Kurien writes to Sonia, Ansari; pleads innocence

NEW DELHI: RajyaSabha deputy chairman PJKurien has written to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and Vice-President HamidAnsari, claiming innocence in the Suryanelli rape case.

Kurien is learnt to have written to the two leaders last week to counter the renewed controversy over the rape scandal that has put him in the line of fire. BJP and CPM have adopted a tough stand, demanding that he step down from his post till his name is cleared.

Kurien narrated his side of the story in the letters, saying he was exonerated by every inquiry ordered by Congress and Left governments and was cleared by the Supreme Court and the high court. He said the allegations were made three days before he filed the nomination in 1996 elections, hinting at a political conspiracy.

The letters appear aimed at undercutting the rival campaign that has turned his scalp into a non-negotiable demand.

While Congress has been playing down the allegations, the claims on television by the sole convict in the case and the victim, accusing Kurien, have complicated matters. A section of Congress thinks that countering the demand for Kurien's resignation for long could be counter-productive in the post-Nirbhaya sensitivity over women's issues.

The victim's mother has already written to Sonia, seeking her intervention to ensure that Kurien steps down from the high post in Rajya Sabha.

The issue is likely to be sealed by the start of budget session on February 21.

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Pope shows lifetime jobs aren't always for life

The world seems surprised that an 85-year-old globe-trotting pope who just started tweeting wants to resign, but should it be? Maybe what should be surprising is that more leaders his age do not, considering the toll aging takes on bodies and minds amid a culture of constant communication and change.

There may be more behind the story of why Pope Benedict XVI decided to leave a job normally held for life. But the pontiff made it about age. He said the job called for "both strength of mind and body" and said his was deteriorating. He spoke of "today's world, subject to so many rapid changes," implying a difficulty keeping up despite his recent debut on Twitter.

"This seemed to me a very brave, courageous decision," especially because older people often don't recognize their own decline, said Dr. Seth Landefeld, an expert on aging and chairman of medicine at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Age has driven many leaders from jobs that used to be for life — Supreme Court justices, monarchs and other heads of state. As lifetimes expand, the woes of old age are catching up with more in seats of power. Some are choosing to step down rather than suffer long declines and disabilities as the pope's last predecessor did.

Since 1955, only one U.S. Supreme Court justice — Chief Justice William Rehnquist — has died in office. Twenty-one others chose to retire, the most recent being John Paul Stevens, who stepped down in 2010 at age 90.

When Thurgood Marshall stepped down in 1991 at the age of 82, citing health reasons, the Supreme Court justice's answer was blunt: "What's wrong with me? I'm old. I'm getting old and falling apart."

One in 5 U.S. senators is 70 or older, and some have retired rather than seek new terms, such as Hawaii's Daniel Akaka, who left office in January at age 88.

The Netherlands' Queen Beatrix, who just turned 75, recently said she will pass the crown to a son and put the country "in the hands of a new generation."

In Germany, where the pope was born, Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is 58, said the pope's decision that he was no longer fit for the job "earns my very highest respect."

"In our time of ever-lengthening life, many people will be able to understand how the pope as well has to deal with the burdens of aging," she told reporters in Berlin.

Experts on aging agreed.

"People's mental capacities in their 80s and 90s aren't what they were in their 40s and 50s. Their short-term memory is often not as good, their ability to think quickly on their feet, to execute decisions is often not as good," Landefeld said. Change is tougher to handle with age, and leaders like popes and presidents face "extraordinary demands that would tax anybody's physical and mental stamina."

Dr. Barbara Messinger-Rapport, geriatrics chief at the Cleveland Clinic, noted that half of people 85 and older in developed countries have some dementia, usually Alzheimer's. Even without such a disease, "it takes longer to make decisions, it takes longer to learn new things," she said.

But that's far from universal, said Dr. Thomas Perls, an expert on aging at Boston University and director of the New England Centenarians Study.

"Usually a man who is entirely healthy in his early 80s has demonstrated his survival prowess" and can live much longer, he said. People of privilege have better odds because they have access to good food and health care, and tend to lead clean lives.

"Even in the 1500s and 1600s there were popes in their 80s. It's remarkable. That would be today's centenarians," Perls said.

Arizona Sen. John McCain turned 71 while running for president in 2007. Had he won, he would have been the oldest person elected to a first term as president. Ronald Reagan was days away from turning 70 when he started his first term as president in 1981; he won re-election in 1984. Vice President Joe Biden just turned 70.

