Australian Parliament Speaker Peter Slipper stepped down temporarily Sunday amid charges of fraud and claims he sexually harassed a male staffer, national media reported.

Slipper, 62, in a prepared statement upon his return to the country from Los Angeles, said he “emphatically” denied the charges, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

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“The allegations include both a claim of criminal behavior and claim under civil law,” Slipper said.

To keep the integrity of Australia’s democratic institutions, he said, “I believe it is appropriate for me to stand aside as speaker while this criminal allegation is resolved."

Allegations of criminally misusing taxi payment vouchers were brought by openly gay adviser James Ashby, 33, who is suing the government and Slipper in a civil case over claims Slipper made unwanted sexual advances toward Ashby and had sent him sexually explicit text messages.

Slipper is married and has two adult children from a previous marriage.

Deputy Speaker and Labor Parliament Member Anna Burke will take Slipper’s role, the Herald reported.

Slipper’s move threatens Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s hold on power, as her government will lose its single-seat majority in Parliament's 150-member House of Representatives.

Slipper resigned from the Liberal Party to become speaker in a November 2011 move engineered by Gillard.

The prime minister was under pressure to force Slipper out before parliament returns May 8 if he wouldn’t leave on his own, the Australian Associated Press reported.

"It is appropriate that Mr. Slipper has stood aside as Speaker whilst alleged criminal conduct is investigated," Gillard said in a statement.

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A retired Greek pharmacist shot himself dead outside Greece's parliament Wednesday, saying he refused to scrounge for food in the garbage, touching a nerve among ordinary Greeks feeling the brunt of the country's economic crisis.

The public suicide by the 77-year-old in the center of Athens quickly triggered an outpouring of sympathy in a country where one in five is jobless and a sense of national humiliation has accompanied successive rounds of salary and pension cuts.

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Just hours after the death, an impromptu shrine with candles, flowers and hand-written notes protesting the crisis sprung up in the central Syntagma square where the suicide occurred. Dozens of bystanders gathered to pay their respects.

One note nailed to a tree said "Enough is enough", while another asked "Who will be the next victim?"

"This is a human tragedy," government spokesman Pantelis Kapsis said as politicians in parliament decried the death.

Acts of suicide have been instrumental in the past in provoking popular protest. A Tunisian vegetable seller triggered the start of the so-called "Arab Spring" by setting himself on fire in December 2010.

Witnesses said the man put a gun to his head and pulled the trigger after yelling out: "I have debts, I can't stand this anymore."

Another passerby told Greek television the man said, "I don't want to leave my debts to my children."

A suicide note found in his coat pocket blamed politicians and financial troubles for driving him to take his life, police said.

Compared government to Nazi collaborators
The government had "annihilated any hope for my survival and I could not get any justice. I cannot find any other form of struggle except a dignified end before I have to start scrounging for food from the trash," the note said.

“I can’t find another way to react apart from putting a dignified end to things before I start looking through garbage in order to survive and before I become a burden for my child,” the note added, according to reports cited by ekathimerini.com, which named the dead man as Dimitris Christoulas.

In his note, Christoulas compared the current government in Greece to the administration that collaborated with the Nazi occupation during World War II, ekathimerini.com added.

The president of the pharmacists' union in the broader Attica region, Costas Lourantos, said he recalled meeting the man several years ago and was struck by his dignified manner.

"When dignified people like him are brought to this state, somebody must answer for it," said Lourantos. "There is a moral instigator to this crime - which is the government that has brought people to such despair."

Second pharmacist says she's next
Shortly after news of the man's death, Lourantos says he received an anonymous call from a pharmacist saying she would be next to follow suit.

"I am now frantically looking to find out who it was so we can stop her," Lourantos said.

The busy square, through which thousands pass by during the morning commute hours when the suicide occurred, was cordoned off while the body was taken away.

Greece is stumbling through its worst post-World War Two economic crisis as austerity measures demanded by foreign lenders in exchange for financial aid push the country into its fifth year of recession.

The government last year said suicides had increased 40 percent over the previous two years as the worsening crisis drives ordinary Greeks to despair.

With financial hardship fast becoming an unavoidable facet of life for many, some Greeks said the pharmacist's public suicide would not be the last.

"This is the point to which they've brought us," asked 54-year old Maria Parashou, who rushed to the square to pay her respects after reading about the suicide. "They've cut our salaries, they've humiliated us. I have one daughter who is unemployed and my husband has lost half of his income, but I won't allow myself to lose hope."

