Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a state of emergency in Borno and three other state...

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has declared a state of emergency in parts of the country following attacks from the Islamist group Boko Haram.

The measure is in force is areas of the Yobe and Borno states in the north-east, Plateau state in central Nigeria and Niger state in the west.

International borders in the affected areas have been temporarily closed.

Mr Jonathan vowed to "crush" Boko Haram, which killed dozens in attacks across the country on Christmas Day.

Announcing the state of emergency in a live televised address, Mr Jonathan said: "The temporary closure of our borders in the affected areas is only an interim measure designed to address the current security challenges."

There is growing concern that Boko Haram has developed a presence across the region.

Earlier this week, leaders of neighbouring Chad and Cameroon were reported to have held talks about how they can help prevent the violence spreading to their countries.

Mr Jonathan's announcement means parts of Nigeria's border with Niger, Chad and Cameroon will be sealed until further notice.

The president added that his chief of defence staff had been instructed to take other "appropriate" measures, including setting up a special counter-terrorism force.

The BBC's Tom Oladipo in Lagos says Mr Jonathan has been under increasing pressure to address the violence, and this announcement reveals his toughest stance so far.

Boko Haram is thought to be responsible for a string of major attacks across Nigeria this year.

It bombed the headquarters of the UN in August 2011, leaving at least 21 dead and has targeted police as well. It has also in the past targeted Muslim leaders.

At least 42 people died in the Christmas Day bombings of churches and other targets. Tens of thousands of people have fled their homes in Maiduguri in Borno State, as well as other cities.
'Cancerous'

Earlier on Saturday, speaking at a church in the capital Abuja where 37 people died, the president said Boko Haram had "started as a harmless group" but had "now grown cancerous".

"Nigeria being the body, they want to kill it," Mr Jonathan added. "But nobody will allow them to do that."

While offering his condolences to victims' relatives at St Theresa's Church in Abuja the president said: "We will crush the terrorists. If there are institutions... which are harbouring terrorists, we will deal with them."

Boko Haram, which originated in Maiduguri, wants to impose strict Sharia law across Nigeria.

Earlier this week, Nigeria's main Christian group warned that the community might have to defend itself if the security forces could not protect it.

Analysts said the move raised the spectre of communal clashes in Africa's most populous nation, which is divided between a largely Muslim north and a mainly Christian and animist south.

Nigeria Christians 'to defend churches from Boko Haram'

Nigerian Christians will have "no other option" but to defend themselves if attacks by Islamist militants continue, church leaders have said.

The Christian Association of Nigeria said the Boko Haram group had declared war with its recent violence.

More than 40 people were killed in attacks on churches in northern and central areas on Christmas Day.

Since then, some 90,000 people have fled their homes amid clashes between Boko Haram and police in Damaturu.

Earlier on Wednesday, six children and an adult were injured when a homemade bomb was thrown into an Islamic school in the southern Delta state.

A police spokesman said the bomb had been thrown from a moving car - it was not clear who was behind the attack, which has raised fears of retaliatory vigilante strikes.

BBC Africa correspondent Karen Allen says Africa's most populous nation and biggest oil producer faces the spectre of sectarian violence between the largely Muslim north and mostly Christian south.

Muslim leaders have, however, moved to downplay the prospect of communal clashes.
'Declaration of war'

"The consensus is that the Christian community nationwide will be left with no other option than to respond appropriately if there are any further attacks on our members, churches and property," said the leader of the Christian Association of Nigeria, an umbrella group of the country's churches.

Ayo Oritsejafor was speaking at the St Theresa Church outside the capital, Abuja, where 35 people died in the Christmas Day bombings, the AFP news agency reports.

He said the attacks were "considered as a declaration of war on Christians and Nigeria as an entity," and that while he did not want to encourage acts of revenge, "Christians should protect themselves... in any way they can".

Mr Oritsejafor said the lack of response by Muslim leaders was an "abdication of their responsibilities", and that the Christian community was also "fast losing confidence in government's ability to protect our rights".

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who is a Christian, has held urgent meetings with Muslim and Christian leaders in an attempt to restore calm.

On Tuesday, Nigeria's main Muslim cleric, the Sultan of Sokoto, denounced the Christmas Day attacks and called for calm.

"I want to assure all Nigerians that there is no conflict between Muslims and Christians, between Islam and Christianity," said Muhammad Sa'ad Abubakar.

Boko Haram, which denies reports it has links to al-Qaeda, has said it carried out the Christmas Day attacks.

Last week, its militants were involved in heavy gun battles with government troops in the north-eastern city of Damaturu.

A state emergency management official said the clashes had displaced 90,000 people and that the entire district of Pompomari had been emptied as residents fled.

Boko Haram, which means "Western education is forbidden", wants the imposition of strict Sharia law in Nigeria.

The group carried out an August 2011 suicide attack on the UN headquarters in Abuja, in which more than 20 people were killed.

It was also responsible for a string of bomb blasts in the central city of Jos on Christmas Eve 2010.

Teen mum sacrifices life for son

A young mother has made the ultimate sacrifice, foregoing chemotherapy treatment to give birth to a healthy baby son.

Jenni Lake, 17, died just 12 days after giving birth to her son due to tumours in her brain and spine, the Associated Press reported.

Her family found out the fatal result her decision to reject radiation therapy to give birth to her son a day after he was born.

Jenni's mother, Dana Phillips, remembers the words her daughter told the nurse when she was admitted into hospital.

"She told the nurse, 'I'm done, I did what I was supposed to. My baby is going to get here safe", Mrs Phillips said.

Jenni spent six days in hospital, and then six days at home, before she died in her family's ranch-style home.

She never made it to celebrate her 18th birthday.

The first signs of Jenni's deadly tumours were migraines which started while she was studying at Pocatello High School.

After an MRI scan, a small mass was found on the right sign of her brain. A second scan soon after found the mass was bigger than first thought.

On October 15, 2010, Jenni had a biopsy which revealed that she had stage three astrocytoma.

Jenni's case was rare, according to her doctors, because she had three tumours in her brain and spine and the cancer had spread without symptoms.

With treatment, the prognosis was that she would have 30 per cent chance of survival of more than two years, her parents were told.

"Jenni just flat out asked them if she was going to die," said her father, Mike Lake, 43.

Mr Lake was impressed by his daughter's ability to handle the heartbreaking news.

"She didn't break down and cry or anything," he said.

Jenni "got upset" when she was told she might not be able to have kids, her mother, Mrs Phillips, said.

Doctors told the young teen, who always wanted to be a mother, that the chemotherapy treatment would most likely leave her sterile.

"We were told that she couldn't get pregnant, so we didn't worry about it," Jenni's 19-year-old boyfriend, Nathan Wittman, said.

The pair had started dating just a few weeks before her terrible diagnosis.

But in May 2011, after she became ill and went to the emergency room with Nathan, she discovered she was pregnant.

Her family found her in tears when she came home from the hospital.

"We could hear Jenni just bawling in her room," said her sister, Kaisee.

Jenni had decided to keep the baby before she saw her doctor two days after finding out she was pregnant.

