Aust must lead way against shark fin trade

CONSERVATIONISTS are calling on Australia to take a stand to protect several shark species threatened by the multi-million dollar shark fin trade to Asia, especially China.

The call comes as delegates of 178 nations meet on Sunday at the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Humane Society International Australia's program director Alexia Wellbelove says shark and ray populations are in trouble and international trade is a key driver in their decline as sharks are being taken at an unsustainable rate, primarily for their fins for shark fin soup.

The CITES meeting will decide whether international conservation efforts will be used to restrict the trade in several shark species now seen as vulnerable.

Proposals at the meeting include protection for the Porbeagle shark, Oceanic White Tip, the Scalloped Hammerhead Shark and the giant mantra ray, now targeted for their gill plates or rakers, used in traditional Chinese medicine.

Between 1.3 million to 2.7 million hammerhead sharks die each year to meet the demand for shark fin soup, with declines in shark populations reported by up to 80 per cent.

"One of the main threats really to sharks is to trade in their products, particularly for the Asian market, not so much Thailand but China (and) Taiwan," Ms Wellbelove told AAP.

The fins from between 200,000 to 1.2 million Oceanic White Tip sharks are harvested annually, at a price of around $US122 per kilogram on markets in Asia.

It has left this shark population dropping by more than 90 per cent in parts of the Atlantic.

Just two shark species, the Great White Shark and the Whale Shark are listed for protection under the UN convention.

The Porbeagle shark is found in the Northern Atlantic and southern hemisphere, including waters off Australia and New Zealand.

"Basically it does mean that we're in a situation where we can get some regulation on that now we can stop those populations from dropping too much further, controlling it before it's too late," she said.

Australia is sponsoring the call for a ban on the trade in the Freshwater Sawfish now largely extinct in the region apart from northern Australia.

Conservationists have already lobbied Australia's three main political parties ahead of the September general election to adopt measures by the US state of Hawaii which ban the sale, trade and possession of shark fin.

Rebecca Regenry, a deputy director at the US based Human Society International, says moves to control the trade in shark fins is facing resistance from China and Japan.

Ms Regenry said documents indicated Thailand, the meetings host, was also opposed to controls.

But Secretary General of CITES, John Scanlon, said divisions were apparent within states to provide greater protection for shark species.

"There are some parties who are very keen to bring sharks, commercially harvested sharks and rays, under the control of our convention," Mr Scanlon told AAP.

"(But) there are some states who remain of the view that these issues should be left to regional fisheries management organisations such as the FAO (United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization) and not bring it user CITES," he said.

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Myanmar media clampdown criticised

MEDIA groups in Myanmar (Burma) have reacted with dismay over a proposed law to regulate the press that has raised fears the government could be rolling back on promises to loosen its grip on the long-shackled industry.

The printing and publishing bill, drafted by the ministry of information, has listed a number of restrictions - including reporting on clashes between ethnic groups and producing articles that "violate" the junta-drafted constitution.

The proposed legislation, which also laid out strict penalties of up to six months in jail for those operating without valid accreditation, came as a shock for the country's interim press council, which is drafting a separate media law.

"It's an annoyance for us. We think the penalties are much harsher than necessary," council member Zaw Thet Htwe said on Saturday.

Myanmar has surprised observers with a raft of reforms under a quasi-civilian government that replaced outright military rule in 2011, including holding elections that swept democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi into parliament.

Pre-publication censorship rules were scrapped in August - ending draconian controls that applied to everything from newspapers to song lyrics - and the country recently announced it would allow private newspapers to publish daily for the first time in decades from April.

But a notice in the state-run New Light of Myanmar on Saturday said only eight out of 17 applications for daily licences had so far been approved.

Eleven Media Group, one of the country's larger newspaper publishers, said its application had been rejected on technical grounds.

The draft printing legislation, which was published in Burmese language state media on Wednesday, also drew criticism from media freedom campaigners.

It would "essentially replace (Myanmar's) old censorship regime with a similarly repressive new one", said Shawn Crispin of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

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Flooding prompts Lockyer Valley alert

AN emergency alert has been issued for the Lockyer Valley region, west of Brisbane, with residents told to evacuate if needed.

The Lockyer Valley regional council issued the alert on Saturday night.

The council has advised that flooding is expected for Forest Hill, Laidley, Glenore Grove and areas downstream.

Residents are being told to monitor the situation and evacuate themselves if necessary.

Earlier, the local council had been doorknocking homes at Dalby, in southern Queensland, where the Myall Creek is expected to peak at three metres on Saturday night.

Western Downs Mayor Ray Brown says water starts to enter homes when the water reaches 2.8 metres.

It's another blow to residents who experienced significant flooding on the Australia Day weekend and a severe flood two years ago.

The council is also monitoring the nearby towns of Chinchilla and Moonie which are on flood alert.

Heavy rain has also fallen in the regions around Mackay, Bundaberg and Rockhampton on the state's central coast and the Gold Coast in the southeast.

Forecasters expect about 100mm of rain to fall on Bundaberg in the next 24 hours.

Meanwhile the government is keeping a close eye on its dams in the southeast.

The Bureau of Meteorology has advised the rain will continue in the short term and there will be heavy falls later this month.

Water Supply Minister Mark McArdle says releasing water from the dams will reduce the risk of flooding.

"The ground is currently saturated so the rain will all run off into the Somerset and Wivenhoe Dams," he told AAP.

"We want to make certain those dams are at a precautionary level of 88 per cent as best as we possibly can."

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Two dead, three critical in road crashes

TWO people are dead and three are fighting for their lives following separate crashes in NSW.

A woman in her 20s died during a single-car crash near Dorrigo in northern NSW just before 2pm (AEDT) on Saturday.

The driver, a woman in her late 40s, and another woman in her late 20s, were taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Two girls and a boy, all aged under 10, were taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Police said the vehicle was heading east along the Waterfall Way, when it left the road and rolled down an embankment.

In another crash, one male passenger died and three others from the same vehicle including the driver were critically injured in a two-car crash in Sydney's southwest.

The vehicles collided on Douglas Park Drive in Douglas Park about 6.20pm (AEDT).

