Death toll in Iraq attacks rises to 22: officials

BAGHDAD: The toll from a wave of attacks across Iraq on Monday has risen to 22 dead and at least 83 wounded, security and medical officials said.

A total of 15 shootings and bombings struck 13 cities and towns in the north, central and south of Iraq, the officials said. Previously, the toll was put at 12 dead and more than 40 wounded.

In the deadliest attack, seven people -- three women, two children and two men -- were killed when three houses were blown up in the town of Mussayib, south of Baghdad, police and a medic said. Four others were wounded.

Five policemen were killed by a roadside bomb in Kirkuk, four people died in a suicide car bomb in Baghdad, and attacks in the cities of Hilla and Mosul killed two people each.

One person each was killed in Latifiyah and Tuz Khurmatu.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Sunni militants such as Al-Qaeda's front group in Iraq regularly target officials and security forces in a bid to destabilise the government, and also often attack Shiite pilgrims.

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Sydney kicks off New Year celebrations

SYDNEY: Spectacular fireworks exploded over Sydney in a blaze of light and colour Tuesday to ring in the New Year, as the city kicked off a wave of global celebrations from Dubai to London to welcome 2013.

Australia's famous harbour city brought in the New Year on a balmy summer night with a US$6.9 million display curated by pop icon Kylie Minogue, who pressed the button to start the pyrotechnics.

To the roars of the crowds, the sky erupted in light at midnight as fireworks shot up from barges and jet skis in the harbour and cascaded from the Harbour Bridge and burst and glimmered overhead.

"This is really putting Australia on the map in terms of welcoming people to the New Year," Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said.

Officials were expecting up to 1.5 million people to gather in the city and crowds jammed all vantage points along the waterfront to watch the seven tonnes of fireworks ignite the sky.

"We just wanted to see the fireworks," said 19-year-old Silvia Hondt, from Germany, as she walked with friends along the foreshore at Circular Quay.

"I think the Sydney fireworks are really popular all over the world -- everyone knows them from the television."

Fireworks will also light up the Thames in London, Moscow's Red Square and Kremlin and Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour, as well as central Kuala Lumpur, Taipei, Stockholm, Amsterdam and cities across China.

Revellers in New York will celebrate the stroke of midnight with the traditional New Year's Eve ball drop over Times Square, where South Korean Internet and pop sensation Psy will join a host of American music stars.

In Rio de Janeiro, officials have promised a bumper 16-minute, 24-tonne display opposite Copacabana Beach while in Germany, fireworks will cap a party at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate with the Pet Shop Boys, Bonnie Tyler and Blue.

Vying to become a permanent fixture on the planetary map of New Year celebrations, the Gulf city state of Dubai is planning a lavish gala at the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.

Fireworks will engulf the spike-like tower, accompanied by a soundtrack performed live by the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

Some 50,000 people are also expected to flock to the revered golden Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon for the Myanmar city's first public countdown with fireworks, seen as further evidence of opening up after decades of junta rule.

In Paris, however, the authorities issued a reminder that all fireworks are officially banned for the night. The crowds that gather on the Champs-Elysees and around the Eiffel Tower will have to make do without any display.

And in Caracas, the mayor cancelled the city's traditional end-of-year concert in Bolivar Square, instead asking Venezuelans to pray at home for ailing President Hugo Chavez, who suffered a new setback after cancer surgery.

In regions devastated by Typhoon Bopha which hit the southern Philippines in early December killing at least 1,067 people, many survivors said food, work and permanent shelter topped their priorities for the New Year.

Authorities in the capital Manila are bracing for the annual rush of injuries as families celebrate with do-it-yourself firework displays and shoot celebratory bullets into the air.

Seoul will usher in 2013 with a ritual ringing of the city's 15th-century bronze bell 33 times, reflecting the ancient practice of marking a new year.

Elsewhere in the South Korean capital, including the glitzy Gangnam district made famous in the hit that saw Psy become a household name, there will be fireworks, concerts and street parties.

Millions will visit temples and shrines in Japan for "ninen-mairi" two-year prayers and gather at family homes to feast on soba noodles and watch the New Year variety show "Kohaku Uta Gassen" or the Red and White Song Contest.

In Taiwan, hundreds of thousands defied chilly winds to pack the square in front of the Taipei City Hall for a concert featuring Taiwanese pop diva A-Mei, also known as Chang Hui-mei, and Hong Kong-based singer and actor Aaron Kwok.

And in India, a country rocked by the deadly gang-rape of a young medical student, the armed forces cancelled New Year celebrations while many hotels and bars have scaled back parties out of respect for the unnamed victim.

The New Year, celebrated with glamour across the world, passes unnoticed in ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia where only the two Muslim feasts -- Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha are celebrated.

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Chavez suffers new complications in cancer fight

CARACAS, Venezuela: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is confronting "new complications" due to a respiratory infection nearly three weeks after undergoing cancer surgery, his vice president said in Cuba as he visited the ailing leader for the first time since his operation.

Vice President Nicolas Maduro looked weary and spoke with a solemn expression in a televised address from Havana on Sunday. He described Chavez's condition as delicate.

"Several minutes ago we were with President Chavez. We greeted each other and he himself referred to these complications," Maduro said, reading from a prepared statement.

The vice president's comments suggest an increasingly difficult fight for Chavez. The Venezuelan leader has not been seen or heard from since undergoing his fourth cancer-related surgery Dec. 11, and government officials have said he might not return in time for his scheduled January 10 inauguration for a new six-year term.

"The president gave us precise instructions so that, after finishing the visit, we would tell the (Venezuelan) people about his current health condition," Maduro said. "President Chavez's state of health continues to be delicate, with complications that are being attended to, in a process not without risks."

Maduro was seated alongside Chavez's eldest daughter, Rosa, and son-in-law Jorge Arreaza, as well as Attorney General Cilia Flores. He held up a copy of a newspaper confirming that his message was recorded on Sunday.

"Thanks to his physical and spiritual strength, Comandante Chavez is facing this difficult situation," Maduro said.

Maduro said he had met various times with Chavez's medical team and relatives. He said he would remain in Havana "for the coming hours" but didn't specify how long.

Maduro, who arrived in Havana on Saturday for a sudden and unexpected trip, is the highest-ranking Venezuelan official to see Chavez since the surgery in Cuba, where the president's mentor Fidel Castro has reportedly made regular visits to check on him.

Before flying to Cuba, Maduro said that Energy Minister Hector Navarro would be in charge of government affairs in the meantime.

"The situation does not look good. The fact that Maduro himself would go to Cuba, leaving Hector Navarro in charge only seems understandable if Chavez's health is precarious," said David Smilde, a University of Georgia sociologist and analyst for the Washington Office on Latin America think tank.

Smilde said that Maduro probably made the trip "to be able to talk to Chavez himself and perhaps to talk to the Castros and other Cuban advisers about how to navigate the possibility of Chavez not being able to be sworn in on Jan. 10."

"Mentioning twice in his nationally televised speech that Chavez has suffered new complications only reinforces the appearance that the situation is serious," Smilde said.

Before his operation, Chavez acknowledged he faced risks and designated Maduro as his successor, telling supporters they should vote for the vice president if a new presidential election were necessary.

Chavez said at the time that his cancer had come back despite previous surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatment. He has been fighting an undisclosed type of pelvic cancer since June 2011.

Medical experts say that it's common for patients who have undergone major surgeries to suffer respiratory infections and that how a patient fares can vary widely from a quick recovery in a couple of days to a fight for life on a respirator.

Maduro's latest update differed markedly from last Monday, when he had said he received a phone call from the president and that Chavez was up and walking.

The vice president spoke on Sunday below a picture of 19th century independence hero Simon Bolivar, the inspiration of Chavez's leftist Bolivarian Revolution movement.

Maduro said that Chavez had sent year-end greetings to his homeland and a "warm hug to the boys and girls of Venezuela."

The vice president expressed faith that Chavez's "immense will to live and the care of the best medical specialists will help our president successfully fight this new battle." He concluded his message saying: "Long live Chavez."

Chavez has been in office since 1999 and was re-elected in October, three months after he had announced that his latest tests showed he was cancer-free.

Opposition politicians have criticized a lack of detailed information about Chavez's condition, and last week repeated their demands for a full medical report.

Information minister Ernesto Villegas defended the government's handling of the situation, saying during a televised panel discussion on Sunday night that Chavez "has told the truth in his worst moments" throughout his presidency.

He also referred to a new surge of rumors about Chavez's condition and called for respect for the president and his family.

Villegas said a government-organized New Year's Eve concert in a downtown Caracas plaza had been canceled, and he urged Venezuelans to pray for Chavez.

Chavez's daughter Maria, who has been with the president since his surgery, said in a message on her Twitter account: "Thank you people of Venezuela. Thank you people of the world. You and your love have always been our greatest strength! God is with us! We love you!"

Allies of the president also responded on Twitter, repeating the phrase: "Chavez lives and will triumph."

___

Ian James on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ianjamesap

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Huge quantity of ancient coins found in China

BEIJING: Archaeologists have excavated about 3,500kg of ancient coins in China's Inner Mongolia Region, Xinhua reported on Sunday. Most of these coins were in prevalence during the Han dynasty (202 BC-220 AD).

According to Lian Jilin, a researcher with the regional Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the coins were found in three millennia-old coin pits in the ancient town of Huoluochaideng after police cracked three theft cases.

Most of the coins were "Huoquan", the coins commonly used in the Han dynasty (202 BC-220 AD), said Lian.

