Pope pardons ex-butler who stole, leaked documents

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Benedict XVI granted his former butler a Christmas pardon Saturday, forgiving him in person during a jailhouse meeting for stealing and leaking private papers in one of the gravest Vatican security breaches in recent times.After the 15-minute meeting, Paolo Gabriele was freed and returned to his Vatican City apartment where he lives with his wife and three children. The Vatican...

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Pope grants pre-Christmas pardon to former butler

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict made a surprise pre-Christmas visit to the jail holding his former butler on Saturday and pardoned him for stealing and leaking documents that alleged corruption in the Holy See.The pope and Paolo Gabriele spent about 15 minutes together before Gabriele was freed and allowed to return to his family in their Vatican apartment, a Vatican spokesman said.Gabriele...

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Merkel rival attacks Germany's soaring arms exports

BERLIN (Reuters) - Peer Steinbrueck, set to challenge Angela Merkel as German leader next year, criticized her centre-right government on Saturday for letting arms exports surge and vowed to end that if his centre-left opposition wins power.The former finance minister, nominated to lead the Social Democrats (SPD) into September's election against Merkel, said it was a scandal that Germany has become...

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Car bomb kills five in Damascus: Syrian Observatory

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A car bomb killed five people and wounded dozens in the eastern Damascus district of Qaboun on Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.Another activist group in Damascus gave no figures for the number of people killed in the blast but said bodies were still being recovered from wreckage caused by the explosion.The British-based Observatory, which monitors violence...

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UK prosecutors consider charges over royal hoax callapologised for their actions.

LONDON (Reuters) - British detectives investigating the death of a nurse found hanged after she took a prank phone call at a hospital treating Prince William's pregnant wife Kate have passed an evidence file to prosecutors, police said on Saturday.Public prosecutors must decide whether the case is strong enough to bring charges over a stunt that was condemned around the world and fuelled concerns...

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Soccer-Juve defender Chiellini faces lengthy layoff

ROME, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini has confirmed that he will miss Friday's Serie A meeting with Cagliari due to a calf injury.The 28-year-old Chiellini underwent a scan on Thursday and while an exact timeline for a possible return is unknown, he could be facing up to three months on the sidelines."Unfortunately the calf injury has been confirmed and I have to stop for a...

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Soccer-Qatar plough up to 200 mln euros a year into PSG-media

PARIS, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Qatar will pour up to 200 million euros ($265 million) a year into Paris Saint-Germain under an advertising contract designed to help the French club meet UEFA's financial fair-play rules, according to French media.The deal, already submitted to French football's controlling body (DNCG), has been struck with the Qatar Tourism Authority (QTA) and will run until 2016, daily...

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Column: Messi & Co. will win without coach

Even if Lionel Messi and his Barcelona teammates had no coach to guide them, you would think long and hard about betting against perhaps the greatest collection of players assembled by one club. Their success is built on foundations so solid it has seemingly become self-perpetuating, almost capable of taking care of itself.So Messi & Co. will weather the absence, hopefully brief and temporary,...

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UPDATE 1-Soccer-Hearts hit by transfer embargo over unpaid bonus

LONDON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - Hearts will be banned from buying players during the January window after the Scottish Premier League (SPL) extended a transfer embargo following the club's failure to pay bonuses to their squad.The club announced earlier that they had raised more than 1 million pounds ($1.6 million) by selling shares to their fans. But this amount was some way short of the target and they...

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Soccer-Dutch Cup last 16 results

Dec 20 (Infostrada Sports) - Results from the Dutch Cup Last 16 matches on ThursdayLast 16Thursday, December 20Groningen - Ajax Amsterdam 0-3 (halftime: 0-1)Wednesday, December 19Heerenveen - Feyenoord 2-2 (halftime: 0-1, 90 mins: 2-2, penalty shootout: 6-7)Feyenoord win 7-6 on penalties.Vitesse Arnhem - ADO '20 (III) 10-1 (halftime: 2-0)Go Ahead Eagles Deventer (II) - PEC Zwolle 2-3 (halftime: 0-0,...

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