Olympics, elections and horsing around in odd 2012

By Paul Casciato

LONDON | Mon Dec 31, 2012 7:34am EST

LONDON (Reuters) - Presidential preening, golden Olympic gaffes, a royal windfall for a skydiving British queen on her diamond jubilee and the endless end of days marked the odd stories in 2012 which pranced across the news in Gangnam Style.

The year opened with a tale that flocks of magpies and bears had been spotted in mourning for North Korea's "Dear Leader", Kim Jong-il who died in December 2011 and was succeeded by his 20-something son Kim Jong-un.

Winter weather was so cold in Brussels that the Manneken-Pis, a bronze statue of a young boy urinating had to stop peeing because of sub-zero temperatures.

There was slightly warming news about Mondays in Germany, where crematoriums are struggling to adapt to an increasingly obese population and a boom in extra-large coffins.

"We burn particularly large coffins on Monday mornings when the ovens are cold," one crematorium said.

In March Polish media reported that kite surfer Jan Lisewski fought off repeated shark attacks and overcame thirst and exhaustion in a two-day battle of survival on the Red Sea with just his trusty knife as protection.

"I was stabbing them in the eyes, the nose and gills."

In other animal news, dairy cows across the world mourned the loss of "Jocko", the world's third most-potent breeding bull and Yvonne the German cow who evaded helicopter searches and dodged hunters landed a film deal: "Cow on the Run".

A Nepali man who was bitten by a cobra snake bit it back and killed the reptile after it attacked him in his rice paddy.

"I could have killed it with a stick but bit it with my teeth instead because I was angry," Mohamed Salmo Miya said.

A scathing resignation letter of a Goldman Sachs executive published in the New York Times inspired a sheaf of online spoofs, including Star Wars villain Darth Vader.

"The Empire today has become too much about shortcuts and not enough about remote strangulation. It just doesn't feel right to me anymore," Vader wrote in a published letter.

Austerity in Europe saw a once-thriving Greek sex industry become the latest victim of the country's debt crisis with Greeks spending less on erotic toys, pornography and lingerie.

But lust appeared to be in the rudest of health elsewhere.

Turkish emergency workers rescued an inflatable sex doll floating in the Black Sea and a German disc jockey vowed to press charges against a woman who locked him in her apartment and ravaged him for hours until he rang the police.

"She was sex mad and there was no way out of the flat," Dieter S. told police.

@ROYALFETUS

Britain's Queen Elizabeth celebrated her 60th year on the throne with Diamond Jubilee celebrations that saw a 1,000-ship rain-sodden flotilla sail down the River Thames, a massive party in front of Buckingham Palace, street parties across the country and a spoof incarnation of her majesty on Twitter.

"OK, fire up the Bentley. Let's rock," tweeted "Elizabeth Windsor", the comic online alter ego of the British monarch in a typical tweet from the spoof Twitter account @Queen_UK, a virtual monarch with a razor-sharp wit and a penchant for gin.

And Twitter positively exploded with spoof royal accounts later in the year when Elizabeth's grandson William and his wife Kate announced she was pregnant with a future monarch.

"I may not have bones yet, but I'm already more important than everyone reading this," was the tweet from @RoyalFetus.

Leadership and change was a theme which ran through a year in which socialist Francois Hollande defeated incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy and Mimi the clown to become French president, Vladimir Putin was elected Russian president again and U.S. President Barack Obama won re-election over Republican Mitt Romney.

Amid the tight election race, Obama met a gaffe-prone Romney for an exchange at a charity dinner ahead of the November poll, where America's first black president poked fun at Hollywood actor Clint Eastwood for lecturing an empty chair as if it were Obama during the Republican convention.

"Please take your seats," Obama told the crowd, "or else Clint Eastwood will yell at them."

"THE MODFATHER"

Sporting news was dominated by the London Olympics during the summer, where the opening ceremony included a vignette of Queen Elizabeth being escorted by James Bond before apparently skydiving into the Olympic stadium for her arrival.

"Good evening Mr. Bond," was her only line.

Olympic embarrassments were few, but they began early with organizers forced into apologies for displaying the South Korean flag on a video screen for North Korea's women's soccer team.

British cycling sensation Bradley "the Modfather" Wiggins became the first Briton to win the Tour de France, sparking a craze among fans for cutout cardboard sideburns modeled on his own and shouting "here Wiggo" as he raced to Olympic gold.

London's eccentric and loquacious Mayor Boris Johnson fell rather awkwardly silent when he got stuck dangling from a zip wire, waving two Union flags in drizzling rain.

Olympic chiefs urged youthful athletes to drink "sensibly".

But there was anything but restraint for Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who declared an early night at one point only to be photographed later with three members of the Swedish women's handball team. Early one Sunday morning Bolt also dazzled dancers at a London night club with a turn in the DJ booth.

"I am a legend," Bolt shouted out to a packed dance floor from the decks with his arms raised in the air.

Towards the close of the year, tens of thousands of mystics, hippies and tourists celebrated in the shadow of ancient Maya pyramids in southeastern Mexico as the Earth survived a day billed by doomsday theorists as the end of the world.

"It's pure Hollywood," said Luis Mis Rodriguez, 45, a Maya selling obsidian figurines and souvenirs.

Finally, a chubby, rapping singer with slicked-back hair and a tacky suit became the latest musical sensation to burst upon the world from South Korea, via a YouTube music video that has been seen more than a billion times.

Decked out in a bow tie and suit jackets varying from pink to baby blue, as well as a towel for one sequence set in a sauna, Psy busts funky moves based on horse-riding in venues ranging from playgrounds to subways.

The video by Psy has been emulated by everyone from Chinese dissident artist Ai Weiwei to students at Britain's elite Eton College, gurning politicians, spotty teens and embarrassing dads worldwide.

"My goal in this music video was to look uncool until the end. I achieved it," Psy told Reuters.

(Reporting by Paul Casciato; editing by Mike Collett-White)

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Award buoys novelist Elmore Leonard to write again

By Kurt Anthony Krug

DETROIT | Mon Dec 31, 2012 12:29pm EST

DETROIT (Reuters) - As he struggled writing his forthcoming book, "Blue Dreams," best-selling American author Elmore Leonard thought his 47th novel would probably be his last.

Then, inspiration came in the form of a medallion.

Leonard won the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters in November, joining such U.S. literary luminaries as Toni Morrison, John Updike, Gore Vidal and Norman Mailer.

Now, the award has given Leonard, 87, the vigor and motivation to write at least two more books, he told Reuters in an interview at his home in Bloomfield Village, Michigan, in suburban Detroit.

"I don't have any reason to quit," he said. "I still enjoy writing."

Leonard is best known for dry, witty dialogue in his crime novels and Westerns, which include 1990's "Get Shorty" and 1996's "Out of Sight" - both of which were adapted into successful and critically acclaimed films.

He also served as an executive producer on FX's Emmy-winning TV crime drama "Justified," which is based on Leonard's novels "Pronto," "Riding the Rap" and a short story "Fire in the Hole."

After six decades of writing successful stories, novels and screenplays, Leonard now has earned respect in the same breath as America's most heralded writers of his time.

"I recognized all the names of the previous winners," Leonard said showing off the award's medallion while puffing on a cigarette. "I was very happy about it. ... The prestige, to me, is worth the most ... It's the biggest."

'I'll HAVE HIM SHOT'

Leonard's crime novels will be published in a multi-volume set by the Library of America in 2014. The publisher keeps important American literature in print permanently.

"Blue Dreams," which is scheduled for a 2013 release, is about bull rider Kyle McCoy who is looking for an Indian bull rider who has been unlawfully detained by border police. Along the way, he falls in love with a young movie star.

Like the majority of Leonard's novels, the first half of "Blue Dreams" establishes unrelated characters and then Leonard has them interact in the end with unpredictable consequences.

Leonard, who is praised for his crisp realism, never sketches a plot for his novels and always writes them longhand on custom-made, unlined yellow writing pads. His daughter Jane types up his books.

"The characters come to life and start doing things," Leonard said. "I don't think about the ending until page 300. It's the middle part that's the tough part."

Even after 62 years of writing fiction, Leonard says he does not have a favorite character.

"I like 'em all," he said. "If one doesn't work, I'll have him shot."

(Editing by Eric Kelsey and Bill Trott)

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Sculpture knock-offs prove plague of art world

By Daniel Grant

AMHERST, Massachusetts | Mon Dec 31, 2012 1:37pm EST

AMHERST, Massachusetts (Reuters) - An epidemic of sculpture knock-offs is plaguing the art world, and just like the sale and production of counterfeit designer handbags and shoes, law enforcement is having a difficult time keeping up.

Statues, wildlife figures and, in one case, a copy of Jasper Johns' 1960 metallic collage "Flag," are turning up for sale in stores, garden centers and other outlets without the approval of the artists who originally created them, and sometimes at top-end prices.

American sculptors say they are losing income and spending tens of thousands of dollars in legal expenses trying to track down and stop the knock-offs, often with little success. Many of the forgeries come from foundries in Asia, while advances in digital scanning and photography are making copycat sculptures even easier to create.

Art crime police say it is difficult to estimate the scale of the trade in fakes.

"There is a significant problem of knock-offs in all areas of the art world," Robert K. Wittman, retired founder of the FBI's Art Crime Team, told Reuters.

He cited an Interpol statistic of $6 billion in annual art crimes around the world, of which the majority are forgeries. Unauthorized sculpture castings are classified by the FBI and Interpol as forgeries.

Eli Hopkins, business manager for his father, Colorado-based wildlife sculptor Mark Hopkins, said he found fiberglass copies of his father's bronzes in a Hobby Lobby arts and crafts store selling for one-tenth the price of the originals.

"I used to get catalogs of decorations just to look for copycats, but I just stopped after a while," Hopkins told Reuters. "I got too stressed out finding things and then finding out that I couldn't do anything to stop it."

