French-led troops in Mali seize airport

FRENCH-LED troops have seized the airport and a key bridge serving the Islamist stronghold of Gao in a major boost to a 16-day-old offensive to rout al-Qaeda-linked rebels from Mali's sprawling desert north.

The stunning advance came as the extremist Muslim group controlling Gao since June said it was ready for talks to free a 61-year-old French hostage kidnapped in November.

In a parallel movement, Chadian troops deployed in Mali's eastern neighbour Niger started rolling towards the border to join a contingent of Niger soldiers as part of African efforts to boost the French-led offensive.

"They are a very big contingent and they have tanks and four-wheel drives with machineguns," a Niger security source said.

It was not clear whether they were set to cross the border, which lies only 100km from Gao.

France on Saturday confirmed the capture of the airport and the Wanbary bridge at Gao but said fighting was continuing in Gao itself.

The airport is located about 6km east of Gao, while the bridge lies at the southern entrance to the town, held by the al-Qaeda-linked Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO).

Sources said earlier that the Islamists had left Gao in the wake of the French-led military offensive on January 11 to stop a triad of al-Qaeda-linked groups from pushing southward from their northern bastions towards Bamako.

An alliance of Tuareg rebels who wanted to declare an independent homeland in the north and hardline Islamist groups seized the northern towns of Gao, Timbuktu and Kidal in April last year.

The Islamist groups include MUJAO, Ansar Dine, a homegrown Islamist group, and al-Qaeda in the Maghreb, of which MUJAO is an offshoot.

The Islamists then sidelined the Tuaregs to implement their own Islamic agenda. Their harsh interpretation of sharia law has seen transgressors flogged, stoned and executed, and they have forbidden music and television and forced women to wear veils.

The MUJAO said it was ready for negotiations to release Gilberto Rodriguez Leal, a French national of Portuguese origin who was kidnapped in western Mali.

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China 'must modernise' before global role

CHINA'S new leadership will focus on modernising the country before it increases Beijing's role in international affairs, a top official has told the Davos forum.

Senior Chinese planning official Zhang Xiaoqiang told economic and business leaders gathered in the Swiss ski resort that the whole world would benefit if China completed its development program.

"I think that the new leader of the Chinese government and the Communist Party has emphasised the strategic agenda for China in the future is to realise the modernisation of China," Zhang told the World Economic Forum on Saturday.

"And of course for the largest developing country itself, modernisation must be a great contribution for the human beings' progress and development," said Zhang, a deputy director of China's National Development and Reform Commission.

Zhang was taking part in a panel at the annual World Economic Forum that discussed China's future global agenda, with other members including former British prime minister Gordon Brown and former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd.

China's once-in-a-decade leadership transition is due to take place at a key congress in March, after the Communist Party in November chose current Vice President Xi Jinping to take over the reins from current President Hu Jintao.

Brown, British premier from 2007-2010 and now a UN special education envoy, argued that China should take a more prominent role in global affairs given that it would soon become the largest economy in the world.

"China should now want to play its rightful role in what is not a unipolar world any more but a multipolar world," he said. He added that the world economy was growing "far slower" than it should because of a lack of cooperation.

But Zhang said China was already playing a global role, and urged patience.

"In fact China already takes a lot of efforts in many global challenges, such as dealing with the international financial crisis, the government changes, food security," he told the forum.

Zhang said his nation would "continue to play an important role as a responsible developing country" and wanted to "build up more global development partnership."

"Particularly we first want to promote the common development within the developing countries, but this also will contribute a lot to the whole world's peace, progress and prosperity," he said.

International analysts widely expect China's fast-growing economy to overtake the United States in terms of gross domestic product, or total size, some time in the first half of this century.

But they also see the United States as likely to remain wealthier on a per capita basis given China's huge population of 1.3 billion, while that of the US currently stands at about 315 million.

Rudd, a Mandarin speaker who was Australia's prime minister from 2007 to 2010, warned however of an arms race in Asia fuelled by increasingly nationalistic territorial disputes in China's backyard.

"Economic globalisation does not, as a matter of inevitable mathematical logic, extinguish political nationalism," said Rudd.

"In our part of the world where you've got the biggest arms race unfolding in recent global history, that's the Asian hemisphere, there are important other factors which we need to respect."

Meanwhile Brown - who was introduced to the Davos audience as having led a G20 summit in 2008 that "saved the world from the brink of financial meltdown" - warned that lessons had not been learned from the global debt crisis.

"I think we will have financial crises on a regular basis over the next 30 or 40 years," he said.

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Suicide attack kills 'several' in Kunduz

A SUICIDE attack has killed several Afghan officials and civilians in a crowded area of the northeast city of Kunduz.

Officials among the victims included "the city's counter terrorism police chief and head of traffic police chief", the Kunduz provincial governor's spokesman Enayatullah Khaleeq told AFP on Saturday, adding that "several other policemen and civilians are killed and wounded".

Kunduz police spokesman Sayed Sarwar Hussani confirmed the casualties and the attack, saying it took place around 5.20pm (23:50 AEDT).

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but such incidents have in the past been carried out by Taliban insurgents who are leading an 11-year war against the US-backed government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Earlier in the day a suicide attacker riding a bicycle killed two civilians in southeastern Afghanistan's Ghazni province.

On Friday, a suicide bomber in a car attacked a NATO convoy in Afghanistan's strategic Kapisa province on Friday, killing at least five civilians and wounding 15, officials said.

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Former premier leads in Czech vote

LEFT-LEANING former prime minister Milos Zeman is leading in the race for the largely ceremonial post of Czech president.

With the votes from more than 50 per cent of polling stations counted on Saturday, the outspoken Zeman was leading with 57.62 per cent of the vote while his opponent, conservative Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg received 42.37 per cent.

Czechs are electing the country's president in a direct popular vote for the first time, choosing a leader to replace euro-sceptic President Vaclav Klaus.

Zeman and Schwarzenberg, a bow-tie wearing aristocrat, are facing each other in a runoff after finishing as the top two candidates in the first round two weeks ago.

Klaus' second and final term in office ends March 7. The new president will be sworn in the following day.

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NATO missile defence in Turkey operational

THE first of six Patriot missile batteries being deployed to Turkey to protect against attack from Syria has been declared operational and placed under Turkish command, NATO says.

The battery, provided by the Netherlands, is meant to protect the city of Adana by shooting down missiles that could come over the Syrian border. Turkey has become a harsh critic of the regime in Syria, where a vicious civil war has left at least 60,000 people dead.

The United States, Germany and the Netherlands are providing two batteries each of the latest version of the US-made Patriots. The other five Patriot batteries are expected to be in place and operational in the coming days in Adana, Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep.

"This is a clear demonstration of the agility and flexibility of NATO forces and of our willingness to defend Allies who face threats in an unstable world," Admiral James Stavridis, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander for Europe, said in a statement.

NATO reiterated on Saturday that the Patriots are for defensive purposes only. Syria has not fired any of its surface-to-surface missiles at Turkey during its nearly two-year civil war and its government has described the NATO deployment as a provocation.

NATO also deployed Patriot batteries to Turkey during the US-led invasion of Iraq 10 years ago. They were never used and were withdrawn a few months later.

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Kyrgyzstan tougher on bride-kidnapping

THE president of Kyrgyzstan has approved legislation toughening the penalty for the broadly practiced custom of bride-kidnapping.

President Almazbek Atamabyev's office said in a statement on its website on Saturday that sentences for forcing women into marriage against their will could now range up to 10 years.

The offence was previously punishable by a maximum three-year prison term.

Although illegal, the practice of snatching potential brides, often under the age of 18, off the street is widely tolerated in the former Soviet Central Asian nation.

Proponents of bride-kidnapping argue that it is an integral part of nomadic Kyrgyz culture, but some academics argue that the practice has been adopted relatively recently in history.

One leading motivation is believed to be the desire to avoid the cost of onerous dowries.

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Southeast braces for deluge threat

Aerials of flooding between Gracemere and Rockhampton, central Queensland. PIC: Peter Wallis Source: The Courier-Mail

SOUTHEAST Queensland is bracing itself for its worst weather event since 2011, prompting a rush release of millions of litres of drinking water from major dams.

