Single parents to protest over payments

WELFARE advocates are planning to protest around Australia next month over the government's cuts to single parent benefits.

From January 1, single parents have not been eligible for the Parenting payment once their youngest child has turned eight years old and have been transferred to the lower Newstart allowance.

More than 60,000 single parents now receive between $60 to $100 a week less under entitlement changes.

The single parents action group (SPAG) are organising rallies in all major cities on February 5 to push for the government to reverse its decision, with the main protest at Parliament House in Canberra.

Protest organiser Samantha Seymour said the payment changes would have a detrimental impact on single parent families.

"Our purpose is to show the government that we will not tolerate their decision to further deprive and isolate Australians whose only crime is being single parents," Ms Seymour said in a statement on Sunday.

Families spokeswoman for the Australian Greens, Rachel Siewert, said she was concerned about the long-term impact of the lower Newstart payments on parents and their children.

"We shouldn't be condemning people to poverty," Senator Siewert said in a statement.

She said the government should reverse these payment cuts and also boost the Newstart allowance by $50 a week.

The government introduced the changes, worth around $728 million in savings over four years, in its bid for a budget surplus in 2012/13.

Last December, Treasurer Wayne Swan said the government was unlikely to have a surplus this financial year due to lower than forecast tax revenue.

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Savile's victims set to seek damages

AROUND 50 victims of sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile are set to seek damages from the late broadcaster's estate and from organisations including the BBC and Britain's health service, their lawyer said.

A report by British police on Friday said Savile "groomed the nation" over six decades, hiding behind his fame to assault girls, boys and adult women on BBC premises and in schools and hospitals.

Liz Dux, a lawyer representing more than 50 of Savile's victims, said that because Savile had died in 2011 aged 84, civil claims were the only way that they could get justice.

"Compensation is not at the forefront of their mind, but of course it's the only method of recompense that we can get for them now, given that he can't be prosecuted," she said.

Dux said they would consider making claims against Savile's heirs, against the BBC -- the publicly funded UK broadcaster that made Savile one of its biggest stars in the 1970s and 1980s -- and the state-run National Health Service.

"We now have to look at what was known in the organisations. Once these inquiries have taken place then we will be able to make progress with the civil claims.

"Those inquiries are hugely important to the evidence and it will be foolhardy to press ahead straight away with the civil claims now without that evidence coming forward.

"A moratorium has been agreed in respect of the majority of the potential defendants to await the outcome of the inquiry."

In the three-month investigation by police and the NSPCC children's charity, it emerged that Savile used his fame as presenter of BBC TV's Top of the Pops chart show and children's program Jim'll Fix It to rape and assault victims on BBC premises as well as in schools and hospitals where he did charity work.

The report recorded 214 criminal offences, including 34 rapes -- 28 of them of children. Three-quarters of the victims were children, mostly girls aged between 13 and 16, but the youngest was an eight-year-old boy.

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Monster tiger shark caught near beach

A Tiger shark of nearly 5 metres was caught off the coast in Coolum, Queensland. Video by Peter Hall and Glenn Barnes

A RECORD 753 "resident" sharks have been caught off Queensland beaches in the past year, new figures reveal.

The terrifying tally includes 319 predators considered dangerously large, measuring longer than 2m.

The latest monster - a 4.72m tiger shark - was reeled in near Coolum on the Sunshine Coast on Thursday as The Sunday Mail interviewed shark hunters.

The pregnant female, weighing in excess of 500kg, was the biggest caught by the local shark catcher in his five years on the job. Other species snared over the past year included great whites, bull sharks and dusky whalers.

They were caught a few hundred metres from some of the state's most popular beaches.

Shark behaviour experts say the surge in the number of sharks lured closer to shore - 53 more than 2011 and 150 more than five years ago - is linked to an abundance of food following floods in recent years.

Townsville recorded the highest number of shark catches in the state with 158, followed by Capricorn Coast on 105, Cairns (91), Mackay (69), Tannum Sands/Gladstone (67), Rainbow Beach (60) and Bundaberg (56).

A tiger shark of nearly 5 metres and more than 500kg was caught 400m off Yaroomba Beach near Coolum, on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. Picture: Glen Barnes

The Sunshine Coast notched 50 catches, 28 in the dangerous category - and the Gold Coast 49 (21 over 2m in length).

The Government says the rising figures reinforce the need for the netting and drumline program initiated in 1962 following two fatal attacks at Noosa and Mackay in 1961.

They also spark a warning for those taking a dip in the warmer months - when sharks are most active - to know the rules that reduce risks.

Fisheries Queensland's Shark Control Program manager Jeff Krause said there had been only one shark fatality at a shark control beach in Queensland since the program was launched.

Mr Krause said equipment was in place near 85 beaches and the program cost around $2.3 million a year.

He said nets did not prevent sharks entering a particular area but were intended to catch "resident sharks" and those that moved through while feeding on bait fish. They were effective against aggressive bull sharks while drumlines were better for hooking tigers.

Sunshine Coast shark catcher Paddy Dimond and deckie Lachlan Tuckwell reeling in the biggest tiger shark they caught in their 5 years, measuring 4.72 meters and weighing over 500kg off Yaroomba near Coolum on a baited drum line. Picture: Glen Barnes

"The program is designed to capture large and dangerous shark species," he said. "In 2012, we caught 753 sharks in shark control equipment, including 319 over 2m. In 2011, there were 700 sharks caught, 253 of which were considered dangerous.

"Any size shark can cause serious injury if they attack, but sharks more than 2m are particularly dangerous.

"Queensland is renowned for its beautiful beaches and people come here to swim year round, so swimmer safety is the number one priority."

Shark nets have attracted controversy due to their impact on whales, dugongs, turtles and dolphins. Since 2000, 34 whales have been caught in Queensland, 31 successfully freed.

Associate Professor of Environmental Science at Bond University Daryl McPhee is an expert on the pros and cons of netting, recently completing an analysis for the West Australian Government.

He is not convinced the program offers added protection and believes funding would be better directed towards educating the public about safe swimming.

Sunshine Coast shark catcher Paddy Dimond and deckie Lachlan Tuckwell reeling in the biggest tiger shark they caught in their 5 years, measuring 4.72 meters and weighing over 500kg off Yaroomba near Coolum on a baited drum line. Picture: Glenn Barnes

"It's debatable that they are an effective tool. Most sharks are caught on the beach side of nets, which means they already have been near the beach and potential interaction with swimmers," Dr McPhee said.

"The probability of being attacked is very low, much lower than the threat of drowning."

Dr McPhee said an interesting statistic was that 90 per cent of fatal shark attacks around the world were on males.

He believed this was linked to the fact males took more risks in the water.

Shark scientist Jonathan Werry of Ocean and Coast Research is finalising a study that will show the impact of recent flood events on shark numbers in Moreton Bay and along the Gold Coast.

Dr Werry said sharks were declining globally, but indications were that a higher concentration of the predators had moved closer to shore.

"What you get with floods is more nutrients flushed out of rivers. This becomes a feeding zone for fish and there's a flow-on effect with large sharks coming in," he said.

"There are not more sharks, just more close to shore."

SHARK catchers say it's "tiger season".

Larger sharks than in previous years have moved closer to shore and feature in latest catches.

"We're having a run of tigers . . . big ones," Sunshine Coast contractor Paddy Dimond said.

"We've had more whales and when whales come in closer, so do bigger sharks.

"They bring tigers and some white pointers. Soon, when we get rain, we will see the bull sharks. There are natural fluctuations in numbers."

The Sunday Mail went on patrol with Mr Dimond on Thursday when he hooked his largest predator.

The 4.72m tiger, caught at Yaroomba near Coolum, is believed to have been the shark that had spooked surfers in recent weeks. Weighing more than 500kg, it was too heavy to be winched aboard.

Mr Dimond's previous biggest catch was a 3.9m dusky whaler near the popular Caloundra surfing break at Moffat Headland six months ago.

"We get all different species and caught a 2.5m white pointer at Maroochydore about 18 months ago," he said.

The Sunshine Coast crew oversees 11 nets and 28 drum lines between Bribie Island and Noosa.

The equipment, designed to safeguard swimmers, is positioned between 300m and 400m from shore.

Mr Dimond checks for sharks and baits hooks with mullet or shark pieces.

One of his more unusual days saw him nab two sharks on one hook.

A 1.1m shark caught at Bribie had a 1.8m specimen "stuck on the end of it" after the first creature became bait.

Dangerous sharks are destroyed, measured and have their stomach contents examined.

This has produced interesting results, including birds, whale parts, spanner crabs, other sharks and stone fish.

