Shot Schoolgirl Malala Yusufzai Leaves Hospital

Pakistani teenager Malala Yusufzai has been discharged from Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

The 15-year-old was shot in the head by the Taliban in Pakistan in October and later flown to Britain for specialist treatment.

She will continue her rehabilitation at her family's temporary home in the West Midlands before having cranial reconstructive surgery in the next month, her doctors say.

Dr Dave Rosser, medical director at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, said: "Malala is a strong young woman and has worked hard with the people caring for her to make excellent progress in her recovery.

"Following discussions with Malala and her medical team, we decided that she would benefit from being at home with her parents and two brothers.

"She will return to the hospital as an outpatient and our therapies team will continue to work with her at home to supervise her onward care."

Over the past couple of weeks she has been leaving the hospital on a regular basis on "home leave" to spend time with her father Ziauddin, mother Toorpekai and younger brothers, Khushal and Atul.

Malala was shot on a school bus in the Swat Valley area for campaigning for women's rights and their right to an education.

The bullet entered just above her left eye and ran along her jaw, "grazing" her brain. It was later removed by surgeons in Pakistan before she was flown to the UK.

She is now likely to secure permanent residence in the UK after her father was granted a job with the Pakistani consulate in Birmingham.

Mr Yusufzai has been appointed education attache for three years, with the option of an extension for a further two years afterwards.

Both he and his daughter have had threats made against their lives by the Taliban since the shooting.

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Major Surge In Ivory Smuggling In China

By Mark Stone, China Correspondent

Authorities in Hong Kong have seized more than a tonne of ivory worth $1.4m (£870,000).

According to the city's customs department, the 779 separate tusks represent their third biggest seizure in just three months.

The haul was discovered very well hidden inside a shipping container which had arrived at Hong Kong's port from Kenya via Malaysia.

The ivory was only discovered after officials X-rayed the container which had been declared as carrying archaeological stones.

Hidden underneath rocks and inside five wooden crates were 40 bags containing the ivory.

Speaking at a news conference in Hong Kong, the Group Head of Ports and Maritime Command, Wong Sui-hang, said: "Hong Kong is an important seaport and a dynamic logistic hub.

"Smugglers might think that they can make use of this to smuggle goods into Hong Kong. But Hong Kong Customs will use a multi-prong approach to give the smugglers detection in the smuggling cases."

On October 20, the same customs department discovered nearly four tonnes in two shipments worth $3.4m. It represented the city's biggest single seizure.

Ivory is a highly valuable commodity

The following month, the authorities found a shipment roughly the same size as this latest seizure.

On the Asian market, ivory is an highly sought-after commodity. It is not only used in jewellery but more commonly to make ornamental items especially for the Thai and Chinese markets.

China's increasing dominance in Africa has, according to environmental groups, made the problem much worse.

"The trade in ivory across Africa is deeply linked to armed militias, the Janjaweed, the Lord's Resistance Army, but also with people who are buying and commissioning ivory from Asia, from China and Japan.

"We are very concerned about the fact that this is becoming a very valuable commodity," Robbie Marsland, the UK Director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) told Sky News.

"China and Japan are two key markets leading to more and more deaths of more elephants and remember that elephants are a social animal and there are evidence that the poachers will kill one animal, wait for the elephants to come and investigate and possibly mourn the death of that animal and then kill the ones that come and investigate," he said.

In 2011, Sky News carried out an undercover investigation into the trade

In 2011, a Sky News investigation revealed how China is driving demand for smuggled ivory from Africa, leading to a surge in the slaughter of endangered elephants.

An undercover Sky News team arranged a meeting with a man in Beijing who revealed his family runs an international ivory trafficking operation.

He showed off three pairs of recently arrived tusks with a price tag of £40,000 and explained that his uncle works in West Africa.

Worryingly, he suggested that smuggling through sea ports was only one method of getting the ivory into China. His operation involves using contacts to smuggle the tusks into China through airports in their luggage.

Asked if he could supply more, he replied: "Don't worry about that. If we can do a deal today, then next time I have some good ivory I'll call you."

A worldwide ban on the sale of ivory is in place, but environmental groups say there has been a surge in the slaughter of elephants in Africa.