The three critically injured men were airlifted to Liverpool Hospital.

A man from the second car was taken by road to Liverpool Hospital with serious injuries.

Three other men from the second car suffered minor injuries.

The road remains closed in both directions while the scene is examined.

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Pistorius was an avid gun collector

IN his Olympic year, Oscar Pistorius steadily became an avid firearms collector, joining a gun-collecting club and purchasing a collection of firearms that included a .500 Magnum pistol dubbed by its manufacturer as "the most powerful production revolver in the world" and a civilian version of a military assault rifle.

At the end of 2012, in the first blush of his romance with Reeva Steenkamp, the model he later shot and killed on Valentine's Day, Pistorius got deeper into his hobby.

It was known that Pistorius liked guns but only now, from Associated Press interviews with other collectors, is it becoming clear the extent to which he became a dedicated firearms aficionado in the 12 months before the Steenkamp tragedy.

The track star not only applied for licences to own more guns, but actually bought them, too, according to John Beare, vice chairman of the Lowveld Firearm Collectors Association which accepted Pistorius as a paid-up member last April.

He and Pistorius were introduced at a Johannesburg hotel in January 2012, and it was there that Beare first explained to the athlete and some of his friends how to become certified collectors.

Had he not become a collector, Pistorius would under South African law have been limited to a maximum of four firearms for self-defence, of which only two could have been handguns, according to Johannesburg attorney Martin Hood, who specialises in firearms law.

Carvel Webb, chairman of the National Arms and Ammunition Collectors Confederation of South Africa, an umbrella group for the country's 2,000 approved private collectors including Pistorius, said that in the wake of Steenkamp's death his group will now verify that Pistorius fulfilled the necessary requirements to be accepted as a collector and a decision in January to let him start collecting semi-automatic rifles.

"We will review all of those just to see if we are happy with it," Webb said.

Pistorius made no secret of his passion for firearms. Reporters who visited him at home in Pretoria, the capital, saw the pistol he kept by his bed and was licensed to own. He practiced at firing ranges both in South Africa and in Europe where he trained for the London Games. But apparently less well-known was his involvement with gun collectors to start building a firearms collection.

Beare said he twice observed Pistorius shoot at firing ranges and also at a clay pigeon shoot, but saw nothing to suggest he could be a menace with a gun.

"His safety was good," Beare told the AP. "He wouldn't do anything irrational with a firearm, because then I would have nailed him immediately."

Pistorius says he mistook his girlfriend Steenkamp for a home intruder and shot her while she was in his bathroom toilet, firing through the closed door.

Pistorius' license for the 9 mm pistol was issued on September 10, 2010, according to the South African Police Service's National Firearms Centre. It was registered for self-defence.

Prosecutors have charged Pistorius with premeditated murder for killing Steenkamp with three of four shots fired in the early hours of February 14.

Some have questioned why Pistorius felt he needed such a variety of weapons and whether the association should have certified him.

Andre Pretorius, president of the Professional Firearm Trainers Council, a regulatory body for South African firearms instructors, said he struggles to see how pistols, shotguns and a semi-automatic rifle could be regarded as a coherent collection.

"The makes differ, the models differ and generally a collection needs to have a theme," said Pretorius. "I don't see there's a theme here."

But Webb, of the collectors' confederation, disagreed.

"There was a logic," Webb told the AP. "He's got three approved areas of interest."

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Cardinals look to elect new pope

Swiss Guards shut the giant wooden doors of Benedict XVI's temporary residence, the Castel Gandolfo. Source: AAP

CATHOLIC cardinals from around the world began preparing for a conclave to elect a new pope, a day after Benedict XVI became the first pontiff to resign in 700 years telling the world he would be a "pilgrim" on life's last journey.

Letters were due to be sent inviting the cardinals to take part in meetings next week that will set the date for a conclave under Michelangelo's frescos in the Sistine Chapel.

The meetings - known as "general congregations" - will also be a way of vetting possible candidates to be leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics at a difficult time for the Church.

The conclave is to start in the first half of March.

After an emotional final day as pope on Thursday, world newspapers paid tribute to the 85-year-old German pope's historic decision, which could set a precedent for ageing popes in the future.

"Farewells made with courage, humility and grace," ran a headline on an editorial in the German conservative daily Die Welt, while top-selling tabloid Bild said: "Our pope has retired."

"This is how great popes go," said Italian daily Il Messaggero, hailing the "greatness of his humility, the simple step of a pilgrim".

La Repubblica daily said the 85-year-old Benedict's troubled eight-year reign had ended abruptly "not with an apocalypse, but with the sigh or relief of a man who became man again."

Benedict's final hours as pope were filled with ritual and emotion, from the pealing bells of St Peter's Basilica to the Swiss Guards who shut the giant doors of his new temporary residence of Castel Gandolfo near Rome to mark the moment that Benedict was no longer pope.

The Vatican flag flying over the palace was lowered as the Swiss Guards - the papacy's military corps since the 15th century - formally completed their mission to protect the pope.

"Long live the pope!" a crowd outside chanted as a clock chimed the hour that Benedict said he would step down in an announcement earlier this month that stunned the world.

"I will no longer be pope but a simple pilgrim," the pope told supporters earlier after arriving at Castel Gandolfo from the Vatican in a helicopter that flew as the bells of St Peter's rang out.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel attended a mass in Berlin to mark the pope's last day in office and at a special mass in New York's Saint Patrick's Cathedral hundreds of worshippers paid homage.

Many ordinary Catholics hope the next pope will breathe new life into a Church hit hard by rising secularism in the West and discrimination against Christians in some developing countries.

The former pope Benedict will now be known as "Roman pontiff emeritus" - a completely new title created especially for this new situation.

He will still be addressed as "Your Holiness".

In a last tweet sent from his @pontifex Twitter account as he left the Vatican, the pope said: "Thank you for your love and support."

"May you always experience the joy that comes from putting Christ at the centre of your lives."

Benedict is only the second pope to resign in the Church's 2,000-year history, and in his final hours as pontiff he took the highly unusual step of pledging allegiance to his successor.

