full powers to effect "real change".

Yet Lavrov stressed on Friday that all peace efforts were futile unless Western powers impressed on the opposition the need to engage in talks that left open the possibility of Assad hanging on in an interim basis.

Moscow is seeking talks with the opposition national coalition. Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told the RIA Novosti news agency the talks with National Coalition head Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib could take place in Moscow or at a foreign location such as Geneva or Cairo.

Meanwhile Syrian warplanes launched air raids in Damascus province on Friday after overnight bombardments and clashes across the country, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog said.

"The air force for the first time attacked the Assal al-Ward area in the Kalamun region, killing one civilian, wounding dozens and destroying several homes," the group said in a statement.

The Observatory also reported fighting and bombardment in several districts of the capital overnight.

It said several rockets hit the Qaboon district in the northeast of the city and that clashes between rebels and the army erupted in the southern neighbourhood of Qadam, which was also bombarded.

Fighting also took place in southern Damascus in Daraya, which Assad's forces have been trying to retake for weeks, the watchdog said.

There were also clashes in Yalda in the south and Douma in the northeast, as well as an attack on a military position northeast of Damascus between the provincial town of Irbin and the suburb of Harasta.

Elsewhere, a sniper shot dead a man in a Palestinian refugee camp in Daraa in the south, and fighting was also reported in areas near the border with Jordan, the watchdog said.

In the north, clashes took place in several neighbourhoods of the country's second city Aleppo, including around a military compound besieged by rebels, and several districts of Deir Ezzor city in the east were bombarded.


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UN peace envoy urges real change in Syria

Written By Unknown on Kamis, 27 Desember 2012 | 19.19

Envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi is seeking help from Russia to get the warring parties to negotiate. Source: AAP

INTERNATIONAL envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has called for "real change" in war-torn Syria including a transitional government with full powers until elections can be held.

The envoy unveiled his initiative in Damascus on Thursday as Russia, the Syrian government's most powerful ally, denied the existence of a joint peace plan with the United States, amid a flurry of end-of-year diplomatic activity on the crisis.

"Change should not be cosmetic; the Syrian people need and require real change, and everyone understands that," the UN-Arab League envoy said on the fifth day of his latest peace mission to Syria.

"We need to form a government with all powers... which assumes power during a period of transition. That transition period will end with elections," Brahimi told reporters.

He did not specify a date for the proposed elections. Syria elected a parliament in May and President Bashar al-Assad's current term expires in 2014.

"The transition period should not lead to the collapse of the state and its institutions," Brahimi said, adding that the initiative was incomplete.

"We prefer... a project whose facilitation the parties have agreed upon, and, if they do not, the last solution is going to the (UN) Security Council which will make a binding resolution."

Brahimi, who has held talks with Assad as well as with opposition groups tolerated by the regime, replaced former UN chief Kofi Annan after his dramatic resignation in August over what he said was the failure of major powers to back his peace plan.

A diplomat at the UN Security Council said Brahimi, the veteran Algerian troubleshooter, had received no support from either side since arriving in Syria on Sunday.

"Assad appears to have stonewalled Brahimi again, the UN Security Council is not even close to showing the envoy the kind of support he needs and the rebels will not now compromise," said the diplomat.

Brahimi will hold talks on Saturday with Moscow, Russia's foreign ministry said.

Russia on Thursday hosted a Syrian delegation led by Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad.

"This is of course a part of the efforts we are undertaking to encourage dialogue not just with the government but all opposition forces," Russian spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.

Moscow has refused to end its co-operation with the Assad regime during the conflict, despite the fury of the West.

The diplomatic drive comes as Western media report about a new Russia-US initiative that would see Assad stay in power until 2014 but prevent him from renewing his mandate.

Lukashevich vehemently denies any such plan.

"There was not and is not such a plan and it is not being discussed," he said.

Russia insists it will not prop up Assad's regime but it will not seek to persuade the Syrian president to step down, saying it is up to the Syrian people to decide the country's future.

The diplomatic drive comes after the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had documented at least 45,000 deaths in the civil war, which erupted in March 2011 following a brutal crackdown on Arab Spring-inspired protests.