Last summer, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) said that elephant poaching levels were the worst in a decade and recorded ivory seizures are at their highest levels since 1989.

"We need to enhance our collective efforts ... to reverse the current disturbing trends. Enforcement efforts to stop wildlife crime must not just result in seizures - they must result in prosecutions, convictions and strong penalties to stop the flow of contraband. The whole 'enforcement chain' must work together."

The Hong Kong authorities have not yet arrested anyone as a result of this latest seizure.

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India Gang Rape Victim's Friend Speaks Of Attack

The male friend of the Indian gang rape victim has spoken for the first time of how he tried to save her and "begged" her attackers to stop the "cruelty" that "should never be seen".

The 28-year-old software firm employee said getting on to a private bus that night, because they could not find a rickshaw to take them home, was "the biggest mistake I made".

Speaking in public for the first time, he hit out at the hospital treatment his 23-year-old friend received, the police and at passers-by for failing to help after they were thrown naked from the bus following the two-and-a-half-hour ordeal.

He said that the woman was left naked and bleeding in the street for nearly an hour before a police van arrived to help.

A hearse carrying the body of the 23-year-old rape victim

He said: "What can I say? The cruelty I saw should not be seen ever. I tried to fight against the men but later I begged them again and again to leave her."

The man, who suffered a fractured leg and other injuries in the attack, recounted the savagery of the night of December 16 after he and his friend, who died from her injuries on December 29, had been to see a film in New Delhi.

He told the Hindi-language cable channel Zee News: "I was not very confident about getting into the bus but my friend was running late, so we got into it.

"This was the biggest mistake I made and after that everything went out of control."

He said: "The occupants of the bus, which had tinted windows and curtains, had laid a trap for us. They were probably involved in crimes before also. They beat us up, hit us with an iron rod, snatched our clothes and belongings and threw us off the bus on a deserted stretch.

The medical student's attack has sparked massive protests

"The bus occupants had everything planned. Apart from the driver and the helper, others behaved like they were passengers. We even paid 20 (rupees) as fare. They then started teasing my friend and it led to a brawl. I beat three of them up but then the rest of them brought an iron rod and hit me. Before I fell unconscious, they took my friend away."

"From where we boarded the bus, they moved around for nearly two and a half hours. We were shouting, trying to make people hear us. But they switched off the lights of the bus. We tried to resist them. Even my friend fought with them, she tried to save me. She tried to dial the police control room number 100, but the accused snatched her mobile away," he said.

After that the "driver and the other men raped my friend and hit her in the worst possible ways in the most private parts of her body."

"I cannot tell you what I feel when I think of it. I shiver in pain," he said.

The attackers also violated her with an iron bar, causing the immense internal damage that lead to her death, before throwing them from the bus.

The friend said: "There were a few people who had gathered round but nobody helped. Before the police came I screamed for help but the auto rickshaws, cars and others passing by did not stop."

Police have used water cannons and tear gas to dispel protesters

He said when police arrived: "We kept shouting at the police, 'please give us some clothes' but they were busy deciding which police station our case should be registered at."

"It took an hour and a half for us to be taken to hospital," he added.

The police have arrested six suspects - five men and a juvenile believed to be aged 17 - who were formally charged with murder, rape and kidnapping on Thursday.

The case has sparked massive protests across India, where statistics show a woman is raped every 20 minutes.

Protesters have called for all rape suspects to be hanged and want a better deal for women so the streets are safer and men who rape women are put on trial.

National crime records show that 228,650 of the total 256,329 violent crimes recorded in India last year were against women and rape cases more than doubled between 1990 and 2008.

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Chavez Suffering From 'Breathing Deficiency'

Venezuela's government has said President Hugo Chavez is being treated for "respiratory deficiency" after complications from a severe lung infection.

Information Minister Ernesto Villegas provided the update on Mr Chavez's condition days after officials admitted the left-wing leader's condition was "delicate".

He read from a statement saying that the politician's lung infection had led to "respiratory deficiency" and required strict compliance with his medical treatment.

The government expressed confidence in Mr Chavez's medical team and condemned what it called a " campaign of psychological warfare" in international media surrounding the president's condition.