Archaeologists also excavated over 100 casting moulds from the relics of a coin workshop. The moulds are believed to date back to the rule of Emperor Wudi (156 BC-87 BC) of the Western Han Dynasty and the short-lived Xin Dynasty (45 BC-23 AD) founded by Wang Mang.

Based on its size and cultural relics uncovered there, Huoluochaideng town is believed to have been a major town in northern China during the Han Dynasty, said Lian.

The findings are significant in the study of the ancient monetary system and casting technology, he added.

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Israel indicts former foreign minister

JERUSALEM: Israel's ultra-nationalist former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman was today indicted by the government for fraud and breach of trust, a decision which could harm his political career, if convicted.

Lieberman, 54, whose party is running on a joint list with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party in the upcoming January 22 general elections, has denied committing any criminal offence.

He will lose all the possibilities of running for any public office if found guilty.

The justice ministry (Israeli government ministry) today filed an updated indictment against Liberman at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court amending the original indictment retaining charges of fraud and breach of trust but adding the clause of moral turpitude presenting new details implicating the Yisrael Beteinu Chairman of abuse of authority.

Much of the breach of trust case focuses on Lieberman's alleged involvement in the promotion of former Israeli Ambassador to Belarus, Zeev Ben Aryeh, within the Diplomatic Corps to the post of Ambassador to Latvia.

The promotion was allegedly promised to Ben Aryeh after he gave Lieberman secret details pertaining to a criminal investigation against him in a case which has since been closed.

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein presented the amended indictment on Thursday.

It is being said that the revisions were made possible following the deposition of Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, who has been dropped from Lieberman's party list for the upcoming elections and is expected to be the State's key witness against his former boss.

Other names on the Prosecution's witness list include former Foreign Ministry Director General Yossi Gal, who is currently the Ambassador to France and former head of the Foreign Ministry's Personnel Directorate, Shimon Roded, who is currently the Ambassador to Thailand.

Liberman resigned as foreign minister and waived his parliamentary immunity two weeks ago when the initial draft indictment was presented to the Knesset.

"I say again - I have not committed any criminal offence. I've asked the Knesset to remove my parliamentary immunity and I wish for nothing more than for this to be made clear in a court of law", the ultra-nationalist leader said professing his innocence.

"The rumours about a plea bargain are not true. The truth will come out in court," he added as opinion polls predicted a huge plunge in the Likud Beteinu joint list's poll prospects.

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Syrian troops press Homs offensive, 23 children die

BEIRUT: Regime forces on Sunday pressed a fierce offensive in Homs after overrunning a key neighbourhood of the central city, according to a watchdog, which also listed 23 children killed in violence across Syria.

The latest bloodletting comes after international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi warned in Moscow that Syria was facing a choice between "hell or the political process" after talks with Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the army, after Saturday seizing the Deir Baalbeh district in fighting which left dozens dead, fired off barrages of rockets into surrounding rebel-held neighbourhoods Sunday as it sought to capitalise on its victory.

Troops also bombarded the nearby opposition stronghold of Rastan.

The Britain-based Observatory, which gathers its information from a network of activists and medics in civilian and military hospitals, said the final death toll from Saturday's clashes had not been finalised due to communications difficulties in the area.

A video released by the Syrian Revolution General Commission, a grassroots network of anti-regime activists, showed the bodies of nine male victims from Deir Baalbeh lying on the ground, their faces bloody and mutilated.

The authenticity of the video could not immediately be verified.

Near the capital on Sunday, loyalist troops carried out air raids on towns along the eastern outlying belt and on Daraya in the southwest, while fighting between rebels and the army erupted in the northeastern and southwestern suburbs.

The observatory said 13 children were among the victims of bombardments in and around Damascus on Saturday, while 10 children were killed in air strikes across Aleppo province, including on rebel-held Aazaz near the Turkish border.

Analysts say the surge in air strikes by Syrian forces are a desperate attempt by President Bashar al-Assad's regime to reverse rampant gains by rebel fighters, especially in the north of the country.

Rebels meanwhile made further advances on Sunday in the battle for the Hamidiyeh military post in the northwest province of Idlib which they stormed the previous day, the watchdog said.

During Sunday's clashes, three insurgents were wounded by machinegun fire, while warplanes raided a nearby village, the watchdog said.

A takeover of the Hamidiyeh post would pave the way for a rebel offensive against the the nearby Wadi Deif base, one of the government's last outposts in the north.

Opposition fighters, mostly from the jihadist Al-Nusra Front, have been closing in on the base since overrunning the nearby town of Maaret al-Numan in early October.

In the south, a rebel was killed on Sunday in battles for control of several small border crossings along the regime-held frontier with Jordan, the Observatory said.

Syria and Jordan share a 370-kilometre-long (230-mile) border which hundreds of people cross on foot every day to escape the bloody civil war that the Observatory says has killed at least 45,000 people.

Brahimi on Saturday held talks with Lavrov on his end-of-year bid to accelerate moves to halt the Syria conflict.

He painted a stark picture of Syrian neighbours Jordan and Lebanon being overrun by a million refugees should heavy fighting for the seat of power break out in Syria's five-million-strong capital.

If this fighting "develops into something uglier ... (refugees) can go to only two places — Lebanon and Jordan.

"So if the alternative is hell or the political process, we have all of us got to work ceaselessly for a political process," Brahimi said.

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At least 15 killed in sect attack in north Nigeria

MAIDUGURI, NIGERIA: Witnesses say at least 15 people were killed when gunmen suspected to belong to a radical Islamist sect attacked a village in northeastern Nigeria.

The attack happened early Friday morning in the village of Musari on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the city where the sect known as Boko Haram launched its violent campaign against western education. Mshelia Inusa, a primary school teacher in the village, said he heard gunmen call out for people to be slaughtered.

Inusa said he later saw dead bodies with their throats slit and their hands tied behind their back. A guard at a Maiduguri hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he feared reprisals from the sect and the government, said he saw at least 15 bodies deposited in the morgue after the assault.

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Philippines president approves contraceptives law

MANILA: The Philippines president has signed a law that will promote contraception, sexual education and family planning programs vigorously opposed by the country's Roman Catholic Church.

President Benigno Aquino III signed the law on December 21 and his administration announced it only on Saturday because of the "sensitivity" of the issue, said deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte.

Valte said the passage of the law "closes a highly divisive chapter of our history" and "opens the possibility of cooperation and reconciliation" among those who oppose and support the "Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012."

One of the most outspoken opponents of the legislation while it was still being debated in Congress, retired Archbishop Oscar Cruz, said Aquino is dividing the country while adopting a "first world country value system." He warned that the law will be followed by the passage of a divorce bill and same-sex marriage, both strongly opposed by the Church.

Cruz, a former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, criticized the secret signing of the law despite the presidential certification that it was an urgent measure.

"What is that? He is either ashamed of it or he is afraid of the repercussion of that bill," Cruz said.

"My first objection there is why don't you call a spade a spade? Why do you have to call it `reproductive health?' Come on. That is population-control legislation," he said. "From the onset there is already deception."

He said responsible parenthood as taught by the church entails using only natural family planning methods. Providing artificial contraceptives will "separate pleasure from the hardship" of bringing up a family.

"This government has now entered the bedroom bringing with it the condom and the pill.... That is very irresponsible," Cruz said.

He said a Catholic group is planning to question the law at the Supreme Court.

Women's groups and other supporters of the law have praised Aquino for pushing its passage within the first half of his six-year term after the measure languished in Congress for 13 years largely because legislators were reluctant to pass it because of the strong opposition of the Catholic Church.

The Aquino administration "should be commended for its political will to see this law through," said Carlos Conde, Asia Researcher for the US-based Human Rights Watch.

Conde said the law "will advance human rights in the Philippines, particularly of women and mothers" and empower them to make their own decisions over their health and family life. "It gives a clear mandate to the government to make reproductive health services readily available and, because of that, the law can save many lives," he said.

In about a dozen provisions, the 24-page law repeatedly reminds that abortion drugs are banned, but it requires health workers to provide care for those who have complications arising from illegal abortions.

Under the law, the government will hire more village health workers who will distribute contraceptives, especially to the poor, and provide instructions on natural family planning methods that the Church approves.

The government will also train teachers who will provide age- and development-appropriate reproductive health education to adolescents _ youth age 10 to 19 years old. This will include information on protection against discrimination and sexual abuse and violence against women and children, teen pregnancy, and women's and children's rights.

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Tehran hangs Afghan, Iranian drug traffickers, rapists

TEHRAN: Iran on Saturday hanged an Afghan drug trafficker and four Iranians, three of them convicted of rape, local media reported.

The 27-year-old Afghan from Herat, identified only by his initials MM, was sent to the gallows in the northern city of Damghan after being convicted of selling around two kilos (four pounds) of crack cocaine.

Three Iranian men convicted of rape and another of smuggling heroin and opium, were hanged in the central city of Yazd.

The Islamic republic, where murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and adultery are punishable by death, has one of the highest annual execution counts in the world, alongside China, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has condemned the executions, but Tehran says the death penalty is essential to maintain law and order and that it is enforced only after exhaustive judicial proceedings.

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Russia invites Syria opposition chief for talks

MOSCOW: Russia, one of the few powers to maintain links with the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad, has sent an invitation for talks to the head of the opposition Syria National Coalition, a top diplomat said on Friday.

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 a foreign location like Geneva or Cairo.