The Observatory said the real number of those killed could be as high as 100,000, with both sides concealing many casualties.

The grim statistics add gravity to a UN warning that the humanitarian situation is rapidly deteriorating.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees "estimates that if fighting in Syria continues, the refugee figure could reach 1.1 million by June 2013," a report said.

That is double the current number of those registered by the United Nations.


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Cambodia jails pair over union boss' death

CAMBODIAN rights campaigners have condemned the sentencing of two men to 20 years in prison for the 2004 murder of a prominent union leader, saying they appear to be scapegoats.

Chea Vichea, a vocal critic of Prime Minister Hun Sen's government, was shot dead at a newsstand in the capital Phnom Penh - a killing decried by activists as an attempt to silence his labour union.

Days later, Born Samnang, now 32, and Sok Sam Oeun, 43, were arrested and jailed for 20 years each in a verdict which rights watchdogs said was based on insufficient evidence.

In 2008 the Supreme Court provisionally released the pair and ordered a retrial. But the Appeal Court on Thursday ruled that there was enough proof of their guilt and confirmed the 20-year sentences.

Am Sam Ath, of local rights group Licadho, said the pair appeared to be innocent victims. "Civil groups still consider the two men as the artificial killers," he told reporters.

The pair shouted "Unjust!" and called for help from the king and Hun Sen as they were led from the court in handcuffs and taken to prison.

"Let me go. I am not the killer," said Born Samnang.

Sok Sam Oeun's wife, Neang Heng, told reporters her husband had been "full of hope" that he would be acquitted.

The pair's lawyers immediately appealed the ruling, which rights activists said once again failed to deliver justice.

"I am very shocked and disappointed at the lack of independence of the court and at the inability of the court to provide justice in the case," the president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, Ou Virak, told AFP.

Police alleged at the time that the two men were promised $US5000 ($A4841) to carry out the killing. The pair have denied any involvement and said they were framed by police.

Former Phnom Penh police chief Heng Pov, who led the investigation but was himself later jailed on various charges he claimed were politically motivated, has also said the two did not kill Chea Vichea.

The activist founded the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia along with opposition leader Sam Rainsy, and organised many protests fighting for the rights of garment workers.

Rights groups say Cambodia's legal system is controlled by powerful and wealthy interests, leaving the country without the rule of law.

In a separate case on Thursday, outspoken female land rights activist Yorm Bopha was jailed for three years for allegedly taking part in beating two men. Campaigners say the charges were fabricated to silence her activism.

Forced evictions across Cambodia have displaced thousands of families, sparking protests and violent clashes between residents and armed security forces.


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European stocks rise after festive break

EUROPE'S main stock markets have risen following the festive break and a rally in Tokyo, as traders focused on whether the United States would avert the 2013 "fiscal cliff" of tax hikes and spending cuts.

In late morning deals on Thursday, London's FTSE 100 index of top companies was up 0.18 per cent at 5,964.74 points compared with the close on Monday, its previous trading session.

The Paris CAC 40 grew 0.64 per cent to 3,675.99, also compared with Monday's close, while in Frankfurt the DAX 30 climbed 0.24 per cent to 7,654.21 points compared with its previous trading session last Friday.

In foreign exchange deals, the euro grew to $US1.3275 from $US1.3223 late in New York on Wednesday. Gold prices edged higher to $US1,657.75 an ounce on the London Bullion Market from $US1,655.25 on Monday.

"With most major stock markets returning from their Christmas break for a full day of trading, the spotlight will be once again on Washington where politicians will give it one more go to hammer out a deal which would avoid the US going over the fiscal cliff," said ETX Capital trader Markus Huber.

"Overall, even as chances of a last minute deal are diminishing quickly, not everybody is willing to bet just yet that the US will be going over the cliff."

European stocks rose despite overnight falls on Wall Street as investors fretted over the looming deadline for a series of tax hikes and spending cuts worth some $US600 billion ($A580.92 billion) due to take effect in January.

US lawmakers were to return to the negotiating table after the Christmas holidays in a last-ditch effort to reach a deal, with experts warning that going over the cliff could drive the world's biggest economy back into recession.