Graffiti in Caracas reads: "Admit it, Chavez is dead."

Officials have urged Venezuelans not to heed rumours about their cancer-stricken president's health.

The 58-year-old hasn't been seen or heard from since an operation in Cuba on December 11.

Venezuela's opposition has demanded more specific information from the government about his health.

Mr Chavez has undergone four cancer-related operations since June 2011 for an undisclosed type of pelvic cancer.

He has also had chemotherapy and radiation treatment.

He was re-elected in October to another six year term, announcing two months later that the cancer had come back.

Mr Chavez is due to be sworn in on January 10 but his closest allies still aren't saying what they plan to do if the ailing leader is unable to return from a Cuban hospital to take the oath of office.

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China Orphanage Blaze Kills Seven Children

A fire at a shelter for orphans and abandoned youngsters in central China has killed at least seven children.

The blaze broke out on Friday morning at the refuge being run privately from a woman's home in Lankao county of Henan province, according to the official website China.org.cn.

Police at the site say many children have been hurt, though no specific number was available.

The Xinhua news agency said that four of the children died in the fire, while three died from their injuries on the way to hospital.

Reports say the woman who owned the home, Yuan Lihai, had for years been a street vendor in Lankao when she became locally known for sheltering abandoned children.

She is said to have taken in more than 100 children over the past 20 years.

More follows...

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Falklands Row: Sun's Argentina Ad Warns Kirchner

A British tabloid has published a full page newspaper advert in Argentina, warning its president to keep her "hands off" the Falklands.

The Sun was responding to an open letter from Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, in which she called for the islands to come under Argentine sovereignty.

A referendum on the islands' status is to take place in March.

Prime Minister David Cameron has insisted that residents of the Falkland Islands must decide their own future.

The Sun's message to Ms Kirchner - printed in English language paper, The Buenos Aires Herald - raises the issue of Argentina's 1982 invasion of the islands.

It mentions the 649 Argentine and 255 British servicemen who lost their lives and says the invasion was in "direct conflict" with the UN principle of self-determination.

The ad in the paper - read by some 50,000 people - disputes Argentina's claim to the islands and points out that British sovereignty dates back to 1765.

It concludes: "Until the people of the Falkland Islands choose to become Argentinian, they remain resolutely British.

David Cameron insists the islanders must decide their own future

"In the name of our millions of readers and to put it another way: 'HANDS OFF!'"

Ms Kirchner's open letter was published in The Guardian and Independent and called for the UK to give up the Falklands - known as The Malvinas in Argentina.

She urged Mr Cameron to abide by a 1965 UN resolution to "negotiate a solution" to the dispute.

But the PM told the leader that she should "listen" to the result of the March referendum.

And he vowed that Falklands residents would have his full backing if they choose to remain British.

"The future of the Falkland Islands should be determined by the Falkland Islanders themselves, the people who live there," he said.

"Whenever they have been asked their opinion, they say they want to maintain their current status with the United Kingdom.

"They're holding a referendum this year and I hope the president of Argentina will listen to that referendum and recognise it is for the Falkland Islanders to choose their future.

"As long as they choose to stay with the United Kingdom they have my 100% backing."

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Hillary Clinton Released From Hospital

Hillary Clinton has been discharged from hospital after four days of treatment for a blood clot between her brain and skull.

Mrs Clinton was admitted to a New York hospital on Sunday and treated with blood thinners to dissolve the clot in the vein behind the right ear.

Doctors found the clot during a follow-up exam stemming from a concussion she suffered in early December.

Mrs Clinton's doctors say there was no neurological damage and that she is expected to make a full recovery.

A spokeswoman for Mrs Clinton said the secretary of state had been "quite active" on the phone Wednesday with State Department aides and reviewing paperwork while she continued her recovery.

Mrs Clinton has been off work since her return from her last foreign trip on December 7, although her staff have said she was working from home.

Her lengthy absence from public life had sparked claims from critics that she is trying to avoid testifying in a congressional investigation into a deadly attack on a US mission in Libya.

A smiling Hillary Clinton is driven away from the hospital

Earlier this month, the State Department said Mrs Clinton had contracted a bad stomach virus during her five-day stay in Europe. She had to cancel a planned trip to North Africa and Abu Dhabi due to the illness.

