Chavez Suffers New Setback After Cancer Op

Hugo Chavez has suffered "new complications" following his cancer surgery in Cuba and his condition is "delicate", Venezuela's Vice President Nicolas Maduro has said.

In a televised address from Havana, Mr Maduro said: "We have been informed of new complications that arose as a consequence of the respiratory infection we already knew about.

"President Chavez's condition is still delicate," Mr Maduro added, warning that the unspecified complications "are being treated in a process that is not without its risks".

Mr Maduro, who said he had spoken with Mr Chavez, added that the 58-year-old president was facing a "tough situation".

The vice president said he would stay in Havana in the coming hours "with El Comandante and his family, closely following his condition and its evolution".

"We trust that the global outpouring of love for Chavez will help him heal", said Mr Maduro, with Rosa Virgina Chavez, one of the president's daughters, Science and Technology Minister Jorge Arreaza, and top prosecutor Cilia Flores.

The vice president gave his address alongside Mr Chavez's eldest daughter, Rosa, and son-in-law Jorge Arreaza, as well as Attorney General Cilia Flores.

A supporter of Mr Chavez writes a message for him in Caracas

The Venezuelan leader, who has been the face of the Latin American left for more than a decade, has not been seen or heard from since undergoing his fourth cancer-related surgery on December 11.

Mr Chavez, who has been in power since 1999, won another six-year term in October's presidential election.

He is scheduled to be sworn in on January 10, but his health has raised concerns over the future of his leftist movement and whether he will even be well enough to attend the inauguration.

On Monday, the Venezuelan government said there had been a "slight improvement" in his condition as he recovers from the post-operative respiratory infection.

Officials have never disclosed the type or severity of Mr Chavez's cancer, first diagnosed in June 2011, and he only designated a political successor - Mr Maduro - earlier this month.

The Venezuelan leader had, in fact, asserted before embarking on his arduous re-election campaign earlier this year that he was cancer-free - but he was later forced to admit he had suffered a relapse.

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Appeal For Couple Who Vanished In Afghanistan

The family of a pregnant woman who vanished in Afghanistan with her husband have appealed for the couple's safe return.

Caitlan Coleman, 27, is due to give birth in January and needs urgent medical attention for a liver condition, according to her father James.

He and his wife Lyn last heard from their son-in-law Josh on October 8 when he made contact from an internet cafe in Afghanistan.

Caitlan, who is American, and Josh, from Canada, embarked on their trip last July - travelling to Russia, then Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, and then finally to Afghanistan.

Since their disappearance, no one has claimed they are holding the couple - who met online and married in 2011 - and no ransom demand has been made.

It is not known if they are still alive or how and why they entered Afghanistan. There is also no information about what they were doing there before they vanished.

Afghan officials say their trail has gone dead.

The families have kept quiet about the mystery since October but have now broken their silence in the hope it could lead to a breakthrough.

Mr Coleman, from Pennsylvania, said: "Our goal is to get them back safely and healthy. I don't know what kind of care they're getting or not getting,

"We're just an average family and we don't have connections with anybody and we don't have a lot of money."

Afghan officials say the couple were kidnapped in Wardak Province (above)

He made a similar appeal in a video posted on YouTube earlier this month.

"We appeal to whoever is caring for her to show compassion and allow Caity, Josh and our unborn grandbaby to come home," he said.

He suggested that his daughter and her husband may have been trying to help Afghans by joining an aid group after touring the region.

He described his daughter as "naive" and "adventuresome" with a humanitarian bent.

In his last email in October, Josh did not give their exact location but said they were not in a safe place.

The last withdrawals from the couple's account were made on October 8 and 9 in Kabul but there has been no activity since then.                                   

"He just said they were heading into the mountains - wherever that was, I don't know," Mr Coleman said. "They're both kind of naive, always have been in my view.

"Why they actually went to Afghanistan, I'm not sure. I assume it was more of the same, getting to know the local people, if they could find an NGO (non-governmental organisation) or someone they could work with in a little way."

The US State Department and Canadian Foreign Affairs Ministry are both looking into the disappearance.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokeswoman Chrystiane Roy called it a "possible kidnap" and said it was "pursuing all appropriate channels".

It was not known whether the silence over the case by US and Canadian officials and, until now, by the Coleman family was because of on-going negotiations to seek their release.

Information blackouts have kept some similar past cases quiet in an attempt to not further endanger those missing.

According to Hazrat Janan, the head of the provincial council in Afghanistan's Wardak province, the two were abducted in Wardak in an area about 25 miles (40 km) west of the capital Kabul.

They were passing through Wardak while travelling from Ghazni province south of Kabul to the capital.

Wardak province, despite its proximity to Kabul, is a rugged, mountainous haven for the Taliban and dangerous for foreigners travelling without military escorts.

Mr Janan said it was suspected that the kidnappers were Taliban because criminal gangs would have likely asked for a ransom.

His information cannot be independently verified, and US and Canadian officials still do not say for certain that the couple were abducted.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told the Associated Press two months ago that no one from the group was involved.

"We do not know about these two foreigners," he said in a telephone interview.

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Bus Veers Off Icy Oregon Road: Nine Killed

A tour bus has crashed through a barrier on an icy road in Oregon and fallen several hundred feet into a ravine, leaving nine people dead and at least 26 others injured.

The driver apparently lost control on a snow and ice covered section of Interstate 84 that winds down a hill.

After hitting the bottom of the embankment it landed upright, with little debris visible around the crash site.

More than a dozen rescue workers used ropes to help pull people from the wreckage in freezing weather.

The bus is thought to have been carrying about 40 people. The driver was among the survivors, but has not yet spoken to police because of the severity of the injuries he has suffered.

The names and nationalities of the victims and other passengers were not immediately released but many "are believed to be out of country residents", according to police.

Lt Greg Hastings said the bus crashed along the west end of the Blue Mountains and west of an area called Deadman Pass.

About 40 people are thought to have been onboard

The area is so dangerous the state transportation department published specific warnings for lorry drivers, advising it had "some of the most changeable and severe weather conditions in the Northwest" and can lead to poor conditions and visibility.

The bus was en route from Las Vegas to Vancouver and was owned by Mi Joo travel in Vancouver.

A bus safety website run by the US Department of Transportation said Mi Joo travel has six buses, none of which have been involved in any accidents in at least the past two years.

The bus crash was the second fatal accident on the same highway in Oregon on Sunday. A 69-year-old man died in a rollover accident about 30 miles (48kms) west of the area where the bus crashed.

A spokesman for the American Bus Association said buses carry more than 700 million passengers a year in the US.

"The industry as a whole is a very safe industry," said Dan Ronan, of the Washington DC based group.

"There are only a handful of accidents every year. Comparatively speaking, we're the safest form of surface transportation."

The bus crash comes more than two months after another tour bus veered off a highway in northern Arizona, killing the driver and injuring dozens of passengers who were mostly tourists from Asia and Europe. Authorities said the driver may have suffered a medical episode.

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Pakistan: Kidnapped Policemen Found Dead

Twenty-one policemen believed to have been kidnapped by the Taliban have been found shot dead in Pakistan, government officials say.

Their bodies were discovered with gunshot wounds on a cricket pitch in the troubled tribal Peshawar region in the northwest.

They were among a group of 25 officers who were seized in the area on Thursday when militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons attacked two checkpoints.

Two officers were killed during the one-hour gun battle.

After the group were abducted, one wounded policeman managed to escape and alert rescue teams. Another is unaccounted for.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion has fallen on the Pakistani Taliban, who have been waging an insurgency against the Pakistani government for the past few years.

The tribal region, near the border with Afghanistan, has a large militant presence and is the main sanctuary for the Taliban in Pakistan.

Meanwhile in the southern city of Karachi, an explosion has ripped through a bus at a terminal killing six people and wounding 52 others.

A police spokesman said officers were trying to establish whether the blast, which reduced the bus to a charred skeleton, was caused by a bomb or a gas canister that exploded.

Karachi has a long history of political, ethnic and sectarian violence. It is also believed to be home to many Taliban militants who have fled US drone attacks and Pakistani army operations in the northwest.

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Russia Plane Crash: Video Of Moment Of Impact

Video footage shows the moment a passenger aircraft crashed into a motorway in Russia after it overshot the runway.

The footage, captured from a vehicle on the motorway, shows luggage and other debris flying from the aircraft and hitting other cars on the road as the plane smashed into the ground.

Louds bangs can also be heard as the plane impacted with the ground and the cars were hit by the wreckage.

Four people - the pilot, co-pilot, flight engineer and a flight steward - were killed in the crash and another four seriously injured after the aircraft overshot a runway at Moscow's Vnukovo airport.