"The fiscal cliff continues to figure as the central worry within market considerations," said Joshua Mahony, research analyst at Alpari trading group.

Europe's main stock markets have meanwhile enjoyed strong gains over the year, largely thanks to a late 2012 rally on signs that the eurozone debt crisis was being tackled effectively.

Frankfurt has surged almost 30 per cent this year, while Paris has gained 16 per cent and London seven per cent in value.

In a reminder however that deep problems remain, shares in Spain's bailed-out lender Bankia plunged on Thursday after banking authorities said it had a negative of value of 4.148 billion euros ($A5.33 billion).

Shares in Bankia, which is at the heart of a crisis in the bad-loan ridden Spanish banking system, slumped 13.27 per cent to 59.5 cents in morning trade.

Madrid's main IBEX 35 shares index was down 0.11 per cent at 8,290.70 points. Spain's stock market has meanwhile fallen by about 3.0 per cent compared with the start of the year.


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France won't aid Central African Republic

The UN ordered non-essential staff to leave the Central African Republic because of fears of unrest. Source: AAP

BANGUI, Central African Republic, Dec 27 AFP - More regional troops are being sent to secure the capital of the Central African Republic ahead of a rebel advance, with France saying it has no plan to intervene in its former colony's conflict.

"Bangui is fully secured by the troops" of the FOMAC central African military force, its commander, General Jean-Felix Akaga, said on national radio on Thursday.

"Others will arrive to help reinforce this mission of securing Bangui," he added.

The comments came as the UN said it was pulling out non-essential staff from the country where a rebel coalition called Seleka has seized four major regional capitals in less than a month.

The US is also urging its nationals to leave.

French President Francois Hollande said its troops in the country would not be interfering in the conflict, a day after hundreds of protesters at the French embassy in Bangui demanded Paris do more to stem the rebels' momentum.

"If we are present, it is not to protect a regime, it is to protect our nationals and our interests, and in no way to intervene in the internal affairs of a country, in this case Central Africa," he said.

"Those days are gone," he added.

France has about 250 soldiers based at Bangui airport providing technical support to a peacekeeping mission run by the central African bloc ECCAS, according to the defence ministry in Paris.

Since the end of colonisation in the 1960s, French troops in western Africa have often aided former colonies whose regimes were on the verge of being toppled.

The government in Bangui on Wednesday urged France to help facilitate a dialogue with the rebels, while alluding to the French military presence.

"The Central African Republic has not lost sight of France's important contribution in the restructuring of our defence and security forces, because it has often sent military advisers to work with the Central African military and they have always played a role," said a statement from the minister of territorial administration Josue Binoua.

The rebels began their push in early December, charging that President Francois Bozize and his government haven't abided by the terms of peace deals signed between 2007-2011.

As the ill-equipped and underpaid Central African army proved little challenge to the insurgents, Bozize asked for assistance from neighbouring Chad, which helped him during rebellions in the north in 2010.

With the government now largely restricted to Bangui, the Chadian troops are the only real obstacle to the rebels who are now about 300 kilometres away.

The United Nations on Wednesday ordered more than 200 non-essential staff and families of other workers to leave the Central African Republic because of the rebel offensive.

The UN has a major political mission in the Central African Republic seeking to help the government overcome more than a decade of strife.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon strongly condemned armed attacks on several towns by the rebels.

Washington expressed "deep concern" and warned all Americans to leave the country "until the security situation improved".

Nassour Ouaidou, the head of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), told AFP the body was trying to broker a truce.

The Central African Republic is a mineral-rich, landlocked country with less than five million residents. It ranks 179 out of 187 countries on the UN's latest development index and has seen frequent coups and mutinies.

Bozize seized power in a coup in 2003.


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Russian ban on US adoption nears approval

Written By Unknown on Rabu, 26 Desember 2012 | 19.19

RUSSIA'S upper house of parliament is set to vote on a bill barring Americans from adopting Russian children, the final legislative hurdle requiring clearance before the controversial law is sent to President Vladimir Putin for signing.

The highly contentious measure - retaliation for a US law sanctioning Russian officials implicated in the prison death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in 2009 - has inflamed tensions between the two former Cold War rivals.