Over the years, he and his father, whose work has been collected by McDonnell Douglas Corp and former President Bill Clinton, among others, have spent more than $75,000 in legal expenses, hiring lawyers to write cease-and-desist letters, occasionally going to court and only sometimes meeting with success.

"You try to get the judge to award legal fees but that doesn't always happen," he said. The real culprits, Hopkins said, are foundries in China and Thailand that produce knock-offs and who appear to be outside the reach of the law.

DISCOUNT PRICES

The same problem happened to Jane Dedecker, a sculptor in Loveland, Colorado, whose works have been collected by television hostess Kathie Lee Gifford and actor Arnold Schwarzenegger, among others.

She first discovered unauthorized reproductions of her work 10 years ago at a garden store. One of the sculptures looked like hers and bore her signature but it wasn't made by Dedecker and the price ($6,000) was less than one-third of the $21,000 she charged for the original version.

Dedecker and her business managers say they have identified approximately 30 of her sculptures that have been reproduced by unknown others.

On occasion, a culprit is found. In November, Brian Ramnarine, owner of the Empire Bronze Art Foundry in Long Island, New York, was charged with one count of wire fraud after he attempted to sell both privately and through an international auctioneer an unauthorized copy of Johns' 1960 metallic collage "Flag" for $11 million.

The foundry was known to Johns, who, in 1990, had brought a mold for the sculpture to the foundry in order to create a wax cast of the piece, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan.

Ramnarine produced the wax cast for Johns but is accused of keeping the original mold and later using it to manufacture the knock-off. Ramnarine pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.

Many foundries today do not need a mold or a casting to recreate sculptures. Photographs of art works can be scanned into computers and turned into three-dimensional models from which new molds are created.

"With the advances in 3D scanning and other digital technologies, I suspect it is easier than ever to duplicate work and create copies," DeWitt Godfrey, professor of art at Colgate University and an authority on unethical castings, told Reuters.

It was through photographs used to make digital files that Dedecker's and Hopkins' work was appropriated. Dedecker recently went public with the experience on website bronzecopyright.com.

"I get calls all the time from sculptors, asking me, ‘What do I do?' They figure that since it happened to me, I've figured out some way of fighting back, but I never know what to tell them," she said. "Personally, I just try not to think about it."

Dedecker advises artists to copyright all their work, which will not stop people from making and selling knock-offs but may lead, if a lawsuit ever gets to court and results in a win for the artist, to recovering attorneys' fees.

(Editing by Jill Serjeant)

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Bad news crowds out good, Pope says on New Year's Eve

1 of 4. Pope Benedict XVI celebrates the First Vespers and Te Deum prayers in Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican December 31, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Tony Gentile

VATICAN CITY | Mon Dec 31, 2012 1:00pm EST

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Grim news grabs more headlines than good works but deeper probing will find a world of love and service hidden in the shadows, Pope Benedict said at his traditional end-of-year Mass on Monday.

The 85-year-old pope, marking the eighth New Year's Eve of his pontificate, celebrated the Vespers and "Te Deum" Mass of thanksgiving in St. Peter's Basilica, during which he urged the faithful to take a step back from negativity in the media.

"Evil makes more noise than goodness: a heinous murder, widespread violence, serious injustices make the news; on the other hand acts of love and service...commonly remain in the shadows," he told thousands of people who attended the Mass.

"We can't just stop at the news if we want to understand the world and life, we have to be capable of standing in silence, in meditation, in calm and prolonged reflection, we have to know how to stop and think," he said.

In the past year the pope has been on visits to Cuba, Mexico and Lebanon but the trial of his former butler, convicted of leaking sensitive documents that alleged corruption in the Holy See, won particular prominence on newspaper front pages.

The leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics had also urged people on Christmas Eve to take a step back from their fast paced lives, and try to find a space for God.

Benedict is due to make his traditional New Year address on January 1, the day the Roman Catholic Church calls its annual World Day of Peace.

The pontiff sent his World Day of Peace message to heads of state, government and institutions such as the United Nations earlier in December, calling for a new global economic model and ethical regulations for markets.

(Reporting By Catherine Hornby; Editing by Michael Roddy)

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Italian Nobel scientist Montalcini dies at 103

1 of 3. Italian neurologist Rita Levi Montalcini is seen in this 1984 file photograph. Rita Levi Montalcini, joint winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine and an Italian Senator for Life, died on Sunday at the age of 103, her family said. The first Nobel laureate to reach 100 years of age, she won the prize in 1986 with American Stanley Cohen for their discovery of nerve growth factor (NGF), a protein that makes developing cells grow by stimulating surrounding nerve tissue.

Credit: Reuters/Stringer/Files

By Catherine Hornby

ROME | Sun Dec 30, 2012 2:59pm EST

ROME (Reuters) - Rita Levi Montalcini, joint winner of the Nobel Prize for Medicine and an Italian Senator for Life, died on Sunday at the age of 103, her family said.

The first Nobel laureate to reach 100 years of age, she won the prize in 1986 with American Stanley Cohen for their discovery of nerve growth factor (NGF), a protein that makes developing cells grow by stimulating surrounding nerve tissue.

Her research helped in the treatment of spinal cord injuries and has increased understanding of cardiovascular diseases, Alzheimer's and conditions such as dementia and autism.

One of twins born to a Jewish family in Turin in 1909, Montalcini was the oldest living recipient of the prize.

During World War Two, the Allies' bombing of Turin forced her to flee to the countryside where she established a mini-laboratory. She fled to Florence after the German invasion of Italy and lived in hiding there for a while, later working as a doctor in a refugee camp.

After the war she moved to St. Louis in the United States to work at Washington University, where she went on to make her groundbreaking NGF discoveries.

She also set up a research unit in Rome and in 1975 became the first woman to be made a full member of the Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Sciences in 1975. She won several other awards for her contributions to medical and scientific research.

Her face was instantly recognizable in Italy and she was well known as a dignified and respected intellectual, a counterbalance to the image of women succeeding through their looks and sexuality, exacerbated during the scandal-plagued era of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.

Two days after her birthday in April this year she posted a note on Facebook saying it was important never to give up on life or fall into mediocrity and passive resignation.

"I've lost a bit of sight, and a lot of hearing. At conferences I don't see the projections and I don't feel good. But I think more now than I did when I was 20. The body does what it wants. I am not the body, I am the mind," she said.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti said in a statement that Montalcini's Nobel prize had been an honor for Italy, and praised her efforts to encourage young people, especially women, to play a central role in scientific research.

(Editing by Louise Ireland)

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Chinese cities to relax school entry for rural migrants

BEIJING | Sun Dec 30, 2012 10:25am EST

BEIJING (Reuters) - Three populous Chinese regions plan to relax restrictions on the children of workers from rural areas trying to enter university-track high schools, China National Radio reported on Sunday, in an apparent response to protests over discriminatory practices.

The planned changes come too late to help a teenager whose plight has become a cause célèbre among activists pressing for reform of China's household registration, or hukou, regime.

Chinese high school students can only take university entrance exams where they are registered, a stipulation that effectively locks out the children of migrant workers in cities.

Hundreds of millions of Chinese have moved to cities from rural areas over the past three decades, but most migrants are still treated as second-class citizens without the same access to education, housing or health insurance as registered urban residents.

Reformists had seized on the case of Zhan Haite, 15, the daughter of migrants who had been raised in Shanghai but was ineligible to attend a university-track high school there. Her case triggered protests in Beijing and Shanghai this month, while her father was detained for several days for campaigning to secure education rights in Shanghai.

The rules as announced still do not treat the children of migrants as equals of city residents with legal registration.

"It's not ideal. They have just made the regulations more detailed, not changed the underlying situation," Zhan said from her home in Shanghai. The new criteria were so strict that she, and others like her, would still be ineligible, she said.

"I bet only 5 percent of the kids would meet the new requirements."

Beijing and Shanghai as well as Guangdong Province, whose Pearl River Delta factories are a magnet for migrants, will phase in access to the higher-education exams for students living within their borders, China National Radio reported.

But in practice, academically gifted migrant children will still face discrimination.

From 2016, Guangdong will allow migrant children to sit the exams and apply to university on an equal footing with legal residents.

Beijing and Shanghai plan to relax admission rules for vocational-track schools and in some cases open the door to university education to students who have first graduated from a vocational school program.

Migrant children may take the university exam in Beijing from 2013 and in Shanghai from 2014, but their university applications will still be processed in their legal hometown.

The children of migrants long resident in Beijing already have some rights to attend elementary school, but in practice they are often kept out by high fees, red tape and complicated admission procedures.

(Reporting by Lucy Hornby and Sabrina Mao; Editing by Louise Ireland)

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Polish bishop who built secret communist-era churches dies at 94

WARSAW | Sat Dec 29, 2012 8:45am EST

WARSAW (Reuters) - Retired Polish Archbishop Ignacy Tokarczuk, who built churches in secret in defiance of the communist authorities, becoming a folk hero for many, has died at the age of 94, PAP news agency said on Saturday.

One of the Soviet bloc's more colorful anti-communist clerics, Tokarczuk clandestinely built hundreds of churches under the noses of the officially atheist government in the 1960s and 1970s.

"While Ignacy Tokarczuk was bishop of Przemysl, more than 400 churches and chapels were built in the diocese despite the lack of building permits from the communist authorities," Episcopate Chairman Archbishop Jozef Michalik said on the website of the Przemysl Archdiocese.

"He will be remembered for his uncompromising stance in defence of the institution of the Catholic Church despite frequent harassment by the security service of the Polish People's Republic."

The typical ruse was for a parishioner in the staunchly Catholic Przemysl region, in southeastern Poland, to get a building permit from the authorities to build a farmhouse, whose interior was then secretly fitted out as a house of worship.

