Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI in a telegram on Tuesday offered US president-elect Barack Obama prayers that God may grant him "unfailing wisdom and strength" in carrying out his new responsibilities.

"Under your leadership may the American people continue to find in their impressive religious and political heritage the spiritual values and ethical principles needed to cooperate in the building of a truly just and free society," Benedict told Obama just a few hours before the inauguration ceremonies.

London, Jan 19 : Pope Benedict XVI is set to launch a dedicated channel on video sharing website YouTube.

Video footage and audio of addresses given by the Pope, as well as news about the Holy See, will be posted on to the website, reports the Telegraph.

The material is aimed at everyone from devout Catholics to the curious browser.

Vatican Radio and the Vatican''s television centre in collaboration with Google, which owns YouTube, will supply the material.

Rome - Pope Benedict XVI Sunday called for an end to the fighting in the Gaza Strip, as Israeli troops continued their ground offensive.

The head of the Catholic Church urged the thousands of believers who had gathered at St Peter's Square in the Vatican for Sunday Angelus to pray together with the patriarchs and members of the Christian church in Jerusalem for "justice and peace for the Holy Land."

"The dramatic news that reaches us from Gaza shows that the refusal of dialogue ... has resulted in an indescribable worsening of the conditions for the population ... who are once again victims of hate and war," the pontiff said.

Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI in his annual New Year's Eve address on Wednesday urged people to shun egoism in their lives and to show "solidarity and sobriety" to help address the world's ills.

"If everyone thinks only about himself, then the world will go to ruin," the head of the Roman Catholic Church said. In remarks above all aimed at the world's youth, he said today's times provided the "opportunity to do good."

Vatican City  - Pope Benedict XVI was scheduled Wednesday to lead the Vatican's Christmas festivities by celebrating the traditional midnight Mass.

Earlier, the 81-year-old pontiff appeared briefly from a window overlooking St Peter's Square to light a candle symbolizing Peace.

Benedict's gesture followed the unveiling in the square of a Nativity Scene, or crib, that recreates the scene of Jesus' birth.

Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday met with 11 Libya-based Muslim scholars and experts who participated in two days of inter-faith talks at the Vatican.

The talks themed "Responsibilities of Religious Leaders especially in Times of Crisis," are part of several Vatican initiatives to reach out to Muslims and improve relations damaged in 2006 when Benedict, in a speech, appeared to associate Islam with violence.

Following their meeting with the pontiff on Wednesday, the Muslim delegation from the Tripoli-based World Islamic Call Society issued a joint four-point declaration with the