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Beijing pollution at dangerous levels

DENSE fog has enveloped swathes of east and central China, with pollution levels in Beijing reaching dangerous levels for a second day and residents advised to stay indoors, state media reports.

The municipal environment warning centre issued an alert on Saturday advising the elderly, children, and those suffering respiratory or cardiovascular illness in the capital to avoid going out or doing strenuous exercise, Xinhua reported.

Those who did venture out wore facemasks for protection, with visibility low, the skyline shrouded, and the sun hidden in the smog.

Air quality in Beijing showed airborne particles with a diameter small enough to deeply penetrate the lungs at a reading of 456 micrograms per cubic metre. The quality is considered good when the figure stands at less than 100.

The heavy pollution is expected to last another three days, with weather conditions preventing pollutants from dispersing, the warning centre said, according to Xinhua.

Fog in several provinces in east and central China closed numerous highways and delayed flights, it said.

China's air quality is among the worst in the world, international organisations say, citing massive coal consumption and car-choked city streets in the world's biggest auto market.

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French forces stop Mali Islamist advance

MALIAN troops were poised on Saturday to reclaim a key town from Islamists threatening to advance on the capital after France sent in its air force, opening a dramatic new phase in the months-old conflict.

Witnesses and the Malian army said dozens of Islamist fighters were killed in the battle for Konna, one of the worst clashes since the start of the crisis almost a year ago and the most significant setback inflicted on the Islamists.

US officials said Washington might support France's sudden military involvement to help Bamako wrest northern Mali back from al Qaeda-linked groups, while Nigeria also said it had dispatched personnel on the ground.

Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Operation Serval had already claimed its first French casualty when a pilot carrying raids to support Malian ground troops fighting for Konna was killed on Friday.

France also said it had deployed troops in Bamako, which has remained under government control since Islamist groups seized half of the country in March to protect its 6000-strong expatriate community.

A senior Malian officer in the region told AFP that the army was now fully in control of the town, after spending the best part of Saturday flushing out the last pockets of resistance.

"We control the town, all of it," said Lieutenant Ousmane Fane, a member of the Mopti regional command.

"We have claimed dozens of casualties, even around 100 among Islamist ranks in Konna."

Witnesses reached by AFP spoke of dozens of bodies strewn across the area, with one resident counting 46 dead Islamists.

The town, which had fallen into insurgents' hands on Thursday, is some 700km from Bamako but was seen as one of the last ramparts against an Islamist advance.

Mali's armed forces had been in disarray since a March coup and seemed powerless against a rebellion of seasoned mainly Tuareg fighters, but France's shock intervention tipped the power balance.

"The helicopters struck the insurgents' vehicles, which dispersed. The army is mopping up the city," a Malian military source said.

"During this intense combat, one of our pilots ... was fatally wounded," Le Drian told a press conference in Paris.

Groups with ties to al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) overpowered a secular Tuareg rebellion in March 2012 and seized control of a territory the size of France.

They have since destroyed centuries-old mausoleums which they see as a heresy in the fabled city of Timbuktu and imposed an extreme form of Islamic law -- or sharia -- in the main towns, flogging, amputating and sometimes executing transgressors.

The collapse of a nation seen as a democratic success story in the region sparked Western fears that northern Mali could become a major launchpad for global terrorist attacks.

The United States, former colonial power France -- which has eight hostages in the Sahel -- and the rest of the European Union had looked set to let the regional bloc ECOWAS take the lead on any military intervention, which appeared at least several months away.

The UN Security Council had okayed the regional mission but Mali's interim administration had warned it could not afford to wait months for a game-changer.

"Our choice is peace ... but they have forced war on us. We will carry out a crushing and massive retaliation against our enemies," Mali's interim leader, Dioncounda Traore, said in an address to the nation on Friday.

On Saturday he thanked France for its intervention.

French army chief Edouard Guillaud, speaking at the same briefing as the defence minister, said the operation had a tactical command in Mali.

French President Francois Hollande, who has struggled on the domestic front and seen his popularity hit record lows, said French forces would remain involved as long as necessary.

Nigeria's presidency on Saturday confirmed it had sent an air force technical team and the commander of the planned ECOWAS force to Mali.

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Judi Dench 'sorry' over Bond's Oscar snub

VETERAN British actress Judi Dench has spoken of her disappointment that the latest James Bond film Skyfall did not feature more prominently in the latest round of Oscar nominations.

The 23rd outing of 007 in a 50-year franchise opened in Britain late last year to rave reviews and broke box office records, but failed to meet expectations in Thursday's shortlist of screen candidates.

"I'm very, very sorry nothing has been recognised," said Dame Judi, who plays MI6 chief M in Skyfall.

"That's a great pity. I thought Sam (Mendes) directed it beautifully. It's a terrific film. I think that all round it was really wonderfully presented, filmed, lit and shot," she added, during an interview with London's Radio 4.

Skyfall received five nominations in Los Angeles in production categories.

British singer Adele made the shortlist for the best song, with Skyfall's theme.

Asked if she thought there was a bias against 007 films when it comes to awards, Dench replied: "I hope not."

The film, starring Daniel Craig as Bond, has eight 2013 Bafta nominations, including one for Outstanding British Film.

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Croc found wandering Gold Coast streets

A baby crocodile approximately 30cm in length was found this afternoon wandering the light rail construction site in Queens Street, Southport and was taken to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary for a check-up by Dr Andrew Hill Picture: David Clark Source: Gold Coast Bulletin

IT sounds like a croc of the proverbial, but a crocodile has been found wandering the streets of the Gold Coast.

The juvenile crocodile was discovered by dumbstruck work crews on the Gold Coast light rail project on Queen St in Southport about 4pm Friday.

The shocked workers quickly captured the reptile, barely longer than a 30cm ruler, and called wildlife authorities.

In the wild, crocodiles rarely venture south of the tropics, but occasionally crocodiles escaped from captivity have turned up in the state's southeast.

In recent years there have even been unconfirmed sightings of crocodiles in the Brisbane River.

The crocodile was later transported to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary.

Vets at the sanctuary's animal hospital believe the Gold Coast tourist was abducted from the state's far north and released on the coast.

Pictures via the Gold Coast Bulletin.

Check out our Google Croc map below on croc sightings.

The baby crocodile found on Friday in Queens Street, Southport. Picture: David Clark

View Google Map: Crocodile sightings in SE Queensland in a larger map

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France hunts Kurd killers amid feud claim

POLICE are hunting down the assassins of three Kurdish activists shot dead in Paris even as Turkey said an internal feud in the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was most likely behind the slayings.

Judicial sources say the three female activists, including founding PKK member Sakine Cansiz, were each shot in the head at least three times, giving further credence to the theory of an execution-style hit.

Autopsies on the bodies revealed one of the women had been shot four times in the head and the other two shot three times, the sources said on Friday.

The killings came days after Turkish media reported Turkey and the PKK leadership had agreed on a roadmap to end the three-decade-old insurgency that has claimed more than 45,000 lives.

The PKK, which took up arms in 1984 for Kurdish self-rule in southeastern Turkey, is considered a terrorist organisation by Ankara and much of the international community.

Experts have suggested a number of potential motives for the killings, including an attack by Turkish extremists and internal feuding within the PKK.

The three were found dead on Thursday at the Kurdistan Information Centre in Paris's 10th district, after last being seen alive at the centre at midday on Wednesday.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday the slayings bore the hallmarks of an internal feud, noting that the victims appeared to have given the killer or killers access to the centre.

"The place was protected not by one lock but many coded locks," Anatolia news agency quoted Erdogan as telling reporters. "Those three people opened it (the door). I do not assume they would open it to people they didn't know."

But the Turkish leader also upheld his earlier suggestion that the slayings could be aimed at derailing peace talks between Ankara and the PKK's jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan.

A former guerrilla of the organisation, Cansiz was considered a close ally of Ocalan.

"The killings could be the result of an internal feud or steps aimed at disrupting the steps we are taking with good intentions," Erdogan said.

Experts have said potential internal feuding could be linked to the peace process or to other PKK activities, in particular conflicts over money.

A French judicial source said police are running 21 investigations into potentially illegal fundraising by the PKK.

The group raises funds through a "revolutionary tax" on Kurdish expatriates that authorities in several countries have condemned as extortion. Several PKK leaders have also been designated as drugs traffickers by the United States.

There are around 150,000 Kurds in France, the vast majority of them of Turkish origin.

Erdogan's government recently revealed Turkish intelligence services had for weeks been talking to Ocalan, captured in 1999 and held on an island prison south of Istanbul.

Under the reported peace roadmap, the government would reward a ceasefire by granting wider rights to Turkey's Kurdish minority, whose population is estimated at up to 15 million in the country of 75 million.