"The invitation has been handed over, it is in the hands of Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib," Bogdanov said.

Russia has so far strongly criticised moves by Western and anti-Assad Arab states to recognise the National Coalition as legitimate representatives of the Syrian people since the group was formed last month.

Yet Russia is also involved in a frantic round of year-end diplomacy seeking to end the crisis.

A Syrian deputy foreign minister visited Moscow on Thursday and foreign minister Sergei Lavrov is to meet UN-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi in the Russian capital on Saturday.

Russia had already indicated it was ready to hold talks with the Syrian opposition who until now have regarded Moscow with suspicion over its refusal to break ties with the Assad regime.

Bogdanov also said he expected there to be a new three-way meeting between Brahimi and US and Russian representatives on the Syrian crisis in January.

"We will hear what Lakhdar Brahimi says about the Syrian crisis and likely there will be a decision on a new 'triple B' meeting with Lakhdar Brahimi, (US deputy secretary of state) William Burns and Mikhail Bogdanov," he said.

"But this will be in January, after the (Russian New Year) holidays," Bogdanov said.

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South Korea retrieves North Korean rocket debris

SEOUL: 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 said on Friday.

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

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 (6,200 miles).

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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Berlusconi to pay wife 3 million euros a month: Report

ROME: An Italian court has ordered Silvio Berlusconi to pay his second wife three million euros ($3.95 million) a month alimony as part of a legal separation settlement opening the way for their divorce, media reports said Friday.

Veronica Lario filed for divorce in 2009 after revelations that Berlusconi, notorious for his dalliances with other women, had attended the 18th birthday party of an aspiring blond model who called him "Daddy."

She described Berlusconi as "a dragon to whom young virgins offer themselves," accused him of being "unwell" and said she could not stay with a man "who frequents minors."

Under Italian law, married couples have to wait at least three years to divorce once a legal separation settlement has been established.

Lario, 56, had three children with Italy's former prime minister.

While the former actress -- who first met Berlusconi in a theatre dressing room in 1980 -- will net 100,000 euros a day in alimony, the court ruled that the estate should go to the media magnate.

The 76-year-old is currently dating a television starlet nearly 50 years younger than him.

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Bilawal Bhutto launches political career

ISLAMABAD: The 24-year-old son of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto has launched his political career with a fiery speech on the fifth anniversary of his mother's assassination.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari's speech on Thursday comes several months before national elections are expected to be held. He is too young to participate in the elections himself, but is likely to be a key asset for the ruling Pakistan People's Party.

Zardari was made party chairman after his mother's death but has mainly played a background role as he completed his studies in the United Kingdom. His father, President Asif Ali Zardari, is co-chairman of the party.

Father and son spoke before thousands of cheering supporters in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh village in southern Sindh province, site of the Bhutto family mausoleum.

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Central African leader appeals for help against rebels

BANGUI (CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC): Central African Republic's embattled President Francois Bozize appealed on Thursday for French and US help to halt a rebel advance as regional troops were deployed to secure the capital in an escalating crisis in one of the world's poorest countries.

The United Nations is pulling its staff out and the United States has warned its citizens to leave in the face of the deteriorating security situation as rebel fighters close in on Bangui.

But former colonial power France, whose embassy in Bangui came under attack on Wednesday by demonstrators angry at the lack of French help, vowed it would not intervene in the conflict in a country with a chequered history of coups and brutal rule.

"We ask our French cousins and the United States of America, the great powers, to help us to push back the rebels ... to allow for dialogue in Libreville to resolve the current crisis," Bozize said in a public speech in Bangui.

"There is no question of allowing them to kill Central Africans, of letting them destroy houses and pillage, and holding a knife to our throats to demand dialogue," said Bozize, who himself seized power in a coup in 2003.

"It is a plot against the Central African Republic, a plot against its people."

The rebel coalition known as Seleka has seized a string of towns in its sweep across the mineral-rich but deeply poor country since its fighters took up arms on December 10.

More regional troops were being sent in to help secure Bangui but French President Francois Hollande said France would not use its troops stationed in the country to interfere in the conflict which is escalating despite both sides apparently agreeing to hold talks in Libreville.

"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," Hollande said.

"Those days are gone."

France has around 250 soldiers based at Bangui airport providing technical support to a peacekeeping mission run by the central African bloc ECCAS.

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

"Bangui is fully secured by the troops" of the FOMAC central African military force, its commander General Jean-Felix Akaga said on national radio. "Others will arrive to help reinforce this mission of securing Bangui."

The rebels began their push in early December, charging that Bozize and his government have not stuck to the terms of peace deals signed between 2007-2011.

As the ill-equipped and under-paid Central African army proved little challenge to the insurgents, Bozize asked for help from neighbouring Chad, which had 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 now sitting about 200 miles 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.

Rebel coalition troops have stopped short of the capital, but UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said "their contradictory messages and their continued military offensive seem to indicate that they might be intent on taking Bangui".

The United Nations has a major political mission in the Central African Republic seeking to help the government overcome more than a decade of strife. More than 200 people are involved in the withdrawal order, a UN official said.

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 in Libreville that the body was trying to broker a truce.

The landlocked Central African Republic has a population of under five million. It ranks 179 out of 187 countries on the UN's latest development index and has seen frequent coups and mutinies.

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Japan's new govt to review zero-nuclear policy

TOKYO: Japan's new leaders set to work on dismantling plans on Thursday to rid the country of nuclear power by 2040, pledging to review a post-Fukushima policy.

The pro-business Liberal Democratic Party-led government also said they would give the green light to any reactors deemed safe by regulators, indicating shuttered power stations could start coming back online.

"We need to reconsider the previous administration's policy that aimed to make zero nuclear power operation possible during the 2030s," Toshimitsu Motegi told a news conference.

Shinzo Abe, who was elected as prime minister and unveiled his cabinet line-up on Wednesday, appointed Motegi as his economy, trade and industry minister, also in charge of supervising the nuclear industry.

Abe's LDP won a landslide victory in the December 16 election, returning to power after a three-year break.

Despite anti-nuclear sentiment running high in Japan following the Fukushima disaster, parties opposing atomic energy made little impact at the ballot box.

Motegi said he was ready to give the go-ahead to resuming generation at nuclear power plants "if they are confirmed safe".

All but two of Japan's reactors remain offline after being shuttered for regular safety checks following the crisis at Fukushima when a tsunami knocked out cooling systems.

Hundreds of thousands of people were made homeless by meltdowns, which spewed radiation over a wide area of farmland.

Power plant operators must get permission from the newly-formed Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) before their reactors can be restarted.

In June then-prime minister Yoshihiko Noda ordered the restarting of reactors at Oi amid fears of a summer power shortage, but he vowed ahead of the election to phase out nuclear power by 2040.

Motegi said abandoning Japan's only reprocessing plant for spent nuclear fuel at Rokkasho in the far north "is not an option".

Some experts have warned the plant could sit on an active seismic fault and would be vulnerable to a massive earthquake.

If regulators agree they will have to order its closure and Japan would be without any recycling capacity of its own.

Resource-poor Japan, which relied on atomic power for around a third of its electricity has poured billions of dollars into its nuclear fuel recycling programme, in which uranium and plutonium are extracted from spent fuel for re-use in nuclear power plants.

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China calls on Japan to meet 'halfway' to fix ties

BEIJING: China called on new Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Wednesday to meet Beijing 'halfway' to try and improve relations that have been hurt by a debilitating territorial dispute.

"We hope the new Japanese administration will meet the Chinese side halfway and make concrete efforts to overcome difficulties in bilateral relations," foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters.

She added such efforts were needed "so as to push bilateral relations back on to the normal track of development".

Hua was speaking after Abe was selected today as Japan's prime minister by the lower house of parliament following victory by his Liberal Democratic Party in elections earlier this month.

"We are ready to work with the Japanese side to push forward the steady and sound development of bilateral relations," Hua said.

China and Japan are at odds over small islands in the East China Sea that both claim, though Japan controls. China calls them the Diaoyu Islands, while Japan refers to them as the Senkaku Islands.

Tensions have mounted this year, with Japan recently scrambling fighter jets after a Chinese plane flew near the territory.

Hua reiterated China's position on the dispute, calling the Diaoyu Islands "China's inherent territory," while adding that Beijing wants to resolve the dispute "through dialogue and negotiation."

"The pressing task for Japan now is to show sincerity and take concrete actions to overcome the current situation and improve bilateral relations."

Separately, China's official Xinhua news agency carried a commentary expressing hope that Abe's election could herald the beginning of better relations.

"It is hoped that Abe... could view Japan-China ties from a long-term and overall perspective and steer Tokyo's diplomacy toward the consolidation of regional peace and stability," the commentary said.

It emphasised the important economic relationship between China and Japan, the world's second- and third-largest economies, respectively, and noted that Abe wants to improve Japan's slumping economy.

"For an export-oriented economy like Japan, to regain growth means strenuous work to bolster its stagnant domestic market and expand overseas trade as well," Xinhua said.

"However, the prospect would be something hard to come by should Tokyo choose to play with fire amid simmering tensions not only with China but also with other neighbours like South Korea and Russia."

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Explosion in crowded area of Nigeria's Lagos

LAGOS: An explosion hit an area believed to be storing fireworks in the Nigerian economic capital Lagos on Wednesday, causing a fire that has begun to spread in the densely packed neighbourhood, an official said.

It was not immediately clear whether there were any casualties and details of the incident were sketchy.

