Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti Resigns

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti has resigned, paving the way for a general election next year.

Mr Monti, a former European Commissioner, had been appointed last year to lead a technocratic government tasked with saving Italy from a worsening financial crisis.

He won plaudits in Europe for passing much-needed reforms but his austerity measures have also earned him the opposition of many Italians.

The prime minister held his last cabinet meeting on Friday and handed in his resignation to President Giorgio Napolitano.

Earlier in the day, the Italian parliament had approved the 2013 budget drawn up by his government.

Mr Monti called his 13-month tenure "difficult but fascinating".

"The work we did ... has made the country more trustworthy, besides more competitive and attractive to foreign investors," he told diplomats, who gave him a standing ovation.

"I hope that it can continue this way also in the next legislative session."

Mr Berlusconi announced he will run for PM again

Mr Monti will give his year-end news conference on Sunday, when he is expected to announce whether he will participate in the election campaign.

The election is expected to take place in February. Mr Monti has not yet announced whether he will run.

Earlier this month, controversial politician and media mogul Silvio Berlusconi ended months of speculation, announcing he will try to become Italy's PM again.

Mr Berlusconi, 76, stepped down in disgrace last year as Italy was on the brink of financial disaster, and Mr Monti's government took over.

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John Kerry Nominated For Secretary Of State

John Kerry has been picked to succeed Hillary Clinton as US Secretary of State, President Barack Obama has announced.

Mr Kerry's nomination marks Mr Obama's first move in a sweeping overhaul of his national security team heading into his second term as President.

Standing alongside Mr Kerry at the White House, Mr Obama said the Vietnam War veteran's life "has prepared him for this role".

"He is not going not need a lot of on-the-job training," Mr Obama said.

"Few individuals know as many presidents and prime ministers or grasp our policies as firmly as John Kerry."

Mr Kerry is expected to be easily approved for the cabinet post by his longtime congressional colleagues.

The Democratic senator from Massachusetts leapt to the front of Mr Obama's list for the State Department job after UN Ambassador Susan Rice withdrew her name from consideration last week.

She faced harsh criticism from Republicans for her initial account of the deadly September attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya.

John Kerry has been nominated to take over from Hillary Clinton

Mr Obama vigorously defended Ms Rice, a close friend and adviser, but Republicans dug in, threatening to hold up her nomination if the President tapped her for the post.

Mr Kerry came to prominence during his failed presidential campaign against George W Bush in 2004.

He now serves as the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

But the 69-year-old has long sought the nation's top diplomatic post.

Mr Obama considered him for the job after the 2008 election, before later picking Mrs Clinton in a surprise move.

Since then, Mr Obama has dispatched Mr Kerry around the world to deal with diplomatic disputes in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

He was also part of the President's debate preparations team during the 2012 election, playing the role of Republican challenger Mitt Romney in mock debates.

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Sandy Hook Survivors: Date For New School Term

The survivors from Sandy Hook Elementary are to return to school immediately after the New Year's holiday.

Nearly 600 students from kindergarten to the fourth grade will start attending the former Chalk Hill Middle School in neighbouring Monroe, Connecticut, on January 3, Danbury's The News-Times reports.

Sandy Hook in Newtown has been closed indefinitely after last Friday's shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead.

The surviving students - aged five to 10 - will be given classrooms at Chalk Hill equipped with desks, chairs and other items from  Sandy Hook.

Their families will be allowed to inspect Chalk Hill on January 2, according to The News-Times.

Officials have been working around the clock to prepare the old middle school, which is seven miles (11 km) south of Sandy Hook.

Volunteers helped fire marshals and building inspectors get the building compliant with state safety codes. The school - built in the 1960s - has been mainly used as a parks and recreation facility since closing its doors to students in 2011.

Sandy Hook Elementary has been closed indefinitely

Representatives from both the Newtown and Monroe school districts hope to make the transition to the new school as seamless as possible for the young students.

A retired former principal from Sandy Hook Elementary, Donna Page, has agreed to reprise her role once the students start at Chalk Hill, her husband told the Hartford Courant.

Meanwhile, funerals for the victims continued on Thursday as five more children were laid to rest, along with teacher Anne Marie Murphy.

A memorial service was also held for teacher Lauren Rousseau.

In Washington, Vice President Joe Biden reiterated on Thursday the White House's commitment to taking action to prevent future gun violence in the US, saying something has to get done "even if we could only save one life".

Barack Obama has commissioned Mr Biden to oversee a panel tasked with creating proposals to curb gun violence. Mr Biden met with cabinet officials on Thursday, including Attorney General Eric Holder and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano.