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Catherine 'delighted' with first portrait

THE first official portrait of Prince William's wife, Catherine, has been unveiled in London, with the Duchess giving the work a royal thumbs up.

Catherine, 31, attended the National Portrait Gallery on Friday where artist Paul Emsley's work was revealed to a private audience which included the Duke of Cambridge.

"I think, from what I can see this morning, she's delighted with it. I'm very happy about that," Emsley said of Catherine's reaction.

The award-winning artist was commissioned by the gallery to capture Catherine and worked with the Duchess during a series of photography sessions.

The larger-than-life sized head and shoulders painting shows Catherine's flowing brunette hair and soft features against a dark background.

"In discussions it became clear that what she wanted herself, and I was very happy with that, was that the portrait should convey her natural self as opposed to her official self," Emsley told reporters, as published by The Independent online.

"The fact she is a beautiful woman is for an artist difficult. In the end I think what I tried to do really was to convey something about her warmth and her smile."

Asked of any royal feedback he received during the unveiling, Emsley said Catherine, who has a history of art degree, commented on the portrait: "It's just amazing".

The work was praised by prolific royal portrait artist Richard Stone, who said Emsley is "brave" to have embarked on a work of such large scale.

"It's very challenging to do something larger than life, and he seems to have pulled it off very well," said Stone, whose first royal commission was to paint the Queen Mother, which he went on to do six times.

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US trade deficit balloons in November

THE US trade deficit widened sharply in November, posting its highest level in seven months amid a jump in consumer-goods imports, according to Department of Commerce data.

The US trade deficit expanded to $US48.7 billion ($A46.16 billion), up from a revised $US42.1 billion in October. November US exports were $US1.7 billion more than October exports, while November imports were $US8.4 billion above the October level.

The trade deficit was well above analyst forecasts of $US41.8 billion.

The jump in imports was especially pronounced in consumer goods (up 11.1 per cent) and cars (up 6.3 per cent). US spending on oil imports fell due to lower oil prices.

The US's closely watched trade gap with China fell to $US29 billion in November from the October level of $US29.5 billion.

Lower oil prices translated into a lower deficit with the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, which fell in November to $US6.6 billion from $US8.6 billion in October.

AFP j

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Honda axes 800 British jobs on weak demand

HONDA has announced it intends to cut 800 jobs this year at its Swindon plant in Britain owing to weakening demand for its vehicles in Europe.

"Honda Motor Europe has today announced changes to its UK car manufacturing operation to ensure the long term stability of its future business," the group said in a statement on Friday.

"Sustained conditions of low demand in European markets make it necessary to realign Honda's business structure. As such, Honda ... will enter into formal consultation with its associates to consider these changes and the proposal that it will reduce the workforce by 800 associates by spring 2013."

Ken Keir, executive vice president at Honda Motor Europe, added that current "conditions of sustained low industry demand require us to take difficult decisions."

The Swindon plant in southwest England currently employs about 3500 staff, including 500 recruited only last year, in part to work on a new diesel engine line.

Britain's biggest union Unite called Honda's decision "a hammer blow to UK manufacturing and the local economy."

A spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said the British government would be working "to minimise the impact of the job losses."

He added: "Times are tough in the European market but the automotive industry remains a major success story for the UK.

"Over the last two years global manufacturers including Nissan, Jaguar Land Rover and BMW have invested STG6 billion ($A9.21 billion) in the UK, safeguarding and creating new jobs."

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Cabinet push for dole rise: report

THERE'S growing support within federal cabinet for the Gillard government to increase dole payments in this year's budget.

The Weekend Australian reports that the government has begun modelling a number of measures to help people who are receiving the Newstart Allowance, such as single mums.

One option being considered would allow such income support recipients to keep more of their payment if their hours of work increased, the newspaper reports.

Another possible change would reportedly lead to an increase in the amount from the current $35-a-day payment, but not up to the $50 amount being advocated by welfare groups.

They have slammed government changes to the parenting payment scheme that will shift some 84,000 single parents to Newstart when their youngest child turns eight.

Welfare groups estimate that some families will be between $60 and $100 a week worse off because of the changes.

On Friday, Community Services Minister Jenny Macklin apologised for earlier remarks in which she indicated she could live on the $35-a-week dole.

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Pakistan says soldier killed in Kashmir

PAKISTAN has accused Indian troops of opening fire and killing a Pakistani soldier, in the third deadly cross-border incident reported in five days in the disputed Kashmir region.

The Pakistan military said the incident happened in the Battal area of the Himalayan region on Thursday.

There was no immediate reaction from India.

"Pakistan Army soldier, Havildar Mohyuddin, embraced shahadat (martyrdom) due to unprovoked firing by Indian troops at Hotspring sector in Battal at 2.40pm (2040 AEDT) today," the military said.

"Today, India troops resorted to unprovoked firing at a Pakistani post named Kundi," it added, giving no further details.

The United States has urged the nuclear-armed rivals to cool tensions along the heavily militarised Line of Control, the de facto border in divided Kashmir.

On Tuesday India said two of its soldiers were killed by Pakistani troops and one of them was beheaded. Pakistan denied any responsibility.

On Sunday the Pakistani army accused India of killing one of its soldiers and wounding another in a cross-border attack. India said its troops opened fire following a Pakistani mortar attack, but denied they crossed the border.

Around 30 kilometres south of Battal but right on the Line of Control, Pakistani residents of Darmasaal village told AFP on Thursday they had been confined to their homes by heavy firing for days.

"We are scared. We can't come out because the area is under constant fire," said Shaukat Butt, 38.

"We used to cross the river by boats but yesterday Indian soldiers fired at our boat, so everybody is confined inside now and the boats have stopped."

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority territory, is claimed in full by both countries but divided between the two. It has been the cause of two of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947.

A ceasefire has been in force along the Line of Control since 2003 but there are sporadic violations on both sides.

Despite claims and counter-claims this week, both countries have appeared determined to prevent the killings from wrecking a fragile peace process.

In the initial aftermath of the killings on Tuesday, Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid railed against the "ghastly" attack.

But by the next day he was telling reporters: "We cannot and must not allow for an escalation of a very unwholesome event that has taken place."

His Pakistani counterpart, Hina Rabbani Khar, welcomed his comments.

"There was, I believe, a sense of trying to de-escalate on their side ... and I think that is the right way to go," she told reporters on Thursday.

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UK says all options on table for Syria

WORLD powers will have to step up their response to the Syrian conflict if the violence worsens, British Foreign Secretary William Hague says, warning that all options are on the table.

He has reiterated that Britain will seek to amend the EU weapons embargo on Syria when it comes up for review on March 1 to allow them to arm rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

In an update to the House of Commons, Hague said Britain was supporting UN and Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi's efforts to end the 21-month-old conflict, and revealed he would visit London for talks later this month.

But the foreign secretary warned: "Given the regime's intransigence and brutality, there is a serious risk that the violence will indeed worsen in the coming months.

"If that happens the international community's response will have to be stepped up.

"So we will not rule out any options to save lives and protect civilians in the absence of a political transition in Syria.

"We will ensure that our efforts are legal, that they're aimed at saving life and they support at all times the objective of a political transition and encouraging moderate political forces in Syria."

Hague repeated that Britain would seek to amend the European Union embargo blocking the delivery of weapons to either side in the Syrian conflict.

"No decisions have yet been made to change the support we provide to the Syrian National Coalition or the Syrian people," he said.

"But European countries now have the flexibility to consider taking additional steps to try to save lives if there is no progress in the near future.

"Clearly the best outcome for the Syrian people would be a diplomatic breakthrough, bringing an end to the bloodshed and establishing a new Syrian government able to restore stability.

"However we must keep open options to help save lives in Syria and to assist opposition groups opposed to extremism if the violence continues.

"We should send strong signals to Assad that all options are on the table. We will therefore seek to amend the EU sanctions so that the possibility of additional assistance is not closed off."

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US jobless claims rise by 4000

US jobless claims increased by 4000 last week, according to government data released on Thursday.

Seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance in the week ending January 5 rose to 371,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 367,000.

The current number of jobless claims is above the 364,000 estimated by analysts.

Claims, a sign of the pace of layoffs, trended in the 370,000 range for most of 2012.

The four-week moving average was 365,750, an increase of 6750 from the previous week's revised average of 359,000.

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US fugitive caught in PSO application

AN international fugitive once allegedly in business with an arms dealer has reportedly been arrested in Melbourne after a failed application to become a protective services officer (PSO).

Richard Chichakli, 53, was arrested on Thursday after he was caught in the PSO screening process, but he had not been offered a job, Fairfax reports.