The Red Wing Airlines aircraft burst through a perimeter fence on to the motorway at Russia's third busiest airport.

Officials said the Tu-204 plane - travelling from the Czech Republic - was carrying eight crew members and no passengers. It broke into pieces and caught fire after crashing.

The passenger plane was sheared in two

The cockpit of the aircraft was sheared off from the fuselage and a large chunk gashed out near the tail during the impact.

Witnesses told state channel Rossiya-24 they saw a man thrown from the plane as it rammed into the barrier of the motorway and described pulling other people from the wreckage.

The airport was closed after the crash and flights were routed to Moscow's other airports, Sheremetyevo and Domodedovo.

Prior to Saturday's crash, there had been no fatal accidents reported for Tu-204s, which entered commercial service in 1995.

The plane is a twin-engine mid-range jet with room to carry about  210 passengers.

Investigators said preliminary findings pointed to pilot error as the cause of the crash.

Vnukovo is Russia's third biggest airport

The billionaire owner of Red Wing Airlines, Alexander Lebedev, said the pilot was experienced, with 14,500 hours of flying time.

The state news agency RIA Novosti cited an unidentified official at the Russian Aviation Agency as saying another Tu-204 had gone off the runway at the international airport in Novosibirsk, Siberia, on December 20.

The agency said that incident, in which no one was injured, was due to the failure of the plane's engines to go into reverse upon landing and that its brake system malfunctioned.

Russia and other former Soviet republics have some of the world's worst air traffic safety records - with a total accident rate three times the world average, according to the International Air Transport Association.

In April, 31 people were killed after a passenger jet crashed after takeoff in Siberia.

Another 44 people, including the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl ice hockey team, were killed when their aircraft smashed into a riverbank in September 2011.

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Gang Rape Victim Cremated In New Delhi

The body of a woman who was gang raped on a bus in New Delhi has been cremated at a private ceremony held amid tight security.

The 23-year-old medical student was savagely beaten and raped for almost an hour before being thrown out of the moving vehicle.

She was transferred to Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore for specialist treatment, but later died from severe organ failure.

Her body was flown back to India from Changi Airport with her parents, who were at her bedside when she was pronounced dead.

At the brief cremation ceremony in the southwestern Dwarka district of the city, the funeral pyre was lit after relatives and friends said their final prayers.

According to several mourners, the student was due in February to marry her boyfriend, who was injured in the same attack.

Mourner Meena Rai (L) says the victim was planning to get married

"They had made all the wedding preparations and had planned a wedding party in Delhi," Meena Rai, who had been shopping with the victim for wedding outfits, was reported as saying.

The funeral took place just hours after police said the six accused of murdering the student could face the death penalty if convicted.

Sky's India Correspondent Alex Rossi said: "The general thinking behind it as far as the prosecution service is concerned is that the way she was treated on that bus, the manner in which she was subjected to such a brutal attack, the fact that she was thrown from the bus whilst it was still moving and was unconscious suggests that they're fairly confident now that there was pre-meditation in the attack."

Thousands take part in a candlelight vigil for the victim in New Delhi

Her uncle has called for those responsible to be given the "strictest possible sentence".

"This is a very sad day, and a very very sad happening," he said. "My condolences are with my niece's family."

Sonia Ghandi, the president of India's National Congress, has promised to fight for change.

She said: "(The death) strengthens our resolve to fight with all our might, and all the powers of our laws and our administration, for the safety and protection of all women of our country, and to ensure swift and fitting punishment for the perpetrators of such brutal acts."

Police had braced for violent protests, but most passed of peacefully

More than 1,000 protesters gathered in New Delhi city centre for a sit-in, demanding political change to protect women from violence.

Thousands more took part in a candlelight vigil.

The area is home to the president's palace, the prime minister's office and key defence, foreign affairs and home ministries.

Authorities feared a repeat of demonstrations a week ago, where police fired tear gas and water cannon at activists after violence broke out.

Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said: "We have booked all six accused under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code.

The horrific crime has sparked an angry debate over women's safety in India

"It is a non-bailable offence which carries the death sentence."

Formal charges are expected to be filed by January 3.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was deeply saddened by the woman's death and described the reaction to the case as "perfectly understandable from a young India and an India that genuinely desires change".

"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 added.

After boarding a bus on December 16, the student was attacked by the men who took turns raping her and assaulted her with an iron bar before they threw her off the moving vehicle.

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Gang-Rape In India: Teen Victim Kills Herself

A 17-year-old Indian girl who was allegedly gang-raped killed herself after police pressured her to drop the case and marry one of her attackers, police and a relative said on Thursday.

It comes as the 23-year-old Indian medical student who was gang-raped on a bus in New Delhi arrived at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital for further treatment.

A hospital spokesperson said the patient is in an "extremely critical condition" after the attack on December 16.

She was transferred overseas for better treatment.

The latest case, in the Patiala region in the Punjab, has again shone the spotlight on the police's handling of sex crimes.

One police officer has been sacked and another suspended over their conduct after the assault during the festival of Diwali on November 13, according to officials.

The teenager was found dead on Wednesday night after swallowing poison.

Her death came as it emerged that the names, addresses and photographs of convicted rapists will be posted online by police in India to publicly shame them for their crimes.

Inspector General Paramjit Singh Gill said that the teenager had been "running from pillar to post to get her case registered" but officers failed to open a formal inquiry.

"One of the officers tried to convince her to withdraw the case," Gill, the police chief for the area, told AFP.

Before her death, there had been no arrests, although three people were detained on Thursday. Two of them were her alleged male attackers and the third was a suspected woman accomplice.

The victim's sister told Indian television that the teenager had been urged to either accept cash or marry one of her attackers.

"The police started pressuring her to either reach a financial settlement with her attackers or marry one of them," her sister told the NDTV network.

Meanwhile, the Press Trust of India reported that a police officer has been suspended for allegedly refusing to register a rape complaint in the northern state of Chhattisgar.

The woman and her husband later brought the case to the attention of a more senior officer and a hunt has now been launched for her attacker, an auto rickshaw driver.

Official figures show that 228,650 of the total 256,329 violent crimes recorded last year in India were against women.

The real figure is thought to be much higher as so many women are reluctant to report attacks to the police.

During an address to the chief ministers of India's states on Thursday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged to bring in new laws to cover attacks on women.

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Fiscal Cliff: Obama 'Optimistic' After Talks

Mr Burns Explains The Fiscal Cliff

Updated: 3:03pm UK, Friday 07 December 2012

The Simpsons character Mr Burns has managed to explain the "fiscal cliff" with a pithy cartoon.

It may be a complex and political concept, but with the use of a simple graph and a man in a car, the unpopular nuclear plant CEO succeeds in explaining the predicament facing the US economy.

Admittedly it may have a certain Republican spin to it, but given that the explanation is made in the Burns mansion where Mitt Romney presidential campaign posters are peeling from the wall, that is no surprise.

According to Mr Burns the "fiscal cliff" is defined simply as this: "Think of the economy as a car and the rich man as the driver. If you don't give the driver all the money he will drive you over a cliff.

"It's just common sense."

He goes on to tell his right-hand man Smithers: "Furthermore, rich people feel things more than the common man."

The fiscal cliff is the $607bn (£378bn) of cuts and taxes that will kick in on January 1 if the Republicans and the Democrats in Congress cannot agree on how to run the US economy.

While the Democrats favour raising taxes for the rich, the Republicans want to retain the tax cuts brought in by George W Bush and say it is government spending that must be curtailed.

Because they failed to agree they made a deal on a package of tax rises and spending cuts, including defence and welfare, that will come into action in the new year unless a solution is found.

Economists have warned that if this happens then it could throw the US back into recession and damage the global financial recovery.

Some financial experts have said that the fiscal cliff is the biggest threat to global recovery, as the rest of the world is looking to the US to lead them out of recession.

Congress is now working to try to find a solution before the December 31 deadline.

If it does not, then Smithers will be driving Mr Burns' car to the top of the graph and over the cliff.

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India: Gang Rape Victim Dies In Hospital

Indian police are bracing themselves for more protests after a 23-year-old woman who was gang raped on a bus in New Delhi died in a Singapore hospital.

The attack, in which the medical student was savagely beaten and raped for almost an hour before being thrown out of the moving vehicle, sparked demonstrations across India.

The chief executive of the Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore, where she was flown for specialist treatment on Thursday, said she had suffered severe organ failure.

Kelvin Loh added: "Her family and officials from the High Commission of India were by her side.

Protesters are demanding better safety for women

"Despite all efforts by a team of eight specialists ... to keep her stable, her condition continued to deteriorate over these two days. 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."

Crowds of protesters have gathered in New Delhi for a sit-in, demanding political change to protect women from violence.

