Wiggles, Aussie talents woo Carols crowd

THOUSANDS of arms and legs waved and flailed at Sydney's Carols in the Domain, as the original members of The Wiggles celebrated their last carols bonanza.

More than 50,000 people packed into the Domain on Saturday, as the popular annual event ushered in the Christmas cheer with The Ten Tenor's rendition of O Come All Ye Faithful at 8.30pm (AEDT).

But the cheers really kicked off when Australia's most loved children's music group said their final goodbye to the event.

"Three of the members are hanging up their skivvies so tonight is their very last television performance before handing over to new band members," the Carols co-host Natalie Barr said.

"So this is it Australia, the end of an era," Matt White said.

The crowd jumped to their feet, shooting out arms and legs in unison with the original Red, Yellow, Red, Purple and Blue wiggles as they sang and danced to Fruit salad, Hot Potato and Jingle Bells.

"The Wiggles have been performing at Carols in the Domain for 20 years ... and we have always had such a wonderful time," Red Wiggle Murray Cook said, adding that next year will see the three new Wiggles perform.

Earlier in the evening candles began waving as Troy Cassar-Daley sung Have Yourself a Merry Christmas - later coming back with guitar in tow to sing Jingle Bell Rock.

Georgie Parker and Jay Laga'aia teamed up for the Christmas favourite Here Comes Santa Claus and Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, eliciting a big cheer from the crowd.

Meanwhile The X-Factor favourites The Collective channelled the 1980s, with a rendition of the Wham! classic Last Christmas' prompting some more screams from the audience.

"Slightly popular. The Twittersphere just exploded, The Collective is in town," White quipped.

The X-Factor winner Samantha Jade, backed by a chorus, also wooed the crowd with Away in a Manger.

The cast of the new musical Legally Blonde then turned the stage pink with the modern favourite All I Want For Christmas is You.

Nineteen-year-old tenor - and 2009 Australia's Got Talent winner - Mark Vincent had the revellers in awe with a booming rendition of Jerusalem.

R&B singer-songwriter Jessica Mauboy delivered a tender rendition of Silent Night, before Vincent returned, joining opera singer Ali McGregor to lead the Salvation Army choir with Ode to Joy as fireworks boomed into the Domain sky.

A full-cast finale, joined by a suitably burly, jolly Santa Claus, saw a medley featuring Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree and We Wish You a Merry Christmas close the night in party mode as pyrotechnics blasted above one last time.

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China shows off its new high-speed rail

A display shows the speed aboard a high-speed train in Hebei province south of Beijing. Picture: AFP Source: AFP

CHINA has shown off the final link of the world's longest high-speed rail route set to begin whisking passengers from Beijing to Guangzhou next week in a third of the time currently required.

The much anticipated opening of high-speed passenger service from Beijing to Guangzhou, a distance of 2298 kilometres is scheduled to begin Wednesday, officials said.

Travelling at an average speed of 300 kilometres per hour, the new line will slash the time it takes to travel by rail from the capital to the southern commercial hub from the current 22 hours to just eight.

Authorities took journalists for a ride yesterday on the section of the route linking Beijing's West Station with the city of Zhengzhou 693 kilometres to the south, the route's last link.

Hitting speeds of over 300km/h, the gleaming, tubular train sped past frozen lakes and rivers as well as snow-covered farmland on the journey of approximately two-and-a-half hours each way.

Though moving much faster than the country's conventional rolling stock, the ride on the aerodynamic bullet train was smooth and made little noise other than a low-level hum during most of the trip.

The reclining seats are laid out in rows of three and two separated by an aisle, are upholstered in cloth and can be turned around so rows faced each other.

Toilets on the train are of stainless steel squat variety, with slightly more bathroom space than would usually be found on an airliner, while uniformed women were on hand to serve drinks and snacks during the trip.

"This is the world's longest bullet train track," Zhou Li, a Ministry of Railways official, said, describing the Beijing-Guangzhou route. "It's also one of the most technically advanced tracks in China and the world."

The line will have 35 stops. Besides Zhengzhou, they will include other major cities such as Wuhan and Changsha. Sections linking Zhengzhou and Wuhan and Wuhan and Guangzhou are already in service.

China's high-speed rail network was only established in 2007, but has quickly become the world's largest, with a total of 8358 kilometres of track at the end of 2010.

That is expected to almost double to 16,000 kilometres by 2020.

But the network has been plagued by graft and safety scandals following the rapid expansion. A deadly bullet train collision in July 2011 killed 40 people and sparked a public outcry.

The accident - China's worst rail disaster since 2008 - triggered a flood of criticism of the government and accusations that authorities had compromised safety in its rush to expand.

Authorities say that they have taken steps ahead of the new line's opening to improve maintenance and inspection of infrastructure, including track, rolling stock and emergency response measures.

"The emergency rescue system and all kinds of emergency pre-plans are established to improve emergency response ability," according to a ministry booklet handed out to journalists.

The train will be in service for China's Lunar New Year holiday period, which falls in mid-February, when hundreds of millions of people will travel across the country in the world's largest annual migration.

State media earlier reported that December 26 had been chosen for the start of the passenger service on the Beijing-Guangzhou line to commemorate the birth of Chinese leader Mao Zedong.
 

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Ex-butler pardoned, expelled from Vatican

POPE Benedict XVI has pardoned his former butler Paolo Gabriele, who was sentenced to 18 months in jail for leaking secret papal memos, but banished him from the Vatican.

"This morning the Holy Father Benedict XVI visited Paolo Gabriele in prison in order to confirm his forgiveness and to inform him personally of his acceptance of Mr Gabriele's request for pardon," the Vatican said in a statement.

Gabriele's pardon was a "paternal gesture" for a man "with whom the pope shared a relationship of daily familiarity for many years".

However, the ex-butler "cannot resume his previous occupation or continue to live in Vatican City," it added.

After a 15-minute meeting with Benedict, Gabriele returned home to his wife and three children, Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said.

Gabriele had spent a total of three and a half months in detention.

A former trusted aide who passed hours of every day in the pontiff's company, Gabriele will now have to move out of his home within the tiny city state's walls.

"The Holy See, trusting in his sincere repentance, wishes to offer him the possibility of returning to a serene family life," the Vatican said.

Gabriele was found guilty in October of leaking sensitive memos to the press as part of a whistle-blowing campaign against what he said was "evil and corruption" in the Vatican.