"He told us that if she's pregnant, she can't continue the treatments," Mrs Phillips said. "So she would either have to terminate the pregnancy and continue the treatments, or stop the treatments, knowing that it could continue to grow again.'"

She stopped her treatments, with the family believing that once the child was born she would be able to resume treatment.

"I guess we were just hoping that after she had the baby, she could go back on the chemotherapy and get better," her mother said.

But she never got the chance to try, growing weaker and losing her vision as the disease took its course.

Jenni's father revealed her final words to her son after she was placed beside her for one last time.
"I can kind of see him," she said.

Philippines Typhoon Washi death toll reaches 1,249

A total of 1,249 people are now known to have died in flash floods that struck the southern Philippines more than a week ago.

Officials say more bodies had been found in the waters south of the island of Mindanao.

It is not clear how many people are still missing but officials say the search for bodies will continue.

Typhoon Washi struck from 16 to 18 December, devastating the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.

Many of those who died were sleeping as Typhoon Washi caused rivers to burst their banks, leading to landslides. Entire villages were washed away.

Civil defence chief Benito Ramos said that an earlier higher death toll provided by the health department had been revised downwards and that the current toll was now based on an actual count of both identified and unidentified recovered bodies.

Appeal for funds

Regional disaster council chief Ana Caneda told AFP news agency that they expected to find more bodies.

"There are still a lot of areas we have examined that are stinking of dead bodies," she told the agency. "We don't know how many people are buried under that mud."

The national disaster agency said it could take up to six months to build temporary housing for the 60,000 who are now homeless in the wake of the storm.

Many of them are currently taking temporary shelter in school buildings.

The chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, Richard Gordon, told the BBC that providing long-term housing was a challenge.

"Right now, what they (flood victims) are in need of is transitional housing," he said, adding that they would have to move out of school buildings and into tent cities by 3 January when classes start.

"The problem is land. We need to have safe land, land that will not be threatened by any earthquake or any floods or any landslides," said Mr Gordon.

Aid agencies have appealed for funds to help those who are affected. The United Nations is seeking $28.6m (£18.2m) from donors to help provide water and sanitation to storm victims.

Democratic Senator Ben Nelson will not seek re-election next year - in a blow to efforts by President Barack Obama's party to keep control of the chamber.

Sen Nelson, 70, was facing a tough campaign for a third term in the Republican-leaning Mid-west state of Nebraska in November 2012.

Republicans viewed the conservative Democrat as vulnerable because of his vote for Mr Obama's health reform.

A net gain of four seats would give Republicans control of the Senate.

Sen Nelson said in a web video on Tuesday: "While I relish the opportunity to undertake the work that lies ahead, I also feel it's time for me to step away from elective office, spend more time with my family and look for new ways to serve our state and nation.

"Therefore, I am announcing today that I will not seek re-election. Simply put, it is time to move on."
Scramble for replacement

Although Sen Nelson's conservative voting record has irked liberals in his party over the years, he supported the president's healthcare reforms - and his ratings suffered as a result.

The departure will cause a political headache for the Democratic party, which has spent more than $1m in an effort to shore up his profile. They must now scramble to find a replacement candidate.

Former Senator Bob Kerrey has been mentioned as a potential substitute, although he has not said whether he would enter the race.

The Republican field is led by state Attorney General Jon Bruning.

Democrats currently hold 51 Senate seats, while Republicans control 47, and there are two independents.

While 23 Democratic-held seats are up for grabs next year, Republicans have to defend only 10.

Democratic incumbents in Ohio, Missouri, Florida and Pennsylvania are also seen as vulnerable.

N. Korea bids wintry mass farewell to late leader

Wailing North Koreans Wednesday bade a final farewell to longtime leader Kim Jong-Il as his young son and successor walked bareheaded beside his father's coffin through a snowbound Pyongyang.

Tens of thousands of troops bowed their heads as the cortege left the Kumsusan Memorial Palace, where the late strongman's body had lain in state in a glass coffin.

Preceded by a car bearing a huge portrait of a smiling Kim and other vehicles, a limousine carried Kim's coffin -- draped with a red flag and surrounded by white flowers -- on its roof.

His son and "great successor" Jong-Un, dressed in black and gloveless despite the cold, held the side of his father's hearse.

He was accompanied by his influential uncle Jang Song-Thaek; senior ruling party officials Kim Ki-Nam and Choe Thae-Bok; military chief Ri Yong-Ho; armed forces minister Kim Yong-Chun; and Kim Jong-Gak, who is in charge of military administration and organisation.

Analysts said the line-up gave some initial clues about who would influence the young and untested leader as he takes charge of the impoverished and hungry but nuclear-armed nation.

Kim's absolute 17-year rule was marked by a 1990s famine that killed hundreds of thousands, a crumbling state-directed economy and the pursuit of long-range missiles and nuclear weapons which brought international sanctions.

UN agencies have said six million people -- a quarter of the population -- still urgently need food aid.

But hundreds of thousands of shivering soldiers and civilians, many weeping bitterly or beating the frozen ground, were seen on state television lining the 40-kilometre (25-mile) route.

"The people bid farewell to father General in great sorrow," read the main headline in ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun.

"The most heartbreaking time has come, when we cannot but bid farewell to the great father everyone in this land had followed with their hearts and souls."

Millions of servicemen and civilians were "firmly determined to become the guns and bombs to protect our dear comrade Kim Jong-Un and the warriors to realise his ideals and intentions".

Kim gave North Korea dignity as a country "that manufactured and launched artificial satellites and accessed nukes", the paper's editorial said.

Since the elder Kim died of a heart attack on December 17 aged 69, the North's propaganda machine has been heaping tributes on both him and Jong-Un.

Official media has declared Jong-Un the "great successor" and chief of the ruling party and military.

"The funeral revealed some clues about who will stand beside Kim Jong-Un to protect him," Kim Yong-Hyun of Seoul's Dongguk University told AFP.

He said Kim Ki-Nam and Choe Thae-Bok were symbolic figures representing the ruling party.

"The other four including Jang are expected to play a key role in the next government under Jong-Un. They will serve as the protectors and sponsors of Jong-Un to prop up his regime."

Yang Moo-Jin of Seoul'a University of North Korean Studies said the people walking beside the hearse represent the party, military and administration.

"They played a key role under Kim Jong-Il and are expected to become the pillars of the Kim Jong-Un regime."

The late Kim inherited power from his father and founding president Kim Il-Sung before passing it on to his son.

The dynasty has been buttressed by a huge personality cult, the world's fourth-largest military and a repressive internal security apparatus.

Kim died while taking a train to make a "field guidance" visit, state media has said, portraying him as a tireless worker for his people to the end.

"It seems the sky knows well of how much he got snowed on during his uninterrupted field guidance tour for the happiness of the people," the official news agency said, remarking on Wednesday's snowfall.

"We will overcome the overwhelming grief today and continue our victory... as we have comrade Kim Jong-Un, the supreme leader of our party and people," said a female TV presenter during a live broadcast.