A strong explosion could be heard in parts of the sprawling city followed by smoke. An official with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said initial information was that a shop storing fireworks had caught fire.

"NEMA has mobilised response agencies and volunteers to an explosion in a building suspected to be loaded with (fireworks) in the Jankara area of Lagos," agency spokesman Yushau Shuaib said in a statement.

"Search and rescue officers of NEMA having hectic time to reach the place due to traffic and crowds."

The incident occurred in the Lagos Island area, among the oldest and most densely packed neighbourhoods in the city of some 15 million people.

Fireworks are popular in Nigeria during the Christmas and New Year holidays.

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20, including 8 children, killed in Syria shelling

BEIRUT: At least 20 people, including eight children, were killed as Syrian army tanks blasted a village in the northern province of Kahtaniyeh on Wednesday, a monitoring group said.

"At least 20 people, among them eight children and three women, were killed in shelling by regime forces of farmlands in Kahtaniyeh village, west of the city of Raqa," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Amateur video posted online by activists and distributed by the Observatory showed several bloodied bodies, including at least one of a child, laid out on blankets in a house.

"Dozens of people have been injured in farmlands of Kahtaniyeh, among them a whole family," according to activists in Raqa.

Raqa has seen an escalation of violence in recent months as rebels have launched an assault to seize several areas of the province, strategically located on the Turkish border.

The Observatory's head Rami Abdel Rahman said the casualties were caused by tank fire and that the victims were from farming families.

"Just to be clear, there are no Al-Nusra Front jihadists or any other well-organised rebel groups there. The victims were just farmers," Abdel Rahman told AFP.

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Seven killed in fresh Karachi violence

KARACHI: Violence continued unabated in Pakistan's financial hub of Karachi where seven more people, including a policeman, were killed and a well-known religious scholar was badly injured on Tuesday, taking to 26 the death toll in three days of unrest.

Maulana Aurangzeb Farooqi, who belongs to the Ahle-Sunnat Jammat, was attacked near Moti Mahal in the densely populated Gulshan-e-Iqbal area by unknown motorcycle-borne gunmen.

The religious scholar's driver and three security guards were killed in the firing, while he himself was admitted to hospital with serious injuries.

Taj Muhammad Hanfi, a spokesman for the Ahle-e-Sunnat Jammat, said the condition of Farooqi had now stabilised and urged his followers to maintain peace and calm in the city.

The news of the attack spread like wildfire and led to trouble and firing in other parts of the city with armed men disturbing normal life in many places.

In the random firing, one bystander was also killed while in another the son of a serving DSP was shot dead.

Since Sunday, at least 26 people have been killed in the city in the fresh wave of violence, even as President Asif Ali Zardari ordered swift action against the target killers creating unrest and fear in the city.

Ten people were killed yesterday in the city, including two brothers and their relative who were gunned down at their shop in Nazimabad area.

The city has seen a surge in sectarian violence in recent weeks.

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Nelson Mandela 'in good spirits'

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa's ailing former leader Nelson Mandela was in "good spirits" on Tuesday as his family paid a Christmas Day visit to his hospital bed, President Jacob Zuma said.

"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," said Zuma, who joined Mandela's wife Graca Machel and the family on the visit to his Pretoria hospital.

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

The 94-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate was admitted to a Pretoria hospital on December 8.

He has been treated there for a recurrent lung infection and also underwent surgery to remove gallstones, in his longest hospital stay since coming out of prison in 1990 after 27 years in detention.

On Monday, Zuma's office, which is tasked with issuing updates on his condition, said doctors had confirmed that he would not be home for Christmas. But there was no indication of when he might be discharged.

Only limited details of Mandela's condition have been made public by the South African government, which has repeatedly called on the public to respect the former president's privacy.

His grandson Mandla Mandela told eNCA television that the family was sad he would not be home this Christmas.

"We are greatly saddened by his absence... we didn't anticipate that he would be away for so long," Mandla said from Mvezo village, where he is the local chief.

Before his retirement in 2004 Mandela used to host a Christmas feast in his home village of Qunu for impoverished children -- a highlight for many.

Since retiring from public life, Christmas has been a more low-key affair, spent with family.

Mandela, who became South Africa's first black president after the country's first all-race elections in 1994, has a long history of lung problems, dating back to the time when he was a political prisoner on Robben Island.

He contracted tuberculosis -- a disease which killed his father -- while in jail.

In January 2011 he was hospitalised for two nights for an acute respiratory infection.

Mandela was last seen in public in 2010, clad in a scarf during the closing ceremony of the FIFA World Cup, when he was wheeled into the stadium in a golf cart.

Mandela, who is also fondly known by his clan name Madiba, stepped down in 1999 after serving one term as president.

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Pope urges 'end to bloodshed' in Syria

VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI wished Christmas peace to the world on Tuesday, decrying the slaughter of the "defenseless" in Syria and urging Israelis and Palestinians to find the courage to negotiate.

Delivering the Vatican's traditional Christmas day message from the central balcony of St Peter's Basilica, Benedict also encouraged Arab spring nations, especially Egypt, to build just and respectful societies.

He prayed that China's new leaders respect religion, a reference to persecution Chinese Roman Catholics have at times endured under communism.

As the 85-year-old pontiff, bundled up in an ermine-trimmed red cape, gingerly stepped foot on the balcony, the pilgrims, tourists and Romans below backing St Peter's Square erupted in cheers.

Less than 12 hours earlier, Benedict had led a two-hour long Christmas Eve ceremony in the basilica. He sounded hoarse and looked weary as he read his Christmas message and then holiday greetings in 65 languages.

In his "Urbi et Orbi" speech, which traditionally reviews world events and global challenges, Benedict prayed that "peace spring up for the people of Syria, deeply wounded and divided by a conflict that does not spare even the defenseless and reaps innocent victims."

He called for easier access to help refugees and for "dialogue in the pursuit of a political solution to the conflict."

Benedict prayed that God "grant Israelis and Palestinians courage to end long years of conflict and division, and to embark resolutely on the path to negotiation."

Israel, backed by the United States, opposed the Palestinian statehood bid, saying it was a ploy to bypass negotiations, something the Palestinians deny. Talks stalled four years ago.

Senior Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said that in a meeting with the pope last week, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas "emphasized our total readiness to resume negotiations." The Palestinians have not dropped their demand that Israel first stop settlement activities before returning to the negotiating table.

Hours earlier, in the ancient Bethlehem church built over the site where tradition holds Jesus was born, candles illuminated the sacred site and the joyous sound of prayer filled its overflowing halls.

Overcast skies and a cold wind in the Holy Land didn't dampen the spirits of worshippers in the biblical West Bank town. Bells pealed and long lines formed inside the fourth-century Church of the Nativity complex as Christian faithful waited to see the grotto that is Jesus' traditional birthplace.

Duncan Hardock, 24, a writer from MacLean, Va., traveled to Bethlehem from the republic of Georgia, where he had been teaching English. After passing through the separation barrier Israel built to ward off West Bank attackers, he walked to Bethlehem's Manger Square where the church stands.

"I feel we got to see both sides of Bethlehem in a really short period of time," Hardock said. "On our walk from the wall, we got to see the lonesome, closed side of Bethlehem ... But the moment we got into town, we're suddenly in the middle of the party."

Bethlehem lies 10 kilometers (6 miles) south of Jerusalem. Entry to the city is controlled by Israel, which occupied the West Bank in 1967.

For those who couldn't fit into the cavernous Bethlehem church, a loudspeaker outside broadcast the Christmas day service to hundreds of faithful in the square.

Their Palestinian hosts, who welcome this holiday as the high point of their city's year, were especially joyous this season, proud of the United Nations' recognition of an independent state of Palestine just last month.

"From this holy place, I invite politicians and men of good will to work with determination for peace and reconciliation that encompasses Palestine and Israel in the midst of all the suffering in the Middle East," said the top Roman Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal in his annual address.

Back at the Vatican, Benedict offered encouragement to countries after the Arab spring of democracy protests. He had a special word for Egypt, "blessed by the childhood of Jesus."

Without citing the tumultuous politics and clashes in the region, he urged the North African region to build societies "founded on justice and respect for the dignity of every person."

Benedict prayed for the return of peace in Mali and harmony in Nigeria, where, he recalled "savage acts of terrorism continue to reap victims, particularly among Christians."

The Vatican for decades has been worried about the well-being of its flock in China, who are loyal to the pope in defiance of the communist's government support of an officially sponsored church, and relations between Beijing and the Holy See are often tense.

Speaking about China's newly installed regime leaders, Benedict expressed hope that "they will esteem the contribution of the religions, in respect for each other, in such a way that they can help to build a fraternal society for the benefit of that noble people and of the whole world."

Acknowledging Latin America's predominant Christian population, he urged government leaders to carry out commitments to development and to fighting organized crime.

In Britain, the royal family was attending Christmas Day church services at St Mary Magdelene Church on Queen Elizabeth II's sprawling Sandringham estate, though there were a few notable absences. Prince William is spending the holiday with his pregnant wife Kate and his in-laws in the southern England village of Bucklebury, while Prince Harry is serving with British troops in Afghanistan.

Later Tuesday, the queen will deliver her traditional, pre-recorded Christmas message, which for the first time will be broadcast in 3D.

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Syria peace envoy Brahimi holds talks with Assad

DAMASCUS:UN-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said he held talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Monday, a day after he arrived to launch a fresh bid to end the conflict roiling the country.