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Britain's Queen Elizabeth celebrated 60 years on the throne Tuesday with a fanfare-filled address to Parliament in Westminster Hall.

The 85-year-old queen addressed both the House of Lords and the Commons, an honor reserved only for monarchs and the most illustrious visitors.

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"Since my accession, I have been a regular visitor to the Palace of Westminster and, at the last count, have had the pleasurable duty of treating with 12 prime ministers," said the queen, drawing laughter from an audience that included the latest three: Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron.

She also said a constant in her life has been her husband, Prince Philip.

The queen made similar speeches in parliament to mark her Silver Jubilee in 1977 and her Golden Jubilee in 2002.

The main celebrations of her Diamond Jubilee weekend will be held June 2-5.

LONDON -- The London offices of Britain's Labour Party leader Ed Miliband were reportedly broken into on Friday evening, British police said.

Scotland Yard would only confirm to msnbc.com on Saturday that police were investigating reports of an apparent break-in. A spokesman declined to say which office was involved or whether there were any suspects.

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But Britain's Telegraph newspaper reported that police forensic teams were searching rooms on the second floor of the Norman Shaw South Building, which is across the street from the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, for clues.

The paper said it was unclear what, if anything, was taken.

The offices belong to a suite of rooms used by Miliband and his shadow cabinet team, the Telegraph said. Miliband's staff reportedly found that a door had been forced.

When msnbc.com approached the Labour Party for comment, spokeswoman Eleanor Holmes said, "This is an ongoing police investigation and it would be inappropriate to comment."

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Breakingnews.com's David Wyllie contributed to this report. (Breakingnews.com is a sister site to msnbc.com.)

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was summoned to parliament Wednesday for an unprecedented grilling by lawmakers who accused him of economic mismanagement and making "illegal" appointments.

Less than two weeks after a drubbing in parliamentary elections, Ahmadinejad became the first president in the Islamic Republic's history to be called before the legislature, which has the power to impeach him if unsatisfied with his answers.

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Traditionalist factions who express complete loyalty to Iran's most powerful figure, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, have been trying to summon Ahmadinejad for months over what they say are repeated challenges to the supreme leader's authority.

Emboldened by their success over Ahmadinejad supporters at parliamentary elections this month, they finally had the chance to interrogate the president about the near-stagnant, high-inflation economy and concerns over his allegiance to Khamenei.

Flippant tone
Chairing the meeting, lawmaker Ali Motahari asked why Ahmadinejad had stayed at home for several days last April after Khamenei overturned the president's decision to sack the intelligence minister -- an absence seen by some as a protest against the supreme leader's decision.

Belying his weakened standing, Ahmadinejad responded in a confident and, at times, flippant tone that did little to calm the excitement of the hearing, broadcast live on state radio.

On his absence from work last April, he said: "This is one of those things -- Ahmadinejad staying home and resting. Some of my friends have repeatedly told me to rest. In this government, work has never been stopped for even a day."

He played down the historic significance of the summons, saying it was parliament's right and not out of the ordinary.

"I was ready to answer questions before the election," he said. "But I thought it might have an impact on election results and then I would be blamed for it. I am the easiest to blame."

BBC News reported that the president's last comments at the hearing resulted in uproar.

"It was not a very difficult quiz," he told lawmakers, the BBC said, citing the Associated Press. "To me, those who designed the questions were from among those who got a master's degree by just pushing a button. If you had consulted us, better questions could have been drawn up."

Ahmadinejad added that he should get top marks for his performance, saying "Be fair. Any grade of less than 20 [out of 20] will be rude."

'Illogical, illegal'
After an hour-long grilling -- that included questions on the botched financing of the Tehran metro and the veracity of government figures showing the creation of 1.6 million jobs in 2009 and 2010 -- many parliamentarians remained unimpressed.

"Ahmadinejad's answers to lawmakers' questions were illogical, illegal and an attempt to avoid answering them. With an insulting tone, Ahmadinejad made fun of lawmakers' questions and insulted parliament," Mohammad Taqi Rahbar was quoted as saying by parliament's news agency.

Having made several ministerial appointments that were unpopular with parliament -- including a brief stint when he named himself oil minister, in charge of Iran's biggest economic sector -- Ahmadinejad was questioned about how he picked people for key posts.