Mourning will officially end on Thursday with a nationwide memorial service including a three-minute silence. Trains, ships and other vehicles will sound their hooters.
The South's Yonhap news agency quoted the head of Seoul's National Intelligence Service, Won Sei-Hoon, as telling lawmakers that the North appears likely to continue the policies of its late leade

Nigeria conflict: Boko Haram battles 'kill at least 50'

More than 50 people have died in days of fighting between Nigerian forces and suspected Islamist gunmen in the country's north-east, officials say.

Boko Haram militants had suffered heavy casualties in a lengthy gun-battle in the town of Damaturu, said army chief of staff Lt Gen Azubuike Ihejirika.

"We killed over 50 of them," said Lt Gen Ihejirika.

The group, whose name means "Western education is forbidden", often targets security forces and state institutions.

"They came with sophisticated and heavy weaponry... and bombs but our trained soldiers subdued them," Lt Gen Ihejirika told local radio.

Seven policemen and two soldiers died in the clashes, Yobe's Police Commissioner Lawan Tanko told the BBC.

Deaths were also reported after clashes in Potiskum to the west of Damaturu.
'Lobbing grenades'

The fighting had erupted in Damaturu - the state capital of Yobe - on Thursday afternoon, Police Commissioner Tanko said earlier.

One eye-witness told the BBC that bomb blasts and shooting could be heard around Damaturu for several hours.

"People are scared and they are just moving out of the town now," said the witness, who gave his name as Suliman.

Boko Haram first came to prominence in 2009 when hundreds of its followers were killed when they attacked police stations in Maiduguri.

Its founder, Mohammed Yusuf, was arrested but died in police custody.

Boko Haram resumed its attacks - mostly in Maiduguri - a year later and has since staged deadly raids across the mostly Muslim north, as well as central areas such as Jos and Abuja.

Under Yusuf's leadership, the group demanded that Nigeria become an Islamic state but it is now believed to be made up of several factions, with various demands.

A UK couple who forced two children under eight to fight while they laughed have been jailed

A UK couple who forced two children under eight to fight while they laughed have been jailed.

The couple, Ian Barclay, 20, and Gemma Mattinson, 26, forced the boy and girl to fight, and could be heard laughing and cheering in the background of the videotaped incident.

The children were heard sobbing as the girl was ordered to punch, kick and hit the boy with a broom, the Daily Mail reported.

The video, taken on a mobile phone by another person, shows Barclay dragging the boy across the floor and banging him into a radiator after he tried to hide from the attacks behind a sofa.

The three-minute video left a number of people distressed after it was played in the Newcastle Crown Court.

Prosecutor Glenda Turnbull told the court: "The defendants encouraged the children to fight each other.

"They were both instructing the girl how to attack the boy, telling her what to do, bringing the children together, providing her with plastic sticks and a broom to use against him.

"The video footage is distressing, the children are crying."

The children were seen being pushed back together and urged to continue fighting despite trying to separate from each other.

Barclay and Mattinson were arrested by police after the person who filmed the incident showed it to a relative of one of the children.

Barclay admitted it was "a joke that had gone too far".

Both Barclay and Mattinson admitted to child cruelty charges, and were both jailed for eight months.

"You put them up to fight each other as though they were toys in some Roman Amphitheatre for the sport of those watching," judge Roger Thorn said.

"What happens beggars belief. There would be public outrage if this was not met with an immediate custodial sentence."

The father of one of the children said after sentencing: "The judge said he had to follow guidelines in relation to length of the sentences and I accept that but i think its time these guidelines were reviewed.

"To do what they did is just beyond belief. I couldn’t watch the video, I had to run out of court when it was played.

"My child went through all this and those two seemed to think it was funny.
"There should be some sort of register they have to sign so everybody knows what they have done and they don't get the chance to be near any children in future."

How to carve the perfect Christmas ham

Ham is a staple item on the menu come Christmas day, but many won’t know how to prepare or serve the ham once it has cooked. Here’s a fail-safe guide on how to carve one this Christmas.

What will you need? Along with your ham, you will need a sharp knife and a roasting fork to hold the ham while you cut.

1. Peel back the skin/rind of the ham by using small, gentle strokes. If you have cooked the ham, leave most of the fat underneath the skin, on (serving uncooked ham will involved cutting most of the fat off).

2. Once you have done this, you will be able to carve. Start from the rump (the meaty end) and make 1-2cm wide vertical slices until you hit the bone.

3. Before you make it halfway across the ham, you will hit the hock bone. This is where the meat is on both sides of the bone, and you will need to change from carving vertically to horizontally.

To avoid the ham moving around as you do this, you can make it easier by cutting a small slice horizontally from the bottom of the ham so that it will sit evenly on a flat surface and not ‘rock’ as you carve.

4. Place sliced ham on a plate to serve.

Check out New Zealand profile

New Zealand, a wealthy Pacific nation, is dominated by two cultural groups: New Zealanders of European descent, and the minority Maori, whose Polynesian ancestors arrived on the islands around 1,000 years ago.

Agriculture is the economic mainstay, but manufacturing and tourism are important and there is a world-class film industry.

New Zealand has diversified its export markets and has developed strong trade links with Australia, the US, and Japan. In April 2008 it became the first Western country to sign a free trade deal with China.

British sovereignty was established under the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi - a pact between Maori chiefs and the British government over land rights.

The treaty gave rise to land claims which culminated in the "New Zealand Wars", a series of skirmishes between colonial forces and Maori in the North Island.

The government awarded money and land in settlements during the 1990s, but the land issue remains controversial.

In 1984 the government embarked on a dramatic and controversial economic reform programme, which lifted controls on wages, prices and interest rates and removed agricultural subsidies.

The landscape is diverse, and sometimes spectacular. This has fuelled tourism; visitors are drawn to the glacier-carved mountains, lakes, beaches and thermal springs. Because of the islands' geographical isolation, much of the flora and fauna is unique to the country.

New Zealand plays an active role in Pacific affairs. It has constitutional ties with the Pacific territories of Niue, the Cook Islands and Tokelau.

Its troops served in East Timor when violence broke out in the territory in 1999 and were part of a multinational force intended to restore order to the Solomon Islands in 2003. Further afield, New Zealand forces have backed peacekeeping and development efforts in Afghanistan.

But its anti-nuclear stance - including a ban on nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed vessels from its waters - put it at odds with the US in the 1980s.

A significant amount of New Zealand's electricity is generated by hydropower sources and the country has a range of renewable energy sources at its disposal.

Migration patterns have changed, with most incomers coming from Asia and Pacific island states, rather than from the UK and Australia. Officials estimate that Asians will make up 13% of the population by 2021 from about 9% in 2009.

                                              New Zealand boasts a world-class film industry

Tanzania floods: Heavy rains inundate Dar es Salaam

The heavy rains in Tanzania are set to continue

At least 20 people have died in floods after unusually heavy rains hit Tanzania's main city of Dar es Salaam.

The Tanzania Meteorological Agency (TMA) has warned that the downpours are set to continue and has told those living in the city's valleys to move.

The BBC's Aboubakar Famau in Dar es Salaam says the city's business activities have come to a standstill.

Several main roads that link the centre to the suburbs are flooded and some bridges have been destroyed.

Refusing to move

According to TMA, these are the heaviest rains Tanzania has experienced since independence in 1961.