In the U.S. Senate, where seniority is rewarded and revered, South Carolina's Strom Thurmond didn't retire until age 100 in 2002. Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia was the longest-serving senator when he died in office at 92 in 2010.

Now the oldest U.S. senator is 89-year-old Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey. The oldest congressman is Ralph Hall of Texas who turns 90 in May.

The legendary Alan Greenspan was about to turn 80 when he retired as chairman of the Federal Reserve in 2006; he still works as a consultant.

Elsewhere around the world, Cuba's Fidel Castro — one of the world's longest serving heads of state — stepped down in 2006 at age 79 due to an intestinal illness that nearly killed him, handing power to his younger brother Raul. But the island is an example of aged leaders pushing on well into their dotage. Raul Castro now is 81 and his two top lieutenants are also octogenarians. Later this month, he is expected to be named to a new, five-year term as president.

Other leaders who are still working:

—England's Queen Elizabeth, 86.

—Abdullah bin Abd al-Aziz al-Saud, king of Saudi Arabia, 88.

—Sabah al-Ahmad al-Jaber al-Sabah, emir of Kuwait, 83.

—Ruth Bader Ginsburg, U.S. Supreme Court associate justice, 79.

__

Associated Press writers Paul Haven in Havana, Cuba; David Rising in Berlin; Seth Borenstein, Mark Sherman and Matt Yancey in Washington, and researcher Judy Ausuebel in New York contributed to this report.

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Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP

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Fort Hood Hero Says President 'Betrayed' Victims

Three years after the White House arranged a hero's welcome at the State of the Union address for the Fort Hood police sergeant and her partner who stopped the deadly shooting there, Kimberly Munley says President Obama broke the promise he made to her that the victims would be well taken care of.

"Betrayed is a good word," former Sgt. Munley told ABC News in a tearful interview to be broadcast tonight on "World News with Diane Sawyer" and "Nightline."

"Not to the least little bit have the victims been taken care of," she said. "In fact they've been neglected."

There was no immediate comment from the White House about Munley's allegations.

Thirteen people were killed, including a pregnant soldier, and 32 others shot in the November 2009 rampage by the accused shooter, Major Nidal Hasan, who now awaits a military trial on charges of premeditated murder and attempted murder.

Tonight's broadcast report also includes dramatic new video, obtained by ABC News, taken in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, capturing the chaos and terror of the day.

WATCH Exclusive Video of Fort Hood's Aftermath

Munley, since laid off from her job with the base's civilian police force, was shot three times as she and her partner, Sgt. Mark Todd, confronted Hasan, who witnesses said had shouted "Allahu Akbar" as he opened fire on soldiers being processed for deployment to Afghanistan.

As Munley lay wounded, Todd fired the five bullets credited with bringing Hasan down.

Charles Dharapak/AP Photo

Despite extensive evidence that Hasan was in communication with al Qaeda leader Anwar al-Awlaki prior to the attack, the military has denied the victims a Purple Heart and is treating the incident as "workplace violence" instead of "combat related" or terrorism.

READ a Federal Report on the FBI's Probe of Hasan's Ties to al-Awlaki

Al-Awlaki has since been killed in a U.S. drone attack in Yemen, in what was termed a major victory in the U.S. efforts against al Qaeda.

Munley and dozens of other victims have now filed a lawsuit against the military alleging the "workplace violence" designation means the Fort Hood victims are receiving lower priority access to medical care as veterans, and a loss of financial benefits available to those who injuries are classified as "combat related."

READ the Fort Hood Victims' Lawsuit

Some of the victims "had to find civilian doctors to get proper medical treatment" and the military has not assigned liaison officers to help them coordinate their recovery, said the group's lawyer, Reed Rubinstein.

"There's a substantial number of very serious, crippling cases of post-traumatic stress disorder exacerbated, frankly, by what the Army and the Defense Department did in this case," said Rubinstein. "We have a couple of cases in which the soldiers' command accused the soldiers of malingering, and would say things to them that Fort Hood really wasn't so bad, it wasn't combat."

A spokesperson for the Army said its policy is not to comment on pending litigation, but that it is "not true" any of the military victims have been neglected and that it has no control over the guidelines of the Veterans Administration.

Secretary of the Army John McHugh told ABC News he was unaware of any specific complaints from the Fort Hood victims, even though he is a named defendant in the lawsuit filed last November which specifically details the plight of many of them.

"If a soldier feels ignored, then we need to know about it on a case by case basis," McHugh told ABC News. "It is not our intent to have two levels of care for people who are wounded by whatever means in uniform."