When volunteer builders from the parish had everything in place, they would affix a small steeple to the roof under the cover of darkness, and a new church was created.

Communist security troops were routinely sent to the churches after they were discovered but, faced with the embarrassing prospect of demolishing a structure built by local volunteers, the authorities frequently gave in.

Despite constant surveillance and harassment, including visa denials preventing trips to Rome, Tokarczuk actively supported anti-communist dissident groups in the 1970s and the Solidarity movement that emerged in 1980.

The Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, Solidarity evolved into a 10-million-strong pro-democracy movement which the communists tried to crush.

Tokarczuk died on Friday in Przemysl.

(Reporting by Rob Strybel; Editing by Alison Williams)

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Would-be adoptive parents look beyond Russia

Orphan children play in their bedroom at an orphanage in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, December 19, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Vladimir Konstantinov

By Kathleen Kingsbury and Lauren Young

NEW YORK | Fri Dec 28, 2012 8:18pm EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Russia's new ban on U.S. adoptions is the latest setback for hopeful American parents as countries increasingly impose restrictions.

Other countries, including China and Guatemala, have erected hurdles for adoptive families as they create their own domestic adoption programs. The signing of the Hague Convention on adoption in 2008 drastically improved regulation of the process, which had been rife with corruption. But it has also led to a slowdown in adoptions or shutdowns in some countries. Internal politics and abuse concerns are additional reasons why countries have tightened controls.

In 2004, U.S. citizens adopted 22,991 children who had been born abroad, an all-time high, according to Adoptive Families magazine. By 2011, that number had fallen to 9,319. For a graphic view of how international adoptions have fallen in various countries, see link.reuters.com/tut84t

There are still other options for Americans wanting to adopt an international child. Bulgaria, Colombia and many African nations are some of the new, go-to countries for U.S. adoptions.

But even that's not a sure thing. For would-be adoptive parents the best bet is to widen their search to include special needs kids, sibling groups and older children.

AFRICA'S ADOPTION EXPLOSION

Africa, which represented 22 percent of adoptions in 2009, is expected to be a bigger player in the future. "A decade ago, there were very few adoptions (in Africa)," according to Susan Soonkeum Cox, vice president policy and external affairs at Holt International, a Christian adoption organization. "Now, there's an explosion."

African countries seeing an increase in adoptions include South Africa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya and Ivory Coast.

Adoptions in Ethiopia, meanwhile, have declined from a peak of 2,511 in 2010 as the country overhauled its oversight process. But it is still a viable option, Cox said.

Cox advises working with an adoption agency that has staff on the ground in Africa and other countries to handle paperwork and advocate for U.S. families.

Other countries that still welcome American adoptions include Bulgaria and Colombia, said Megan Montgomery, international adoption coordinator for Adoption Star, based in Amherst, New York. Adoption Star primarily deals with adoptions from Bulgaria, a country that has gone from five placements in 2008 to 75 adoptions in 2011.

Placements from Vietnam and Cambodia, which shuttered their U.S. adoption programs, should resume soon, adoption experts say.

FAMILIES CAN'T FLIP A SWITCH

Adoptions of Russian children peaked in 2004, according to Dale Eldridge, coordinator of adoptive services at Jewish Family Services' Adoption Choices, a non-profit adoption program based in Framingham, Massachusetts. Right now, fewer than 50 U.S. adoptions of Russian children are formally in the works while another 250 U.S. families have identified kids they would like to adopt, adoption experts said.

Unfortunately, families that already have started an adoption in Russia can't just flip a switch and redirect their efforts to another country. "I wish it was as simple as taking some families who have been waiting (for Russian children) to just move over to another country," said David Nish, chief program officer at Spence-Chapin, a U.S.-based adoption agency that finds homes for children in the United States and around the world. "But it's a whole other process."

That's because every country has its own eligibility requirements. Criteria can include parents' marital status, age of the parents, employment, financial status, medical issues, and even the age difference between the adoptive parents and adoptee child. The adoption process remains restrictive for single-sex couples.

And the cost can be prohibitive. For example, the median fee in 2011 was $8,000 for the Dominican Republic, $15,355 in Panama and $26,063 in South Africa, according to the U.S. State Department's Intercountry Adoption Annual Report. Adoption fees for many of the 30-plus countries on the State Department's list are in the range of $20,000. That's not including travel costs.

Even so, international adoptions are often cheaper than domestic ones for newborn babies, which can cost $40,000 or more.

OLDER CHILDREN

To speed up the process, would-be adoptive parents should consider a school-age child, experts say.

According to the State Department, 233,934 international adoptions were made by Americans from 1999 to 2011. Nearly 94,000 of those adoptions involved children under the age of one. Just about 20,000 children aged three or four were adopted during that period. And for kids aged 5 to 12, it was 29,712.

The benefit of adopting a school-age child is that it is easier to identify developmental and emotional problems ahead of time. "There's more you can do to prepare and put resources in place to support what they need," Spence-Chapin's Nish said.

School-aged children can be challenging if pre-adoptive experiences affect their development, he said.

A special needs child is also a possibility. One way to fast-track an international adoption may be to apply for a child with known medical or special needs, said Adoption Star's Montgomery. "For families with resources, it can be great option," Montgomery said. "Of course, you really have to find the right family to take on that kind of known medical need."

Special needs can range from a baby born with a minor medical problem, such as a cleft palate, to more serious issues, such as a heart condition, blindness or spina bifida. "It's not about families getting a child quicker," Nish said. "It's about a family accepting a child into their household that they can provide for and love and nurture."

China's Waiting Child program, which includes children who have special needs or correctable medical conditions or are part of sibling groups, has wait times that are typically much shorter than the traditional program, according to Adoptive Families magazine. In 2011, more than half of adoptions from China were through this program.

Would-be parents must be prepared to wait. The Associated Services for International Adoption, a non-profit adoption group, says the wait time for an adoption referral in China is 73 months as the country has clamped down on U.S. adoptions. "If the wait time is becoming impractical, it's better to close the intake process" and start again, advised Holt's Cox.

Tracy Downey and her husband, Jason, who live in suburban Des Moines, Iowa, tried to go the traditional international Chinese adoption route in 2006. But after waiting for 18 months to bring home a baby from China, Tracy switched gears and started combing the official Chinese list of children with special needs along with additional lists from adoption agencies and orphanages.

The Downeys have since adopted a daughter, Angel, along with two sons - Corban and Tegan - from China, all with large, potentially disfiguring moles known as a giant congenital nevi. They started the process to bring home the two boys, now aged 3-1/2, last January. It took about 10 months.

Aside from their large moles - which are on two of the children's faces and on the other's lower body - all three kids are healthy and thriving, Tracy said.

"If we wanted a non-special needs child, we'd still be waiting," Tracy said.

(This version of the story has been corrected to fix spelling of Colombia in fourth paragraph)

(Follow us @ReutersMoney or here; Additional reporting by Chelsea Emery and Beth Pinsker Gladstone; Editing by Linda Stern and Steve Orlofsky)

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Relics said to be from Jesus' birth to be at Chicago church

By Mary Wisniewski

CHICAGO | Fri Dec 28, 2012 6:46pm EST

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Tiny fragments said to be from the manger that held the infant Jesus, the veil of his mother, Mary, and a thread from the cloak of St. Joseph will be displayed by a Roman Catholic church in Chicago when it celebrates its 155th anniversary on Sunday.

The fragments, released by the Vatican in 1972, were a gift to the Holy Family Church from the Shrine of Our Lady of Pompeii, also in Chicago. Displaying them now has particular significance because of their association with Christmas, which marks the birth of Jesus.

The Rev. Jeremiah J. Boland, administrator of the church, said on Friday that he is "not that interested" in carbon testing the items to see if they are from the beginning of the Christian Era.

"The Vatican has its own process to determine the authenticity of things," Boland said. "I'm more concerned with it as an object of faith."

The manger relic has "more authenticity" since it was brought from the Holy Land to the Vatican in the 5th century, Boland said.

"One could argue how real the relics of Mary or Joseph are, but there were all sorts of objects over the centuries that have been venerated and are based on faith rather than on scientific explanation," he said.

Holy Family, built in 1857-1860, is the city's second-oldest church and one of only five public buildings that survived the 1871 Great Chicago Fire.

The fragments will be on display in a crystal reliquary, a vessel in which relics of saints are preserved.

Boland said that Our Lady of Pompeii had been founded as an Italian parish, while Holy Family had been an Irish parish. In the past in Chicago as in other U.S. cities, immigrant Catholics tended to stay in parishes that reflected their ethnic backgrounds.

"In the history of the neighborhood there was a lot of tension between groups," said Boland. "The parishes weren't immune to some of these difficulties." The gift of the relics, he said, "is a healing gesture."

The mass celebrating the transfer of the relics will be held on Sunday morning, and the relics will be displayed during the afternoon.

The church will also exhibit manger scenes from around the world, including Kenya, Ireland, Italy, France, Poland, Peru, Vatican City, Mexico, Egypt and Jerusalem.

(Reporting By Mary Wisniewski)

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Pope's Christmas message says hope mustn't die in Syria, Nigeria

1 of 6. Pope Benedict XVI (C) waves as he blessed the crowd as he makes his ''Urbi et Orbi'' (To the city and the world) address from a balcony in St. Peter's Square in Vatican December 25, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Alessandro Bianchi

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY | Tue Dec 25, 2012 12:29pm EST

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict used his Christmas message to the world on Tuesday to say people should never lose hope for peace, even in conflict-riven Syria and in Nigeria where he spoke of "terrorism" against Christians.

Marking the eighth Christmas season of his pontificate, the 85-year-old read his "Urbi et Orbi" (to the city and the world) message to tens of thousands of people in St Peter's Square and to millions of others watching around the world.

Delivering Christmas greetings in 65 languages, Benedict used the Biblical analogy of the "good soil" to underscore his view that the hope represented by Christmas should never die, even in the most dire situations.