"Among you there is also the future pope to whom I promise my unconditional obedience and reverence," the pope said to 144 cardinals in the ornate Clementine Hall in the Vatican.

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WA bushfire still a threat to lives, homes

HOMES in Perth's semi-rural northeast remain under threat as more than 200 firefighters battle a bushfire raging through the difficult terrain.

They've made good progress tackling the blaze near Shady Hills in Bullsbrook, and with the exception of the northern flank, it's now burning within containment lines.

"They are working in hilly, rocky and difficult to access country and it may take some time to complete the containment lines," the Department of Fire and Emergency Services said at 5pm (WST).

Some 1460 hectares of bushland has been burnt since the fire began around midday on Thursday.

A bushfire emergency warning remains for people in Shady Hills View, Gibbard Place, Clarkson Road, Taylor Road, Foaling Ridge and Auger Place.

West of Walyunga National Park - where the blaze had been threatening homes - the alert level has been downgraded to a watch and act.

That warning applies to Railway Parade including Great Northern Highway between Stock Road and Walyunga Road.

Some fencing has been destroyed and so far there have been no other reports of significant losses or damage from the fire.

Bullsbrook's Pickett Park Hall, where 12 evacuees stayed overnight, remains the relocation point.

While the official cause of the bushfire remains unknown, sparks from a Kalgoorlie-bound freight train were suspected to have sparked a string of fires that became one large blaze.

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Gonski appointed to SingTel board

FUTURE Fund chairman David Gonski has been appointed to the board of Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel).

SingTel is the parent of Australian telco Optus.

The announcement of the appointment of the prominent Sydney-based businessman and philanthropist was made in a statement after the close of share market trading on Friday evening.

SingTel is dual Singapore-Australian stock exchange listed company.

The 59-year-old Mr Gonski is also a non-executive director of Singapore Airlines, as well as chairman of Coca-Cola Amatil in Australia.

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Prof welcomes overturned murder conviction

A 30-YEAR-OLD murder conviction has been overturned by Western Australia's Court of Appeal on the back of Nobel Prize-winning ulcer research by Perth-based scientist Barry Marshall.

Chris von Deutschburg was a teenager in 1983 when convicted of murdering Stavros Kakulas in a scuffle during a burglary at the 86-year-old man's home in Perth's seaside suburb of Scarborough.

Mr von Deutschburg, then 19, received a life sentence on the basis Mr Kakulas died of a bleeding duodenal ulcer seven days after the crime.

The ulcer was said to have been brought on by the stress of the home invasion.

Professor Marshall and his colleague Robin Warren won Nobel Prizes in 2005 for proving bacteria, rather than stress, caused stomach ulcers.

Prof Marshall told AAP he had been involved in the case from the beginning, when he had already conceived his award-winning theory, but was yet to prove it.

"There were just a couple of people on our side and everyone else just believed this traditional theory," he said.

In proving his theory, Prof Marshall acted as a human guinea pig, downing a bacterial brew that made him very ill, but gave new hope of treatment for millions of sufferers.

Once the research gained worldwide attention, Mr von Deutschburg, who spent seven years in prison before being paroled in 1990, looked to Prof Marshall's work as a way to clear him of his murder conviction.

The scientist got behind him, writing to the State Solicitor's Office saying Mr von Deutschburg could not be guilty, prompting former state attorney-general Christian Porter to refer the case to WA's Court of Appeal.

On Friday, Justices Carmel McLure, Robert Mazza and Michael Buss announced their unanimous decision, saying the basis of the conviction had been overtaken by the groundbreaking discovery by Prof Marshall and Mr Warren.

The judges said Mr Kakulas's duodenal ulcer was likely to have existed before the home invasion in June 1983.

Evidence provided by Prof Marshall, and also by PathWest Laboratory Medicine chief forensic pathologist Clive Cooke, raised enough doubt in the judges' minds to make them conclude Mr von Deutschburg should not have been convicted of murder.

"If the jury had heard Professor Marshall's and Dr Cooke's evidence, in addition to the evidence adduced at trial, it must be necessarily have entertained a doubt about the appellant's guilt," the judgment read.

"A miscarriage of justice occurred at the trial."

In his petition on behalf of Mr von Deutschburg, Prof Marshall said there was no likelihood that Mr Kakulas's injuries either worsened or contributed to the duodenal ulcer.

On Friday, Prof Marshall said the case was one for the law books.

"This is really a landmark case ... a milestone if you like," he said.

It was important for Mr von Deutschburg to clear his name, he said.

"To have a conviction at a young age ... that affects your career and your job prospects for the rest of your life.

"These things are very important and maybe you can't just be a bit irresponsible in your youth in case something does happen like that.

"It affects you for a long time."

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US sailors jailed for Okinawa rape

TWO US sailors who raped a Japanese woman in Okinawa last October were jailed on Friday for a crime that reignited long-smouldering anger against the American military in Japan.

The Naha District Court in Okinawa said Seaman Christopher Browning, 24, should go to prison for 10 years for the brutal rape of the young woman, from whom he also stole 7,000 yen ($A73).

Petty officer 3rd class Skyler Dozierwalker, 23, was jailed for nine years, also for raping the woman before dawn in a car park.

Browning and Dozierwalker, who were not stationed in Okinawa, had been drinking on the evening of the attack, and "were contemptible and violent", Judge Hideyuki Suzuki said.

"The ruling may seem severe, but the damage to the feelings of the victim and residents is more severe," he said in a statement after the case, according to Kyodo News.

During an earlier court appearance the two men had admitted the rape, which caused outrage on the sub-tropical islands and beyond, and led to a nationwide night-time curfew on all US military personnel in Japan.

Despite the curfew, misconduct involving servicemen, much of it drunken, has continued to fuel anti-US sentiment in communities with bases.

Wary of yet another public relations disaster, the US moved quickly to try to lower the temperature immediately after the rape, with ambassador John Roos holding a special news conference at which he appeared visibly angry and upset.

"The United States will cooperate in every way possible with the Japanese authorities to address this terrible situation."

"I understand the anger that many people feel with respect to this reported incident," he said. "I have a 25-year-old daughter myself, so this is very personal to me."