The draft legislation has already passed the three required readings in the State Duma lower house despite the protests over the measure from human rights advocates and even senior officials.

The Federation Council upper chamber - comprised exclusively of Putin allies and ruling party members - is expected to overwhelmingly approve the measure on Wednesday after it was backed in a committee meeting the day before.

Putin has not made clear explicitly if he will sign the law but comments by his spokesman on Tuesday appeared to indicate that he backed the measure.

"This will not lead to any infringement of international rights," Dmitry Peskov said.

"Russia is fully implementing the rights it has under international law."

The bill also includes a provision banning Russian political organisations that receive US funding.

In Washington, the White House said on Tuesday that "we deeply regret recent efforts to restrict civil society activity in Russia" and vowed to continue raising concerns over the proposed adoption ban.

"Children should have every opportunity to grow up in loving families," US President Barack Obama's national security staff said in a statement.

"Their fate should not be linked to unrelated political considerations."

The legislation came up this month after Obama signed into law the so-called Magnitsky Act, a measure paying tribute to the Russian lawyer who died in custody after exposing a $US235 million ($A227 million) police embezzlement scheme.

The US law blacklists Russian officials allegedly involved in his death.

Magnitsky's employer Hermitage Capital - once Russia's largest Western investment fund - and family both believe he was tortured to death.

But Russian prosecutors this week moved to drop charges against the only person on trial in the case.

They are also due to hold hearings on Thursday into a separate set of fraud charges that originally put Magnitsky under arrest.

The Russian MPs' response has agitated some cabinet members including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who has said banning adoption as an institution "is wrong" in a rare rebuke to the official position.

Putin's advisory human rights council also condemned the pending legislation as potentially unconstitutional.

Leading rights advocate Lyudmila Alexeyeva said she planned to appeal to the constitutional court should Putin sign the bill into law.


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Egypt's Morsi signs new charter into law

EGYPTIAN President Mohamed Morsi has signed into law a new constitution voted in despite weeks of opposition protests, but he was left facing an economic crisis and international disquiet over his rule.

The Islamist-dominated senate convened on Wednesday to swear in 90 new members appointed by Morsi. It was expected to draft a law for legislative elections for the dissolved lower house that have to be held by the end of February.

The National Salvation Front opposition coalition said it would vie for seats in the parliament, which has powers under the new charter that could hamper Morsi's ability to govern.

"We will work together to enter the election," Front spokesman Khaled Dawoud said.

He also said the coalition would legally contest the referendum, which it claims was riddled by fraud. Its supporters had demonstrated since late November against the document, with some clashes with pro-Morsi supporters turning bloody.

The national electoral commission said late on Tuesday that 64 per cent of voters in the two-round referendum backed the new constitution. Turnout was 33 per cent, it said.

Morsi immediately afterwards signed into law the charter, which had been written up by his Islamist allies.

Christians and liberals boycotted the process in protest against changes they saw as weakening human rights, especially those of women, and possibly paving the way for the introduction of a form of fundamentalist Islamic law.

The US, which gives $US1.3 billion ($A1.26 billion) a year to Egypt's influential military, called on Morsi to work to "bridge divisions" with the largely secular opposition.

"We have consistently supported the principle that democracy requires much more than simple majority rule," acting US State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said in a statement.

"We hope all sides will re-commit themselves to condemn and prevent violence."

The political crisis has taken a heavy toll on Egypt's economy.

The state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper reported there was "fear in the Egyptian street" after rating agency Standard and Poor's downgraded Egypt's long-term credit rating one notch to B-.

The chief economist at CI Capital, Mona Mansour, said a crucial $US4.8 billion International Monetary Fund loan that had been scheduled for this or next month might be postponed until the new parliament is established in March.


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BBC severance pay under scrutiny

THE British public spending watchdog is to investigate BBC severance packages after it emerged that almost 200 senior managers received pay-offs of more than STG100,000 ($A158,000) each in the past three years.

The National Audit Office (NAO) is to examine the situation after MPs said pay-offs for senior BBC figures had been "excessively generous".

The investigation was sparked after George Entwistle, the former director general, stood down over the Jimmy Savile scandal with a STG450,000 pay-off - double the amount to which he was entitled.

