UN denounces Vatican on sex abuse, abortion
Vatican City, February 5
A UN human rights committee denounced the Vatican today for adopting policies that allowed priests to rape and molest tens of thousands of children over decades, and urged it to open its files on the paedophiles and the churchmen who concealed their crimes.

London, February 5
Millions of Londoners were caught up in commuting chaos on Wednesday, as Underground workers began the first in a series of strikes that Prime Minister David Cameron branded as “shameful.”

As tempers frayed on packed buses and the capital’s streets swarmed with commuters walking, running and cycling to work through gale-force winds, Mayor Boris Johnson and powerful union leader Bob Crow traded recriminations over the latest walkout.

London’s Underground rail drivers plan to stay out for two days this week and another two next week, in a row over job cuts and modernisation. The action has brought new calls to curtail the rights of unions to strike in key infrastructure areas. Some three million people use the Tube system most days.

Only a lucky few could cram themselves on the handful of trains that were running on Wednesday. Cameron said on his official Twitter feed that the strike was “shameful, bringing misery to millions of Londoners.” Speaking later in Parliament, he added: “I unreservedly condemn this strike. There is absolutely no justification for a strike. We need a modernised tube line working for the millions of Londoners who use it every day.”

The police were out in force at major rail stations to keep order in the long lines that began building up at bus stops shortly after dawn. Even so, there were reports of jostling as tempers frayed. Thousands of workers took to the roads on bikes. Boat services along the River Thames were running extra trips. The more athletic used the strike as a chance to run to work from the suburbs. Fund manager Richard Marwood was among them.

“To be honest, running to work is something I like to do most weeks anyway, but travelling under your own steam is particularly handy in circumstances like this,” he told Reuters. Lauren Sweeney, 26, a legal PA, said getting to her office would take her an extra 30 minutes, on top of her usual one-hour journey

The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport workers (RMT) and the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association (TSSA) unions called the strike to protest against job losses and plans to close manned ticket offices as part of the modernisation of the 151-year-old network.

A second 48-hour strike is planned for February 11 to February 14. RMT leader Crow said the strike was “rock solid” and had reduced the network to a skeleton service. The TSSA said service had been reduced by 70 percent. “That is simply a reflection of the staff anger at attempts to bulldoze through cuts to jobs, services and safety which would reduce the tube to a dangerous, hollowed-out shell,” Crow said in a statement.

He added that the unions remained available for talks with Mayor Johnson to resolve the dispute. Johnson, who has accused the unions of “holding a gun to the heads of Londoners”, said he respected the rights of the trade unions to represent their workers, but the modernization plans had to go ahead. — Reuters

Baghdad, February 5
Bombings in Baghdad, including three near the heavily-fortified Green Zone and the foreign ministry, killed 33 persons today, the latest in Iraq's worst surge of violence in nearly six years.

The attacks, which wounded dozens more, came as security forces battle militants in the western province of Anbar, including the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), a powerful jihadist group that has exploited the chaos in neighbouring Syria.

With violence at its highest level since 2008, diplomats have urged the Shiite-led government to reach out to Sunnis in order to undercut support for militancy, but Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has taken a hardline ahead of April's parliamentary elections.

Today's deadliest bombings, which included at least one suicide attack, struck during morning rush hour, ripping through confessionally-mixed areas of the capital bordering the Green Zone, home to parliament, the prime minister's residence and the US and British embassies.

The three explosions killed 25 people and wounded another 35, security officials and a medical source said. Later in the afternoon, three car bombs in southeast Baghdad killed eight people and left 32 more wounded, while a rocket attack on Haifa street in the centre of the capital wounded five. — AFP

Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has invited the Indian leadership to address the Kashmir issue with all seriousness.

“I invite India for a comprehensive, sustained and result-oriented dialogue for the resolution of the Kashmir issue,” Sharif said. He was addressing the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly in Muzaffarabad on the occasion of Kashmir Solidarity Day on Wednesday. Sharif said he was hopeful that India would respond positively to his invitation.

Sharif stressed that the region would remain in the grip of “mistrust and tension” as long as the Kashmir dispute was not resolved in accordance with the aspirations of the Kashmiri people.

The Kashmir Solidarity Day, an annual feature and public holiday, was commemorated all over Pakistan with rallies, meetings and seminars expressing solidarity with the Kashmiri people in the struggle for right of self-determination. The Day is observed by Pakistan on February 5 every year since 1990.

"We believe India will let the people of Kashmir decide their fate," Sharif said, adding that the spiritual connection between the people of Pakistan and Kashmir was growing stronger with each passing day. He said the issue could never be ignored and that the desires of Kashmiri people had to be respected.

Sharif said Pakistan would continue to support the Kashmir cause until the people got their due rights.

The Jamat-ud-Dawah, a front for banned terror group LeT, organised a number of protests in various cities, including in Lahore and Islamabad. JuD chief Hafiz Saeed, wanted by India in connection with the Mumbai attacks, addressed a rally in Lahore.

Since he assumed office last year, Sharif has spoken in favour of better ties with India. But the killing of seven Indian soldiers and heavy exchange of fire along the Line of Control sent relations plummeting.

(With inputs from PTI)

Vatican City, February 5
A UN human rights committee denounced the Vatican today for adopting policies that allowed priests to rape and molest tens of thousands of children over decades, and urged it to open its files on the paedophiles and the churchmen who concealed their crimes.

In a devastating report, the UN committee also severely criticised the Holy See for its attitudes toward homosexuality, contraception and abortion and said it should review its policies to ensure children's rights and their access to health care are guaranteed.

On sex abuse, "the committee is gravely concerned that the Holy See has not acknowledged the extent of the crimes committed, has not taken the necessary measures to address cases of child sexual abuse and to protect children, and has adopted policies and practices which have led to the continuation of the abuse by, and the impunity of, the perpetrators," the report said.

It called for the sex abuse commission that Pope Francis announced in December to conduct an independent investigation of all cases of priestly abuse and the way the Catholic hierarchy has responded over time, and urged the Holy See establish clear rules for the mandatory reporting of abuse to police.

The committee issued its recommendations after subjecting the Holy See to a daylong interrogation last month on its implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, the main international treaty ensuring children's rights.

During that session, the committee's independent experts grilled the Holy See on its protection of children, working from reports prepared by victims groups and human rights organisations.

The committee's recommendations are non-binding and there is no enforcement mechanism. Rather, the UN asked the Vatican to implement the recommendations and report back by 2017. The Vatican was 14 years late submitting its most recent report.

The Vatican responded quickly with a statement saying the Roman Catholic Church would study the report and was committe to "defending and protecting the rights of the child". — AP 

Seoul, February 5
North and South Korea agreed today to hold a reunion later this month for families separated by the 1950-53 Korean War, the first such event for more than three years.

Officials from both sides meeting in the border truce village of Panmunjom, decided the reunion would be held from February 20-25 at the North’s Mount Kumgang resort, the South’s Unification Ministry said.

The agreement marks a small sign of progress between the two rivals who, in recent years, have struggled to cooperate on even the most basic trust-building measures. However, both sides have been here before.

The two Koreas had agreed to hold a reunion last September but, even as the chosen relatives prepared to make their way to Mount Kumgang, Pyongyang cancelled the event just four days before its scheduled start, citing “hostility” from the South.

And there are widespread concerns that the families could end up being disappointed again this time around. South Korea is due to begin joint military exercises with the United States at the end of February, and North Korea has warned of dire consequences should they go ahead.

The annual drills are always a diplomatic flashpoint on the Korean peninsula, and last year resulted in an unusually extended period of heightened military tensions. — AFP