Authorities fear a repeat of demonstrations a week ago, where police fired tear gas and water cannon at activists.

A sit-in is under way in New Delhi.

But Daily Telegraph journalist Rahul Bedi, who is in New Delhi, said protesters were likely to remain peaceful to "avoid giving the politicians a tool" to criticise them.

"I think there's a conscious decision on the part of the protesters in the land of Gandhi to protest in a non-violent way," he added.

"These sit-ins are going to continue for a long time. This crime has shocked the country, rape is something this country has been dancing around for the last 30 or 40 years."

The Indian High Commissioner to Singapore told reporters a chartered aircraft would fly the victim's body back to India on Saturday, along with members of her family.

People in Kolkata, India, light candles during a prayer ceremony

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he was deeply saddened by the woman's death and described the reaction to the case as "perfectly understandable from a young India and an India that genuinely desires change".

"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 added.

Police have arrested six people over the attack, which happened two weeks ago as the woman was travelling home on a bus with a male friend after a trip to the cinema.

According to media reports, six men on the bus beat them with metal rods and repeatedly raped the woman. Her male companion survived the assault.

Indian police officials stand alert on a street in New Delhi

The case triggered nationwide protests which culminated last weekend in clashes with police in the Indian capital.

Indian authorities have been accused of belittling rape victims and refusing to punish their attackers.

In a separate case, a 17-year-old Indian girl who was allegedly gang raped has killed herself after police pressured her to drop the case and marry one of her attackers.

The deaths come after it emerged the names, addresses and photographs of convicted rapists will be posted online by Indian police to publicly shame them for their crimes.

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General Norman Schwarzkopf Dies Aged 78

General Norman Schwarzkopf, who commanded the US-led coalition that drove Saddam Hussein's forces out of Kuwait in the 1991 Gulf War, has died.

The 78-year-old died on Thursday at his home in Tampa, Florida, where he retired after his last military posting as commander-in-chief of US Central Command.

His sister Ruth Barenbaum said he passed away following complications from pneumonia.

Gen. Schwarzkopf was known as Stormin' Norman for his explosive temper

A much-decorated combat soldier in Vietnam, Gen. Schwarzkopf was known popularly as Stormin' Norman for a notoriously explosive temper.

Former president George HW Bush, himself sick in intensive care in Texas, was the first to issue a statement mourning the loss of the man he chose to lead the war that came to define both of their careers.

"Barbara and I mourn the loss of a true American patriot and one of the great military leaders of his generation," his statement said.

The General salutes an Iraqi general to set Gulf War cease-fire terms

"A distinguished member of that Long Gray Line hailing from West Point, General Norm Schwarzkopf, to me, epitomised the 'duty, service, country' creed that has defended our freedom and seen this great nation through our most trying international crises.

"More than that, he was a good and decent man - and a dear friend. Barbara and I send our condolences to his wife Brenda and his wonderful family."

During the 1991 Gulf War, he became the public face of the coalition troops who ousted Hussein's forces from Kuwait.

After retiring from the Army in 1992, Gen. Schwarzkopf wrote a best-selling autobiography It Doesn't Take A Hero.

He was knighted by the Queen and honoured with decorations from France, Britain, Belgium, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Bahrain.

At the peak of his post-war national celebrity Gen. Schwarzkopf - a self-proclaimed political independent - rejected attempts to persuade him to run for high office.

The General receiving the medal of Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour

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Gang-Raped Indian Teenager Kills Herself

A 17-year-old Indian girl who was gang-raped killed herself after police pressured her to drop the case and marry one of her attackers, police and a relative said on Thursday.

It comes as the 23-year-old Indian medical student who was gang-raped on a bus in New Delhi arrived at Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital for further treatment.

A hospital spokesperson said the patient is in an "extremely critical condition" after the attack on December 16.

She was transferred overseas for better treatment.

The latest case, in the Patiala region in the Punjab, has again shone the spotlight on the police's handling of sex crimes.

One police officer has been sacked and another suspended over their conduct after the assault during the festival of Diwali on November 13, according to officials.

The teenager was found dead on Wednesday night after swallowing poison.

Her death came as it emerged that the names, addresses and photographs of convicted rapists will be posted online by police in India to publicly shame them for their crimes.

Inspector General Paramjit Singh Gill said that the teenager had been "running from pillar to post to get her case registered" but officers failed to open a formal inquiry.

"One of the officers tried to convince her to withdraw the case," Gill, the police chief for the area, told AFP.

Before her death, there had been no arrests over her case although three people were detained on Thursday. Two of them were her alleged male attackers and the third was a suspected woman accomplice.

The victim's sister told Indian television that the teenager had been urged to either accept cash or marry one of her attackers.

"The police started pressuring her to either reach a financial settlement with her attackers or marry one of them," her sister told the NDTV network.

Meanwhile, the Press Trust of India reported that a police officer has been suspended for allegedly refusing to register a rape complaint in the northern state of Chhattisgar.

The woman and her husband later brought the case to the attention of a more senior officer and a hunt has now been launched for her attacker, an auto rickshaw driver.

Official figures show that 228,650 of the total 256,329 violent crimes recorded last year in India were against women.

The real figure is thought to be much higher as so many women are reluctant to report attacks to the police.

During an address to the chief ministers of India's states on Thursday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged to bring in new laws to cover attacks on women.

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India Gang-Rape Victim 'Struggling Against Odds'

An Indian woman who was gang-raped on a bus in New Delhi suffered "significant" brain damage and is fighting for her life.

The 23-year-old woman was flown to Singapore for treatment at Mount Elizabeth hospital on Thursday.

The unnamed victim had already undergone three abdominal operations and suffered a cardiac arrest in India prior to her flight.

Hospital chief executive Dr Kelvin Loh said she also has an infection of the lungs and abdomen and "is currently struggling against the odds".

"She continues to remain in an extremely critical condition and is still receiving treatment at the hospital's intensive care unit," he added. 

The announcement comes 10 days after she was brutally attacked by six men on December 16.

The rape has triggered widespread outrage and riots across India.

Official figures show that 228,650 of the total 256,329 violent crimes recorded last year in India were against women.

The real figure is thought to be much higher as so many women are reluctant to report attacks to the police.

During an address to the chief ministers of India's states on Thursday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged to bring in new laws to cover attacks on women.

In a separate incident, a 17-year-old Indian girl who was gang-raped killed herself after police pressured her to drop the case and marry one of her attackers.

One police officer has been sacked and another suspended over their conduct after the assault during the festival of Diwali on November 13, according to officials.

The teenager was found dead on Wednesday night after swallowing poison.

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George HW Bush: Condition Worsens In Hospital

The health of former US President George HW Bush has worsened and he is in intensive care with a "stubborn fever".

Mr Bush was admitted to the intensive care unit on Sunday and has been put on a liquids-only diet.

He has been battling bronchitis for the last month and has been in and out of hospital.

Spokesman Jim McGrath: "It's an elevated fever, so it's actually gone up in the last day or two. It's a stubborn fever that won't go away.

"He's had a series of setbacks now that have landed him in guarded condition in the intensive care unit."

Mr Bush had been making a good recovery early last week, he added.

Mr Bush, a Republican, served a single term in the White House from 1989 to 1993, despite sending US forces to victory in Iraq in the first Gulf War, expelling Saddam Hussein's forces from Kuwait.

The 88-year-old was first admitted to Methodist Hospital in Houston on November 7 for bronchitis treatment and released on November 19.

He was readmitted on November 23 after his cough flared up once more.

Doctors had initially hoped to be able to send the elder statesman home for Christmas, but instead he spent the holiday in hospital, where he was joined by his wife Barbara, son Neil and grandson Pierce.

Mr McGrath said: "I wouldn't say he was able to celebrate it in the traditional sense.

"His family was with him, and he's conscious and he's able to engage in humorous banter with his doctor."

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Nelson Mandela Discharged From Hospital

By Emma Hurd, Sky News Correspondent

Former South African president Nelson Mandela will continue to receive care at his residence in Johannesburg which is equipped with medical facilities.

The 94-year-old spent 18 days in hospital being treated for a lung infection and gallstones.

"We thank the public and the media for the good wishes and for affording Madiba and the family the necessary privacy," said Mac Maharaj, a spokesman for President Jacob Zuma, referring to Mr Mandela by his clan name.

"We request a continuation of the privacy consideration in order to allow for the best possible conditions for full recovery."

Mr Mandela was flown to a hospital in Pretoria from his family home in Qunu in the Eastern Cape on December 8 for treatment for a lung infection.

He subsequently underwent an operation to remove gallstones. 

He spent Christmas Day with his wife and members of his family who visited his hospital bedside.