The probe also comes after parliament's Public Accounts Committee criticised the BBC's use of licence fee payers' money as "cavalier" and "out of line with public expectations".

The committee's chairman, Margaret Hodge, hit out after hearing that 10 other leading figures at the BBC had received severance packages in the past two years which together amounted to STG4 million.

The largest was the former deputy director general, Mark Byford, who was given STG949,000.

Figures obtained by The Daily Telegraph newspaper under Freedom of Information laws showed that between 2010 and 2011 the cost of redundancy payments at the corporation more than doubled to STG58 million.

A total of 14 executives received pay-offs of more than STG300,000 each, worth a total of STG6 million, while 194 executives got STG100,000 each.

The average payout for an executive made redundant at the BBC is STG51,000.


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Kazakhstan mourns deaths of elite guards

KAZAKHSTAN is mourning the deaths of 27 people in one of its worst aviation disasters.

The disaster wiped out much of the top echelon of the state border service including the acting chief.

The KNB state security service confirmed that all 27 crew and servicemen on board the An-72 military jet were killed on Tuesday evening when it crashed close to Shymkent airport in the south of the country.

"All 27 occupants of the aircraft, including seven crew members, have perished," the National Security Service (KNB) said in a statement on Wednesday.

The victims included the acting head of the Kazakh federal border service Turganbek Stambekov and his wife, the statement said.

The disaster also killed many in the top leadership of the border service, with a total of 11 leading officials perishing.

Another five lieutenant-colonels from the regional Ontustik border unit were killed as well, as were three rank-and-file servicemen.

Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev declared December 27 a day of national mourning and expressed his "deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of the dead".

He ordered a full investigation of the causes of the disaster as well as assistance to the victims' families.

The head of the KNB, Nurtai Abykayev, told reporters in Shymkent that the causes of the disaster could have been "the weather conditions, the human factor and the technical condition of the aircraft".

The black box of the plane has been found, he said.

The KNB said the passengers had been attending a meeting of border guards in the capital Astana and were on their way to an end-of-year security meeting in Shymkent.

The 22-year-old plane crashed late Tuesday about 20 kilometres from Shymkent airport where it had been due to land after a flight from Astana.

Aviation disasters remain a scourge across the former USSR due to ageing hardware that often has not been replaced since the fall of the Soviet regime, as well as human error.

In November, eight people were killed in Kazakhstan when a Russian-made Mi-8 helicopter crashed while on a pipeline surveillance mission.


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Popular Vic restaurant destroyed by fire

Written By Unknown on Selasa, 25 Desember 2012 | 19.19

THE popular Snooty Fox restaurant at Olinda in the Dandenong Ranges has been destroyed by fire.

CFA brigades were called to the restaurant on the Mt Dandenong Tourist Road on Tuesday night.

No one was hurt in the blaze which was attended by 11 fire trucks. The cause of the fire is not known.

The restaurant had been open on Christmas Day and was also planning a big New Year's Eve.

Residents in the area were advised to keep their windows and doors closed because it was believed there may have been asbestos in the air.


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Zimbabwe truck crash kills 18

EIGHTEEN people headed home for the holidays died when an open truck veered off a mountain road and plunged into a ravine in northeastern Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe state radio said on Tuesday another 46 passengers crowded on the back of the truck were injured in the crash in the remote Honde Valley region known for its steep and winding roads and tracks.

Bus and truck accidents, common in Zimbabwe, are mainly blamed on poor vehicle maintenance and speeding.

Zimbabweans traditionally travel to their rural villages for the holidays. Travellers this year complained that bus companies increased fares, in one case from $US4 ($A3.90) to $US10 ($A9.70) for a 150 kilometre trip.


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Storm threatens typhoon-hit Philippines

A TROPICAL storm is set to hit the Philippines on Christmas Day and could spark floods and landslides, forecasters say.

Tropical Storm Wukong is expected to bring strong winds and heavy rain to the southern island of Dinagat from 10pm on Tuesday (0100 AEDT Wednesday) as well as nearby islands Samar and Leyte, the state weather service said.

"These could bring floods and landslides, particularly in landslide-prone areas like southern Leyte and Samar," the service's Nathaniel Servando said.