"I had the honour to meet the president and as usual we exchanged views on the many steps to be taken in the future," Brahimi told reporters at his hotel in Damascus.

Brahimi arrived in Syria on Sunday from neighbouring Lebanon. He had last visited the country on October 19.

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Memo case: Haqqani told to appear in court on Jan 28

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's Supreme Court issued a fresh notice to former ambassador to the US Pakistan's Supreme Court issued a fresh notice to former ambassador to the US Husain Haqqani on Monday to appear before it on January 28, when it will resume hearing a case related to an alleged memo that purportedly sought US help to stave off a feared military coup.

A nine-judge bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry will hear the case pertaining to the memo allegedly sent by Haqqani to former US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen seeking US intervention to avert a possible overthrow of the government in the aftermath of the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden last year.

The apex court further directed the government to submit by January 13 a report on the security that would be provided to Haqqani, who is currently in the US.

The court also issued notices to other respondents in the case, including the Inter-Services Intelligence agency and the defence ministry. Haqqani has not responded to several notices to appear in court, saying his life would be in danger if he returned to Pakistan.

The apex court wants Haqqani to come to Pakistan to record a judicial statement.

During the last hearing of the case, the apex court had directed Haqqani's lawyer Asma Jehangir to file a request with the Interior Secretary for providing security to her client.

A judicial commission set up by the apex court concluded in June that Haqqani was responsible for the mysterious memo, which was made public by controversial Pakistani-American businessman Mansoor Ijaz.

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11 children killed in China road accident

BEIJING: A minivan carrying 15 children to kindergarten plunged into a roadside pond in a rural area of eastern China on Monday, killing 11 children, state media and an official said.
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. Four children survived, said the official, who like many Chinese bureaucrats gave only his surname, Jiang.

The accident is the latest in a string of deadly crashes in China involving school children.

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 minivan belonged to Chunlei kindergarten, which doesn't have a government license to operate, according to an article on the website of state broadcaster China Central Television that didn't cite any sources. The van taking the children to school was travelling too fast and swerved to avoid a vehicle parked on the side of the road, ending up in the pond, CCTV said.

Photos on its website showed pairs of tiny shoes and brightly colored school bags lined up on the ground near the scene and an injured child being treated.

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 also said it took 70 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.

Overcrowding on school buses is common in rural China, where the education system is short of funds and children are forced to travel far to get an education because of school closures.

Last year, a nine-seat private school van overloaded with 62 kindergarten children and two adults crashed head-on with a truck in rural western China, killing 19 children and the adults. The accident caused public uproar and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao pledged more support for school bus safety and said central and local governments would bear the cost of bringing often-shoddy buses up to standard. The kindergarten head, who owned the vehicle, was later convicted of a traffic accident crime and sentenced to seven years in prison.

Accidents happen frequently in China because of poorly maintained vehicles and reckless driving habits.

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Chavez 'heir' Maduro steps up leadership profile

CARACAS: With President Hugo Chavez recovering from cancer surgery in Cuba, his designated heir Nicolas Maduro is spotlighting his own leadership in case of an early presidential vote, experts say.

"Today, Maduro is completely different from when he was just the foreign minister: he is the vice president but he also is the handpicked successor (of Chavez) and the de facto acting president," said Luis Vicente Leon, who leads the Datanalisis pollster.

Since Chavez headed to Cuba on December 10 for a fourth round of cancer surgery since he was diagnosed in 2011, Maduro has worked on honing his skills as a higher-profile leader in his own right in this OPEC member sitting atop the world's largest proven oil reserves.

Maduro has lashed out at the opposition, Chavez-style, on national television. And he has combatively pledged to fight to defend the socialist revolution that Chavez, a leftist ex-paratrooper, launched.

"I'm sorry I have voice trouble, from working so much these days, and after a cold I had that I am not over," a weary-looking Maduro admitted at a ceremony he presided over on Friday, swearing in pro-Chavez governors from three Andean states.

Chavez,who was re-elected in October, has picked Maduro to fill in should his cancer make it impossible for the president to be sworn in for a new term on January 10.

The Venezuelan leader urged his party to support Maduro in the event of an early presidential election should he be unable to return to power.

The 50-year-old vice president, a former bus driver and union activist, "needs to validate his leadership, because it could in the near future be at issue in a political campaign," Leon said.

DataStrategia chief Carmen Beatriz Fernandez noted that Maduro has played a prominent role at swearing-in ceremonies and, in speeches, has "taken on the tone of someone who is on the campaign trail."

"He has been anointed as Chavez's heir, and now he is taking up that role actively. He is preparing himself for a presidential election in the near future," she added.

Maduro has pumped up the sarcasm, much like his boss, echoing the president's joke that the opposition coalition has "disbanded" and become "cosmic dust" -- by winning only three of 23 state governorships while the ruling party picked up four states.

The vice president still feels the need to tread carefully on the issue of taking over the helm.

"I am just a vice president. We have a president who is on duty and his name is Hugo Chavez Frias... There is no interim government. Nor have any powers been handed over," he shouted to supporters in Tachira.

Leon said that nevertheless Maduro has dropped his once "moderate" profile to make heavy use of words like "bourgeoisie" and "imperialism," references to Chavez's twin foes of wealthy Venezuelans and the United States, which he has often used as scapegoats to fire up crowds of mostly poor supporters.

"Maduro used to look much more moderate, calmer but now he seems to be imitating Chavez's role, and trying to be more belligerent," Fernandez said.

Chavez, 58, is due to be sworn in for a third presidential term next month, but the nation is on tenterhooks to see whether the health crisis will prevent the outspoken leader from remaining president.

However, National Assembly speaker Diosdado Cabello urged Venezuelans Saturday not to be fixated of the date of January 10 when the searing-in ceremony is scheduled to take place.

Responding to multiple queries about what would happen if Chavez fails to show up at the National Assembly on January 10, Cabello insisted that "the date of January 10 does not determine the president-elect's absolute absence."

According to the speaker, if intervening circumstances prevent the president from showing up on January 10, the constitution allows him to be sworn in before Supreme Court justices.

And, Cabello added, the constitution "does not say when and where" this kind of inauguration should take place, giving some currency to rumors that the justices could be flown to Havana, if Chavez were unable to return to Caracas.

"Commandante Hugo Chavez will continue to be our president," the speaker concluded.

The face of the Latin American left for more than a decade and a firebrand critic of US "imperialism," Chavez 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 recurrence of the disease. He returned to Cuba, a key Venezuelan ally, for surgery and follow-up treatment.

Venezuela has never said what type of cancer Chavez has, nor which organs are affected, but doctors removed a tumor from his pelvic region last year.

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Japan anti-nuclear vote melts away

TOKYO: Eight million people signed an Internet petition demanding an end to nuclear power and hundreds of thousands joined public protests. Yet Japan handed an election landslide to the most pro-atomic option on offer.

Anti-nuclear activists have been left licking their wounds after the first national poll since the tsunami-sparked disaster at Fukushima saw an apparent melting away of public anger as the country welcomed back the establishment.

"A problem was that political divisions emerged over when and how to stop nuclear power," said Hideyuki Ban, co-director of the Citizens' Nuclear Information Center, an anti-nuclear advocacy group.

"It would have been ideal if the parties had came together under a simple, broad goal of ending nuclear power. But parties had to differentiate themselves from others for the election. Maybe it was inevitable," he said.

The Liberal Democratic Party bagged 294 of the 480 seats in the lower house, crushing their opponents, the biggest of which won only 57 seats.

Where smaller parties offered an end to nuclear power -- immediately, over ten years, or within three decades -- the LDP pledged only to "decide" on reactor restarts within three years.

Commentators say the pro-business party is likely to give the green light to power companies. Markets agree, with shares in Fukushima operator Tokyo Electric Power (TECPO) surging around 50 percent in two days after the win.

The problem, said the left-leaning Asahi Shimbun newspaper, was that other issues trumped nuclear; voters were frustrated with Japan's economic malaise, huge public debts, fragile employment and diplomatic friction with China.

The public were looking for a way to punish the ruling Democratic Party of Japan for its policy failures.

But as the DPJ teetered on the electoral edge, a barrage of new political parties sprang up.

Analysts say this crowded electoral field confused voters, who in the end opted for familiar names and faces, as represented by the LDP.

Even in nuclear-scarred Fukushima prefecture, the party won four out of five districts.

In fact, says the Asahi, the anti-nuclear vote was almost completely neutralised because of the fragmentation caused by this mushrooming of parties.

Some 78 percent of people who voted said they wanted nuclear power to end now or to be phased out, the Asahi said.

Many of their votes were divided among four parties other than the LDP, according to the Asahi, which added that the LDP also received votes from people who wanted an end to nuclear.

"All major parties, except for the LDP, pledged to end nuclear power with varying degrees of policy emphasis. As a result, the anti-nuclear votes were divided," the newspaper said.

Activists say the speed with which the election rapidly appeared to be a fait accompli caused them problems.

"Voters were bombarded by a series of opinion polls calling the LDP the winner long before the election," said Greenpeace campaigner Kazue Suzuki, adding that a record low voter turnout of 59.32 percent did not help their cause.

Japanese politics specialist Koichi Nakano of Sophia University said single issue candidates would always find it difficult to get to parliament.

The political culture tends to favour candidates from established parties with organised supporters, while independents face a tough time, he said.

Ban from the Citizen's Nuclear Information Center said activists have not given up hope and think their movement will gather lost momentum once the new government moves to restart reactors, idled since the Fukushima crisis.