Hundreds of people living in the city's valleys have been left homeless.

Taabu Kibwa said her whole house was covered by water.

"We have lost all our properties, in fact we are left with empty hands. Everything in the house has been lost including television sets and refrigerators," she told the BBC.

"I have three children, one of whom I don't even know where he is."

Another resident, Shaaban Ramadhan Hussein, said he worked and lived in his home which was now under water.

"Everywhere is flooded, people are on top of their house roofs, no rescue has come so far. We are not happy, it is like the government doesn't care about us," he said.

Our correspondent says the floods seem to have caught many by surprise, yet it was only a few days ago that the Tanzania Meteorological Agency warned of possible devastation by heavy rains.

The police commander for Dar es Salaam, Suleiman Kova, has urged people to leave the valleys, but he said some residents were refusing.

"We went [to] rescue some and they then refused to vacate saying they are keeping an eye on their properties," he said.

Our correspondent says the government has set up 12 centres to temporarily accommodate an estimated 5,000 people displaced by the floods.

There is little chance of them relocating to their home villages or regions before the festive season because the weather agency has cautioned that the rains are not going away, he says.

"We have been having heavy rainfall the day before yesterday, yesterday and today - we will therefore have more floods," said Agness Kijazi, TMA's director.

The government has set up centres to temporarily accommodate people made homeless

Girl forced to watch teen dismembering

A 19-year-old girl was tortured and dismembered in front of another woman so she would be frightened into cooperating with a human trafficking and drug ring, the Daily Mail reports this morning.

Jimmy Lee Massey, 33, has been charged with the murder of Carina Saunders on October 13. The young woman was beheaded and her body stuffed in a bag and dumped behind a shop in Bethany, Oklahoma.

According to the Daily Mail, a 20-year-old woman came forward as a witness to say she was kidnapped by Mr Massey and forced to watch Miss Saunders die.

Police believe Miss Saunders was not involved in criminal activity and her death was "random".

The Daily Mail reports that Mr Massey told police he kidnapped the woman, who identity has been concealed for her protection, and forced her to watch others kill Miss Saunders. He also provided details of Miss Saunders' torture, killing and dismemberment and disposal of the body.

A police spokesman told the Daily Mail there was no evidence the witness knew Miss Saunders, however it is understood both women knew Mr Massey independently.

The spokesman said the kidnapping and killing were meant to send a message that others faced the same fate unless they cooperated with a human trafficking and drug ring.

Jimmy Lee Massey (left) and Francisco Gomez have been charged over the murder of Carina Saunders. Photo: Supplied.


"Evidence in our investigation has led us to believe that she had been expected to provide certain things to this trafficking group and that she had not been performing to their satisfaction," he said. "We believe there were other people there and they're now the focus of our investigation."

Francisco Gomez, 31, was also charged over Miss Saunders' murder.
As he was lead into the police station in handcuffs last night, Mr Gomez said: "I've got nothing to with no drugs, no murder, no nothing."

Libya's captured Saif al-Islam Gaddafi 'has not seen lawyer'

                    Saif al-Islam's physical condition was good, according to Mr Abrahams

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of the deposed Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, has not seen a lawyer since his arrest, a human rights campaigner has told the BBC.

However, Saif al-Islam had no complaints of maltreatment, according to Fred Abrahams of Human Rights Watch.

Mr Abrahams called on Libyan authorities to give him access to a lawyer "as soon as possible".

Saif al-Islam was arrested last month while apparently trying to flee Libya.

He is the most high profile captive from the previous regime.

Mr Abrahams said Libyan authorities had allowed him to spend half an hour alone with Saif al-Islam in the town of Zintan, where he is being held.

Saif al-Islam's physical condition was "good" and he had an operation around three weeks ago to treat a hand injury, Mr Abrahams said.

Libyan prosecutors said that Saif al-Islam will have access to a lawyer as soon as he is transferred to a secure facility in the capital Tripoli, he added.

Saif al-Islam complained to Mr Abrahams of what he described as his "isolation", saying that while officials had been to visit him, he had not been allowed to see anyone of his own choosing.

Mr Abrahams said he had the impression from the meeting that Saif al-Islam "doesn't fully understand that he is no longer one of the most powerful people in the country".

Saif al-Islam is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of crimes against humanity.

However, it is unlikely that he will be transferred outside Libya and officials from the ruling National Transitional Council have said he will be tried within the country.

Libyan Prime Minister Abdurrahim al-Keib has promised Saif al-Islam will receive a fair trial.

'Tell loved ones they are overweight this Christmas'

Christmas may be a time of indulging for many, but health experts believe it is the perfect time to tell a loved one they are overweight.

The National Obesity Forum and International Chair on Cardiometabolic Risk said it was important to be upfront because of the health risks.

Being overweight - particularly around the waist - increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease and stroke.

But a poll by the groups suggests too many people shy away from the issue.

The survey of more than 2,000 people found 42% of 18 to 24-year-olds would not tell a loved one they should lose weight because of a fear they would hurt the other person's feelings.

For those aged 25 to 44 it was just over a third, while for older people it was about one in four.

Men find it hardest to tell their partners, while women were more worried about bringing up the issue with a friend.

But with families and friends getting together up and down the country over the festive period, the experts believe there is an opportunity that should not be missed.

Prof David Haslam, chair of the National Obesity Forum, said: "Suggesting to someone that they should consider losing a few pounds may not be a comfortable conversation to have.

"But if someone close to you has a large waistline then as long as you do it sensitively, discussing it with them now could help them avoid critical health risks later down the line and could even save their life."

Dr Jean Pierre Despres, scientific director of the International Chair on Cardiometabolic Risk, agreed.

"Start by encouraging someone close to you to make simple lifestyle changes such as becoming more active, making small alterations to their eating habits and replacing sugary drinks with water."

John Terry to be charged over Anton Ferdinand race row

England captain John Terry will face a criminal charge of using racist language towards footballer Anton Ferdinand during a Premier League game.

Mr Terry is alleged to have used racist language towards the 26-year-old Queens Park Rangers player during Chelsea's 1-0 defeat at Loftus Road on 23 October.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Mr Terry was accused of a racially aggravated public order offence.

The 31-year-old vowed to fight the charge "tooth and nail".

Police questioned the Chelsea captain under caution in November and a file on the matter was sent to the CPS at the beginning of December.
'I am disappointed'

Alison Saunders, chief crown prosecutor for London, said: "I have today advised the Metropolitan Police that John Terry should be prosecuted for a racially aggravated public order offence following comments allegedly made during a football match between Queens Park Rangers and Chelsea on 23 October.

"The decision was taken in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors and, after careful consideration of all the evidence, I am satisfied there is sufficient evidence for a realistic prospect of conviction and it is in the public interest to prosecute this case."

She continued: "He is now summonsed with a criminal offence and has the right to a fair trial.

"It is extremely important that nothing should be reported which could prejudice his trial."

The decision to charge Mr Terry was taken after police received a complaint from a member of the public.

The CPS had asked police for more information regarding the incident before making their decision.

