EXHIBITIONIST ONLY: VISITORS STRIP NAKED AT SYDNEY EXPO

MCA's adults-only "performance" puts naked art lovers on display as artist guides tour group

Turn up, strip off and enjoy the show at this weekend’s MCA event -- you’re the main attraction

With a forecast high of 22 C this weekend, most Sydney visitors will be looking forward to some pretty-much-perfect weather, but there’s a select bunch who may find that a touch chilly.

That’s because they’ll be touring the city’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) completely naked in an event led by Melbourne Artist Stuart Ringholt.

He’ll be checking his clothes in at the door too, by the way.

Ringholt’s tour is actually billed on the MCA website as a performance, so that should give some clue as to his motivation here. He says he aims to address “themes of fear and embarrassment.”

The event itself comes with the equally attention-seeking -- not to mention long -- title, “Preceded by a tour of the show by artist Stuart Ringholt 6-8pm (the artist will be naked. Those who wish to join the tour must also be naked. Adults only).” 

While cynics might consider the people joining the tour to be the actual performance, museum curators say it’s really about the art hanging on their walls.

“[Visitors can] gain a new perspective on the current MCA exhibitions by viewing them entirely nude,” says the event description.

“Remove the material barriers between artist and audience (literally) when you join artist Stuart Ringholt’s tour followed by a nude reception,” it states.

At least that removes any concerns about what to wear to one of Sydney’s most unusual social events this month.

The Museum of Contemporary Art reopened in March after a $53 million refit and is home to more than 4,000 works by artists from around the world.

PRIEST IN GAY PORN PROBE LEAVES PARISH

Belfast, Northern Ireland (CNN) -- An Irish priest at the center of a gay porn controversy has asked to leave his parish and take sabbatical leave from the priesthood, he said Sunday.

Father Martin McVeigh has admitted he destroyed a memory stick containing "inappropriate imagery" ahead of a church investigation into reports he accidentally showed pictures of naked men to parents of children preparing for their First Holy Communion.

The incident happened at the start of a PowerPoint presentation at a grade school in Pomeroy, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland in March, said the leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Cardinal Sean Brady.

Parents said in a statement they were "horrified" by what they saw and called for action to be taken against the priest. The church reported the incident to police, who said no crime had been committed. In a statement Sunday, McVeigh apologized "for the hurt caused" and "his failure to check his presentation in advance."

However, he insisted he "was not responsible for the presence of the offending images and in this respect I ask you to accept my innocence." The priest also confirmed he had destroyed the memory stick that contained the images. He said: "After the images were inadvertently shown, I immediately removed the memory stick from the laptop. In my shock and upset and in my concern to ensure that the images would never be shown again, I destroyed it later that evening."

McVeigh described the past month as "the most difficult" of his life and said he would be taking a break. "In the hope of bringing resolution and healing to the division and pain within the parish, I have taken the decision to ask Cardinal Brady to allow me to leave the parish of Pomeroy and to take sabbatical leave," said McVeigh, adding: "The memory of this awful episode will remain with me for the rest of my life."

Brady said he accepted McVeigh had no advance knowledge of the pornography. In a statement Sunday, Brady said it had been "a traumatic time for the whole parish community and for Father McVeigh personally." The cardinal also apologized for the incident. 

He issued an update on the church investigation, saying other computers used by McVeigh had been "forensically examined by an independent technical expert and no inappropriate imagery has been found." 

Brady added an additional laptop stolen from the local church sacristy since the March 26 meeting "did not form part of the technical examination."

The cardinal said he had accepted McVeigh's request for leave on the understanding he would return to the diocese on its completion.

The latest controversy comes after a series of child sex abuse scandals involving Catholic Church clergy in Ireland. The government-backed investigations say thousands of children have been abused by priests and other church figures over the last 80 years.

In March, the Vatican released a major report into the problem, begging forgiveness from victims. However, victims hit out at the report's finding that new safeguards are working.