The massacre's far-reaching impact was underscored by an Associated Press poll conducted this week that named the mass shooting as 2012's top news story.

The annual survey of editors and news directors ranked the US election second and Superstorm Sandy third.

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Funeral For Shooter's Mother Nancy Lanza

A private funeral has been held for the woman whose son shot her dead at their Connecticut home and then drove to an elementary school and killed 20 children.

Kingston police Chief Donald Briggs said around 25 family members attended the ceremony at an undisclosed location in the town, where Ms Lanza once lived.

She was killed in her bed by her 20-year-old son, Adam Lanza, at their home in Newtown last week.

Adam Lanza then drove to Sandy Hook Elementary School, where he killed 20 children and six school employees before shooting himself.

The Newtown massacre is the second-worst school shooting in US history after the 2007 Virginia Tech rampage, which left 33 people dead.

Lanza used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle owned by his mother during his shooting rampage - which has led to fresh calls for more restrictive gun laws.

President Barack Obama commissioned a panel to create proposals designed to curb gun violence in the US.

It comes as the National Rifle Association (NRA) was set to stage a news conference on Friday at a hotel opposite the White House in Washington DC.

Support has grown for a ban on assault weapons

NRA chief executive Wayne LaPierre and President David Keene will then appear on separate Sunday television talk shows for their first interviews since the murders last Friday.

The group kept quiet in the days after the shootings, but broke its silence on Tuesday to say it wanted to contribute to the gun control debate.

A school district in Boise, Idaho, cancelled planned assemblies at a number of its 50 schools after receiving threats that "something bad" would happen on Friday.

Authorities in Phoenix also arrested a 16-year-old girl on Thursday after she made threats on YouTube to kill herself and other students at a suburban high school.

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Army Seeks Death Penalty In Afghan Massacre

The US Army has said it will seek the death penalty for a soldier charged in the killing of 16 Afghan villagers during a pre-dawn raid.

Staff Sergeant Robert Bales is accused of going on a shooting rampage in two southern Afghanistan villages on March 11.

Wednesday's announcement followed Bales' pre-trial hearing last month, during which several witnesses testified from Afghanistan via video conference.

Prosecutors say Bales left his remote base early, attacking one village before returning to the base. He allegedly slipped away again to attack a second nearby village. Sixteen people were killed, including nine children.

No date has been set for Bales' court martial, which will be held at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle.

Bales' civilian lawyer, John Henry Browne, did not immediately return an email seeking comment Wednesday.

But on Tuesday, he told the AP that he met with Army officials last week to argue that Bales should not face the possibility of the death penalty, given that Bales was serving his fourth deployment in a war zone.

Bales' defence team has said the government's case is incomplete and outside experts have said a key issue going forward will be to determine whether Bales, who served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

An Army criminal investigations command special agent testified at the pre-trial hearing that Bales tested positive for steroids three days after the killings, and other soldiers testified that Bales had been drinking the evening of the massacre.

Prosecutors, in asking for a court-martial trial, have pointed to statements Bales made after he was apprehended, saying that they demonstrated "a clear memory of what he had done, and consciousness of wrong-doing."

Several soldiers testified at the hearing that Bales returned to the base alone just before dawn, covered in blood, and that he made incriminating statements such as, "I thought I was doing the right thing."

The slayings drew such angry protests that the US temporarily halted combat operations in Afghanistan, and it was three weeks before American investigators could reach the crime scenes.

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Russia To Ban Orphan Adoption By US Citizens

By Yulia Bragina, Moscow Producer

The lower Russian Parliament has approved an amendment banning the adoption of Russian children by US citizens in a crucial second reading of the so-called Dmitry Yakovlev bill.

If the law is passed in a cosmetic reading on December 21 and gets signed by the upper chamber of Parliament and the President, it may come into force as early as January 1.

Around 30% of orphans in Russia are adopted by foreigners, one third of them by families from the United States, according to the Ministry of Education.

The bill is a reaction to the Magnitsky list, signed into law by President Obama last week, which targets Russian officials allegedly involved in the death of a whistle-blower Sergey Magnitsky, who unveiled a complex scheme of tax fraud involving high police officials and tax agency workers.

Since Mr Magnitsky's death in 2009 the only person tried in court in connection to the tax fraud scheme was Mr Magnitsky himself, posthumously. People mentioned in the Magnitsky whistle-blowing report kept their positions and some even got promoted.

The Magnitsky list imposes US visa bans and asset freezes for people responsible for Magnitsky's death and other human rights violations in Russia.

According to the Levada research centre, 39% of Russians approve the passing of the Magnitsky list.