A week later, Mrs Clinton's doctors said she had become severely dehydrated due to the effects of the stomach bug and had fainted, suffering a concussion.

They recommended she rest at home and avoid the high-intensity travel she had been accustomed to taking as secretary of state.

Mrs Clinton has flown almost a million miles since taking office four years ago, visited 112 countries and spent some 400 days in a plane.

Her health kept her from giving evidence on December 20 about the attack on the US diplomatic post in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on September 11.

The assault, in which the US ambassador and three other American officials were killed, sparked a political firestorm in the United States, and Republicans criticised Mrs Clinton's absence from the hearings, calling on her to testify in January.

Mrs Clinton, who is due to step down from her post in early 2013, also stayed away from the White House last week when President Barack Obama nominated her replacement, veteran Senator John Kerry.

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Climber Killed By Lightning On Kilimanjaro

An Irish climber has been killed after being struck by lightning while scaling Africa's highest mountain, Kilimanjaro.

Ian McKeever, 42, died in the freak tragedy as he led a group up the mountain.

It is understood a number of other climbers with him also needed medical attention.

Mr McKeever was a lecturer and broadcaster who regularly mentored hikers, including groups of Irish schoolchildren, climbing to the 5,896m (19,340ft) summit.

He was from Lough Dan in Co Wicklow.

The latest expedition set off to Tanzania from Ireland on December 28 and began their ascent the day before New Year's Eve.

In online updates, Mr McKeever wrote that had been torrential rain but spirits remained high among the hikers.

In his final post he said: "We pray for drier weather tomorrow - the big day. It's the Lava Tower." The Lava Tower is a landmark on the climb.

It is understood he was killed in a lightning storm.

The adventurer was known for many feats, including scaling Mount Everest.

In 2008, he helped his then 10-year-old godson Sean McSharry become the youngest person in Europe to reach the top of Kilimanjaro.

Mr McKeever is the former holder of the record for completing the seven highest peaks in the world.

Recently he had been attempting, along with his friend and African climbing guide Samuel Kinsonga, to break the record for the fastest ascent of Kilimanjaro as part of an anti-racism charity campaign.

He was the author of two books Give Me Shelter and Give Me Heroes and was working on a third book Give Me 28 Days.

On his Facebook page last night, a statement said: "It is with deep regret, that we, Ian's family, fiancee Anna and friends, advise of his sudden death on Kilimanjaro, today, doing what he loved best."

Tributes referred to him as an inspiration.

The Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed it was helping.

"We are providing consular assistance," a spokesman said.

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Patti Page: Tennessee Waltz Singer Dies Aged 85

Patti Page, the top-selling female singer of the 1950s who became famous for her version of Tennessee Waltz, has died aged 85.

Her publicist Schatzi Hageman said she died on New Year's Day in Encinitas, California.

Page created a distinctive sound for the music industry in 1947 by overdubbing her own voice when she didn't have enough money to hire backup singers for the single, Confess.

She went on to receive 15 gold records and three gold albums with 24 songs in the top 10, including four that reached number one.

She was due to attend a special ceremony on February 9 in Los Angeles where she was to receive a lifetime achievement Grammy Award from The Recording Academy.

The singer at the Country Music Awards in 2001

Page was popular in pop music and country and became the first singer to have television programmes on all three major US networks, including The Patti Page Show on ABC.

"I was a kid from Oklahoma who never wanted to be a singer, but was told I could sing," she said in a 1999 interview. "And things snowballed."

She was signed to Mercury Records and went on to sell more than 100 million records.

In 1999, after 51 years of performing, Page won her first Grammy for traditional pop vocal performance for Live at Carnegie Hall - The 50th Anniversary Concert.

Tennessee Waltz, her biggest selling record, was a fluke.

Page during rehearsals in London in 1961

Because Christmas was approaching, Mercury wanted Page to record Boogie Woogie Santa Claus in 1950.

Tennessee Waltz was put on the B-side of the Christmas song.

"Mercury wanted to concentrate on a Christmas song and they didn't want anything with much merit on the flip side," Page said. "They didn't want any disc jockeys to turn the Christmas record over. The title of that great Christmas song was Boogie Woogie Santa Claus, and no one ever heard of it."