Some of the victims in the lawsuit believe the Army Secretary and others are purposely ignoring their cases out of political correctness.

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Pope's sudden resignation sends shockwaves through Church

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict stunned the Roman Catholic Church including his closest advisers on Monday when he announced he would stand down in the first papal abdication in 700 years, saying he no longer had the mental and physical strength to run the Church through a period of major crisis.

Church officials tried to relay a climate of calm confidence in the running of a 2,000-year-old institution but the decision could lead to one of the most uncertain and unstable periods in centuries for a Church besieged by scandal and defections.

Several popes in the past, including Benedict's predecessor John Paul, refrained from stepping down even when severely ill, precisely because of the confusion and division that could be caused by having an "ex-pope" and a reigning pope living at the same time.

This could create a particularly difficult problem if the next pope is a progressive who influences such teachings as the ban on women priests and artificial birth control and its insistence on a celibate priesthood.

The Church has been rocked during Benedict's nearly eight-year papacy by child sexual abuse crises and Muslim anger after the pope compared Islam to violence. Jews were upset over rehabilitation of a Holocaust denier and there was scandal over the leaking of the pope's private papers by his personal butler.

In an announcement read to cardinals in Latin, the universal language of the Church, the 85-year-old said: "Well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of St Peter ...

"As from 28 February 2013, at 20:00 hours (1900 GMT) the See of Rome, the See of St. Peter will be vacant and a conclave to elect the new Supreme Pontiff will have to be convoked by those whose competence it is."

POPE DOESN'T FEAR SCHISM

At a news conference, chief Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said the pope did not fear a possible "schism" in the Church, with Catholics owing allegiances to a past and present pope in case of differences on Church teachings.

The pope, known for his conservative doctrine, stepped up the Church's opposition to gay marriage, underscored the Church's resistance to a female priesthood and to embryonic stem cell research.

But Lombardi said Benedict, who is expected to go into isolation for at least a while after his resignation, did not intend to influence the decision of the cardinals who will enter a secret conclave to elect a successor.

A new leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics could be elected as soon as Palm Sunday, on March 24, and be ready to take over by Easter a week later, Lombardi said.

He indicated the complex machinery of the process to elect a new pope would move quickly because the Vatican would not have to wait until after the elaborate funeral services for a pope.

The decision shocked many throughout the world, from ordinary believers, to politicians to world religious leaders.

"This is disconcerting, he is leaving his flock," said Alessandra Mussolini, a parliamentarian who is granddaughter of Italy's wartime dictator.

"The pope is not any man. He is the vicar of Christ. He should stay on to the end, go ahead and bear his cross to the end. This is a huge sign of world destabilization that will weaken the Church."

OWN BROTHER SURPRISED

The announcement even caught the pope's elder brother Georg Ratzinger, off guard, indicating just how well-kept a secret it was. Ratzinger told reporters in Germany that he had been "very surprised" and added: "He alone can evaluate his physical and emotional strength."

Lombardi said Benedict would first go to the papal summer residence south of Rome and then move into a cloistered convent inside the Vatican walls. It was not clear if Benedict would have a public life after he resigns.

The last pope to resign willingly was Celestine V in 1294 after reigning for only five months, his resignation was known as "the great refusal" and was condemned by the poet Dante in the "Divine Comedy". Gregory XII reluctantly abdicated in 1415 to end a dispute with a rival claimant to the papacy.

Lombardi said Benedict's stepping aside showed "great courage". He ruled out any specific illness or depression and said the decision was made in the last few months "without outside pressure".

Joseph Curran, professor of religious studies at Misericordia University in Dallas, Pennsylvania, said the modern medicine prolonging the life of people had posed difficulties for institutions whose leaders usually rule for life.

"His resignation is a tremendous act of humility and generosity," he said. "A man who lives up a position of authority because he can no longer adequately exercise that authority, and does so for the good of the Church, is setting a wonderful example," he said.

But Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, secretary to the late Pope John Paul, who suffered through bad health for the last decade of his life, had a thinly veiled criticism of Benedict. John Paul stayed to the end of his life as he believed "you cannot come down from the cross," Dziwisz told reporters in Poland.

NO HINT OF RESIGNATION

While the pope had slowed down recently - he started using a cane and a wheeled platform to take him up the long aisle in St Peter's Square - he had given no hint recently that he was mulling such a dramatic decision.

