Compo for fire-affected Vic businesses

Telstra says Victorian businesses that lost services after a fire will be paid compensation. Source: AAP

BUSINESSES affected by a fire that hit the Telstra exchange in southwestern Victoria will be able to claim compensation.

An estimated 60,000 customers' internet and phone services were affected following the fire at the Warrnambool exchange in southwestern Victoria on November 22.

Business customers affected by the outage will be able to claim compensation, with a call centre, online claim forms and visitations to affected areas set up, Telstra said in a statement.

Telstra had restored all mobile services and repaired 92 per cent of landline services by Saturday, the company said.

About 50 per cent of internet services were back on line as technicians worked to individually recable remaining landline services through the Warrnambool exchange.

More than 50 technicians are on site carrying out repairs.

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Singapore to deport Chinese bus drivers

SINGAPORE will deport 29 mainland Chinese bus drivers and prosecute five others for taking part in the city-state's first strike since the 1980s, the government says.

The Ministry of Manpower said in a statement on Saturday that 29 drivers' work permits had been revoked and immigration officials "will be repatriating them" for involvement in a two-day stoppage to demand better pay and working conditions.

"The strike was planned and premeditated. It disrupted our public transport which is an essential service, and posed a threat to public order," the statement said.

A fifth driver has been arrested and will be charged in addition to four others who have been brought to court for allegedly instigating the November 26-27 work stoppage at state-linked transport firm SMRT.

If found guilty of involvement in an illegal strike, they could be jailed for up to a year or fined a maximum of $Sg2000 ($A1540) - the equivalent of two months' wages for a driver.

Strikes are illegal in Singapore for workers in "essential services" such as transport unless they give 14 days' prior notice and comply with other requirements.

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Iraq violence rises in November

The level of violence in Iraq has risen with 166 people killed in November. Source: AAP

THE number of people killed in attacks in Iraq rose in November compared with October, many of them dying in the last few days of the month, figures compiled by the government and AFP show.

According to figures from the health, interior and defence ministries, 166 people were killed in attacks in November - 101 civilians, 35 police and 30 soldiers, while 252 - 129 civilians, 68 police and 55 soldiers - were wounded.

An AFP tally based on information from security and medical sources meanwhile put the figure at 160 killed and 664 wounded.

Government figures for October indicated that 144 people were killed that month, while AFP's tally showed 136 people were killed.

According to the AFP figures, 82 people - more than half of those killed in the entire month - died in attacks from November 26-30.

Ali al-Haidari, an Iraqi security expert, pointed to the relaxation of tight measures put in place for major Ashura Shi'ite religious commemorations that peaked on November 25 as a possible explanation for some of the violence at the end of the month.

"What happened is that security forces were in the peak of readiness and activity during the last occasion (Ashura)," but became less so after the commemorations concluded, Haidari said.

"Security forces usually become tired after such occasions, and the enemy benefits from this directly," he added.

While the end of November saw a spate of attacks, the Ashura commemorations, during which dozens of people were killed in attacks in years past, were largely free of violence.

However, two attacks against Shi'ite pilgrims killed three people and wounded 35.

Members of Iraq's security forces and the country's Shi'ite majority are both frequently targeted in bomb attacks by Sunni insurgents.

Violence in Iraq has decreased dramatically from its peak in 2006 and 2007, when brutal sectarian violence swept the country, but attacks remain common.

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Egypt's Islamists rally for Morsi

Vast crowds have rallied in Cairo to protest a draft constitution seen as undermining freedoms. Source: AAP

ISLAMISTS have rallied in support of President Mohamed Morsi's new expanded powers and the drafting of a contested charter, in a clear show of Egypt's deepening polarisation.

The demonstration on Saturday in the heart of Cairo comes a day after tens of thousands of Morsi opponents converged on Tahrir Square to protest against the president's decree and the speedy adoption of the draft constitution.

The charter has taken centre stage in the country's worst political crisis since Morsi's election in June, setting largely Islamist forces against more secular opponents.

It is expected to go to a popular referendum within two weeks.

Members of the constituent assembly were due to hand Morsi at 4pm (1am AEDT Sunday) the final draft of the constitution adopted after a marathon overnight session on Thursday that was boycotted by liberals, seculars and Christians.

By mid-morning, hundreds of pro-Morsi demonstrators, including members of the Muslim Brotherhood, on whose ticket Morsi ran for office, and other hardline Salafist groups gathered at Cairo University, with riot police on standby and roadblocks in place.

"The Muslim Brotherhood supports President Morsi's decisions," read a banner carried by Islamists who chanted, "The people want the implementation of God's law".

The Muslim Brotherhood and their supporters have branded the opposition as enemies of the revolution that toppled long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Across the Nile river, hundreds of protesters camping out in Tahrir Square since Morsi issued a decree expanding his powers were expected to be joined by more demonstrators throughout the day.

The National Rescue Front a coalition of opponents, has called on Egyptians to "reject the illegitimate" decree and the "void" draft constitution, and stressed the public's right "to use any peaceful method to protest including a general strike and civil disobedience".

The crisis was sparked when Morsi issued the decree on November 22 giving himself sweeping powers and placing his decisions beyond judicial review, provoking mass protests and a judges' strike.

Amnesty International said the draft "raises concerns about Egypt's commitment to human rights treaties", specifically ignoring "the rights of women (and) restricting freedom of expression in the name of religion".

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Manila slams China's plans to board ships

THE Philippines has denounced Chinese plans to search ships sailing through what Beijing says is its territory in the South China Sea in the latest irritant between the countries.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Saturday that the plans should be condemned by the international community because they violate maritime domains of countries in the region and impede freedom of navigation.

Chinese state media announced the plans, saying southern Hainan province, which Beijing says administers the South China Sea, had approved laws giving its police the right to search vessels that pass through the waters.

Last week the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan and India protested against a map on a new Chinese passport that depicts disputed areas as belonging to China.

The Philippine statement said it wants Beijing to "immediately clarify its reported plans to interdict ships that enter what it considers its territory in the South China Sea".

It said Manila was concerned that ships entering waters claimed by China, which is "virtually the entire South China Sea ... can be boarded, inspected, detained, confiscated, immobilised and expelled, among other punitive actions".

China's action will be "illegal and will validate the continuous and repeated pronouncements by the Philippines that China's claim of indisputable sovereignty over virtually the entire South China Sea is not only an excessive claim but a threat to all countries", the statement said.

The maritime territorial disputes include the Spratly Islands over which China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have conflicting claims. The Spratlys chain is believed to sit atop rich oil and gas reserves and straddles one of the world's busiest sea lanes.

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UK papers back PM's rebuff of press laws

British newspapers have backed Prime Minister David Cameron's opposition for new press laws. Source: AAP

BRITAIN'S newspapers have praised senior judge Brian Leveson's report into media ethics, but warned its recommendation to introduce new laws could "suffocate the free press".

Leveson, who led an eight-month inquiry sparked by the phone-hacking scandal at Rupert Murdoch's News of the World tabloid, said on Friday there should be an independent self-regulatory body, underpinned by legislation.

But Fleet Street mostly backed Prime Minister David Cameron's response, which indicated he would oppose any state regulation of the press.

"We agree with Lord Justice Leveson: a free press is one of the safeguards of our democracy," said the Daily Telegraph's editorial.

"Where we part company with the learned judge ... is in his belief that either of these two bulwarks of British liberty would be served by a regulatory body for newspapers that is underpinned by legislation."

The centre-right broadsheet, which has long voiced opposition to new press laws, said Leveson's insistence that his recommendations did not amount to statutory regulation was "either sophistry or naivety".

"What is to stop MPs amending it now and in the future so that it no longer resembles the benign legislative vehicle envisaged by the judge?" it asked.

Cameron commissioned the inquiry in July 2011 in the wake of a Guardian report alleging that the News of the World hacked the voicemails of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler.