Servando said storm surges of up to four metres were also expected on the coasts of the three islands.

However, he said the storm was expected to spare the large southern island of Mindanao, which was devastated by Typhoon Bopha early this month.

Wukong would pass northwest across the central islands on Wednesday and blow out to the South China Sea on Thursday, Servando said.

No evacuations have been reported so far, with civil defence chief Benito Ramos saying it was up to local officials to take the decision after assessing the dangers in their areas.

Floods and landslides unleashed by Bopha, which hit on December 4 and was the strongest storm to batter the disaster-prone country this year, killed more than 1000 people and hundreds more remain missing, according to officials.

The Philippines is hit each year by about 20 major storms or typhoons that occur mainly during the rainy season between June and October.


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Mandela 'looking better' for Christmas

NELSON Mandela looks "much better" and doctors are pleased with his progress, South Africa's President Jacob Zuma says.

Mr Zuma joined Mr Mandela's wife, Graca Machel, and other family members in wishing a merry Christmas to Mr Mandela at his hospital bedside, according to the president's office.

"We found him in good spirits," Mr Zuma said in a statement.

"He shouted my clan name, Nxamalala, as I walked into the ward. He was happy to have visitors on this special day and is looking much better. The doctors are happy with the progress that he is making."

Mr Mandela, 94, was admitted to a hospital in Pretoria on December 8. He was diagnosed with a lung infection and also had a procedure to remove gallstones. Officials have previously said Mandela was improving, but noted doctors were taking extraordinary care because of his age.

Mr Zuma said Mr Mandela's family appreciated the support they had received from the public.

"That is what keeps them going at this difficult time," he said.

Mr Mandela was brought to the Pretoria hospital from his home in Qunu, a rural village in Eastern Cape province where he lived as a child.

In the Johannesburg township of Soweto, worshippers offered prayers for Mandela while attending Christmas Mass at Regina Mundi, a Catholic church that was a protest stronghold during the apartheid years.


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Aussie lawyer gets early Christmas gift

Written By Unknown on Senin, 24 Desember 2012 | 19.19

Mongolian authorities have cleared an Aussie lawyer of corruption allegations, freeing her to leave. Source: AAP

THE parents of an Australian lawyer who was barred from leaving Mongolia for two months have received an early Christmas present, with the news their daughter is finally on her way home.

Sarah Armstrong was stopped at Ulan Bator airport in mid-October because authorities wanted to question her in relation to corruption allegations.

On Christmas Eve, a Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesman confirmed the 32-year-old had boarded a flight out of the country, which had taken off by 7pm (AEST).

Mum, Yvonne, told AAP she had been bracing for a Christmas spent thinking of her daughter stuck in Mongolia.

"All I wanted to hear was that she was on a plane," she said on Monday from her Tasmanian home.

She got the good news via text message from a friend in Mongolia.

Mrs Armstrong said her daughter had told her on Friday that she thought she would be allowed to leave within days, but she had been trying not to get her hopes up.

Also on Friday, it is understood, Foreign Minister Bob Carr again contacted the Mongolian ambassador to Australia about Ms Armstrong's case.

Senator Carr also flagged the Australian government's concerns when he met the Mongolian foreign minister in November.

Ms Armstrong is a lawyer for Rio Tinto mining subsidiary SouthGobi Resources.

The company on Monday said Mongolia's Independent Authority Against Corruption (IAAC) had ended its questioning of the lawyer.

SouthGobi has been informed by the IAAC that the 32-year-old "is no longer a suspect in their investigations", the coal firm said in a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange where it is listed.

Mongolian officials said Armstrong was wanted over an investigation into the former chief of Mongolia's mining authority, who is suspected of illegally handling mining licences, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

Senator Carr said it was "great news" - and good timing.

"I understand her family have been advised of her departure from Mongolia and look forward to seeing her for Christmas," he said in a statement on Monday.

"I thank the Mongolian government and particularly Foreign Minister (Luvsanvandan) Bold for their willingness to resolve this matter.

"I also applaud our consular staff ... including consuls general David Lawson and Tony Burchill, who worked tirelessly in making representations on Ms Armstrong's behalf."