Mr Zuma was also among visitors on Tuesday and declared the former leader to be in "high spirits".

There have been prayers and vigils across South Africa for his speedy recovery. 

It is Mr Mandela's longest stay in hospital since he was released from prison more than two decades ago after 27 years in detention.

He is revered in South Africa and around the world as the icon of the anti-apartheid struggle and the nation's first black president. 

Mr Mandela retired from public life several years ago although he still receives high-profile visitors, usually in private. 

The Nobel Peace laureate is known to be increasingly frail and has suffered from recurring lung problems as a result of contracting tuberculosis during his time in prison.

Earlier this year he was admitted to hospital with abdominal pain. 

He inspires genuine affection and admiration among South Africans and his ailing health is a source of much concern.

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US Snow Storm Heads East After Hitting Midwest

A severe US snow storm is threatening more devastation as it heads east after pounding the Midwest, killing six people.

Up to 18 inches of snow is forecast inland on Thursday, from western New York to Maine, before tapering off into a mix of rain and snow closer to the coast.

It follows snowy gusts of 30mph and an outbreak of 34 tornadoes on Tuesday in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama – causing travel chaos and power cuts.

More than 1,600 flights were cancelled or delayed on Wednesday while scores of motorists got stuck on icy roads or slid into drifts. The storms left more than 100,000 in the region without power.

The storm has blanketed the Midwest

The major storm system, which spawned Gulf Coast region tornadoes on Christmas Day and an historic amount of snow in Arkansas, pushed through the Upper Ohio Valley and moved into the Northeast.

By Wednesday night, The National Weather Service said spotters had reported up to a foot of snow in some Pennsylvania counties.

And a mix of snow, sleet and rain accompanied by high winds had arrived in western Massachusetts.

"The way I've been describing it is as a low-end blizzard, but that's sort of like saying a small Tyrannosaurus rex," said John Kwiatkowski, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Indianapolis.

Snow and rain is expected to hit New York City

Two passengers in a car on a slippery Arkansas road died when the vehicle crossed the centre line and struck a sport utility vehicle.

In Oklahoma, a 76-year-old woman died when a truck crossed into oncoming traffic and hit the car she was in. A 28-year-old woman was killed in another crash.

The storm's winds were also blamed for toppling a tree onto a truck in Texas, killing the driver, and a tree onto a house in Louisiana, killing a man.

Cameras captured the approach of the large funnel cloud in Mobile, Alabama, the biggest city hit by numerous twisters.

A large section of the roof on the city's Trinity Episcopal Church was missing, said Scott Rye, a senior warden at the church.

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Firefighter Ambush Shooting: Killer Left Note

The gunman who ambushed two firefighters as they approached his burning house left a note saying he wanted to torch the neighbourhood and "do what I like doing best, killing people".

Gerald Pickering, police chief in Webster, New York state, said that 62-year-old William Spengler armed himself with three weapons and set his house on fire to lure emergency services into a death trap.

Spengler killed two volunteer firefighters - Mike Chiapperini, 43, and 19-year-old Tomasz Kaczowka - and shot two others before taking his own life in the small town on Monday morning.

Police believe human remains found in the burnt-out home are those of the gunman's 67-year-old sister, Cheryl, who has been missing since the blaze. The remains will be examined before identity is confirmed.

The full contents of the two-page, typed note - which police said does not reveal a motive - have not been published, but Mr Pickering said it clearly shows the killer's "intent".

Victims: Michael Chapperini (left) and Tomasz Kaczowka

One of the guns used was a semi-automatic Bushmaster rifle, the same type of gun used in the December 14 school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut. Mr Pickering said Spengler was "equipped to go to war".

Mr Chiapperini's full-time job was as a public information officer with the Webster police department, and was named firefighter of the year for 2012.

Mr Kaczowka worked as an emergency call dispatcher and Mr Pickering described him as "a tremendous young man".

The two injured volunteer firefighters, Joseph Hofstetter and Theodore Scardino, remain in hospital. They are said to be awake and alert and are expected to recover despite suffering "significant" injuries.

Webster is northwest of New York City

Spengler was released from prison in 1998 after serving 17 years for beating his 92-year-old grandmother to death with a hammer in 1980.

Authorities have said he had lived a quiet life and had done nothing to bring himself to police attention since his parole.

Spengler's mother Arline, who had lived with her two children, died in October, leaving Spengler on his own with his sister, Cheryl, whom he "couldn't stand", according to neighbour Roger Vercruysse.

Spengler "stayed on one side of the house and [Cheryl] stayed on the other," Mr Vercruysse said.

Dozens of people turned out on Monday night for an impromptu vigil to mourn the firefighters, leaving bouquets and messages of condolence at the local fire station.

One man left a crate of beer, the local newspaper told Sky News.

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China Opens World's Longest High-Speed Railway

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent, in Beijing

The world's longest high speed rail route opens today in China, covering a distance of 1,427 miles (2,298km) between Beijing in the north and Guangzhou on the country's southern coast.

The line will carry new bullet-style trains at speeds of up to 220mph (350kph) and reduce the travel time from 22 hours to just eight hours.

There are 35 stops along the route in major cities spanning the length of the country including Shijiazhuang, capital of northern China's Hebei Province; Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan; Wuhan, the capital of central China's Hubei Province; and Changsha, in Hunan Province.

The bullet trains are capable of speeds of 220mph

The building cost has not been revealed, but it was built in a fraction of the time it has taken to build the Crossrail system in London, which spans a distance - through new tunnels - of 13 miles (21km) and is not due for completion until 2017, and the new UK High Speed Two (HS2), which is still awaiting the construction green light.

But China does not have the planning regulations required for UK projects and there is not as much concern about the environmental considerations.

China currently has 5,350 miles (8,600km) of operating high-speed railway, more than any other nation in the world. The plan is to extend the rail network to a staggering 9,950 miles (16,000km) of track by 2015.

The improved and expanded services have lured people away from the growing number of domestic airlines in China.

The line runs from Beijing in the north to Guangzhou in the south

The Chinese airline industry is increasingly suffering from chronic delays because of congested airspace and bad weather. The train is seen by many as a more reliable and cheaper alternative.

In a statement, China's ministry of railways said: "This service marks a significant milestone of our high-speed rail construction. It will ease pressure on the rail transport between Beijing and Guangzhou, especially during the peak Chinese New Year holiday."

The new line will compete with the first domestic route used by the Airbus superjumbo, the A380.

China Southern Airlines has operated the double decker A380 between Beijing and Guangzhou for the past year. The cost of a ticket is higher, but the journey time is just three hours.

Many Chinese see trains as a cheaper, more reliable alternative to planes

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Egypt Constitution In Effect After 'Yes' Vote

Egyptian voters overwhelmingly approved a constitution drafted by allies of President Mohamed Morsi, despite opposition from liberals, leftists and Christians.

The constitution was adopted with 63.8% of the vote after the referendum held over two days earlier in the month, according to results announced by the elections commission.

However, the final turnout was just 32.9% of Egypt's nearly 52 million voters.

Opposition groups staged mass protests against the draft, complaining that the new constitution could allow Muslim clerics to intervene in the making of legislation, while leaving other religions and women with few protections.

But Mr Morsi and the dominant Islamist Muslim Brotherhood movement have insisted that the document provides adequate protection for minorities while providing stability following the uprising that forced former President Hosni Mubarak from power in 2011.

The President signed a decree putting the constitution into affect shortly after the official results.

Murad Ali, a senior official in Mr Morsi's Freedom and Justice Party, said: "I hope all national powers will now start working together now to build a new Egypt.  

"I see this as the best constitution in Egypt's history."

Female protesters cut their hair off to demonstrate their opposition

Immediately after the announcement, a small group of protesters set tyres on fire and blocked traffic near the central Tahrir square, the hub of the uprising against Mubarak.

New parliamentary elections are expected to take place in the coming months with the Muslim Brotherhood and its allies again expected to dominate.

Meanwhile, in a possible sign of the impact that weeks of unrest have taken on the economy, the government ordered new restrictions on foreign currency apparently designed to prevent capital flight. Leaving or entering with more than $10,000 cash is now banned.

The government has criticised the opposition for prolonging the country's economic problems with the weeks of demonstrations against them.

"The main goals that the government is working towards now is plugging the budget deficit, and working on increasing growth to boost employment rates, curb inflation, and increase the competitiveness of Egyptian exports," prime minister Hisham Kandil said.

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Firefighters Shot Dead In House Blaze 'Trap'

Two volunteer firefighters have been shot dead and two others injured when a gunman opened fire as they were responding to a house fire in New York state.