The Guardian praised the 2000-page report's "detail and clarity", but gave only conditional backing to proposals for a statutory framework.

"Clearly ... the drafting of the Leveson statute requires great care, real deliberation and cross-party support to avoid endless amendments and additions that move it from light touch to something more sinister," said its editorial.

But it called on Cameron to "think carefully before dismissing significant parts" of the report.

Centre-left publication The Independent said there was "only one flaw in Lord Justice Leveson's epic verdict - but it's a crucial flaw.

"Mr Cameron is right: legislation would be unnecessary, complex and slow," it concluded.

The prime minister faces a parliamentary row as both opposition leader Ed Miliband and Nick Clegg, leader of junior coalition partners the Liberal Democrats, support new laws.

The Murdoch-owned The Times backed Cameron's stance taken despite Leveson's proposal of legislation "that was politically hard to resist".

"Sir Brian described the proposal as 'essential', hinting that to demur would be a rejection of his entire scheme. Mr Cameron did not accept this, and he was right not to," argued its leading article.

"Mr Cameron appreciated that in addition to being unnecessary, the proposed law would pose huge practical difficulties and breach the vital principle that parliament should not take responsibility for the regulation of a free press," it added.

Leading business title the Financial Times called the report "a damning indictment of the culture and practices of the newspaper industry", but stopped short of calling for state-backed regulation.

"Redressing the balance is primarily a task for the industry rather than the politicians," said its editorial. "In this respect, David Cameron's reaction to the report deserves commendation.

"He is right to warn of the risks of statutory intervention in newspapers. The government must take care not to suffocate the free press by trying to sanitise it".

The centre-right Daily Mail and Murdoch tabloid The Sun - sister paper of the News of the World - both celebrated Cameron's statement as a victory for freedom of speech.

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Hong Kong stocks close up 0.49%

HONG Kong shares have closed 0.49 per cent higher after US third-quarter economic growth was revised upwards.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index on Friday added 107.50 points to end at 22,030.39 on turnover of $HK80.03 billion ($A9.95 billion).

The market tracked gains on Wall Street following news from the Commerce Department that the economy grew 2.7 per cent in the three months to September, faster than the 2.0 per cent first estimated.

Jobless claims also fell back to 393,000 in the most recent week, the Labour Department said on Thursday.

Confidence is also high that US lawmakers will be able to agree a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff of tax hikes and spending cuts due on January 1 that will likely tip the country back into recession.

The Dow was up 0.28 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 0.43 per cent and the Nasdaq added 0.68 per cent.

The gains came on further fund inflows, with the de facto central bank selling $HK8.86 billion worth of local dollars on Thursday to defend the currency peg to the US dollar.

Eyes are also on the release on Saturday of official manufacturing activity data out of China, with dealers hoping for continued improvement.

Hong Kong Exchanges & Clearing fell 0.8 per cent to $HK123.80 after saying it was raising around $US1 billion ($A963.07 million) in a share placement. The move comes after it recently got approval from Britain's Financial Services Authority for a US$2.2 billion buyout of the London Metal Exchange.

Chinese shares ended up 0.85 per cent, bouncing back slightly after falling close to four-year lows on Thursday.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index rose 16.63 points to 1,980.12 on turnover of 37.7 billion yuan ($A5.78 billion). The index lost 2.3 per cent for the week.

"Any rebound isn't sustainable unless there is substantial government intervention and liquidity injection," Tang Yonggang, an analyst at Hongyuan Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Property and building material stocks rose after Vice Premier Li Keqiang said China's development requires urbanisation.

Anhui Conch Cement gained 4.9 per cent to 16.48 yuan and Jiangxi Wannianqing Cement jumped 6.1 per cent to 10.35 yuan.

Property developer China Vanke rose 3.8 per cent to 8.75 yuan and Poly Real Estate Group jumped 3.3 per cent to 11.47 yuan.

Banks also rose with China Construction Bank edging up 0.3 per cent to 4.17 yuan and Pudong Development Bank rising 0.7 per cent to 7.46 yuan.

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Man dies after highway collision

A MAN has died after a car, a taxi and a van collided on the Pacific Highway in northern NSW.

Police said the male car driver died at the scene in Tweed Heads about 1pm (AEDT) on Friday.

The female van driver was taken to hospital and the male taxi driver was treated on site for minor injuries.

No further details were available.

Police will prepare a report for the coroner.

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Blind activist's nephew put on trial

CHINESE authorities have put the nephew of legal activist Chen Guangcheng on trial in a case seen as retaliation by local officials angered by Chen's daring escape from house arrest earlier this year.

Chen Guangcheng slipped out of his tightly guarded village in northeastern China in April, fleeing to the US embassy and setting off a diplomatic tussle between Beijing and Washington. The activist, who is blind, now lives in New York.

Chen's nephew Chen Kegui, 32, faces charges that he assaulted officials who stormed into his house looking for the activist and will stand trial at the Yinan County People's Court on Friday, said his father, Chen Guangfu. The court confirmed that Chen Kegui's trial was under way.

The charge of "intentional injury" centres on a clash between Chen Kegui and local officials who burst into his home looking for Chen Guangcheng after his escape. Chen Kegui allegedly hacked at the officials with knives after he and his parents had been beaten.

Chen Guangcheng, in an interview from his home in New York where he has been studying English and law, said he was worried about his nephew's fate in the hands of China's opaque judicial system.

"This has shown clearly to the whole world that people should not pin even the littlest bit of hope on this system," Chen told The Associated Press. Chen said authorities in his hometown were acting "unreasonably, illegally and in violation of humanity".

Chen's flight from abusive house arrest in Shandong and into the protection of US diplomats - which led to an agreement with Beijing to let him study in the US accompanied by his wife and children - exposed the impunity of local officials and embarrassed the central government.

Supporters of Chen, who exposed forced abortions and other wrongdoing by local officials, fear that his relatives are at risk of retribution from local officials angry at Chen's escape.

Critics and the activist's supporters say that the case against Chen Kegui has been riddled with irregularities.

In the months since Chen Kegui disappeared into police custody, Yinan authorities have not officially notified his family about the prosecution nor issued an indictment or other official documentation to them. Officials have not let family members see Chen Kegui or hire their own lawyers to defend him, saying instead that Chen had accepted legal aid and court-appointed lawyers.

Chen Guangfu said he learned about the opening of his son's trial when the officially appointed lawyer called him on Friday morning. "From the very beginning, they have not told us anything about the case," he said.

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Strauss-Kahn settles with US maid: reports

Dominique Strauss-Kahn has reached a settlement with a maid who accused him of sexual assault. Source: AAP

DISGRACED former International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief and would-be French president Dominique Strauss-Kahn will settle out of court with a Manhattan maid who accused him of sexual assault, ending a sordid 18-month legal saga, reports say.

According to The New York Times, quoting unidentified sources "with knowledge of the matter", the 63-year-old French politician and the hotel maid, Nafissatou Diallo, have "quietly reached an agreement to settle" her lawsuit.

There was no word of any payments by Strauss-Kahn and "no settlement had yet been signed", the newspaper said.

NBC television also reported the possible deal, confirming that it had yet to be completed.

Judge Douglas McKeon, who is presiding over the civil case, told AFP "there may be a court session as early as next week", but declined to comment on the reports of a settlement.

Diallo's lawyers did not immediately respond to an interview request, while a spokeswoman for Strauss-Kahn's legal team declined to comment.

Strauss-Kahn, who had been widely touted as a likely challenger to then president Nicolas Sarkozy, suffered a stunning fall from grace following his arrest at a New York hotel last year on sex assault charges.

He then faced a string of separate sex-related investigations in France.

Diallo had sued Strauss-Kahn in a New York civil court after prosecutors threw out assault charges filed against the globe-trotting politician, saying the maid's sex assault case would not stand up before a jury.