LIBYA EX-MINISTER SHUKRI CHANEM DEAD IN DANUBE RIVER

The body of Libya's former Oil Minister Shukri Ghanem has been found in the Danube River, Austrian police say.

A spokesman said there were no signs of violence to Mr Ghanem's body, which was in the river that flows through Vienna.

The former prime minister, 69, worked as a consultant for a Vienna-based company. He apparently left his home early on Sunday, police said.

Mr Ghanem defected from Libya as the country was engulfed in the uprising against Col Muammar Gaddafi last year.

At the time, he criticised the bloodshed in Libya, saying that the situation had become "unbearable", making his position untenable.

He served as Libyan prime minister from 2003 to 2006 and then as oil minister until 2011.

Post-mortem examination

A passer-by reported seeing the body under a bridge near a popular recreation ground in Vienna.

Police spokesman Roman Hahslinger said Mr Ghanem was dressed when he was found but had no personal identification documents on him, with the exception of one naming the company he was working for. An employee of the company had identified him, the spokesman said.

Mr Hahslinger said: "There would be no signs of violence if someone pushed him in. But it's also possible that he became ill and fell into the water."

A post-mortem examination has been ordered for the coming days.

The former prime minister is understood to have been in Europe since his defection last June, and to have had family in Vienna.

His connection to the city dates back to the time he worked at the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) - a forum he later visited regularly as Libyan oil minister.

The Libyan uprising ended in October last year with the killing of Col Gaddafi.

In June Libya will hold elections to a constituent assembly, whose first task will be to draw up a constitution.

SUDAN ARREST FOREIGNERS IN DISPUTED REGION

(CNN) -- Sudan has arrested foreigners in the disputed region of Heglig, its defense ministry said Saturday, the latest in the spiraling conflict between the Sudans. Those arrested were identified by the defense ministry as British, Norwegian, South African and South Sudanese. 

"They were engaged in suspicious activities, collecting war debris," it said.Meanwhile, a South Sudanese military spokesman reported ongoing clashes and bombings -- though a Sudanese military spokesman denied any such attacks. Col. Philip Aguer, a spokesman for the Sudan People's Liberation Army of South Sudan, said eight bombs were dropped in Unity state Saturday. 

Friday, "Khartoum-supported mercenaries" attacked an SPLA position in a town called Wau, causing 21 deaths, he said. Three fighters were captured alive, he added. The SPLA seized three trucks, which are said to belong to the Sudanese Armed Forces, said Aguer, vowing to retaliate against "all these acts of aggression." 

But Al-Sawarmi Khalid, a spokesman for the Sudanese Armed Forces, said, "We have not bombed Wau, or any other place in South Sudan." South Sudan split from Sudan last year as part of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of war in Africa's largest nation. The war left 2 million people dead and ended with the peace agreement that included an independence referendum for the south.

 Despite the split in July, unresolved issues remain between the two, including status of their citizens, division of national debt, disputed border areas and sharing of oil wealth. Simmering tensions peaked this month when South Sudan seized the oil-producing region of Heglig from Sudan, raising the stakes by targeting a resource that fuels the economies of both nations.

 Heglig oil facilities account for about half of Sudan's production of 115,000 barrels a day. Sudan claims ownership for the region, and lodged complaints with the United Nations and the African Union to pressure South Sudan to withdraw troops from its territory. A day after South Sudan withdrew from the disputed region, it accused Sudan of launching ground and aerial attacks on its territory.

MALI COUP LEADER REJECTS ECOWAS TROOP DEPLOYMENT

The leader of last month's coup in Mali has rejected the West African decision to send troops to the country.

Captain Amadou Sanago said the military had not been consulted by the regional grouping Ecowas. The coup leaders handed power to an interim civilian government earlier this month.

A meeting between Ecowas mediators and the interim government was disrupted by soldiers shouting "Down with Ecowas" and cocking their guns. They only backed down when Capt Sanago left the meeting to tell them to disperse.

