First Xmas message from new Pope

VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI marked his first Christmas as pope Sunday, calling for concrete actions to back up "signs of hope" in the Middle East and urging peace in Darfur, Sudan and the Korean peninsula. Thousands of cheering tourists and pilgrims braved a chilly downpour to hear Benedict's message, delivered from the same balcony of St. Peter's Basilica where he uttered his first public words as pope.