The US had sought Chichakli's extradition over charges linked to weapons shipped to African war criminal Charles Taylor, the report says.

Fairfax says US officials allege Chichakli aided convicted arms trafficker Viktor Bout to illegally buy planes in the US.

Chichakli allegedly helped Bout sell arms to Taylor, fuelling African conflicts, according to the report.

Bout was depicted in the 2005 film Lord of War.

US citizen Chichakli has been on the run from authorities since 2005.

Fairfax reports Bout was sentenced to 25 years' jail on charges of conspiracy to kill Americans and to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organisation last year.

Chichakli did not apply for bail in a brief appearance in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday.

He was remanded in custody until next Thursday to allow a US government lawyer to finalise extradition proceedings, the report says.

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Oscar nods for Hugh Jackman, Jacki Weaver

HUGH Jackman, Naomi Watts and Jacki Weaver have been nominated for Oscars, but Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban and Russell Crowe have been snubbed.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed the nominees on Thursday morning (Friday AEDT) in Beverly Hills for February 24's 85th Academy Awards ceremony.

Jackman, for Les Miserables, will compete for the best actor Oscar against Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln), Denzel Washington (Flight), Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook) and Joaquin Phoenix (The Master).

The best actress Oscar will be between Watts, for her portrayal of a tsunami survivor in The Impossible, Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook), Emmanuelle Riva (Amour) and Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild).

Kidman received Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild supporting actress nominations for The Paperboy, but failed to win over Academy voters.

Weaver, for Silver Linings Playbook, was a surprise nomination in the supporting category.

Keith Urban also missed out on a nomination for best original song for For You from Act of Valour.

Crowe was considered a long shot for supporting actor for his Les Mis performance.

The biggest shock snub was Les Miserables' British-raised Tom Hooper, who refers to himself as half-Australian because his mother is an Aussie. He missed out on a directing nomination.

Hooper won the directing Oscar in 2011 for The King's Speech, but after plenty of critics slammed his direction in Les Mis, he was bypassed this year.

Les Mis did pick up eight nominations overall.

Steven Spielberg's Lincoln was the most honoured with 12 nominations, while Ang Lee's Life of Pi was second with 11.

The best picture nominees are: Les Miserables; Amour; Argo; Beasts of the Southern Wild; Django Unchained; Life of Pi; Lincoln; Silver Linings Playbook; and Zero Dark Thirty.

Kidman, Urban and Crowe were not the only Aussies snubbed, with Greig Fraser (cinematography for Zero Dark Thirty), Andrew Lesnie (cinematography for The Hobbit), Kym Barrett (costume design for Cloud Atlas), Joe Farrell (visual effects for The Amazing Spider-Man) and Ben Lewin (directing for The Sessions) all missing out.

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668 rhinos poached in S Africa in 2012

POACHERS slaughtered a record 668 rhinos in South Africa last year, up 50 per cent, as demand for their horns continued to surge on the black market in Asia, the government says.

More than three in five of the slaughtered pachyderms were from the vast Kruger National Park, South Africa's largest wildlife reserve and the country's top safari destination.

Five more animals have been killed since the start of the year, according to the environmental affairs ministry.

Poaching-related arrests climbed from 165 in 2010 to 267 in 2012.

South Africa is home to about three-quarters of Africa's 20,000 or so white rhinos and 4800 critically endangered black rhinos.

Authorities have launched inter-linking campaigns to slow the killings.

Soldiers and surveillance aircraft were deployed in the Kruger Park, while stricter criteria for rhino hunting permits sent applications tumbling 60 per cent to 90 in 2012, from 222 a year before.

Rhinos are victims of a booming demand for their horns, which some people in Asia think have medicinal properties. The medical claim is widely discredited.

South Africa and Vietnam last year signed a deal to tackle the trade.

The number of rhinos poached in the country has risen sharply from 13 in 2007 to 448 in 2011.

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Shifting Canada ice frees trapped whales

A CANADIAN village leader says about a dozen killer whales that were trapped under sea ice appear to have reached safety after the floating ice shifted on Hudson Bay.

Tommy Palliser said two hunters from Inukjuak village reported the water had opened up around the area where the cornered whales had been bobbing frantically for air.

Locals said the mammals had been trapped around a single, truck-sized breathing hole for at least two days.

Palliser said villagers had been planning to launch a rescue operation on Thursday.

But he said the winds seemed to shift overnight, pushing the floating ice further away from shore to open up the water.

Mayor Peter Inukpuk had urged the Canadian government to send an icebreaker.

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ArcelorMittal wants to raise $3.5 bn

TOP global steel producer ArcelorMittal says it plans an offer of stock and subordinated notes to raise $US3.5 billion ($A3.35 billion) to reduce its massive debt that has worried investors.

"ArcelorMittal intends to use the net proceeds from the combined offering to reduce existing indebtedness," the company said in a statement.

The announcement sent ArcelorMittal shares down more than five per cent in afternoon trading on the Paris stock exchange.

At 1252 GMT (0152 AEST) the company's shares had fallen 5.4 per cent to $12.70 while the overall market was stable.

The offering of common stock and mandatorily convertible subordinated notes would be made in the United States, said ArcelorMittal, and reserved the right to adjust the proportions.

"Deleveraging remains a priority for ArcelorMittal to retain strategic flexibility," said the company.

It said the offering plus other measures should enable the company to reduce its net debt to approximately $17 billion by the end of June, from approximately $22 billion at the end of 2012.

The three top ratings agency's stripped ArcelorMittal of an investor-grade rating at the end of last year citing the company's massive debt amid sluggish global steel sales.

"We have consistently said that reducing net debt is a priority for the company," chief executive Lakshmi Mittal was quoted as saying.

"This transaction, supplemented by proceeds from ongoing asset disposals, the announced reduction in dividends and continued cost saving initiatives, will significantly lower our net debt and accelerate the achievement of a medium term net debt target of $15 billion."

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Priest's flock want him back

Father Geoff Baron will not take up a position on the Gold Coast. Picture: Fiona Hamilton Source: Herald Sun

SUPPORTERS of a controversial Catholic priest who quit his new post on the Gold Coast have made an impassioned plea for him to return to the parish.

Father Geoff Baron, who became an unwilling internet star following an explosive verbal clash with a group of teenagers outside a Melbourne church several years ago, was to have started a new post at Southport last week.

However, after The Courier-Mail approached the church about an interview with the new assistant pastor, Father Baron quit his position immediately.

The newspaper has since received emails and letters begging for Fr Baron's return, praising him as a kind-hearted man who has moved on from the confrontation in 2007, which has attracted more than 2.5 million hits on You Tube.

Many were appalled at his foul language, but he also attracted plenty of support from others praising him for standing up to the youths, who had allegedly caused thousands of dollars worth of damage to the heritage-listed cathedral precinct over an extended period.

After resigning from his position as dean of St Patrick's, Fr Baron moved through several positions in Victoria, NSW and Queensland, and impressed many within the church.

Members of the tight-knit Stella Maris parish on the Sunshine Coast, where Fr Baron spent more than three years, described him as a "wonderful priest and a gentle, caring person".

"I know Fr Geoff to be a marvellous priest and I am sure that he has many years of service to give to the people of Queensland," said one reader.

"Fr Geoff is an experienced and much-loved priest and I am very saddened that the community of Southport will be missing out on the skill and pastoral care of a faithful priest," wrote another.

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Flood cover still too high for victims

FLOOD insurance remains unaffordable for those who most need it, says the expert who was commissioned by Canberra to fix the issue after the 2011 crisis.

John Trowbridge, who conducted the National Disaster Insurance Review, said the industry had moved quickly to make flood cover more available but the Federal Government had done nothing to improve affordability.

"The availability problem has been solved, and that's good," he said.

"The insurance industry, at its own initiative, has solved that problem. But the affordability problem, clearly, is not solved."

Gallery: Revisit the 2011 floods

Mr Trowbridge found there were about 150,000 homes in Australia at risk of flooding more than once every 100 years and about 50,000 with a one-in-20-year risk.

People were already being asked to pay high prices and many in the highest-risk areas were choosing not to take out flood cover, he said.

"The risks are that there will be another flood and that there will be another swag of people who don't have flood cover and will have disputes with their insurers," he said.

Mr Trowbridge said it was in the Government's own interests to adopt the scheme of premium discounts and a publicly funded reinsurance pool that he proposed in his review - which, he said, could be designed not to cost anything unless there was a flood.

"I would advocate government has a wider look at all the support programs that it runs when there's a disaster," he said.

"Government pays out a lot in hand-outs. I believe it's better to do that through insurance."