With 300mm of rain forecast to soak the region today and tomorrow, Premier Campbell Newman gave the order for just under 50,000 million litres to be drawn from Wivenhoe and North Pine Dams, a three per cent reduction.

With ex-Tropical Cyclone Oswald drenching north Queensland, it is the southeast's turn to receive a bucketing as the low creates flash flooding from the Sunshine Coast to the New South Wales border.

In central Queensland, swiftwater rescue teams made 20 rescues including plucking eight people to safety after their car was swept off the Capricorn Highway and a teenager was saved from a ranging torrent by swift water rescue teams.

CQ DRAMAS: HEARTBREAK AS RAIN RECORDS GO UNDER

With the heavy weather expected to set in until at least tomorrow night, Premier Newman made the call to release water from Wivenhoe and North Pine dams.

Starting late yesterday, 41,000 million litres was being let out of Wivenhoe Dam, and 8000 million litres from North Pine - less than a quarter of what was being released every day in the lead up to the January 2011 floods.

But a cautious Premier admitted the releases were more about offering peace of mind to flood-scarred residents, than out of necessity.

The releases will lower the level of Wivenhoe to about 88 per cent - down from 91.6 per cent - and occur at a rate of about 300 cubic metres a second.

GALLERY: QUEENSLAND COAST COPS A DRENCHING

Mr Newman revealed the decision to let the drinking water out was essentially his and Water Supply Minister Mark McArdle's, rather than at the urging of dam engineers.

"I'm happy to say as Premier, (and) a former Lord Mayor, and Mr McArdle as a Minister in this government . . . we're not just sitting there waiting to be given advice, we're actively considering the matter," Mr Newman said.

"We are letting them (Seqwater) know that we totally support proactive measures to increase the buffer that's available, and I'm more than happy to say that."

His order came as lives were feared lost in Central Queensland after Oswald dumped 349mm of rain on Rockhampton, smashing a 40-year-old record.

BOGGED: MAN STRANDED IN CAR FOR 22 HOURS

In Gladstone, where more than 600mm of rain fell in two days, sewage bubbled into the streets but Mayor Gail Sellers said it was not a health risk.

"We've got so much water here, it's so diluted, it's not a health risk and we're dealing with it," she said.

The city's harbour has been closed, the region's national parks are shut and Gladstone's Australia Day celebrations have been cancelled.

Mr Newman said while most people would "sadly fixate on issue of the river" the real risk in Brisbane was suburban creek and stormwater drain flooding.

He said the release of water was designed to make people feel "more comfortable and secure in relation to dams and their management".

"At the moment, all the information I have is even without this measure (water release) we'd have enough in that 1.4 million megalitre flood storage compartment to take what's coming. That's the advice we have at the moment," Mr Newman said.

Mr McArdle said the aim was "to protect people and the property of southeast Queensland by making certain the dams were at their most efficient".

A decision was taken in November not to reduce southeast Queensland dam capacity to 75 per cent but leave it at 100 per cent because of the forecast of a dry summer.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Graham Quirk announced yesterday pre-filled sandbags would be available all weekend at council depots at Darra, Morningside, Virginia and Newmarket for anyone concerned about flooding.

He said BCC was hopeful the city would be spared the worst of the bad weather but residents should nevertheless remain vigilant - particularly in low-lying zones around the Norman, Bulimba, Breakfast/Enoggera, Stable Swamp/Oxley and Cabbage Tree Creek catchments and the Zilman Waterhole at Boondall.

"This is not to alarm people but simply to say we are on full alert," Cr Quirk said.

Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale warned of the potential for flash flooding in the Bundamba and Woogaroo Creek catchments but said the dryness of the area meant they were not expecting major problems.

With the Gold Coast predicted to be hardest hit by the weather "bomb", the city council activated its disaster management centre.

Co-ordinator Peter McNamee said hinterland creeks and causeways were the main concern and the situation was "highly unpredictable".

Campers on Fraser Island could also be at risk from heavy rain, with 3000 booked for the Australia Day long weekend and high tides likely to affect movement along the beaches.

Emergency Services Minister Jack Dempsey has embarked on a tour of rain-deluged communities from Rockhampton south, but Mr Newman said there was no need for him to personally visit those areas.

"At this stage no, because as you've heard the issue has generally been controlled quite well.

"If I see this thing get more serious I can assure people I will be getting out and about," Mr Newman said.

Additional reporting by Andrew MacDonald, Peter Michael, Rose Brennan, Rikki-Lee Arnold

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Russia backs nationwide 'anti-gay' bill

RUSSIA'S parliament has given initial backing to a controversial bill banning homosexual "propaganda" among minors that could lead to gays being fined for demonstrating or kissing in public.

The vote on the first reading was to be held only hours after at least 20 mostly young opponents of the bill were detained by riot police during a "kiss-in protest" outside the State Duma lower house building.

In the first of three readings, the Duma backed the measure with 388 votes in favour, one against and one abstention after a brief debate.

The strict measure is based on local laws passed in President Vladimir Putin's native city of Saint Petersburg and in several other Russian regions.

The push to agree the law on a federal level has dismayed rights activists who see the legislation in the latest in a sequence of repressive legislation against civil society to be debated by parliament.

But the Duma's family affairs committee chair Yelena Mizulina said she backed a nationwide law that "protected minors from the consequences of homosexuality."

"The unbridled propaganda of homosexuality anywhere you look effectively limits the child's right to free development," said Mizulina in televised comments to journalists ahead of the bill reading.

Her comments came moments after a group of opponents held a prolonged and proud embraces with same-sex partners in open defiance of the bill. It was their third such action outside the Duma in a week and once again ended with police action.

Witnesses said officers detained 20 supporters and opponents of the bill as small scuffles broke outside the parliament building.

Homosexuality was only decriminalised in Russia after the end of the Soviet era and top officials continue to express homophobic views in public.

Russia's leaders repeatedly refer to gays in official language as "people of a non-traditional sexual orientation".

The Moscow authorities have roughly suppressed attempts to stage gay rights parades over the past seven years. A 2010 survey by the Levada Centre found that 74 per cent of respondents thought homosexuality was either "immoral" or "mentally deficient".

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Egypt police fire tear gas in Alexandria

POLICE in the Egyptian city of Alexandria have fired tear gas at protesters, witnesses say, as nationwide rallies mark the second anniversary of the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak.

Clashes erupted in two neighbourhoods of Egypt's second city on Friday between police and protesters who burned tyres, sending plumes of dark smoke into the sky.

"The smoke is black, there is a lot of gas. There are people on the ground because they can't breathe," one of the protesters, only identified as Rasha, told AFP.

Clashes also broke out in the canal city of Suez after protesters tried to storm the governorate headquarters before being pushed back by police, who fired heavy tear gas, witnesses said.

Protesters hurled rocks at police and burnt tyres in the road.

In Cairo, army and police forces were deployed to protect the information ministry which also houses state television and radio, after protesters briefly blocked traffic outside the building, witnesses said.

Tens of thousands took to the streets across the country to protest against Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, who is accused of failing to work for the goals of the revolution that ousted Mubarak and consolidating power in the hands of his powerful Muslim Brotherhood.

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Obama picks new chief of staff

US President Barack Obama has chosen trusted adviser and national security expert Denis McDonough as his fifth chief of staff.

A White House official said in a statement that Obama will announce McDonough's appointment on Friday. McDonough, 43, will take over the key role from Jack Lew, Obama's nominee for Treasury secretary.

McDonough has advised Obama on foreign policy for nearly a decade and most recently served as the president's deputy national security adviser.

McDonough's place in Obama's inner circle was illustrated during the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011. He is among those captured in a White House photograph seated in the situation room with Obama and other senior officials watching the raid unfold.

The White House official, speaking on condition of anonymity in order to speak before the president's announcement, said McDonough has played a key role in all of Obama's major national security decisions in recent years, including the end of the war in Iraq, winding down the war in Afghanistan, responses to natural disasters in Haiti and Japan and repeal of the military's ban on openly gay service members.

Earlier, McDonough worked as a foreign policy specialist in Congress.

McDonough's new role was previously filled by Rahm Emanuel, William Daly and Pete Rouse, as interim chief of staff, before Lew.