The attack came amid already high tensions in Okinawa, which saw demonstrations last year against the US deployment to the island of the tilt-rotor Osprey aircraft.

The aircraft's perceived poor safety record has been picked over in Japanese media and by local opponents, but commentators say it is a proxy issue and resentment over what many see as an unfair burden is at the root of objections.

Okinawa is the reluctant host to more than half of the 47,000 American service personnel in Japan, and the crimes, noise and risk of accidents associated with their bases regularly provoke ire in the local community.

In 1995 the gang rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by US servicemen sparked mass protests resulting in a US-Japan agreement to reduce the huge US military presence on the Okinawan chain.

Okinawans say other parts of Japan should take more of the burden and want bases closed or reduced in size.

But with islands stretching out from mainland Japan to Taiwan that obscure rising China's access to the Pacific, Okinawa is too strategically important for either Washington or Tokyo to be able to countenance a large-scale drawdown.

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Slovenia government falls

Slovenian PM Janez Jansa's year-old centre-right government has fallen in a no-confidence motion. Source: AAP

SLOVENIAN Prime Minister Janez Jansa's year-old centre-right government has fallen in a no-confidence motion following weeks of political turmoil in the small Eurozone country.

The job of forming a government amid the country's worst crisis since independence from Yugoslavia in 1991 now passes to political newcomer Alenka Bratusek of the centre-left, as Slovenia's first female premier.

Bratusek says her top priorities will be "normalising" life by softening "excessive" austerity measures imposed by the outgoing government and stimulating growth.

"We have to boost economic development," the former finance ministry official said, announcing plans for a revised budget shortly after taking over.

"We will stabilise public finances and agree with social partners over the necessary wage cuts and the very likely temporary increase of some taxes," she added.

Jansa became prime minister in February 2012 after his centre-left predecessor Borut Pahor himself lost a confidence vote, triggering early elections in Slovenia which has a population of two million.

Jansa has struggled to implement structural reforms and austerity measures seen as vital for putting what was once a model newcomer to the European Union and the Eurozone in 2007 back on the road to growth.

The death blow came when the corruption watchdog in January accused him of tax irregularities, prompting three parties to quit his five-way coalition and leaving his government with only a third of seats in parliament.

The charges, which also toppled the leader of the largest opposition party - Zoran Jankovic of Positive Slovenia - prompted large protests across the country among ordinary Slovenians fed up with austerity and corruption.

An opinion poll earlier this week showed that Slovenians wanted Jansa out, with 21 per cent backing him and 77 per cent opposed.

More than 50 per cent also backed the creation of an interim technical government, raising the prospects of new early elections for the second time in 14 months.

Bratusek, who only became an MP at the last election and says she'll seek a vote of confidence after a year in office, is facing a tough task, political analyst Vlado Miheljak warns.

"A much bigger uncertainty is whether Bratusek will manage to form a new government since the People's Party (SLS) and the Civil List (DL) might not be ready to collaborate in it," he told AFP.

The two centre-right parties were the first to leave Jansa's coalition government but after the last election in December 2011 they baulked at teaming up with Positive Slovenia.

Slovenia's economy grew between 2004 and 2007 at about five per cent per year but the global financial crisis found the export-dependent country badly exposed.

The national debt more than doubled between 2007 and 2011 and the new government will inherit a banking system saddled with bad debt and possibly needing outside help.

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Ex-cyclone Rusty causes Pilbara flooding

Tropical Cyclone Rusty has put new areas on red alert as it moves inland from WA's Pilbara coast. Source: AAP

THE remnants of tropical cyclone Rusty are causing major flooding in the Pilbara catchment areas and river levels are expected to remain high for days.

Around 4pm WST, two hours after all cyclone warnings were cancelled, emergency services said minor to major flood levels had been reached in the Nullagine, Oakover, Coongan and De Grey rivers, with further peaks possible in coming days.

Residents of Port Hedland, Marble Bar and Nullagine considered themselves fortunate to avoid the full force of the cyclone, which was a category four before it crossed the coast on Wednesday, weakening as it moved inland.

A dolphin washed ashore in Port Hedland battered and bruised but alive, and fallen trees and branches needed clearing up around the town.

But it was the tiny community of Pardoo further north that copped the full brunt of Rusty's winds.

Pardoo Station owner Graham Rogers said his 200,000 hectare property was "flogged" by the cyclone, which damaged buildings and killed cattle.

The main cause of the deaths was hypothermia, Mr Rogers said.

Pardoo Roadhouse manager Ian Badger said a shed was demolished, some cladding was torn from the building and a few trees were brought down.

He described the winds as "extremely intense".

"It is a hell of a mess to clean up," Mr Badger told ABC radio.

"I had two truck drivers who were stranded and spent their time in their cabs.

"It just blew, and rained, and blew and blew and blew."

Export facilities at Port Hedland were closed for 86.5 hours but re-opened for inbound ships around 4pm WST.

Rio Tinto resumed ship loading at its Dampier and Cape Lambert ports, although the company had continued mining, dumping and stockpiling iron ore throughout the emergency.

The three ports collectively handle some 500 million tonnes of iron ore annually.

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Spain's Bankia posts $A24.57bn loss

Bailed-out Spanish banking giant Bankia suffered a loss of $A24.57 billion in 2012. Source: AAP

BAILED-OUT Spanish banking giant Bankia suffered a loss of 19 billion euros ($A24.57 billion) in 2012, it said in an earnings statement.

Bankia, which has become a symbol of Spain's banking collapse, said the losses were in line with its expectations after the Spanish government nationalised it in May.

In December it received 18 billion euros in eurozone aid to restructure it.

Bankia's chairman Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri said that despite the net losses of 19.193 billion euros the bank's financial situation was in line with its aims.

"We have a very solvent balance sheet. We are a tremendously solvent and solid entity," he told a news conference.

The European Commission approved the payment of 18 billion euros to rescue Bankia, obliging it to restructure by closing branches and cutting jobs.

The bank has announced it will close a third of its branches. Unions say the restructuring will lead to 4,500 job cuts.