The military leaders are unhappy about Thursday's decision by Ecowas heads of government to send at least 3,000 soldiers to Mali. Their planned deployment was designed to help secure the transition back to civilian rule, and help the government defeat rebels who now control the northern half of the country.

Officers led by Capt Sanogo seized power on 22 March, accusing the elected government of not doing enough to halt the rebellion in the northern desert region.

 Powerful military

They agreed to hand over power to a civilian government on the understanding it would hold fresh elections within 40 days. But the military is unhappy after Ecowas said the interim government should have up to a year to organise fresh elections.  The country's interim president Dioncounda Traore was at the Ecowas meeting.

Capt Sanago told reporters after the meeting that it was up to the military to decide what institutions run the country after the end of the 40-day period. He did not make clear whether elections would then be held.

The BBC's John James in neighbouring Ivory Coast says it seems the coup leaders still exercise considerable power and fear any Ecowas deployment would threaten their position. 

The military leadership said it seized power last month because the previous government had not done enough to combat rebels.

BOMB WITH 600 POUNDS OF EXPLOSIVE FOUND AT BORDER

Police have said that a bomb found at the border near Newry contained 600 pounds of explosives and was fully primed.

Ch Supt Alasdair Robinson: "Anyone within 50 metres of a 600Ib bomb would be killed 

The device, which had been placed in an abandoned van on the Fathom Line, was discovered on Thursday.

It was made safe on Friday evening.

Ch Supt Alasdair Robinson said the bomb was twice as big as the bomb that exploded outside Newry courthouse two years ago.

"If this had exploded it would have caused devastation," he said.

"To put it in perspective - anyone within 50m of this device would have been killed and anyone within 100m, seriously injured."

The police chief also rejected criticism that motorists had been able to drive past the bomb and said police had closed a main cross-border road within 12 minutes.

"Many police services would struggle to get an international border road closed in this time frame," he added.

"There was some residual traffic following the closures and, while we made the public aware of the road closures and advised them to avoid the area, a few cars ignored our advice.

"We do everything in our power to protect human life."

The Fathom Line was closed for 24 hours while the police and Army dealt with the alert.

Ulster Unionist MLA for the area, Danny Kennedy said if the bomb had exploded it would have caused serious destruction.

He said: "It had the potential to cause lethal damage.

"A 600 pound device at the road side waiting for a police patrol. It is just unthinkable."

Abandoned

A member of the public reported the discovery of a suspicious vehicle to police on Thursday.

It had been abandoned with its engine running.

Dissident republican paramilitaries have been blamed for a number of bomb attacks in the city in recent years.

Earlier this month, a bomb was found near the Cloghogue roundabout in Newry, just off the main Belfast to Dublin dual carriageway.

Police said the device contained a significant amount of explosives and had the potential to kill.

It was also made safe by army bomb experts.

MALAYSIAN POLICE FIRE TEAR GAS AT PROTESTERS

Police fired tear gas and fought with protesters in Kuala Lumpur as thousands of people marched calling for “reform” and cleaner elections yesterday, defying a new government ban on street protests in Malaysia before national polls expected this year.

Police also used water cannons as protesters threw shoes, bottles and chairs while trying to break through barricades to enter a square where the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections, orBersih, wanted to hold a sit-in. Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government enacted legislation this month banning such protests after police detained more than 1,600 people during a similar rally in July.

“A group of protesters tried to provoke a violent confrontation with police,” Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said in an e-mailed statement. About 388 people were detained overall, according to a Twitter posting by the Malaysian police.

Najib’s handling of the clashes may affect plans for timing an election. Arrests during a street rally by the same group last year led to a drop in the prime minister’s approval rating. A delayed vote would prevent him from taking advantage of a swell in support that followed increases to civil servant salaries and cash payments to poor households.

Police Cordon

“The Malaysian government is once again showing its contempt for its people’s basic rights and freedoms,” Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at New York-based Human Rights Watch, said in a statement yesterday. “Despite all the talk of ‘reform’ over the past year, we’re seeing a repeat of repressive actions by a government that does not hesitate to use force when it feels its prerogatives are challenged.”