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Indonesia tries to control flooding

INDONESIAN authorities will use generators and cloud-seeding measures to defuse and push away rain-laden clouds to avoid more flooding that has paralysed Jakarta, an official says.

Heavy rain over the mega-city last week caused 32 deaths and at its peak forced nearly 46,000 people to flee their inundated homes, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for the National Disaster Mitigation Agency, told AFP.

The weather agency has forecast heavy rain for January 26-28, raising concerns that Jakarta - which combined with its satellite cities is home to 20 million people - may get submerged again.

To avoid such flooding a team led by the artificial rain unit of the Agency for the Assessment and Application of Technology will on Saturday start deploying 20 ground-based acetone generators in western Jakarta, in a bid to avert condensation in the region that contributes to larger rain clouds.

The artificial rain unit will also deploy a Hercules plane to carry out cloud seeding measures to force approaching clouds to rain in the ocean before they arrive over the capital, unit head Tri Handoko Seto said.

"We are trying our best to modify the rain to not fall heavily on Jakarta as well as forcing the rainclouds to rain in the sea, or in areas outside Jakarta that can still take heavy rains," Seto told AFP by telephone.

The rainy season is expected to last until March, Nugroho said.

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P&G outlook boost helps US stocks

US stocks have opened higher helped by Procter & Gamble's 2.4 per cent gain after it beat quarterly earnings estimates and raised its outlook for 2013.

Positive quarterly reports from Oshkosh (+14.8 per cent) and Halliburton (+4.6 per cent) also underpinned the fresh rally on Friday, while Microsoft slipped 0.4 per cent on its middling results.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 30.10 points (0.22 per cent) to 13,855.43.

The broad-based S&P 500 added 4.72 (0.32 per cent) to 1499.54, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 7.42 (0.24 per cent) to 3137.80.

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Oil prices climb on weak US dollar

GLOBAL oil prices have advanced, buoyed by a weakening US dollar, upbeat German economic data and gains on European stock markets, dealers said.

Brent North Sea crude for delivery in March rose 41 cents to $US113.69 a barrel in London midday deals.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for March, won 47 cents to $96.42 a barrel.

In foreign exchange trade on Friday, the European single currency surged to $1.3465 - which marked the highest level since February 29, 2012.

The shared eurozone unit soared following news that German business confidence had struck the highest level in seven months.

The Ifo institute's closely watched business climate index for Europe's top economy rose to 104.2 points in January - its highest reading since June - from 102.4 points a month earlier.

The euro also spiked after the European Central Bank revealed that 278 eurozone banks will repay early 137.16 billion euros ($A176.53 billion) of ultra-cheap three-year loans made available to them last year in emergency liquidity measures.

"Crude oil prices extended gains on Friday ... mainly supported by the weaker US dollar that offered strong upside momentum to the market," said analyst Myrto Sokou at the Sucden brokerage in London.

"In the meantime, European equity markets continue to post fairly strong gains."

A weak greenback tends to stimulate demand for dollar-priced crude, which becomes cheaper for buyers using stronger currencies like the euro. That tends to stimulate demand and spark higher price levels.

European stock markets also advanced on Friday, with Frankfurt hitting a five-year high as the German data helped offset news that the British economy had contracted by 0.3 per cent in the fourth quarter of last year.

Crude futures had jumped on Thursday on the back of growing optimism after strong economic indicators in the US, China and Europe.

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Nepal colonel in UK court over torture

A COLONEL in Nepal's army will stand trial in Britain in June on charges of torture allegedly committed during the Himalayan nation's civil war.

Colonel Kuma Lama appeared by video link from prison for a London court hearing on Thursday. The judge set a provisional trial date of June 5.

Lama, who lives in England, was denied bail.

He was arrested by British police earlier this month and charged with two counts of intentionally "inflicting severe pain or suffering" on two individuals.

Police say the charges relate to incidents that allegedly occurred between April and October 2005 at the Gorusinghe Army Barracks in Nepal.

Thousands of people died and thousands were injured or tortured during Nepal's decade-long civil war, which ended in 2006.

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Toyota, BMW focus on green technology

MOTOR vehicle manufacturers Toyota and BMW say they are working closely together to develop green technology.

The companies said on Thursday they had reached binding agreements on several strategies. These include the possible joint development of a mid-sized sports vehicle, with a feasibility study expected to be completed by the year's end.

"Toyota and the BMW Group are seizing this unique chance to lead the industry towards the future of mobility," Herbert Diess, a member of BMW's management board, said in Tokyo.

"By doing so we will play a central role in defining tomorrow's vehicles."

The agreement would also see the pair work together on developing lightweight vehicle bodies and next-generation vehicle batteries.

The development of fuel-cell systems has a target completion date of 2020, they said.

"The companies are convinced that fuel cell technology is one of the solutions necessary to achieve zero emissions," said a joint statement.

Under an earlier deal, the German automaker agreed to provide diesel engines for Toyota, a major player in environmentally friendly vehicles, as the Japanese firm looks to boost sales in Europe, where more than half of passenger cars are diesel powered.

Demand for lower-emission diesel vehicles is forecast to grow, with further technological advances in the field seen as crucial due to toughening emissions standards.

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Sony fined for UK cyber-attack data breach

ELECTRONICS giant Sony has been fined by Britain's data watchdog for a breach that compromised the personal information of millions of customers using PlayStation video games consoles.

The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said the April 2011 cyberattack was a "serious breach" of Britain's data protection laws and fined the Japanese electronics giant STG250,000 ($A378,000).

Personal information including names, addresses, email addresses, dates of birth and account passwords were compromised, while customers' payment card details were also at risk.

The ICO said the breach was one of the most serious it had ever seen.

It found the attack could have been prevented if Sony's software had been up to date, while technical developments also meant passwords were not secure.

"If you are responsible for so many payment card details and log-in details, then keeping that personal data secure has to be your priority," said ICO deputy commissioner David Smith.

"In this case that just didn't happen, and when the database was targeted - albeit in a determined criminal attack - the security measures in place were simply not good enough.

"It is a company that trades on its technical expertise, and there's no doubt in my mind that they had access to both the technical knowledge and the resources to keep this information safe.

"The case is one of the most serious ever reported to us."

Following the breach, Sony rebuilt its network platform to ensure the personal information it processes is kept secure.

The company intends to appeal against the decision.

"Sony Computer Entertainment Europe strongly disagrees with the ICO's ruling and is planning an appeal," a spokesman said.

The company said it noted that the ICO recognised it was "the victim of 'a focused and determined criminal attack', that 'there is no evidence that encrypted payment card details were accessed', and that 'personal data is unlikely to have been used for fraudulent purposes'".

Sony said: "Criminal attacks on electronic networks are a real and growing aspect of 21st century life and Sony continually works to strengthen our systems."

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Vic hospitals cancel 1300 operations

ELECTIVE surgery for 1300 patients across three Melbourne hospitals will reportedly be cancelled over the next five months as the fallout from $107 million in federal budget cuts continues.

Western Health says 550 patients at the Western and Sunshine hospitals and 750 patients at Williamstown Hospital will not receive elective surgery as planned this financial year, Fairfax reports.

Thousands of elective surgeries are set to be cancelled across the state as hospitals slash services to cope with the federal funding loss.

More than 300 beds were being closed as federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek and her Victorian counterpart David Davis negotiated a time to meet on the funding issue late Thursday, Fairfax said.

Mr Davis has said Canberra has cut $107 million from existing hospital budgets, while Ms Plibersek maintains Victoria will receive $900 million more in hospital funding over four years.

The cuts have prompted The Alfred to reportedly axe 300 operations, while the Royal Children's Hospital has announced it will have to slash 50 jobs.

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Fire rips through Hobart's Queens Domain

A LARGE fire is spreading from hilly bushland just northeast of Hobart's CBD.

The fire was moving uphill from the northeast side of the Queens Domain, fanned by strong winds, Tasmania Police said at 10.30pm (AEDT) on Thursday.

Motorists are being urged to avoid the area and be mindful of police directions and firefighting operations.

Authorities say no buildings are currently threatened.

The blaze has so far consumed around five hectares of long, dry grass at a city council reserve next to the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, with at least 14 crews battling to bring it under control, a Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) spokesman said.

"It's quite visual with everybody around Hobart, (but) it's not threatening any properties," he told AAP.