Although Strauss-Kahn has since been mired in legal troubles and brought low by the repeated tarnishing of his once stellar reputation, that initial downfall at a posh Manhattan hotel in May 2011 came as a shocking surprise.

At the time, Strauss-Kahn was jetting between world capitals as head of the IMF and was expected to announce what would have been a formidable candidacy for the French presidency.

Diallo, a maid at the Sofitel hotel, shattered that trajectory when she alleged the powerful politician had leapt on her in his room, naked, and forced her to perform oral sex on him.

Strauss-Kahn was arrested as he was about to fly back to Europe. He later conceded that there had been a sexual encounter in the hotel room with the cleaner, but insisted that it had been consensual.

The subsequent court proceedings and a brief spell in New York's tough Rikers Island detention centre publicly humiliated Strauss-Kahn.

After Diallo was caught lying over several points, the charges were dropped and Strauss-Kahn left hurriedly for France.

His lawyers have repeatedly said they would not agree to a deal to pay off Diallo, branding her a gold digger. Her lawyers have insisted they only want their day in court to confront Strauss-Kahn.

After leaving the US, Strauss-Kahn tried to get off the hook by claiming diplomatic immunity in the civil case but a judge rejected that move in May.

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UN court acquits former Kosovo PM, aides

A UN war crimes tribunal has acquitted the former prime minister of Kosovo and two of his former Kosovo Liberation Army comrades for the second time on charges of murdering and torturing Serbs and their supporters in Kosovo's war for independence.

"The chamber finds you not guilty on all counts in the indictment," Judge Bakone Justice Moloto told the Hague-based court on Thursday, ordering the men released.

Thursday's verdicts came in the UN court's first ever retrial, which was ordered after appeals judges branded the 2008 acquittal of former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj and KLA fighter Idriz Balaj and the conviction of a third KLA commander, Lahi Brahimaj a "miscarriage of justice" because of widespread intimidation of prosecution witnesses.

The acquittal clears the way for a possible return to the political scene for Haradinaj, seen before his 2005 indictment as a unifying force in deeply divided Kosovo.

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Hong Kong stocks close 0.99% higher

HONG Kong shares have finished 0.99 per cent higher as traders followed a rally on Wall Street that was fuelled by hopes of a US deal to avert the fiscal cliff of tax hikes and spending cuts.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index on Thursday added 213.91 points to end at 21,922.89 on turnover of $HK54.46 billion ($A6.74 billion).

In Washington House of Representatives speaker John Boehner said on Wednesday he was optimistic of a deal between his Republicans and their Democratic rivals.

Later in the day President Barack Obama also said he expected a solution would be found before Christmas.

"Our ultimate goal is an agreement that gets our long-term deficit under control in a way that is fair and balanced," Obama said.

"I believe that both parties can agree on a framework that does that in the coming weeks," he said. "In fact, my hope is to get this done before Christmas."

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's office said he would meet members of congress on Thursday to discuss "a balanced approach to reduce our deficit".

Most blue chips ended higher, led by mainland developers because of solid property sales, with China Overseas Land closing 1.1 per cent higher at $HK22.50 and China Resources Land rising 1.4 per cent to $HK20.00.

However, Chinese shares fell for a fourth straight day to a fresh four-year low as traders move out of equities as they await government measures to boost the market.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index fell 10.04 points to 1,963.49 on turnover of 49.5 billion yuan ($A7.57 billion).

The index finished at its lowest level since January 16, 2009.

"The market is likely to stay weak until the government launches significant market-friendly measures," Capital Securities' analyst Amy Lin told Dow Jones Newswires.

She added such moves could include allowing more companies to buy back their shares and further easing of monetary policy.

The losses come despite recent signs that the world's No.2 economy is showing signs of recovery as investors are concerned that corporate earnings have not kept pace, analysts said.

Citic Securities slid 4.4 per cent to 9.80 yuan and Haitong Securities lost 5.9 per cent to 7.77 yuan.

But property developers bucked the trend on hopes the real estate sector has bottomed out. China Vanke jumped 1.1 per cent to 8.43 yuan and Poly Real Estate Group rose 0.8 per cent to 11.10 yuan.

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China claims 'historical' right to sea

BEIJING'S claims to nearly all the South China Sea are embossed in its latest passports, based on what it calls long-established "historical facts" and what Chinese analysts say is Western imperial precedent.

Beijing has grown increasingly assertive in recent years in claiming islands and waters even without effective control of them - in some cases hundreds of kilometres from the Chinese mainland and close to rival claimants' coasts.

The latest front on the simmering dispute is China's new passport, which shows a map of the country including almost all of the strategically significant sea, the site of key shipping routes and possibly significant petroleum reserves.

It is also claimed wholly or in part by Vietnam and the Philippines - both of which have refused to stamp the Chinese travel documents - Brunei, Malaysia and Taiwan.

Washington described the passports as unhelpful, while Jakarta called them "counterproductive".

Officials in Beijing and state media justify the South China Sea claim by pointing to "ample historical facts and evidence" about the area, while remaining ambiguous on what these are.

The claims were formulated in 1947 by the then Nationalist government in a map with a nine-section, U-shaped demarcation encompassing the Paracel Islands east of Vietnam, the Spratlys west of the Philippines, and other uninhabited features such as the Scarborough Shoal.

It is believed to be the first time the "nine-dash line" was printed on an official Chinese map.

To help support the claim, a group of 10 academics in China and Taiwan were last month tasked with providing "a legal explanation of the U-shape line" within a year, state media reported.

China hopes ancient maps and historical records will set the record straight, but Beijing's attempts to convince its rivals through academic research may prove fruitless, according to foreign analysts.

"China's claims are very dubious because you can make old maps say what you want them to say," said Jean-Pierre Cabestan, head of the department of Government and International Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University.

Cabestan told AFP that China's only control of any of the islands came via maritime skirmishes over the past 40 years.

China took over the Paracels in 1974 following a brief naval battle with South Vietnamese forces, and some of the Spratlys in 1988 following the Johnson South Reef Skirmish, which resulted in 70 Vietnamese deaths.

Beijing also gained control over Mischief Reef in the Spratlys in the mid-1990s, when it built structures on the island that it claimed were for its fishermen, prompting protests by the Philippines.

Manila backed down over the Mischief Reef dispute, but was more assertive earlier this year when its navy and coastguard were embroiled in an extended stand-off with Chinese patrol vessels at Scarborough Shoal.

The island is well within a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone which Manila claims under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and the flare-up demonstrated China's confidence in claiming territory far from its shores.

Zhang Haiwen, deputy director of the China Institute for Marine Affairs, recently told state media that distance has "absolutely no basis in international law and judicial practice" - using Britain's Channel Islands, less than 12 nautical miles from the French coast, as an example.

Jia Qingguo, professor at Peking University's School of International Studies, said China was merely following the example set by the West.

"The United States has Guam in Asia which is very far away from the US and the French have islands in the South Pacific, so it is nothing new," he told AFP.

"The geographical location of the island does not necessarily indicate to which country it belongs."

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Man charged with sexually assaulting girl

A MAN has been charged with five counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of aggravated indecent assault for allegedly abusing a girl in his care.

After receiving a tip-off, police arrested the 65-year-old man at his home about 1.30pm (AEDT) on Thursday.

"The tip-off came from a member of the public whose daughter had told her a school friend was being abused at home," police said in a statement.

Police allege the girl was "sexually assaulted on a number of occasions by her primary carer".

The man was refused bail and will appear in Newcastle Local Court on Friday.

Child abuse squad acting commander Superintendent Anthony Holton urges anyone with information about child abuse to report it immediately to police.

"Its the whole community's responsibility to ensure the safety of our children," he said,

"If you see something, hear something, or even just suspect a child is being abused, then you need to report it."