The Government deferred decisions on most of Mr Trowbridge's 47 recommendations, which it has had since September 2011, pending a Productivity Commission report on climate change.

Gallery: Revisit the 2011 floods

A spokesman for financial services minister Bill Shorten said the Government had the final report from the Productivity Commission and was considering its response.

Mr Trowbridge said the Productivity Commission had previously taken a "dry economic approach" to his proposals and opposed premium discounts on the basis they would distort the market.

His key recommendations include:

• All home insurance to include flood cover
• Discounted premiums in areas of medium and high flood risk
• National co-ordination of flood risk measurement and mitigation
• Mechanism to fund the premium discounts
• Insurers get access to Government-sponsored reinsurance facility.

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British flag raised in Belfast

THE British flag has been hoisted over Belfast's City Hall for the first time since the decision not to fly it permanently sparked riots in Northern Ireland.

On a sixth consecutive night of violence in the British province, protesters pelted police in the capital Belfast with petrol bombs, fireworks, bottles and stones.

Pro-British protesters have taken to the streets almost every night since December 3, when the city council announced it would no longer fly the Union Jack all year round at the City Hall.

It will now only be hoisted for a maximum of 18 days a year, including on the birthdays of British royals - the first of which fell on Wednesday as Prince William's wife Catherine turned 31.

The flag's reappearance above the elegant central Belfast building raised fears of more violence as protesters vowed to continue their campaign until it is replaced permanently.

The flag ruling sparked riots and arson attacks at the start of December which gave way to largely peaceful protests, but the violence has flared again since the start of the new year.

Tensions are running high in the province, which endured three decades of sectarian violence until peace accords in 1998 led to a power-sharing government between Protestants and Catholics.

The protesters, who are mainly Protestant, see the flag's removal as an attack on their British identity and a compromise too far with republicans, who are mostly Catholic and favour a united Ireland.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Wednesday that Northern Ireland needed to break down "barriers of segregation that have been in place for many, many years".

"We need to build a shared future in Northern Ireland," he said as he faced his weekly session of questions in parliament.

"I think that is part of the challenge to take away some of the tensions that we've seen in recent days."

John Kyle, a member of the pro-British Progressive Unionist Party on the city council, said the protests expressed the wider anger of Protestants who feel they have lost out in the peace process.

"There's a feeling of alienation - they feel disconnected from the political system," he told BBC radio.

"It has erupted in this anger and regrettably the anger has led to violence."

Some 3000 people were killed in the three decades of sectarian bombings and shootings from the late 1960s known as The Troubles.

Northern Ireland's top policeman Matt Baggott has accused the paramilitary Ulster Volunteer Force, which murdered more than 500 people during the conflict, of orchestrating some of the recent violence.

The 1998 Good Friday peace agreement brought an end to most of the unrest in the province, but sporadic bomb threats and murders carried out by dissident republicans continue.

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30 to 50 reported hurt in NY ferry crash

POLICE and fire officials say 30 to 50 people have been injured when a ferry struck a dock during rush hour in New York City's financial district.

News reports say the Seastreak Wall Street ferry from New Jersey banged into the mooring as it arrived.

Officials say one person is in a critical condition with head injuries.

Some patients were carried out strapped to stretchers, their heads and necks immobilised. About a dozen passengers on stretchers were spread out on the dock, surrounded by emergency workers.

A corner of the ferry appeared to have been ripped open on Wednesday morning.

A receptionist at Seastreak says she doesn't have any information but says company officials are at the scene trying to gather information.

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US stocks open higher

STOCKS have opened higher, one day after aluminum producer Alcoa kicked off the quarterly earnings season with a report that met expectations.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 33.55 points (0.25 per cent) at 13,362.40.

The broad-based S&P 500 rose 4.26 (0.29 per cent) to 1461.41, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite gained 7.62 (0.25 per cent) at 3099.43.

Alcoa, considered an economic bellwether because of its role in industrial production, posted an in-line profit of $0.06 per share after trade closed Tuesday.

Briefing analyst Patrick O'Hare said the market may take a "wait-and-see" approach on Wednesday as it awaits a Thursday meeting of the European Central Bank and public comments from Federal Reserve officials.

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French honour Malala, father urges peace

THE Taliban are fighting a lost cause and must accept peace talks, the father of Malala Yousafzai says, accepting a key French award for the Pakistani schoolgirl shot for campaigning for girls' education.

In an impassioned speech after accepting the Simone de Beauvoir Prize for Womens' Freedom on behalf of the 15-year-old, Ziauddin Yousafzai said his daughter was supported by the world and by God.

"She fell but Pakistan stood up. And the whole world - north, south, east and west - supported her," he said. "God protected her and protected the cause of humanity and education."

In an attack that shocked the world, Malala was shot in the head by a Taliban hitman as her school bus made its way through the town of Mingora in Pakistan's northwestern Swat Valley in October.

The bullet grazed her brain, coming within centimetres of killing her, travelling through her head and neck before lodging in her left shoulder. She was then treated in a British hospital.

Yousafzai said the Taliban should now see the writing on the wall and "learn from this incident.

"They should come to talks and to peace and to humanity," he said, referring to Pakistan's population and saying that if they wanted to impose their will "they will have to kill 180 million people and that's impossible."

Despite coming from a male-dominated society, he quoted a woman Pakistani poet Rabia Basri who wrote: "There has been no lady prophet in history and no woman has been stupid enough to claim to be God."

Yousafzai added: "In my part of the world, fathers are known by their sons. Daughters are very much neglected. I am one of the few fortunate fathers who is known by their daughter."

Excerpts from Malala's blog, which earned her the wrath of the Taliban and made her a global icon of courage and hope, were read out to sustained applause.

An entry said: "On my way from school to home I heard a man saying 'I will kill you'. I hastened my pace and after a while I looked back to see if the man was still coming behind me. But to my utter relief he was talking on his mobile and must have been threatening someone else over the phone."

Malala's father also evoked the plight of an Indian medical student who was brutally gang-raped in New Delhi and died in a Singapore hospital as well as "girls who are shot, who burn themselves because of child marriage and those who are raped."

Yousafzai's daughter first rose to prominence aged just 11 with a blog for the BBC's Urdu-language service charting her life in Swat under the Taliban, whose two-year reign of terror supposedly came to an end there with an army operation in 2009.

Her attempted murder has sparked calls for her to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.

Yousafzai also called for a change in global politics, saying his country has suffered enormously in an era when "our children were orphaned, our women were widowed and our schools were lost."

"Let's have politics for the people. People should not be sacrificed at the altar of the state," he said, reminding the audience that were about 160 million children out of school worldwide.

Last month Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari announced a $US10 million ($A9.57 million) donation for a global war chest to educate all girls by 2015 set up in Malala's name.

The Malala Fund for Girls' Right to Education aims at raising billions of dollars to ensure that all girls go to school by 2015 in line with United Nations Millennium goals.

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Vietnam schoolgirl banned for Ho parody

A VIETNAMESE teenager has been suspended from school for a year for posting a parody of a famous speech by independence hero Ho Chi Minh on her Facebook page, local media says.

The Declaration of Students of Ly Tu Trong Secondary School satirises a famous 1946 speech by then-president Ho calling for national resistance against French colonialists.

"All students! As we desire peace, we have made concessions. But the more concessions we make, the more the teachers press on, for they are bent on failing us once again," said the post, quoted by the Thanh Nien newspaper.

"All students... have to find ways to get good marks in the exam... those who have neither health or head (intellect) have to copy or use cheat sheets."

The local authorities said the 14-year-old's post distorted history and insulted the school in the central province of Quang Nam.

"Forcing her to stay at home is also a way of educating her," head teacher Nguyen Tan Si was quoted as saying in local media.

The suspension prompted a storm of criticism online. A survey by the VNExpress website showed that around 70 per cent of readers thought the punishment was too harsh.

Facebook is popular in Vietnam but is sometimes blocked by the communist authorities, who maintain a cult of personality around Ho.

The father figure led the country to independence from the French but died in 1969, aged 79, before the country was unified at the end of the war.

His embalmed body is on display in Hanoi while his image appears on banknotes and his portrait is hung in classrooms and other public buildings.

All Vietnamese children are told stories about Uncle Ho from the time they enter nursery school at age three until they finish university.

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Lenin mobile phone ads spark Polish anger

VLADIMIR Lenin is not considered funny in Poland.

A Polish mobile phone operator that used a cartoon image of the Russian communist revolutionary found itself barraged by angry feedback and responded this week by stopping its advertising campaign.

Older Poles remember Lenin for shaping a communist regime that killed millions and which other Soviet leaders later imposed on Poland.