"The public has become well aware about nuclear energy, renewable energy and energy saving, and how they are interconnected," he said. "There is no turning back."

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China conducts test run of high-speed train

BEIJING: China has successfully conducted a test run of the world's longest high-speed railway between Beijing and Guangzhou, ahead of the launch of the 2,298-km-long line on December 26.

Running at an average speed of 300 km per hour, it only took two-and-a-half hours for the train yesterday to cover the 693 km distance from Beijing to Zhengzhou, the northern section of the whole route that links the country's capital and the southern economic hub.

Zhou Li, director general of science and technology with the ministry of railways, also aboard the train, told reporters that he was confident in the country's railway technologies.

"We will keep tracking the condition of equipment in real time and report potential risks immediately," Zhou said.

The railway authorities have taken a string of targeted measures to guarantee a safe trip, such as intensifying the maintenance of fixed equipment and mobile devices on board and improving the control system to address possible problems under extreme weather, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.

The measures government expect dispel safety concerns raised after a bullet train crash last year near the southern city of Wenzhou that left 40 people dead.

According to an earlier announcement of the ministry of railway, the Beijing-Guangzhou high-speed railway will open on December 26 and is expected to cut the travel time to about 8 hours from the current 20-odd hours by traditional lines.

This is the longest high-speed network after China launched the Beijing-Shanghai bullet train last year which brought down travel time to around five hours covering over 1,300 km distance between two of China's largest cities.

The new train, which will have a maximum speed of 350 km per hour, covers Beijing with China's most industrialized province Guangdong which houses top developed cities like Guangzhou close to Hong Kong and Maccau.

More than 2,000 tickets have been sold for the Guangzhou- Beijing high-speed journey for December 26 journey.

However, some passengers are still hesitant to take the new rail for relatively higher fares that can nearly rival their flying counterparts.

A second-class coach fare from Beijing to Guangzhou is 865 yuan ($138) and the cheapest air ticket for December 26 costs only 25 yuan more, 493 yuan ($80) lower than first-class coach tickets.

Zhao Chunlei, a senior official in charge of transportation of the railway ministry, said tickets are priced to meet the demands of different people, and fares will fluctuate under market forces.

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Egyptians vote on disputed constitution

CAIRO: Egyptians were voting on Saturday in the second and final phase of a referendum on an Islamist-backed constitution, but there was little indication that the result of the vote will end the political crisis in which the country is mired.

The vote comes a day after clashes between supporters and opponents of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria. It was the latest outbreak of street violence in more than four weeks of turmoil, with the country divided first over the president's powers then over the draft constitution.

The clashes — in which opponents of Islamists set fire to cars and dozens of people were hurt — illustrated how the new constitution, regardless of whether it is adopted or not, is unlikely to ease the conflict over the country's future.

Saturday's vote is taking place in 17 of Egypt's 27 provinces with about 25 million eligible voters. The first phase on December 15 produced a " yes" majority of about 56 percent with a turnout of some 32 percent, according to unofficial results.

"I came early to make sure my `no' is among the first of millions today," oil company manager Mahmoud Abdel-Aziz said as he waited in line outside a polling station in the Dokki district, part of Giza province but also in the greater Cairo area. "I am here to say `no' to Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood," he said.

Another Giza voter, accountant and mother of three Sahar Mohamed Zakaria, had a different take on Saturday's vote.

"I'm voting `yes' for stability," she announced.

In part, Egypt's split has been over who will shape the country's path nearly two years after the ouster of Hosni Mubarak nearly two years ago.

An opposition made up of liberals, leftists, secular Egyptians and a swath of the public angered over Morsi's 5-month-old rule fear that Islamists are creating a new Mubarak-style autocracy. They accuse the Brotherhood of monopolizing the levers of power and point to the draft charter, which Islamists on the Constituent Assembly rammed through despite a boycott by liberal and secular members. They are calling on supporters to vote "no."

Morsi's allies say the opposition is trying to use the streets to overturn their victories at the ballot box over the past two years. They also accuse the opposition of carrying out a conspiracy by former members of Mubarak's regime to regain power.

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No luxury banquets or liquor for China military

BEIJING: The Chinese military has been asked to strike off luxury banquets and liquor from its list of do's while hosting receptions for high-ranking officers, under a new austerity-cum-simplicity drive.

According to new regulations, such receptions should be kept simple and devoid of pomp.

Ten regulations drawn up by the Central Military Commission now headed by China's new Communist Party leader, Xi Jinping, who succeed Hu Jintao last month, said the events should be free of welcome banners, red carpets, floral arrangements, formations of soldiers, performances and souvenirs.

The regulations also prohibit commission officials from staying in civilian hotels or military hotels specially equipped with luxury accommodation during inspection tours.

The regulations also require officials to cut both the number and length of inspection tours, overseas visits, meetings and reports.

The measures were stated to be part of a drive to inculcate simplicity and cut down expenditure.

The regulations state that speakers at meetings should avoid empty talk, while commission officials will not be allowed to attend ribbon-cutting and cornerstone-laying ceremonies, celebrations or seminars unless they have received approval from the of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee or the Central Military Commission, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

The use of vehicles equipped with sirens will be rigorously controlled during official visits in order to prevent public disturbances.

Additionally, commission officials are also required to discipline their spouses, children and subordinates and make sure they do not take bribes.

The Central Military Commission enacted the regulations to echo the new central leadership's call to improve work styles.

At a meeting of the political bureau of the CPC Central Committee held on December 4, participants approved regulations calling for political bureau members to improve their work in eight ways, with a particular focus on reducing extravagance and bureaucracy.

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2 dead, supermarket looting spreads in Argentina

BUENOS AIRES: Looters ransacked supermarkets in several Argentine cities on Friday, causing two deaths and evoking memories of widespread theft and riots that killed dozens during the country's worst economic crisis a decade ago.

Santa Fe Province Security Minister Raul Lamberto described the attacks on stores as simple acts of vandalism and not social protests.

Lamberto said two people were killed by a sharp object and gunfire after attacks early Friday on about 20 supermarkets in the cities of Rosario and Villa Gobernador Galvez. He declined to identify the victims or the attackers, but said 25 people were injured and 130 arrested during the looting about 190 miles northeast of Buenos Aires.

Closer to the capital, riot police fired rubber bullets to drive off a mob that was trying to break into a supermarket in San Fernando, a town in Buenos Aires province.

A police lieutenant was hit on the head with a crowbar and suffered severe injuries during the clashes in San Fernando, authorities said. Officials said 378 people had been arrested in those confrontations.

Some shops closed in several cities despite the busy Christmas shopping season, worrying that the looting might spread.

The troubles followed a wave of sporadic looting that began Thursday when dozens of people broke into a supermarket and carried away televisions and other electronics in the Patagonian ski resort of Bariloche. The government responded by deploying 400 military police to that southern city.

The unrest brought back memories of violence during Argentina's economic crisis in 2001, when jobless people stormed supermarkets, shops and kiosks.

Former President Fernando de la Rua resigned on Dec. 20, 2001, after days of protests against his handling of the crisis amid rioting that caused dozens of deaths and injuries across the country.

National Security Secretariat Sergio Berni and Cabinet Chief Juan Abal Medina said this week's looting in at least six Argentine towns was the act of "vandals" instigated by union leaders who oppose President Cristina Fernandez.

"All that people cared about was breaking into shopping malls and taking the LCDs and stereos," Berni said.

He said that while Argentina still has poverty, it is nowhere "like the Argentina of 2001."

Thousands of people marched in front of the presidential palace earlier this week demanding the elimination of income tax, which many lower-paid workers never had to pay before but must now after receiving a salary hike earlier this year.

The demonstration was called by Hugo Moyano, the head of the powerful General Labor Confederation who was once a close ally of Fernandez but is now one of her fiercest critics.

"There's a reality that shows that people are not going through a good time," Moyano told local Radio Mitre. "We see it in the capital when the government handles this situation as if we were living the best year in Swiss history but when you see people living underneath highways."

Moyano accused the government of orchestrating the looting.

"This was staged by the government to victimize itself," Moyano said at a televised news conference.

"The president is out of sync," said Moyano, who in recent months has increasingly appeared alongside her political opponents and often speaks out against the government that he long championed.

Fernandez was re-elected with 54 percent of the vote last year, but her popularity has declined since she began digging ever deeper into the pockets of the middle and upper classes to finance her populist policies.

With inflation running at about 25 percent a year, Argentines have sought to change their pesos for dollars, but the government has cracked down on such trades and made it nearly impossible to obtain dollars legally.

Most Argentines surveyed in polls say they're most worried by a rise in crime and consumer prices and the strict currency controls.

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Key Taliban commander among 5 killed in Pak blast

ISLAMABAD: A top Taliban commander was among five people people killed on Friday in a powerful blast in a market in Pakistan's restive South Waziristan tribal region.

The bomb attack, which also left six people injured, targeted militant commander Maulvi Abbas Wazir who had close links with foreign fighters and the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, officials were quoted as saying by local media.

There was confusion about the nature of the explosion.

Some reports said the attack had involved an improvised explosive device while Geo News channel reported it was carried out by a suicide bomber. State-run Radio Pakistan reported that five persons were killed and six others injured.

The blast occurred in a vegetable market in Wana, the main town of South Waziristan tribal agency.

The army had carried out a massive operation in the region in 2009 but militants continue to be active in the area.