Elected in 2005 to succeed the enormously popular John Paul, Benedict never appeared to feel comfortable in a job he said he never wanted. He had wished to retire to his native Germany to pursue his theological writings, something which he will now do from a convent inside the Vatican.

The resignation means that cardinals from around the world will begin arriving in Rome in March and after preliminary meetings, lock themselves in a secret conclave and elect the new pope from among themselves in votes in the Sistine Chapel.

There has been growing pressure on the Church for the cardinals to shun European contenders and choose a pope from the developing world in order to better reflect parts of the globe where most Catholics live and where the Church is growing.

John Paul was only 58 when he was elected in 1978 - 20 years younger than Benedict when he was elected - and some commentators said the resignation would likely convince the cardinals to elect a younger man.

"MIND AND BODY"

In his announcement, the pope told the cardinals that in order to govern "... both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfil the ministry entrusted to me."

Before he was elected pope, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was known by such critical epithets as "God's rottweiler" because of his stern stand on theological issues.

After a few months, he showed his mild side but he never drew the kind of adulation that had marked the 27-year papacy of his predecessor John Paul.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the worldwide Anglican communion at odds with the Vatican over women priests, said he had learned of the pope's decision with a heavy heart but complete understanding.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the pope's decision must be respected if he feels he is too weak to carry out his duties. British Prime Minister David Cameron said: "He will be missed as a spiritual leader to millions."

Elected to the papacy on April 19, 2005, Benedict ruled over a slower-paced, more cerebral and less impulsive Vatican.

CHEERS AND SCANDAL

But while conservatives cheered him for trying to reaffirm traditional Catholic identity, his critics accused him of turning back the clock on reforms by nearly half a century and hurting dialogue with Muslims, Jews and other Christians.

After appearing uncomfortable in the limelight at the start, he began feeling at home with his new job and showed that he intended to be pope in his way.

Despite great reverence for his charismatic, globe-trotting predecessor -- whom he put on the fast track to sainthood and whom he beatified in 2011 -- aides said he was determined not to change his quiet manner to imitate John Paul's style.

A quiet, professorial type who relaxed by playing the piano, he showed the gentle side of a man who was the Vatican's chief doctrinal enforcer for nearly a quarter of a century.

The first German pope for some 1,000 years and the second non-Italian in a row, he traveled regularly, making about four foreign trips a year, but never managed to draw the oceanic crowds of his predecessor.

The child abuse scandals hounded most of his papacy. He ordered an official inquiry into abuse in Ireland, which led to the resignation of several bishops.

Scandal from a source much closer to home hit in 2012 when the pontiff's butler, responsible for dressing him and bringing him meals, was found to be the source of leaked documents alleging corruption in the Vatican's business dealings, causing an international furor.

Benedict confronted his own country's past when he visited the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz.

Calling himself "a son of Germany", he prayed and asked why God was silent when 1.5 million victims, most of them Jews, died there during World War Two.

Ratzinger served in the Hitler Youth during World War Two when membership was compulsory. He was never a member of the Nazi party and his family opposed Adolf Hitler's regime.

(Additional reporting by James Mackenzie, Barry Moody, Cristiano Corvino, Alexandra Hudson in Berlin, and Dagamara Leszkowixa in Poland; editing by Peter Millership, Ralph Boulton, Janet McBride)

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NKorea withdraws from nuclear test site: report

SEOUL: North Korea has pulled manpower and equipment out of its nuclear test site, a report said Monday, which cited the move as a possible sign of an imminent blast.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency said that Seoul has been keeping close watch on the underground Punggye-ri nuclear test site, as no movement of manpower and equipment has been observed there since Friday.

The agency quoted an unnamed source as saying the apparent withdrawal could point to a nuclear test being carried out soon.

North Korea has warned of a third atomic test since last month, but has not specified a date.

"When manpower and equipment are withdrawn, it can be an indication that a nuclear test is imminent," the source told Yonhap, requesting anonymity.

"We're watching the developments closely to know whether a nuclear test is imminent or it's another deceptive tactic," the source added.

Another Seoul government source told Yonhap that the withdrawal of manpower and equipment could be linked to the Lunar New Year's holiday, which is celebrated for three days in North Korea, having started on Sunday.

Yonhap said it was unclear whether the withdrawal was temporary.

Seoul has predicted Pyongyang may carry out its third nuclear test between the end of the holiday and the late leader Kim Jong-il's birthday on February 16, Yonhap said.

The withdrawal from the northeastern nuclear site comes after North Korea accused the United States and South Korea of "fussing over speculation" in Japan-based pro-North weekly magazine Tongil Sinbo, funded by Pyongyang.