A long recession brought on by the collapse of a building boom in 2008 left Bankia saddled with unpaid loans.

In Thursday's earnings report BFA-Bankia, the financial group that includes the troubled lender, said it made provisions of 26.8 billion euros in 2012.

It offloaded 22.3 billion euros' worth of bad property-linked assets to a "bad bank" set up to purge the bad loans of Spain's banks. Of this figure, 19.5 billion were from Bankia.

After the government stepped in to rescue Bankia by nationalising it, Spain then had to seek a broader bailout for its whole banking sector from the eurozone.

The recession has driven Spain's unemployment rate to 26 per cent.

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Bangladesh Islamist sentenced to death

A SPECIAL Bangladeshi court sentenced a senior Islamist opposition official to death for crimes including murder, rape and religious persecution during the 1971 liberation war against Pakistan.

Delwar Hossain Sayedee, the vice-president of the Jamaat-e-Islami party and a fiery Islamic preacher, is the third person to be found guilty by the International Crimes Tribunal, a much-criticised domestic court based in Dhaka.

"He has been sentenced to death. It's a victory for the people," said prosecutor Syed Haider Ali, adding Sayedee was found guilty of eight charges including murder, arson, rape and forceful conversion of Hindus to Islam.

"The nation is now free of stigma," he said, adding the verdict would bring justice to the people who lost hundreds of thousands of their relatives at the hands of pro-Pakistani militias which included Sayedee and other Jamaat leaders.

Sayedee who was in the packed court amid huge security protested the judgement saying it was influenced by "atheists" and pro-government protesters, thousands of whom have been demanding his execution and that of other war criminals for weeks.

Protesters at a central Dhaka intersection erupted in cheers as news of Sayedee's sentence filtered through.

There was no immediate reaction from Jamaat to the verdict, but the party has enforced a nationwide strike demanding a halt to what it dismisses as politically motivated trials of its entire leadership.

Police fired live rounds at scores of Jamaat protesters Thursday morning, leaving five people injured, deputy commissioner of Dhaka police Biplob Sarker told AFP, adding they reacted after the Islamists attacked them.

Security was tight in the Bangladeshi capital on Thursday, with around 10,000 policemen on patrol.

Earlier this month the tribunal, a local court with no international oversight, sentenced Jamaat's assistant secretary general Abdul Quader Molla to life imprisonment, sparking protests by Islamists that left 16 people dead.

The verdict also enraged secular protesters and bloggers, tens of thousands of whom have since poured onto the Shahbag intersection in central Dhaka to reject the "lighter sentence" and demand the execution of Jamaat leaders.

In January the tribunal handed down its first verdict when it sentenced fugitive Muslim TV preacher Maolana Abul Kalam Azad to death.

The tribunal has been tainted by controversies and allegations it is targeting only the opposition with trumped-up charges.

Rights groups say its legal procedures fall short of international standards.

The government rejects the accusations, saying the trials are needed to heal the wounds of the war that it says killed three million people.

It accuses Jamaat leaders of being part of pro-Pakistani militias blamed for much of the 1971 carnage.

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Spain's recession deepens

SPAIN'S economy sank deeper into recession in the fourth quarter of last year as high unemployment and biting austerity measures prompted households to slash spending, official data showed Thursday.

The eurozone's fourth largest economy shrank by 1.4 percent on an annual basis in 2012, a slightly better performance than the decline of 1.5 percent forecast by the government.

The economy shrank 0.8 percent in the final quarter of 2012 from the previous three months, after dropping 0.3 percent in the third quarter, the national statistics institute said.

The figures were slightly bleaker than preliminary data released last month by the statistics institute which saw the economy contracting by 0.7 percent in the final quarter on a quarterly basis and by 1.37 percent for the entire year.

Spain is grappling with a double-dip recession and 26 percent unemployment, having never recovered from a real estate crash in 2008.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative government forecasts the economy will return to growth in the second half of 2013.

It forecasts an economic contraction of 0.5 percent in 2013 followed by an expansion of 1.2 percent in 2014, a significantly more optimistic forecast than that of most analysts and international organisations.

Activity is being cramped by his government's programme of spending cuts and tax rises, aimed at saving 150 billion euros ($194 billion) between 2012 and 2014, which have prompted mass street protests.

The Spanish economy appeared to continue its contraction in the first quarter of 2013 due to sluggish domestic demand, the Bank of Spain said Wednesday in its latest monthly economic bulletin.

The government has vowed to lower the public deficit from the equivalent of 9.4 percent of annual gross domestic product last year to 2.8 percent in 2014.

Analysts say those targets will be hard to reach in a period of declining economic activity.

Rajoy on Wednesday announced that Spain missed the budget deficit target agreed with the European Commission as the shortfall reached 6.7 percent of GDP in 2012, compared with a target of 6.3 percent.

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EU hammers Jerusalem settlement policy

ISRAEL'S construction in east Jerusalem is a deliberate strategy to prevent the city from becoming capital of two states, an internal EU report has found.

In its Jerusalem Report 2012, a copy of which was seen by AFP, the European Union said Jewish settlement construction posed "the biggest single threat to the two-state solution".

And it outlined a series of recommendations urging member states to halt or avoid any financial investment or transactions which could directly or indirectly feed into Israel's settlement-building enterprise in an effective call for economic sanctions.

Written by the EU heads of mission in Jerusalem and Ramallah, the strongly-worded report described Israel's settlement construction in east Jerusalem as "systematic, deliberate and provocative" accusing the Jewish state of making deliberate political choices that threaten to render the two-state solution impossible.

An Israel spokesman dismissed the report, saying it showed the Europeans had failed in their diplomatic mission.

"A diplomat's mission is to build bridges and not to encourage confrontation," foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP.

"These consuls have failed in their diplomatic mission."

Relations between Israel and the EU have been unusually tense in recent months, with Europe voicing anger over a swathe of Israeli plans for more than 5000 new settler homes in east Jerusalem.

In the 15-page report, EU diplomats flagged construction on the southern flank of east Jerusalem -- in Har Homa, Gilo and Givat HaMatos -- as being the "most significant and problematic" saying that if it continued unabated, it would likely cut the area off from Bethlehem by the end of the year.