The company, Heyah, counted on younger Poles having shaken such associations, and recently started a campaign that used a cartoon of Lenin with the command "Keep Talking!" The ad was for a low calling rate available to all customers, playing with the communist promise of egalitarianism.

The company said late Monday it is pulling the ads due to the outcry. It said it had never intended offence.

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Poachers slaughter Kenyan elephant family

KENYAN wildlife rangers are tracking a team of poachers who massacred a family of 11 elephants in what they said was the worst single such killings in the country in the past three decades.

"We have not lost as many elephants in a single incident since the early 1980s," said Patrick Omondi, head of the elephant program at the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). "This is a clear signal that things are getting worse."

The bullet-riddled corpses of the elephants - all with their tusks hacked off, and including a two-month old baby - were found on Saturday in south-eastern Kenya's vast Tsavo East National Park.

"Our initial investigations show that the poachers numbered at least 10 and were armed with an assortment of guns," Omondi said, adding that the normal weapon of choice for poachers is an AK-47 assault rifle.

Rangers were tracking the poachers in "hot pursuit" but had so far not caught the gang, KWS said.

Officials say that an increase in demand for ivory in Asia - where elephant tusks are used in traditional medicines and to make ornaments - has led to a substantial increase in the killing of elephants in Africa.

"A kilogram of ivory can fetch up to $US2500 ($A2392) in the black market, money that comes back to fund extremely organised gangs with sophisticated weapons," said Omondi.

In 2012, Kenya lost approximately 360 elephants to poaching, a figure that rose from 289 the previous year, KWS said. At least 40 poachers were killed last year as rangers battled the raiders.

The international trade in elephant ivory, with rare exceptions, has been outlawed since 1989 after elephant populations in Africa dropped from millions in the mid-20th century to some 600,000 by the end of the 1980s.

Last week officials in Hong Kong seized more than a tonne of ivory worth about $1.4 million in a shipment from Kenya.

Ivory trade is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which is due to hold its next meeting in March, a date that Omondi says has in the past triggered a rise in poaching.

As the conference approaches, "countries with elephant herds register a surge in poaching... speculators stockpile the contraband with the hope that the conference will lift the ban on ivory trade," he said.

Africa is home to an estimated 472,000 elephants whose survival is threatened by poaching and habitat loss.

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Matisse painting stolen in 1987 recovered

A PAINTING by Henri Matisse has been recovered a quarter of a century after it was stolen from a Swedish museum by a sledgehammer-wielding thief.

The Art Loss Register, which tracks stolen, missing and looted art, says Le Jardin was found when a British dealer checked the picture against the group's database before selling it.

Christopher Marinello, a lawyer working with the London-based register, said British dealer Charles Roberts said he had acquired the painting from an elderly collector in Poland.

Marinello said on Tuesday the painting, valued at about $US1 million ($A956,892), would be returned to Stockholm's Moderna Museet.

The painting was snatched from the gallery in May 1987.

Marinello said it was up to Swedish police to decide whether to try to track down the thieves.

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2 Indian soldiers killed by Pakistan army

PAKISTANI troops have killed two Indian soldiers near the tense disputed border in Kashmir, two Indian military sources say, two days after Islamabad said one of its soldiers was killed there.

"There was an exchange of fire and two of our troops were killed and one injured," a senior Indian military commander in Kashmir told AFP, asking not to be named.

A second source confirmed the deaths.

TV stations, citing army sources, said an Indian patrol was ambushed by Pakistani soldiers inside Indian territory. The Indian army spokesman in Kashmir, RK Palta, declined to comment on the incident.

Tuesday's deaths occurred in southern Kashmir's Mendhar sector, 173 kilometres west by road from Jammu, the commander said.

In Islamabad, a Pakistan military spokesman denied what he called an "Indian allegation of unprovoked firing". He declined to elaborate.

On Sunday Pakistan said Indian troops crossed the de facto border in Kashmir known as the Line of Control and stormed a military post. It said one Pakistani soldier was killed and another injured.

It lodged a formal protest with India on Monday over what it called an unprovoked attack.

India denied crossing the line, saying it had retaliated with small arms fire after Pakistani mortars hit a village home.

A foreign ministry spokesman said Indian troops had undertaken "controlled retaliation" on Sunday after "unprovoked firing" which damaged a civilian home.

A ceasefire has been in place along the Line of Control since 2003 but it is periodically violated by both sides.

Relations between the nuclear-armed rivals have been slowly improving over the last few years following a rupture in their dialogue after the 2008 attacks on Mumbai, which was blamed by India on Pakistan-based militants.

The latest deaths could undermine recent efforts to build trust, such as opening up trade and offering more lenient visa regimes which have been a feature of recent talks between senior political leaders from both sides.

Muslim-majority Kashmir is a Himalayan region which India and Pakistan both claim in full but rule in part. It was the cause of two of three wars fought since independence from Britain in 1947.

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Keats poem fragment up for auction

A FRAGMENT of the only hand-written poem by John Keats known to remain in private hands is going under the hammer.

Inspired by a walk on London's Hampstead Heath, Keats began writing the work, I Stood Tiptoe Upon A Little Hill, in Margate in July 1816 and completed it in November that year.

The piece features 33 scribbled lines, showing how the Romantic poet revised his thoughts as he wrote.

The draft, estimated to fetch STG45,000 ($A69,476), is a fragment of a manuscript which belonged to Charles Cowden Clarke, a close friend of the English poet.

After the Ode To A Nightingale poet's death at the age of 25 in 1821, Clarke cut the manuscript into 13 pieces and gave them to Keats's friends and admirers as mementos.

The fragment of the poem is one of the pieces. Four of the 13 have never been discovered.

Six are in institutions such as the British Library, Harvard and the Scottish National Portrait Gallery, and the locations of the other two have not been known since 1929.

The draft goes on sale on May 8 at Bonhams in London as part of the Roy Davids Collection III: Poetry: Poetical Manuscripts and Portraits of Poets auction.

Other items in the sale, which also features hand-written poems by a young Charlotte Bronte, John Betjeman, WH Auden, and the complete working paper for Sylvia Plath's Sheep In Fog with a commentary by Ted Hughes, go under the hammer on April 10.

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Statistics behind stylish Catherine

AS Prince William's much-admired wife celebrates her 31st birthday, the keys to Catherine's fashion stardom have been compiled by a British magazine.

Style bible Vogue reports in its latest edition that "the world has become mesmerised" by the fashions of the now pregnant Duchess of Cambridge since she joined the royal family in April 2011.

Dresses sell-out within hours of Catherine wearing them, while salons are bombarded with requests to match her brunette blow-dry curls, reads an article in the glossy publication.

To mark her birthday on Wednesday, Vogue has taken a look at 100 of Catherine's public outfits, some dating back to before her engagement to William, and come up with some statistics.

In summary, the results show that to be a true copy Kate, one should wear blue, carry a clutch bag with both hands, and tilt hats to the right at 50 degrees.

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Men lift ute off injured motorist

BRUTE FORCE: The group of construction workers who lifted a car off a trapped driver near Roma on Sunday night. Pic: Alistair Brown Source: The Courier-Mail

A GROUP of construction workers became accidental heroes, lifting a 1400kg ute to free a crushed driver on a desolate stretch of the Warrego Highway near Roma.

The nine construction workers were travelling in a convoy 10km east of Yuleba - population of just over 200 people - when they saw an overturned Mitsubishi ute in a roadside ditch about 10.40pm on Sunday.

Showing initiative and brute strength, six of the workers lifted the rolled ute - which was lying on its roof - while another pulled the driver free from being trapped under the cab. Last night, the crew unwound at a Roma pub with a few "coldies" while the injured 60-year-old was recovering in hospital.

The man had been driving the ute east on the Warrego Highway when he veered off the left-hand shoulder.

Police said it appeared the driver had over-corrected, skidded out of control and rolled the ute on to its roof.

The man's 1995 Mitsubishi Triton ute came to a stop on the other side of the road in a drain beside the road.

His 15-year-old son, who was a passenger in the ute, escaped with minor injuries.

Desperate family members - two women who were travelling in convoy but in a separate 4WD - and the son were frantically trying to help the man before Robert Leilua, 43, and his workmates arrived on the scene.

"He was lucky we turned up," he said.

Mr Leilua said it took him "two goes" before he was able to reach in and drag the man, who was drifting in and out of consciousness, out from underneath the cab and away from the wreck.

The ute was packed with belongings including cabinets and a coffee table as the family were moving house.

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Islamists strengthened in Egypt reshuffle

THE Muslim Brotherhood has strengthened its position in the Egyptian government following the latest government reshuffle, which saw members secure three more portfolios, media reports say.

