China Condemns Japan PM's Visit To War Shrine

Japan's nationalist Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has paid an inflammatory visit to the controversial Yasukuni war shrine.

China immediately condemned the move as glorification of Japan's past "militaristic aggression" and warned Tokyo must "bear the consequences".

Mr Abe described his visit, which comes days after he caused consternation by giving Japan's military its second consecutive annual budget increase, as a pledge against war and said it was not aimed at hurting feelings in China or South Korea.

The Yasukuni shrine is seen as the repository of around 2.5 million souls of Japan's war dead, including several high-level officials executed for war crimes after World War II who were enshrined in the 1970s.

South Korea and China see it as a symbol of Tokyo's lack of repentance for the horrors of the last century.

Mr Abe said in a statement: "Some people criticise the visit to Yasukuni as paying homage to war criminals, but the purpose of my visit today is to report before the souls of the war dead how my administration has worked for one year and to renew the pledge that Japan must never wage a war again.

"For 68 years after the war, Japan created a free and democratic country, and consistently walked the path of peace. There is no doubt whatsoever that we will continue to pursue this path.

A Shinto priest leads Shinzo Abe to the altar

"It is not my intention at all to hurt the feelings of the Chinese and Korean people. It is my wish to respect each other's character, protect freedom and democracy, and build friendship with China and Korea with respect."

The visit came exactly 12 months after he took power, a period in which he has met neither Chinese President Xi Jinping nor South Korean President Park Geun-Hye.

Ties with Beijing were bad before Mr Abe took office, with the two countries crossing diplomatic swords over the ownership of a string of uninhabited islands in the East China Sea, controlled by Japan, but claimed by China.

The dispute has been ratcheted up further this year, with the involvement of military aircraft and ships, leaving some observers warning of the danger of armed conflict between the world's second and third-largest economies.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang said: "The essence of Japanese leaders' visits to the Yasukuni shrine is to beautify Japan's history of militaristic aggression and colonial rule."

South Korean culture minister Yoo Jin-Ryong said: "We can't help deploring and expressing anger at the prime minister's visit to the Yasukuni shrine despite concerns and warnings by neighbouring countries."

The United States said: "Japan is a valued ally and friend. Nevertheless, the United States is disappointed that Japan's leadership has taken an action that will exacerbate tensions with Japan's neighbours."

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Greenpeace Activists Handed Russian Exit Visas

Seven of the 30 people arrested by Russia during a protest near an Arctic oil rig have been told they can leave the country after the criminal case against them was dropped.

Anthony Perrett, 32, from Newport, South Wales, was the first to be issued with an exit visa after being held in jail with the others for two months.

"He will be able to go home before the New Year!" Greenpeace tweeted.

After getting his permission to leave, Mr Perrett said in a statement: "This was the final step. I'll be leaving for home in Wales as soon as possible now, extremely proud of what I did three months ago.

"We took peaceful action to defend a part of the world that is the heartbeat of our climate.

Six Britons were held in Russia the Arctic Sunrise was seized

"The Arctic is a measure of our planet's health and I refuse to stay silent as the oil companies line up to profit from its destruction.

"Together we are saying to the oil companies that the Arctic is off-limits and that we must save this beautiful region for future generations."

The Briton who was also the first to be released from detention, spent Christmas Day in St Petersburg before being learning he was free to travel home.

Greenpeace's Faiza Oulahsen with papers signalling an end to prosecution

The remaining non-Russian activists have since been given are also expected to leave Russia over the coming days.

A spokesman added: "The 30 benefited from the amnesty without admitting any guilt. The last person to have his case dropped was Cristian D'Alessandro of Italy."

The group had been arrested while staging a protest, in international waters, near an Arctic offshore oil rig owned by the Russian company Gazprom.

The activists initially faced a charge of piracy, which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, but that was dropped and replaced by a charge of hooliganism, which carries a maximum punishment of seven years.

The Arctic Sunrise was taken to the port of Murmansk

However, earlier this week, Russia closed the cases against the Arctic Sunrise crew members after parliament agreed a Kremlin-backed amnesty.

The move was widely seen as an attempt by President Vladimir Putin to improve Russia's image before it hosts the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi in February.

A spokesman for the Russian migration service said: "More than 20 people from the Arctic Sunrise crew applied for visa documents."

But he could not guarantee that all the activists would get home before the year-end.

"We're not sure how it will turn out. But we are hoping that things will be in favour of the Greenpeace activists," the spokesman said. 

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Australia: Sharks Use Twitter To Warn Swimmers

By Jonathan Samuels, Australia Correspondent

Sharks in Western Australia swimming close to popular beaches are using Twitter to send warning messages to surfers and swimmers.