The gunman, named as William Spengler, opened fired on the four men as they arrived shortly after 5:30am on Monday to put out the blaze in Webster, said police chief Gerald Pickering.

Spengler set fire to a car and house to lure the firefighters to his house on the shore of Lake Ontario.

"It does appear it was a trap," an emotional Mr Pickering said at a news conference.

Spengler, 62, had served more than 17 years in prison for beating his 92-year-old grandmother to death with a hammer in 1980 at the house next to where the attack happened.

The gunfire initially kept firefighters from battling the blaze

Police said Spengler died at the scene after shooting himself in the head.

One of the firefighters who died, Mike Chiapperini, was also a town police lieutenant, but it was not clear whether he returned fire.

The other firefighter who was killed was named as Tomasz Kaczowka.

The two wounded firefighters, named as Joseph Hofsetter and Theodore Scardino, remained in a critical condition in hospital.

Police were concerned that Spengler's sister, Cheryl Spengler, was in the house where the fire started, reports said.

Spengler reportedly lived there with his sister and mother, Arline Spengler, who died in October.

An off-duty police officer who was driving past the scene also has injuries from shrapnel, Mr Pickering said.

Firefighters were called to the blaze in the early hours of the morning

The fire spread and destroyed six other homes in the quiet lakeside town, around 340 miles (550 km) northwest of New York City.

The gunfire initially kept firefighters from battling the blaze.

The neighbourhood's residents were evacuated and searched by police, and a SWAT team was called to the scene.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the shooting was a "senseless act of violence" and offered his condolences to the victims' families.

"New York's first responders are true heroes as they time and again selflessly rush toward danger in order to keep our families and communities safe," he said.

Monroe county sheriff Patrick O'Flynn said: "It's sad to see that that this is becoming more commonplace in communities across the nation."

The shooting in Webster comes 10 days after the shooting rampage at a school in Newtown, Connecticut, in which 20 children and six adults were killed.

The Newtown massacre has revived debate in the United States on the country's gun laws, which are far more lax than in most other developed nations.

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India Rape Protests: Injured Policeman Dies

An Indian policeman who was injured in clashes during a protest over a gang-rape in New Delhi has died.

The 47-year-old police constable, Subash Tomar, was deployed at the India Gate monument on Sunday to control the protests.

He was beaten up by a mob and rushed to hospital by the police.

"The protesters pelted stones at Tomar, he was unconscious for two days and today he died," New Delhi police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said.

More than 50 policemen were injured in Sunday's violence as police struggled to quell increasing outrage over sex crimes following the gang-rape of a student.

Tomar's cousin Ajay who was in the hospital to claim the body said he had joined the police in 1985 and never spent a single festival with the family.

"My cousin was always out on streets maintaining law and order. The mob attacked him for no reason. They just killed him," said Ajay Tomar.

Much of central Delhi remains sealed off after the wave of violent protests over the gang-rape of a 23-year-old student in the capital and a surge in violence against women.

Protests have taken place across India over the last week to denounce the police and government.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has appealed for calm in the city.

His pleas were echoed by the victim's father.

"Please pray for my daughter and do not resort to any violent activity. She needs your support and your prayers," the father, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told the Hindi-language News 24 network.

"My daughter is fighting for her life, but she is very strong and has a strong will to live."

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Two Killed As Plane Crash-Lands On Burma Road

Two people have been killed and at least 11 injured after an Air Bagan flight made an emergency landing on a road in Burma.

Four foreigners travelling on the Christmas morning flight were among the injured, said Deputy Information Minister Ye Htut.

He said the fatalities included an 11-year-old child believed to be from Burma and a man riding a motorcycle on the road where the plane landed.

The flight was carrying 65 passengers and six crew members from Rangoon, Burma's largest city, to Heho airport in Shan State.

Airport officials in Heho said that injured passengers were taken to a hospital in the nearby city of Taunggyi for treatment.

Air Bagan said the emergency landing was made on a road about two miles from Heho airport.

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India Rape Protests: Reporter 'Shot Dead'

A journalist has been killed in violent demonstrations against sex attacks in India as police failed to contain fresh violence.

A television reporter, 36, was reportedly shot dead when officers opened fire on a protest in Imphal, the capital of Manipur state, over an attack on a film actress.

The star, known as Momoko, was dragged from stage in full public view last week by an armed militant who tried to rape her. She managed to fight him off and fled.

Momoko, also a popular model, has waived her right to anonymity to make a public appeal for her attacker's arrest.

Crowds in Manipur pelted police with stones on Saturday, prompting a curfew to be imposed for parts of the state.

This was relaxed on Sunday but soon a huge crowd assembled again to confront police who opened fire in retaliation, according to police spokesman A. Singh.

A women's rights activist Bala Bedi said: "We want a strong message to be sent that perpetrators of such crimes have no place in our society."

Water cannon were fired on the crowds

The death of the reporter, who worked for the Doordarshan network, came as separate angry protests over the brutal rape of a young woman were staged in New Delhi for a second day.

Police had tried to ban demonstrations in certain parts of the city after violence on Saturday.

On Sunday, all the routes leading to landmark government buildings were cordoned off and metro stations in the vicinity were closed to the public.

But several hundred protesters managed to breach the cordon around India Gate and braved tear gas and water cannon for the second day in a row.

The case of a 23-year-old student who was gang-raped by six drunk men last week has sparked a public outcry.

Promises by the Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde to consider demands for the six suspects to face the death penalty have failed to quell the anger.

Mr Shinde had also vowed on Saturday night that the government would take further steps to keep women safe.

A group of protesters met Sonia Gandhi, the governing Congress party chief, on Sunday to demand a speedy trial of the suspects.

The 23-year-old woman, a physiotherapy student, was attacked by six drunk men when she was travelling on a bus with a male friend.

They took it in turns to rape her and attack her with an iron rod, causing serious internal injuries. She is still fighting for her life in hospital.

Campaigners want tougher sentences for sex attackers

Her case has caught the public mood amid dismay at a massive rise in the number of sexual attacks in India.

Government figures show a woman is now raped in the country every 20 minutes after a major rise in assaults.

National crime records show that 228,650 of the total 256,329 violent crimes recorded last year were against women.

Delhi has been dubbed the rape capital of India with government figures showing the number of rapes in the city rising 17% to 661 this year.

One of Delhi's most senior police officers has pleaded for an end to the unrest, saying the protests were being "hijacked by hooligans" and insisting that the case against the six suspects was being fast-tracked.

"We have met all the demands of the protesters," Special Commissioner Dharmendra Kumar said.

Sushma Swaraj, a leader of the main opposition Bhartiya Janata Party, called for an all-party meeting to end the violence between protesters and the police.

"Please do not resort to violence. That is not the solution," she wrote on Twitter.

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Russian Adoption Ban: Pressure Grows On Obama

More than 50,000 people have urged Barack Obama to escalate the diplomatic feud that led Moscow to propose a law barring Americans from adopting Russian children.

Two petitions on the White House website are asking for sanctions against Russian politicians who backed a bill that one of the documents says will "jeopardise lives and well-being of thousands of Russian orphans".

Moscow sees the ban on adoptions as retaliation for a US human rights law that allows the seizure of assets from Russian officials implicated in the 2009 death of a Russian lawyer.

Some Russian politicians denounced the petitions, saying any further action would cause tensions between the countries.

President Obama is under pressure to get tough with Russia

However a senior member of the Duma - Russia's lower parliamentary chamber - suggested there might still be a way for the measures to be softened.

One petition said Russian politicians "breached all imaginable boundaries of humanity, responsibility, or common sense and chose to jeopardise lives and well-being of thousands of Russian orphans".

The petitioners urged the president to "identify those involved in adopting such legislature responsible under the Magnitsky Act".

A second petition asks that the Magnitsky Act "be extended to supporters of this law in (the) Russian Duma".

According to White House rules, an official response will be issued if a petition reaches 25,000 signatures within 30 days. One already has more than 45,000 signatures, while the other has 6,000.

Russian deputy Irina Yarovaya, who heads the Duma's security committee, denounced the petitions.

Such initiatives "cross the limits of international law, of international relations and of a nation's sovereign rights", she said.

Another politician, Vyacheslav Nikonov, told Moscow Echo Radio that if Washington acted on the petitions, it could lead to "very serious diplomatic complications".

But deputy chairman of the Duma Sergei Zheleznya has hinted that the measures could be softened.

Between 2008 and 2011, American parents adopted 5,177 of the 14,660 Russian children adopted by foreigners.

The US human rights law has been dubbed the Magnitsky Act after Sergei Magnitsky, the lawyer who blew the whistle on what he said was a $235m (£145m) police embezzlement scheme.