Documents secretly copied and leaked in a case that has been dubbed "Vatileaks" included allegations by a former governor of the city state of massive fraud within its walls.

During the trial, Vatican police said they had found more than 1000 secret documents, some photocopies but others originals, in Gabriele's home, stolen from the papal palace.

These included letters from cardinals and politicians and papers the pontiff himself had marked "To Be Destroyed".

Gabriele had said he wanted to "help" the pope who, he claimed, had been kept in ignorance of scandals inside the Vatican.

The documents were handed to an Italian journalist, Gianluigi Nuzzi, who published them in a book.

While the disgraced butler was initially given a three-year jail term, the presiding judge reduced the sentence on the grounds of his past service to the Catholic Church and his apology to the pope for betraying him.

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Damascus car bomb kills 5

A CAR bomb blast in northeastern Damascus killed five men and wounded dozens of people on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"A car bomb blast in the district of Qaboon killed five men, wounded dozens of other people and caused widespread material damage," said the Britain-based watchdog.

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Suicide bomber targets Pakistan meeting

A SUICIDE bomber has blown himself up at a meeting of the political party that rules Pakistan's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, killing six people and wounding 21, officials say.

There were "reports of injuries to the senior minister of the provincial government, Bashir Bilour," police official Asif Iqbal said.

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Don't return to sectarian strife: Iraq PM

IRAQI Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has called for people to stand together against sectarian strife, warning of a return to the days of bloody conflict when heads were left in the streets.

Maliki called in a speech in Baghdad for Iraqis to "stand together in one rank in facing this strife".

And the Shi'ite premier warned of a return to the worst days of the sectarian conflict that swept Iraq from 2006 to 2008.

"Have you forgotten the day we were collecting bodies from the streets? Have you forgotten the day we were collecting severed heads from the streets?" he asked.

Maliki's remarks came two days after security forces arrested at least nine of Sunni Finance Minister Rafa al-Essawi's guards on terror charges, threatening a new crisis with the minister's secular, Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc.

After his guards were arrested, Essawi demanded Maliki's resignation, and also called for no-confidence proceedings that failed to remove the premier earlier this year to be reopened.

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Islamists, opponents clash in northern Egypt

CLASHES have broken out in northern Egypt between Islamist supporters and opponents of the country's highly contentious draft constitution.

The two sides hurled rocks and stones at each other in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, prompting police to fire tear gas to separate them.

The clashes add to the already tense political crisis in Egypt on the eve of the second leg of voting on the draft charter.

The Islamists had called for a massive rally outside the main mosque in the heart of Alexandria. It was not clear who started the fight.

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Court overturns Google convictions

AN ITALIAN appeals court has overturned the convictions of three Google executives who had been charged for a video on a Google site that showed a disabled teen being bullied.

Google called the ruling "a total victory."

A lower court in 2010 held the executives criminally responsible for the posting of the video.

The verdict raised concerns that Internet platforms could be forced to police their content and put European privacy concerns in contrast with the freewheeling nature of the Internet.

Google said it removed the video in question within two hours of being notified by authorities.

The appellate ruling throws out the convictions against Google's global privacy counsel Peter Fleischer, its senior vice president and chief legal officer David Drummond and retired chief financial officer George Reyes.

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Bollywood star Khan charged with assault

INDIAN police have charged Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan for allegedly assaulting and breaking the nose of a South African businessman at a luxury hotel earlier this year, a report said Friday.

The actor ran into trouble after Iqbal Sharma registered a case with the police in February, complaining that he was pushed and punched in the face by Khan at the Taj Mahal Palace hotel's Wasabi Japanese restaurant in Mumbai.

"Colaba police station filed the charge sheet against Saif in a metropolitan magistrate court on Thursday," Deputy Commissioner of Police Ravindra Shishwe told the Press Trust of India news agency.

Khan and two friends were charged under section 325 of the Indian Penal Code for assault, PTI reported.

Khan, 42, was at the time of the alleged assault dining with friends and actress Kareena Kapoor, whom he married in October.

After the incident, Mr Sharma said he had only asked the staff to get Khan's table to quieten down, which sparked a heated argument and the alleged assault.

Khan however claimed one of his friends was assaulted which led to the fight.

He surrendered to police after the brawl and was released on bail.

Khan is one of Bollywood's biggest actors and the Nawab (Muslim prince) of the former princely state of Pataudi.

His father was famous cricketing legend Mansur Ali Khan, better known as "Tiger Pataudi".

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Turf war fears as biker gangs hit Europe

A WAVE of biker gangs from the US, Canada and Australia arriving in Europe has raised fears of deadly turf battle like the Nordic biker wars of the 1990s, European police agency Europol warned.

Gangs such as the Comancheros and Rebels from Australia, Rock Machine from Canada and the Mongols and Vagos from the US were moving into Europe, said a Europol statement.

The total number of what it called Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMCG) in Europe now ran at more than 700 , it said.

The gangs were seeking out particularly a dangerous hard core of recruits in their bid to seize territory to traffic drugs, weapons and people.

Now they were approaching far-right militants, prison gang members, hooligans and military personnel to exploit their expert knowledge, said Europol.

"Merely establishing a chapter on the 'turf' of another OMCG is interpreted as an act of provocation and is likely to result in violent confrontations and retaliation," the agency said.

The gangs "have a propensity to use extreme forms of violence", including with Kalashnikov assault rifles and grenades.

Modern biker gangs were becoming less associated with the biker lifestyle, with some members having neither a motorbike nor a driving licence, Europol noted.

Biker gangs were also involved in territorial disputes with local organised crime groups and street gangs, it added.

Europol said it had informed national police forces of the risk of clashes "and the possible impact on the general organised crime situation".

Europol said the so-called 'Nordic Biker Wars' of the 1990s were "a compelling example of the capacity for extreme violence resulting from an increased concentration of OMCGs in Europe."

The deadly conflict exploded when the Bandidos gang penetrated Nordic countries and challenged the Hell's Angels for a region that had been under their control for more than a decade.

Bikers used weapons including assault rifles, anti-tank weapons and car bombs against each other, leaving at least 11 bikers dead and dozens wounded.

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Delhi bus rapists face life sentences

INDIA'S government, facing swelling protests over the gang-rape of a female student on a bus, vowed to press for life sentences for her six attackers and promised stricter policing.

Home Secretary R.K. Singh also offered state assistance to the 23-year-old victim of the brutal Sunday night attack who was fighting for her life in hospital after suffering enormous injuries to her intestines.