The Dmitry Yakovlev bill was named after a Russian toddler who died as a result of negligence of his adoptive parent, who left him locked inside the car in the sunshine for nine hours in Virginia.

The Russian Parliament has given its backing to the Dmitry Yakovlev bill

The bill blacklists US human rights abusers and freezes their assets in Russia. The measure might be extended to citizens of any country which implements the Magnitsky list.

According to Russian officials, 19 adopted children died in the US over the last decade out of more than 60,000. There are more than 1,500 registered deaths of children adopted by Russians since 1996.

Children's ombudsman Pavel Astakhov says Russia has 650,000 registered orphans, which, according to some respected Russian newspapers, is more than any other country in the world.

The new legislation was supported by the overwhelming majority of Russian MPs (400 voted in favour, four against and two abstained) despite outrage from the public and human rights activist.

A combination of words translated as 'Scoundrel's law', referring to the amendment, was trending on Russian Twitter earlier in the day.

Around 20 people were arrested in front of the Parliament building for protesting against the bill. Opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta gathered more than 83,000 signatures under a petition opposing the measure in just 24 hours.

The MP Ilya Ponomarev, who was left in the minority for opposing the measure, said that there are 1,500 children awaiting  adoption by US families, 49 of them with disabilities.

"Do you realise, if we pass the amendment today, we will leave 1,500 children orphans, and kill 49 of them", he asked the Parliament.

Another amendment passed on the same day bans NGO's sponsored by the US and dealing with politics from operating in Russia.

The President's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian media: "Certainly the executive branch's policy is more restrained but taking into account the well-known anti-Russian manifestations, Russian President Vladimir Putin understands the Russian lawmakers' position."

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School Shooting: NRA 'Shocked And Saddened'

The National Rifle Association has broken its silence over the Sandy Hook school massacre, saying its members were "shocked and saddened" by the murders.

After a self-imposed media blackout, the powerful gun rights organisation made its first public statement on Friday's gun rampage by 20-year-old Adam Lanza.

He killed 20 pupils, aged six and seven, as well as six female members of staff after opening fire at the elementary school in Newtown, Connecticut.

Lanza earlier shot dead his mother Nancy at the home they shared, and the gunman later killed himself at the school as police closed in.

The NRA said its members were "shocked, saddened and heartbroken by the news of the horrific and senseless murders".

Protesters demonstrated outside the NRA's headquarters in Washington DC

The group also said it wanted to give families time to mourn before making its first public statement.

It pledged "to help to make sure this never happens again" and has scheduled a news conference for Friday.

The massacre has re-ignited the debate over gun control in the US, with some calling for a clampdown on firearms.

President Barack Obama backs a new bill to reintroduce a ban on assault weapons that expired in 2004.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Mr Obama is "actively supportive" of an attempt by Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein to write the bill early next year.

Adam Lanza killed his mother before shooting dead 20 children and six staff

The president has also telephoned pro-gun senator Joe Manchin, who has shifted his position on firearms laws since Friday's carnage in Connecticut.

Mr Manchin, along with fellow democrat Mark Warner, who have so-called "A" ratings from the NRA, said the Newtown massacre has convinced them the time for reform has come.

West Virginia's Senator Manchin told MSNBC it was time to "move beyond rhetoric" on gun control. He said: "I don't know anyone in the sporting or hunting arena that goes out with an assault rifle. It's common sense."

Senator Warner said "the status quo isn't acceptable" and in a later interview called for "rational gun control".

On Monday, 75 activists demonstrated outside the NRA's headquarters in Washington DC. They chanted: "Shame on the NRA," and demanded the organisation drop its hardline stance and make way for new gun control laws.

"More than anyone else, the NRA is responsible for the more than 12,000 people murdered by guns every year in this country," said Josh Nelson, the campaign manager for the progressive Credo Action group that organised the protest.

"We call on the NRA's lobbyists to stand down and allow Congress to pass common-sense gun laws."

:: Watch USA: The Gun Debate on Sky News on Wednesday at 8.30pm.

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US Benghazi Report Slams 'Inadequate' Security

An inquiry into the deadly September 11 attack in Libya that killed the US ambassador and three other Americans has described security arrangements as "grossly inadequate".

The independent panel blamed systematic management and leadership failures at the State Department for the attack on the mission in Benghazi.

The report singled out the Bureau of Diplomatic Security and the Bureau of Near East Affairs for criticism.

It said there appeared to be a lack of cooperation and confusion over protection at the mission that was left relatively lawless after the revolution that toppled Muammar Gaddafi.

The report found the number of Diplomatic Security staff in Benghazi before and on the day of the attack "was inadequate despite repeated requests ... for additional staffing".