The authorities began cordoning off Kuala Lumpur’s Independence Square on April 27 after getting a court order preventing people from entering the area where Bersih planned a sit-in. Crowds marched in groups toward the square from different parts of the city, including the 88-floor Petronas Twin Towers.

One police car was overturned and a gun snatched by a protester, a Royal Malaysia Police spokesman said. The pistol was later retrieved, Hishammuddin said in a Twitter posting. Two officers were admitted to hospital with injuries and 20 others received outpatient treatment, he said.

Around 25,000 people took part in the rally, Bernama reported, without citing where it got the information. While primarily a pro-democracy rally, some called on the government to block plans by Australian miner Lynas Corp. to start rare- earth refining in the country on environmental and safety concerns.

Polls

Smaller rallies were held in other cities and abroad, including Sydney.

Najib’s approval rating in peninsular Malaysia fell to a two-year low of 59 percent a month after last year’s protests, according to the Merdeka Center for Opinion Research. It increased to 69 percent in February after the government announced it would give cash handouts of 500 ringgit ($164) to households with monthly incomes of 3,000 ringgit or less, and overhaul security laws. The margin of error was 3.07 percent.

The government does allow protests, so long as they are peaceful and held at appropriate venues, Bernama quoted Najib as saying yesterday.

Bersih is demanding that election officials resign after failing to implement all but one of the group’s eight demands, including a minimum 21-day campaign period, Ambiga Sreenevasan, the group’s co-chairwoman, said April 24. She received a copy yesterday of a court order from Kuala Lumpur Magistrates Court Judge Zaki Asyraf Zubir that prohibits the public from joining any rally at Independence Square until May 1.

REPORT: GADHAFI FUND SARKOZY'S CAMPAIGN 2007

(CNN) -- The campaign of French presidential front-runner Francois Hollande called for a criminal investigation into President Nicolas Sarkozy after a media report Saturday accused the president of taking 50 million euros ($66.3 million) for his 2007 campaign from then-Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

Mediapart, a French online magazine, claimed in its report to have a Gadhafi government document, detailing an agreement to fund the campaign. The alleged document, dated December 10, 2006, states that then-Libyan intelligence chief Moussa Koussa authorized secret payments to Sarkozy through an intermediary, Mediapart reports. 

CNN was not immediately able to confirm the authenticity of the published document. Sarkozy has dismissed the allegation as "grotesque." During a television interview aired by TF1 last month, Sarkozy addressed the accusation, which has surfaced periodically since at least last year: "If (Gadhafi) had funded (my campaign), frankly, I would not have been very grateful," he said.

France supported the 2011 NATO intervention in Libya that helped to topple the longtime leader. Gadhafi was ousted, then was fatally wounded in a gunbattle that broke out after his capture on October 20. His son and one-time heir apparent Saif al-Islam Gadhafi was captured by Libya's new authorities and is awaiting trial. 

During a televised interview with Euronews in March 2011, after France recognized the National Transitional Council as the legitimate authority in Libya, Gadhafi's son claimed Libya contributed to the Sarkozy campaign. 

"The first thing we want this clown to do is give the money back to the Libyan people. He was given assistance so he could help them, but he has disappointed us," Saif al-Islam Gadhafi said. The deposed Libyan leader's son then claimed that Libya had "all the bank details for the transfer operations." Despite pledging to make these transactions public, the Gadhafi regime, before and after its downfall, never produced any evidence it financed the Sarkozy campaign. 

"When one quotes Mr. Gadhafi, who is dead, or his son, who is standing trial, the credibility is zero. And when you drag up their accounts with these questions you are asking, you quite degrade this political debate," Sarkozy said in the TF1 interview. But Hollande's campaign is calling for the president to come clean. 

"The fact that these revelations take place within days of the second round of the presidential election is not sufficient to demonstrate that they are 'grotesque.' It is now up to justice to reveal the truth: Either establish the facts and prosecute, or otherwise provide proof that these are false allegations," said Hollande spokeswoman Delphine Batho. 

