Spanish police arrest 17 'Voodoo pimps'

SPAIN'S Interior Ministry says police have arrested 17 people on suspicion of smuggling Nigerian women into Spain and forcing them into prostitution using threats including claims they would cast Voodoo spells on them if they didn't comply.

An investigation began when police detected in January that around 10 women had been brought into the country illegally using a small boat.

Police said that following an investigation its raids seized computer equipment, mobile phones, false identity and work permit documents, as well as objects that detectives said were allegedly used in "Voodoo rituals".

Officers tracked down the suspected pimps in cities throughout Spain and arrested 16 Nigerian nationals and one Ugandan citizen, a statement released on Sunday said.

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Scuffles erupt at Hong Kong pro-govt rally

SCUFFLES have broken out as thousands marched in support of Hong Kong's scandal-plagued leader Leung Chun-ying, ahead of a mass pro-democracy rally planned for New Year's Day.

About 2500 people took to the cold and windy streets waving Chinese flags and shouting slogans in favour of Leung, who faces possible impeachment proceedings over illegal alterations to his luxury home.

Leung was chosen to lead the southern Chinese city in March by a pro-Beijing election committee, promising to improve governance and uphold the rule of law in the former British colony of seven million people.

But in his first sixth months in power, Leung has seen his popularity ratings slide and faced a no-confidence vote in the city's legislature.

"We welcome people to support the government and to support the stability and prosperity of Hong Kong citizens," said Caring Hong Kong Power, the organisers of Sunday's march, which began at the city's Victoria Park and ended at the government headquarters.

But scuffles erupted midway between pro-Leung supporters and anti-government campaigners who arrived carrying colonial Hong Kong flags.

Some participants were also seen punching two reporters from a local television station, according to an AFP photographer.

"I am not comfortable with the increasing power of groups that create turmoil in Hong Kong," Stan Ngan, a 63-year-old retiree at the event told AFP, referring to increasingly vocal pro-democracy groups.

Pro-democracy campaigners plan to hold a rally on January 1 to demand the resignation of Leung and ask for universal suffrage, with organisers saying they hope to see 100,000 people at the rally.

Hong Kong returned to China in 1997 as a semi-autonomous territory with its own political and legal system that guarantees civil liberties not seen on the mainland, including freedom of speech and association.

Leung survived a vote of no confidence in the legislature earlier this month over illegal structures in his home, including a wooden trellis and a glass enclosure.

But he faces a planned impeachment motion scheduled for early January, with 27 pro-democracy lawmakers in the 70-member legislature saying they would support the motion.

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Jordan rejects Saddam Hussein candidates

JORDAN'S electoral commission has refused to register an independent list of candidates calling itself Saddam Hussein after the executed Iraqi dictator, the group's leader says.

"We have filed an appeal against the electoral commission's rejection of our Saddam Hussein list," Faiz Ziyadneh told AFP on Sunday.

The commission gave its approval on Thursday to all would-be candidates for a general election called for January 23, except the Saddam Hussein list, "because it is the name of an individual", the state Petra news agency reported.

The commission said it rejected "any name that could inflame sectarian, religious or racial enmity or affect national unity".

Ziyadneh condemned the commission's decision, saying it had "no legal basis" and that "electoral law does not stipulate any restrictions on the name of a list".

Ziyadneh said the list was named after one of the group's nine would-be candidates - Saddam Hussein Wared al-Hawamdah - but added it was also in memory of the hanged Iraqi leader.

He stressed the list, based in Mafraq province, north of Amman, was an independent list that did "not belong to any party, least of all the Baath", the Arab nationalist party of Saddam.

Amman's appeals court will decide within three days whether Ziyadneh's list will be allowed to be named Saddam Hussein, he said.

If the court upholds the commission's decision, "(another) name will be decided on at a meeting of the list's members, and we might not stand in the election", Ziyadneh added.

More than 1500 candidates, including 213 women, have been registered for the election, the commission said last Monday.

Saddam Hussein was captured after the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and hanged in 2006 after being convicted of crimes against humanity, including a 1982 massacre of civilians from Iraq's Shi'ite majority community.

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Man shot in stomach in Sydney's southwest

A MAN has been shot in Sydney's southwest.

A 21-year-old man was found with a wound to his stomach after police were called to Green Valley Road, Busby about 11.15pm (AEDT) on Sunday following reports of a shooting.

The man was treated by ambulance paramedics before being taken to Liverpool Hospital.

A crime scene was established that will be examined by specialist forensic officers.

Police have urged anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Benghazi security a 'huge problem': Obama

PRESIDENT Barack Obama has admitted that a probe into a deadly assault on a US consulate in Libya had uncovered a "huge problem" in security procedures at the mission.