The ministries of transport, domestic development and supply went to members of the Brotherhood from which President Mohamed Morsi hails, reports said.

Eight of the 35 ministers led by Prime Minister Hisham Qandil come from the Islamist group, which already holds the ministries of information and housing.

The new Finance Minister Al-Morsi al-Sayyed Hegazi, an academic specialising in Islamic finance, is also considered to be close to Brotherhood although he is not a member of the powerful organisation.

Ten new ministers joined the government in Sunday's reshuffle, which drew criticism in the media and among some parties.

"The Islamisation of the government," wrote the independent newspaper Al-Shuruk.

The newspaper also quoted the head of the leftist Tagammu party, Rifaat al-Said, slamming the reshuffle and describing it as a "stranglehold" by the Brotherhood over the government.

The liberal Al-Wafd newspaper cast doubts over the government's ability to deal with a difficult agenda within two months, or until legislative elections are due to take place in February or March.

State media, meanwhile, quoted Morsi urging the new government to intensify its efforts to solve the country's deepening economic crisis.

Sunday's reshuffle came on the eve of talks due to resume Monday in Cairo with the International Monetary Fund for a loan of $US4.8 billion ($A4.6 billion), which many see as a key prerequisite for economic recovery.

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UK far-right leader jailed over passport

THE leader of the far-right English Defence League (EDL) has been jailed for 10 months by a British court for using a friend's passport to travel to the United States.

Stephen Lennon, 30, whose group opposes what it calls the "Islamisation" of Britain, pleaded guilty to possession of a false identity document with improper intention.

Lennon had previously been refused entry to the United States and so used a passport in the name of his friend Andrew McMaster to travel to the country, Southwark Crown Court in London heard.

He used a self check-in kiosk to board a Virgin Atlantic flight from London's Heathrow airport to New York in September 2011.

But when Lennon arrived at New York's John F Kennedy airport US customs officials took his fingerprints and realised that he was not the person on the passport, the court heard.

He was asked to attend a second interview but left the airport, entering the US illegally, before leaving the country the following day using his own passport.

British police arrested Lennon in October.

In a further twist it emerged Lennon's own legitimate passport bears the name Paul Harris.

"You knew perfectly well that you were not welcome in the United States," Judge Alistair McCreath told Lennon as he sentenced him on Monday.

"I am going to sentence you under the name of Stephen Lennon although I suspect that is not actually your true name, in the sense that it is not the name that appears on your passport."

The court heard Lennon was previously jailed for assault in 2005 and has previous convictions for drugs offences and public order offences.

The EDL was formed in 2009 after Muslim hardliners jeered a homecoming parade for British troops who had served in Afghanistan. It has held a series of sometimes violent rallies in Britain.

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Army 'bombs' left in hire car

SYDNEY'S domestic airport was partially shut down after fake bombs hidden in a returned hire car's glove box went undiscovered during an elite military exercise.

According to an investigation report obtained by Fairfax, the mistake sparked a major bomb scare resulting in the partial shutdown of the domestic airport car park on July 4 last year.

The fake bombs were found by cleaners at Hertz rental cars about a fortnight after the car was returned to the airport.

Australian Federal Police bomb disposal experts were called in to examine the fake bombs, with a check of Hertz records revealing the car was one of several vehicles hired for six-and-a-half weeks by the Defence Police Training Centre at Holsworthy Barracks.

An officer from the training centre confirmed the devices were used in exercises for students training to become "close personal protection operatives" or CPPOs, elite military bodyguards.

The Defence Command Support Training Centre and the Army Administrative Inquiry Centre are carrying out independent inquiries into the incident.

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Suspected US drone found off Philippines

PHILIPPINE navy officials say a suspected American drone has been found floating in the ocean, prompting them to deploy a ship with ordnance experts after fishermen reported the object may have been a bomb.

The three-metre orange BQM-74e drone marked "Navy" was found by a Filipino diver and fishermen off Masbate Island on Sunday and has been turned over to local navy authorities, Philippine navy officer Captain Jason Rommel Galang said, adding it was not clear why the unmanned aerial vehicle ended up off Masbate.

US Embassy spokeswoman Bettina Malone said efforts were under way to determine if the drone was one of those used in American military air target training exercises and why it was in the waters off Masbate, about 380 kilometres southeast of Manila. The type of drone found was not armed and not used for surveillance, she said.

Masbate is in a region where communist guerrillas have a presence. US counter-terrorism troops, who are barred from local combat, have used surveillance drones to help Filipino soldiers track down al-Qaeda-linked extremists in the country's south.

At least two US drones have been reported to have crashed and were recovered by villagers in the past on southern Mindanao island.

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US stocks open lower as earnings loom

US stocks have opened lower as profit taking and caution ahead of the looming earnings season took hold in the wake of the bullish week that opened the new year on the markets.

Five minutes into trade on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 61.93 points, or 0.46 per cent, at 13,373.28.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 6.69 points, or 0.46 per cent, to 1,459.78.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite lost 14.00 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 3,087.66.

Bank of America shares added 0.2 per cent to $US12.13 after it announced an $US11.6 billion ($A11.1 billion) deal to settle long-standing mortgage claims from Fannie Mae, and the sale of servicing rights on $US306 billion worth of mortgages.

Nationstar Mortgage, one of the buyers of the servicing rights, gained 13.8 per cent.

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Mum kills son who 'failed to learn Koran'

A MOTHER convicted of beating her seven-year-old son to death for failing to learn the Koran by heart has been jailed in Britain for a minimum of 17 years.

Sara Ege, a 33-year-old mathematics graduate from India, battered her son Yaseen with a stick in July 2010 when he failed to memorise Islamic texts and burned his body to hide the evidence, Cardiff Crown Court in Wales heard during the trial.

Ege collapsed as she was sentenced on Monday and was led sobbing from the dock.

"Yaseen was subjected to prolonged cruelty," Judge Wyn Williams told her as he passed sentence.

"I am satisfied that, over three months, you beat him on a number of occasions."

The judge said that until the final three months of Yaseen's life Ege had been "a very good mother" in many respects. He also acknowledged that she had suffered prolonged periods of depression.

Yaseen was initially believed to have been killed in a fire at the family home in Pontcanna, Cardiff, but tests later revealed he was dead before the blaze began.

A jury found Ege guilty last month of murder and perverting the course of justice.

She had confessed to the murder but later retracted the confession, saying her husband and his family had forced her into it.

Her husband, Yousef Ege, 38, was cleared in December of failing to prevent the death.

The judge said Yaseen had suffered "serious abdominal injuries" on the day he was killed, when Ege had kept the seven-year-old at home to study the Koran.

"On that day Yaseen must have failed in some way because I am satisfied that it was that failure which was the trigger for the beating," he said.

"That is what you told the police in the course of your confession in July 2010 and I see no reason to doubt what you then said was true."

He added: "There can be no doubt that you set fire to his body in an attempt to evade the consequences of what you had done."

Ege had told police she could not stop herself beating her son and had repeatedly pledged to God before Yaseen's death that she would not do it again, but her good intentions only lasted a few days.

The court heard she was sent to a psychiatric unit for several months after her son's death. She claimed several times to have been motivated by voices from the devil.

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Road crash victims 'gone too young'

VICTIMS: Zara Simon and Samantha Neilsen died in a car crash at Anstead. Picutres: Facebook Source: The Courier-Mail

SHOCKED police at a crash that killed two teenage girls said words could not describe the devastating scene.

Zara Simon and Samantha Neilsen, believed to be 18 and 16, died when their Toyota Corolla skidded about 20m from Hawkesbury Rd, Anstead, 16km southwest of Brisbane, and ploughed into a power pole in the early hours of yesterday.

Police said they were driving home from a party.

The impact of the crash tore the vehicle in half, throwing the front section about 10m down the road.

One neighbour described the eerie silence that followed. "It makes you feel lucky it wasn't you," he said.

ROAD TRAGEDY: The crash scene at Anstead. PIC: Jono Searle

By yesterday afternoon, friends had taken to social networking sites to pay tribute to the girls.

"RIP Zara Simon, you amazing and beautiful girl, I will always miss you," one said. "Samantha Neilsen and Zara Simon, I actually can't believe you guys are gone, it's just not right," said another.

`"Rest In Peace girls, you guys passed way too young. My thoughts go out to you and your families''

Samantha Neilsen had just completed Year 11.

Metro north Inspector Mark Laing described the crash scene as "horrific". "Words can't describe the scene to be honest," he said. "It's just a tragic loss of two lives . . .

even after 30 years you see something like this - it still affects us individually."

He said excessive speed was a factor in the crash.