New evidence, featuring previously unseen footage from TV cameras, was subsequently handed to the CPS last week.

Mr Ferdinand has only said he has "very strong" feelings on the subject.

John Terry said: "I am disappointed with the decision to charge me and hope to be given the chance to clear my name as quickly as possible.

"I have never aimed a racist remark at anyone and count people from all races and creeds among my closest friends.

"I will fight tooth and nail to prove my innocence."

He added: "I have campaigned against racism and believe there is no place for it in society."

The centre half made his England debut against Serbia and Montenegro in 2003 and has been capped 72 times.

The defender replaced David Beckham as captain of the national side in 2006.

He then lost the captaincy amid allegations of an affair with the girlfriend of team-mate Wayne Bridge before the last World Cup - before winning it back in March.

The defender has won the Premier League three times with Chelsea, but missed a penalty in a shoot-out against Manchester United which would have won them the 2008 Champions League.

A statement released by Chelsea read: "John has made it clear he denies the charge and is determined to do all he can to prove his innocence.

"Chelsea FC has always been fully supportive of John in this matter and will continue to be so.

"The club finds all forms of discrimination abhorrent and we are proud of the work we undertake campaigning on this important issue."

The club said it could not comment further while the legal process continues.

The FA had put its own investigation on hold until the CPS decision was made. An FA spokesman said the organisation was considering its statement.

Mr Terry is due before West London Magistrates' Court on 1 February.

The maximum sentence for the offence is a fine of £2,500.

As a summary offence under the Crime and Disorder Act, it will be fully heard in a magistrates' court.

The decision to prosecute him comes the day after Liverpool striker Luis Suarez received an eight-match ban for racially abusing Manchester United defender Patrice Evra.

A US woman who served 15 years in prison in Peru for aiding left-wing rebels says she was prevented by the Peruvian government from making her first trip home.

A court had ruled that Lori Berenson, who is on parole, should be allowed to travel to the US.

But her lawyer said that when she arrived at Lima airport, she was not allowed to leave the country.

Her release on parole last year drew heavy criticism in Peru.

A judge said earlier this week she would be permitted to travel as long as she returned to Peru by 11 January 2012.

But her lawyer, Anibal Apari, said she had not been allowed to board the flight for New York.

Mr Apari told Reuters news agency that an official said that the Peruvian Interior Ministry had not been formally notified of the ruling and therefore blocked her from flying.

A court had denied her permission to travel abroad in October, but a three-judge appeals panel overturned the decision this week.

Rebel ties

Ms Berenson was granted parole last year after serving 15 years of a 20-year sentence.

The daughter of university professors from New York, she travelled to Central and South America in the 1990s.

During her travels, she is believed to have made contact with the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement.

As part of its insurgency, the Tupac Amaru robbed banks, kidnapped and killed a number of people in the 1980s and 90s.

She was arrested in November 1995 and accused of gathering information for a rebel plot to kidnap members of Congress and exchange them for imprisoned rebel leaders.

She was convicted of treason by a military court in 1996 and sentenced to life in prison.

But she was retried in a civilian court after pressure from the US government.

In 2001, she was found guilty of the lesser crime of terrorist collaboration and imprisoned for 20 years.

Polls suggested Peruvians widely disapproved of the 2010 decision to release her on parole.

Syria FM: We weren't playing for time

Damascus has signed an Arab League agreement to allow observers into the country, Syria's foreign minister has said.

Walid Muallem said that the deal was signed after the Arab League accepted amendments demanded by Syria.

He also denied that Damascus had been "playing for time" in delaying the agreement and accused some Arab nations of wanting to "internationalise" the crisis in his country.

The UN estimates more than 5,000 people have been killed as a result of government attempts to quell protests against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad in recent months.

North Koreans mourn Kim Jong-il

Kim Jong-il was one of the world's most reclusive and enigmatic leaders, presiding over a secretive and internationally isolated country.

The world's only hereditary communist ruler, he was criticised for flagrant human rights abuses and for threatening the stability of the region by pursuing a nuclear weapons programme and testing long-range missiles.

When he assumed power after the death of his father, Kim Il-sung, in 1994, very little was known about Kim Jong-il. He had seldom been seen in public.

He was said to have personally ordered the shooting down of a South Korean airliner in 1987.

The South Korean media portrayed him as a vain man, a playboy with a bouffant hairstyle and sporting platform shoes in order to appear taller.

Anecdotal evidence suggests he was not as stupid as his southern neighbours made out, though his over-fondness for food and drink was probably true.

Konstantin Pulikovsky, a Russian emissary who travelled with Mr Kim by train across Russia, reported that the North Korean leader had live lobsters air-lifted to the train each day which he ate with silver chopsticks.

The two men, he said, shared champagne with a bevy of female companions of "utmost beauty and intelligence".

He was seen draining 10 glasses of wine during his 2000 summit with then South Korean President Kim Dae-jung and is known to have a taste for Hennessy VSOP cognac.

Personality cult

Those who met him say he was well-informed and he was said to have followed assiduously international events.

Some saw him as a clever manipulator, willing to take risks to underpin his regime.

Former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said that Kim Jong-il was "very much on top of his brief".

His image in North Korea was one of a hero in the typical manner of the dictator's cult of personality.

Official North Korean accounts say he was born in a log cabin and the event was reportedly marked by a double rainbow and a bright star in the sky.

They say he wrote six operas in two years and designed one of Pyongyang's most famous landmarks.

In fact, according to outside experts, Mr Kim was born near the Russian city of Khabarovsk where his guerrilla father was receiving Soviet military support.

Subsequently, the young Kim spent the Korean War in China.

Like most of North Korea's elite, he graduated from Kim Il-sung University.

In 1975, he acquired the title Dear Leader and five years later joined the Central Committee of the Korean Workers Party and was given special responsibility for art and culture.

In 1978, he ordered the abduction of a South Korean film director, Shin Sang-ok and his actress wife Choi Eun-hee.

They were held separately for five years before being reunited at a party banquet.

They said afterwards that Mr Kim had apologised for the kidnappings and asked them to make movies for him. They completed seven before escaping to the West in 1986.

Kim Jong-il's love of the cinema bordered on the obsessive. He is said to have collected a library of 20,000 Hollywood movies and to have even written a book on the cinema. Elizabeth Taylor was believed to have been his pin-up.

He is also believed to have visited the state film company hundreds of times and produced a patriotic 100-part serial on North Korean history.

Famine

In 1991, he was elected supreme commander of the Korean People's Army. Analysts believe he was given the position to counter potential resistance to an eventual succession.

By now, North Korea's rigid centrally-controlled economy had slipped into an ever-deepening economic crisis exacerbated by the collapse of the country's main trading partner, the Soviet Union.

Trade dried up and the regime even ran out of fuel for factories and offices.

Natural disasters led to crop failures and hundreds of thousands are believed to have died. Potential unrest was quashed by the authorities.

This grave state of affairs continued after Kim succeeded his father on his death in 1994. However, Kim Jong-il did relieve the crisis somewhat by appealing for international assistance, particularly from China.

He also visited China several times, and was known to be interested in how communist China had adapted its socialist principles to a market economy.