"We're not going to be defensive about it," Obama said in an interview recorded on Saturday for NBC's Meet the Press. "We're not going to pretend that this was not a problem. This was a huge problem."

On September 11, the anniversary of the 2001 attacks by al-Qaeda on New York and Washington, heavily-armed militants stormed the US consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi and attacked a nearby CIA safehouse.

Four Americans died in the assault, including US ambassador Chris Stevens, and Obama's domestic opponents have attacked the administration's handling of both security prior to the attack and public statements afterwards.

In his interview, Obama said all of the recommendations of a critical report into the State Department's operation in Benghazi would be implemented, and said US agents were hunting down those responsible for the killings.

"With respect to who carried it out, that's an ongoing investigation. The FBI has sent individuals to Libya repeatedly," the president said.

"We have some very good leads, but this is not something that I'm going to be at liberty to talk about right now."

Obama also defended UN ambassador Susan Rice, who was accused by Republican lawmakers of misleading the public when she said the attack was a spontaneous protest against an anti-Muslim film made privately in the United States.

Rice had been considered the frontrunner to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as America's top diplomat in Obama's second term, but dropped out of the running after becoming the focus of Republican attacks.

"She appeared on a number of television shows reporting what she and we understood to be the best information at the time," Obama said, accusing opponents of making a scapegoat of his close ally.

"This was a politically motivated attack on her. I mean, of all the people in my national security team, she probably had the least to do with anything that happened in Benghazi."

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Russia sends landing ships to Syria

A RUSSIAN warship carrying a marines unit has left its Black Sea port for Syria amid preparations for a possible evacuation of nationals living and working in the strife-torn country, news reports say.

The Novocherkassk landing ship is the third such craft dispatched since Friday to the Tartus port that Russia leases from its last Middle East ally, agencies cited an unnamed official in the general staff as saying.

The reports said the Azov and Nikolai Filchenkov landing ships had also been sent to Syria from their Russian bases.

The military source said the Novocherkassk would arrive at Tartus within the first 10 days of January.

The Novocherkassk and another landing ship called Saratov both made a rare port call to Tartus in late November.

Officials did not disclose the details of that visit.

The Tartus base is Russia's only remaining naval station outside the former Soviet Union and is seen as a major strategic asset for Moscow.

Russia has been accused of using the base to supply Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with secret military shipments supplementing the official weapons sales that Moscow has made to Damascus since Soviet times.

But recent rebel gains prompted Russia to admit for the first time this month that Assad's days in power may be numbered.

Officials have since openly acknowledged making preparations for a possible evacuation should the safety of Russians in Syria be threatened by Assad's downfall.

The three landing ships will be joining what Russian reports said was a much broader exercise off the coast of Syria involving vessels from three naval fleets.

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Magazine mistakenly publishes Bush obit

GERMANY'S respected news weekly Der Spiegel has mistakenly published an obituary for former US president George Bush senior, hours after a family spokesman said the 88-year-old was recovering from illness.

Bush was hospitalised in Houston November 23 for treatment of a bronchitis-related cough and moved to intensive care on December 23 after he developed a fever.

On Saturday, spokesman Jim McGrath said Bush was moved out of intensive care into a regular hospital room again after his condition improved.

The unfinished obituary appeared on Der Spiegel's website for only a few minutes on Sunday before it was spotted by internet users and removed.

In it, the magazine's New York correspondent described Bush as "a colourless politician" whose image only improved when it was compared to the later presidency of his son, George W Bush.

"All newsrooms prepare obituaries for selected figures," the magazine said on its Twitter feed. "The fact that the one for Bush senior went live was a technical mistake. Sorry!"

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Switzerland freezes Mubarak sons' $300m

SWISS authorities have frozen $US300 million ($A290 million) sitting in Credit Suisse accounts in Geneva held by the sons of deposed Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, the newspaper Le Matin Dimanche has reported.

The funds are held in accounts belonging to Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, sons of the ex-president who are currently being held in an Egyptian prison.

The brothers are accused of using their position as scions of Egypt's long-time ruler to help themselves to villas, luxury cars and stakes in the country's key companies.

According to the newspaper, the funds were deposited at the Credit Suisse in 2005, which was after Switzerland tightened rules governing transactions by politically exposed depositors.

A Credit Suisse spokesman refused comment, citing the bank's secrecy policy.

The paper said Egypt-linked funds had also been frozen at the Swiss office of French banking giant BNP Paribas.

Switzerland has opened a probe targeting 14 people close to the Mubarak regime who are suspected of embezzling public funds and widescale corruption.

Earlier this month, Swiss authorities refused to provide their Egyptian counterparts with access to their findings so far, citing concerns for the "institutional situation" in Cairo.

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