Pope Christmas message
Pope Benedict the 16th has called for an end to the bloodshed in Syria
and urged China's new leadership to respect religious freedoms.The Pope
read out his annual Christmas message on Tuesday to Roman Catholics
gathered in Saint Peter's Square in the Vatican. The pontiff said the
conflict in Syria is costing innocent lives and appealed for dialogue
between President Bashar al-Assad's government and anti-government
groups to seek a political solution. He urged China's new leader Xi
Jinping and his government to value the contribution of religion in a
way that can help build a fraternal society. The Holy See has been
expressing concern over China's suppression of religious freedom for
Catholics and does not have diplomatic relations with the country.Media
agencies
Rouhani wins Iran's Presidential election Moderate cleric Hassan Rouhani won Iran's presidential election on Saturday, the interior ministry said, scoring a surprising landslide victory over conservative hardliners without the need of a second round run-off.Interior minister Mostafa Mohammad-Najjar announced on state television that Rouhani secured just over 50 percent of the ballot based on a 72 percent turnout of 50 million eligible voters. Mr Hassan Rouhani ... got the absolute majority of votes and was elected as president," Najjar said. Tehran Mayor Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, a hard-line conservative, lagged behind with about 16 percent of the votes. Iran's top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, he too a hard-line conservative, earned 11 percent. The voter turnout was 72.7 percent. President-elect Hassan Rohani, sixty four years old, is known as a moderate conservative. He has been stressing the need to improve ties with Western nations, and is back...
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