The powerful explosion damaged several shops in the market.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

Maulvi Abbas Wazir was a confidant of Taliban commander Nek Muhammad, who was killed in a US drone strike in 2004.

They were both known for sheltering Uzbek, Tajik and other foreign militants.

Maulvi Abbas left South Waziristan after Maulvi Nazir emerged as the top warlord in the region and launched a campaign against foreign militants.

Abbas returned to the region last year after finalizing a deal with Nazir, who is considered a "pro-government" commander.

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Singaporeans most miserable in the world: Poll

SINGAPORE: Afghans and Iraqis have been traumatised by years of war but the people of super-rich Singapore are even more miserable, coming dead last in a Gallup ranking of "positive emotions" around the world.

The survey of 148 nations and territories sought to tease out adults' mental state through five questions such as "Did you smile or laugh a lot yesterday?" and "Were you treated with respect all day yesterday?".

The city-state of Singapore, which ranks in the top five of the world's richest countries in terms of GDP per capita, was bottom of the pile with only 46 percent of respondents answering "yes" to all five questions.

The survey suggested that Singaporeans felt less rested and enjoy life less than Armenians, who came second last, and Iraqis, who were third from bottom. Afghans were placed 136th out of the 148 countries polled.

Singapore has developed over five decades of no-nonsense government by the People's Action Party from a sleepy backwater into a thriving exporting and financial hub, and in recent years has tried to promote arts and culture.

But political discontent has intensified as costs of living rise across the board, especially in property. The opposition, which has never held power since the former British colony won independence in 1965, is resurgent.

"When you run a country like a business instead of a country, what do you expect?" one commentator called BeoW posted below an article about the Gallup survey in Yahoo! News Singapore.

"This is a national shame for SG (Singapore)," greenbubble posted on hardwarezone.com.sg.

Gallup, which in another poll last month said that Singapore was the world's most emotionless society, said its latest survey "may surprise analysts and leaders who solely focus on traditional economic indicators".

"Higher income does not necessarily mean higher well-being," it said.

The top three countries in the survey were Panama, Paraguay and El Salvador respectively, and Latin America contributed eight of the top 10, making its residents "the most positive people in the world", according to Gallup.

The survey polled at least 1,000 adults in each of the countries. Among other nations, Britain came 30th in the poll, the United States was 35th, and China 36th.

The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan -- which has rejected gross domestic product in favour of "Gross National Happiness" to measure its people's spiritual as well as material well-being -- was not in the poll.

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Clashes in Egypt on eve of referendum

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt: Thousands of Islamists clashed with their opponents on Friday in Egypt's second largest city, Alexandria, on the eve of the second leg of voting on the country's contentious constitution that has deeply polarized the nation.

The two sides hurled rocks and stones at each other in the Mediterranean port city, prompting police to fire tear gas to separate them. Volleys of tear gas containers fell into the sea as security forces cordoned off the crowds to prevent further clashes between the Muslim Brotherhood members and ultraconservative Salafis on one side, and groups of young protesters on the other.

It was not immediately clear who started the fight, which added to the already tense political crisis over the draft charter.

The Islamists had called for a massive rally Friday outside the Qaed Ibrahim main mosque in the heart of Alexandria. About 20 political parties had issued a joint statement, saying they would not hold a rival rally in the city to avoid clashes.

Security forces cordoned off streets leading to the mosque as throngs of mostly long-bearded Salafi Islamists gathered for what they called "the million-man rally to defend clerics and mosques." Islamists chanted "God is Great," and warned opponents, "with blood and soul, we redeem Islam."

The rally was called in response to last week's violence, when a well-known Alexandria preacher and ultraconservative Salafi cleric, Sheik Ahmed el-Mahalawi, was trapped inside a mosque for 12 hours while his supporters battled rock-throwing opponents outside with swords and firebombs.

El-Mahalawi, 87, stirred anger with a sermon last Friday in which he denounced opponents of the Islamist-friendly draft charter as "followers of heretics" - something he denied in a sermon on Friday, accusing media instead of spreading "lies."

He claimed that last week's clashes were meant to prevent the voting from taking place.

"The real goal here is for the referendum not to take place," he said Friday, adding that his backers had been ready with "teams of people equipped with all facilities to end the siege on the mosque" but he held them back because Salafis "don't want to shed blood."

The referendum on the constitution is to be completed Saturday with voting in the remaining 17 of Egypt's 27 provinces. The first round was held in 10 provinces last Saturday, including in Egypt's biggest cities, Cairo and Alexandria.

Rights groups and opposition filed complaints of vote violations after last week's voting. Turnout was low, around 32 percent, and unofficial results showed the Islamists' "yes" vote getting 56 percent of the ballots.

Controversy over the new constitution has in the past month plunged Egypt into political turmoil unprecedented since the February 2011 ouster of Hosni Mubarak, the longtime authoritarian and secular-minded ruler.

The draft has split the country into two camps. On one side are the Islamists from the country's most organized group, The Muslim Brotherhood, from which President Mohammed Morsi hails, and their backers from various ultraconservative Salafi and former Jihadist groups.

The other camp is the opposition, led by the National Salvation Front. It's an alliance of liberal parties and youth groups that is backed by Christians and moderate Muslims who fear Brotherhood's attempts to monopolize power by passing a constitution that enshrines a greater role for clerics and Islamic Shariah law.

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians from the two camps have taken to the streets and city centers over the past month to rally for their side. The crisis peaked when the two camps clashed as Brotherhood supporters attacked an opposition sit-in outside the presidential palace in Cairo on Dec. 5. The violence left at least 10 dead and hundreds of injured on both sides.

The crisis was compounded by Morsi's decision to rush the draft constitution to a referendum after an Islamist-dominated panel approved it, as well as his move last month to grant himself near-absolute powers, which were later rescinded.

The moves have also split state institutions. The judiciary became another battleground, with the powerful Judges' Club calling on its members to boycott the vote while Brotherhood sympathizers in the legal system and other independents insisted on supervising the vote.

Egyptian prosecutors held a sit-in protest to press Morsi-appointed prosecutor general Talaat Abdullah to resign on Monday. Abdullah resigned, then retracted his resignation on Thursday, raising the prospect of new protests by fellow prosecutors.

Also, Zaghloul el-Balshi, the secretary general of the election committee who is also a judge and an aid to the country's justice minister, resigned Wednesday, citing health reasons. The media said his resignation was prompted by his inability to prevent vote violations in the first leg of the referendum.

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Obama sets Jan deadline to address gun violence

WASHINGTON: In the wake of the huge public outcry over the deadly Connecticut elementary school massacre, President Barack Obama has set a January deadline for proposals to deal with gun violence in the United States.

Five days after last week's massacre that left 26, including 20 children, dead Obama Wednesday formed a new group led by Vice President Joe Biden charged with developing "concrete proposals" for dealing with gun violence "no later than January." The group will include some cabinet members and outside organizations.

No single law or set of laws can prevent gun violence, Obama said at a news conference Wednesday calling for quick action from Congress. But the complexity of the issue "can no longer be an excuse for doing nothing."

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

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

Authorities must work to make "access to mental health care at least as easy as access to a gun," and the country needs to tackle a "culture that all too often glorifies guns and violence," he said.

Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein has said she will introduce legislation to reinstate the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004. White House spokesman Jay Carney said Tuesday that the president supports that effort.

But some have suggested future tragedies can be avoided by arming teachers.

Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America, said if more guns had been at Sandy Hook Elementary School, most victims would be alive.

Meanwhile, in the wale of the Connecticut tragedy, a growing number of people are looking for action from the government and society that can prevent future incidents, according to a new national survey.

And the CNN/ORC International poll released Wednesday also indicated that a bare majority now favour major restrictions on owning guns or an outright ban on gun ownership by ordinary citizens and more than six in ten favour a ban on semi-automatic assault rifles.

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Pakistan reports 9th death in polio team attacks

PESHAWAR, Pakistan: Pakistani officials say another victim from attacks on UN backed anti-polio teams has died, bringing the three-day toll to nine.

Health official Janbaz Afridi says 20-year-old Hilal Khan died on Thursday, a day after he was shot in the head in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

Since Monday, gunmen had launched attacks in across Pakistan on teams vaccinating children against polio. Six women are among the nine anti-polio workers killed in the vaccination campaign jointly conducted with the Pakistani government.

The UN has suspended the drive until a government investigation is completed.

Pakistan is one of only three countries where the crippling disease is endemic.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks but some Islamic militants accuse health workers of acting as spies for the US.

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Ailing Iraq president heads to Germany

BAGHDAD: Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a key figure who sought to bridge political and sectarian divides, left for Germany for treatment on Thursday after suffering a reported stroke, his office said.

Talabani departed "the Medical City hospital in Baghdad, heading to the Federal Republic of Germany, under the care of a specialised medical team," the presidency said on its website.

Talabani was hospitalized late on Monday after what state television reported was a stroke, but doctors have said his condition has improved.

His health has major political implications in Iraq, where he has sought to bring together various feuding politicians, Sunni and Shiite Muslims, and Arabs and Kurds.

"Jalal Talabani is a crucial joining-link between Iraqi Kurdistan and Baghdad," International Crisis Group analyst Maria Fantappie said of the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq at odds with Baghdad over a number of issues.

"President Talabani has been crucial in mediating between the two sides and ensuring the continuation of dialogue between Kurds and the central government," Fantappie said.