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Top Pakistani militant hit by blast

PAKISTANI intelligence and government officials say a suicide bomber targeted a prominent Pakistani militant commander in the country's northwest, wounding him and killing three people.

The officials say the bomber attacked Maulvi Nazir on Thursday in Wana, the main town in the South Waziristan tribal area. Nazir was one of 14 people wounded in the bombing.

Nazir is the most prominent militant commander in South Waziristan and is believed to have a non-aggression pact with the Pakistani military. Nazir has focused his fighting against US-led forces in Afghanistan, not against the Pakistani state.

The officials say Nazir was attacked at an office in Wana he uses to meet with locals and hear their complaints. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media.

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UK PM 'should' reject media regulation

British MPs are urging PM David Cameron to reject statutory regulation of the press. Source: AAP

BRITISH Prime Minister David Cameron faces fresh demands to reject statutory regulation of newspapers as he prepares to take delivery of the Leveson report.

More than 80 politicians from all three main parties have signed a letter warning the Prime Minister that accepting such a recommendation would undermine free speech.

The intervention highlights the deep divisions on the key issue, after a group of 42 Tory MPs urged tough new laws to keep newspapers in check.

Mr Cameron will receive his copy of Lord Justice Leveson's conclusions this lunchtime on Wednesday, a day ahead of the official publication.

The premier, Labour leader Ed Miliband and Liberal Democrat Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg have all indicated they will support the judge's recommendations as long as they are "proportionate".

But, with his own MPs and Cabinet badly split, there is speculation that Mr Cameron could offer Parliament a free vote.

The letter to the Daily Telegraph and Guardian was organised by Labour former home secretary David Blunkett and Tory backbencher Conor Burns.

Conservatives make up the overwhelming majority of the signatories, including "big beasts" Liam Fox and David Davis, as well as media select committee chairman John Whittingdale and 1922 committee chairman Graham Brady.

Labour's Kate Hoey and Frank Field, and Lib Dem John Hemming also backed the letter.

"As parliamentarians, we believe in free speech and are opposed to the imposition of any form of statutory control even if it is dressed up as underpinning," they argued.

"No form of statutory regulation of the press would be possible without the imposition of state licensing - abolished in Britain in 1695.

"State licensing is inimical to any idea of press freedom and would radically alter the balance of our unwritten constitution."

The letter insisted almost all the problems raised before Lord Justice Leveson concerned illegal activity, suggesting a failure of law enforcement.

It cautioned that statutory regulation could be counterproductive, giving chaotic online forums such as Twitter further advantages over "properly moderated and edited print journalism".

However, the politicians stressed that the "status quo is not an option", and endorsed senior newspaper industry figures' proposals for a stronger regulator that could impose million-pound fines.

"We cannot countenance newspapers behaving as some have in the past. The solution is not new laws but a profound restructuring of the self-regulatory system," the letter added.

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Smith meets Afghan, Italian officials

AS security transition in Afghanistan approaches, Defence Minister Stephen Smith has held talks on the move to Afghan security control with visiting Afghan and Italian officials.

Mr Smith met the chairman of the Afghan government's Transition Coordination Commission, Ashraf Ghani, who is visiting Australia to participate in an International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance Democracy Forum in Canberra.

"We discussed progress in the transition to Afghan-led security responsibility in Afghanistan and Uruzgan Province by the end of 2014," Mr Smith said in a statement.

Mr Smith last met Dr Ghani during a visit to Kabul in April last year.

He said he also met Italian Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Staffan de Mistura who is visiting Australia as part of an infrastructure delegation at the invitation of Transport and Infrastructure Minster Anthony Albanese.

"We discussed the friendly bilateral Australia-Italy Defence relationship, including our co-operation on Defence capability and procurement," Mr Smith said.

Australia and Italy are partners in Afghanistan as members of the International Security Assistance Force, working towards transition to Afghan-led security responsibility.

Mr Smith said Italy had around 4000 military personnel in Afghanistan and was lead nation in Regional Command (West).

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Killers often know their victims: report

A REPORT by the Victorian Coroner looking into 545 homicides between 2000 and 2010 in Victoria has found 288 involved family members or intimate partners.

The Victorian Systemic Review of Family Violence Deaths (VSRFVD), led by Coroner Judge Jennifer Coates, found that an intimate relationship was the most common link making up 47 per cent of homicide deaths.

That was followed by parents killing children or children killing parents (26 per cent) and other relatives representing 12 per cent.

The report also analysed the number of service contacts victims and offenders had with the health, justice, community and welfare service systems within a six month period prior to the murders.

It identified three main focus areas for prevention of family violence-related deaths including improved service responses to vulnerable groups, strengthening health service responses to family violence and increasing community awareness of family violence.

The coroner said the evidence confirmed the need to be aware of recognised risk factors and the importance of building a responsive service system that was able to identify and respond appropriately.

Factors included a history of family violence, relationship separation, threats of harm, alcohol misuse and the mental illness in the family.

Of the 545 homicides looked at, males accounted for 363, or 67 per cent, of those killed, and females comprised 182, or 33 per cent.

Single male offenders were responsible for 79 per cent of the homicides and single female offenders for the remaining 21 per cent.

The majority of deaths (74 per cent) occurred in metropolitan rather than regional areas with the homicides predominantly perpetrated by one person.

The coroner said the findings supported previous research that indicated a substantial proportion of homicides were committed by family members, and in particular, intimate partners.

Among eight deaths that involved an intervention order, there were two suicides and one case where the parents of the affected family member were killed.

"Many of the deaths followed historical exposure to violence and abuse, while others occurred in the absence of previously identifiable violent incidents," she said.

In her conclusion, Judge Coates said deaths caused by family violence were deeply saddening events, not only for the immediate family members, but also the wider community.

"The findings of this report indicate that in Victoria, as with other Australian states and territories, deaths among intimate partners and other family members form a substantial proportion of the total number of homicides recorded each year," she said.

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European stocks drop at open

EUROPE'S main stock markets declined at the start of trading on Wednesday, with London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of top companies down 0.29 per cent at 5,782.77 points.

Elsewhere, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index dipped 0.20 per cent to 7,317.49 points and in Paris the CAC 40 reversed 0.38 per cent to 3,488.75.

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Blasts kill 38 near Syria capital

SIMULTANEOUS car bombings in a mostly Christian and Druze town near Damascus killed at least 38 people as rebels downed a military aircraft for the second successive day.

The blasts occurred when explosives-packed cars were detonated at daybreak on Wednesday in a pro-regime area of the town of Jaramana, residents, state media and a rights watchdog reported.

They were the fourth bomb attacks since August 28 to rock Jaramana, home to predominantly Christians and Druze, an influential minority whose faith is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam.

Sectarian divides are a key factor in Syria's armed rebellion, with many in the Sunni Muslim majority frustrated at more than 40 years of Alawite-dominated rule.

The blast ripped through a central square of Jaramana, said the official SANA news agency.

There was a ball of fire at the end of a narrow lane, and the impact of the explosions brought walls down onto cars, crushing them and scattering debris over the ground. Pools of blood were seen in the middle of the street.

The death toll mounted as the morning wore on, with the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights giving tallies of 20, then 29 and finally at least 38. The interior ministry put the count at 34.

"Activists and residents in the town said most of the victims were killed when a suicide attacker blew up his car, just after an explosive device was used to blow up another car," said the Observatory.

SANA reported that "terrorists" blew up the two car bombs at the same time, as two separate explosive devices were set off without claiming any lives.

The Syrian uprising erupted in March 2011 with peaceful pro-democracy protests, inspired by the Arab Spring. It transformed into an armed insurgency when the government began a bloody crackdown on dissent.

The regime of President Bashar al-Assad, himself an Alawite, insists it is fighting foreign-backed "terrorists".