After visiting Beijing and Shanghai in 2000 and 2001, North Korea began experimenting, on a small scale, with private entrepreneurship.

He also moved some way to improving relations with South Korea.

In June 2000, he met the South's leader, Kim Dae-jung, the first inter-Korean summit since the Korean War in 1953 which divided the nation.

The summit's main achievement was to increase links between the states, including allowing the reunion of families separated by the Korean War. More than a million Koreans were affected in this way.
Missiles and rumours

In August 2008 a report appeared in a Japanese news magazine claiming that Kim Jong-il had died in 2003 and that his supposed public appearances had, in fact, been undertaken by body doubles.

A month later US intelligence sources claimed Kim had suffered a stroke, following reports that he had failed to appear at a military parade to mark the country's 60th anniversary.

Amid rumour and counter rumour the North Korean authorities released a video in April 2009 which claimed to show Kim making official visits to factories during November and December 2008.

He made a dramatic appearance in August 2009 when former US President, Bill Clinton, flew to North Korea to secure the release of two American journalists, who had been arrested after allegedly illegally entering North Korea in March.

After meeting Mr Clinton it was reported that Kim Jong-il had agreed to pardon the two journalists and they returned to the United States.

Kim Jong-il's devoted commitment to his father's particular Marxist-Leninist vision was fundamental.

His insistence on maintaining the North's nuclear weapons programme in the face of international criticism, and the development and testing of long-range missiles capable of hitting American cities, cast Kim Jong-il as both a pariah and a maverick, and ensured that his country remained isolated.

His death at the age of 69 on 17 December 2011 was announced on state television.

DR Congo's Tshisekedi orders army to disobey Kabila

Democratic Republic of Congo opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi has called on the security forces to stop obeying orders from President Joseph Kabila.

Mr Tshisekedi made the call after rejecting Mr Kabila's victory in last month's disputed elections.

Mr Kabila, 40, is due to be sworn in on Tuesday, while Mr Tshisekedi, 79, has planned his own inauguration for Friday.

An aide of Mr Kabila said Mr Tshisekedi was following a "criminal logic".

Many observers have criticised the polls as seriously flawed.

The elections were the first Congolese-organised polls since the end of a devastating war in 2003 which left some four million people dead.
Rival government

On Friday, the Supreme Court confirmed official results showing that Mr Kabila won with 49% of the vote against 32% for Mr Tshisekedi.

But Mr Tshisekedi said he rejected the results and was now the president.

"I will be sworn in next Friday before the Congolese people gathered at the Martyrs' stadium," he said.

Mr Tshisekedi said he was offering a reward for the capture of Mr Kabila and had dismissed his government.

He also called on the security forces and civil servants to disobey Mr Kabila's orders.

"I'm calling on you to only obey the legitimate authority voted in by the people, not individual adventurists who will have to answer before the Congolese and international judiciaries."

A senior member of Kabila's campaign team, Aubin Minaku, warned that Mr Tshisekedi could be arrested for trying to form a rival administration.

"Mr Tshisekedi is following a criminal logic," he said.

"Anywhere in the world, when an individual commits a crime, whatever his rank, even a presidential candidate, especially when he incites international crimes, the state must react vigorously, and the International Criminal Court should react vigorously too."

Mr Tshisekedi led the campaign for democracy under former leader Mobutu Sese Seko but these were the first elections he has contested.

He boycotted the last poll in 2006, organised under the auspices of the United Nations, after claiming they had been rigged in advance.

Mr Kabila has been president since 2001 following the assassination of his father, Laurent and he is due to be sworn in on Tuesday for his second term.

Last week, Mr Kabila admitted there had been mistakes in the election process.

But he rejected concerns that the results lacked credibility.

The US-based Carter Center, which sent observers to the election, said the vote was too flawed to be credible.

The US state department called for a review of irregularities and the EU described parts of the election process as "chaotic".

However, the African Union described the elections as a success.

Gadhafi's daughter pushes for death probe

The daughter of ousted Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi is pressing U.N. war-crimes prosecutors to investigate the October deaths of her father and one of her brothers during Libya's civil war.

In a letter released Tuesday, Aisha Gadhafi's lawyer questioned whether the International Criminal Court has taken any steps to investigate the deaths of Gadhafi and his son Mutassim. The attorney, Nick Kaufman, said both "were captured alive at a time when they posed no threat to anyone," only to be "murdered in the most horrific fashion" after their capture.

"If your office is not currently investigating the aforementioned crimes, could you explain why and what steps have you taken to ensure that the Libyan authorities are, themselves, investigating the matter properly and in accordance with international investigative standards?" Kaufman wrote to the court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

There was no immediate response to the letter from the prosecutor's office.

Gadhafi ruled Libya with an iron fist for nearly 42 years before being overthrown in August. Libya's transitional government said he was killed in the cross-fire between its fighters and Gadhafi loyalists after he was captured in his hometown of Sirte on October 20.

The office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and two major human rights groups called for an investigation into Gadhafi's death in October. An autopsy determined the 69-year-old fugitive died from a gunshot wound to the head, but the pathologist who performed the procedure would not reveal whether the wound was inflicted at close range or from a distance.

And the bodies of the ousted ruler, his son and his longtime defense minister were put on display in a meat-market refrigerator for several days before being buried -- a step Kaufman said was "in complete defiance of Islamic law."

"The images of this savagery were broadcast throughout the world, causing my client severe emotional distress," Kaufman wrote.

Kaufman questioned whether the ICC was investigating the NATO airstrike that preceded Gadhafi's capture, whether it had received any details of the autopsies and why it did not dispatch an independent expert to the post-mortems.

Aisha Gadhafi fled to Algeria along with several other family members as the regime crumbled in August. She is a lawyer who assisted in the defense of ex-Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, who was hanged in 2006, and a onetime U.N. goodwill ambassador.

Gadhafi's son and top aide, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, was captured in November, Libyan authorities said. Senior Libyan military officials said they believed he was trying to make his way to neighboring Niger, where a brother, Saadi, was granted asylum.

Gadhafi's youngest son, Saif al-Arab, was reported killed in a NATO airstrike in April. And son Khamis Gadhafi, who led an army brigade blamed for the massacre of prisoners in a warehouse outside Tripoli, was killed in a late-August battle in northwestern Libya, rebel commanders said.

Sexual predator sentenced to 16 years in jail

A Melbourne man has been sentenced to 16 years in prison for sexually abusing 55 underage girls over a period of several years.

Judge Richard Maidment described John Zimmerman, 26, as a predator whose sole object was sexual gratification at the expense of his victims.

Zimmerman used social networking sites Myspace and Facebook to meet and entrap his victims.

He promised them tickets to the band he was managing, convinced them to pose in their underwear over the internet and then blackmailed the girls, aged 12 to 17, into meeting him for sex.

Zimmerman pleaded guilty to a total of 87 charges, including rape and making child pornography.

Judge Maidment said his crimes had a profound and long lasting impact on his young victims and ordered him to serve at least 12 years in prison.

He said the case was proof of the dangers posed by social network websites.