Moscow's proposed ban is unofficially called the Dima Yakovlev bill in memory of a Russian child who died of heat stroke while locked in a car by his adoptive US parent in the summer heat in 2008.

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Afghan Policewoman Kills US Adviser In Kabul

An Afghan policewoman has shot dead an American adviser outside the police headquarters in Kabul.

The circumstances of the killing were not immediately clear, however the shooting could be another insider attack by Afghans against their foreign allies.

A NATO command spokesman, US Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Lester T. Carroll, said the shooter was taken into Afghan custody shortly after the incident.

"We can confirm that a civilian police adviser was shot and killed this morning by a suspected member of the Afghan uniform. The suspected shooter is in Afghan custody," Mr Carroll said.

The slain adviser was a contractor but the name and nationality of the deceased were being withheld.

Kabul's Deputy Police Chief Mohammad Daoud Amin said an investigation is under way to determine whether the killing was intentional or accidental.

It is not known whether the victim was a military or civilian adviser.

The adviser died at the Kabul police headquarters in the Afghan capital

The killing came just hours after an Afghan policeman shot five of his colleagues at a checkpoint in northern Afghanistan late on Monday.

The attacker then stole his colleague's weapons and fled to join the Taliban, said deputy provincial governor in Jawzjan province, Faqir Mohammad Jawzjani.

More than 60 international allies, including troops and civilian advisers, have been killed by Afghan soldiers or police this year, and a number of other assaults are still under investigation.

NATO forces, due to withdraw from the country by 2014, have speeded up efforts to train and advise Afghan military and police units before the pullout.

But the surge in insider attacks is throwing doubt on the capability of the Afghan security forces to take over from international troops and has further undermined public support for the 11-year war in NATO countries.

More than 50 Afghan members of the government's security forces have also died this year in attacks by their own colleagues.

Taliban militants claim such attacks reflect a growing popular opposition to both foreign military presence and the Kabul government.

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Saudi Arabian Blogger Could Face Death Penalty

A Saudi Arabian blogger is set to go on trial charged with renouncing Islam and could face the death penalty.

Raif Badawi, who started the Free Saudi Liberals website to discuss the role of religion in the country, was arrested in June.

He was initially charged with the less serious offence of insulting Islam through electronic channels, but at his latest hearing a judge referred him to a more senior court.

The judge recommended that Mr Badawi be tried for apostasy - or the abandonment of religion - which carries an automatic death sentence in the country.

King Abdullah has pushed for reforms to the country's legal system

The details of the hearing on December 17 have only just emerged, through the Human Rights Watch organisation.

Mr Badawi's website has now been removed, but included articles that were critical of senior religious figures, the monitoring group said.

A spokesman for Saudi Arabia's Justice Ministry was not available to comment.

The world's top oil exporter follows the strict Wahhabi school of Islam and applies Islamic law, or Sharia.

Judges base their decisions on their own interpretation of religious law rather than on a written legal code or on precedent.

King Abdullah, Saudi Arabia's ruler, has pushed for reforms to the legal system including improved training for judges and the introduction of precedent to standardise verdicts and make courts more transparent.

However, Saudi lawyers say that conservatives in the Justice Ministry and the judiciary have resisted implementing many of the changes that he announced in 2007.

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Egypt's Constitution Gets 'Yes' Majority

Initial results show Egypt's controversial new constitution has received a 'yes' majority in the second and final round of voting.

The results, posted on the Muslim Brotherhood's website, show that eight of the 25 million Egyptians eligible to vote - a turnout of about 30% - cast their ballots on Saturday.

The referendum was held over two days, on December 15 and 22.

In the first round, about 56% said "yes" to the charter. The turnout then was about 32%

The Muslim Brotherhood, which propelled Islamist President Mohammed Morsi to power, has accurately predicted election results in the past by tallying results provided by its representatives at polling centres.

Mohammed Morsi came to power in June

Official results are not expected to be announced for several days, but when they are, Mr Morsi is expected to call for a parliamentary election to be held in about two months.

The low turnout in both rounds is likely to feed a perception of illegitimacy for the constitution, which Islamists say will lay the foundation for a democratic state and the protection of human rights.

But the opposition claims that it places restrictions on liberties and gives clerics a say over legislation.

The referendum on the constitution has left Egypt divided into two camps: the president, his Brotherhood and ultraconservative Islamists known as Salafis in one, and liberals, moderate Muslims and Christians in the other.

The two sides brought hundreds of thousands of supporters to the streets over the past month in rival rallies.

Clashes between both sides have left at least 10 people dead and hundreds wounded.

Mahmud Mekki said he wanted to quit last month

Hours earlier, Mr Morsi's vice president, Mahmud Mekki, whose post is not mentioned in the new charter, announced he was resigning.

"Political work does not suit my professional character," he said in a statement, referring to his past role as a respected judge.

Mr Mekki said he wanted to quit last month but stayed on to help Mr Morsi tackle a crisis that blew up when the leader assumed sweeping wide powers.

State television reported that Central Bank governor Faruq el Okda had also resigned, but this was followed by strong denials from Egypt's cabinet.

Both the former governor and Mr Morsi's deputy helped steer the central bank during last year's uprising that ousted former president Hosni Mubarak and worked to keep the Egyptian currency relatively stable despite the political turmoil.

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Rape Protests Banned In India After Violence

By Alex Rossi, India Correspondent

Indian police have banned protests after a wave of demonstations triggered by the savage gang-rape of a young woman on a bus.

Areas close to the presidential palace and parliament in New Delhi have been declared off-limits to demonstrators following a sixth day of action on Saturday.

Police used tear-gas, water cannon and batons on the thousands who gathered at the India Gate monument to call for the death penalty for rapists and better safety for women.

The 23-year-old woman, a physiotherapy student, was attacked by six drunk men when she was travelling on a bus with a male friend.

They took it in turns to rape her and attack her with an iron rod, causing serious internal injuries. She is still fighting for her life in hospital.

Her case has sparked public anger amid dismay at a massive rise in the number of sexual attacks in India.

Shabnam's attackers filmed the rape on their mobile phones

Government figures show a woman is now raped in the country every 20 minutes after a major rise in assaults.

Despite the increase, the number of convictions is falling.

In the last 12 months there have been a number of high-profile cases which have caused outrage across the nation.

One of the most shocking attacks happened in the state of Haryana. Unusually the victim waived her right to anonymity.

Sixteen-year-old Shabnam was gang raped by eight men from her village. Her attackers filmed the assault on their mobile phones.

When her father became aware the images were being shared around the village he committed suicide out of shame.

Haryana is a tight-knit - mainly agrarian community - where family honour and the avoidance of shame are a matter of life and death for many.

But the brave schoolgirl wants the world to know what happened because she says too many victims are either too afraid or too ashamed to speak out.

"I don't want the sacrifice of my father to be wasted," she said. "I've decided to get them all punished so that whatever happened with me should never happen to anybody else again."

Delhi: demonstrators call for safety for women after the rape of a student

The physical scars of Shabnam's attack have now healed but her mother Rani fears she will never fully recover psychologically from her ordeal.

"My daughter is scared and depressed. She barely speaks because there is so much fear in mind," she said.

The rise in sexual assaults in Haryana reflects what is happening in other states across India.

A preference for sons and the illegal practice of female infanticide and foeticide have left the state with a badly skewed sex ratio.

In Haryana, there are just 830 girls per 1,000 boys.

Women's rights campaigner Rishi Kant says the problems are deep rooted within Indian society.

"Because of these problems we are facing with female infanticide and foeticide, due to (the fact there are) less girls, young boys are doing all these crimes which are very heinous crimes and they should be booked immediately with a fast track court so that a proper sentence can be given against them."

Campaigners say India's laws for the protection of women are robust but are demanding better policing and stiffer jail terms.

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South Sudan: UN Helicopter Shot Down

The UN says one of its helicopters has been shot down in South Sudan, killing all four crew members.

UN deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey said the helicopter from the peacekeeping mission in the country was on a reconnaissance mission when it was shot down.

The mission, known as UNMISS, said the helicopter was not carrying any passengers.

"In subsequent communications between the mission and the South Sudanese Armed Forces, the SPLA told the mission that it has shot down the helicopter in the Likuangole area in Jonglei state," Mr del Buey said. The SPLA is South Sudan's army.

A UN official aware of the incident, who was not authorised to speak publicly, said the Russian-built Mi-8 helicopter was painted white - the traditional colour for UN aircraft - and had shared its flight plans with South Sudan's military.

Kieran Dwyer, spokesman for the UN peacekeeping department, said: "It's extremely concerning that a UN helicopter appears to have been shot down by the host country's army, and the investigation has to get to the bottom of it."

Mr del Buey said the UN mission is carrying out an investigation.