French records for the 2007 presidential election show that the Sarkozy campaign declared 21.3 million euros ($28.2 million) in contributions it received, according to the National Commission for Campaign Accounts and Political Financing, the French government body that monitors and records campaign financing. 

Hollande and Sarkozy face a runoff vote for the presidency on May 6. Sarkozy, who leads the center-right UMP party, received 27.2% of the vote in the first round of voting, just behind Hollande's 28.6%. Hollande is a member of the center-left Socialist party. 

If elected, Hollande would be France's first left-wing president since Francois Mitterrand left office in 1995. Sarkozy has been president since 2007. The two contenders are expected to take part in their first head-to-head televised debate on Wednesday.

EXPLOSION IN UK 27 HURT, TERROR PROBE STARTS

(CNN) -- Four explosions that rocked an eastern Ukrainian city on Friday have prompted a terror probe, the Ukrainian News agency reported. A regional prosecutor's office has started a "terrorist case" into the blasts in Dnepropetrovsk. The explosions went off in the course of 70 minutes and injured at least 27.

Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych said a special investigation team will be set up to probe the explosions, the news agency reported. "This is another challenge to the entire country," the president told reporters in the country's Crimea region. "We are thinking how to respond it properly. I am sorry this happened." 

The first blast went off in a trash can at a tram stop, injuring 13 people, the country's Emergencies Ministry said. The second followed 40 minutes later near a movie theater. That injured 11, nine of them children. Three were injured in the third blast, and no one was hurt in the fourth, the ministry said. 

Of those hurt, 24 have been hospitalized, it said. Interior Minister Vitaliy Zakharchenko and other government officials traveled to the city after the blasts occurred. The city, with just over 1 million in population, is one of the largest in the country, the CIA World Factbook says. The incident raises concerns about security in Ukraine ahead of the European soccer championships, starting in June in both Poland and Ukraine. 

But the Union of European Football Associations, the entity overseeing the games, said the incident doesn't change its "confidence in the security measures that have been developed by the authorities." The closest venue to Dnepropetrovsk will be in a Ukrainian city to the east, Donetsk.

BLIND CHINESE ACTIVIST ESCAPES ARREST, CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION

Beijing (CNN) -- A prominent Chinese human rights activist has called for an investigation into what he describes as corrupt and cruel officials who he says "violently assaulted" him and his family before he escaped from house arrest and fled to Beijing. 

Chen Guangcheng addressed the Chinese premier, Wen Jiabao, in a video posted on YouTube on Friday, detailing the abuses he said he and his family had suffered at the hands of authorities during more than 18 months of heavily guarded detention in their home. "They broke into my house and more than a dozen men assaulted my wife," he said. "They pinned her down and wrapped her in a comforter, beating and kicking her for hours. They also similarly violently assaulted me." Chinese authorities have not commented. 

The activist, who is blind, was driven to Beijing on Sunday after evading his guards in the tiny village of Dongshigu in Shandong Province, He Peirong, a friend and fellow activist, said Friday. Escape was like a Hollywood thriller His high-profile breakout appears to have angered the local authorities who were holding him captive, with members of his family already reporting that they have suffered reprisals. 

Chen, 40, is a self-taught lawyer who rose to fame in the late 1990s thanks to his legal advocacy for what he called victims of abusive practices, such as alleged forced abortions, by China's family-planning officials. 

A local court sentenced Chen to four years and three months in prison for damaging property, disrupting traffic and "pressurizing the government" in a protest, according to a story from the state-run Xinhua news agency. The same 2007 story, which reported that a higher court had denied his appeal, described Chen as a "blind mob organizer." 

His supporters have maintained authorities used trumped-up charges to silence him. Since his September 2010 release from prison, he had been confined to his home along with his wife, mother and daughter. In the video posted Friday, he said the treatment of him and his family by the local security forces "was so cruel it has greatly harmed the image of the Communist Party." 