John Drake, an analyst with AKE Group, said: "While on paper his role is somewhat limited, his influence and mediation skills have gone a long way in smoothing over the country's troubled political scene.

"Some may describe his position as 'ceremonial' but he has made it a lot more active, simply though dialogue and discussion, which play a strong role in Iraqi politics," said Drake.

Under Iraq's constitution, the vice president takes over if the post of president becomes vacant for any reason, and a new president must be elected by parliament within 30 days.

Vice-president Khudayr al-Khuzaie would apparently take charge temporarily if Talabani dies, both by virtue of being the senior of Iraq's two vice presidents, and because the other, Tareq al-Hashemi, is a fugitive who has been given multiple death sentences for charges including murder.

Talabani has had a series of health problems in recent years.

He underwent successful heart surgery in the United States in August 2008. The previous year, he was evacuated to neighbouring Jordan for treatment for dehydration and exhaustion.

He has also travelled to the United States and to Europe for treatment for a variety of ailments.

Talabani has been a key figure in Iraqi politics for decades, first as a Kurdish rebel and political leader, and as president since 2005.

Since becoming president, he has won praise for attempting to bridge divisions between Sunni and Shiite, and Arab and Kurdish factions.

During the past year, he has repeatedly sought to convene a national conference aimed at reconciling feuding Iraqi leaders.

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Joe Biden to head US gun policy push

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama will announce on Wednesday that Vice President Joe Biden will lead an effort to come up with policies to address gun violence amid calls for action following the massacre of 26 people including 20 children in a Connecticut elementary school last week.

The President is not expected to announce policy decisions but rather lay out the process by which his administration will move forward, White House aides said.

Obama has turned to Biden in the past to take a role in high-profile policy initiatives, such as efforts to seek a deficit-reduction compromise with congressional Republicans in 2011.

Biden's mission - to coordinate a process among government agencies to formulate policies in the wake of the Newtown shootings - comes just days after an event that appears to have generated a national outcry for greater efforts to stem gun violence.

The Connecticut massacre was the fourth shooting rampage to claim multiple lives in the United States this year.

The President issued a call to action at a memorial service in Newtown on Sunday, demanding changes to the way the United States deals with gun violence. Obama said that in coming weeks he would "use whatever power this office" holds to start efforts to preventing further such tragedies.

However, gun control has been a low priority for most U.S. politicians due to the widespread popularity of guns in America and the clout of the National Rifle Association, the powerful gun industry lobby.

The constitutional right to bear arms is seen by many Americans as set in stone, and even after mass shootings, politicians have tiptoed around specific steps to limit access to lethal weapons.

Even so, the horror of the Newtown killings, in which a 20-year-old man killed 6- and 7-year-old children and their teachers in their classrooms before taking his own life, has provoked an apparent change of heart in some politicians who have previously opposed gun control.

One such lawmaker is Democratic Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia. The gun rights advocate said he would now be open to more regulation of military-style rifles like the one used in Newtown. Obama spoke with him on Tuesday, the White House said.

The White House spelled out some gun control measures on Tuesday that Obama would support.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama would back US Senator Dianne Feinstein's effort to reinstate an assault weapons ban. The president also would favor any law to close a loophole related to gun-show sales, he said.

Efforts to limit high-capacity gun ammunition clips would be another area of interest, Carney said.

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3,800 British troops leave Afghanistan by 2013

LONDON (AP): Prime Minister David Cameron announced Wednesday that some 3,800 British troops would be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2013.

Some 5,000 will remain into 2014, Cameron told lawmakers.

The announcement comes after a lengthy video call Tuesday between Cameron and US President Barack Obama.

There are some 60,000 US troops in Afghanistan.

Cameron said the decision reflects an increasing confidence in the Afghan National Security Forces.

"Our combat mission is drawing to a close, but our commitment to the Afghan people is long-term,'' said Defense Secretary Philip Hammond.

Since 2001, 433 British troops have died in Afghanistan.

Last month, France ended its combat operations in Afghanistan, pulling hundreds of troops from a base in a volatile region northeast of Kabul and fulfilling promises to end its combat role on a faster track than other NATO allies.

France has lost 88 troops in Afghanistan since late 2001.

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Iraq president hospitalized after suffering stroke

BAGHDAD: Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd who has mediated among the country's Shia, Sunni and Kurdish parties, was in hospital on Tuesday after suffering a stroke that left him in "critical but stable condition", government sources said.

Should Talabani be incapacitated, Iraq would lose an influential negotiator who often stepped in to ease tensions in the fragile power-sharing government and between the central government and the country's autonomous Kurdistan region.

Talabani's office said he was admitted to a Baghdad hospital on Monday night and the 79-year-old president was in stable condition under intensive medical supervision after receiving treatment for blocked arteries.

"He was transferred to hospital late last night after suffering a stroke," a senior Kurdish official said.

Talabani had been suffering from ill health this year and received medical treatment overseas several times in the last two years.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki visited the president at the Baghdad hospital on Tuesday.

According to Iraq's constitution, the parliament should elect a new president if the post becomes vacant. Under Iraq's power-sharing deal the presidency should go to a Kurd while two deputy president positions are shared by a Sunni Muslim and a Shi'ite Muslim.

Talabani recently helped ease a military stand-off between Maliki's central government and the autonomous Kurdistan president, Masoud Barzani, in a dispute over oil-field rights and internal boundaries. Both regions sent troops to reinforce positions along their internal frontier.

A veteran of the Kurdish guerrilla movement, Talabani survived wars, exile and infighting in northern Iraq to become the country's first Kurdish president a few years after the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

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UK renames part of Antarctica after the Queen

LONDON: The southern portion of British Antarctic Territory has been named Queen Elizabeth Land in honour of the monarch's 60 years on the throne, London announced Tuesday.

The announcement was made as Queen Elizabeth II attended her final diamond jubilee event with a visit to the Foreign Office, which handles Britain's overseas territories.

The previously unnamed area now called Queen Elizabeth Land is around 169,000 square miles (437,000 square kilometres). It makes up just under a third of the British Antarctic Territory land mass and is an area almost twice the size of Britain.

"As a mark of this country's gratitude to the Queen for her service, we are naming a part of the British Antarctic Territory in her honour as Queen Elizabeth Land," Foreign Secretary William Hague said.

"This is a fitting tribute at the end of Her Majesty's diamond jubilee year.

"To be able to recognise the UK's commitment to Antarctica with a permanent association with Her Majesty is a great honour."

The new name will be used on all British maps and other countries may follow suit.

The Foreign Office said the area's boundaries were the Ronne and Filchner ice shelves to the north; Coats Land to the northeast; Dronning Maud Land to the east and to the west, a line between the South Pole and the Rutford Ice Stream, east of Constellation Inlet.

"From today, in your honour, it will be forever known as Queen Elizabeth Land," Hague said.

British Antarctic Territory stretches from a longitude of 20 degrees to 80 degrees west. It was the first official claim in Antarctica, made in 1908. It was designated a separate overseas territory in 1962.

Argentina and Chile made later overlapping claims to the area in the 1940s, though all claims are held in abeyance under the 1959 Antarctic Treaty.

Britain operates three research stations there.

It is not the first time that a patch of the icy continent has been named after Queen Elizabeth, now 86.

A sector of Australian Antarctic Territory was named Princess Elizabeth Land upon its discovery in 1931, when her grandfather king George V was on the throne.

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Kyrgyz freeze as gas, power supplies run short

BISHKEK (Kyrgyzstan): Thousands of households in the capital of Kyrgyzstan have been hit by chronic gas and power shortages just as temperatures have dropped to around minus 20 Celsius (minus 4 Fahrenheit).

Residents of Bishkek and nearby towns, including Kant, which houses a Russian airbase, struggled Tuesday for a fifth straight day to keep homes warm.

The crisis has been provoked by a shortage in natural gas deliveries from neighboring Kazakhstan, which has had to hold onto its own reserves after failing to receive imports from Uzbekistan. The reason for the shortfall from Uzbekistan has not been clarified.

These Central Asian nations, all once part of the Soviet Union, have routinely failed since independence to reach a satisfactory working arrangement on sharing resources.

Failure in gas deliveries pushes people into using more electricity for heating, which in turn leads to blackouts.

The cuts are fraying tempers in Kyrgyzstan, which also hosts a U.S. airbase and has struggled to maintain stability since the previous president was overthrown in an uprising in 2010.

Energy Minister Avtandil Kalmambetov said Kazakhstan is delivering only about 60 percent of the amount of gas it had agreed to.

Gas supplies to 80 percent of the houses and 40 percent of the apartments in Bishkek have been suspended since Friday, Kalmambetov said.

Kyrgyzstan has been bedeviled with energy shortages since independence. Uzbekistan has repeatedly cut off its direct gas supplies to Kyrgyzstan over unpaid debts.

Bishkek suburbs resident Natalya Umnova said temperatures in her apartment have dropped to 46 degrees Fahrenheit (8 degrees Celsius).

"For two days we've had no power or gas. It is impossible for us to stay. I can't even make a cup of tea," said Umnova.

Prime Minister Zhantoro Satybaldiyev has drawn many people's ire for criticizing Bishkek residents for failing to stockpile coal.

"No matter how much we appeal to the people, they still make mistakes and fail to stock up on alternative fuel," he said this week.

The remarks were reminiscent of suggestions to consider burning dung for heating once made by former President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who was overthrown in a violent revolt in 2010 after five years in power.

Failures in fulfilling basic energy needs were a core factor leading to Bakiyev's ouster.

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