"They are fussing over speculation without having a clue about what important state measures will be taken, including whether it will be a nuclear test or something worse than that," said the editorial, dated Friday and posted on the North's official website, Uriminzokkiri.

The North's top body, the National Defence Commission, announced on January 24 it would carry out a "high-level nuclear test" and further rocket launches, in a defiant response to tightened UN sanctions after its successful long-range rocket launch in December.

The isolated communist state insists the rocket launch was a scientific mission aimed at putting a satellite into an orbit.

But the US and many other countries viewed it as a disguised ballistic missile test, banned under UN resolutions which were triggered by Pyongyang's previous nuclear and missile tests in 2006 and 2009.

Experts and Seoul officials, citing recent satellite imagery, say the impoverished but nuclear-armed state has completed preparations for another atomic test at the northeastern nuclear site.

- AFP/jc

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No poll considerations in Guru’s hanging: Congress

NEW DELHI: Congress on Monday said it was preposterous to call Afzal Guru's hanging as timed to help the ruling party in elections, dismissing the allegations that have accompanied the execution of the Parliament attack case convict.

"Elections are one-and-a-half years away and it is a long time in politics," AICC spokesman Sandeep Dikshit said, facing a barrage of queries on the timing of Guru's execution.

Guru was hanged six years after he was awarded the death penalty, leading BJP to accuse the government of being dictated by votebank considerations.

While the hanging caught everyone by surprise, observers called it an attempt by Congress to cover its flanks against the BJP which has turned it into a political issue.

The consensus is that Congress has begun to take out polarizing issues from the poll menu, first executing Mumbai attack gunman Ajmal Kasab and following it up with Guru. That the hangings came inside three months have only heightened the surprise.

Dikshit strongly defended the Centre's action though there was a feeling that the execution was not handled well, with the family getting the letter informing about the proposed execution on Monday, two days after the hanging.

While underlining that the death sentence had been upheld by three courts and also affirmed by the Supreme Court, Dikshit said, "So, I think we must accept what the Supreme Court has said because it is the best judge of whether somebody is guilty or not."

The party also termed as "unfortunate" the fears expressed by J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah that Kashmiri youngsters were identifying themselves with Guru. "There can be some people in the Valley who might be associated with this ideology but we believe that justice has been done," the spokesman said.

At the same time, Dikshit refused to comment on the detention of a journalist related to Kashmir separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani on the day of the execution.

Congress also hit out at separatist JKLF leader Yasin Malik for sharing a dais with LeT chief Hafiz Saeed on his Pakistan trip. "Government must inquire into it. There have been three instances in the last three months in which people of a certain thought in the Valley have gone to Pakistan and met people there (Saeed)," Dikshit said.

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What heals traumatized kids? Answers are lacking

CHICAGO (AP) — Shootings and other traumatic events involving children are not rare events, but there's a startling lack of scientific evidence on the best ways to help young survivors and witnesses heal, a government-funded analysis found.

School-based counseling treatments showed the most promise, but there's no hard proof that anxiety drugs or other medication work and far more research is needed to provide solid answers, say the authors who reviewed 25 studies. Their report was sponsored by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

According to research cited in the report, about two-thirds of U.S. children and teens younger than 18 will experience at least one traumatic event, including shootings and other violence, car crashes and weather disasters. That includes survivors and witnesses of trauma. Most will not suffer any long-term psychological problems, but about 13 percent will develop symptoms of post-traumatic stress, including anxiety, behavior difficulties and other problems related to the event.

The report's conclusions don't mean that no treatment works. It's just that no one knows which treatments are best, or if certain ones work better for some children but not others.

"Our findings serve as a call to action," the researchers wrote in their analysis, published online Monday by the journal Pediatrics.

"This is a very important topic, just in light of recent events," said lead author Valerie Forman-Hoffman, a researcher at RTI International, a North Carolina-based nonprofit research group.

She has two young children and said the results suggest that it's likely one of them will experience some kind of trauma before reaching adulthood. "As a parent I want to know what works best," the researcher said.

Besides the December massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, other recent tragedies involving young survivors or witnesses include the fatal shooting last month of a 15-year-old Chicago girl gunned down in front of a group of friends; Superstorm Sandy in October; and the 2011 Joplin, Mo., tornado, whose survivors include students whose high school was destroyed.

Some may do fine with no treatment; others will need some sort of counseling to help them cope.