The blaze broke out about 9.40pm (AEDT) and took firefighters using 17 vehicles around three hours to bring under control, a TFS spokesman said.

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Apple's plunge hits Nasdaq

APPLE'S plunge on disappointing earnings has pulled the Nasdaq lower in opening trade, but the other key indices managed to stay in positive territory.

Five minutes into trade on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 34.79 points, or 0.25 per cent, to 13,814.12.

The broad-based S&P 500 up 0.56 point, or 0.04 per cent, to 1,495.37.

But the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite fell 22.12 points, or 0.70 per cent, to 3,131.55.

The drop in Nasdaq came as Apple, the biggest US company by market capitalisation, disappointed the market with below-expected revenues and a middling outlook on upcoming revenues. Apple shares were off 11.4 per cent.

On the positive side, US jobless claims came in well below expectations, an unexpectedly strong result for the second week in a row.

Chinese manufacturing activity in January was also strong, suggesting the world's second-biggest economy is moving into better times.

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Man set to be charged over Sydney shooting

A MAN is expected to be charged over the fatal shooting of a 24-year-old man in broad daylight in Sydney's southwest.

Joshua George died after being shot once to the chest at Claymore about 1.30pm (AEDT) on Sunday.

After the shooting, police began hunting for 21-year-old Graeme Smith who is believed to have gotten into an argument with the 24-year-old at a party near Campbelltown the night before.

Police had previously said they had no idea about Mr Smith's whereabouts.

But about 7.15pm (AEDT) on Thursday, officers attached to the Police Transport Command spotted a 21-year-old man while they were patrolling outside the Blacktown railway station.

The man, who was reported to have a distinctive tattoo on his neck, had a scarf or jumper covering it.

Once the material was removed, it confirmed to officers who the person was, a police spokesman told AAP.

Police said the man was arrested a short time later and taken to Blacktown Police Station, where he is currently assisting police with their inquiries.

Inspector Stephen Oswald from Blacktown Local Area Command said he was arrested without incident.

"The police utilised a number of tactical options but he came along willingly once there was some assistance there from local and Transport Command Police," he told reporters on Thursday night.

However, a woman who was with him was taken into custody after allegedly abusing police and resisting arrest.

He is expected to be charged with murder and is likely to appear in court on Friday.

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US stocks open higher after solid earnings

US stocks opened higher on Wednesday following solid earnings reports from leading technology companies.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 43.23 points (0.32 per cent) at 13,755.44.

The broad-based S&P 500 edged up 0.59 point (0.04 per cent) to 1,493.15.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite added 8.84 (0.28 per cent) at 3,152.01.

The positive opening came after technology companies IBM and Google reported solid earning results on Tuesday after the market closed. Apple is slated to report earnings later on Wednesday.

"The US equity markets are modestly higher in early action, with the Street digesting a plethora of mixed earnings reports," said a Charles Schwab & Co market update.

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Clinton warns of rising militancy

SECRETARY of State Hillary Clinton warned of the challenges posed by rising militancy after the Arab Spring as she appeared before US politicians to be grilled about a deadly attack.

"Benghazi didn't happen in a vacuum," Clinton said at the start of a Senate hearing on Wednesday into the September 11 assault on a US mission in eastern Libya.

"The Arab revolutions have scrambled power dynamics and shattered security forces across the region," she told the Senate Foreign Relations committee called to review the lessons learned from the Benghazi attack, in which US ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were killed.

She choked up as she described welcoming the fallen diplomats home, when their bodies arrived in flag-draped coffins at the Andrews Air Force base.

"I put my arms around the mothers and fathers, sisters and brothers, sons and daughters, and the wives left alone to raise their children," she said, choking back a sob.

She warned politicians, however, that US diplomacy could not pull back in face of the new challenges posed by the evolving geopolitical landscape, saying the United States had to meet a "changing threat environment."

"We cannot afford to retreat now. When America is absent, especially from unstable environments, there are consequences. Extremism takes root, our interests suffer, and our security at home is threatened," she said.

Clinton also highlighted "instability in Mali," saying it "has created an expanding safe haven for terrorists who look to extend their influence and plot further attacks of the kind we saw just last week in Algeria."

Despite keeping a low profile after a long period of ill health in her final weeks in office, Clinton is keen to draw a line under the deadly September 11 Benghazi assault, which triggered a political storm in the United States.

The hearings have also taken on added urgency as Washington reels from last week's attack on a remote Algerian gas plant, in which three Americans were killed.

Clinton was initially set to testify in December after a scathing inquiry blamed "grossly inadequate" security at the outpost in Benghazi for failing to protect staff there.

But she was forced to send in her two deputy secretaries instead when she fell ill with a stomach bug. She later suffered a concussion in a fall, and a blood clot.

Her testimony to two congressional committees now comes on the eve of a Senate hearing to confirm her successor, Senator John Kerry, who is expected to be easily voted in and could take over within days as the top US diplomat.

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Bolivia bus crash kills 25: police

A BUS missed a curve on a road in southwestern Bolivia on Wednesday, causing an accident that killed 25 people and injured 30 others, police told a local radio station.

Major Rufo Munoz, the chief of the traffic police in Potosi, said the bus was carrying 55 passengers from Potosi to La Paz, 574 kilometres to the north.

"According to the technical report, it is presumed that the driver was inebriated and because of a lack of visibility did not see a curve, causing this traffic accident," he told Erbol radio.

He added that the victims included men and women of different ages.

The injured were being taken to a hospital in Potosi, but some were still at the scene awaiting transfer, he said.

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Global internet hit 2012 speed bump: study

GLOBAL internet connection speeds around the world slowed in late 2012, according to a survey released on Thursday that suggested a temporary stall in broadband gains.

Akamai Technologies' third quarter State of the Internet report also showed China remained the biggest source of computer attacks, and that Brazil and China appear to have the biggest surge in web use.

The global average connection speed decreased by some seven per cent between the second and third quarters of 2012 to 2.8 megabytes per second (Mbps).

But that appeared to be a temporary decline, since average connection speeds were up 11 per cent year over year.

South Korea continued to have the highest average connection speed at 14.7 Mbps, followed by Japan (10.7 Mbps) and Hong Kong (8.9 Mbps).

Globally, adoption of "high" broadband (speeds above 10 Mbps) grew 8.8 per cent in the third quarter and overall global broadband adoption grew 4.8 per cent, the report said.

For the second quarter in a row, Brazil experienced the greatest year-over-year growth of 39 per cent within the group of top 10 countries. China showed the largest quarter-over-quarter increase of 5.7 per cent.

In analysing web attacks from 180 countries or regions, Akamai said China remained the single largest source, with 33 per cent of all attacks originating within its borders. The United States accounted for 13 per cent, followed by Russia at 4.7 per cent.

For the mobile internet, Akamai said Apple's Mobile Safari accounted for 60.1 per cent of data requests on all networks, with Google's Android browsers responsible for 23.1 per cent.

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Global growth not so spritely: IMF

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) is expecting a more gradual upturn in global economic growth during 2013 than forecast three months ago.

But it says policy actions in Europe and the United States have lowered the acute risk of a broader crisis.

In its World Economic Outlook Update released in Washington on Wednesday, the IMF says it is now forecasting global growth of 3.3 per cent this year, down 0.1 percentage point from a projection made in October, and after a 3.2 per cent expansion in 2012.

"A further strengthening to 4.1 per cent is projected for 2014, assuming recovery takes a firm hold in the euro area economy," the global agency says.

"If crisis risks do not materialise and financial conditions continue to improve, global growth could even be stronger than forecast."

However, significant downside risks remain, with the euro area continuing to pose the biggest threat if the reform momentum there is not maintained and causes a prolonged stagnation in the zone.

The IMF has downgraded the near term outlook for Europe to a continued 0.2 per cent recession, instead of expanding 0.2 per cent in 2013.

It says most advanced economies face two challenges - steady and sustained fiscal consolidation, and continued financial sector reform to decrease risks in the financial system.

"In the United States, the priority is to avoid excessive fiscal consolidation in the short term, promptly raise the debt ceiling, and agree on a credible medium-term fiscal consolidation plan, focused on entitlement and tax reform," the IMF said.

Advanced economies are expected to grow 1.4 per cent in 2013, rather than 1.6 per cent.