The unique project means beach goers can make an informed decision about whether to go in the water knowing a shark is nearby.

Scientists have attached transmitters to more than 320 sharks, including great whites, which monitor their movements up and down the coast.

When a tagged shark swims within about a kilometre of a beach, it triggers an alert which is picked up by computer. That computer then instantly turns the shark's signal into a short message on Surf Life Saving Western Australia's (SLSWA) Twitter feed.

The tweet gives the size and breed of the shark, and its approximate location.

Chris Peck, from SLSWA, told Sky News the system is far quicker than traditional warnings on local radio and in newspapers.

Shark warnings are automatically sent out via Twitter to swimmers

"You might not have got some of that information until the following day in which case the hazard has long gone and the information might not be relevant.

"Now it's instant information and really people don't have an excuse to say we're not getting the information, it's about whether you are searching for it and finding it," he said.

Department of Fisheries principal research scientist, Dr Rory McAuley, said acoustic tags provided knowledge on sharks, as well as alerts.

"These detections and WA's extensive receiver network are contributing to important research to help the Government to better understand the movements of white sharks through WA waters, as well as playing a major public safety role," Dr McAuley said.

"The battery life of internal acoustic tags is up to 10 years so the scientific data that may be collected from this shark is unprecedented."

A tiger shark spotted off Trigg Beach last week

Western Australia is now the world's deadliest place for shark attacks. Surfer Chris Boyd, 35, was killed in November and was the sixth person to die in the region in just two years.

Authorities in the state have patrolled beaches using helicopters and boats for years, but the recent spate of attacks has prompted the local government to look at new ways of trying to prevent incidents.

Ministers have just agreed to a controversial scheme allowing professional fishermen to kill sharks larger than three metres found in certain zones which are used by surfers and beach goers.

And bait will be put out one kilometre off shore to attract and catch sharks during the summer.

State Premier Colin Barnett recently told reporters: "The safety of human life, the safety of beach goers using our marine environment must come first."

It is a move that has angered environmentalists.

Ross Weir, from the group Western Australians for Shark Conservation (WASC), said: "This is a simple knee-jerk reaction, based on zero science.

"It's not going to have any positive benefit for beach goers and their safety and it's certainly going to have a decimating effect on any great white sharks or other endangered shark species."

Conservationists have said they will consider direct action to disrupt any culling of sharks.

While the chances of being attacked by a shark are minuscule, every incident causes fear, and damages the local economy and tourism.

Whether it is using Twitter, or introducing a cull, Australians are now wrestling with how best to deal with a growing problem.

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'Contract Killer' Drugs Police Meal To Escape

A "desperate contract killer" linked to dozens of murders has escaped from police custody in India after apparently serving food laced with sedatives to officers guarding him.

Vikram Paras, 27, managed to flee as four armed officers were escorting him from the busy Old Delhi Railway Station in the capital early on Wednesday, a local officer said.

Paras, allegedly involved in dozens of cases of murder, extortion and robbery, was being brought back to Delhi by train after a court appearance at Bhatinda in neighbouring Punjab state.

Delhi Police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said: "He is a desperate contract killer. We have launched an investigation based on the information that we have as of now. We are hopeful of nabbing him soon."

Mr Bhagat said police were still trying to establish exactly what happened, after three of his guards were found unconscious at the railway station while the fourth was found dazed in a nearby street.

Railway police officer Surender Singh said: "They were mostly incoherent when a police team reached them."

Paras offered food to the four officers at the station, which his accomplices had contaminated with drugs, before stealing their guns and fleeing, according to the Times of India.

The newspaper wrote: "Four of his accomplices were probably trailing him, possibly in police uniform, and were ready at the station with an SUV.

"They would have supplied the sedated food as well."

The newspaper said this was not the first time that Mr Paras, who had been in custody since his arrest in March, has escaped his police guards.

In 2012, Paras, who gained notoriety as the right-hand man of a now slain criminal gang lord, fled after "luring his escorts into a store on the promise of buying them branded apparel", the newspaper said.

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Egypt Names Muslim Brotherhood A Terror Group

Egypt's military-backed government has declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist group, criminalising all of its activities.

The interim government also banned any financing of the Muslim Brotherhood and membership to it.

The announcement is a dramatic escalation of the fight between the government and the group, from which the ousted president hails.

The Brotherhood has waged near-daily protests since the military coup that toppled President Mohamed Morsi on July 3.

A man surveys the damage caused by Tuesday's bomb attack

Hossam Eissa, the Minister of Higher Education, read out the Cabinet statement after a long meeting.