The failure of international diplomacy has enabled it to press on with its all-out military campaign to crush the rebellion, and the fighting has resulted in more than 40,000 deaths, according to the Observatory.

In the latest violence, an AFP correspondent on the Syria-Turkey border reported that rebel fighters shot down a fighter jet in the embattled northwest.

The warplane came down in a massive explosion, leaving behind a plume of smoke, the journalist said, reporting several kilometres away from the impact.

The aircraft was hit by a missile and crashed at Daret Ezza, said the Observatory, a Britain-based watchdog that relies on a network of activists and medics on the ground for its information.

It came a day after rebels downed an army helicopter for the first time with a newly acquired ground-to-air missile, in what the Observatory said had the potential to change the balance of military power in the conflict.

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Congo rebels to withdraw from Goma

Rebels holding the town of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo ignored a deadline to withdraw. Source: AAP

REBELS in the Democratic Republic of Congo say they would withdraw from Goma, a week after their capture of the key eastern city sparked fears of a new war in the volatile region.

Senior commander Colonel Antoine Manzi said on Tuesday the M23 fighters would comply with a request "to withdraw from Goma in order to start negotiations with the government".

The decision followed a midnight Monday deadline set by regional leaders to leave the city. The Congolese army had also threatened to remove the insurgents by force.

DR Congo's army chief, General Francois Olenga, had travelled to within 20 kilometres of rebel positions to inspect his troops and told AFP earlier on Tuesday that they were "holding" their positions.

At a summit on Saturday in Uganda's capital Kampala, regional heads of state gave the rebels 48 hours to withdraw to at least 20 kilometres outside Goma.

They also called on the DR Congo government to take steps to resolve the rebels' "legitimate grievances".

The rebels had refused to withdraw before holding direct talks with the government, which in turn refused to negotiate without a withdrawal.

The M23 was founded by former fighters in an ethnic Tutsi rebel group whose members were integrated into the regular army under a 2009 peace deal they claim was never fully implemented.

They mutinied in April and seized Goma last week in a rapid advance that the army proved unable to stop despite backing from UN peacekeepers who deployed attack helicopters in a bid to hold back the M23.

The United Nations last week issued a damning report accusing Rwanda, and to a lesser extent Uganda, of backing the rebels, who it says have murdered, raped and kidnapped civilians in their sweep across the east.

Both countries deny the allegations.

Meanwhile Hutu extremists based in the eastern DR Congo on Tuesday crossed into Rwanda and attacked its forces along the border, the Rwandan army said.

The army "is fighting the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda that attacked in (the villages of) Cyanzarwe and Bugeshi" around dawn, spokesman Joseph Nzabamwita told AFP.

He was referring to an ethnic Hutu rebel group that fled Rwanda into DR Congo after the genocide almost two decades ago, and has been based there ever since.

Nzabamwita said the army had repulsed the rebels, who numbered around 100, and they had scattered.

"As we are talking some are fleeing back to DRC, others deep inside Rwanda," he said.

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Bishop backtracks on Gillard allegation

The coalition will use the last week of parliament to grill PM Julia Gillard over an AWU slush fund. Source: AAP

DEPUTY opposition leader Julie Bishop has backtracked on her claim that Julia Gillard helped "hide" the creation of an incorporated entity set up by two union officials in the 1990s.

The prime minister on Tuesday accused the coalition of taking the word of a confessed fraudster and a former One Nation strategist as she faced a second question time almost entirely devoted to the establishment of the Australian Workers' Union Workplace Reform Association.

Before question time, Ms Bishop, who led the coalition attack, alleged Ms Gillard had helped conceal the controversial association by not creating a file on the advice she gave AWU office holders Bruce Wilson and Ralph Blewitt when she was employed by a law firm.

The West Australian Liberal frontbencher offered no evidence to support her allegation, despite meeting union bagman Mr Blewitt, who last week gave Victorian police statements on three AWU-related matters.

Ms Bishop confirmed she met Mr Blewitt for about 10 minutes in Melbourne on Friday but he was unable to produce any documents she "could ask the prime minister about".

As a lawyer with Slater & Gordon in the 1990s, Ms Gillard provided legal advice to her then partner, Mr Wilson, and Mr Blewitt about the incorporation of "an association" in 1992.

Mr Wilson and Mr Blewitt then allegedly used accounts under the name of the WA entity to hive off hundreds of thousands of dollars. No charges were laid despite an investigation.

They both deny benefiting financially, and blame the other.

Mr Wilson says there was no fraud on his part, nor did Ms Gillard ever benefit financially.

He admitted seeking legal advice from Ms Gillard, who he said advised the pair on how to register the association after he encountered "technical problems" during his own attempts.

He feels bad Ms Gillard is repeatedly grilled about the matter blaming it on a group of people want to do damage to the prime minister.

"I feel sorry for her that she has to go through it, it is just not warranted," he told the ABC 7:30 report on Tuesday.

Ms Gillard has denied any involvement in the association beyond giving advice that was so "low level" she didn't charge for it or open an in-house file.

Ms Bishop told reporters on Tuesday morning the "unauthorised association" breached WA law and AWU internal rules.

"The reason she didn't open a file within Slater & Gordon - a file that would have shown a new legal entity was set up - was because she and Wilson and Blewitt wanted to hide from the AWU the fact that an unauthorised entity was being set up," Ms Bishop said.

Asked later about her claim, Ms Bishop backtracked.

"There are only two members of the association - she wasn't a member of the association," she told reporters after question time.

"Wilson and Blewitt ... are the ones who benefited from the slush fund."

Asked directly whether she was alleging Ms Gillard was a knowing party to fraud, Ms Bishop said: "I still have questions to ask of the prime minister."

Mr Wilson said Mr Blewitt was the only one with access to money - adding Mr Blewitt used to bury it in packages in his garden.

"How do I know that? He confessed at some stage and he also showed me a package of money that he ... had been destroyed (by moisture)".

Mr Blewitt told Sky television's Showdown program he constantly took money out of the fund but didn't keep it. He says he had no idea what happened to it because he gave it to Mr Wilson.

Ms Gillard told parliament the opposition's attack was based on a false premise.

She said the establishment of the association was not secret, because it was advertised for public comment in the West Australian newspaper public notices section in March 1992.

She also said Ms Bishop was relying in part on an discredited affidavit drafted by former One Nation figure John Pasquarelli on behalf of former AWU Victorian branch president Bob Kernohan.

Former AWU official Bill Shorten, who is mentioned in the affidavit, has dismissed it as false.

Cabinet minister Anthony Albanese compared Ms Bishop's meeting with Mr Blewitt to the Godwin Grech affair which led to the downfall of Malcolm Turnbull as opposition leader in December 2009.

Mr Albanese said Ms Bishop was "meeting with a scumbag to try and bring down a prime minister" and that her position was untenable.

Mr Abbott praised the efforts of Ms Bishop at a joint parties meeting, telling colleagues the prime minister's "lack of integrity" went to the heart of the Labor government.

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Migration bill splits coalition

A PAIR of coalition MPs have defied their party and voted against legislation that effectively excises the Australian mainland from its migration zone.

But the legislation passed the lower house easily, with Labor and the rest of the coalition uniting.

Judi Moylan and Russell Broadbent told parliament they could not support the measure, which implements a recommendation from the Houston report on asylum seeker policy.

"I could choose to be at peace with my party, unified in opposition to this poor excuse for a Labor government, or at peace with my heart for this nation," Mr Broadbent told parliament on Tuesday.

"I choose my heart for this nation."

Immigration Minister Chris Bowen said it was important to deter people from taking the dangerous journey by sea to Australia.

Under the bill, anyone arriving irregularly in Australia waters by boat would be subject to regional processing.

It will dissuade people from trying to reach the Australian mainland in a bid to avoid being sent for offshore processing, as would happen if they arrived on Christmas Island or Ashmore Reef.