Studying which treatments are most effective is difficult because so many things affect how a child or teen will fare emotionally after a traumatic event, said Dr. Denise Dowd, an emergency physician and research director at Children's Mercy Hospitals and Clinics in Kansas City, Mo., who wrote a Pediatrics editorial.

One of the most important factors is how the child's parents handle the aftermath, Dowd said.

"If the parent is freaking out" and has difficulty controlling emotions, kids will have a tougher time dealing with trauma. Traumatized kids need to feel like they're in a safe and stable environment, and if their parents have trouble coping, "it's going to be very difficult for the kid," she said.

The researchers analyzed 25 studies of treatments that included anti-anxiety and depression drugs, school-based counseling, and various types of psychotherapy. The strongest evidence favored school-based treatments involving cognitive behavior therapy, which helps patients find ways to cope with disturbing thoughts and emotions, sometimes including talking repeatedly about their trauma.

This treatment worked better than nothing, but more research is needed comparing it with alternatives, the report says.

"We really don't have a gold standard treatment right now," said William Copeland, a psychologist and researcher at Duke University Medical Center who was not involved in the report. A lot of doctors and therapists may be "patching together a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and that might not add up to the most effective treatment for any given child," he said.

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Online:

Pediatrics: http://www.pediatrics.org

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Benedict XVI First Pope to Resign in 600 Years

Pope Benedict XVI's unprecedented announcement today that he will resign Feb. 28 brings to a close one of the shortest papacies in history, for which the pontiff will leave a legacy as a leader with views in line with church tradition, but also as one who worked during a controversial reign to advance religious links cross the globe.

The pope's decision, which he announced in Latin today during a meeting of Vatican cardinals, makes him the first pontiff to resign in nearly 600 years. It was perhaps the most shocking moment of his nearly eight years as leader of the world's roughly 1 billion Catholics, years in which he worked on religious outreach.

"I think he deserves a lot of credit for advancing inter-religious links the world over between Judaism, Christianity and Islam," Israeli Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger's spokesman said today. "During his period, there were the best relations ever between the church and the chief rabbinate and we hope that this trend will continue."

FULL COVERAGE: Pope Benedict XVI Resignation

Horst Seehofer, minister-president of the German state of Bavaria, where Benedict was born as Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger 85 years ago, echoed the sentiments about his work for the greater good, adding that Benedict had a global reach.

"With his charisma and his tireless work for the good of the Church, the Pope from Bavaria has inspired people all over the world," he said.

Such global reach and efforts to reach the masses resulted recently in a new Twitter account, which the Vatican launched in late-2012. But true to his traditional worldview, he cautioned the world's Catholics at his Christmas 2012 Mass about the risk of technology's pushing God out of their lives.

"The faster we can move, the more efficient our time-saving appliances become, the less time we have. And God? The question of God never seems urgent. Our time is already completely full," he said.

RELATED: Pope Benedict XVI Resigns: The Statement

Benedict XVI was the oldest pope to be elected at age 78 on April 19, 2005. He was the first German pope since the 11th century and his reign will rank as one of the shortest in history at seven years, 10 months and three days.

The last pope to resign was Pope Gregory XII, who stepped down in 1415.

Vatican officials said they've noticed that he has been getting weaker, while Benedict said he is aware of the significance of his decision and made it freely.

Pope Benedict XVI Resignation: Who Will Be Next? Watch Video

He was widely seen as a Catholic conservative who was in line with the politics of his predecessor, Pope John Paul, and Russian Orthodox Church spokesman Dimitriy Sizonenko pointed out today that the Vatican is unlikely to move away from that tradition.

INTERACTIVE: Key Dates in the Life of Pope Benedict XVI

"There are no grounds to expect that there will be any drastic changes in the Vatican's policies," he said.
"In its relations with Orthodox Churches, the Roman Catholic Church has always ensured continuity between Popes."

Benedict did court controversy, memorably with his speech in September 2006 at the University of Regensburg, in which he quoted a remark about Islam by Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos that some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad are "evil and inhuman."

Pope Benedict XVI Never Aspired to Be Pope: Historian

A number of Islamic leaders around the world saw the remarks as an insult and mischaracterization of the religion. Mass protests ensued, notably in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Benedict soon apologized.

John Thavis, Rome bureau chief for the Catholic News Service, said Catholics will remember him as a gentle and very deep teacher.

"I think the outside world will probably have a different impression of this pope," he said. "I think they will remember him as someone who probably found it hard to govern the church in the face of the scandals that the church has experienced over the last several years."