There was no specific mention of Australia in the report, but under the "other advanced economies" umbrella, the 2013 growth forecast has been downgraded 2.7 per cent from three per cent.

It says Australia's number one trading partner, China, must continue structural reforms and rebalance the economy toward private consumption to ensure sustained rapid growth.

At the same time, while Japan - Australia's second largest partner - has slid into recession, the IMF expects stimulus to boost growth in the near term.

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IMF outlook cause for optimism: Swan

THE latest International Monetary Fund global economic update underscores the remarkable resilience of the Australian economy, Treasurer Wayne Swan says.

The IMF is predicting a more gradual upturn in global economic growth during 2013 than forecast three months ago.

In its World Economic Outlook Update released in Washington on Wednesday, the fund says it is now forecasting global growth of 3.3 per cent this year, down 0.1 percentage point from a projection made in October.

But it says policy actions in Europe and the United States have lowered the acute risk of a broader crisis.

Mr Swan says the IMF has painted a picture of cautious optimism for the global recovery in 2013.

"The IMF's update to its global economic outlook underscores the remarkable resilience of the Australian economy throughout this acute and prolonged global economic volatility - from which obviously we are not immune as we can see from the significant hit to budget revenues," he said in a statement.

Australia has already recorded 21 consecutive years of growth, he said.

"While patchy conditions persist in some sectors, Australia's economic fundamentals put our country in a strong position to weather ongoing global uncertainty and maximise the opportunities ahead in the Asian Century."

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Iraq suicide bomb at mosque kills 42

A SUICIDE bomber made his way into a Shi'ite mosque north of Baghdad and blew himself up in the middle of a packed funeral on Wednesday, killing 42 people and leaving corpses scattered across the floor.

The attack, the deadliest in six months, is likely to heighten tensions as Iraq grapples with a political crisis and more than a month of protests in Sunni-majority areas that have hardened opposition to Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.

No group claimed responsibility, but Sunni militants often launch attacks in a bid to destabilise the government and push Iraq back towards the sectarian violence that blighted it from 2005 to 2008.

The bomber struck at the Sayid al-Shuhada mosque in Tuz Khurmatu, 175 kilometres north of Baghdad, and targeted the funeral of a relative of a politician who was shot dead a day earlier.

"Corpses are on the ground of the Husseiniyah (Shi'ite mosque)," said Shallal Abdul, mayor of Tuz Khurmatu. "The suicide bomber managed to enter and blow himself up in the middle of the mourners."

Niyazi Moamer Oghlu, secretary general of the provincial council of Salaheddin, which surrounds Tuz Khurmatu, put the toll from the attack at 42 dead and 75 wounded.

Among those hurt were officials and tribal leaders, including Ali Hashem Oghlu, the deputy chief of the Iraqi Turkman Front and a provincial councillor in Salaheddin.

The funeral had been for Oghlu's brother-in-law, who killed in Tuz on Tuesday.

Tuz Khurmatu lies in a tract of disputed territory that Kurdistan wants to incorporate into its autonomous three-province region against the wishes of the central government in Baghdad.

The row is regarded by diplomats and officials as the greatest long-term threat to Iraq's stability.

The death toll from Wednesday's blast was the highest from a single attack since a series of bombings north of Baghdad on July 23 killed 42 people.

Also on Wednesday, gunmen killed a school principal near the main northern city of Mosul and an anti-al-Qaeda militiaman was shot dead near the predominantly Sunni town of Fallujah.

Wednesday's violence came after a wave of attacks on Tuesday killed 26 people and wounded dozens more.

That broke four days of relative calm following a spate of incidents claimed by al-Qaeda's front group that killed at least 88 people on January 15-17, according to an AFP tally.

The militant group is widely seen as weaker than during the peak of Iraq's sectarian bloodshed, but is still capable of carrying out mass-casualty attacks on a regular basis.

The latest wave of violence means the overall death toll from bloodshed in Iraq this month has already surpassed that of any of the previous three months, according to an AFP tally based on reports from security and medical officials.

Attacks in Iraq are down from their peak in 2006-2007, but they are still common across the country.

The unrest comes amid a political crisis that has pitted Maliki against several of his erstwhile government partners, less than three months before provincial elections.

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Tobacconists march against EU smoking rule

THOUSANDS of tobacconists from across Europe have marched on European Union headquarters to protest against a planned EU crackdown on smoking that includes gruesome health warnings placarded on packets.

From Austria, Germany and Poland, but most largely from France and Italy, 2,200 marchers according to police, 3500 according to organisers, protested on Tuesday against measures they say harm small retailers and encourage cigarette smuggling.

"Brussels is hitting at official distribution networks while nothing is done against smuggling", said the deputy head of the European Confederation of Tobacco Retailers (CEDT), Pascal Montredon, who heads the French branch.

He said the EU should ban cigarette sales on the internet and stop the continual increase in the price of packets in some countries.

He said 6000 of France's 33,000 tobacconists had closed since 2004.

In December, the European Commission released new proposals notably aimed at dissuading young people from taking up smoking that included a ban on menthol cigarettes and large health warnings covering 75 per cent of packets.

Almost 700,000 Europeans die from tobacco-related illnesses each year - equal to the population of a Frankfurt or Palermo - with associated health costs running at more than 25 billion euros ($A31.88 billion), the EU executive said.

A key measure would be a ban on cigarettes, roll-your-own, or smokeless tobacco products that have strong - or "characterising" - flavours, such as menthol, chocolate or vanilla, often popular with young people.

Packs of fewer than 20 cigarettes would also be banned as well as 'slims,' while electronic cigarettes, which contain some nicotine, would only be authorised as medicinal products.

But the new rules must be approved by member states as well as the European Parliament, meaning legislation would come into effect in only about three years.

"Smoking is part of the culture of Europe,' said the head of Austria's VCPO tobacconists, Klaus W Fischer. ""This will end up like prohibition in the US in the 1920s."

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Water shut off to Chilean capital

MORE than two million people in the Chilean capital are without drinking water because of contamination in a river that supplies the city with water, officials say.

Water was shut down to more than 593,000 homes in the metropolitan area of Santiago, beginning early Tuesday until at least midnight, forcing the closure of restaurants, offices and playgrounds in areas affected by the cutoff.

"We had an emergency event owing to circumstances beyond our control that forced us to cut water to 15 neighbourhoods," said Cristian Esquivel, spokesman for the Aguas Andinas water utility.

He said a landslide in the Maipo river, the city's main source of water, had fouled the company's water processing plants.

The city has a population of about five million people.

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Liberia's Taylor begins war crimes appeal

LIBERIAN warlord Charles Taylor has begun his appeal against a 50-year prison sentence handed down by Sierra Leone's UN-backed special court for fuelling the west African nation's savage civil war.

Taylor, wearing a black suit, white shirt and red tie, listened intently on Tuesday as the prosecution began its appeal at the Special Court for Sierra Leone, headquartered in Leidschendam outside The Hague.

The court should "hold responsible not only those who perpetrate the crimes but also those who promote them", said prosecutor Nicholas Koumjian.

"They are just as important, including the lords of war who sell arms in these conflicts," he said.

The court's sentence last May against Taylor, 64, for "some of the most heinous crimes in human history" was widely welcomed around the world at the time.

Judges said he aided and abetted rebel forces fighting against Freetown during Sierra Leone's 10-year civil war, known for its mutilations, drugged child soldiers and sex slaves.

In return, trial judges found, Taylor was paid in "blood diamonds" mined by slave labour in areas kept under the control of ruthless Sierra Leonean rebels.

But prosecutors argue that trial judges made a mistake by only convicting Taylor of aiding and abetting the notorious Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and other rebel groups.

They say the court should have convicted Taylor for actively issuing orders to the RUF and its ally, the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC).

Taylor was convicted of aiding and abetting terrorism, murder and rape, committed by the RUF, who waged a terror campaign during a civil war that claimed 120,000 lives between 1991 and 2001.

The initial trial, which saw model Naomi Campbell testify she had received a gift of "dirty" diamonds, said to be from the flamboyant Taylor, wrapped up in March 2011.

His sentence was the first handed down against a former head of state in an international court since the Nazi trials at Nuremberg in 1946.