Outgoing reformist lawmaker Mostafa Kavakebian said that the president “did not give any logical answers and took everything as a joke."

Attacks on Ahmadinejad by rival hardliners in parliament increased after last year's spat over the intelligence minister with his critics saying any challenge to Khamenei threatens the foundations of the Islamic Republic.

The theocratic nation's first president, Abolhassan Banisadr, was impeached in 1981 and fled the country after being accused of threatening Iran's new religious foundations.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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CAIRO – Egyptians were greeted by a series of firsts Monday:  Egypt's first democratically elected parliament and first predominantly Islamist parliament convened for their first session.  

New lawmakers were greeted by a now familiar sight.  Roughly 1,000 chanting demonstrators greeted them – despite being kept at a distance from the parliament building by riot police, metal barriers and sharp shooters mounted on roofs. 

They had come to hold lawmakers accountable for a wide variety of promises they believe are essential for the new Egypt.

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From labor laws to honoring martyrs
Shima'a Sa'ib, a 28-year-old engineeer from Cairo, stopped chanting for a minute to explain why she came to protest. “We want them to hear our voice, to give us rights and to give rights to the families of the martyrs,” she said, referring to those killed in the revolution.  

Mahmoud Hussein held a poster filled with photos of people who were killed when police opened fire on them near a police station during the revolution. He pointed to the picture of a father of two who was killed.

"He was my neighbor.  His family was never compensated by the government,” said Hussein. “Now their landlord lets them stay for free. They can't afford to pay rent.” He fears that the new politicians will also ignore their needs.  "They are in power now, they will forget those in need."

Ahmed Desouki, a lanky university student, explained in perfect English why he had come.  "I am here for worker's rights because workers have been suffering from this capitalist government. We need better wages, stop privatization and make the labor unions stronger."  Asked if he thought the new parliament would meet his demands, his reply was swift.  "No. I don't have hope.”

Desouki also expressed distrust about the cozy relationship between the military government known as the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, or SCAF, and the Islamists.

Hazdem Mohammed, a 25-year-old computer system administrator from Cairo and a member of the April 6 Youth Movement, the main organization behind the revolution, agreed.

“The people in parliament stole the revolution. The Muslim Brotherhood stole it in order to come to power,” said Mohammed. “The Brotherhood is like Hamas in Gaza, once they come to power, they will never leave.  If the revolution was on the right track, those in the military would be in prison for killing protesters."  He said the April 6 Youth Movement plans to continue organizing opposition to the government. 

Pediatrician Hazem Nasser said he was there to remind lawmakers that they are accountable for upholding some of the larger goals of the revolution. "Nothing has changed in Egypt since the revolution. Maybe they will be dictators, too, if people don’t stand up and tell them right from wrong.  If we don't do that, maybe 500 Mubaraks will arise." 

Looking for more man-friendly family law
Still others, like Salah Hassan and Ahmed Ibrahim, were there for very personal reasons: to protest some of the more female-friendly divorce laws introduced under former President Hosni Mubarak that give mothers preference in child custody disputes.

Both men said their divorced wives had prevented them from seeing their children for the past 10 years, so they were hopeful that the majority Islamist parliament would uphold religious Muslim laws that are more favorable to men. 

Under the current law, women gain child custody in divorce cases until the children are 15 years old, at which time the child can decide who he or she wants to live with. Mothers are also allowed to stay in their homes while they have custody.

But under Islamic law, the father would get the child and the home when boys reach the age of 7 and girls reach the age of 9. 

"I may not agree with the Muslim Brotherhood in other things but for this reason, I voted for them," said Ibrahim, a civil engineer. “I have not seen my child for 10 years."  He also wants to revoke a woman’s right to divorce with ease.  "She just called and told me, I am divorcing you and taking your child and your house.”

Ibrahim reckoned there were as many as 300 others there who were also protesting to overturn Egypt's moderate family laws.

With all of the diverse issues, it will be a wonder what the parliament can get done, but the protesters seem determined to at least make their demands heard.

See Photoblog: Egypt parliament opens for the first time following the fall of Mubarak

LONDON - A British parliamentary committee on Tuesday published a sequence of emails which raised questions about the story News Corp's James Murdoch told to legislators about what he knew about phone hacking allegations involving the now-defunct News of the World and when he knew it.

In the email sequence, dated Saturday, June 7, 2008, James Murdoch was advised by Colin Myler, then News of the World editor, that the paper's legal position regarding a legal threat from professional soccer union executive Gordon Taylor was "as bad as we feared."