Earlier, SPLA spokesman Philip Aguer told AP that "the helicopter crashed somewhere between the SPLA base and the Yauyau base in the Pibor area".

He said he did not know what caused the crash. "I think the government of South Sudan and UNMISS need to investigate this jointly," Mr Aguer said.

Mr del Buey said "initial reports indicate that the UN helicopter crashed and burned" after being shot down.

The UN mission immediately launched a search mission which "confirmed the death of all four crew members". They were not immediately identified.

South Sudan became the world's newest country in July 2011, the culmination of a six-year peace process which began with the signing of a peace agreement with Sudan in 2005 that ended more than two decades of civil war.

On the eve of its independence, the UN Security Council unanimously approved a new peacekeeping force for South Sudan to provide military and police support to help maintain and consolidate peace and security.

UNMISS currently includes over 6,500 troops and military liaison officers and about 550 international police.

A Sudanese official later denied responsibility - blaming rebel fighters in the region for the incident.

"The SPLA (South Sudan's army) did not shoot down the helicopter. Rebels of Yau Yau shot it down," army spokesman Kella Kueth told Reuters, referring to rebels led by David Yau Yau, who have been fighting the army in Jonglei state.

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Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti Resigns

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has resigned, paving the way for a general election next year.

Mr Monti, a former European Commissioner, had been appointed last year to lead a technocratic government tasked with saving Italy from a worsening financial crisis.

He won plaudits in Europe for passing much-needed reforms but his austerity measures have also earned him the opposition of many Italians.

The prime minister held his last cabinet meeting on Friday and handed in his resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano.

Earlier in the day, the Italian parliament had approved the 2013 budget drawn up by his government.

Mr Monti called his 13-month tenure "difficult but fascinating".

"The work we did ... has made the country more trustworthy, besides more competitive and attractive to foreign investors," he told diplomats, who gave him a standing ovation.

"I hope that it can continue this way also in the next legislative session."

Mr Berlusconi announced he will run for PM again

Mr Monti will give his year-end news conference on Sunday, when he is expected to announce whether he will participate in the election campaign.

The election is expected to take place in February. Mr Monti has not yet announced whether he will run.

Earlier this month, controversial politician and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi ended months of speculation, announcing he will try to become Italy's PM again.

Mr Berlusconi, 76, stepped down in disgrace last year as Italy was on the brink of financial disaster, and Mr Monti's government took over.

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John Kerry Nominated For Secretary Of State

John Kerry has been picked to succeed Hillary Clinton as US Secretary of State, President Barack Obama has announced.

Mr Kerry's nomination marks Mr Obama's first move in a sweeping overhaul of his national security team heading into his second term as President.

Standing alongside Mr Kerry at the White House, Mr Obama said the Vietnam War veteran's life "has prepared him for this role".

"He is not going not need a lot of on-the-job training," Mr Obama said.

"Few individuals know as many presidents and prime ministers or grasp our policies as firmly as John Kerry."

Mr Kerry is expected to be easily approved for the cabinet post by his longtime congressional colleagues.

The Democratic senator from Massachusetts leapt to the front of Mr Obama's list for the State Department job after UN Ambassador Susan Rice withdrew her name from consideration last week.

She faced harsh criticism from Republicans for her initial account of the deadly September attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

John Kerry has been nominated to take over from Hillary Clinton

Mr Obama vigorously defended Ms Rice, a close friend and adviser, but Republicans dug in, threatening to hold up her nomination if the President tapped her for the post.

Mr Kerry came to prominence during his failed presidential campaign against George W Bush in 2004.

He now serves as the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

But the 69-year-old has long sought the nation's top diplomatic post.

Mr Obama considered him for the job after the 2008 election, before later picking Mrs Clinton in a surprise move.

Since then, Mr Obama has dispatched Mr Kerry around the world to deal with diplomatic disputes in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

He was also part of the President's debate preparations team during the 2012 election, playing the role of Republican challenger Mitt Romney in mock debates.

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Sandy Hook Survivors: Date For New School Term

The survivors from Sandy Hook Elementary are to return to school immediately after the New Year's holiday.

Nearly 600 students from kindergarten to the fourth grade will start attending the former Chalk Hill Middle School in neighbouring Monroe, Connecticut, on January 3, Danbury's The News-Times reports.

Sandy Hook in Newtown has been closed indefinitely after last Friday's shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead.

The surviving students - aged five to 10 - will be given classrooms at Chalk Hill equipped with desks, chairs and other items from  Sandy Hook.

Their families will be allowed to inspect Chalk Hill on January 2, according to The News-Times.

Officials have been working around the clock to prepare the old middle school, which is seven miles (11 km) south of Sandy Hook.

Volunteers helped fire marshals and building inspectors get the building compliant with state safety codes. The school - built in the 1960s - has been mainly used as a parks and recreation facility since closing its doors to students in 2011.

Sandy Hook Elementary has been closed indefinitely

Representatives from both the Newtown and Monroe school districts hope to make the transition to the new school as seamless as possible for the young students.

A retired former principal from Sandy Hook Elementary, Donna Page, has agreed to reprise her role once the students start at Chalk Hill, her husband told the Hartford Courant.

Meanwhile, funerals for the victims continued on Thursday as five more children were laid to rest, along with teacher Anne Marie Murphy.

A memorial service was also held for teacher Lauren Rousseau.

In Washington, Vice President Joe Biden reiterated on Thursday the White House's commitment to taking action to prevent future gun violence in the US, saying something has to get done "even if we could only save one life".

Barack Obama has commissioned Mr Biden to oversee a panel tasked with creating proposals to curb gun violence. Mr Biden met with cabinet officials on Thursday, including Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

The massacre's far-reaching impact was underscored by an Associated Press poll conducted this week that named the mass shooting as 2012's top news story.

The annual survey of editors and news directors ranked the US election second and Superstorm Sandy third.

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End Of World: French Village Ready For Doomsday

By Robert Nisbet, Europe Correspondent

A tiny village in the Pyrenees has been sealed off as police try to prevent an invasion by those seeking salvation from a predicted apocalypse.

The jagged mountain which dwarfs Bugarach is said to contain aliens, who plan to board a spacecraft and flee the Earth before the end of the world.

There are those, admittedly in a minority, who believe the ETs may take some humans for the ride, allowing them to perpetuate humanity.

About 500 gendarmes have blocked roads and paths leading to the mountain to prevent an unsightly, or even dangerous, stampede.

Police have blocked access to the mountain

Potholes in the mountain have also been sealed, to prevent anyone trying to find any alien life in its depths.

The mountain has long been imbued with mystical powers, so many in the village are sympathetic to new-age philosophies.

The local baker Dominic Lemmens told Sky News: "Many people from this village see something in the sky, but they won't speak (about it).

"I say, 'Did you see yesterday the light on the peak,' He says, 'No' - and I see an old guy from the village smile."

The village is nestled at the foothills of the Pyrenees

At a local cafe, the owner has stored dozens of clips of UFOs he said were spotted flying to and from the mountain.

Patrice Etienne believes it merits further investigation, but doubts whether today's prediction has anything to do with an alien shuttle bus.

He told me that the object could even be from another dimension.

"When we see the object go into the mountain it disappears. There is no door, no opening."

"A lot of people are coming back from the mountain saying they heard strange noises like an earthquake, or they had a problem with their camera or their mobile phone.

"So they don't know what it is."

Media from all over the world have descended on the tiny village

The prediction of the Earth's imminent demise comes from the end today of the 13th baktun, a period in the Mayan civilisation's "long calendar", which lasts 392 solar years.

While some believe it signals a new beginning, others predict it will mean the end of days.

Sharing the same day as the winter solstice has led one in 10 people to worry about some sort of event, according to a Reuters worldwide poll.

In Bugarach they will be pleased when the invasion of accredited journalists finally leaves, whether it be on a plane, a spacecraft, or in a fiery meteor shower.

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Nancy Lanza: Private Funeral For Killer's Mum

A private funeral has been held for the woman whose son shot her dead at their Connecticut home and then drove to an elementary school and killed 20 children.

Kingston police Chief Donald Briggs said around 25 family members attended the ceremony at an undisclosed location in the town, where Ms Lanza once lived.

She was killed in her bed by her 20-year-old son, Adam Lanza, at their home in Newtown last week.

Adam Lanza then drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School, where he killed 20 children and six school employees before shooting himself.

The Newtown massacre is the second-worst shooting in US history after the 2007 Virginia Tech rampage, which left 33 people dead.

Lanza used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle owned by his mother during his rampage - which has led to fresh calls for more restrictive gun laws.

President Barack Obama commissioned a panel to create proposals designed to curb gun violence in the US.