Mr Bowen said the bill targeted people arriving by boat because they were the ones most at risk.

"Those arriving by plane are not risking their lives to get here," he said.

"The very clear, and universally agreed aim of the policy changes ... is the need to remove the incentive for people to take the dangerous journey by boat."

While the measure was only a marginal one, opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said his party supported it because "it improves things slightly".

Ms Moylan said the measure was "the final legal brick creating fortress Australia" while Mr Broadbent called it "a blight on our national integrity".

Green Adam Bandt and independents Craig Thomson and Andrew Wilkie also opposed the measure.

Mr Bandt said it was distressing to be debating a bill that was so similar to what was attempted under the Howard government.

"We had the opportunity to show we are a good country," he said.

Instead the government was going back to where the right wing of the ALP perhaps wanted it to go - back to Howard, he said.

Mr Thomson was very disappointed that Labor was supporting something it rightly rejected in 2006.

Mr Morrison slammed Labor's hypocrisy in copying that manoeuvre.

"If you vote for this bill today on that side of the house, you are admitting that you are hypocrites and frauds," he told parliament.

Labor backbencher Ed Husic acknowledged that consistency in setting policy was important.

"But consistency that ignores reality and is divorced from reality and circumstance is not a substitute for good policy," he told parliament.

The Migration Amendment (Unauthorised Maritime Arrivals and Other Measures) Bill 2012 will head to the Senate.

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US homeowner charged in fatal shootings

A US homeowner who shot two unarmed teenagers in the midst of an apparent Thanksgiving Day break-in said he feared they had a weapon, but appeared to take pride in "a good clean finishing shot" for one teenager, authorities say.

Byron David Smith, 64, was charged on Monday with two counts of second-degree murder in a criminal complaint that was chilling for the clinical way investigators in Minnesota said he described the shootings.

Smith told investigators he shot 18-year-old Haile Kifer several times last Thursday as she descended a stairway into his basement, and his Mini 14 rifle jammed as he tried to shoot her again after she had tumbled down the steps.

Though Kifer was "already hurting", she let out a short laugh, Smith told investigators. He then pulled out his .22-calibre revolver and shot her several times in the chest, according to the complaint.

"If you're trying to shoot somebody and they laugh at you, you go again," Smith told investigators, according to a criminal complaint filed on Monday.

Smith was also charged in the death of Kifer's cousin, 17-year-old Nicholas Brady.

Minnesota law allows a homeowner to use deadly force on an intruder if a reasonable person would fear they are in danger of harm, and Smith told investigators he was afraid the intruders might have a weapon. However, Smith's actions weren't justified, Morrison County Sheriff Michel Wetzel said.

"The law doesn't permit you to execute somebody once a threat is gone," he said.

Smith told investigators he was fearful after several break-ins at his remote home in Little Falls, a central Minnesota town of 8000 people. The sheriff's office had only one report of a break-in, on October 27. Smith reported losing thousands of dollars in cash, gold coins, two guns, photo equipment and jewellery.

Wetzel said that while the shootings happened on Thursday, Smith waited until Friday to report the deaths, explaining that "he didn't want to trouble us on a holiday".

In the complaint, Smith said he was in his basement when he heard a window breaking upstairs, followed by footsteps that eventually approached the basement stairwell. Smith said he fired when Brady came into view from the waist down.

After the teenager fell down the stairs, Smith said he shot him in the face as he lay on the floor.

"I want him dead," the complaint quoted Smith telling an investigator.

Smith said he dragged Brady's body into his basement workshop, then sat down on his chair. After a few minutes, Kifer began coming down the stairs and he shot her as soon as her hips appeared, he said.

After shooting her with both the Mini 14 and the .22-calibre revolver, he dragged her next to Brady. With her still gasping for air, he fired a shot under her chin "up into the cranium," the complaint says.

"Smith described it as 'a good clean finishing shot,'" according to the complaint.

The next day he asked a neighbour to recommend a good lawyer, according to the complaint. He later asked his neighbour to call the police.

A prosecutor called Smith's reaction "appalling".

"Mr Smith intentionally killed two teenagers in his home in a manner that goes well beyond self-defence," Morrison County Attorney Brian Middendorf said after Smith appeared in court Monday morning. Bail was set at $US2 million ($A1.92 million).

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Olympic swimmer in hot water

Allegations centre on a borrowed scooter and a crash that injured two people. Source: AAP

OLYMPIC swimmer Eamon Sullivan has a date with an Adelaide magistrate after being reported by police for assault and disorderly behaviour after a joyride on a motorised scooter went wrong.

Sullivan was in Adelaide for a buck's party on October 18 for an AFL footballer and was drinking at the Prince Albert Hotel in Gawler when it's alleged he borrowed a motorised scooter belonging to pensioner John Guppy.

Mr Guppy told the Nine Network that one of the men at the buck's party asked "for a spin" on the scooter.

Nine said Sullivan and a footballer took the scooter onto the footpath and crashed into a table outside the pub injuring two people.

Publican Adrian Armstrong told the network that the people in the buck's party did not appear to be intoxicated but he asked them to move on after the incident.

Police have reported Sullivan, 27, from Western Australia, to appear before the Elizabeth Magistrates Court on a date to be fixed to face two charges of assault and one of disorderly behaviour.

Sullivan's lawyer issued a statement saying that although an accident did occur there was no evidence that the swimmer was responsible for it.

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Defence gets tough on frontline fitness

The defence force demonstrated its new fitness standards during a troop demonstration in Canberra. Source: AAP

FUTURE Australian soldiers could have to prove their fitness by route marching in full kit and carrying 22-kilogram jerry cans full of water, rather than running and doing push-ups and sit-ups.

The proposed new defence Physical Employment Standards Assessments are the culmination of a long program of research by the Defence Science and Technology Organisation aimed at determining standards of fitness required for a particular job.

Under reforms now under way, women will be able to serve in frontline combat units if they can meet the physical standard.

DSTO scientist Dan Billing, who's headed the research project, said on Monday the current Army Basic Fitness Assessment standard specified a 2.4km run plus push-ups and sit-ups, adjusted according to age and gender.

"They are good tests of physical capacity. But they don't necessarily assess someone's capability to do the job," he said.

Mr Billing said the proposed new basic test, demonstrated at the defence headquarters in Canberra on Monday, gives a better indication of whether a soldier is actually able to perform a range of tasks likely to be encountered in service life.

It starts with a 55 minute, five-kilometre march, wearing protective equipment and carrying weapons. Soldiers must then carry two 22-kilogram jerry cans for 150 metres, which mirrors the effort it takes to carry a casualty on a stretcher.

Soldiers must also demonstrate the basic tactical skill of fire and movement by running six metres, kneeling and lying prone in a firing position and repeating that 12 times.

Finally, there's a requirement to lift a 25kg weight a distance of 1.5 metres - comparable to lifting store onto a truck or moving sandbags in a disaster relief operation.

The basic requirement for an infantry soldier is more stringent and proposed tests for special forces will be tougher still.

Mr Billing said the requirements aren't designed to exclude people.

"We have seen really clear evidence that if people are given the exposure and the necessary conditioning and training, they improve radically and very quickly," he said.

"We have actually implemented the tests at recruit training centres. Both males and females have passed the test at the end of recruit training. These are people who have been in the army for 12 weeks."

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Qld beef 'safe' despite rare disease

An agriculture lobby group says Qld beef is safe to eat despite the discovery of a rare disease. Source: AAP

IT'S safe to eat Queensland beef despite a rare bovine disease being detected on a property near the state's beef capital, an agriculture lobby group says.

Bovine Johne's Disease (BJD) causes chronic diarrhoea in older cattle, which can lead to emaciation.

The disease cannot be transmitted to humans and has a one per cent mortality rate in cattle.

AgForce announced on Tuesday the disease was detected on a beef property outside Rockhampton and there is some risk of it spreading.