"The construction of these three settlements is part of a political strategy aiming at making it impossible for Jerusalem to become the capital of two states," it warned.

"If the current pace of settlement activity on Jerusalem's southern flank persists, an effective buffer between east Jerusalem and Bethlehem may be in place by the end of 2013, thus making the realisation of a viable two-state solution inordinately more difficult, if not impossible."

In 2012, tenders were issued for 2366 new units which was "more than twice" the total number issued over the preceding three years, the report said, noting most were for construction in Har Homa.

It also highlighted Israel's plans to build 3426 units in E1 - a deeply sensitive strip of West Bank land east of Jerusalem, saying if implemented, it would threaten "2300 Bedouin with forcible transfer" and effectively cut the West Bank in half.

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Australians deserve info on Zygier: Carr

FOREIGN Minister Bob Carr says he still doesn't know what Melbourne man and suspected Mossad spy Ben Zygier was doing in Israel.

Senator Carr is waiting for a report from his department about its handling of the Zygier case.

The minister says the report will likely focus on the timeline of when Australia was appraised of Zygier's whereabouts.

"What we can say about the other side of the equation, namely what he was doing with the Israelis, will be dependent on information the Israelis will give us," Senator Carr told Sky News on Wednesday.

"I don't know at this stage what that's going to be."

Mr Zygier was a dual Australian-Israeli citizen who died in the Ayalon Prison outside Tel Aviv in December 2010.

It is believed he worked for Israeli spy agency Mossad but it is still unclear why he was imprisoned.

He was the so-called Prisoner X - one of Israel's most sensitive security secrets until his identity was revealed by the ABC.

Senator Carr acknowledged that Australians had a right to know what happened to Zygier.

"We'll work as hard as we can to get that on paper and to share it with them," he said.

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Iran hails 'more realistic' nuclear talks

SATELLITE images show Iran's Arak heavy-water plan is operational, raising fears that it is trying to produce plutonium for a nuclear bomb, Britain's Daily Telegraph reports.

The newspaper on Tuesday published images on its website which appear to show steam rising from forced air coolers.

They suggest heavy-water production at the plant, which has been closed to international inspectors for 18 months.

Heavy water is required in plutonium-producing reactors and that raises alarms that Tehran is seeking a second path to obtain the bomb.

Stuart Ray of consultancy firm McKenzie Intelligence Services told the paper that the images, commissioned from commercial satellite operators, suggested the heavily-guarded facility was "operational".

World powers and Iran on Tuesday exchanged offers at talks in Kazakhstan aimed at breaking a decade of deadlock over Tehran's disputed nuclear drive.

International efforts have so far been concentrated on the Islamic Republic's attempts to enrich uranium, but the Telegraph insists that the new evidence shows it is developing a "Plan B".

According to the paper, western governments have known about activity at Arak for some time.

Plutonium is produced as part of the mix in spent nuclear fuel, along with unused uranium.

To make plutonium usable, a reprocessing plant is needed to separate it from the other materials in spent fuel. It can then be embedded into the core of a nuclear weapon.

North Korea has recently developed such technology and experts fear Iran may follow suit, triggering responses from its foes.

"Some think Israel's red line for military action is before Arak comes online," Mark Fitzpatrick, a former US State Department official told the Telegraph.

"The option of a military strike on an operating reactor would present enormous complications because of the radiation that would be spread."

International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors have been barred from the site since August 2011 and Iran has rebuffed appeals for information about the facility.

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Taliban suicide bomber targets Kabul army

Six people have been wounded in a suicide bomb attack on a Afghan military bus in Kabul. Source: AAP

A TALIBAN suicide bomber has attacked a bus carrying Afghan army personnel in Kabul, wounding 10 people and highlighting a growing trend of strikes on Afghan rather than NATO military targets.

The bomber struck on a main street in the heavily secured Afghan capital, where the Taliban have already claimed responsibility for suicide attacks on the intelligence and traffic police headquarters this year.

Western officials say the trend reflects a shift in strategy, away from focusing on the US-led NATO combat mission, which is due to withdraw next year, to targeting Afghan forces preparing to take over.

"At around 7.10am (1340 AEDT), a suicide attacker on foot targeted a military bus in third district of Kabul city," said police spokesman Hashmatullah Stanikzai.

He said six members of the defence ministry and four civilians were wounded, revising upwards an initial toll of six wounded. Most of the civilian injuries were caused by shattered glass, he added.

A witness told the TOLO television channel the bomber was carrying an umbrella to shield himself from snow.

"I was standing across the street when I saw a man holding an umbrella approach the army bus. He then slid under the bus. I thought he was the driver, but moments later the explosion happened," he said.

A spokesman for the Taliban, which is leading an 11-year fight against the Western-backed government, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP that 17 personnel were killed and 17 others were seriously injured. The Taliban routinely exaggerate the tolls from attacks they claim.

Among the nine attacks recorded by AFP in Afghanistan so far this year, only one of them, on January 25, targeted NATO troops, in the troubled eastern province of Kapisa. Five civilians were killed in that attack.

All other attacks have targeted tribal elders, police or Afghan intelligence agents.

"Since the start of the year, the objective has mainly been Afghans, even if NATO remains a target," a Western security official told AFP.

The Pentagon admitted on Tuesday that NATO's International Security Assistance Force had wrongly reported a seven per cent decline in Taliban attacks last year, saying that the number was in fact roughly the same as in 2011.

"This is a regrettable error in our database systems that was discovered during a routine quality check. We are making the appropriate adjustments," Pentagon spokesman George Little said.

The US government and NATO have repeatedly touted a purported drop in insurgent attacks as proof that the Taliban are on the retreat. The error raised questions about how governments and commanders are portraying the war effort.

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We were sidelined in compo leaflet: unions

UNIONS have been deliberately sidelined in new leaflets prepared by WorkCover NSW, the state's peak union body says.

Unions NSW secretary Mark Lennon said it was concerning that a new fact sheet advising sick and injured workers on how to make compensation claims and resolve disputes made no mention of trade unions.