Outside the court the victims (who cannot be named) and their families urged others to learn from their mistakes.
"If you don't know them, don't add people you don't know. And just be really careful because they act like they're your age but they could just be some creep."

Institutional Dutch Catholic abuse 'affected thousands'

Tens of thousands of children have suffered sexual abuse in Dutch Catholic institutions since 1945, a report says.

The report by an independent commission said Catholic officials had failed to tackle the widespread abuse at schools, seminaries and orphanages.

But the report also found that one in five children who attended an institution suffered abuse - regardless of whether it was Catholic.

"This episode fills us with shame and sorrow," said a bishops' statement.

The commission, which began work in August 2010, sought to uncover what had gone on and how it had happened, and examined what kind of justice should be offered to victims.

It was triggered by allegations of abuse at a Catholic school in the east Netherlands, which prompted other alleged victims to come forward.

It studied 1,800 complaints of abuse at Catholic institutions, identifying 800 alleged perpetrators, just over 100 of whom are still alive.

It also conducted a broader survey of more than 34,000 people, to gain a more comprehensive picture of the scale and nature of abuse suffered by Dutch minors.
The report estimates that 10,000-20,000 minors were abused in the care of Catholic institutions between 1945 and 1981, when the number of Church-run homes dropped. In the years between 1981 and 2011, several more thousands suffered at the hands of priests and others working for the Church.

Most of the cases involved mild to moderate abuse, such as touching, but the report estimated there were "several thousand" instances of rape.
'Widespread in Dutch society'

"The problem of sexual abuse was known in the orders and dioceses of the Dutch Catholic Church," the commission says, according to news agency AFP, "but the appropriate actions were not undertaken."

A taboo on discussing sexuality in society until the 1960s and the Catholic Church's "closed" administrative structure were some of the reasons for the official failure to respond effectively to the problem, the commission said.

"Then again, people simply could not believe that a religious person could do that," commission chief Wim Deetman told a news conference.

The report also estimates that one in 10 Dutch children have suffered some form of abuse, rising to one in five among those who had attended an institution - regardless of whether it was Catholic.

"Sexual abuse of minors is widespread in Dutch society," the commission reportedly said.

Bert Smeets, an abuse victim who attended the presentation of the report, said it did not go far enough in detailing precisely exactly what happened.

"What was happening was sexual abuse, violence, spiritual terror, and that should have been investigated," Mr Smeets told the Associated Press news agency. "It remains vague. All sorts of things happened but nobody knows exactly what or by whom. This way, they avoid responsibility."

According to AP, prosecutors say the inquiry referred 11 cases to them - without naming the alleged perpetrators. They opened only one investigation based on those reports, saying the other 10 did not contain enough detailed information and appeared to have happened too long ago to prosecute.

Last month the Dutch branch of the Catholic Church set up a sliding compensation system based on the severity of abuse suffered, offering compensation of between 5,000 and 100,000 euros (£4,200-84,000; $6,500-130,000).

Mr Deetman, a former government minister, headed the commission, which also includes a former judge, university professors and a psychologist.

Its findings have been keenly awaited by the Dutch population, 29% of whom are identified as Catholic, the BBC's Anna Holligan reports from The Hague.

Bomb targets military checkpoint in Nigeria

Gunmen bombed a military checkpoint in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, where an Islamist sect has been blamed for scores of attacks, the army said on Thursday, reporting no casualties.

A military spokesman for a special force deployed in the troubled city, Hassan Mohammed, said the attackers "threw an explosive device and opened fire on the soldiers at the checkpoint" late Wednesday.

Soldiers returned fire and the attackers fled, abandoning their car. No one was killed or wounded in the attack, according to Mohammed.

An Islamist sect known as Boko Haram has been blamed for scores of attacks, mostly in northeastern Nigeria.

The group also claimed responsibility for the August suicide bombing of UN headquarters in the capital Abuja that killed at least 24 people.

There has been intense speculation over whether the group has formed links with outside extremists, including Al-Qaeda's north African branch. It is believed to have a number of factions with varying aims.

It launched an uprising in 2009 put down by a brutal military assault which left some 800 dead, then went dormant for about a year before emerging with a series of assassinations.

Bomb blasts have since become frequent and have grown in sophistication.

Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation with some 160 million people, roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south.

Iran rejects U.S. request to return spy drone

Iran has--unsurprisingly--rejected an American request to return its downed spy drone.

President Obama, speaking at a news conference with the visiting Iraqi prime minister Monday, said the United States had asked Iran to give the downed American reconnaissance plane back.

"We've asked for it back," President Obama said of the drone Monday. "We'll see how the Iranians respond."

Iranian news agencies ridiculed the request on Tuesday as Iranian officials made clear they had no intention of giving back the American drone.

"Obama begs Iran to give him back his toy plane," proclaimed a headline from Iran's Fars News Agency Tuesday.

"We are still wondering how he shamelessly asked Tehran to give the US back the stealth drone which had violated the Iranian airspace for espionage," the news agency wrote, referring to the American president.

"The American espionage drone is now Iran's property, and our country will decide what steps to take regarding it," Iranian Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi told ran's ISNA news agency Monday, according to a BBC report. In another statement t the Mehr news agency, Vahidi said that "instead of apologizing to the Iranian nation, [the U.S.] is brazenly asking for the drone back."


The unusual American-Iran media jousting over the downed RQ-170 drone came as an Iran prosecutor announced Tuesday that he has indicted 15 "American and Zionist" spies.

"IRNA on Tuesday quoted Tehran's chief prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi as saying the suspects carried out espionage activities against Iran," the Associated Press reported Tuesday. "He did not elaborate on the nationality of the suspects, nor say when they were detained."

Last week, Lebanon's al-Manar TV, which is controlled by the Iran-allied Shiite militant group Hezbollah, identified 10 alleged undercover CIA officers working in Lebanon with diplomatic cover.

"Hezbollah made the names public in a broadcast Friday night on a Lebanese television station, al-Manar," the Associated Press's Adam Goldman reported Monday. "Using animated videos, the station recreated meetings purported to take place between CIA officers and paid informants at Starbucks and Pizza Hut."

"The disclosure comes after Hezbollah managed to partially unravel the agency's spy network in Lebanon after running a double agent against the CIA, former and current U.S. intelligence officials said," Goldman wrote.

The CIA dismissed the claims made in the Hezbollah broadcast, citing CIA spokeswoman Jennifer Youngblood: "The agency does not, as a rule, address spurious claims from terrorist groups. I think it's worth remembering that Hezbollah is a dangerous organization, with al-Manar as its propaganda arm. That fact alone should cast some doubt on the credibility of the group's claims."

Armed gang steals millions from Dubai royal family

Members of an armed gang are on trial after they've been charged with stealing millions from the Dubai royal family. The £2million heist ($3,099,000) was the royal family's "holiday spending money" set aside for its visit to London on June 24.


Royal aide Abdullah Shakeri, who testified from behind a protective screen, said he thought members of the gang were only joking when they first approached him outside the Emirates Bank in Knightsbridge, West London with the demand to "put the cases down or I'll shoot you in the face." The Daily Mail reports that the robbers then repeated their threat and told Shakeri he would be shot if he did not flee the scene.