"This good earth exists, and today too, in 2012, from this earth truth has sprung up! Consequently, there is hope in the world, a hope in which we can trust, even at the most difficult times and in the most difficult situations," he said.

In his virtual tour of the some of the world's trouble spots, he reserved his toughest words for Syria, Nigeria and Mali.

"Yes, may peace spring up for the people of Syria, deeply wounded and divided by a conflict which does not spare even the defenseless and reaps innocent victims," he said.

"Once again I appeal for an end to the bloodshed, easier access for the relief of refugees and the displaced, and dialogue in the pursuit of a political solution to the conflict."

The leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics also condemned conflicts in Mali and Nigeria, two countries where Islamist groups have waged violent campaigns.

"May the birth of Christ favor the return of peace in Mali and that of concord in Nigeria, where savage acts of terrorism continue to reap victims, particularly among Christians," he said.

CHURCH BOMBINGS

In Nigeria, the Islamist sect Boko Haram has killed hundreds in its campaign to impose sharia law in the north of the country, targeting a number of churches.

In Mali, a mix of Islamists with links to al Qaeda have occupied the country's north since April, destroying much of the region's religious heritage. They have also carried out amputations to help impose strict Islamic law on a population that has practiced a more moderate form of Islam for centuries.

Benedict also held out a Christmas olive branch to the new government in China, asking is members to "esteem the contributions of religions". China does not allow its Catholics to recognize the pope's authority, forcing them to be members of a parallel state-backed Church.

Late on Monday night, Benedict presided over a Christmas Eve Mass in St Peter's Basilica, where he urged people to find room for God in their fast-paced lives filled with the latest technological gadgets.

"Do we have time and space for him? Do we not actually turn away God himself? We begin to do so when we have no time for him," he said.

"The faster we can move, the more efficient our time-saving appliances become, the less time we have. And God? The question of God never seems urgent. Our time is already completely full," he said.

He said societies had reached the point where many people's thinking processes did not leave any room even for the existence of God.

"There is no room for him. Not even in our feelings and desires is there any room for him. We want ourselves. We want what we can seize hold of, we want happiness that is within our reach, we want our plans and purposes to succeed. We are so 'full' of ourselves that there is no room left for God."

(Editing by Andrew Osborn)

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Los Angeles police offer gift cards to take guns off streets

Police officers collect guns from people in their cars at a gun buyback held by the Los Angeles Police Department in Los Angeles, California, December 26, 2012 following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut. The program normally occurs in May but Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa accelerated the schedule in response to the December 14 shooting that left 20 children and six adults dead, along with the gunman, and caused a national outcry against gun violence. People can anonymously trade in their guns, no questions asked, for $200 grocery store gift cards for automatic weapons and $100 gift cards for shotguns, handguns and rifles.

Credit: Reuters/David McNew

LOS ANGELES | Wed Dec 26, 2012 8:22pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Police traded gift cards for guns in Los Angeles on Wednesday, in a buyback program Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced as a crime-fighting response to the deadly shooting rampage in Newtown, Connecticut.

Police officers handed out $200 grocery store gift cards to people who turned in an automatic weapon, and $100 gift cards to those who provided a handgun, rifle or shotgun.

Los Angeles has held an annual gun buyback since 2009, and similar events have been organized in years past in several other cities, including Detroit and Boston. Police in San Diego had a buyback earlier this month.

Some experts say the buybacks have little effect in reducing gun violence, but Villaraigosa touted the buyback program as one step that can be taken in response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, on December 14 that claimed the lives of 20 children and six adult staff members.

The shooter, Adam Lanza, killed himself and also shot to death his mother at the home he shared with her, police said.

Los Angeles normally has its gun buyback in May, but Villaraigosa announced last week that the city would have this special buyback in response to the Newtown tragedy.

"There are a number of things we can do. This is just one of them," Villaraigosa said on CNN. "We've got to also address the culture of violence that we've got in this country."

At last count, the Los Angeles gun buyback had collected 1,366 firearms, including 477 handguns and 49 assault weapons, said Vicki Curry, a spokeswoman for the mayor.

The buyback ended at 4 p.m. local time, but a final tally of guns collected was not expected to be released before Thursday. In May, the city's annual gun buyback program collected 1,673 firearms at six locations, compared to two locations used for the program on Wednesday, Curry said.

At each of the locations where the buyback was held, a line of cars stretched around the block, Curry said. People dropping off their guns were asked to leave them in the trunks of their cars, where officers retrieved the weapons. Those surrendering their guns were allowed to remain anonymous.

While officials in Los Angeles and elsewhere have said the gun buybacks help keep streets safe, a 2004 report by the National Research Council of the National Academies questioned that conclusion.

Among the report's findings were that guns surrendered in buybacks tend to be old or inherited from previous owners, and not likely to be used in crime. Also, gun owners find it easy to replace their firearms, according to the report, which was titled "Firearms and Violence: A Critical Review."

(Reporting By Alex Dobuzinskis; editing by Todd Eastham)

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Sparkling wines, easier on the budget than Champagne

A bottle of Champagne (L) stands next a bottle of Prosecco in a wine shop in the Valdobbiadene valley, northern Italy, July 4, 2008.

Credit: Reuters/Manuel Silvestri

By Leslie Gevirtz

NEW YORK | Thu Dec 27, 2012 10:10am EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Krug Champagne, which sold at auction for nearly $5,000 a bottle earlier this month, may be a bit too pricey for many holiday budgets, but wine experts say there are more affordable alternatives on offer.

Sparkling wines, from France, Spain, Germany and the United States, are a good substitute for Champagne and won't break the budget.

"Prosecco is definitely an alternative, but it must be the real thing," said Ed McCarthy, author of "Champagne for Dummies."

McCarthy suggested buying Prosecco made in the original Italian region of Valdobbiadene-Conegliano, about a 90-minute drive northwest of Venice, where the grape is grown. A bottle from the area sells for $10-$20.

Most non-vintage Champagnes cost about $40 a bottle or more in shops in New York and London. The prestige "tete de cuvee" Champagnes, range from $120 to $300 or more a bottle, depending on the producer and vintage.

Krug's top of the line Clos du Mesnil Champagne, made from the Chardonnay grapes of a single vineyard, is priced at $850 to $900 a bottle, even at the Chateau's cellar door, according to McCarthy. Sotheby's sold a case of 12 bottles of the 1990 vintage for $58,188 on December 1.

For wines from France's Loire region, he suggested bottles from Gratien & Meyer, who have been producing sparkling wines for more than a century. Their Brut Saumur Anjou averages about $17 a bottle.

He also praised Bouvet-Ladubay, another Loire producer, whose wines average about $13 a bottle.

Spanish Cavas are another alternative to sparkling wine.

"They are also in the same price range as Prosecco and maybe even $2 or $3 less," McCarthy said, adding that Codorniu or Juve y Camps would be good choices.

California sparkling wines, made by some of France's top Champagne houses, can also be a good substitute for Champagne.

"My favorite is Roederer Estate," said McCarthy. "It's totally reliable." It sells for $18-$22 a bottle in the United States and at about $30 in the Britain and Germany.

British wine critic and author Stuart Pigott casts his vote for Sekt, the German sparkling wine. His favorite is Van Volxem 1900 Riesling Brut Sekt, made in Mosel.

"It is a rich and complex sparkling wine that is less creamy and less acidic than Champagne," he said about the wine that is available in Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland for about $34 a bottle.

But a man who buys millions of dollars of sparkling wine each year thinks most people really would prefer something sweeter to drink.

Guido Battipaglia, the sparkling wine buyer for New York's Gotham Wines & Liquors, said that instead of Champagnes most people would prefer Cantine Riondo Pink Prosecco, which costs less than $10 a bottle in the United States and Germany.

"There's a lot of fruit in it," said Battipaglia, who also likes the French rose from Marquis de la Tour, which can be found for less than $10.

If Champagne is a must, McCarthy recommended Nicolas Feuillatte, which costs about $25 a bottle. For slightly more money, $40 a bottle, Charles Heidsieck would be his choice.

"The price is not high for the quality," he said.

(Editing by Patricia Reaney and Doina Chiacu)

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Brazilians top for New Year celebrations: survey

A man kicks a ball at the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro December 25, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Pilar Olivares

LONDON | Thu Dec 27, 2012 9:26am EST

LONDON (Reuters) - Dancing to the beat alongside a Brazilian on Copacabana beach on New Year's Eve appears to be the dream way to ring in 2013 if a global survey of 17,000 people is any indicator.

The survey conducted by social network Badoo.com (www.badoo.com) across 17 countries and four continents showed Brazilians were considered the top nationality the rest of the world would most like to share New Year's with.

Americans ranked second in the poll, with Spaniards, Italians and the French coming third, fourth and fifth. Belgians and Swiss ranked joint last.

"This seems harsh on the Swiss and Belgians", Badoo director Louise Thompson said. "But I can understand that most people would rather celebrate New Year's Eve on a beach in Brazil than by huddling against the cold in northern Europe."

New Year's Eve falls in the middle of Brazil's summer, which makes the climate perfect for huge, outdoor parties of the kind Brazilians enjoy attending with friends or family to welcome the new year.

The festivities are held in cities across the country, but Rio is judged to have the best, including Brazil's most famous New Year's Eve event - the giant gathering on Copacabana beach, attended annually by some 2.5 million revelers and widely considered the best New Year's Eve party in the world.

Spanish also gather en masse on New Year's Eve in Puerta del Sol in Madrid, where both those present and many more watching at home listen to the clock chime 12 times while eating one grape on each chime, to bring prosperity for the new near.

The Italians, who ranked fourth in the Badoo poll, brought a more romantic flavor to New Year's Eve gatherings by staging a mass kiss in Venice's Piazza San Marco.