The Queensland government is contacting producers who could be affected.

Queensland's chief vet, Rick Symons, told the ABC the property had been placed under quarantine. Biosecurity Queensland would be contacting about 160 property owners who had purchased cattle from it.

"We will be tracing the animals that went off the property to other properties and we will be contacting the other property owners to let them know what has happened," he said.

Agforce Cattle Board president Howard Smith says the outbreak will not have a big impact on producers.

"The safety of eating beef and associated products will not be impacted," he said in a statement.

"It is important to note BJD is present in most of the countries Australia trades with and should not place the Queensland industry at any commercial disadvantage."

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Bangladesh workers protest 'deathtraps'

A fire in a nine-storey garment factory in Bangladesh has left at least 110 people dead. Source: AAP

GARMENT workers staged mass protests on Monday to demand an end to "deathtrap" labour conditions after Bangladesh's worst-ever textile factory fire, as a new blaze sparked fresh panic and terror.

Ahead of the first of a series of mass funerals for the 110 victims, survivors of Saturday night's blaze joined several thousand colleagues to block a highway and march in the manufacturing hub of Ashulia.

"Workers from several factories have left work and joined the protest. They want exemplary punishment for Tazreen's owners," said Dhaka police chief Habibur Rahman, referring to a plant near the capital where the blaze broke out late Saturday.

Police said Ashulia's more than 500 factories who make apparel for top global retailers such as Walmart, H&M and Tesco declared a wild-cat "holiday", fearing that the protests could worsen and turn into large-scale unrest.

"Most workers are in shock. They want to see safety improvements to these deathtrap factories," Babul Akter, head of a garment union, told AFP.

The protesters chanted a series of slogans, including a demand for Tazreen's bosses to be brought to justice.

Local police chief Badrul Alam said officers had opened a murder investigation as a result of criminal negligence. Two government inquiries and the police investigation are trying to establish if the owners were to blame for the fire.

"We won't spare anyone," Alam promised as the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced a day of mourning for the dead, many of whom stitched clothes for international brands. All factories will also be closed on Tuesday.

Dozens of workplace fires have killed more than 600 employees in Bangladesh's booming garment industry since 2006, but none of the owners have so far faced prosecution for poor safety conditions.

Firefighters battled for several hours to contain the weekend blaze, which broke out on the ground floor of the nine-storey Tazreen Fashion plant 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of Dhaka, trapping over 1,000 workers.

Witnesses told how panicked staff, most of them women, cried for help and several leaped to their deaths from upper floors as they tried to escape.

Preparations have been made for the mass burial of the bodies of 59 workers who cannot be identified.

Their remains, most of which were burnt beyond recognition, will be laid to rest at a state graveyard in a southern suburb of Dhaka.

"We are keeping the DNA samples of the dead workers so that we can identify their relatives for compensation," said Dhaka district police commissioner Yusuf Harun who said the death toll was now 110.

Even before the first burials, a new blaze at a 12-storey building housing four factories sparked new scenes of panic as workers rushed to safety.

The latest fire caused widespread damage at the plant on the outskirts of Dhaka, but no casualties were reported after rescue teams searched the building for workers feared to have suffocated in toxic black fumes.

"Most workers broke grilles in the upper floor and escaped to a safe location at an adjacent building," Dhaka district deputy commissioner of police Nisharul Arif told AFP.

Bangladesh has emerged as the world's second-largest clothes exporter with overseas garment sales topping $19 billion last year, or 80 percent of national exports.

The sector is the mainstay of the poverty-stricken country's economy, employing 40 percent of its industrial workforce, but work conditions are often basic and safety standards low.

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Zuma slaughters cows for re-election

SOUTH Africa's President Jacob Zuma's family slaughtered 12 cows at his rural village at the weekend in a traditional ritual to help him keep his job, local media said on Monday.

The Times quoted one clan elder calling on the ancestors to protect Zuma against his rivals ahead of an African National Congress (ANC) leadership vote next month.

"We appeal to you all ... ancestors, to be with him, to guide him and protect him against those ganging up against him," Maqhinga Zuma said at the ceremony in Nkandla where an upgrade to the leader's private home has sparked controversy.

Guests feasted on the beef cooked on open fire and drank traditional brew, according to the newspaper The Star.

Pictures of Zuma clad in a traditional Zulu warrior leopard skin jacket and brandishing a spear and shield were plastered on the front pages of two leading newspapers.

He faces a tough re-election bid at the ruling party congress after some former supporters have in recent months openly campaigned for his removal, calling for him to be replaced by his deputy Kgalema Motlanthe.

No party officials attended the ceremony.

Zuma has come under fire for his leadership in the face of a myriad pressing challenges, including a slowing economy, joblessness and spiralling corruption.

His home in Nkandla, a village in rural KwaZulu-Natal, is also at the centre of a storm over a security upgrade costing around $28 million.

Opposition parties are trying to introduce a vote of no-confidence motion in parliament.

Despite Zuma's waning popularity, analysts believe he will be re-elected as party leader, which would virtually hand him another term as the country's president from 2014 due to the ANC's overwhelming political dominance.

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Burke thanks warring Tassie forest groups

ENVIRONMENT Minister Tony Burke has personally thanked the environmental and industry groups who buried the hatchet to reach an historic agreement over Tasmania's forests.

A bitter 30-year feud between loggers and green groups in Tasmania ended last Thursday with a deal between the warring parties.

Under the agreement, more than 500,000 hectares of native Tasmanian forest will be protected from logging, while about 140,000 cubic metres of sawlogs will be made available for loggers.

The agreement was heralded a victory by conservation groups, but widely criticised by Tasmania's opposition party and the state's Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Just weeks ago, a resolution seemed impossible after conservationists and the Forest Industries Association of Tasmania (FIAT) walked away from peace talks.

Mr Burke said at the time he was "quite pessimistic" the demands of both the parties could be met, but then last week announced the surprise deal had been struck.

He met with the signatories on Monday to acknowledge the "difficult" process and to thank all parties for their "goodwill".

"The Australian government will now work through the implications of what is proposed and see how much we might be able to do to support it," Mr Burke said in a statement.

"I made a guarantee that we would not cherry pick elements of the proposal as I have no doubt if the Australian government did that, everything would have the capacity to unravel pretty quickly."

He said some of the groups around the table were still going through a process with their own members before they could return with a final position.

Around 400,000 hectares of forest will be placed into reserves immediately, including large tracts of the Styx and Upper Florentine, followed by about 108,000 hectares a year later.

Conservation group The Wilderness Society also claims there will be "substantive restructure" of Forestry Tasmania, including a shake up of its board and senior staff.

The group also said that native forest logging will continue until at least 2027.

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Search for swimmer at WA beach called off

THE search for a swimmer initially feared missing off Perth's Trigg Beach has been suspended after no firm reports emerged of a missing person.

Police and surf lifesavers had been searching for more than three hours after a beach inspector saw a man waving for assistance at about 11.30am (WST) but could not find him later.

Helicopters, boats and jet skis were used in the search and the beach was cleared to see if there was any unclaimed personal property on the shore.

There were further concerns after Surf Life Saving WA reported a 1.5-metre hammerhead shark 300m off the beach at about 1.50pm (WST).

Police say they do not know for certain, but it is possible the man may have made his way back to the beach unassisted.

Members of the public who know of loved ones who may have been swimming and not returned home are asked to call police on 131 444.

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ElBaradei warns of Egypt turmoil

Egypt's top judges have denounced President Mohamed Morsi for granting himself sweeping new powers. Source: AAP

PROMINENT Egyptian democracy advocate Mohammed ElBaradei has warned of increasing turmoil that could lead to the military stepping in unless Islamist President Mohammed Morsi rescinds his new, near absolute powers.