"We will ask for the maximum punishment of life imprisonment and ask the court for the speedy trial of the accused," Mr Singh said amid demands from thousands of angry protesters for the death sentence for the detained suspects.

Six drunken men were joyriding on a bus when they picked up the physiotherapy student and her 28-year-old male companion and took turns raping her. Afterwards, they threw the pair off the speeding vehicle.

Police say the woman was attacked with an iron rod after being raped.

Five people, including the bus driver, have been arrested while a hunt is underway for the remaining suspect, city police commissioner Neeraj Kumar said.

Mr Kumar said police have charged the detained suspects with attempted murder.

"Police teams are close on the heels of the sixth and we will get him soon," Mr Kumar said at a joint news conference with the home secretary.

Mr Kumar promised a slew of measures to "make Delhi safe," promising squads of officers would patrol the city, crack down on vehicles with darkened glasses and zero in on drunken motorists.

"All hooliganism will be swiftly punished," the home secretary added.

Hundreds of people, mostly women, kept a vigil outside the hospital where the woman was being kept on life support after several rounds of surgery.

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Two dead in supermarket looting

TWO people died and two more were seriously injured as mobs looted supermarkets in Rosario, Argentina's third largest city, an official said.

Matias Drivet, a city hall official, gave the toll after similar violence shook other cities in Argentina on Thursday.

In Bariloche in the south, officials said looters were apparently venting anger over a blackout that had left much of Neuquen province without power on Wednesday.

People wielding sticks raided a supermarket there called Changomas, owned by the US retail giant Walmart, and stole TV sets, bicycles and electrical appliances, witnesses said.

Another supermarket was also looted.

The central government sent in army troops to restore calm.

Bariloche is a tourist city 1650 kilometres south of Buenos Aires.

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Three Palestinians dead from swine flu

THREE Palestinians in the West Bank have died in the past week from the H1N1 influenza strain known as swine flu, the Palestinian health ministry said.

"There were three deaths in the past week, and more than 50 people sickened by the virus," said Assad Ramlawi, the ministry's director general of health care for the West Bank.

He said the deaths occurred in the northern cities of Jenin, Qalqilya and Tulkarem, but played down the significance of the fatalities.

"The situation is not out of the ordinary. This virus spreads at the beginning of winter season," he said, adding that those who had died "had weak immune systems, which is what caused their deaths."

The health ministry said medical staff had been trained to detect and treat the virus.

The virus has affected Israel and the Palestinian territories in the past, killing dozens of people.

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Iran 'hangs six drug smugglers, rapist'

IRAN has hanged seven men, six of them for drug trafficking and another for rape, in prison in the central province of Isfahan, Kayhan newspaper reported.

The seven, aged 25 to 45, were executed on Wednesday, the province's public prosecutor, Mohammad Reza Habibi, said in the report.

"One of the smugglers was charged with armed trafficking of more than 300 kilograms of opium," Mr Habibi said.

"The others were in possession of crack and heroin (weighing) between one and 65 kilograms."

The Islamic state, where murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and adultery are punishable by death, has one of the highest annual number of executions in the world, alongside China, Saudi Arabia and the US.

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

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The Queen goes 3D for Christmas

SHE made her acting debut at the London Olympics. Now the Queen is hitting the screen again - in 3D.

Buckingham Palace says the monarch was "ready to embrace something new" for her annual Christmas broadcast in honour of her Diamond Jubilee year - 60 years on the throne.

The 86-year-old monarch has made a prerecorded Christmas broadcast on radio since 1952 and on television since 1957.

She writes the speeches herself, and the broadcasts mark the rare occasions in which the Queen voices her own opinion without government consultation.

The palace said the Queen has watched the broadcast and found it "absolutely lovely."

It airs at 3pm on Christmas Day.

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US weekly unemployment claims rise

THE number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits rose last week by 17,000, reversing four weeks of declines.

The Labor Department reports that a seasonally adjusted 361,000 people sought unemployment aid during the week ended December 15, from a revised 344,000 the week before.

But the less volatile four-week moving average fell 13,750 to 367,750, the lowest since late October, suggesting the job market continues to grow modestly. Applications had surged after superstorm Sandy, then fallen back.

Applications are a proxy for layoffs. The drop of the four-week average suggests companies are cutting fewer jobs, even if they aren't hiring enough to lower the unemployment rate significantly.

The economy has generated an average of 151,000 jobs a month in 2012, not enough to pull the high unemployment down sharply.

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Major US blizzard threatens holiday travel

THE US Midwest's first major snowstorm of the winter caused "life-threatening conditions" and flight delays that could ripple into problems across the country as travelers gear up for the Christmas holiday.

A regional energy company said the storm had cut power to more than 40,000 households and businesses in Iowa, where nearly 30 centimetres of snow had fallen in the capital, Des Moines.

The Weather Channel said around 27 centimetres of snow covered parts of Wisconsin, with around 20 centimetres in Omaha, Nebraska.

The storm dumped more than 0.6 metres snow in parts of the western US, including Washington state and Wyoming.

Chicago's bustling O'Hare International Airport, one of the world's busiest, rated delays at five on a five-point index, hours before the snow was even expected to hit, in mid-afternoon, according to FlightStats.com.

The website reported that flights were being held up an average of just under two hours, and some flights slowed by up to four hours.

Flights through smaller airports in South Dakota and Iowa were cancelled.

The delays and cancellations could affect travel across the country, especially since many passengers need to change planes in Chicago - and even if they do not, their aircraft may have to pass through there.

The national weather service forecast "intense snowfall rates," along with high winds and reduced visibility to start in Chicago by 3pm local time (2100 GMT).

Two major airlines, Delta and United, issued travel alerts allowing passengers to change their tickets without fees for travel through affected areas.

Further south, the weather service warned of a "life-threatening blizzard" that was located over central Missouri Thursday morning and heading into western Illinois by morning.

"This will result in life threatening conditions and nearly impossible travel overnight through today," the bulletin warned.

"Falling trees may also occur to due heavy snow accumulation on trees and high winds."

Many schools across Nebraska and Iowa were closed Thursday or opening late.

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France recognises brutal rule in Algeria

FRENCH President Francois Hollande acknowledged the "unjust" and "brutal" nature of France's occupation of Algeria for 132 years, but stopped short of apologising for the past as many Algerians have demanded.