None of these gatherings, however, can match the scale of the festivities on Rio's Copacabana beach, which are also famed for their spectacular fireworks display. Ocean liners are known to moor nearby to watch.

For those near the beach on New Year's Eve, the tradition in Brazil is to jump seven waves at midnight while throwing flowers in the sea and making a wish - one wish for each wave.

Sao Paulo, Brazil's biggest city, also boasts a giant New Year's Eve party, held in Paulista Avenue and attended by over a million merrymakers. Only in Brazil could a party this big rank second best.

There may, however, be one way Europeans can claim to surpass the Brazilians on New Year's Eve, which is when it comes to clothes.

Brazilians traditionally dress in white on New Year's Eve, to bring luck for the new year. This tradition turns Rio's Copacabana beach into a giant carpet of white.

Both the Spanish and Italians, however, take a more colorful approach - welcoming the New Year by observing the local custom of wearing red underwear for good luck.

Badoo is a site for chatting, flirting, dating and meeting new people, with 168 million users across over 180 countries.

(Reporting by Paul Casciato)

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Website helps Dutch Catholics "de-baptize" over gay marriage

AMSTERDAM | Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:00pm EST

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Thousands of Dutch Catholics are researching how they can leave the church in protest at its opposition to gay marriage, according to the creator of a website aimed at helping them find the information.

Tom Roes, whose website allows people to download the documents needed to leave the church, said traffic on ontdopen.nl - "de-baptise.nl" - had soared from about 10 visits a day to more than 10,000 after Pope Benedict's latest denunciation of gay marriage this month.

"Of course it's not possible to be 'de-baptized' because a baptism is an event, but this way people can unsubscribe or de-register themselves as Catholics," Roes told Reuters.

He said he did not know how many visitors to the site actually go ahead and leave the church.

About 28 percent of the population in the Netherlands is Catholic and 18 percent is Protestant, while a much larger proportion - roughly 44 percent - is not religious, according to official statistics.

The country is famous for its liberal attitudes, for example to drugs and prostitution, and in April 2001 it was the first in the world to legalize same-sex marriages.

In a Christmas address to Vatican officials, the pope signaled the he was ready to forge alliances with other religions against gay marriage, saying the family was threatened "to its foundations" by attempts to change its "true structure".

Roes, a television director, said he left the church and set up his website partly because he was angry about the way the church downplayed or covered-up sexual abuse in Catholic orphanages, boarding schools and seminaries.

A report by an independent commission published a year ago said there had been tens of thousands of victims of child sexual abuse in the Netherlands since 1945 and criticized the church's culture of silence.

(Reporting by Sara Webb; Editing by Robin Pomeroy)

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Cameroon archbishop calls same-sex marriage crime against humanity

YAOUNDE | Tue Dec 25, 2012 11:43am EST

YAOUNDE (Reuters) - One of Cameroon's most senior Christian leaders on Tuesday called same-sex marriages a "crime against humanity", ramping up anti-gay rhetoric in the Central African state.

As in most African nations, homosexuality is illegal in Cameroon. But a number of incidents have highlighted the clash between a largely conservative culture backed by draconian law and youth for some of whom it is less of an issue.

"Marriage of persons of the same sex is a serious crime against humanity," Victor Tonye Bakot, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Yaounde, told followers at Christmas Day mass.

"We need to stand up to combat it with all our energy. I am particularly thankful to our local media that has been spreading this message of it as a criminality against mankind."

The comments follow a three-year jail sentence handed earlier this month to 32-year-old Jean-Claude Roger Mbede, who was found guilty of homosexual conduct because he sent a text message to another man telling him he loved him.

At least 12 people were convicted this year of being gay in Cameroon, where jail terms range from six months to five years.

Other African countries have seen fierce debate over anti-gay measures, which are often popular in societies where homosexuality is largely taboo but have drawn criticism from rights groups and threats of aid cuts from donors.

Ugandan politicians are seeking to pass an anti-gay law that initially sought the death penalty for homosexuals before it was watered down in the face of opposition.

Meanwhile, earlier on Tuesday the Roman Catholic Church's leader in England and Wales, Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichols, said the government's plans to allow gay marriage were a "shambles" and had no mandate.

(Reporting by Tansa Musa; Writing by David Lewis; Editing by Tom Pfeiffer)

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Italian priest sparks outrage over blame of women for violence

By James Mackenzie

ROME | Thu Dec 27, 2012 11:26am EST

ROME (Reuters) - An Italian priest has provoked outrage after putting up an article that said women were partly to blame for encouraging domestic violence by failing to clean their houses and cook properly and for wearing tight and provocative clothing.

Italian media reported that parish priest Piero Corsi fixed a text to the bulletin board of his church in the northern village of San Terenzo di Lerici, which said women should engage in "healthy self criticism" over the issue of femicide, or men murdering women.

Domestic violence against women is a serious problem in Italy although a report by a United Nations mission in June said it was "largely invisible and underreported".

The text, posted on a website by a conservative Catholic named Bruno Volpe, attacked pornography and erotic television advertising but said women shared the blame for "provoking the worst instincts, which then turn into violence and sexual abuse".

"Let's ask ourselves. Is it possible that men have all gone mad at one stroke? We don't think so," said the text, which was reproduced in several newspapers.

"The core of the problem is in the fact that women are more and more provocative, they yield to arrogance, they believe they can do everything themselves and they end up exacerbating tensions," it said.

"How often do we see girls and even mature women walking on the streets in provocative and tight clothing?"

"Babies left to themselves, dirty houses, cold meals and fast food at home, soiled clothes. So if a family ends up in a mess and turns into crime (a form of violence which should be condemned and punished firmly) often the responsibility is shared," it said.

The mayor of Lerici, Marco Caluri, said on Thursday the article was "astonishing and deeply offensive" and the bishop of La Spezia ordered it to be taken down, saying it contained "unacceptable opinions which are against the common position of the church".

A third of women in Italy had reported being victim of serious domestic violence, a UN report citing data from Italian statistics agency ISTAT said.

It said that as many as 127 women had been murdered by men in 2010, often as a result of "honor, men's unemployment and jealousy by the perpetrator".

Maria Gabriella Carnieri Moscatelli, the head of Telefono Rosa, an association that helps the victims of violence, said an apology subsequently offered by Corsi was not sufficient.

"I thank the bishop who had the paper taken down but I'm still not satisfied because I think someone needs to talk to this person and understand why he has these attitudes," she told SkyTG24 television.

"I think he needs to make a deeper examination of his conscience that goes beyond apologies," she said.

Corsi denied reports that he intended to resign as priest and in an interview published on the web site of the weekly Oggi, he said he would be carrying on with his work.

"After everything that's happened, which has certainly been well beyond what I intended or expected, I think there's need for calm, rest and silence to respond with the serenity and harmony required to carry on," he said.

(Reporting By James Mackenzie; Editing by Roger Atwood)

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Moroccan road film subverts Hollywood stereotypes

By Andrew Hammond

DUBAI | Fri Dec 21, 2012 8:50am EST

DUBAI (Reuters) - When director John Slattery first visited Morocco, the familiarity was jarring - and as removed from the images of an exotic Orient conjured up by Hollywood as possible.

That dichotomy between the representation and the reality of Morocco drives Slattery's charming paean to a country he clearly loves and makes "Casablanca, Mon Amour" a thoughtful rejoinder to U.S. popular culture.

Two young Moroccans spend three weeks travelling their native country, filming what they see on a digital camera while passing by studios and locations that have formed the backdrop for many Hollywood blockbusters, an industry Morocco has cultivated.

The film is spliced with shots of endearingly bemused or nervous ordinary people giving their thoughts to the camera about Hollywood and its global stars, as well as clips from classics such as "Casablanca" featuring off-the-cuff anti-Arab slurs like "you can't trust them" and "they all look alike".

"We had the idea of going on this trip and to be this stupid American film crew going to make this traditional movie using Morocco, but we wanted to subvert that," Slattery said after a screening at the Dubai international film festival this week.

"There was not really a script but the trip was their trip and so wherever they went we followed them. So that way they were really directing the film."

Shot by Hassan, who narrates the road trip in French, the images shift from scenes of daily life caught on camera, to his comically testy relationship with his travelling companion Abdel, to a troupe they stumble upon in Meknes that plays traditional Moroccan "malhoun" music.

Hassan, a real-life film school student at the time, is using the road trip for a class project, while Abdel wants to visit a dying uncle on the other side of the country.

Slattery includes footage from Moroccan television from the Marrakech film festival in which comic actor Bashar Skeirej declares that "a country without its own art will never have a history".

It's a subtle suggestion that the government should do more to promote domestic film rather than just rent out landscapes for Hollywood misrepresentation.

Morocco has formed the backdrop for a fictionalized Orient in "Ishtar", doubled as Abu Dhabi in the "Sex in the City 2" and been various distant planets in Star Wars films.

"National cinemas in many countries are being destroyed or have been destroyed because of this massive power of marketing that is Hollywood," said Slattery, a California-based American of Irish origin. "They destroy little films, they destroy the possibility for little stories."

The film, a labor of love that took Slattery seven years to complete, borrows from the book "Reel Bad Arabs", author Jack Shaheen's study of Hollywood's anti-Arab stereotypes. Its title references Alain Resnais's 1959 French New Wave classic "Hiroshima, Mon Amour".

"(When) I would say 'Morocco', people would say 'were you scared', or a polite 'what was that like?'," Slattery said, recounting reactions in the United States when he would talk about his first experiences as a peace corps volunteer.

"There was that whole category of fear in the responses, or 'Morocco, you must have seen Lawrence of Arabia', or 'Blackhawk Down'! - all these film titles. That stuck with me, this fear and movies were the two references for Morocco."

Yet Slattery's first day in the North African country could not have been more mundane, he said.

A colleague whisked him off to a rural home near Rabat where he met farmers who reminded him of Ireland.