Tennessee Waltz became the first pop tune that crossed over into a big country hit.

The waltz was in the charts for 30 weeks, 12 of them in the top 10, and eventually sold more than 10 million copies, behind only White Christmas by Bing Crosby at the time.

Page's other hits included (How Much Is That) Doggie In The Window and Mockin' Bird Hill.

Page is survived by her son, Daniel O'Curran, daughter Kathleen Ginn and sister Peggy Layton.

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Ivory Coast Stadium Stampede Kills 61

More than 60 people, most of them children aged between eight and 15, have died in a New Year's Eve stampede at a stadium in Ivory Coast.

It happened in Abidjan at around 2am local time after crowds gathered to watch a fireworks display.

Officials said 61 people had died and around 50 were injured, although some estimates of the number hurt were much higher.

Rescue co-ordinator Lieutenant Colonel Issa Sako said the number of people trying to get into the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium to watch the fireworks had caused the accident.

Abidjan is Ivory Coast's largest city

He said: "In the crush people were walked over and suffocated by the crowd."

One woman, Assetou Toure, said her children had been at the event and she did not know if they had survived.

"My two children came here yesterday. I told them not to come but they didn't listen," she said.

"They came when I was sleeping. What will I do?"

A Reuters correspondent said there were bloodstains and abandoned shoes outside the stadium on Tuesday morning, and rescue workers and government officials were still on the scene.

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Explorers Recreate Epic Shackleton Voyage

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

An adventurer is leaving Argentina with a crew of five Australian and British explorers to recreate one of the most dangerous and historic journeys ever made on earth.

Tim Jarvis, 46, will re-enact Sir Ernest Shackleton's perilous 1916 boat voyage by sailing on an exact replica of the 6.9m (22ft) lifeboat James Caird across 800 nautical miles from Elephant Island to South Georgia Island in the South Atlantic.

The replica boat has been renamed the Alexandra Shackleton after the explorer's granddaughter.

The crew will then traverse the mountainous interior of South Georgia using traditional kit and clothing.

The ocean crossing originally took 17 days with a three-day trip across South Georgia.

But the British explorer believes climate change has changed a few things since Shackleton's day.

"The winds may be a bit stronger," he said.

"The winds could be in our favour but they will also make for bigger seas.

"And a lot of crevasses have less snow than they used to, so the chances of a crevasse fall are greater than when (Shackleton) did it.

Shackleton's crew in 1916

"It's going to be a dangerous expedition."

The team will wear identical clothing to that worn by the original crew, and will navigate using the stars and sun. They will even survive on the same rations.

Shackleton set off on the journey from Elephant Island in April 1916 in the small lifeboat after his expedition vessel with almost 30 men on board became stuck in ice.

He made it to South Georgia and raised the alarm at a whaling station, and rescuers were eventually able to save the stranded party without any loss of life.

The journey will have many challenges. The replica boat has no keel and capsizes very easily.

"You know, we ran the numbers and said what can we do with an exact replica of Shackleton's boat, without cheating, to try and make this ... less susceptible to capsize than what he had," Mr Jarvis said.

The team have practised capsizing the vessel and trying to right it again, and have attempted to use their supplies, equipment and rocks as ballast instead of just rocks as Shackleton did.

"We ran all the numbers, we fiddled around with rocks and our camera batteries because we are filming this ... and you know what? We came up with exactly the same configuration of how the ballast was loaded as what Shackleton did with rule of thumb," Mr Jarvis said.

"It's amazing to think that (after) a hundred years, with all of our modern thinking, we've ended up with exactly what Shackleton had. But yeah, it's still a very tippy, very unsafe boat," he said.

He is also using the expedition to highlight his environmental message.

"It's ironic that Shackleton was trying to save his men from the Antarctic and we're now trying to save Antarctica from man," he told Sky News.

The 21st century team will have a support vessel following, in case of emergency.

And unlike Shackleton there is a TV and book deal to be had out of the trip.

But the team believes it can be the first to re-create Shackleton's incredible journey - and honour one of the greatest leadership and survival stories of all time.