On the second day of his state visit to this North African nation, he told the two houses of parliament that "I recognise the suffering the colonial system has inflicted" on the Algerian people.

He specifically recognised the "massacres" by the French during the seven-year war that led to Algerian independence in 1962. The admission was a profound departure from Mr Hollande's predecessors who, if not defending France's tormented past with Algeria, remained silent.

The Socialist president's visit came as Algeria celebrates 50 years of independence from France, during which the two countries' ties have been fraught with tension.

Mr Hollande was traveling to the western city of Tlemcen, the birthplace of Algerian wartime nationalist Messali Hadj.

Mr Hollande said at the start of his visit that he and Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika are opening a "new era" with a strategic partnership among equals.

Large numbers of Algerians, and some political parties, have been seeking an apology from France for inequalities suffered by the population under colonial rule and for brutality during the war. However, Mr Hollande said at a news conference that he would make no apologies.

"History, even when it is tragic, even when it is painful for our two countries, must be told," Mr Hollande told lawmakers on Thursday.

"For 132 years, Algeria was subjected to a profoundly unjust and brutal system" of colonization.

"I recognise here the suffering that colonisation has inflicted on the Algerian people," he added.

Mr Hollande notably listed the sites of three massacres, including one at Setif where seven years ago Bouteflika compared French methods to those used by Nazi Germany and asked France to make a "gesture ... to erase this black stain."

The violence in Setif, 300 kilometres east of Algiers, began on May 8, 1945, apparently during a celebration of the end of World War II.

Demonstrators unfurled Algerian flags, which were banned at the time by the French. As police began confiscating the flags, the crowds turned on the French, killing about two dozen of them.

The uprising spread and the response by French colonial troops grew increasingly harsh in the following weeks, including bombardments of villages by a French war ship. Algerians say some 45,000 people may have died. Figures in France put the number of Algerian dead at about 15,000 to 20,000.

Mr Hollande and Mr Bouteflika agreed to relaunch economic, strategic and cultural relations between the two countries on a new basis among equals. A new start must "be supported by a base," Hollande said, and "this base is truth."

"Nothing is built in secretiveness, forgetting, denial," Hollande said.

A Declaration of Algiers was published late on Wednesday saying that France and Algeria "are determined to open a new chapter in their relations" of "exceptional intensity" and spelling out political, human and economic goals.

France announced a deal for French automaker Renault to build a factory in Algeria with cars destined for all of Africa. The long-negotiated joint venture will be 49 per cent owned by Renault and 51 per cent by two Algerian companies, according to a statement by Renault, the first carmaker to establish production facilities in Algeria. The factory will be located outside Oran, a port city west of Algiers, and eventually expand to an automotive training center.

The accord is one of about 15 agreements being signed during the visit, on topics ranging from culture to defense.

Mr Hollande, who came to the French presidency in May, made an initial break with the French past by officially recognising the deaths of Algerians at a 1961 pro-independence demonstration in Paris at the hands of French police.

He referred to the "bloody repression" and paid homage to the victims of "this tragedy," for which an official death toll has never been issued.

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Qld budget's bottom line expected to dip

THE Queensland government's budget update on Thursday is expected to reveal a significant downward revision to royalties.

The Mid-Year Fiscal and Economic Review (MYFER) is also expected to outline how the federal government's funding cuts to health and education in the state have impacted the bottom line.

"(Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan's) home state will bear 32 per cent of the overall reduction in commonwealth payments to state governments, which is well above a per capita calculation," Treasurer Tim Nicholls said.

"While recession in Europe and ongoing economic difficulties in the US have impacted Queensland's largest trading partners, our policies will help drive strong economic growth in Queensland."

Despite the setback, Mr Nicholls said the state was still on track to deliver a fiscal surplus in 2014/15.

The decision to lift coal royalties from October this year will help, with more than $1.6 billion expected to be raised from mining over four years.

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5 Northern Ireland MPs sent bullets

FIVE Northern Ireland politicians have been sent letters containing bullets as an extremist Protestant campaign of death threats and illegal street protests persists over Belfast City Council's decision to stop flying the British flag year-round.

Police and officials in two political parties confirmed the death-threat letters on Wednesday. All were seized by security staff screening mail at Stormont Parliamentary Building in east Belfast.

Three officials from the cross-community Alliance Party were targets of the threats. Alliance has borne the brunt of Protestant anger after its Belfast councillors cast the deciding votes December 3 restricting the UK flag's display to just 18 official days each year at Belfast City Hall.

Two officials from Sinn Fein, the Irish nationalist party that represents most of the Catholic minority, also were targeted.

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Sydney custom officers suspected: reports

A NETWORK of custom officers at Sydney Airport has allegedly been working with organised crime figures to import drugs, according to media reports.

The group of up to 20 officials are suspected to be involved in either serious misconduct or corrupt dealings, Fairfax media reported on Thursday.

The activity ranges from criminal association and leaking information to drug trafficking and bribery.

According to the report, airport baggage handlers are also involved, with the group operating since at least 2009.

The are suspected to have imported pseudoephedrine, cocaine, steroids and possibly even weapons.

When media reports surfaced on Wednesday of allegations that up to 30 custom officials were involved in drug importations, a spokesman for the Australian Federal Police (AFP) refused to comment.

He told AAP that a press conference was set to be held in Sydney on Thursday.

An Australian Customs spokesman would also make no comment on Wednesday's reports.

According Fairfax, customs documents from dating back to 2007 outlined numerous warnings that the body lacked the resources to detect corruption and that its anti-corruption framework was "outdated".

Acting customs CEO Mike Pezzullo told Fairfax that "more needs to be done".

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3800 British troops leave Afghanistan

PRIME Minister David Cameron has announced that 3800 British troops will be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2013.

Some 5000 will remain into 2014, Cameron told MPs.

The announcement comes after a lengthy video call on 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 Defence 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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Russia parliament says no to US adoptions

RUSSIA'S lower house of parliament has given key support to a bill banning Americans from adopting children, resulting in a huge outcry from rights groups.

The bill, which came in retaliation for a US measure that punishes Russia for its rights record under President Vladimir Putin, was approved by 400 MPs in the 450-seat chamber.

Only four deputies voted against the bill while two parliamentarians in the Kremlin-controlled legislature abstained.

The bill now needs to be passed in the largely symbolic third reading on Friday before moving on to the upper house of parliament, which often gives unanimous approval to Kremlin-sponsored legislation.