He said: "The Cabinet has declared the Muslim Brotherhood group and its organisation as a terrorist organisation."

He said that the decision was in response to Tuesday's bombing of police headquarters in a Nile Delta city which killed 16 people and wounded more than 100.

"Egypt was horrified from north to south by the hideous crime committed by the Muslim Brotherhood group," Mr Eissa said.

"This was in context of dangerous escalation to violence against Egypt and Egyptians (and) a clear declaration by the Muslim Brotherhood group that it still knows nothing but violence.

Brotherhood leader Mohamed Morsi was ousted in July

"It's not possible for Egypt the state, nor Egypt the people, to submit to the Muslim Brotherhood terrorism," he added.

Mr Eissa offered no evidence in his speech linking the Brotherhood to Tuesday's attack.

The Brotherhood, founded in 1928, denounced violence in the late 1970s.

Ibrahim Elsayed, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood's political group, the Freedom and Justice Party, said the government announcement will have no impact on the work or the beliefs of the group.

"This decision is as if it never happened. It has no value for us and is only worth the paper it is written on," he said.

"It won't impact us from near and far. Ideas won't be impacted by false accusations. We uphold this call only for the sake of God."

Ahmed el-Borai, the Minister of Social Solidarity, told reporters in a news conference that the decision means "all activities of the Muslim Brotherhood group are banned including the demonstrations."

The declaration gives the armed forces and the police the right to enter universities and prevent protests, as "protection to the students," Mr el-Borai said.

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Global Rough Diamond Trade Thrives In Antwerp

By Robert Nisbet, Europe Correspondent

In four unprepossessing streets in the centre of Antwerp, a secretive, centuries-old business is conducted behind bulletproof glass where a handshake and the Yiddish word "mazel" seals the deal.

The international diamond trade has been centred in the city since the 15th century. It is estimated that 85% of the global trade in rough diamonds passes through Antwerp, worth €43bn (£36bn) every year, equivalent to the GDP of Slovenia.

You would imagine that the crippling single currency crisis which continues to hold Europe in its grip would have had an icing effect on expensive ice, but business is booming, even as a quarter of Antwerp's young people struggle to find work.

£36m worth of stones bought or sold in Antwerp each year

We went to find out why, gaining access to one of the most secure buildings in the country guided by the entrepreneur Vashi Dominguez, who runs a successful UK-based diamond business from mine to retail.

It was fairly clear from the outset that news cameras aren't welcome in the diamond quarter. A police officer was dispatched to check our credentials after a CCTV camera filmed us on the pavement, while private security guards watched us warily from doorways.

After surrendering our passports, and with a prior appointment, we were allowed inside one 10-storey concrete building, in which trades valued at €1bn (£837,000) take place every month.

In a simple room with a series of substantial tables - and an even larger safe built into the wall - Vashi showed us three cut diamonds with a combined value of £2m as well as a scattering of smaller rough stones.

The four Cs still determine the price of a finished stone: cut, colour, clarity and carat (the weight, with a carat equivalent to one fifth of a gram), but the value of unusual, or "fancy" diamonds has been increasing dramatically at auction since the financial crisis began.

Vashi Dominguez: 'Prices are rising because demand is increasing'

Vashi explains that as government bonds and currencies have become less attractive to investors since the start of the crisis in 2008, they have turned to valuable commodities like gold and gems.

"Prices are rising because demand is increasing. That's due to the slowdown and more interest from buyers in the east like China and India as well as other developing countries such as Brazil," he explains.

"There's another factor too: there has been a lack of major discoveries of new mines and some mines that have been discovered can't be built into viable businesses because the extraction process is so costly."

A massive new mine is being prepared in Canada, and De Beers continues to chip new diamonds out of Jwaneng mine in Botswana, but prospectors are working hard globally to establish new deposits.

The location of the current mines and trade patterns shifting eastwards could threaten Antwerp's pre-eminence as a diamond hub. More business could switch to Dubai, which is closer to southern Africa.

That's reflected in a change in the religion and ethnicity of the traders: the diamond quarter has been conspicuously Jewish, but more Indians are moving into the business, and into the area.

At the moment, Antwerp is still keeping its nose ahead of those rival cities looking to snatch its diamond tiara. It's an irony that the booming gem trade is based in a continent where economies have lost their lustre.

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US Storm: Power Outages To Continue Into Friday

Many residents of areas of the US and Canada hit by a severe winter storm will have to wait another day to have their power restored after fallen trees slowed progress.

Utility companies have also warned of new outages as cold temperatures continue in Maine and Michigan.

The storm swept across the US and parts of Canada over the weekend with ice piling up on power lines causing widespread outages.