During his papacy, Benedict was forced to address accusations that priests had sexually abused boys, a scandal that hit in the United States more than a decade ago and soon spread across Europe.

As the Catholic church was rattled by such allegations, the Vatican published "Criteria for the Discernment of Vocation for Persons with Homosexual Tendencies."

It was widely viewed as the church's response to the worldwide scandal, but was also criticized for drawing a connection between pedophilia and homosexuality.

In 2008, the pope said the clergy sex abuse scandal in the United States made him feel "deeply ashamed." In 2010, Benedict apologized directly to victims and their families in Ireland.

"You have suffered grievously and I am truly sorry," he wrote to victims of child sex abuse by clergy in Ireland.

Benedict had plenty of critics during his papacy over what was perceived as archaic views on contraception. In March 2009, he commented that condoms are not the solution to the AIDS crisis, and can make the problem worse. He revised the comments in 2010, saying that male prostitutes who use condoms might be taking a first step toward a more responsible sexuality.

More controversy came in 2010, when, in what is seen as a gesture to traditional Catholics, Benedict removed restrictions on celebrating the old Latin Mass. The old rites include a Good Friday prayer for the conversion of Jews.

The year 2012 brought the "Vatileaks" scandal in which Benedict's former butler Paolo Gabriele was convicted of stealing the pope's private papers from his apartments and leaking them to a journalist, who published them in a best-selling book. Gabriele was sentenced to 18 months in an Italian prison.

Speaking today, Cardinal Donald Wuerl Archbishop of Washington said the pope's willingness to step aside is a sign of character

"I think it's a sign of the great humility of this pope and his love of the church and his courage," he said.

The role Benedict will play in retirement, as well as any enduring legacy of his brief but busy papacy, might be his love for the church, his humility or his courage. Or, perhaps, it has yet to be clearly understood.

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Gunbattle rocks Gao after rebels surprise French, Malians

GAO, Mali (Reuters) - Islamist insurgents launched a surprise raid in the heart of the Malian town of Gao on Sunday, battling French and local troops in a blow to efforts to secure Mali's recaptured north.

Local residents hid in their homes or crouched behind walls as the crackle of gunfire from running street battles resounded through the sandy streets and mud-brick houses of the ancient Niger River town, retaken from Islamist rebels last month by a French-led offensive.

French helicopters clattered overhead and fired on al Qaeda-allied rebels armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades who had infiltrated the central market area and holed up in a police station, Malian and French officers said.

The fighting inside Gao was certain to raise fears that pockets of determined Islamists who have escaped the lightning four-week-old French intervention in Mali will strike back with guerrilla attacks and suicide bombings.

After driving the bulk of the insurgents from major northern towns such as Timbuktu and Gao, French forces are trying to search out their bases in the remote and rugged Adrar des Ifoghas mountains, far up in the northeast.

But with Mali's weak army unable to secure recaptured zones, and the deployment of a larger African security force slowed by delays and kit shortages, vast areas to the rear of the French forward lines now look vulnerable to guerrilla activity.

"They infiltrated the town via the river. We think there were about 10 of them. They were identified by the population and they went into the police station," said General Bernard Barrera, commander of French ground operations in Mali.

He told reporters in Gao that French helicopters had intervened to help Malian troops pinned down by the rebels, who threw grenades from rooftops.

Malian gendarme Colonel Saliou Maiga told Reuters the insurgents intended to carry out suicide attacks in the town.

SUICIDE BOMBERS

No casualty toll was immediately available. But a Reuters reporter in Gao saw one body crumpled over a motorcycle. Malian soldiers said some of the raiders may have come on motorbikes.

The gunfire in Gao erupted hours after French and Malian forces reinforced a checkpoint on the northern outskirts that had been attacked for the second time in two days by a suicide bomber.

Abdoul Abdoulaye Sidibe, a Malian parliamentarian from Gao, said the rebel infiltrators were from the MUJWA group that had held the town until French forces liberated it late last month.

MUJWA is a splinter faction of al Qaeda's North African wing AQIM which, in loose alliance with the home-grown Malian Islamist group Ansar Dine, held Mali's main northern urban areas for 10 months until the French offensive drove them out.

Late on Saturday, an army checkpoint in Gao's northern outskirts came under attack by a group of Islamist rebels who fired from a road and bridge that lead north through the desert scrub by the Niger River to Bourem, 80 km (50 miles) away.

"Our soldiers came under heavy gunfire from jihadists from the bridge ... At the same time, another one flanked round and jumped over the wall. He was able to set off his suicide belt," Malian Captain Sidiki Diarra told reporters.