Putin will then need to sign the bill before it enters into law, possibly as early as the start of next year.

The tough measure bans adoption of Russian children by US families, ends the bilateral adoption agreement between the two countries, and forbids US adoption agencies from working in the Russia.

With several dozen people protesting outside, police officers placed the Duma building under virtual lockdown, bringing reinforcements in anticipation of large rallies.

While Putin last week welcomed the parliament's decision to retaliate against the so-called Magnitsky Act, named in honour of a whistle-blowing lawyer who died in jail before going on trial, the Kremlin was more ambiguous about supporting the measure on Wednesday.

Putin's spokesman Sergei Peskov told state television that "the line of the executive branch of the government is more restrained" than that of the pro-Kremlin MPs in the Duma.

Speaking ahead of Putin's press conference on Thursday, which is also expected to address the bill, Peskov added however that "such a tough emotional reaction by Russian parliament members is quite understandable."

Unusually, several political heavyweights, including Education Minister Dmitry Livanov, opposed the bill, publicly saying that an "eye-for-an-eye logic" would put at risk children who fail to find adoptive parents in Russia.

Of the 3400 Russian children adopted by foreign families in 2011, 956 - nearly a third - were adopted by Americans, according to official figures. Eighty nine of those adopted were disabled children.

Although Russian adoptions have declined over the past five years due to increased regulations, Russia is still the third largest source of adoptions for the United States, according to official figures.

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Iraqi leader set for German hospital

KURDISH officials say Iraqi President Jalal Talabani will be flown to Germany for further treatment after suffering a stroke earlier this week.

Medical experts from Germany and other countries began arriving on Wednesday to assess the 79-year-old president's condition.

Talabani is a senior Kurdish leader and has been a symbol of unity in Iraq.

Firyad Rawndouzi, a senior member of Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party, says the German team recommended he be moved, possibly as early as Thursday.

The head of the president's media office, Barazan Sheikh Othman, says he is expected to depart on Thursday or Friday.

Questions remain about the graveness of Talabani's illness. Hospital officials and his office have released few details to the public, though they say he is showing signs of improvement.

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Man in hospital after shooting

A 21-YEAR-OLD man has been taken to hospital with gunshot wounds after an incident in Melbourne's northeast on Tuesday.

Emergency services were called to a home in Mooroolbark at 6.20pm (AEDT) to treat a man with gunshot wounds to his lower torso.

Police are investigating.

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Oil prices rise on US budget hopes

OIL prices have risen as hopes grow of a US deal to avert a "fiscal cliff" of tax hikes and spending cuts in the United States - the world's biggest consumer of crude - analysts said.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January, increased by 49 cents to $US87.69 ($A83.49) a barrel.

Brent North Sea crude for February advanced 58 cents to $108.22 per barrel in London midday deals.

"Crude oil prices rebounded on Tuesday amid hopes about the US budget details after the meeting between US President (Barack) Obama and House Speaker John Boehner provided some optimistic signs about the US economy, showing potential for a rebound in the US oil demand," said Sucden brokers analyst Myrto Sokou.

President Barack Obama hosted top Republican politician John Boehner in the White House for 45 minutes on Monday in the latest effort to keep the US economy from going over the fiscal cliff.

The meeting follows news that Boehner had changed his position on not allowing any more taxes, saying at the weekend that he would agree to some hikes for people earning more than $1 million.

Originally Obama insisted higher taxes kick in for households earning more than $250,000, but has since offered to increase the threshold to $400,000.

Analysts say the development shows the outline of a tentative deal is being formed.

Elsewhere on Tuesday, a report said coal was set to surpass oil as the world's top fuel within a decade, driven by growth in emerging market giants China and India, with even Europe finding it hard to cut use despite pollution concerns.

"Thanks to abundant supplies and insatiable demand for power from emerging markets, coal met nearly half of the rise in global energy demand during the first decade of the 21st century," said Maria van der Hoeven, head of the International Energy Agency.

Economic growth is expected to push up further coal's share of the global energy mix, "and if no changes are made to current policies, coal will catch oil within a decade," she said in a statement.

The latest IEA projections see coal consumption nearly matching oil consumption in four years time, rising to 4.32 billion tonnes of oil equivalent in 2017 against 4.4 billion tonnes for oil.

That has consequences for climate change as coal produces far more carbon emissions responsible for global warming than other fuels.

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Zuma wins ANC leadership vote by landslide

SOUTH African president Jacob Zuma has scored a thumping victory in an ANC leadership contest, opening the way for him to lead Africa's largest economy until 2019.

Zuma won the backing of 75.1 per cent of the ANC's 3977 voting delegates at a party conference in Bloemfontein, making him the odds-on favourite to retain the presidency after 2014 general elections.

Businessman Cyril Ramaphosa won the deputy presidency of the party with 76.4 per cent of the vote in a three-way race, setting him up to become Zuma's potential eventual successor and country president.

The vote took place despite the conference being threatened by right wing extremists.

Police said four men plotted to kill country president Zuma, Motlanthe, government ministers and senior party officials. The men were charged with treason and terrorism.

Inside the conference there were also plots and intrigue.

Zuma had faced an embarrassing, if lacklustre, leadership challenge from his Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, who won 991 of the votes.

Party secretary general Gwede Mantashe and chairwoman Baleka Mbete were re-elected to their positions, with newcomers deputy-secretary general Jesse Duarte and treasurer general Zweli Mkhize, who is also the premier of Zuma's home province KwaZulu-Natal.

The scale of Zuma's victory, dubbed a "Zumanami," will take some of the heat of the embattled president.

But after three crisis-marked years in power, Zuma faces a tough slog ahead.

He will have to work hard to win back South African voters, who increasingly see the ANC as out of touch, incompetent and corrupt.

Zuma's poll numbers have steadily eroded amid a series of scandals.

Criticism of his administration reached a crescendo earlier this year when police killed 34 striking miners in one day and it emerged that around $US27 million ($A25.71 million) of taxpayers' money had been used to refurbish his private home.

Zuma will also face an uphill struggle to correct the course of the ailing South African economy.

Unemployment remains stuck around 25 per cent and the economy is growing at its slowest rate in three years.

Meanwhile crucial sectors like mining have been hobbled by strikes over low wages and are struggling to modernise and reduce reliance on masses of cheap labour.

Credit ratings agencies have warned that further rating downgrades will come if the conference does not see the ANC change course.