The ice covered shore of Lake Michigan in Chicago

Tornadoes and powerful winds, as well as ice and flooding, came as millions of people were preparing to head home for Christmas.

Tens of thousands of homes were still without power on Wednesday in Michigan. More than 500,000 were affected at the peak of the storm.

Joggers run along the ice covered shore of Lake Michigan in Chicago

Eight-year-old Shyann Decator spent the holiday with her family in a shelter after their Michigan home lost power in the storm.

She hoped Santa could still find her at the shelter. 

"I'm thinking my mum just went to our house and put a note under the tree, so when he came there he took a few presents that he put down and came over here," she told CBS. 

Ice enrusted pine cones are seen in Earl Bales Park in Toronto

In Maine, 60,000 people were still without power - down from more than 100,000 - with crews working around the clock to restore power.

"I'd much rather be at home with my family and my kids," said electric line repairman Erik Collins.

A fallen branch hangs on a powerline in Toronto

Many trees are still coated with ice and officials have warned that strong gales could bring down even more branches - further hampering repairs.

In Canada, utility officials said some residents would be without power until Saturday.

A man walks past ice encrusted trees in Toronto's Earl Bales Park

The storm is being blamed for at least 27 deaths.

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Thailand: Policeman Killed In Election Protest

A Thai police officer has been killed in clashes as anti-government protesters in Bangkok attempt to halt preparations for upcoming elections.

Police said the officer died after being airlifted to a hospital with gunshot wounds.

"He was shot in his chest and brought to hospital by helicopter," said Jongjet Aoajenpong, director of the Police General Hospital.

"A team of doctors tried to resuscitate him for more than half an hour."

Police carry away a wounded comrade

Protesters clashed with police outside a sports stadium where election candidates were drawing lots for their positions on the ballot ahead of general elections scheduled for February 2.

Security authorities fired rubber bullets and tear gas toward protesters during the clashes, while protesters threw rocks and glass bottles at riot police guarding the stadium and the nearby Ministry of Labour building.

Nearly 100 people, including 25 police officers, were injured in the clashes.

Despite the violence, the protesters failed to halt the proceedings inside the stadium, where representatives from 27 parties gathered.

An anti-government protester covers his face in a teargas attack

It was the first violent incident in nearly two weeks of daily protests on the streets of Bangkok.

Thailand's election commission has now urged the government to postpone the elections.

"We cannot organise free and fair elections under the constitution in the current circumstances," said commission member Prawit Rattanapien, who along with other vote officials had to be evacuated from the stadium by helicopter.

Shortly afterwards, the government said the polls would go ahead as scheduled on February 2. 

A riot policeman fires teargas towards the protesters

The protesters have been demanding that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra step down since mid-October.

The unrest began after her government tried to introduce an amnesty law that would have allowed Ms Yingluck's brother and former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled in a military coup in 2006, to return to the country as a free man.

The protesters believe the prime minister is being controlled by her exiled brother.

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Piranha Attack: Dozens Hurt In Argentina

Dozens of people have been injured in a frenzied attack by a school of piranhas on an Argentinian beach.

The attack occurred at a local beach on the banks of the Parana River, in the city of Rosario, central Argentina.

More than 60 people were hurt in the Christmas Day attack, including seven children.

Among the wounded was a seven-year-old girl who suffered severe bites to her left hand, according to local newspaper La Capital.

The girl was taken to hospital where she had part of a finger amputated, the newspaper reported.

Most of the victims were bitten on the arms, feet and legs.

Paramedic Gustavo Centurion described the piranhas as "very aggressive".

Authorities say the attack may have been provoked by unusually high temperatures in Argentina in recent days.

The beach has since been closed to bathers.

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Elysee Palace Rammed By Theatre Director

A theatre director has been arrested for ramming a car into a gate at the French presidential palace in protest over arts funding cuts.

The 67-year-old Italian was held as he attempted to force his way through the late 19th century Grille du Coq (Rooster Gate), which leads into the gardens of the Elysee palace near the Champs-Elysees in Paris, officials said.

He was protesting against cuts in subsidies to his small Parisian theatre, the Italian Comedy, a police source said, adding that the man was slightly injured in the collision and was being held in custody at a Parisian hospital.

The source said the man had already been arrested on Christmas Day near the palace after pulling a model Harlequin - a comic theatre character - from his car and setting it on fire.

"He then threw around some leaflets denouncing the cuts in subsidies for his theatre," the source said.

Police had arrested him but let him go shortly afterwards.

Socialist President Francois Hollande has cut into France's traditionally generous culture budget as part of his efforts to reduce the budget deficit.

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