Koumjian said that as a result, the trial is "of great consequence".

Tuesday's hearing was dominated by particularly complex legal arguments - with both sides saying judges made legal mistakes in convicting Taylor in April last year and sentencing him in May.

The prosecution wants Taylor jailed for 80 years, "in order to reflect the totality of his overall conduct and culpability".

The prosecution attacked Taylor's lawyers, who they said would argue that the former warlord had merely benefited by obtaining blood diamonds.

Appeals judges are expected to have a decision by September, with the Liberian ex-president remaining behind bars at the UN's detention unit in The Hague until appeals proceedings are finalised.

If his appeal fails, Taylor will serve his sentence in a British jail.

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Blast at African sorcerer's house kills 5

POLICE in Zimbabwe say they are investigating a massive explosion at a tribal sorcerer's house outside the capital, Harare.

Police officials said on Tuesday the blast killed five people.

The sorcerer, often known in the West as a witchdoctor, and a man seeking to improve his failing finances, were among the dead, witnesses said.

The explosion damaged 12 nearby houses in the Chitungwiza township.

Witnesses said crowds began sprinkling salt on nearby streets and footpaths afterward, a traditional belief to ward off evil spirits.

Army bomb disposal experts told neighbours they found no remnants of a bomb or petrol or gas containers.

In Zimbabwe superstition, sorcerers can use lightning, common during current rain storms, to eradicate enemies. Neighbours told reporters they feared a "lightning manufacturing process" was being carried out Monday.

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UN laments Iran execution of juvenile

THE UN rights body has harshly criticised Iran for reportedly executing a man who was only 17 at the time of his alleged crime.

"The death penalty cannot be imposed for crimes committed by persons below 18 years of age," insisted Cecile Pouilly, a spokeswoman for the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The UN agency was "deeply dismayed" to learn of the reported execution of 21-year-old Ali Naderi last Wednesday for his alleged role in the murder of a woman when he was 17, she told reporters in Geneva on Tuesday.

She underscored that Iran was a party to several international treaties that "impose an absolute ban on the death sentence against persons below the age of 18 at the time when the offence was committed."

Last week's execution was the first of a juvenile offender in the country since September 2011, she said, acknowledging that it appeared authorities had "made efforts to prevent such cases."

But, she insisted, Tehran should move "to end the execution of juvenile offenders once and for all."

Pouilly also voiced concern for five other men - Mohammad Al Amouri, Sayed Jaber Shabain Alboshoka, Sayed Mokhtar Alboshoka, Hashem Shabain Amouri and Hadi Rashidi - who appeared to be at risk of imminent execution after Iran's supreme court upheld their death sentences.

"There are serious concerns about the fairness of their trials and allegations that they were subjected to torture," she cautioned.

Pouilly said more than 400 people were executed in Iran last year, and that most of them had been charged with drug-related offences. Pouilly said that under international law, such crimes are not considered serious enough to justify the death penalty.

The UN agency also condemned Iran for increasingly resorting to public executions, with more than 55 carried out in 2012 and several more so far this year, including the public hanging of two men in a Tehran park on Sunday.

"Executions in public add to the already cruel, inhuman and degrading nature of the death penalty and have a dehumanising effect on both the victim and those who witness the execution," Pouilly said.

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Mozilla unveils preview smartphones

THE Mozilla Foundation has unveiled two preview smartphones as it invited developers to try its new open-source mobile operating system challenging Apple's iOS and Google's Android.

The announcement on Tuesday marked a major step forward for the new Firefox OS mobile operating system which is being built using open web standards, like its Firefox web browser.

The two preview phones being offered come from the small Spanish-based manufacturer GeeksPhone, the first in what the nonprofit group hopes will be a series of low-cost smartphones which can be sold around the world.

"This week we are announcing our new Firefox OS developer preview phones because we believe that developers will help bring the power of the web to mobile," said a blog posting from Stormy Peters, head of websites and developer engagement at Mozilla.

The developer phones are being made by GeeksPhone in partnership with the Spanish carrier Telefonica.

"If you're a developer interested in web technologies and mobile, now is the time to try out Firefox OS," Peters said.

The operating system, she said, is an effort to "keep the web open" and "help make sure the power of the web is available to everyone - even on mobile devices."

By using the open platform, she said, "you're not locked in to a vendor-controlled ecosystem. You can distribute your app through the Firefox Marketplace, your own website, or any other store based on Mozilla's open app store technology."

The non-profit group's so-called Boot to Gecko project will go after Google's Android or Apple's iOS, to create an alternative which could generate smartphones that are less expensive than an iPhone while offering similar experiences to those running on other platforms.

GeeksPhone said on its website that the two new phones were named Keon, with a 3.5 inch display, and Peak, with a larger 4.3 inch screen. Both will use Qualcomm Snapdragon chips.

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US stocks open higher on mixed earnings

US stocks opened higher on Tuesday after the long holiday weekend following mixed earnings reports from leading companies.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 1.03 points (0.01 per cent) at 13,650.73.

The broad-based S&P 500 rose 5.04 (0.34 per cent) to 1485,98.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 0.73 (0.02 per cent) at 3135.44.

The positive US open followed tepid trading in Europe, where renewed concern about the banking sector surfaced, and Asia, where investors were disappointed by a Bank of Japan plan for boosting the economy.

Among US equities, Verizon, which missed earnings expectations, still mustered a 0.5 per cent gain, while Johnson & Johnson, which offered a middling outlook, fell 0.4 per cent.

Wall Street is digesting a "plethora of earnings reports," noted a Charles Schwab & Co market update. Verizon Communications Inc posted softer-than-expected earnings and Johnson & Johnson offered mixed quarterly results, while Travelers Companies Inc and DuPont both easily exceeded analysts' profit projections."

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Iran helps Syria build paramilitary force

PRESIDENT Bashar al-Assad's regime has put together a new paramilitary force of men and women, some trained by key ally Iran, to fight what is now becoming a guerrilla war, a watchdog says.

The force, dubbed the National Defence Army, gathers together existing popular committees of pro-regime civilian fighters under a new, better-trained and armed hierarchy, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The popular committees were originally formed to protect pro-regime neighbourhoods from rebels.

"The (regular) army is not trained to fight a guerrilla war, so the regime has resorted to creating the National Defence Army," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

Most of the new fighters are members or supporters of the ruling Baath party, said Abdel Rahman. "They include men and women, and members of all the sects."

The new force is not connected to the pro-regime shabiha militia, which the army and security forces have deployed ever since the outbreak of an anti-regime revolt to help it suppress dissent across the country.

Members of the paramilitary force, like the popular committees before, will focus on fighting in their own neighbourhoods.

On Friday, Moscow's Russia Today reported on its website that the new National Defence Army was being set up to "defend districts against gunmen".

"The Syrian authorities are set to create ... a National Defence Army, parallel to regime forces, so that the (regular) army is freed up for combat," the website reported citing an unnamed official.

Abdel Rahman, whose Observatory relies on a network of activists and medics on the ground, said Iran was involved in building the paramilitary force.

"The paramilitary force includes an elite fighting force trained by Iran," Abdel Rahman told AFP.

"Iran has provided training to the paramilitary force's commando fighters."

Iran, Damascus's key regional ally, staunchly backs Assad and in September 2012 said its elite Quds Force, which is tasked with carrying out operations outside the Islamic republic, was giving Damascus "counsel and advice".

On the ground, an activist said the new force was already active in the central province of Homs.

"The number of regime fighters in the province has swelled in recent days, as the National Defence Army has started to come into action," anti-regime activist Hadi al-Abdullah told AFP via the internet from the rebel-held town of Qusayr.

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Stubborn streak got nurse out of Algeria

A FRENCH nurse caught up in the Algeria hostage crisis has revealed how the fear of being raped and an overwhelming determination "not to submit to terrorists" ensured she survived.

The nurse, identified only as Muriel, escaped from the gas complex after spending the first day of the siege hidden with three other expatriates in offices the Islamist gunmen failed to scour.

"Two of us wanted to try and get out, the two others said it was safer to stay," she told Europe 1 radio.

After hours of agonised indecision, her sceptical colleagues were finally convinced that it was better to die trying to escape than leave their destiny in the hands of fate.