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Dollar unlikely to return to lows: Stevens

THE Australian dollar is unlikely to return to the lower levels experienced before 2007, Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens says.

In an interview published on Wednesday, Mr Stevens said that while he expected non-mining business investment to pick up, the bank could not guarantee that monetary policy would provide an easy transition from mining to non-mining investment.

"We've got to recognise that monetary policy has limits to fine tuning," he told The Australian Financial Review in his first newspaper interview since taking office in 2006.

"We're not going to be able to absolutely guarantee seamlessly every handover from one source of demand to another."

He also predicted that the Australian dollar was unlikely to return to the low numbers of around 75 US cents that were the norm before 2007 - adding there were limits to how the bank could harness interest rates to counteract the strong dollar's contractionary effects.

"... the classic problem in a situation like this can be that you seek to compensate for a very high exchange rate with cheaper, lower interest rates.

"It can - in some circumstances - give you the asset credit build-up that then gets you into trouble later," he said.

But he said you could not rule out that the exchange rate might drop if the boom ends.

"But if this relative price shift turns out to have a good deal of persistence, even if not at current levels, then I think one could expect the exchange rate is around a higher long-run average as a result of that.

"I don't know what that average is, but it would be unlikely that it would be in the low numbers that we have become accustomed to until the last five or six years," he said.

And while he expected house prices to retrace some of the losses experienced since mid-2010, he said it would be concerning if prices returned to double-digit annual growth rates.

Mr Stevens also said that while a three per cent official cash rate for Australia might be low by historical standards, globally it is "pretty attractive".

"I think we have to recognise that and accept that that has some impact on where we set things."

Ultra-low interest rates in the US, Japan and Europe compared to Australia are helping to keep the Australian dollar high and economic growth moderate.

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Man dies in shooting in Sydney's west

A MAN has died in a shooting in Sydney's southwest overnight.

Police said they were called to Owen Street in Punchbowl at around 11.15pm (AEDT) on Tuesday, following reports that a man had been shot.

Police and NSW Ambulance paramedics attended the scene and found a man, aged in his 20s, with gunshot wounds.

He died at the scene.

A crime scene has been established by police.

Owen Street Punchbowl is closed to traffic while investigators examine the scene, police said.

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Turnbull criticises Sydney Harbour helipad

MALCOLM Turnbull has criticised NSW government plans to allow a helicopter barge in Sydney Harbour, tweeting that he is concerned for people's safety.

In a series of tweets, the federal member for Wentworth said he was told the decision to approve the helicopter service from a barge in Sydney Harbour was made by the Roads and Maritime Services "without consulting the premier or cabinet or community.

"Frankly what troubles me most is safety, summer afternoon, harbour full of boats, most with kids, noreaster......"

"And don't forget every weekend there are hundreds if not thousands of kids in skiffs sailing on Sydney Harbour," he said.

Mr Turnbull said "democracy involves government with the consent of the governed", adding that the decision was taken administratively with no consultation.

According to Newcastle Helicopters website, the company will be operating a floating heliport on Sydney Harbour.

"The Floating heliport will offer swift transfers from Mascot airport ideal for the time poor businessperson and centrally located Sydney residents, and scenic flights over Sydney Harbour convenient to tourists staying close to the CBD, and those visiting with limited schedules on cruise ships," it says on its website.

It said the helipad is a flat-top powered barge that would be positioned each day from its overnight berth (in the Pyrmont area) to one of "several designated areas".

A spokesman for Mr O'Farrell reportedly told the Sydney Morning Herald that he would not be rescinding the heliport licence and he was satisfied with how it had been approved.

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Eurozone trade surplus edges higher

THE 17-nation eurozone has posted an October trade surplus of 10.2 billion euros ($A12.8 billion), up from 9.5 billion euros in September, official data shows.

Eurozone exports in October, in seasonally adjusted terms, fell by 1.4 per cent from the level in September while imports gained 0.6 per cent, the Eurostat statistics office said on Monday.

In October 2011, the eurozone ran a trade deficit of 700 million euros.

In marked contrast, the full 27-member EU suffered a trade deficit of 9.4 billion euros in October, after a shortfall of 12.5 billion euros in September, with exports down 1.7 per cent and imports up 0.3 per cent in seasonally-adjusted terms.

A trade surplus contributes to growth, whereas a trade deficit tends to reduce it.

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Zurich Insurance puts Sandy cost at $700m

SWISS insurer Zurich Insurance Group says superstorm Sandy has hit it with claims worth about $US700 million ($A667 million).

"It's difficult to say exactly how much the final amount will be," Sylvia Gaeumann, a spokeswoman for the insurer told AFP on Monday, pointing out the impacts of "business interruption take a while to be assessed".

She said: "It could be a bit higher or a bit lower (but) usually our estimates are good."

She explained that the actual amount of claims was higher than $US700 million, but the insurer was partially shielded through reinsurance coverage, which had kicked in.

This however meant Zurich Insurance Group would need to renew its reinsurance contract, which was expected to cost an extra $US58 million before tax, the company said.

The estimated costs would be recorded in the company's fourth quarter and full-year results, which will be published on February 14, it said in a statement.

Zurich Insurance Group was not hit so hard as its compatriot Swiss Re, which late last month put its exposure to Sandy at about $US900 million.

Earlier this month, US President Barack Obama asked for $US60.4 billion in emergency funds to repair devastation after the storm, which flooded the New York subway system and knocked out electricity for hundreds of thousands of people.

The floods and wind also destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of homes, schools and hospitals, and created chaos in fuel supplies after refineries and service stations were damaged.

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Bangladesh fire was sabotage: inquiry

A FIRE that killed 111 workers at a Bangladesh garment factory last month was caused by sabotage and managers at the plant prevented victims from escaping, the head of an official inquiry says.

"We have found that the fire that gutted Tazreen Fashion factory in Ashulia was an act of sabotage," Main Uddin Khandaker told AFP on Monday after submitting a report into the November 24 tragedy to the government.

"The statements of the witnesses revealed that it was an act of sabotage. There was no possibility of the fire originating due to an electric short circuit or any other reason."

Khandaker did not suggest who might have carried out the sabotage or why.

He also said his inquiry team would recommend that the owner of the factory in the Ashulia industrial district near the capital Dhaka should face murder charges for gross negligence.

"There was also gross negligence on the part of the owner. We have suggested legal action against him and nine of his mid-level managers who barred the workers from leaving the burning factory," he said.