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US Fiscal Cliff Averted As Bill Approved

A "fiscal cliff" of massive tax hikes and drastic spending cuts in the US has been avoided at the eleventh hour.

The House of Representatives voted to approve a bill which averts tax increases for the middle classes - and the possibility of sending the country into recession.

The bill - which also stops massive spending cuts - was approved by 257 votes to 167 after being supported earlier by the Senate.

President Barack Obama welcomed the deal and said it was just one step in a broader effort to strengthen the economy.

He said: "Thanks to the votes of Republicans and Democrats in Congress I will sign a law that raises taxes on the wealthiest 2% of Americans while preventing tax hikes that could have sent the economy back into recession."

The vote came just hours before financial markets reopen following the New Year holiday.

Some House Republicans had wanted to amend the bill to incorporate more spending cuts, but they dropped the idea.

In the end, 172 Democrats and 85 Republicans voted in favour of the bill.

It marks a political triumph for President Obama, less than two months after he secured re-election while campaigning for higher taxes on the wealthy.

The legislation cleared the Senate hours after Vice President Joe Biden and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, veteran negotiators, sealed a deal.

The spending cuts and drastic tax increases which made up the so-called "fiscal cliff" came into effect at midnight on Monday when George W Bush-era tax cuts expired.

The deadline triggered tax increases of $536bn (£328bn) and spending cuts of $109bn (£67bn) from domestic and military programmes.

The compromise Senate deal extends the tax cuts for Americans earning under $400,000 (£246,000) - up from the $250,000 (£153,000) level Democrats had originally sought.

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Chavez Suffers New Setback After Cancer Op

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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New Year Knees Up Around The World

Major cities, including Sydney, Shanghai, Dubai and Berlin have marked the start of 2013 with large fireworks displays.

Among the most spectacular celebrations were ones in Sydney, which centred on the harbour bridge, and Dubai, where the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa, formed the centrepiece.

Some 1.5 million people are estimated to have turned out to watch the event in the Australian city with more than 100,000 firework patterns, costing £4.2m.

One of the country's most famous singers, Kylie Minogue, was creative ambassador and she picked the colours and the music.

The pop star pressed the button that set off seven tons of fireworks.

Shanghai ushers in the New Year

The Dubai show had three elements - light, water and fire - and projections on a 210-metre long screen.

Moscow had the Kremlin as its backdrop, while Jakarta marked 2013 with a massive four-mile street party.

Sixteen large stages were built along the normally busy, eight-lane motorway which runs through the heart of the Indonesian capital.

There was a fireworks display at the Kremlin in Moscow

Couples kissed in New York's Times Square as ticker tape and fireworks welcomed in 2013 in style.

Thousands packed the iconic square in Manhattan as singers belted out the Frank Sinatra classic New York, New York.

The countdown was the first in decades without television host Dick Clark, who died in April.

North Korea put on a pyrotechnic display in Pyongyang

There were also celebrations on a grand scale in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

This year's fireworks display, which cost about £1m, was said to be the biggest ever in the southern Chinese city.

Meanwhile, North Korea welcomed 2013 with reportedly the first ever New Year's fireworks display the country has held as Tokyo reverberated to the sound of the city's Watch-Night Bell.

The bells were struck 108 times at temples all over Japan to symbolise the beginning of a prosperous New Year.

Auckland began the countdown to 2013

Burma rang in the New Year with its first public countdown and a fireworks display, a celebration unprecedented in the former military-ruled country.

Around 90,000 people gathered at the countdown venue - a large field in Rangoon - for a chance to do what much of the world does every year at this time.

"This is very exciting and also our first experience in celebrating the New Year at a big countdown gathering. We feel like we are in a different world," said Yu Thawda, a university student who joined the party.

The atmosphere of celebration was muted in some places.

British troops at Camp Bastion in Afghanistan see in the New Year

Many European nations planned scaled-back festivities and street parties for 2013 which is projected to be a sixth straight year of recession amid Greece's worst economic crisis.

Hotels, clubs and other venues in New Delhi cancelled festivities after the death of a gang rape victim which has led to days of protests and mourning.

The first major city to see in 2013 was Auckland, New Zealand, which had a spectacular fireworks display.