Similar documents had always done so in the past, Mr Lennon said.

"People should always be made aware of their rights to seek information from various sources, including from their union," he told AAP on Wednesday.

Mr Lennon said sick or injured workers were vulnerable and often needed assistance arguing their cases.

The new fact sheet comes after the state government last year passed wide-ranging WorkCover reforms designed to help rein in a deficit of more than $4 billion.

Benefits and medical expenses were capped and journey claims axed for many workers.

"I think this makes the situation even more difficult," Mr Lennon said.

WorkCover could not be reached for comment on Wednesday night.

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Govt urged to act after four Qld deaths

FOUR Aboriginal people suffering kidney disease have died in Townsville following cuts to health transport services for renal dialysis patients, the Senate has been told.

The Newman state government slashed a taxi subsidies program in May last year.

A community group stepped in and started a minibus transport service in Townsville so the mostly indigenous renal dialysis patients could get to their treatment appointments.

The volunteer program became unsustainable and ceased at the start of February this year, the Senate was told.

Queensland Liberal senator Ian Macdonald urged the federal government to intervene in what he described as a "matter of life and death".

"The cost of travelling by taxi to and from dialysis twice in a week can be as much as $300," Senator Macdonald told the senate.

Senator Macdonald said he had been told of four deaths of dialysis patients within 20 days after the bus service stopped.

In a letter obtained by AAP - to federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek, Indigenous Affairs Minister Jenny Macklin and Indigenous Health Minister Warren Snowdon - Senator Macdonald urged them to intervene.

He called on them to provide North Queensland Community Transport money to continue the service and pay the volunteer drivers for night shifts.

Senator Macdonald raised the issue during a Senate debate on an Act of Recognition of indigenous people.

He said he was disappointed a Labor backbencher had shouted at him "you wouldn't even know what an Aborigine looks like" and another accused him of being inappropriate.

"I would have thought everyone in this chamber would have agreed with me," he said.

Senator Macdonald said this behaviour was offensive to the people he was trying to help.

He said the ministers had not replied to his letter.

A spokeswoman from the federal Department of Health told AAP patient transport was a state responsibility.

"It is very concerning to see this situation arise which is clearly impacting on vulnerable people in Townsville," the spokeswoman said.

She said the department is looking at the issue and will take it up with Queensland Health as a matter of priority.

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Sembawang hints at new tilt for Macmahon

JILTED takeover suitor Sembawang has indicated it may make another tilt for Macmahon Holdings even though its construction arm is to be sold to Leighton Holdings.

Macmahon's shareholders on Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a deal to sell the company's troubled construction business to Leighton.

However, the Singapore headquartered Sembawang issued a statement after the meeting, saying "We'll be back".

Macmahon shareholders voted 85 per cent in favour to approve the deal at an extraordinary meeting in Perth on Tuesday, thereby rejecting a takeover offer from Sembawang Australia.

Macmahon chairman Scott-Mackenzie said the result, issued to the Australian Securities Exchange after the close of sharemarket trading, was "a strong vote of confidence" for the company's new, mining-focused strategy.

"We now look forward to delivering consistent and sustainable returns for our shareholders as a dedicated mining business, Mr Scott-Mackenzie said in a statement.

Macmahon directors earlier on Tuesday said in a statement that "Sembawang has failed to provide Macmahon with a proposal capable of execution, in spite of the extended period in which they have had the opportunity to do so".

Sembawang, a wholly owned subsidiary of engineering and construction group Punj Lloyd, lodged a new offer, valuing Macmahon's construction business at $35 million.

Macmahon said the exit from the construction business would put the company in a position for more sustainable results in the future.

Sembawang issued a statement from its Singapore headquarters saying it believed that all the construction contracting problems at Macmahon "were a symptom of poor executive management".

"We now await the crystalisation of what MAH (Macmahon) said would come to account in calendar Q3 which is the tail of this deal.

"Sembawang could never make an offer to satisfy MAH's questions - as we were never allowed into the data room LEI (Leighton) were given access to."

"We wanted to take the construction business now for a reunification with the mining contracting business later on. We'll be back."

Shares in Macmahon rose one cent, or 3.03 per cent, to close at 34 cents on Tuesday.

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Missing Jayden to rejoin family

AN intellectually disabled boy who went missing with a mate in Sydney's southwest has been found safe and sound.

Jayden Patterson, 13, and his 11-year-old friend prompted a major search when they skipped school at Warwick Farm on Monday morning.

The younger boy later turned up at Macquarie Fields police station but Jayden was not found until Tuesday evening.

Police said he was found at a Mount Druitt house and described him as being "safe and well".

Jayden's friend returned home to his family earlier on Tuesday.

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Gympie flood peak revised up

Gympie's expected flood peak has been revised up to 19 metres, placing extra businesses at risk. Source: AAP

GYMPIE'S expected flood peak has been revised up by a metre, placing extra businesses and several homes in the southeast Queensland town at risk.

The forecast level of 19 metres is one metre lower than the level reached almost exactly a month ago when more than 100 premises went under.

Mayor Ron Dyne says the adjustment makes a big difference.

"At 18 metres we were looking at around about 34 businesses. We're probably now going to have to go up to around 40 or 45, and probably three to four houses at this stage," Mr Dyne told AAP.

"We began at 12 metres when we started on this latest journey, then it became 16 metres, then 18, so I just hope 19 metres is the last so we can get on with life."

Mr Dyne said after the second flood in a month, townsfolk are a bit water shy.

"They're a resilient crowd but they're jack of it. The retail side of things aren't flash anyway; then you get four floods in one year and two in a month and some businesses have had to empty their shops every time."

Panel beater Noel Edmonds moved back into his River Road workshop just two weeks ago after it was swamped by two metres of water last month.

Now he is evacuating again.

"It's catastrophic. We've just had enough," he told AAP, saying he couldn't afford to move the business.

Weather bureau hydrologist Jess Carey says once the Mary River peaks, it should drop back to normal pretty quickly.

"By late Thursday it should be almost back to normal," he told AAP.

Forecaster Geoff Doueal says the rain should start easing on Wednesday, although some falls up to 100mm are possible between Gladstone and Bowen.