"I told them we had to take our chance. You can't submit to them, otherwise you are giving in to the terrorists," Muriel said, explaining how this defiant mindset had enabled her to avoid being paralysed by terror.

"Even with a little act, saying to yourself they are trying to capture me but I won't let them succeed, you regain your identity," she said.

"These people were ready to commit any kind of barbaric act but I succeeded in thwarting them."

Muriel and her colleagues escaped into the desert with the help of a pair of pliers she found in the ambulance on the site and she used to cut a hole in the exterior fence.

But she admitted she had feared the worst in the hours after the plant was seized at dawn on Wednesday in a raid linked to France's military action in neighbouring Mali.

"I said to myself they cannot find me, I am a women and I am French. With what is happening in Mali they'll kill me immediately.

"At best I'd get a bullet in the head straight away. At worst, as a woman - well, I don't need to draw you a picture.

"We stayed hidden in the office for hours, jumping out of our skin at every little noise. Every time we heard someone in the corridor, we said 'that's it, the terrorists are coming to get us'.

"It was our good fortune that they didn't come and search where we were, in a little corner out of the way. But for those left behind it was really awful."

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Crowds gather for Obama inauguration

CROWDS are gathering in Washington for President Barack Obama's inauguration.

Rhenda Phillips-Sanders, 55, who travelled from Shreveport, Louisiana, for the inauguration, is carrying the same enthusiasm that brought her there four years ago.

"To be able to have a black president within our lifetime and then to have him come back twice, that's history within itself," the African-American said. "I'm so excited I could do the running man."

While the public inauguration will lose some of its punch because Obama was officially sworn in on Sunday (Monday AEDT), it will hold added meaning because it coincides with Martin Luther King Jr Day - the federal holiday that commemorates the fallen civil rights leader.

Obama, 51, will repeat his oath of office for the public, laying his hands on two stacked Bibles of historic significance before delivering the much-awaited inaugural speech.

The burgundy velvet Bible was used by president Abraham Lincoln at his first inauguration in 1861, as he headed into the dark Civil War journey that would end slavery. The black King James Bible was carried by King on his travels around the country until he was slain in 1968.

The previous day's private oath was necessary to fulfil the constitutional mandate that every presidential term begin at noon on January 20. Dating back to 1821, if the date fell on a Sunday, public celebrations have been postponed to another day.

Obama and his family, along with the family of Vice-President Joe Biden, are attending a service at St John's Episcopal Church within sight of the White House, observing a tradition for presidents dating back to 1816.

They will then head to Capitol Hill for the public ceremonies. Pop star Beyonce is to sing the national anthem, and singer-songwriter James Taylor and singer Kelly Clarkson are to perform.

After his second oath-taking, administered by Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts, Obama is to deliver the inaugural speech, outlining his second-term ambitions.

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Filmmaker Michael Winner dies at 77

THE British filmmaker behind Death Wish, restaurant critic and bon vivant Michael Winner, has died at the age of 77.

Winner's wife Geraldine says he died on Monday at his London home after an illness.

Winner's 30 movies included three Death Wish films starring the late Charles Bronson.

He had a second career as restaurant critic for the Sunday Times newspaper, where his highest praise was to declare a meal "historic".

His wife, a former dancer who married Winner two years ago, said he was "a wonderful man, brilliant, funny and generous. A light has gone out in my life."

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Japan PM confirms 7 deaths in Algeria

JAPAN'S prime minister says seven Japanese people are now known to have been killed in the Algerian hostage crisis, the first confirmation from Tokyo that any of its nationals died.

"I was informed by vice-foreign minister (Minoru) Kiuchi that as a result of identifications of bodies at a hospital in In Amenas, seven were confirmed to be Japanese employees of JGC," Shinzo Abe told his ministers on Monday.

The Japanese firm had earlier said it did not know the fate of 17 of its employees, 10 of whom were Japanese.

The prime minister said so far it had not been possible to confirm what had happened to the other Japanese nationals who remain unaccounted for.

"There are still three more Japanese people whose safety has not been confirmed. I want all of you to do everything possible to continue gathering information and confirm their fate," he told his ministers.

"Japanese people who work at the world's frontiers, the innocent people were victimised. It is extremely painful," Abe said.

A witness at the desert gas plant told AFP he was aware of nine Japanese deaths over the extended siege, which began on Wednesday and ended in a bloodbath on Saturday when the Algerian military moved in.

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Berlusconi verdict after Italy elections

THE verdict in former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's trial for underage sex will not come before the February elections, a court in northern Italy says.

The decision marks a partial victory for the media magnate, who will be a candidate in the polls, after his defence team asked for a total suspension until after the February 24-25 polls.

Hearings will continue, including testimony on January 28 from the mother of the Moroccan-born exotic dancer at the centre of the case.

Judges said a diary clash caused the cancellation of hearings initially set for February 18 and 25, and the last hearing was likely to take place on March 11.

The court turned down the request by the media magnate's lawyers for a total suspension of the trial until after the elections last week.

While the billionaire has launched his sixth election bid in two decades, he is still mulling whether to run for the post of prime minister or settle for another post within his centre-right People of Freedom (PDL) party.

Berlusconi's supporters said the ruling amounted to judicial interference in the campaign, while his critics said the 76-year-old billionaire was only running for office to stay out of jail.

Berlusconi is accused of paying for sex with Karima El-Mahroug in 2010 at his mansion near Milan when she was just 17 and he was the prime minister.

She will not be testifying, though her written testimony, where she described wild "Bunga Bunga" parties hosted by Berlusconi, will still be considered in the case.

Berlusconi faces up to three years in prison on the sex charge as the age of consent in Italy is only 14, but sex with an under-18 prostitute is a crime.

He is also accused of abusing his official powers by pressuring police to release El-Mahroug when she was arrested for petty theft - a charge that carries a maximum prison sentence of 12 years.

His defence says Berlusconi thought El-Mahroug was a niece of then Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and wanted to avoid a diplomatic incident.

The flamboyant tycoon is unlikely to ever see the inside of a prison cell even if convicted since sentencing guidelines in Italy are very lenient for over-70-year-olds.

Berlusconi denies having sex with El-Mahroug, saying he only gave her money so she could set up a beauty parlour and avoid prostituting herself.

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37 foreigners killed in Algeria attack

ALGIERS says 37 foreigners of eight different nationalities, as well as an Algerian, were killed by hostage-takers in a well-planned attack on a remote gas plant.

Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal says five other foreigners are still missing and several of the hostages had been executed "with a bullet to the head" as the four-day crisis ended in a bloodbath on Saturday.

Most of the 32 militants who took hundreds of people hostage at the In Amenas gas complex in the Sahara on Wednesday had entered the country from neighbouring Mali, Sellal told a news conference in Algiers.

The prime minister gave the final grim figures after Algeria had warned other nations to prepare for a higher body count, amid fears as many as 50 captives may have died in the world's deadliest hostage crisis in almost a decade.

"Thirty-seven foreigners of eight different nationalities," were killed during the siege, Sellal told reporters, adding an Algerian was also killed, giving an overall toll of 38.

He said the group's leader was Mohamed el-Amine Bencheneb, an Algerian militant known to the country's security services, and was killed during the army's assault.

A total of 29 hostage-takers were killed and three captured. As well as the three Algerians among them, the kidnappers comprised six foreign nationalities, namely Canadian, Egyptian, Tunisian, Malian, Nigerian and Mauritanian.

Governments have been scrambling to track down missing citizens as more details emerged after the final showdown on Saturday between special forces and extremists who had taken the hostages, demanding an end to French military intervention in Mali.

Survivors' photos seen by AFP showed bodies riddled with bullets, some with their heads half blown away by the impact of the gunfire.

"They were brutally executed," said an Algerian who identified himself as Brahim, after escaping the ordeal, referring to Japanese victims gunned down by the hostage-takers.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said seven Japanese people were known to have been killed in the hostage crisis, the first confirmation from Tokyo that any of its nationals had died.

Witnesses had said nine Japanese people connected to plant builder JGC were killed in the 72-hour ordeal.

One Japanese survivor was quoted in the Daily Yomiuri newspaper as telling colleagues how the gunmen had dragged him from his barricaded room, handcuffed him and executed two hostages standing nearby.