Calling on Wen to investigate his case, he asked: "Is it just local officials flagrantly violating the law or do they have the support of the central government? I hope you will give the public a clear answer in the near future." 

The blind activist had prepared for his escape for months, He Peirong said, by lying in bed for prolonged periods so that the guards wouldn't be suspicious if they didn't see any activity from him for a long time. Once free, Chen contacted He Peirong and a few other activists. "We learned that he had escaped and needed our help," she said, in an interview via Skype from her home city of Nanjing. They met him at a rendezvous point, and then drove him to Beijing and hid him in a safe house, He Peirong said. 

She said that Chen's fellow activists had decided to publicize his flight from captivity after hearing that Shandong authorities, upon discovering his disappearance, had sent people to assault members of his family.

DEPORTED BIN LADEN WIDOWS, DAUGHTERS LEAVING FOR SAUDI ARABIA

(CNN) -- Pakistan's deportation of 14 members of Osama bin Laden's family to Saudi Arabia occurred just one week shy of the first anniversary of his death at the hands of U.S. commandos.

Among those being deported were bin Laden's three widows and two daughters, said Aamir Khalil, a family attorney. It was not clear late Thursday whether their plane had departed Islamabad. 

Earlier this month, the five women were sentenced to 45 days of house arrest for living in Pakistan illegally. Their detention ended last week. Khalil said the time served began March 3, when the five were formally taken into custody. 

"The family was kept safe and sound in a guest (safe) house," according to a Pakistan Interior Ministry statement. "They have been deported to the country of their choice, Saudi Arabia, today." Two of the widows are Saudi, while one is Yemeni. The daughters are ages 17 and 21, Khalil said. 

The widows have been identified by U.S. and Pakistani officials as Amal Ahmed Abdul Fateh, Khairiah Sabar and Siham Sabar. Judge blocks release of bin Laden death photos

Because all five defendants confessed to impersonation, illegal entry into Pakistan and staying illegally in Pakistan, there was no need for a trial, Khalil said recently. He represents four of the five relatives. Bin Laden was killed by U.S. Navy SEALs at his Abbottabad compound May 2, 2011. 

The al Qaeda leader spent years on the run in Pakistan after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, moving from one safe house to another and fathering four children with Fateh, at least one of whom was born in a government hospital, she told Pakistani investigators. No credible threat of attack on anniversary of bin Laden's death 

A deposition taken from Fateh gives the clearest picture yet of bin Laden's life while international forces hunted him. He and his family moved from city to city with the help of Pakistanis who arranged "everything" for them, Fateh said, according to the deposition. She told police she never applied for a visa during her stay in Pakistan. Authorities in Saudi Arabia have repeatedly declined to comment on the matter.

B-R-E-A-K-I-N-G N-E-W-S: BOMB BLAST HITS ABUJA AND KADUNA

Bomb blasts hit 2 Thisday News offices

ABUJA (AFP) – A loud explosion rocked an area  Abuja on Thursday followed by smoke and ambulances headed in the direction of the blast, with injuries reported.

Reports have it that the first  bomb blast was in the Abuja Thisday office in Jabi and was carried out by a suicide bomber who drove into the media house before detonating the bomb hence  blowing away the building ‘s roof.

Another blast was also reported at the Kaduna Thisday office according to witnesses.

But Mr Yushau Shuaib  a National Emergency Management Agency spokesman said the Abuja Thisday blast “occurred inside the premises of a national newspaper,” adding that “a preliminary investigation seems to indicate that the explosive device was planted somewhere within the premises, not likely a case of suicide bombing.” An AFP correspondent heard the blast and saw ambulances heading towards a district where a bus station and newspaper office are located.

A police spokesman said “we heard something like that happened, but we don’t have the details yet.”

A spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency said “it’s true there was an explosion at Jabi (district).”

“NEMA officials are on the ground,” said Yushau Shuaib. “They are trying to move those injured to the hospitals, but we don’t have any information on casualties yet.”

happened at about 11:30 a.m.