Briefly

RUSSIA

FM: West trying to 'destabilize' Serbia

Russia on Monday accused Western countries of fomenting tensions in Serbia over parliamentary and local elections. Several thousand people gathered in front of the central election commission building in Belgrade on Monday. Earlier in the day, police said 38 people had been detained during and after an opposition protest over election results on Sunday. The police said eight police officers were injured in the clashes. "The attempts of the collective West to destabilize the situation in the country are obvious," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the news agency RIA Novosti. The Kremlin had welcomed election results, saying Moscow hoped they would lead to the "further strengthening of friendship" between the countries.

FRANCE

Man held for murder of woman and 4 children

French police on Tuesday arrested a man suspected of murdering a mother and her four children found dead at home on Christmas Day, a law enforcement source said. Authorities discovered the bodies of the woman and her children, aged nine months, 4, 7 and 10 years, in their flat in Meaux, east of Paris, on Monday evening after relatives sounded the alarm, local prosecutor Jean-Baptiste Bladier said. The Versailles judicial police service opened an inquiry into the "premeditated murder".

AUSTRALIA

Storm cuts power to 110,000 homes in east

Christmas night thunderstorms and strong winds cut power to 110,000 homes in eastern Australia and toppled a tree that killed one woman, officials said on Tuesday. People lost electricity as the storm wrought "catastrophic" damage, downing power lines in Queensland's capital Brisbane and the Gold Coast area, power company Energex said. Queensland's ambulance service said a 59-year-old woman was struck by a falling tree on a street in the Gold Coast. Another falling tree trapped a woman in her car for more than an hour, critical care paramedic Jaye Newton told reporters.

Agencies - Xinhua