The Philippine government said six Filipino hostages were among the dead, killed "mostly by gunshot wounds and the effects of the explosions".

As more harrowing accounts emerged of the siege, a Filipino survivor described how the militants used foreign hostages as human shields to stop Algerian troops aboard helicopters from strafing them with gunfire.

Joseph Balmaceda told reporters in Manila he was the only survivor out of nine hostages in a van that blew up on Thursday, apparently from C-4 explosives the militants had rigged to the vehicle.

"I was the only one who survived because I was sandwiched between two spare tyres. That is why I am still here and can talk to you," said the visibly distressed father of four.

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Trouble going from A to bees

A MAN was left in a sticky situation in north Queensland last night after he crashed his car while towing bee hives.

The man was towing a horse float full of hives on Wooroona Rd at Ravenshoe, 125km south-west of Cairns, when he crashed about 8pm.

The man hit a tree, which fell on the car and pinned it in place. He wasn't injured.

When firefighters arrived they were faced with the dilemma of how to rescue the bees.

"The bees were not happy," a Queensland Fire and Rescue spokeswoman said.

She said a firefighter donned breathing mask to rescue the bees from the car but was stung a few times in the process.

The hives were placed outside the car, which won't be towed until this morning.

The bees are expected to fly away from the hives today but return tonight, when the beekeeper will try to collect them and continue on his journey.

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Syria opposition seeks deal on PM-in-exile

SYRIA'S opposition umbrella group, which most Western and Arab powers opposed to the Damascus regime have recognised, is meeting in Istanbul in a bid to name a prime minister-in-exile, one of its leaders says.

The Syrian National Coalition is discussing the idea of a government-in-exile but differences have emerged between members of the group, including over who should lead the new executive, an opposition official told AFP.

"A proposal was made to name Riad Hijab but it has run into much criticism," the official said on condition of anonymity.

Hijab is a former prime minister under President Bashar al-Assad who defected in August last year and has since worked closely with Turkish leaders to help restructure the fragmented Syrian opposition.

He is now based in Jordan.

The Istanbul meeting is also scheduled to discuss what the opposition leader said were unkept promises by countries that had pledged diplomatic, military and financial support to the coalition.

The National Council, which is the leading component of the Cairo-based umbrella group, has called for the establishment of an interim government with full executive powers in areas of Syria controlled by the rebels.

The group is also due to meet on January 28 in Paris, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Sunday.

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Assad's mother in Dubai: Syrians

ANISA Makhluf, the mother of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has left the war-torn country and joined her daughter in Dubai, expatriates in the United Arab Emirates and an activist say.

Makhluf has been living next to her daughter, Bushra, the only sister of Assad, in Dubai for about 10 days, Syrian expatriates told AFP.

Bushra's husband General Assef Shawkat, an army deputy chief of staff, was killed along with three other high-ranking Syrian officials in a July 18 bombing at the National Security headquarters in Damascus.

In September, Syrian residents in the Gulf emirate said that Bushra had enrolled her five children at a private school in Dubai where she had moved.

Makhluf's "departure from Syria is another indication of Assad losing support even from within his family," said Ayman Abdel Nour, head of the newly-formed group Syrian Christians for Democracy and editor-in-chief of opposition news website all4syria.com.

Analysts say that Assad is increasingly relying on the tightly-knit circle surrounding him, which includes Maher, his only brother still alive and who commands the army's notorious Fourth Brigade.

Assad's two other brothers Bassel and Majd are dead. The embattled president also relies on relatives from his mother's side, analysts say.

A large number of businessmen and wealthy Syrians who had close ties with the regime have fled the deadly bloodshed in Syria to Dubai in the past few months.

More than 60,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Syria's 22-month conflict, according to the United Nations.

The conflict has sent some 600,000 people fleeing the country, most of them to neighbouring countries, according to the world body.

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Gillard speech to have China, cyber focus

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard will reportedly seek to boost Labor's defence credentials in a speech singling out China and cyber attacks as key security concerns.

Ms Gillard will make the comments in her first important speech of the election year to the Australian National University's National Security College in Canberra on Wednesday, The Australian newspaper reports.

She will also outline Australia's national security objectives, actions and priorities over the next five years.

Sources familiar with the document told the paper it was a "much more substantial" contribution than former prime minister Kevin Rudd's 2008 national security statement to parliament.

The document focuses on Australia's strategic environment - in particular, the growing economic, political and military clout of China - and a massive escalation in cyber attacks against government and industry.

It's not expected to contain new policy initiatives or resource commitments, the paper said.

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IMF chief urges Greece to carry out reform

NO additional measures would be necessary for Greece if it carries out the reforms under its bailout program, IMF chief Christine Lagarde says.

"But if the structural reforms are not carried out ... then more cuts would be necessary," the head of the International Monetary Fund has told the Greek newspaper Kathimerini in an interview.

Entering a sixth year straight of recession, the heavily indebted country is relying on EU-IMF bailout packages.

It also received a private-sector debt cut early last year.

Since 2010, the EU and IMF have committed 240 billion euros ($A307 billion) in rescue loans to Greece, while last week the IMF unblocked a frozen tranche of 3.2 billion euros from its pending aid package.

"Greece holds its future in its own hands ... It is up to the country itself to succeed in its program," Lagarde said.

The IMF chief said she had a very good working relationship with both the Greek prime minister and finance minister.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and I "have a very good and honest relationship", she said, adding that he has even "surprised" her with his stance following his election.

Lagarde also said she believed the co-existence of three different parties in Greece's coalition government is beneficial.

"Regarding the implementation of the program and the responsibilities towards the people, a wide coalition is much more important than a tight majority," she said.

Conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's coalition government has lost 16 deputies since coming to power in June, as a result of opposition to continued austerity.

It now counts a majority of 163 seats out of an overall 300.

On Friday, the IMF's mission chief for Greece Poul Thomsen said the country will still need additional help from its European partners next year.

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Legal challenge to Manus launched in PNG

A LEGAL challenge to Australia's asylum seeker processing centre on Manus Island has been launched by Papua New Guinea's opposition.

Lawyers acting for PNG Opposition Leader Belden Namah filed a summons with the National Court on Friday.

Mr Namah said in a statement that he regretted taking the action against the PNG government but he believed the processing centre was unconstitutional.

"The ministers of the O'Neill-Dion government have now received a summons to appear and defend their conduct in the National Court," he said in a statement.

Mr Namah said the detainees on Manus were being held illegally in PNG.

"We will take this matter as far as necessary to ensure that the values of our nation's constitution are upheld," he said.

"This legal challenge also attempts to remedy the many abuses of PNG law and of ministerial powers which have given rise to the situation on Manus."

Mr Namah said the opposition challenged the right of the government to force people seeking refugee status in Australia to enter PNG, where they were being held "illegally and indefinitely under inhumane conditions".

"We challenge the right of the government to make this arrangement with the government of a foreign nation, again in contravention of our constitution," he added.

The injunction seeks to have the current detainees released and to prevent the government from receiving or detaining any more asylum seekers from Australia.

"I am confident that our justice system will succeed in upholding this truth, where our government has so regrettably failed," Mr Namah said.

The National Court is yet to set a date to hear the challenge, the ABC reports.

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Too much money spent on fires: researcher

AN Australian researcher has suggested too much money is being spent on bushfire prevention and more lives could be saved if some of that money goes elsewhere.

Insurance researcher Brian Ashe concedes his findings might upset some people, but says a rational analysis of the $12 billion in annual spending on fire prevention backs his case, Fairfax reports.

If $4.5 billion of the money spent on fire safety was instead returned to businesses and consumers as tax cuts, health and nutrition would improve, Dr Ashe has written in the Australian National University journal Agenda.

His modelling suggests such a tax cut could save between 90 and 225 lives a year.

About 114 lives are lost each year from fire - 14 of them from bushfires.

"This is a very sensitive matter and really what we're looking to get is the best out of our investment," Dr Ashe told Fairfax Media.

"We just have to be careful that we don't put too many resources into one hazard."

But NSW Rural Fire Service deputy commissioner Rob Rogers said anyone who had lost their home in a bushfire would not agree with the study.

"You can't discuss fire safety spending as a simple equation," he told Fairfax.

"It's not just above saving lives but properties and what's in them - the things that can't be replaced."

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