The owner of the plant, Delwar Hossain, told reporters after the blaze that he believed it was started deliberately but gave no details.

Fire investigators have said the nine-storey factory, which made clothing for Western retailers such as Walmart and C&A, lacked a valid safety licence at the time and only had permission for three floors.

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Pope meets Abbas, renews call for peace

POPE Benedict XVI has received Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and called on all parties involved in the Middle East crisis to find the courage to work together for peace and reconciliation.

In a statement following the meeting on Monday, the Vatican said it hoped the United Nations' recent recognition of Palestine as a non-member observer state would "encourage the commitment of the international community to finding a fair and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict".

Benedict and Abbas had talked about "the region, troubled by numerous conflicts, in the hope that the courage for reconciliation and peace will be found", the Vatican said.

A solution "may be reached only by resuming negotiations between the parties in good faith and according due respect to the rights of both", it said, adding that Abbas had also met with the Vatican's number two and secretary of state, Tarcisio Bertone.

The Vatican, which favours a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians, was quick to hail the landmark New York vote at the end of November.

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'Man with rifle' puts schools in lockdown

State Police spokesman Lt Paul Vance says schools in a town close to Sandy Hook have been put in lockdown after a reported sighting of an armed man. Picture: Getty/AFP Source: Getty Images

SCHOOLS have been put in lockdown in Ridgefield, Connecticut, after a report of a man with a rifle in the nearby area.

Ridgefield is about 30km by road from Sandy Hook, the scene of last week's school shooting tragedy.

The Connecticut Post reports that the man with the weapon was seen near the Branchville train station, 6km from the town, and police were on their way to investigate.

Ridgefield Superintendent Deborah Low released a statement saying that town schools "have been put into lockdown ... due to a report of a possibly suspicious person."

Branchville Elementary School buses were diverted to East Ridge Middle School and BES students were in the auditorium.

First Selectman Rudy Marconi told the Post that a motorist traveling on Route 7 saw a man with a rifle.

At Newtown, Lt Paul Vance confirmed that police had been deployed after reports of an armed man.

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US stocks higher as fiscal cliff looms

US stocks have opened higher, two weeks before the world's biggest economy could go off the "fiscal cliff".

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 41.51 points, or 0.32 per cent, at 13,176.52 in early trade on Monday.

The broad-market S&P 500 rose 6.61 points, or 0.47 per cent, to 1,420.19.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite gained 15.10 points, or 0.51 per cent, at 2,986.43.

The action came shortly after the New York Federal Reserve said its Empire State manufacturing survey, measuring conditions in the New York region, fell for a fifth straight month in December, with both new orders and shipments lower.

"Despite the US fiscal cliff remaining unresolved and a disappointing read on regional manufacturing activity, the domestic equity markets are gaining ground," said analysts with Charles Schwab & Co.

Traders continued to fret about a series of tax increases and spending cuts set to take effect in January if Washington fails to reach a deal to avert the so-called fiscal cliff, which economists warn could take the United States into recession.

Apple was up 0.1 per cent. The tech giant announced it had sold more than two million of the new iPhone 5 in China during the smartphone's first weekend in stores there.

On Friday, the Dow lost 0.27 per cent, the S&P 500 fell 0.41 per cent, while the Nasdaq shed 0.70 per cent.

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S Africa leader vows 'meaningful change'

EMBATTLED South African President Jacob Zuma has made the case for his re-election, telling ANC members they will see meaningful economic change, as he seeks to face down a leadership challenge from his deputy.

Zuma wooed delegates at the African National Congress's five-yearly conference, which opened on Sunday, with a robust defence of his much-criticised term in office, a promise of change and his trademark ebullient charm.

After securing democracy, the country, he said, was ready to "move into the second phase in which we will focus on achieving meaningful socio-economic freedom".

The ANC meeting in the central city of Bloemfontein will go a long way towards deciding who will lead South Africa until the end of the decade.

Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe is hoping to wrest control of the party from Zuma, who has been president of the African economic powerhouse since 2009.

Should he succeed, the ANC's commanding electoral standing means he is almost certain to become the country's next president.

Zuma, marred by a series of personal financial scandals, has been pilloried for his handling of the economy, with millions of black South Africans wallowing in poverty 18 years after the ANC took power.

Acknowledging that the road to prosperity will be "long and hard", Zuma insisted however that "the ANC remains the only hope for the poor and marginalised".

Zuma acknowledged there had been problems, not least in the economy.

South Africa has faced a slew of credit ratings downgrades as unemployment remained stubbornly high around 25 per cent and growth slowed to the slowest rate in three years, while the vital mining sector has been hit by waves of violent unrest including the killing of 34 miners by police in August.

In the fight of his political life, Zuma turned on his famed charisma to win over the 4500 delegates who are attending the five-day conference.

Zuma opened his speech by leading thousands of ANC members clad in party colours and regalia in an a cappella tribute to ailing former president Nelson Mandela.

The 94-year-old elder statesman and Nobel Peace laureate has been in hospital for more than a week, undergoing surgery to remove gall stones and getting treatment for a lung infection.

Despite his troubles, Zuma is expected to prevail when delegates vote later in the week.

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Syria planes in deadly refugee camp raid

WARPLANES have bombarded a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Damascus for the first time in Syria's uprising, as the army escalates its bid to suppress the rebellion in the capital.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Sunday's air strike killed at least eight civilians at Yarmuk camp, which has been hit by intermittent violence during the past few months.

The raid took place as President Bashar al-Assad's forces used fighter jets against rebel positions in the provinces of Hama and Aleppo, where rebels stepped up a bid to seize a military academy.

Analysts say the Assad regime is still standing firm despite predictions by Western officials, and even a top Russian diplomat, of its imminent fall, and the fact rebel fighters now hold vast swathes of territory.

"Warplanes staged an air strike on an area near Al-Bassel hospital ... in Yarmuk camp," said the Observatory.

Residents told AFP that a missile hit the Abdel Qader Husseini Mosque in the heart of the camp.

The mosque was acting as a makeshift shelter for some 600 people forced to flee their homes in nearby districts engulfed in violence.

Amateur video posted online by activists in the camp showed broken glass strewn on the ground by the mosque, and several bloodied bodies laid out at the entrance.

The air strike on Yarmuk was Sunday's sixth on flashpoint districts in southern Damascus, said the Observatory.