"Each year there are a lot of new drivers on the road, young drivers. But it's not just the young drivers, it's all ages. Please slow down, drive to the conditions and drive (to the limits) within yourself," he said.

Power was cut to the street for several hours as emergency crews worked to remove the car from the power pole.

The 2013 road toll now stands at five after a 36-year-old Buderim cyclist was hit by a car at Mooloolaba on Saturday afternoon. He died at the scene.

A 19-year-old Blackstone man and his 28-year-old cousin visiting from New Zealand were also killed when they were thrown from a car driven by an 18-year-old near Ipswich on New Year's Day.

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US considers broad gun sales restrictions

THE administration of President Barack Obama is considering a broad array of measures to curb the nation's gun violence, including more than just a reinstatement of a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition, The Washington Post reports.

Citing multiple people involved in the administration's discussions, the newspaper said a working group led by Vice-President Joe Biden is seriously considering several measures: universal background checks for firearm buyers, tracking the movement and sale of weapons through a national database, strengthening mental health checks, and stiffening penalties for carrying guns near schools or giving them to minors.

To push these measures through Congress, the White House is developing strategies to work around the National Rifle Association, the report said.

According to the paper, they could include rallying support from Wal-Mart and other gun retailers as well as regular contact with advisers to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an outspoken gun-control advocate.

The proposals are a response to last month's tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut, the site of one of the worst school shootings in US history.

On December 14, a disturbed local man, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, killed his mother in their Newtown home before embarking on a horrific shooting spree at a local elementary school.

He blasted his way into Sandy Hook Elementary School and shot dead 20 six- and seven-year-old children and six adults with a military-style assault rifle before taking his own life with a handgun as police closed in.

However, the NRA, the most powerful gun lobby in the United States, stands firm against any additional restraints on firearms and ammunition sales - despite a national outcry in the wake of the Sandy Hook school massacre.

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Assad speech 'beyond hypocritical': UK

BRITAIN has denounced President Bashar al-Assad's speech calling for a conference of national dialogue to end the Syrian conflict as "beyond hypocritical".

Foreign Secretary William Hague said Assad's first speech to the nation since June was full of "empty promises" and would "fool no one".

In an address to an ecstatic audience in a Damascus theatre on Sunday, Assad described the opposition as "slaves" of the West and outlined a reconciliation plan aimed at resolving a civil war, which according to the UN has claimed more than 60,000 lives.

He called for a conference of national dialogue to be followed by a referendum on a national charter and parliamentary elections.

Assad also called on foreign powers to end their support for rebels seeking to bring down his regime.

Hague took to Twitter to vent his anger about the speech, writing: "AssadSpeech beyond hypocritical. Deaths, violence and oppression engulfing Syria are his own making, empty promises of reform fool no one."

Prime Minister David Cameron earlier reiterated his calls for the Syrian leader to stand down.

"My message to Assad is go," he told BBC TV. "He has the most phenomenal amount of blood on his hands."

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Egypt cabinet reshuffle ahead of IMF talks

EGYPT'S President Mohamed Morsi has reshuffled his cabinet amid a serious economic crisis and ahead of talks with the International Monetary Fund for a $US4.8 billion ($A4.6 billion) loan.

Ten new ministers have been sworn into office, including Finance Minister Al-Morsi al-Sayyed Hegazi, whose predecessor Mumtaz al-Said headed the IMF loan negotiations that stalled during a period of intense political unrest in December.

Hegazi, a specialist in Islamic finance, will report to Prime Minister Hisham Qandil, who remains in his post.

The Muslim Brotherhood, from which Islamist Morsi emanates, had criticised Said as being too close to the army, which held power during the transitional period after the overthrow of president Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Mohammed Ibrahim, a former police general, replaced Ahmed Gamal al-Din as interior minister, and eight other portfolios all related to the economy changed hands.

The ministers for transport, electricity, domestic development, civil aviation, the environment, communications, supply and domestic trade and parliamentary affairs were all replaced on Sunday.

Morsi announced the reshuffle on December 26, after the ratification by popular vote of a controversial new constitution draft by an Islamist-dominated panel allied to the president.

He said he wanted a cabinet more suited to the economic crisis the country faces.

Egypt's loan request to the IMF, made in August last year, was suspended for a month on December 11, with Cairo saying the postponement was "because of the political situation in the country".

The IMF and Egyptian authorities had provisionally agreed on the 22-month loan - aimed at helping the government bridge financial shortfalls through fiscal 2013-2014 - on November 20.

A top IMF official will visit Egypt on Monday for talks that are likely to focus on the loan.

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Cameron says wants to be UK PM until 2020

DAVID Cameron says he wants to serve as British prime minister until at least 2020 to oversee a range of reforms including a renegotiation of Britain's relationship with Europe.

In a raft of interviews ahead of a mid-term review of the progress of his coalition government on Monday, Cameron also defended a largely unpopular decision to remove child benefit payments from higher earners.

Cameron told the Sunday Telegraph he intended to lead his Conservative Party to victory in the 2015 general election and then serve a full five-year term.

As Cameron rarely speaks about his planned departure date, it has prompted speculation that if re-elected he would stand down halfway through his mandate.

But when asked by the newspaper if he intended to stay on as prime minister until 2020, Cameron said: "I want to fight the next election, win the next election and serve - that is what I want to do."

Pressed on what he would say in a major speech on Britain's strained relationship with the European Union that he is due to give in mid-January, Cameron said his party would offer voters a "real choice" at the 2015 election.

He said any vote on Britain's relationship with the EU would happen in the five years after the election, but he refused to be drawn on whether a poll would include the question whether Britain should remain in the bloc.

"People should be in no doubt that the Conservatives will be offering at the next election a real choice and a real way giving consent to that choice," he said in an interview on BBC TV.

He stressed it was in Britain's economic interest to remain a full member of the EU to enable the country to influence the direction of the single market.

"If we were outside the EU altogether, we'd still be trading with all these EU countries, but we'd have no say over the rules of the market into which we sell," Cameron said.

He said that because the countries using the euro were forced to make changes to their relationship to bolster the currency, Britain was "perfectly entitled" to ask for changes to the conditions of its membership.

On the domestic front, Cameron insisted there would be no U-turn to a move due to kick in on Monday to remove child welfare payments from families in which one parent earns more than STG60,000 ($A93,000).

"This will raise STG2 billion a year. If we don't raise that STG2 billion from that group of people - the better-off 15 per cent in the country - we would have to find someone else to take it from."

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Syrian opposition rejects Assad plan

THE opposition Syrian National Coalition rejects a reconciliation plan outlined by President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus, spokesman Walid al-Bunni has told AFP by phone.

"We said at the founding of the National Coalition that we want a political solution, but ... there are now over 60,000 martyrs. The Syrians did not make all those sacrifices in order to bolster this tyrannical regime," he said.

Bunni said Sunday's speech was directed primarily at the "international community, which engaged in a real effort to create a political solution that meets the aspirations of the Syrian people and ends the tyranny of the Assad family regime".

Assad will not accept "any initiative that does not restore stability to his regime and put him at the helm of control", Bunni said.

The president, he added, has "excluded the possibility of any dialogue with the rebels".

"He wants negotiating partners of his own choosing and will not accept any initiative that could meet the aspirations of the Syrian people or ultimately lead to his departure and the dismantling of his regime."

Assad's call to dialogue "excludes those who revolt" and is addressed to "those who did not rise up or who will gladly accept the return of stability despite all the sacrifices made by the Syrian people", Bunni said.

Assad in his speech denounced the opposition as "slaves" of the West and called for national dialogue to draft a new charter and pave the way for legislative polls.

He said the conflict was not one between the government and the opposition but between the "nation and its enemies".

"Just because we have not found a partner, it does not mean we are not interested in a political solution, but that we did not find a partner," he told the audience.

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Doctors say Mandela has 'recovered'

NELSON Mandela has "recovered" from recent surgery and a lung infection for which the 94-year-old spent nearly three weeks in hospital, the South African presidency says, citing his doctors.

He "has recovered from his surgical procedure and the lung infection, his doctors said today", a statement from President Jacob Zuma's office said on Sunday.

"The medical (examination) said president Mandela has made steady progress and that clinically, he continues to improve," it said.

"He had undergone an operation to remove gallstones last month and was also troubled by a recurring lung infection. He continues to receive high care at his Houghton (Johannesburg) home and his daily routine is being gradually re-established."

On Thursday, Mandela's grandson, Mandla Mandela, told AFP the former South African president "is healed and is stronger than before".

The revered former statesman was flown to a Pretoria hospital on December 8 from his childhood home in Qunu.

Mandela was discharged from hospital more than a week ago after his longest stay in hospital since being released from prison in 1990.

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