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Canberra homes damaged by storm

DOZENS of people have called for help after a thunderstorm battered Canberra.

The ACT State Emergency Service (ACTSES) received 30 calls for help on Christmas Eve.

In Oxley, families were forced from their homes because of leaking gas.

Four houses had to be evacuated after two gas leaks were discovered on Newman Morris Circuit.

Firefighters put a 50 to 100-metre exclusion zone in place as they waited for repairmen to arrive.

In Florey, a fallen tree caused damage to several houses in Summerville Crescent.

Part of the tree crashed through the roof of one home and into the lounge room.

ACT Rural Fire Service crews, the ACTSES and ACT Fire & Rescue will help families clean up through the night.

Just before 7pm (AEDT) on Monday, the Bureau of Meteorology cancelled a severe thunderstorm warning for Canberra and Queanbeyan.

The immediate threat of severe thunderstorms had passed, the Bureau said, but a more general thunderstorm warning remained in place for parts of NSW and the ACT.

Authorities later said the Oxley residents were being allowed to return to their homes.


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Eleven children die in China road accident

A VAN has plunged into a roadside pond in a rural area of China, killing 11 children.

Three children died at the scene of the accident in Guixi city in Jiangxi province and another eight died later in hospital, said an official from the propaganda office of the city's Communist Party committee.

The victims were aged from four to six years old.

Four children survived, said the official.

Police detained the driver for questioning and were investigating the cause of the accident, the official Xinhua News Agency.

Photos on the Shanghai-based Oriental Morning Post's website showed a silver minivan partially submerged in a grassy pond, with one of its three windows on the right side broken.

The Hong Kong-based Information Center for Human Rights & Democracy said in a statement that cited no sources that the van was made to carry seven people but was overloaded with 17. The human rights group said it took 70 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.

Serious traffic accidents are common in China, due to poorly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.


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UN envoy worried after talks with Assad

THE international envoy tasked with pushing to end Syria's civil war says the situation is "worrying" after discussing the crisis with President Bashar Assad.

In brief comments to reporters after meeting the Syrian leader at the presidential palace in Damascus, Lakhdar Brahimi said he and Assad exchanged views on the conflict and discussed possible steps forward, which he did not disclose.

"The situation in Syria is still worrying and we hope that all the parties will go toward the solution that the Syrian people are hoping for and look forward to," Brahimi said.

Syria's state news agency quoted Assad as saying his government supports "any effort in the interest of the Syrian people which preserves the homeland's sovereignty and independence".

Brahimi has apparently made little progress toward brokering an end to the conflict since starting his job in September, mostly because both sides adamantly refuse to talk to each other.

The government describes the rebels as foreign-backed terrorists set on destroying the country. The opposition says that forces under Assad's command have killed too many people for him to be part of any solution.

Brahimi's two-day visit was to end later Monday. It is his third to Damascus as an envoy of the United Nations and the Arab League.

The security situation in Damascus and elsewhere in the country has declined since Brahimi's previous visits. Instead of flying in to the Damascus International Airport as he did on earlier visits, Brahimi drove to Damascus over land from Beirut because of the fighting near the Syrian capital's airport.

Reports by anti-regime activists of the airstrike Sunday on a bakery in the central town of Halfaya that killed scores of people also cast pall over Brahimi's visit.

Amateur videos posted online showed the bodies of many dead and wounded scattered in a street.

On Monday, Syria's state news service blamed the attack on "an armed terrorist group" - its shorthand for the rebels - accusing them of filming the aftermath to "frame the Syrian army."

In the videos, however, armed rebels are clearly among those tending to the dead and wounded.

Anti-regime activists say the civil war has killed more than 40,000 people since March 2011.


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Germany warns Britain against EU blackmail

Written By Unknown on Minggu, 23 Desember 2012 | 19.19

GERMAN Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble has warned Britain in a Sunday newspaper interview against "blackmailing" its EU partners in a bid to bring powers back home from Brussels.

"We want to keep Britain in the EU and not force it out," Schaeuble told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. "But I will also say that does not mean anyone can blackmail us."