"This guy opens (his door) in a tweed jacket that was all torn up. This is how these old farmers dress in Ireland, and his hands were all calloused and dirty. It just felt very familiar to me," Slattery said.

"His grandmother had a television hooked up to a car battery for electricity. I spent the weekend there, hanging out with these people, cutting hay and stuff, and I just thought 'this is Ireland'."

(Editing by Paul Casciato)

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Pope signals inter-faith alliance against gay marriage

Pope Benedict XVI waves as he leaves after leading his Wednesday general audience in Paul VI's Hall at the Vatican December 19, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Giampiero Sposito

By Philip Pullella

VATICAN CITY | Fri Dec 21, 2012 11:07am EST

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict on Friday signaled the Vatican was ready to forge alliances with other religions against gay marriage, saying the family was threatened "to its foundations" by attempts to change its "true structure".

The pope's latest denunciation of gay marriage came in a Christmas address to Vatican officials in which he blended religion, philosophy, anthropology and sociology to illustrate the position of the Roman Catholic Church.

The Vatican has gone on the offensive in response to gains for gay marriage in the United States and Europe, using every possible opportunity to denounce it through papal speeches or editorials in its newspaper or on its radio station.

Throwing the full weight of his office behind a study by France's chief rabbi on the effects the legalization of gay marriage would have on children and society, he said:

"There is no denying the crisis that threatens it (the family) to its foundations - especially in the Western world."

The family had to be protected because it was "the authentic setting in which to hand on the blueprint of human existence", he added.

Speaking in the frescoed Clementine Hall of the Vatican's Apostolic Palace, the 85-year-old pope said the family was being threatened by "a false understanding of freedom" and a repudiation of life-long commitment in heterosexual marriage.

"When such commitment is repudiated, the key figures of human existence likewise vanish: father, mother, child - essential elements of the experience of being human are lost," the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics said.

In the speech, one of the most important the pope gives every year, he said people could not "dispute the idea that they have a nature, given by their bodily identity, that serves as a defining element of the human being".

The "pre-ordained duality of man and woman" had to be respected, he said, if families and children were not to lose their place and dignity.

People could not become what he called "abstract human beings" choosing for themselves what their nature would be, added.

RELIGIOUS ALLIANCE

In some countries, the Catholic Church has already joined forces with Jews, Muslims and members of other religions to oppose the legalization of gay marriage, in some cases presenting arguments based on legal, social and anthropological analyses rather than religious teachings.

Significantly, the pope specifically praised as "profoundly moving" a study by Gilles Bernheim, France's chief rabbi, which has become the subject of heated debate in that country.

Bernheim, also a philosopher, argues that homosexual rights groups "will use gay marriage as a Trojan Horse" in a wider campaign to "deny sexual identity and erase sexual differences" and "undermine the heterosexual fundamentals of our society".

His study, "Gay Marriage, Parenthood and Adoption: What We Often Forget To Say", argues that plans to legalize gay marriage are being made for "the exclusive profit of a tiny minority" and are often supported because of political correctness.

In his own speech on Friday, the pope repeated some of the concepts in the Bernheim study, including an assertion that children raised by gay couples would be more "objects" than individuals.

Franco Grillini, a leader of Italy's gay community, called the pope's words "great foolishness," saying: "Where gay marriage has been approved, there has been no consequence on heterosexual marriage".

Last month, voters in the U.S. states of Maryland, Maine and Washington state approved same-sex marriage, the first time marriage rights have been extended to same-sex couples by popular vote.

Same-sex unions have been legalized in six states and the District of Columbia by lawmakers or courts.

In November, Spain's highest court also upheld a gay marriage law, and in France the socialist government has unveiled a draft law that would allow gay marriage.

(Additional reporting by Tom Heneghan; Editing by Alison Williams and Andrew Osborn)

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Art insurers face record loss from Superstorm Sandy

By Sarah Mortimer and Myles Neligan

LONDON | Fri Dec 21, 2012 10:09am EST

LONDON (Reuters) - Fine art insurers face claims of up to half a billion dollars, their biggest ever payout, to compensate the owners of artwork destroyed when Superstorm Sandy flooded galleries in New York.

Work by 1960s graphic artist and illustrator Peter Max accounts for the bulk of the loss, landing insurers including Catlin with a claim of $300 million, an industry source said.

"This will be the largest single art loss to the market," said Filippo Guerrini-Maraldi, head of fine art at insurance broker RK Harrison.

Catlin declined to comment.

Axa, the world's biggest art insurer, expects to pay out $40 million, art claims director Colin Quinn said, and brokers and underwriters say the total loss could reach $500 million.

That would wipe out virtually a full year's revenues for the art insurance industry, forcing it to push up its prices.

"Some underwriters will lose appetite for writing fine art business after Sandy, the global capacity for fine art business will shrink, and as a result rates will go up," Guerrini-Maraldi said.

Galleries and art warehouses affected by Sandy could be forced to pay up to 25 percent more for insurance, and insurers could refuse to cover premises in low-lying areas of Manhattan against floods, one underwriter said, asking not to be named.

UNDER WATER

Sandy, which killed 132 people as it swept through the north-eastern United States on October 29, caused flooding in the Chelsea district of Manhattan, where many New York art galleries are located. Art warehouses in New Jersey were also affected, insurers and brokers say.

Sandy is expected to cost the insurance industry a total of $25 billion, making it the second costliest storm after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Art insurers have previously expressed concern that popular art storage warehouses accumulate too much costly artwork in a single location, exposing them to big losses if the facilities flood or catch fire.

The art insurance industry, led by Axa and Bermuda-based Hiscox, takes in between $500 million and $600 million a year in premiums.

Art insurance prices have been falling for several years, reflecting stiff competition and a generally low level of claims.

Payouts worth a combined $500 million would dwarf previous big art losses, which include a 20 million pound ($33 million) hit from a 2004 warehouse fire in east London that destroyed work by British artists Damien Hirst and Tracey Emin.

In 2006, U.S. casino owner Steve Wynn put his elbow through a Picasso he owned, resulting in a claim of about $40 million.

Art insurance payouts are sometimes lower than the initial claim because of adjustments to reflect the market value of the artwork.

($1 = 0.6150 British pounds)

(Reporting by Myles Neligan; Editing by Will Waterman)

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Steve Jobs superyacht impounded over unpaid Starck designer bill

The superyacht built for Apple co-founder Steve Jobs is seen in a shipyard in Aalsmeer in this October 30, 2012 file photo. The superyacht has been impounded in Amsterdam because of a dispute over an unpaid bill to designer Philippe Starck, a lawyer said on December 21, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Michael Kooren/Files

AMSTERDAM | Fri Dec 21, 2012 12:27pm EST

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - A superyacht built for Apple Inc's late co-founder Steve Jobs has been impounded in Amsterdam because of a dispute over an unpaid bill to designer Philippe Starck, a lawyer said on Friday.

Jobs, who died last year after making his name and fortune at Apple, never got to use the yacht - called Venus - but had commissioned the French designer to work on the vessel, which cost more than 100 million euros to build.

A lawyer representing Starck's company Ubik told Reuters his client had received 6 million euros out of a 9 million euro commission for his work on the minimalist vessel and was now seeking to recover the rest of what he was owed.

The yacht was impounded on Wednesday evening, the lawyer said, and will remain in Amsterdam port pending payment by lawyers representing Jobs' estate.

"The project has been going since 2007 and there had been a lot of detailed talk between Jobs and Starck," Roelant Klaassen, a lawyer representing Ubik, said.

"These guys trusted each other, so there wasn't a very detailed contract," he said.

The lawyer representing Jobs' estate could not immediately be reached for comment.

(Reporting by Sara Webb; Editing by Andrew Osborn)

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Travel Picks: Top 10 New Year favorites

BOSTON | Fri Dec 21, 2012 7:26am EST

BOSTON (Reuters) - New Year is a time for fresh starts, hopes, dreams and saying goodbye to the old year. At this time of festive camaraderie and reflection, online travel adviser Cheapflights (www.cheapflights.com) offers its Top 10 favorite New Year traditions from across the globe. Reuters has not endorsed this list: 1. Germany & Finland

How about a spot of fortune telling to ring in the New Year?

Molybdomancy is an ancient technique of divination that involves interpreting the shapes made by dropping molten lead into cold water.

On New Year's Eve in Germany and Finland, family and friends come together for a spot of lead pouring - Bleigießen in German and uudenvuodentina in Finnish - and make predictions for the coming year.

It isn't an exact science and there are no firm rules on what the shapes actually represent. A bubbly surface can mean money is coming your way; a broken shape misfortune. Ships refer to traveling; a ball means luck; a monkey says beware of false friends; and a hedgehog means someone is jealous of you. But don't get too worried if you receive a bad fortune - the predictions are just for fun. 2. Mexico

In Mexico, families celebrate New Year's (Vispera de Año Nuevo) with a mix of religion, tradition, superstition and special festive foods.

Families decorate their homes in colors that represent wishes for the upcoming year: red for love, yellow for work and green for money. For even more wishes, Mexicans eat a grape (preferably seedless) with each of the 12 clock chimes at the stroke of midnight, while making a wish with each grape.

To start the year with a clean slate, another tradition involves writing a list of all the bad and unhappy events that happened over the year, then before midnight the list is thrown into a fire and the negative feelings of the past year are gone.