Despite those failures, the Accountability Review Board said no individual officials ignored or violated their duties and recommended no immediate disciplinary action.

Christopher Steven's murder was the first of a US ambassador since 1988

But it also said poor performance by senior managers should be grounds for disciplinary recommendations in the future.

The report appeared to break little new ground about the timeline of the Benghazi attack during which Libyan Ambassador Christopher Stevens, information specialist Sean Smith and former Navy Seals Glen Doherty and Tyrone Woods were killed.

But it confirmed that, contrary to initial accounts, there was no protest outside the consulate and said responsibility for the incident rested entirely with the terrorists who attacked the mission.

In the immediate aftermath, administration officials linked the attack to the spreading protests over an anti-Islamic film made in the US that had begun in Cairo, Egypt, earlier that day.

The review board found there had been no immediate, specific tactical warning of a potential attack on the 11th anniversary of the 2001, terrorist attacks.

However, the report said there had been several incidents of concern in the run-up to the attack that should have set off warning bells.

The report made 29 recommendations to improve embassy security, particularly at high threat posts.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she accepted all the recommendations.

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Hollywood Hacker Jailed After Stealing Nude Pics

A man who hacked into the personal emails of Scarlett Johansson, Mila Kunis, Christina Aguilera and a number of other women, has been jailed for 10 years.

Christopher Chaney pleaded guilty to counts that included wiretapping and unauthorised access to a computer.

Prosecutors said Chaney, 35, illegally accessed the email accounts of more than 50 people in the entertainment industry between November 2010 and October 2011.

His arrest came after an 11-month investigation - dubbed Operation Hackerazzi - into the hacking of dozens of celebrities, of whom Johansson, Kunis and singer Aguilera were the highest-profile names.

The court heard a tearful videotaped statement from actress Johansson after nude photos, taken herself and meant for her then-husband Ryan Reynolds, were placed on the Internet.

Aguilera said in a statement issued days before the sentencing that although she is often in the limelight, Chaney took private moments from her.

Chaney said the hacking began 'out of curiosity'

"That feeling of security can never be given back and there is no compensation that can restore the feeling one has from such a large invasion of privacy," Aguilera said.

Chaney also targeted two women he knew, and reportedly sent naked pictures of a former colleague to her father.

Those women said their lives have been irreparably damaged by Chaney's actions and called him "creepy".

One said she has anxiety and panic attacks; the other said she is depressed and paranoid.

Explaining how the hacking began, Chaney said: "It started as curiosity and it turned to just being addictive ... Seeing the behind-the-scenes of what's going on with the people you see on the big screen."

He denied criminal intent, saying: "I wasn't saving the emails to blackmail someone."

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Colombia Bus Crash Kills 26 After 'Brake Failure'

At least 26 people have been killed after a bus swerved off a road and flipped over due to suspected brake failure.

Another 15 passengers were injured and rescue workers battled for hours to free people trapped in the mangled wreckage.

The accident happened as the vehicle carried visitors to a coffee fair in central Colombia.

The bus driver, who survived the accident, said that brake failure was to blame.

Firefighter Jorge Riobueno explained how the driver tried frantically to maintain control of the bus using the gears.

Emergency workers work to free survivors - and bodies from the wreckage

He said: "Unfortunately one of the vehicles - that was returning from a meeting and that was part of a caravan of vehicles - lost control.

"According to the versions we have, the bus's brakes failed and the driver was trying to control the vehicle using the gears.

"But unfortunately he lost control when the bus was going around a curve. The bus went off the highway and over the guardrails, killing more than 15 people.

Firefighter Jorge Riobueno tells how the driver reported brake problems

"Various people were injured and were rescued by personnel from the area."

Felipa Ruiz, who survived the accident, recounted moments of terror as the bus veered out of control.

She said: "In that moment I thought the worst and since we were practically on a slope I thought it was going to be more difficult to control. So I bent down and I started praying, nothing else.

Rescuers carry a person from the crash scene on a stretcher

"I don't remember anything else, the reactions or where we were, I don't know if we left the highway, or if we fell into an abyss, I don't know anything - I know that when I woke up I felt like something was cutting off my legs."

The bus was heading from Bogota to the city of Cali, some 500km (310 miles) to the southwest, highway police commander Francisco Patino said.

People on some of the other buses said the driver of the one that crashed had complained about the brakes on the first leg of the journey but that the bus company failed to replace the vehicle.

Survivor Felipa Ruiz tells of the moment the bus veered off the road

Earlier this month eight people died and 11 were injured when a bus flipped over in Ibague, 200km (120 miles) west of Bogota, apparently after speeding.

Approximately 5,000 people per year are killed in traffic accidents in Colombia.

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