METRO Tuesday, December 8, 2009 D BOOKING WWW.GATETHEATRE.IE (01) 874 4045 / 874 6042 Tickets from 15 (Student Discount) FAMILY SPECIAL: 5 TICKETS FOR 100 Tues Thurs eve, minimum 2 children, subject to availability cast includes Barbara Brennan Stephen Brennan John Kavanagh Barry McGovern Mark ORegan Go and see it, what a wonderful evening youll have. Irish Independent CharlesADickens CHRISTMAS CAROLadapted by JOHN MORTIMER Why not cash in on all that gold jewellery you NEVER wear! We buy and pay cash immediately for all gold items in any condition. Old Wedding Rings, Earrings, Chains, Bracelets, Ingots or Coins. EXTRA CASH FOR CHRISTMAS? Call Peter at College House Jewellers, 44 Nassau Street, Dublin 2. Tel: 01 677 7597 (Sorry no Engagement Rings) METROWorld ENGLAND: Colombian pop star Shakira waves after addressing students at the Oxford Union. She was invited to speak at the world-famous debating society, which has been running for 186 years Picture: PA Malaysia: A woman was arrested after authorities found a baby honey bear, a leopard cat a type of small wild feline and a slow loris primate in her apartment. Officials acting on a tip discovered the endangered species at the 25-year-old womans apartment in a Kuala Lumpur city high-rise. The animals, worth hundreds of euro on the black market, were kept as pets, and the cage for the slow loris a lemur-like animal had swings to keep it amused. The animals are thought to have been bought from indigenous tribes, and the woman said her male cousin owned them. Officials want to send the animals to a zoo or release them back into the wild. RUssia: Flags flew at half mast and entertainment programmes were cancelled yesterday as the country mourned 112 victims of a nightclub inferno and dozens more fought for their lives in hospitals. Mourners heaped red and white flowers outside the snow- covered entrance to the scene at the Lame Horse club in the Urals city of Perm, where fireworks ignited wicker coverings on the ceiling. Some said corruption allowed the club to ignore fire safety rules for years. President Dmitry Medvedev declared yesterday a national day of mourning and called for harsh punishments for those responsible for Fridays blaze, with the owner and two managers arrested. Pakistan: The Supreme Court in Islamabad began hearing petitions against an expired amnesty that had protected President Asif Ali Zardari and allies from corruption charges. A ruling against Mr Zardari (pictured) whom opinion polls show to be very unpopular risks political turmoil just as Western allies want Pakistan to redouble its fight against al-Qaeda and the Taliban near the Afghan border. The hearing came as a suicide bomber struck outside a court building in the main northwest city of Peshawar, killing ten people and wounding 45. aMeRica: Police in a Detroit suburb are looking for a bank robber who tellers say has crooked yellow teeth and particularly bad breath. Police say the Bad Breath Bandit hit the same Charter One branch in October and again last week, when he got away with $1,000. Police say he is tall and thin and has offensive breath and real yellow teeth. Bolivia: President Evo Morales easily won re-election, according to unofficial results, getting an overwhelming mandate for further revolutionary change on behalf of the countrys long- suppressed indigenous majority. Unofficial counts of 98 per cent of the vote by two polling firms said Mr Morales (pictured), the countrys first indigenous president, won with 63 per cent of the vote 36 points ahead of his closest challenger in a field of nine candidates. Mr Morales allies also won a convincing majority in both houses of Congress following weekend elections. iRaq: An explosion at a school in Baghdads Shia district of Sadr City yesterday killed eight people, including six pupils aged six to 12, and wounded 41 people. Large attacks have been rare in the area because it is encircled by US and Iraqi security forces and has its own neighbourhood security. There are an estimated 2.5million Shias living in Sadr City, a stronghold of anti-US cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Also yesterday, gunmen stormed a checkpoint north of the capital, killing five members of a Sunni group opposed to al-Qaeda. Violence has fallen sharply in Iraq, but insurgents still target civilians and security forces. The US fears a rise in violence ahead of next years elections. aMeRica: Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden may slip back into Afghanistan from his hideout in neighbouring Pakistan, a senior White House official said yesterday, adding a new twist to the mystery of the elusive terrorists whereabouts. President Barack Obamas national security adviser, James Jones, said bin Laden is believed to be hiding in North Waziristan. Retired Marine Gen Jones stressed on CNNs State Of The Union the urgency of targeting bin Laden (pictured) and spoke of a renewed campaign to capture or kill him. china: Vehicle sales hit 12million between January and November, with the total for all of 2009 expected to exceed 13million, according to the latest industry figures. The figures show China maintaining its lead as the worlds biggest vehicle market amid sales in the US, Japan and Europe. Vehicle manufacturers sold 1.2million cars and trucks in China in October and 1.3million in September. According to Autodata CorpChina, sales this year rose to 10.9million vehicles as of the end of October, compared with 8.6million in the US. Tax cuts and subsidies meant to nurture the industry and encourage use of more fuel- efficient vehicles have helped sales. covering the events. The Opposition leader, Mir Hossein Mousavi, pub- licly backed the marches, declaring that the clerical establishment was losing legitimacy. A great nation would not stay si- lent when some confiscate its vote, said Mr Mousavi, who claims he won this years presidential election. Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused the opposition of fomenting divisions. Protests erupt in Iran over election By Parisa HafeziTHOUSANDS of anti-government protesters clashed with riot police in Iran yesterday amid continuing an- ger over Junes disputed election. A crowd of students and opposition supporters shouted death to the dic- tator in a show of defiance against president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad outside Tehran University. Police, Basij militiamen and the Revolutionary Guard responded with baton charges and tear gas. Authorities shut down the mobile phone network in central Tehran to stop opposition protesters from con- tacting each other and witnesses re- ported seeing at least ten people be- ing arrested and taken away. Similar protests were held across the country yesterday on what was National Students Day, amid a State-imposed ban on foreign media Protesters hold a picture showing irans President Mahmoud ahmadinejad and Hitler during a rally in islamabad, Pakistan, condemning Tehrans ongoing crackdown on student protests Picture: AP 256m plea for Zimbabwe crisis improvements: Mugabe MORE than 70 agencies led by the UN have launched an appeal for $378million (256m) to meet Zimbabwes humanitarian needs, amid signs the crisis is easing. Zimbabwes power-sharing government, formed by rivals President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has presided over improving social conditions in the country, but agencies say more needs to be done. At a ceremony in Harare, UN assistant secretary general for humanitarian affairs Catherine Bragg said: Despite improvements in food security, the country still faces a substantial national cereal deficit and an estimated 1.9million will need food assistance at the peak of the hunger season, between January and March. About 7million people needed food aid last year in the midst of a cholera outbreak that killed thousands. 2nd day of violence marks teens death RIOT police fired tear gas canisters at youths during a second day of violent protests commemorating a teenager shot dead by police in Greece last year, an incident that sparked the countrys worst unrest in decades. Some of the 3,000 demonstrators, mostly secondary school students, threw stones at police during the protest in central Athens. One police officer has been charged with murder in connection with 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropouloss death, and another with attempted murder. The two will stand trial in January. index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html28.html29.html30.html31.html