In keeping with the country's Catholic traditions, Mexican sweet bread (Rosca de Reyes) is baked with a coin or charm hidden in the dough. When the bread is served, whoever gets the slice with the coin or charm is said to be blessed with good luck for the New Year. 3. Wales

Calennig, the Welsh name for New Year, means New Year celebration or gift and since ancient times the tradition in Wales has been to give gifts and money to friends, family and neighbors. Today, it is customary to give bread and cheese on New Year's morning, with children receiving skewered apples covered with raisins and fruit. In some parts of Wales, people must visit all their relatives by midday to collect their Calennig. That's a lot of bread and cheese! 4. Japan

The Japanese New Year (Oshogatsu) is marked with a range of cultural and religious traditions from eating special family meals and making temple visits to sending postcards. Since 1873 Oshogatsu has been celebrated on January 1, but traditionally it followed the Chinese lunar calendar. Omisoka (New Year's Eve) welcomes Toshigami, the New Year's god, and across the country people celebrate with concerts, countdowns and fireworks as well as more traditional activities.

It is customary to send handwritten New Year's Day postcards (nengajo) to friends and family and the post office guarantees any cards sent in time will arrive on January 1.

Food plays a big part in New Year's celebrations. People eat a special selection of dishes called osechi-ryori, including of boiled seaweed (konbu), fish cakes (kamaboko), mashed sweet potato with chestnut (kurikinton), simmered burdock root (kinpira gobo),and sweetened black soybeans (kuromame).

Around 11 pm, people gather at home for one last time in the old year and eat a bowl of noodles—long noodles are associated with crossing over from one year to the next.

On the stroke of midnight, Buddhist Temples across the country ring their bells exactly 108 times. One of the most breathtaking celebrations takes place at the Zojoji Temple in Tokyo where thousands of people gather to release silver helium balloons carrying New Year's wishes into the midnight sky.

After the clocks strike 12, many families visit a shrine or temple for Hatsumode (first shrine visit of the year).

On New Year's Day, the Japanese give money to children in a tradition known as otoshidama. Money is handed in small decorated envelopes called pochibukuro. The amount of money given depends on the age of the child, but it is not uncommon for kids to get more than ¥10,000 (US$120). 5. Philippines

In the Philippines, New Year's Eve (Bisperas ng Bagong Taon) is a public holiday and people usually celebrate in the company of family and close friends. Traditionally, most households host or attend a Media Noche (dinner party).

Most Filipinos follow a set of traditions that includes wearing clothes with dots (in the belief that circles attract money and fortune) and bright colors to show enthusiasm for the coming year.

Throwing coins at the stroke of midnight is said to increase wealth as does serving circular shaped fruits and shaking of coins inside a metal can while walking around the house.

Things really get loud as people make noises by blowing on cardboard or plastic horns (torotot) banging pots and pans, playing music, or lighting fireworks to scare away bad spirits. 6. Scotland

Hogmanay is the Scots word for the last day of the year and has become one of the world's most recognized New Year's celebrations.

The roots of Hogmanay date back to the celebration of the winter solstice, incorporating elements of the Gaelic celebration of Samhain.

There are many customs, local and national, linked with Hogmanay. The most widespread is the practice of ‘first-footing' which starts immediately after midnight. First-footing involves being the first person to cross the threshold of a friend or neighbor's home and giving symbolic gifts such as salt, coal, shortbread, whisky, and black bun (a rich fruit cake) to bring luck to the householder. This goes on throughout the early hours of the morning and into the next day, and can last well into mid-January.

But it's not just about ancient traditions in Scotland. On New Year's Day a new custom has begun to take hold - the Loony Dook. Since 1987, the brave (and the mad) have taken the plunge into the icy cold River Forth in Queensferry, Edinburgh for a refreshing start to the year. A sure fire way to get rid of a hangover, the event attracts thousands of Loonies, spectators and swimmers alike. 7. Ecuador

One of Ecuador's quirkiest traditions sees men putting on their finest frocks and dressing up as women to represent the "widow" of the year that has passed.

However, the focus of the country's celebrations comes in a much more fiery form.

At midnight, families and communities come together to light fireworks and burn Monigotes - papier-mâché effigies - of politicians, public figures and popular culture icons.

The puppets range from small, simple, homemade offerings to giant, detailed, professionally made creations.

The puppets are filled with sawdust or newspaper and, in some cases, firecrackers. Burning the Monigotes represents getting rid of the bad feelings, events and spirits of the past year. 8. Greece

While Christmas in Greece is a relatively solemn occasion, New Year's Day is filled with celebrations and gift giving. January 1 is the name day of Aghios Vassilis (St. Basil), the Greek Santa Claus, and many customs are based upon his arrival.

On the morning of New Year's Eve, children go door to door and ask permission to sing kalanta (carols) to bring good wishes to their neighbors, announce the coming of Aghios Vassilis and bless the house.

Later in the evening, families gather for a meal of roast lamb or pork and an extra place is set at the table for Aghios Vassilis.

An onion is hung on the front door (alongside a pomegranate that has been hanging since Christmas) as a symbol of rebirth and growth.

Around midnight the household lights are switched off and the family goes outside. One lucky person is given the pomegranate and smashes it against the door as the clock strikes midnight.

As the New Year rolls over, Greek families all over the world cut into a cake - the Vassilopita - bearing the name of Aghios Vassilis. Each Vassilopita is baked with a coin or medallion hidden inside and whoever gets it will be rewarded with good fortune in the New Year. 9. Italy

As you might expect, New Year's celebrations in Italy start with eating a whole heap of delicious foods.

The evening begins with the traditional dish, "cotechino e lenticchie." Cotechino is a savory pork sausage that contains "lo zampone," the actual hoof of the pig, and is a symbol of abundance. Lenticchie (lentils) are believed to bring good luck and prosperity in the coming year to those who eat them on New Year's Eve and represent the money that you will earn in the coming year. So the more you eat, the more you!

If you're looking for love, or a bit of help in the fertility department, red underwear is the way to go on New Year's Eve. To complete the ritual, these red delicates must be thrown out on January 1.

Sadly, several of Italy's more wild New Year traditions are rarely seen today.

In the past, people would throw old personal effects out their windows (it doesn't hurt to be wary of open windows on New Year's just in case) and smash plates, glasses, vases and other pottery against the ground to drive away bad spirits. 10. Chile

The citizens of Chile have developed a range of traditions to bring them luck and help make their wishes come true in the New Year.

Several sure-fire ways of scoring yourself some good fortune involve food and drink. Eating lentils and downing a dozen grapes - one for each month of the year - on New Year's Eve will ensure prosperity in the coming year as will drinking a glass of champagne with a gold ring inside.

Sticking a "luca" (1,000 Chilean peso ($2.10) bill) in your shoe before midnight will see it multiply in the coming year and, if you're feeling generous and want to spread the good will around, give your friends, family and neighbors ribbon-wrapped sprigs of wheat at midnight.

But it's not all about money.

Wear yellow undies for romance, wear them inside out for a well-stocked closet and wheel your luggage around the block if you're dreaming of travel. ($1 = 475.1500 Chilean pesos)

(Editing by Paul Casciato)

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Idaho, California cities deemed best in U.S. for men

The Golden Gate Bridge is reflected onto a puddle from the early morning rain in San Francisco, California, November 28, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Beck Diefenbach

NEW YORK | Fri Dec 21, 2012 11:41am EST

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. men looking for the best place to find happiness, health and a good quality of life might consider heading to Boise, Idaho, or San Jose and San Francisco in northern California.

The three western U.S. cities top the list of the 100 best towns for men in a new ranking compiled by Men's Health magazine, while Charleston, West Virginia, Philadelphia and Birmingham, Alabama are considered the worst.

"Anytime we do a best and worst city ranking and a city comes in at the very top like this, it immediately says to us they were consistently strong across the board in pretty much all of the 38 criteria that we looked at," Men's Health Executive Editor Matt Marion said.

Boise, which jumped from fifth place last year, scored high marks for the physical and mental health of its residents, its low crime rate and short commuting times - an average of just 18 minutes.

"Boise finishing number one was interesting to us because it is a city that would have finished in the top 20, but to come in right at the top is impressive," Marion said.

San Francisco, which consistently ranks high in the annual list, impressed with its small percentage of obese people, low number of smokers and highly educated and generally fit population.

San Jose had very low death rates from cancer and heart disease, the lowest percentage of smokers in any of the 100 cities in the ranking, and not much crime.

Plano, in Texas and Seattle rounded out the top five, followed by Burlington, Vermont, which dropped from the top spot last year.

At the opposite end of the list, high cancer rates, violent crime and poor fitness levels assured Birmingham last place. In addition to Philadelphia and Charleston, West Virginia, the bottom five included Toledo, Ohio and St. Louis, Missouri.

New York ranked 33rd and Los Angeles was in the middle of the ranking.

The magazine compiled the list, now in its 12th year, by ranking the cities on criteria ranging from the cost of living, number of jobless, obesity, crime and death rates, to air quality and the ratio of men to women.

It used data from various sources including the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, the National Center for Health Statistics, state cancer registries and federal crime statistics.

"The things that we do focus on ultimately are the ones that will make a difference in terms of whether or not you will be happy and healthy," Marion said.

The full list can be found here

(Reporting by Patricia Reaney; Editing by Paul Casciato and Leslie Gevirtz)

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Top-end US, Asian tipplers rescue champagne sales

1 of 2. Wine merchant Gerard Mettler poses with various sizes of Champagne bottles in front of his wine shop in Paris December 21, 2012. Depressed by weak economies and the lingering shadow of a sovereign debt crisis, Europeans are struggling to find good reasons to crack open the bubbly. The European gloom means that after two years of increases, producers will dispatch about 9 million fewer bottles of champagne worldwide in 2012, a 3 percent drop to around 314 million, industry estimates gathered by Reuters showed.

Credit: Reuters/Charles Platiau

By Pascale Denis

PARIS | Fri Dec 21, 2012 10:56am EST

PARIS (Reuters) - Depressed by weak economies and the lingering shadow of a sovereign debt crisis, Europeans are struggling to find good reasons to crack open the bubbly.

The European gloom means that after two years of increases, producers will dispatch about 9 million fewer bottles of champagne worldwide in 2012, a 3 percent drop to around 314 million, industry estimates gathered by Reuters showed.