It comes as the National Rifle Association (NRA) was set to stage a news conference on Friday at a hotel opposite the White House in Washington DC.

Support has grown for a ban on assault weapons

NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre and President David Keene will then appear on separate Sunday television talk shows for their first interviews since the murders last Friday.

The group kept quiet in the days after the shootings, but broke its silence on Tuesday to say it wanted to contribute to the gun control debate.

A school district in Boise, Idaho, cancelled planned assemblies at a number of its 50 schools after receiving threats that "something bad" would happen on Friday.

Authorities in Phoenix also arrested a 16-year-old girl on Thursday after she made threats on YouTube to kill herself and other students at a suburban high school.

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Army Seeks Death Penalty In Afghan Massacre

The US Army has said it will seek the death penalty for a soldier charged in the killing of 16 Afghan villagers during a pre-dawn raid.

Staff Sergeant Robert Bales is accused of going on a shooting rampage in two southern Afghanistan villages on March 11.

Wednesday's announcement followed Bales' pre-trial hearing last month, during which several witnesses testified from Afghanistan via video conference.

Prosecutors say Bales left his remote base early, attacking one village before returning to the base. He allegedly slipped away again to attack a second nearby village. Sixteen people were killed, including nine children.

No date has been set for Bales' court martial, which will be held at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle.

Bales' civilian lawyer, John Henry Browne, did not immediately return an email seeking comment Wednesday.

But on Tuesday, he told the AP that he met with Army officials last week to argue that Bales should not face the possibility of the death penalty, given that Bales was serving his fourth deployment in a war zone.

Bales' defence team has said the government's case is incomplete and outside experts have said a key issue going forward will be to determine whether Bales, who served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

An Army criminal investigations command special agent testified at the pre-trial hearing that Bales tested positive for steroids three days after the killings, and other soldiers testified that Bales had been drinking the evening of the massacre.

Prosecutors, in asking for a court-martial trial, have pointed to statements Bales made after he was apprehended, saying that they demonstrated "a clear memory of what he had done, and consciousness of wrong-doing."

Several soldiers testified at the hearing that Bales returned to the base alone just before dawn, covered in blood, and that he made incriminating statements such as, "I thought I was doing the right thing."

The slayings drew such angry protests that the US temporarily halted combat operations in Afghanistan, and it was three weeks before American investigators could reach the crime scenes.

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Russia To Ban Orphan Adoption By US Citizens

By Yulia Bragina, Moscow Producer

The lower Russian Parliament has approved an amendment banning the adoption of Russian children by US citizens in a crucial second reading of the so-called Dmitry Yakovlev bill.

If the law is passed in a cosmetic reading on December 21 and gets signed by the upper chamber of Parliament and the President, it may come into force as early as January 1.

Around 30% of orphans in Russia are adopted by foreigners, one third of them by families from the United States, according to the Ministry of Education.

The bill is a reaction to the Magnitsky list, signed into law by President Obama last week, which targets Russian officials allegedly involved in the death of a whistle-blower Sergey Magnitsky, who unveiled a complex scheme of tax fraud involving high police officials and tax agency workers.

Since Mr Magnitsky's death in 2009 the only person tried in court in connection to the tax fraud scheme was Mr Magnitsky himself, posthumously. People mentioned in the Magnitsky whistle-blowing report kept their positions and some even got promoted.

The Magnitsky list imposes US visa bans and asset freezes for people responsible for Magnitsky's death and other human rights violations in Russia.

According to the Levada research centre, 39% of Russians approve the passing of the Magnitsky list.

The Dmitry Yakovlev bill was named after a Russian toddler who died as a result of negligence of his adoptive parent, who left him locked inside the car in the sunshine for nine hours in Virginia.

The Russian Parliament has given its backing to the Dmitry Yakovlev bill

The bill blacklists US human rights abusers and freezes their assets in Russia. The measure might be extended to citizens of any country which implements the Magnitsky list.

According to Russian officials, 19 adopted children died in the US over the last decade out of more than 60,000. There are more than 1,500 registered deaths of children adopted by Russians since 1996.

Children's ombudsman Pavel Astakhov says Russia has 650,000 registered orphans, which, according to some respected Russian newspapers, is more than any other country in the world.

The new legislation was supported by the overwhelming majority of Russian MPs (400 voted in favour, four against and two abstained) despite outrage from the public and human rights activist.

A combination of words translated as 'Scoundrel's law', referring to the amendment, was trending on Russian Twitter earlier in the day.

Around 20 people were arrested in front of the Parliament building for protesting against the bill. Opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta gathered more than 83,000 signatures under a petition opposing the measure in just 24 hours.

The MP Ilya Ponomarev, who was left in the minority for opposing the measure, said that there are 1,500 children awaiting  adoption by US families, 49 of them with disabilities.

"Do you realise, if we pass the amendment today, we will leave 1,500 children orphans, and kill 49 of them", he asked the Parliament.

Another amendment passed on the same day bans NGO's sponsored by the US and dealing with politics from operating in Russia.

The President's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media: "Certainly the executive branch's policy is more restrained but taking into account the well-known anti-Russian manifestations, Russian President Vladimir Putin understands the Russian lawmakers' position."

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Obama Commissions Panel To Curb Gun Violence

Barack Obama has commissioned a new panel tasked with developing proposals to curb gun violence, saying the country has a "deep obligation" to prevent events similar to Friday's massacre in Connecticut.

"If there is even one thing we can do to prevent any of these events, we have a deep obligation - all of us - to try," Mr Obama said.

Vice President Joe Biden - a longtime gun control advocate - will head up the panel, from which Mr Obama expects "concrete proposals" no later than January.

"This is not some Washington commission," he said. "This is not something where folks are going to be studying the issue for six months and publishing a report that gets read then pushed aside.

"This is a team that has a very specific task to put together real reforms right now."

Mr Obama said he plans to push through the proposed reforms as soon as the panel completes its work.

"I will use all the powers of this office to help prevent tragedies like this," the president said at the White House on Wednesday, less than a week after 20-year-old Adam Lanza went on a killing spree inside Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut.

Adam Lanza killed his mother before shooting dead 20 children and six staff

Twenty children and six adults were killed by Lanza, who earlier shot dead his mother Nancy at the home they shared, and then killed himself at the school as police closed in.

Police say Lanza had hundreds of rounds of ammunition at his disposal as he conducted his shooting rampage with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle.

The new panel will explore possible new gun legislation to rein in the sale of assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, but will also look at mental health policies and violence in popular culture.

The massacre has re-ignited the debate over gun control in the US, with some calling for a clampdown on firearms.

During a Google Hangout debate moderated by Sky News' Greg Milam on Wednesday, participants from across America voiced their disparate views on the future of gun control.

Connecticut resident Cheryl Rice said a reinstatement of the ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004 should not be considered a violation of the Second Amendment that gives Americans the right to bear arms. 

Dave Powell of West Virginia agreed, saying that hunting rifles and the like should suffice for self protection. 

Mr Powell called the American infatuation with handguns and automatic weapons "a national insanity". 

But Rosa Linda Roman, a New Mexico mother and gun owner, rejected the idea of being told what kind of gun she could use to protect her family.

"I feel and I've learned, living up here, that it's not just my right to defend my family but it's actually my responsibility", she said.

Protesters outside the NRA's headquarters in Washington DC

Mr Obama said this week he is backing a new bill to reintroduce the expired assault weapon ban. 

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the president is "actively supportive" of an attempt by California Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein to write the bill early next year.

Meanwhile, the other Democratic senator from California, Barbara Boxer, introduced new legislation on Wednesday that would allow state's to seek reimbursement from the federal government if they choose to use National Guard troops to watch over schools.

"This legislation will help state and local officials protect our children by utilising all of the law enforcement tools at our disposal," Sen Boxer said in a statement.

Mr Obama has also telephoned pro-gun Senator Joe Manchin, who has shifted his position on firearms laws since Friday's carnage in Connecticut.

Mr Manchin, along with fellow democrat Mark Warner, who have so-called "A" ratings from the National Rifle Association, said the Newtown massacre has convinced them the time for reform has come.

The NRA broke its silence over the Sandy Hook school massacre on Tuesday, saying its members were "shocked, saddened and heartbroken by the news of the horrific and senseless murders".

The group pledged "to help to make sure this never happens again" and has scheduled a news conference for Friday.

On Monday, 75 activists demonstrated outside the NRA's headquarters in Washington DC.

"More than anyone else, the NRA is responsible for the more than 12,000 people murdered by guns every year in this country," said Josh Nelson, the campaign manager for the progressive Credo Action group that organised the protest.

"We call on the NRA's lobbyists to stand down and allow Congress to pass common-sense gun laws."

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