Egypt's liberal and secular forces - long divided, weakened and uncertain amid the rise of Islamist parties to power - are seeking to rally themselves in response to the decrees issued this week by Morsi.

The president granted himself sweeping powers to "protect the revolution" and made himself immune to judicial oversight.

The judiciary, which was the main target of Morsi's edicts, pushed back on Saturday.

The country's highest body of judges, the Supreme Judicial Council, called his decrees an "unprecedented assault."

Courts in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria announced a work suspension until the decrees are lifted.

Outside the high court building in Cairo, several hundred demonstrators rallied against Morsi, chanting, "Leave! Leave!" echoing the slogan used against former leader Hosni Mubarak in last year's uprising that ousted him.

Police fired tear gas to disperse a crowd of young men who were shooting flares outside the court.

The edicts issued on Wednesday have galvanised anger brewing against Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, from which he hails, ever since he took office in June as Egypt's first freely elected president.

Critics accuse the Brotherhood - which has dominated elections the past year - and other Islamists of monopolising power and doing little to bring real reform or address Egypt's mounting economic and security woes.

Opposition groups have called for new nationwide rallies on Tuesday - and the Muslim Brotherhood has called for rallies supporting Morsi the same day, setting the stage for new violence.

Morsi supporters counter that the edicts were necessary to prevent the courts, which already dissolved the elected lower house of parliament, from further holding up moves to stability by disbanding the assembly writing the new constitution, as judges were considering doing.

Like parliament was, the assembly is dominated by Islamists.

Morsi accuses Mubarak loyalists in the judiciary of seeking to thwart the revolution's goals and barred the judiciary from disbanding the constitutional assembly or parliament's upper house.

In an interview with a handful of journalists, including The Associated Press, Nobel Peace laureate ElBaradei raised alarm over the impact of Morsi's rulings, saying he had become "a new pharaoh."

"There is a good deal of anger, chaos, confusion. Violence is spreading to many places and state authority is starting to erode slowly," he said.

"We hope that we can manage to do a smooth transition without plunging the country into a cycle of violence. But I don't see this happening without Mr Morsi rescinding all of this."

Speaking of Egypt's powerful military, ElBaradei said, "I am sure they are as worried as everyone else. You cannot exclude that the army will intervene to restore law and order" if the situation gets out of hand.

But anti-Morsi factions are chronically divided, with revolutionary youth activists, new liberal political parties that have struggled to build a public base and figures from the Mubarak era, all of whom distrust each other.

The judiciary is also an uncomfortable cause for some to back, since it includes many Mubarak appointees who even Morsi opponents criticise as too tied to the old regime.

Opponents say the edicts gave Morsi near dictatorial powers, neutering the judiciary when he already holds both executive and legislative powers.

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Men arrested after mosque 'threat'

A person is in custody after a threat has been made against a mosque in Sydney's south. Source: AAP

TWO suspected Muslim extremists have been arrested at a mosque in Sydney's south after threats were allegedly made against worshippers.

Police say two men are in custody after an operation at the mosque in Arncliffe, in Sydney's south, on Sunday afternoon.

They said one man was removed from the mosque around 1.15pm by "members of the congregation" before being arrested by police stationed outside.

Another man was arrested outside the mosque, police told AAP.

They did not specify the nature of the arrests.

A witness at the mosque who does not want to be named, said he saw members of the congregation drag a man wearing Islamic clothing from the building around 1.00pm (AEDT).

The witness said worshippers hauled the man out of the mosque and took him "down the street", before police arrived and apprehended him.

He said the man appeared to be an Anglo-Saxon Australian and said he thought he may have been a Wahabi extremist.

Jamal Daoud of the Social Justice Network said he was contacted by a member of the Muslim community who said two Wahabi extremists had threatened Shia Muslims gathered to observe the day of Ashura at the Masjid Fatima Al Zahrah mosque.

"We have information that two men were arrested when they attempted attacking masses of Shia Muslims remembering the Ashura in Arncliffe," Mr Daoud said.

He said the action came after calls for violence against Shia were made on Facebook on Saturday.

Mr Daoud said worshippers at the mosque called police when they became suspicious of attempts by the two men to use their mobile phones.

Police said both arrested men had been taken to St George Police Station where they were assisting with inquiries.

They said the men were not aligned with any particular religious group and may have mental health issues.

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Iran congratulates Hamas 'victory'

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has praised Gaza's 'victory over Israeli aggression'. Source: AAP

IRAN'S President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has congratulated Gaza's Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya on a "great victory" over Israel, the two sides say.

Haniya in turn "thanked Iran for its support," they added, days after Tehran confirmed it had supplied military aid to Gaza.

"The Iranian president congratulated the people of Gaza and the (Palestinian) resistance facing Zionist aggression ... on their great victory," Iran's news agency ISNA reported on Saturday.

Haniya's office said Ahmadinejad called late on Friday to praise Gaza's "victory after eight days of Israeli aggression," referring to the Jewish state's Operation Pillar of Defence which ended with a Wednesday ceasefire.

"We stand beside the Palestinian people," the Iranian president added.

Parliament speaker Ali Larijani on Wednesday said Iran had supplied military aid to Islamist movement Hamas, which controls Gaza and which fired missiles at Tel Aviv for the first time during the eight-day conflict with Israel.

"We are proud to defend the people of Palestine and Hamas ... and that our assistance to them has been both financial and military," Larijani said in remarks reported by parliament's website, ICANA.ir.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards chief General Mohammad Ali Jafari also said on Wednesday that Tehran had provided the "technology" for the Fajr 5 missiles used to target Tel Aviv, but denied supplying the actual weapons.

He said they were being "rapidly produced" in Gaza.

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal on Wednesday thanked Iran as well as Egypt for their support during the conflict, saying Iran "had a role in arming" his Islamist movement.

The truce ended eight days of cross border attacks in which 166 Palestinians and six Israelis died.

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Bomb attack on Shi'ite parade kills five

The Pakistan Taliban has claimed a bomb blast that killed eight people near a Shi'ite procession. Source: AAP

A BOMB attack on a Shi'ite Muslim procession has killed five mourners and wounded more than 80 in northwest Pakistan as Shi'ites mark their holiest day Ashura.

Officials say the bomb exploded on Sunday in the city of Dera Ismail Khan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where a day earlier a blast claimed by the Taliban killed eight people near a Shi'ite Muslim procession.

"Five people were killed and 83 injured in the bomb blast," Shafeerulla Khan, a senior government official in regional capital Peshawar told AFP.

Khan said preliminary investigations indicated the device was planted inside a shop but police were probing whether a suicide bomber was involved.

A spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban soon claimed responsibility for the bombing and threatened more attacks.

"It was a suicide attack and we claim responsibility for it," Ehsanullah Ehsan told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location.

He repeated his threat made Saturday that the Taliban had dispatched more suicide bombers across the country for attacks against the minority community.

The Pakistani Taliban had also claimed a suicide attack that killed 23 people Thursday at a Shi'ite procession in the garrison city of Rawalpindi.

But Nazir Khan, a police official in Dera Ismail Khan, insisted Sunday's blast was from a bomb planted inside a shop. "It was a remote-controlled bomb and exploded as a procession reached here," he said.

Police official Anwar Khan Akbar confirmed the new death toll and said the target of the attack was the Ashura procession.

Khalid Aziz, a doctor in the city's main hospital, told Pakistan's private ARY TV channel some of the injured were in critical condition.

Pakistan has deployed tens of thousands of police and paramilitary forces to try to avert sectarian clashes or attacks on Ashura processions, when Shi'ites whip themselves to mourn the seventh-century killing of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussein.

Authorities have ordered heightened security, with services for mobile phones - which are often used to trigger bombs - suspended in major cities.

Shi'ites, a minority in Sunni-dominated Pakistan, have been marking the holy month of Muharram which culminated Sunday in Ashura.

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