But more expensive tastes in export markets such as Japan, the United States and China mean champagne revenue as a whole will likely match or even pip the 4.1 billion euros ($5.4 billion) achieved last year.

"Despite the drop in volumes, champagne will still have one of the three or four best performances in history," said Bruno Paillard, chief executive of Lanson BCC, the world's second-biggest champagne group.

The market is dominated by luxury group LVMH, which owns the Dom Perignon, Moet & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Ruinart and Krug brands. Specialist champagne-makers also include Laurent Perrier, Vranken and drinks group Pernod Ricard's Mumm and Perrier-Jouet brands.

Sales of champagne - which by definition can only be produced in the northern French region of the same name - peaked at 339 million bottles in 2007 for record industry revenue of 4.5 billion euros.

In France, the top sales market for champagne accounting for 52 percent of volumes, demand was down 5 percent by October with no sign of the trend improving.

"This year has been tough, with a fraught economic situation in France and Europe," said Thibaut Le Mailloux, spokesman for the Comite Interprofessionel des Vins de Champagne (CIVC) trade association, of the stagnant economy across most of the zone.

The British market, the world's biggest importer of champagne with 10 percent of total exports, remains very difficult and competitive after seeing a drop of 3 percent in 2011, industry executives said.

Despite the Diamond Jubilee celebrations for Queen Elizabeth and the Olympic Games in London, champagne sales volumes were down 7 percent at the end of October in Britain.

The overall drop in Europe 10 months into the year was 6 percent. The CIVC is due to publish detailed statistics for 2012 in February.

"Consumption remains bad in Europe, with a significant slowdown in demand, particularly in France," said Etienne Auriau, finance head at Laurent Perrier.

UPMARKET BOTTLES

In contrast, champagne exports to countries outside the European Union were up 5 percent as of October, boosted by demand in the United States, which in 2011 took 35 million bottles, and Japan, which took 7.9 million.

Russia has remained dynamic, while Chinese demand is expected to double this year to about 2 million bottles.

"The (Chinese) market is still in its infancy, but it is capable of evolving very quickly," Laurent Perrier's Auriau said of a market which this year became one of the top-ten export destinations for champagne ahead of Sweden and behind Spain.

Consumers in markets outside Europe are particularly attracted to rose champagnes, special vintages and bottles containing grapes from a single harvest, as opposed to normal "brut" champagnes that contain a mixture of years.

"Upmarket bottles are selling better outside the European Union," the CIVC spokesman said. "The positive trend in new markets is favorable in terms of value."

Still, the diverging trend between Europe and countries such as the U.S., Japan and China, is creating a two-track industry contrasting independent producers that sell almost all their champagne in France with big groups with large distribution networks that can tap into growing markets further afield.

"Champagne is two-speed: the houses with a strong image, highly exposed to exports, are doing well," said one industry insider. "The others are having to fight."

(Writing by James Regan; Editing by Mark John)

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Travel Postcard: 48 Hours in Tokyo around New Year's

1 of 2. The sun goes down between skyscrapers in Tokyo May 11, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Issei Kato

By Elaine Lies

TOKYO | Fri Dec 21, 2012 12:33pm EST

TOKYO (Reuters) - Tokyo is one of the world's most crowded and bustling cities, but anyone who travels there around New Year's will be able to see a far different face as workaholic Japan takes its longest holiday of the year.

Christmas, which is a normal work day, is mainly a retail event, with Japan devoting all its energy to "Oshogatsu," the New Year period extending roughly from Dec 29 to Jan 3 - the first part in frantic preparation, the second in enjoyment.

Days of dry, crisp cold bring clear air and sharp views of Mount Fuji from many parts of the city, and with most Japanese companies closed and many people back in their hometowns, trains and streets empty out and the capital takes on a laid-back and leisurely air for those who choose to stay.

Reuters correspondents with local knowledge help visitors get the most out of a 48-hour visit.

FRIDAY

5 p.m. - Head to "Ameyokocho," one of Tokyo's oldest market streets. Bracketing the raised tracks of the Yamanote Line and running south from Ueno Station on Tokyo's northern side, the area is boisterous on regular weekends but really cranks it up at this time of year as people come shopping for New Year feasting. Just about anything imaginable is for sale here - fish on trays of ice, piled vegetables and fruits. Vendors shout to attract business under bright lights, and pots of food at nearby open-air restaurant stalls steam in the cold.

New Year food is called "Osechi," and housewives prepare enough for the three days from New Year's day so they don't have to do any cooking then. Most foods have symbolic meanings, like simmered black soybeans for good health, and herring roe, which symbolizes a wish to have many children. Many people eat sea bream, whose Japanese name echoes the word "congratulations."

6 p.m. - If you decide not to drop into one of the restaurants under the train tracks for some sticks of grilled meat and a glass or two of hot sake, hop on the Yamanote Line at Okachimachi Station and get off a few stops later at Yurakucho, on the edge of the posh Ginza shopping area.

The area under the tracks is crammed with restaurants, from Italian to Thai and Californian cuisine. But try "Andy's Shin Hinomoto," across from the Yurakucho Denki Building. Run by genial Briton Andy, Shin Hinomoto features sashimi, stir fries, tempura and daily specials in a long room with arched ceilings and a jovial, casual atmosphere. (03-3214-8021) As the evening wears on, loud groups of people drift out into the street after "Bonenkai," or "Forget the Year" parties, in many cases a bit the worse for wear.

9 p.m. - Stroll the Ginza, checking out the window decorations in stores like Cartier, or lit-up trees in front of Mikimoto, the pearl shop. Other colorful displays can be found in Roppongi Hills or the Marunouchi area near Tokyo Station.

As New Year's day nears, many stores will also sport large "kadomatsu" decorations - literally "gate pines" - consisting of pine boughs and bamboo stalk arrangements on each side of the door. This is echoed in private homes, where pine is used to welcome ancestral spirits.

Stop to admire the lit-up front of Tokyo Station, unveiled in its pre-war classical brick glory in October after an extensive exterior renovation.

SATURDAY

9 a.m. - Take the Ginza Subway line to Asakusa and make your way to Sensoji, the Asakusa Kannon temple. Enter through the Kaminarimon, a bright red gate with a huge dangling lantern, and head up the Nakamise shopping street. Though many of the goods here are of the cheap souvenir variety, other stalls offer crisp, freshly made rice crackers and other tasty treats.

Sensoji is popular for "Hatsumode," or the first shrine and temple visits of the New Year, when people go to pray for good luck in the coming year. It can take hours to move the 200 meters (yards) up Nakamise, but the mood is jovial amidst incense smoke from huge metal burners near the main temple building. Millions visit Sensoji and other popular sites, such as the Meiji Shrine, during the first three days of the year - some wearing the traditional kimono.

Other people make these visits at midnight on the 31st, when temple bells all over Japan boom out 108 times for each of the sins of mankind. Trains run all night and some restaurants and pubs stay open until dawn.

Afterwards, wander around the Asakusa area, which still has an old neighborhood flavor. About five minutes' walk from the temple is a street of open-air restaurants selling grilled meat on skewers and stewed tripe with tofu. Belly up to a counter stool and have some beer or hot sake.

1 p.m. - Head east across the Sumida River. You'll pass the headquarters of Asahi Beer - recognizable by the "Flamme d'Or" (Golden Flame) sculpture on its roof that locals refer to as "The Golden Turd" - on your way to Tokyo's newest landmark: the Tokyo Skytree.

A futuristic broadcasting tower of dubious beauty, the Skytree is 634-metres high and has been certified by Guinness as the world's tallest tower. It anchors a shopping and pleasure complex that includes movie theatres and an aquarium, and boasts two observation decks: one at 350 meters and the other at 450 meters. (here)

Tickets to the observatories cost 2,000 yen ($23.70) for the lower one and 1,000 yen for the higher one, and can be bought on the day. But check the website for special periods, such as New Year's, when other arrangements may have to be made.

6 p.m. - Feel daring? Then eat at Torafugu Tei Monzen Naka-cho (r.gnavi.co.jp/fl/en/b267803/), which features fugu, the blowfish that can be fatal if improperly prepared. Torafugu Tei has reasonably priced courses that start with delicate slices of raw fugu fanned across a plate and ends with a thick rice porridge in fugu-flavored soup. To drink, try hot sake with a lightly grilled fugu fin in it for flavor.

SUNDAY

8 a.m. - If it's the first or fourth Sunday of the month, check out the flea market at the Togo Shrine, at Harajuku Station on the Yamanote Line. The shrine is crowded with vendors selling everything from junk to elaborate wedding kimonos and antiques. Also on the first Sunday is a flea market at Arai Yakushi Shrine at Arai Yakushi-mae on the Seibu Shinjuku Line. Hope for good weather as it's canceled in the event of rain.

11 a.m. - Brunch at Suji's (www.sujis.net), a restaurant in the Roppongi entertainment district with all the traditional options, including Eggs Benedict or even just two eggs with home fries and toast. Large portions and good prices.

1 p.m. - With the construction of several new museums in recent years, Roppongi is now billing itself as "Art Triangle Roppongi." Within a short walking distance are the Mori Art Museum, the Suntory Museum of Art, and The National Art Center, Tokyo. (here) Notable is the Mori Art Museum, on the 53rd floor of the Mori Tower in the Roppongi Hills complex, which offers good views along with the art. Both Roppongi Hills and the Tokyo Midtown, near the National Art Center, have seasonal light displays.

3 p.m. - Take the Hibiya Subway line up to Akihabara, Tokyo's electronics mecca. Year-end bargains are likely to abound, and many stores - like stores all over Japan - offer "fukubukuro," or lucky bags, on January 1. Each bag is sold for a set price, but the contents are unknown. Take a chance!

($1 = 84.3900 Japanese yen)

(Reporting by Elaine Lies, editing by Paul Casciato)

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