The bomber died and one Malian soldier was lightly wounded, he added. In Friday's motorbike suicide bomber attack, a Malian soldier was also injured.

Diarra described Saturday's bomber as a bearded Arab.

Since Gao and the UNESCO World Heritage city of Timbuktu were retaken last month, several Malian soldiers have been killed in landmine explosions on a main road leading north.

French and Malian officers say pockets of rebels are still in the bush and desert between major towns and pose a threat of hit-and-run guerrilla raids and bombings.

"We are in a dangerous zone... we can't be everywhere," a French officer told reporters, asking not to be named.

One local resident reported seeing a group of 10 armed Islamist fighters at Batel, just 10 km (6 miles) from Gao.

OPERATIONS IN NORTHEAST

The French, who have around 4,000 troops in Mali, are now focusing their offensive operations several hundred kilometers (miles) north of Gao in a hunt for the Islamist insurgents.

On Friday, French special forces paratroopers seized the airstrip and town of Tessalit, near the Algerian border.

From here, the French, aided by around 1,000 Chadian troops in the northeast Kidal region, are expected to conduct combat patrols into the Adrar des Ifoghas mountains.

The remaining Islamists are believed to have hideouts and supply depots in a rugged, sun-blasted range of rocky gullies and caves, and are also thought to be holding at least seven French hostages previously seized in the Sahel.

The U.S. and European governments back the French-led operation as a defense against Islamist jihadists threatening wider attacks, but rule out sending their own combat troops.

To accompany the military offensive, France and its allies are urging Mali authorities to open a national reconciliation dialogue that addresses the pro-autonomy grievances of northern communities like the Tuaregs, and to hold democratic elections.

Interim President Dioncounda Traore, appointed after a military coup last year that plunged the West African state into chaos and led to the Islamist occupation of the north, has said he intends to hold elections by July 31.

But he faces splits within the divided Malian army, where rival units are still at loggerheads.

(Additional reporting by Tiemoko Diallo and Adama Diarra in Bamako; Writing by Joe Bavier and Pascal Fletcher; Editing by Kevin Liffey)

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Jordan king seeks 'consensus' on PM

AMMAN: King Abdullah II on Sunday told newly elected MPs that he seeks to reach "consensus" with them before naming a prime minister, and hailed the "historic transformation" towards parliamentary government in Jordan.

"We will start... this new approach by consulting over the government's formation with the lower house and parliamentary blocs as they take shape, in order to reach consensus that leads to the designation of a prime minister," he told the opening of parliament.

King Abdullah said the premier should in turn consult parliamentary blocs and other forces as he selects his cabinet, seeking confidence "based on a policy statement resulting from the consultation process, and on four-year programmes."

"You are also expected to shoulder your responsibility towards the success of this historic transformation towards parliamentary government and its development," the king said.

Prime Minister Abdullah Nsur submitted his cabinet's resignation to the king on January 29, six days after tribal leaders, pro-regime loyalists and independent businessmen swept a general election boycotted by the opposition Muslim Brotherhood and others.

"If a coalition of blocs that enjoys the support of the house's majority emerges, the consultation and government formation processes will be quick and smooth," the king said.

"In the absence of a majority coalition, on the other hand, this process will take more time and effort. This is a fundamental fact of parliamentary democracy."

The king, who has vowed to pursue democratic reforms and reach out to groups such as the Brotherhood, urged parliament to "serve as an incubator of national dialogue" and begin extensive talks with local communities and political forces.

Analysts have said loyalist MPs would resist pressure for much-needed real political reform.

The Islamists have said the king's plans for a parliamentary government fall far short of true democratic change and insist he should have no say in naming a premier. They also insist that they will not join the government.

"The speech needs to be translated into practical steps in reality, on the ground," said Hamzeh Mansur, chief of the Islamic Action Front, the political arm of the Brotherhood.

"This parliament is like other past parliaments. It will not come up with anything new. And the idea of parliamentary government is still elusive. Again, we need a process of dialogue led by the king himself."

King Abdullah admitted that the election was held under "a law that was not ideal, although it earned as much consensus as was possible.

"Therefore, I call for revisiting this law based on an assessment of your experience and for reviewing the electoral system in a way that wins consensus."

Meanwhile, the 150-seat lower house of parliament elected veteran MP and former interior minister Saad Hayel Srur as speaker for a one-year term after winning 80 votes.

- AFP/jc

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