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Attached to this message was an email exchange between Myler and Tom Crone, the News of the World's principal in-house lawyer, in which Crone mentioned a "nightmare scenario."

The Independent newspaper on Wednesday published the email exchange between James Murdoch and Colin Myler, as well as the email exchange between Tom Crone and Colin Myler.

Crone explained that this scenario related to the fact that "several voicemails" on an email addressed to News of the World reporter Ross Hindley were "taken from" a phone used by Joanne Armstrong, a lawyer for the Professional Footballers Association union, which Taylor led.

The Guardian newspaper reported Tuesday that James Murdoch had written to British members of parliament, saying he had received the email chain over a weekend which was partly why he "did not review the full email chain at the time or afterwards."

The email sent to Hindley, which, in a reference to the News of the World's chief reporter, was headed "For Neville", is regarded by investigators and lawyers as one of the first pieces of evidence to reach the public domain demonstrating that phone hacking was a practice which extended beyond a single "rogue" journalist.

'Slipshod manager'
Executives of News International, the British newspaper publisher headed by James Murdoch at the time of the email exchange, initially claimed in public statements and testimony to parliament that phone hacking was limited to Clive Goodman, a News of the World journalist who was jailed in 2007 for hacking into the voice mails of aides to members of Britain's Royal Family.

In parliamentary testimony earlier this year, James Murdoch maintained that while he was aware of the existence of some kind of email, he was not informed in 2008 that it constituted possible evidence of widespread phone hacking by News of the World journalists other than Goodman.

• Story: James Murdoch steps down from newspaper boards

James Murdoch's handling of the phone hacking crisis has raised questions about his status as presumptive heir to his father, News Corp founder and chairman Rupert Murdoch.

Chris Bryant, a member of parliament for Britain's Labour Party who was a target of phone hacking, told Reuters on Tuesday that at a minimum, the email sequence newly published by the committee "says to me that James Murdoch is a remarkably slipshod manager .... He's been slipshod and News International have been slippery."

In a letter also made public by the parliamentary committee on Tuesday, James Murdoch told the panel "I was not aware of evidence that either pointed to widespread wrongdoing or indicated that further investigation was necessary." Nonetheless, he said he wished to "apologize" that this material had "only now come to light" in a late stage of the Parliamentary inquiry.

Tom Watson, another Labour Party member of parliament and a leading member of the Media Select Committee, was skeptical, the Independent reported, saying, "How can the company have just found this important email trail?"

• Official site of the Leveson Inquiry on media ethics

The Culture, Media and Sport committee is scheduled to publish a report on its phone hacking investigation sometime in the next few months.

A spokesperson for News International said the company had no comment beyond the statements made by James Murdoch in his latest letter to the Parliamentary committee.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Firebombs, stones and bottles were thrown Tuesday as several hundred anarchists clashed with riot police outside the Greek parliament, where lawmakers were debating the 2012 budget before a vote expected after midnight.

The rioters were part of a march to commemorate the third anniversary of the fatal police shooting of a teenager in central Athens, according to The Associated Press.

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After anarchists threw stones, bottles and firebombs at the police, the officers responded with tear gas and stun grenades.

Police formed a cordon outside parliament, Reuters reported, and the rioters later moved away from parliament.

In a separate march earlier Tuesday, about 2,0000 students commemorating the teen's shooting hurled rocks and bottles during at police, as well as smashing two nearby store fronts and three bus stops. Other groups of teenagers attacked two suburban police stations with rocks and bottles.

Police dispersed the youths with a small amount of tear gas after the protesters used at least two fire bombs.

Police reported 14 officers were injured; nine people were arrested and six detained.

The shooting death of 15-year-old Alexis Grigoropoulos on Dec. 6, 2008 sparked two weeks of the worst rioting the country had seen in decades.

Some 5,000 police were on duty in the capital for Tuesday's rallies.

Violence was also reported in Greece's second-largest city, Thessaloniki, where police detained two people after a crowd of youths threw rocks at a government building.

There were also violent clashes in at least six other cities. In the city of Agrinio in western Greece, a group of students broke into the city hall while the city council was in session and ransacked some offices, throwing office supplies out the windows.

Last year, a court sentenced a police officer to life in prison for Grigoropoulos' death, and a second officer to 10 years.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.