Friday, December 25, 2009 VATICAN CITY: A woman pushing against a barrier caused Pope Benedict XVI to fall on Thursday as he entered St Peter's Basilica to celebrate Christmas mass, the Vatican spokesman said. The woman was "apparently unbalanced," Father Federico Lombardi told media. The 82-year-old pontiff quickly recovered and went on to conduct the mass without assistance, but French Cardinal Roger Etchegaray fell ill in the crush and was given first aid, Lombardi said. In gold and white vestments and mitre, the pope bore a gold cross in a solemn procession to the altar as the mass began two hours early, at 10:00 pm (2100 GMT) instead of the traditional midnight hour due to his advanced age. The decision, a Vatican first, was taken several weeks ago. The German pope's spokesman Federico Lombardi said the change was "no cause for alarm," adding that the pontiff's condition was "absolutely normal" for a man of his age. Lombardi told media the earlier mass, which was to finish shortly after midnight instead of at 2:00 am, was planned "to make Christmas a little less tiring for the pope, who has many engagements during this time". Benedict showed no discomfort as he read out his Christmas Eve homily, decrying selfishness, which he said "makes us prisoners of our interests and our desires that stand against the truth and separate us from one another."
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
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