Asked whether a debate raging in Britain about a possible referendum on the country's future in the 27-member bloc was "dangerous", Schaeuble said: "Our British friends are not dangerous. But a referendum would create uncertainty," he said.

He said he only got "cross" with Britons over football, adding he hoped for "more British engagement in Europe, not less".

Britain has belonged to the European Union since 1973 but has not joined the 17-nation eurozone.

Schaeuble has served as German Chancellor Angela Merkel's main ally in Berlin in plotting an austerity-driven course to resolve the eurozone debt crisis as well as greater political integration of the bloc.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, a Conservative, said last month that he still supports British membership of the EU but cannot accept the "status quo" and wants a "new settlement" that involves repatriating some powers.

He has so far avoided offering a clear "in-out" referendum despite strong pressure for clarity on the issue from his party.

Tensions flared last month when Cameron opposed a new trillion-euro ($A1.25 trillion) EU budget for the next seven years, saying it was unacceptable to increase spending at a time when many countries were taking austerity measures at home.

A recent poll in the UK's Observer newspaper found 56 per cent of Britons surveyed would vote to leave the EU given the chance.


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Brothers thrown from jet-ski in Sydney

TWO brothers have been hospitalised after being thrown from a jet-ski in Sydney's south.

Emergency services were called to Cape Solander in Kurnell about 2pm (AEDT) on Sunday, after the accident.

While one of the brothers, aged 30, managed to swim to nearby cliff, his 28-year-old brother was unable to swim to shore and was eventually winched to safety by a PolAir helicopter.

The younger brother had been in the water for approximately one hour and suffered hypothermia and abrasions, police said.

Both men were taken to Sutherland Hospital in a stable condition.

Detective Superintendent Mark Noakes, Commander of PolAir, is urging people to stay safe around the water this summer.

"Taking precautions, such as wearing lifejackets, could be the difference between life and death," he said in a statement.

"Had these two men not been wearing lifejackets the results could have been tragic."


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Tourists in hospital after Qld bus crash

AT least 10 people have been hospitalised after a bus rolled several times down an embankment on the Gold Coast hinterland.

Seventeen tourists and a driver were on board the 20-seater bus when it rolled down Mount Tamborine just after midday (AEST) on Sunday.

Police said 10 of the mostly Chinese tourists - aged between 26 and 60 - were taken to Gold Coast Hospital.

After the accident, authorities told AAP a 50-year-old male driver was in a critical condition with head and chest injuries and another man, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, was also critical.

But later on Sunday, police said the two men aged 51 and 34 were in a serious but stable condition.

Another five passengers are still being treated for non-life threatening injures and three passengers have now been discharged.

There were also a number of passengers being treated at Robina Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, police said.

Police said Henri Robert Drive, which was closed for several hours after the accident, had since re-opened.

Mount Tamborine was the scene of Queensland's worst bus crash, when 11 people were killed and 38 were injured in 1990.


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Pell says sorry to victims of clergy abuse

Cardinal George Pell, leader of the Catholic church in Australia, says he is "deeply sorry" for the pain caused by those in his organisation. Picture: Craig Greenhill Source: News Limited

AUSTRALIA'S most senior Catholic has apologised to those who have "suffered at the hands" of priests and religious teachers.

While not specifically mentioning allegations of child sex abuse by members of the clergy, Catholic Archbishop of Sydney Cardinal George Pell said he was "deeply sorry" for the hurt that had occurred, calling it "completely contrary" to Christ's teachings.

"I am deeply sorry this happened," Cardinal Pell said.

"I feel too the shock and shame across the community at these revelations of wrongdoing and crimes."

In his statement, Cardinal Pell said people had "suffered at the hands" of fellow Christians, Christian officials, priests and religious teachers.

The Christmas message comes after the federal government this year announced a royal commission to investigate child abuse in Australia, including in the Catholic Church.

It follows claims abuse by clergy was covered up by Catholic Church hierarchy.

Faith in "God's goodness and love" was needed "to help those who have been hurt", Cardinal Pell said in his message.

"We need the hope that comes to us from Christ's birth with his call to conversion, to sorrow for sins and the necessity of reparation," he said.

"The light of Christ shines through this darkness."


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