Crowds packed the city centre to watch the annual event at the city's Sky Tower, which stands more than 1,000ft tall.

The central Pacific Ocean island of Kiritimati (Christmas Island) and the eastern-most island in the island nation of Kiribati were the first to usher in the new year at 1000 GMT.

American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the US in the southern Pacific Ocean, will be the last place on Earth to herald in the new year on Tuesday at 1100 GMT.

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Mexican Olympic Silver Medallist Shot In Head

A Mexican race walker who won silver at the 2000 Sydney Olympics has lost his left eye after being shot in the head in a bar, according to reports.

Noe Hernandez, 34, was in a serious but stable condition after being shot at the Queen of Kings nightclub in Mexico state.

Three gunmen burst into the club and opened fire on revellers, killing two people and seriously injuring two more.

Hernandez, who works as sports secretary for the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party in the state, has undergone three surgeries after he was hit by a 9mm bullet.

Surgeon Carlos Castillo Rangel said: "The surgeries were successful, without any complications.

"We must wait and see his progress in intensive care."

Bars are often raided by drug cartel members in Mexico. More than 60,000 people have died in the country in the last six years as a result of the drug war.

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Chavez Suffers New Setback After Cancer Op

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Hillary Clinton In Hospital With Blood Clot

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been admitted to hospital after the discovery of a blood clot stemming from an accident earlier this month.

Mrs Clinton, 65, initially fell ill with a stomach bug that led to her fainting and sustaining a concussion. Officials had insisted she was recovering.

But her spokesman Philippe Reines said in a statement: "In the course of a follow-up exam today (Sunday), Secretary Clinton's doctors discovered a blood clot had formed, stemming from the concussion she sustained several weeks ago.

"She is being treated with anti-coagulants and is at New York Presbyterian Hospital so that they can monitor the medication over the next 48 hours.

"Her doctors will continue to assess her condition, including other issues associated with her concussion. They will determine if any further action is required."

Mrs Clinton has been off work since her return from her last foreign trip on December 7, although her staff have said she was working from home.

Her lengthy absence from public life had sparked claims from critics that she is trying to avoid testifying in a congressional investigation into a deadly attack on a US mission in Libya.

Earlier this month, the State Department said Mrs Clinton had contracted a bad stomach virus during her five-day stay in Europe. She had to cancel a planned trip to North Africa and Abu Dhabi due to the illness.

A week later, Mrs Clinton's doctors said she had become severely dehydrated due to the effects of the stomach bug and had fainted, suffering a concussion.

They recommended she rest at home and avoid the high-intensity travel she had been accustomed to taking as secretary of state.

Mr Obama (L) announcing Mr Kerry's (R) nomination as secretary of state

Mrs Clinton has flown almost a million miles since taking office four years ago, visited 112 countries and spent some 400 days in a plane.

Her health kept her from giving evidence on December 20 about the attack on the US diplomatic post in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi on September 11.

The assault, in which the US ambassador and three other American officials were killed, sparked a political firestorm in the United States, and Republicans criticised Mrs Clinton's absence from the hearings, calling on her to testify in January.

Mrs Clinton, who is due to step down from her post in early 2013, also stayed away from the White House last week when President Barack Obama nominated her replacement, veteran Senator John Kerry.

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Bus Veers Off Icy Road: Nine Killed

A tour bus crashed through a barrier on an icy road in Oregon and fell several hundred feet into a ravine, killing nine people and injuring at least 26 others.

It lost control on a snow and ice covered section of Interstate 84 that winds down a hill, and after hitting the bottom of the embankment it landed upright, with little debris visible around the crash site.

More than a dozen rescue workers descended the hill and used ropes to help retrieve people from the wreckage in freezing weather.

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

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

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

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

About 40 people are thought to have been onboard

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Pakistan: Kidnapped Policemen Found Dead

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Russia Plane Crash: Video Of Moment Of Impact

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

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

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

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

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

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

The passenger plane was sheared in two

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

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

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

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

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

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

Vnukovo is Russia's third biggest airport

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Gang Rape Victim Cremated In New Delhi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Thousands more took part in a candlelight vigil.

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

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

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

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

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

Formal charges are expected to be filed by January 3.

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

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

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

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