Fighter jets also bombarded the nearby districts of Al-Hajar al-Aswad and Assali, scene of intense fighting between troops and rebels.

"The army feels it has to step up its campaign to suppress the insurgency in southern Damascus, and that it cannot fight off rebels without resorting to air power," said the Observatory's Rami Abdel Rahman.

"As for the Palestinians, they are divided over the conflict, and are fighting on both sides," he added.

The escalating violence came a day after Iran's armed forces chief of staff warned Turkey over its plans to deploy US-made Patriot missiles near Syria, saying the move was part of a Western plot to "create a world war".

"The Western countries seeking to deploy the missile batteries on the Turkey-Syria border are devising plans for a world war. This is very dangerous for everyone," General Hassan Firouzabadi said.

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Business confidence at record highs: CBA

OPTIMISM among mid-sized Australian businesses has hit record highs in the lead-up to Christmas, a quarterly survey has found.

Commonwealth Bank's future business index rose to 9.3 in December, from 4.3 in September.

The survey focuses on companies with a revenue of $10 million to $100 million, assessing their outlook on business conditions and challenges, projected revenue, investment plans and how prepared they are to cope with volatile conditions in the next six months.

The index first hit 9.3 in March this year, and was its highest ever score.

Almost half (45 per cent) of the companies surveyed said they were well-prepared for future business conditions, while 31 per cent said they thought conditions would improve in the next six months.

However, they expressed concern about rising energy costs in Australia, and a potential economic slowdown in Asia.

Looking at individual sectors, transport and logistics, business services and information, and media and technology were the most confident.

The least confident included manufacturing, wholesale trade and mining - with the latter reporting a significant drop.

Commonwealth Banks executive general manager of corporate financial services Symon Brewis-Weston said that despite the confident reading, most firms were approaching 2013 with caution.

"We're finding that its something of a wait-and-see period for the mid-market," he said.

"The feeling is that while companies expect a moderate decline in costs and they're feeling more prepared for the future, there is little appetite for investment and major changes.

"Companies are placing less emphasis on growth at the moment and ensuring they have the financial support required for any unforeseen challenges in the future."

The index showed moderate optimism among the states and territories, with Victoria and Tasmania recording steady confidence, both rising to 14 from 6.2.

Meanwhile, New South Wales and Australian Capital Territory were the only regions in decline, both falling to six from 10.4.

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More Aussies could avoid stroke: experts

MANY stroke sufferers miss out on a lifesaving de-clotting drug and four in 10 get treated in general wards rather than specialist stroke units, an advocacy group says.

Stroke is Australia's second-largest killer and many of the 350,000 survivors live with a disability and struggle with basic daily tasks such as eating and cooking.

The National Stroke Foundation is lobbying the federal government and opposition to commit to a $198 million action plan to boost services and increase awareness of how to prevent stroke and recognise the signs of stroke.

Chief executive Erin Lalor says many patients who attend hospital with stroke don't get access to de-clotting thrombolysis drugs that must be administered within four hours.

"If the hospital is too slow or people delay presentation to hospital they can't have it," she told AAP.

"It's a lifesaving drug."

She said four in 10 people were treated for stroke in general wards, rather than specialist units, and this increased their chances of death or disability.

A number of major hospitals, particularly in Queensland, don't have specialist stroke units, Dr Lalor said.

As part of the plan, the foundation wants the government to spend $121 million extra over three years to fund more stroke units and boost the quality of existing care.

They want a national rollout of a pharmacy health-check program, currently funded by the NSW and Queensland governments, which involves a free blood pressure and diabetes check. Pharmacists then advise people whether they need to go to their GP for more testing.

When Lina Brohier had a stroke in 2008 at age 31, a transient ischemic attack followed, making her dizzy, heavy and voiceless.

The attack passed and she didn't go to the doctor.

"If there was more information and advertising about stroke maybe people like me would be prevented from having a stroke," she told AAP.

"You think ... it's not going to happen to me; it's something that happens to old people."

The stroke left her with no muscle movement on the right side of her body.

After extensive rehabilitation and occupational therapy, Ms Brohier made a full recovery.

Dr Lalor said people over the age of 45 should be able to get an integrated check for their risk of stroke, heart disease, diabetes and kidney disease when they visit their GPs.

She said there also needs to be more support for people living with stroke, as well as their carers.

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Gay rights campaigners protest at Vatican

GAY rights campaigners have held a small protest near St Peter's Square during the Pope's weekly prayers after he said legalising gay marriage threatened the institution of marriage.

About 15 activists held up colourful paper hearts with slogans written on them including "Gay Marriage", "Love Has No Barriers", "Talk About Love", "Homophobia = Death" and "Marry Peace".

One of the hearts read "Love Thy Neighbour".

The protesters were prevented from accessing St Peter's Square, which was packed with tens of thousands of faithful for the traditional Angelus prayer on the third Sunday of Advent.

The protest came as thousands prepared to take to the streets in France in support of a government proposal to legalise gay marriage that is fiercely opposed by sections of the opposition right, Roman Catholic bishops and other religious leaders.

In a message intended for World Peace Day on January 1, the Pope on Friday reiterated the Catholic Church's position against gay marriage.

He called for promotion of "the natural structure of marriage as the union of a man and a woman in the face of attempts to make it juridically equivalent to radically different types of union.

"Such attempts actually harm and help to destabilise marriage, obscuring its specific nature and its indispensable role in society," he said.

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Italy's recovery tipped to start in 2013

ITALY'S economic recovery is likely to begin in the third or fourth quarter of 2013, the central bank governor says, urging any new government to continue reforms and cut red tape for businesses.

"Our analyses suggest that there is a higher than 50 per cent probability that the turnaround will come in the third or fourth quarter of 2013," Bank of Italy chief Ignazio Visco said in an interview with La Stampa newspaper.

Visco also said there had been a "significant" lowering of tensions on the debt market for Italy in recent months due to the return of foreign investors and Italian banks that enabled the treasury to sell long-term bonds.

Asked about a possible recourse to European Central Bank assistance on the bond market, Visco said this was not on the cards since "the current conditions are less tense".

He cautioned, however, that "political and economic uncertainty is a burden" and said that "the fruits of austerity must not be wasted".

"The only way is to continue and reduce the negative effects that the reforms could have on certain sectors and at certain times," he said.

"The efforts made must not be for nothing. We have to decisively seek greater efficiency and reduce the limits on entrepreneurs," he added.

Italy is expected to go to the polls in February.

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