Prosecutor Alexandra Felix said the money was divided into £50 notes, held in two suitcases. "The royal family were in the UK and required money for their stay here," Felix said. "Mr Shakeri had made arrangements to collect the money. He and the manager went into a room to count the money. The cash was in £50 note bundles which was placed in suitcases."

Shakeri described the man who held him at gunpoint as a young Middle Eastern man with short dark gelled hair and a leather jacket. "He had a gun. I think it was a black automatic handgun. He pointed it at me," Shakeri said. The man then shouted for an accomplice, whom Shakeri described as a black man wearing a white hard hat and a "high visibility jacket." The accomplice reportedly told Shakeri and the other royal family staff to run into a nearby shop. "We did as we were asked so we went into a H&M just next to the bank," Shakeri said.


After the robbers fled, the royal family staff radioed the diplomatic protection group, who pursued the suspects. A man fitting the description of the first suspect was spotted just 300 feet from the crime scene but escaped and has yet to be found.

An officer spotted the suspect throwing a metallic object under a car, which he thought was a gun but turned out to be two mobile phones.

However, police were able to apprehend getaway driver Johnathon Haynes, 36, along with the royal family's stolen cash. They also found the hard hat, the high-visibility jacket and a passport for Trevor Mair, 46, inside the car.

When Haynes was handcuffed, he reportedly told the arresting officers, "Yes, OK, fair enough. Are you going to take me to the police station now because I'm a bit cold."

New billboard depicts Virgin Mary holding a pregnancy test

A controversial new billboard shows the Virgin Mary holding a pregnancy test with a "positive" reading.

The billboard, called "Mary is in the pink," was purchased by the St. Matthews-in-the-City Church in Auckland, New Zealand.

The church says the billboard featuring the revered religious figure aimed to "avoid the sentimental [and] trite" and "spark thought and conversation." It bears no text.

This billboard is only the latest in a string of provocative, holiday-themed billboards for the church, according to local TV station 3 News.

In 2009, they ran another Christmas billboard featuring Mary and Joseph in bed with the tagline, "Poor Joseph, God was a hard act to follow."

Vicar Glynn Cardy said that this year St. Matthews wanted to focus on what it was like for a real mother with a real child. "It's about a real pregnancy, a real mother and a real child. It's about real anxiety, courage and hope."

On the church's website, St. Matthews says the lack of text on the billboard is intended to provoke thought: "We hope to do so with an image and no words. We invite you to wonder what your caption might be."
The billboard will stay up until Christmas Day.

Far Fewer Enter U.S. Illegally From Mexico

Arrests of people trying to sneak into the U.S. from Mexico have plunged to the lowest level in four decades, the latest sign that illegal immigration is on the retreat even as legislatures, Congress and presidential candidates hotly debate the issue.

Behind the historic drop is a steep decline in the birthrate in Mexico and greater opportunities there relative to the weak U.S. economy. Stepped-up U.S. patrols along the border make it both riskier and more expensive for Mexicans to attempt to enter the country.

Government crackdowns on U.S. employers who hire illegal workers also have discouraged immigrants. The Supreme Court agreed Monday to decide whether an Arizona statute targeting illegal immigrants interferes with U.S. law.

The decline in Mexican immigrants is being felt as far away as farms in Washington and Michigan, which weathered labor shortages during the recent apple harvest.

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The U.S. arrested 340,252 migrants along the Mexico-U.S. border in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30—down 24% from the year before and the lowest level in 39 years, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a unit of the Department of Homeland Security.

In the previous fiscal year, agents apprehended 447,731 illegal crossers in the Southwest, compared with 1.6 million in 2000, the peak year. The last time the border was this quiet was 1972, when agents caught 321,326 people.

"We have reached the end of an era," said Dowell Myers, a demographer at the University of Southern California. "Even if immigration increases some after this recession, it won't rebound back to levels we saw in the early 2000s."

Rafael Garcia, a 40-year-old undocumented immigrant in Washington State, said he would discourage Mexican friends from attempting to enter the U.S. illegally, even though he has worked in vineyards, apple orchards and dairy farms in the country for two decades.

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"You have to be really desperate to come here now," said Mr. Garcia, who is married with three U.S.-born daughters. "It's so hard to get across, and then you have all these states passing laws to get rid of you."

The dramatic decrease in border arrests—which the U.S. considers a key gauge of how many people try to enter illegally—is supported by figures that show a shrinking number of illegal immigrants already in the country.

In 2010, that undocumented population was estimated at 11 million by the independent Pew Hispanic Center, down 8% from its peak of 12 million in 2007.

Mexicans constitute about 60% of undocumented U.S. immigrants. "Current flows are as low as we have ever seen them," said Jeffrey Passel, a senior researcher at the Pew center. "More unauthorized Mexicans have been leaving than coming."

At 150,000 last year, Mexican immigration to the U.S. was one-fifth of what it was in 2000, when 750,000 Mexicans flocked to the U.S., the majority of them illegally. All told, net immigration from Mexico is "essentially zero," said Mr. Passel.

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Nearly 21,500 agents, about twice as many as in 2004, guard the Southwestern border. They are backed by hundreds of miles of fencing and high-tech surveillance, including thermal imaging and unmanned aerial systems.

Mexican drug cartels also may play a role in discouraging people. The cartels often ply the same routes to the U.S. that undocumented immigrants use, making those paths violent and dangerous. Some crossers have been forced to serve as drug carriers for cartels.

Some demographers say more undocumented Mexicans may be leaving the U.S. than arriving as a downturn in construction, hospitality and other industries makes low-skill jobs scarce. Thousands of illegal immigrants have lost their jobs after the U.S. has audited company payrolls to find undocumented workers.

"No one knows better than the migrants themselves about the state of the U.S. economy. They hear that their cousin, uncle and friends are without work," said Primitivo Rodriguez, a Mexican migration expert who formerly worked for the Mexican Human Rights Commission.

Back in Mexico, families have shrunk, providing less incentive for young people to leave. In 1970, each Mexican woman bore an average of 6.8 children. By 1990, that number was 3.4. Today, the birthrate is at replacement level, about 2.1.

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That "enormous demographic shift," coupled with a better economic climate in Mexico, is helping curb emigration, said Gordon Hanson, an international economist at the University of California, San Diego.

To be sure, annual immigration to the U.S. from its neighbor has climbed and receded before. It dropped by one-third after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. The annual influx of Mexicans averaged 550,000 between 2003 and 2006, according to Pew. It has since tumbled.

Still, illegal immigration remains a contentious political issue. More than one million people have been deported since President Barack Obama took office in 2009. Deportations hit a record 397,000 in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30. The president favors putting undocumented workers on the path to legalization. But as the 2012 election approaches, no immigration bill is expected to come before the House and Senate.

The impasse has propelled several states, such as Arizona, Alabama and Georgia, to pass laws to curb illegal immigration. Supporters say undocumented workers are taking jobs from Americans at a time of high unemployment and burdening cash-strapped public governments.

Except for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who said those in the U.S. more than 20 years should be able to earn legal status, top Republican presidential candidates oppose letting illegal immigrants remain in the U.S.