"As far as the rain goes, you'd have to think the worst is over for Gympie. There'll be an easing trend over the next couple of days," he said.

The threat to Bundaberg has also passed, Mr Doueal said.

"We think Bundaberg will have some scattered showers, with about 10mm tomorrow."

A woman who got lost in flooded bushland north of Brisbane for 16 hours was found on Tuesday morning.

The 49-year-old, who had been grocery shopping, was stopped by floodwaters not far from her home near Pomona on Monday afternoon.

She tried to walk home along a bush track with her shopping bags but became lost in the leech-infested scrub.

Search and rescue teams caught up with her just a few kilometres from her home.

A 77-year-old man drowned on Monday afternoon after being swept from his car in floodwaters near Kilcoy, northeast of Brisbane.

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Asylum seeker charged with sexual assault

A SRI Lankan asylum seeker has been charged with indecently assaulting a 20-year-old student at Macquarie University in the city's north.

The 21-year-old was arrested on Tuesday over the alleged sexual assault at the university on February 21.

The victim told police she was asleep in a student accommodation building at the uni when a man broke into her room and indecently assaulted her about 3.20am.

The woman woke up during that attack and the man fled her room.

The accused 21-year-old man was arrested near Sydney's Central station on Tuesday morning.

After hours of questioning he was charged with indecent assault and two counts of aggravated break and enter.

An immigration department spokeswoman said on Tuesday the man was an asylum seeker on a bridging visa but was not living in student accommodation at Macquarie University at the time of the attack.

The university has previously said there was nothing to link the attack to its ongoing accommodation of asylum seekers.

Macquarie University provides services for asylum seekers, including temporary accommodation, under a 2012 agreement with the Red Cross's Asylum Seeker Assistance Scheme (ASAS).

The man was refused bail to appear in Central Local Court on Wednesday.

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Iran scoffs at Oscar-winning Argo

IRAN'S state TV has dismissed the Oscar-winning film Argo as an "advertisement for the CIA" and some Iranians called the award a political statement by America for its unflattering portrayal of the aftermath of the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

And while Argo has not appeared in any Iranian cinema, there has been no shortage of buzz from those who saw the movie through bootleg DVD networks.

The discussions over Argo in Iran have often pried open a generational divide: Iranians who took part in the 1979 Islamic Revolution picking apart the portrayals of Tehran during the time, and Iranians too young to recall the events getting a different view of the upheavals.

"I want to know what the other side is saying," said Shieda, a 21-year-old University of Tehran student, who gave only her first name to avoid possible backlash for speaking with foreign media.

Tehran City Council member Masoomeh Ebtekar - who was one of the students who occupied the US Embassy and acted as the Iranian students' spokeswoman - says the film exaggerates the violence among crowds that stormed the compound in November 1979.

Fifty-two Americans were held hostage for 444 days, but a handful of embassy staff were sheltered by the Canadian ambassador. Their escape, using a fake movie as a cover story, is recounted in Argo.

Ebtekbar insists the hostage-takers were mostly students, but other accounts suggest militants and members of the Revolutionary Guard were closely involved in the crisis.

Actor-director Ben Affleck "goes and shows scenes of a very violent and very angry mob throughout the film," Ebtekbar said. "It is never mentioned that these are a group of students."

The semiofficial Mehr news agency called the Oscar "politically motivated" because First Lady Michelle Obama, from the White House, joined Jack Nicholson via video link in Los Angeles to help present the best picture prize.

Iran's state TV called the movie "an advertisement for the CIA."

Iran's culture minister, Mohammad Hosseini, said Hollywood has "distorted history" as part of what Iranian officials call a "soft war" of cultural influence in Iran.

But retired teacher, Reza Abbasi, who saw the Revolution first-hand, said: "I know Hollywood usually changes reality to make it attractive for movie lovers, but more or less it was close to the realities then."

Others say Argo also shows the need for Iranian filmmakers to deal more with issues from the Revolution.

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China affirms goal of Taiwan unification

CHINESE leader Xi Jinping has reaffirmed China's desire to bring Taiwan under its control in a meeting with the honorary head of the island's ruling party.

Xi's meeting on Monday with Nationalist Party honorary chairman Lien Chan was viewed on both sides as a symbolic gesture aimed a reaffirming warming ties between the former rivals following Xi's elevation to leader of the ruling Communist Party last year. Once-tense relations have given way to thriving trade, transport, and investment links, although there has been no commitment by Taiwan to political talks that might lead to China's unification goal.

Xi told Lien that he and other Communist Party leaders who took office in November will continue developing ties and pushing for unification with the island, which China claims as part of its territory.

"The new Communist Party ruling collective will continue to push forward the peaceful development of relations between the two sides and advance the cause of peaceful unification," Xi told Lien at their meeting at the Great Hall of the People, the seat of the legislature, in downtown Beijing.

Xi promised to "pragmatically forge ahead" to achieve new achievements in relations that would enrich residents on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

The meeting is the first between Xi and a leading Taiwanese politician since Xi assumed the party leadership, and comes weeks before he assumes the title of state president at the legislature's annual session.

Taiwan split from mainland China amid civil war between the Nationalists and Communists in 1949. The decades since have seen a growing independent Taiwanese identity, with opinion surveys showing only a minority favour unification with Beijing.

The Nationalists, once bitter Cold War rivals with China's Communists, support eventual unification with mainland China but only under a still-to-be negotiated framework.

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Qantas director quits amid Italian probe

QANTAS director Corinne Namblard has resigned from the airline's board after becoming caught up in an Italian corruption investigation.

Ms Namblard denies any wrongdoing in relation to the investigation into the privatisation of Siena airport, but was stepping down in the best interests of Qantas and herself while it continued.

"Ms Namblard was especially concerned to ensure that the continuing media focus on the current Italian proceedings did not distract Qantas from implementing its strategic imperatives nor detract from the achievements that Qantas has had in meeting the challenges to its business," Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford said in a statement on Monday.

"The Qantas board appreciates those sentiments.

"It is also apt to note that Ms Namblard strenuously denies any wrongdoing in relation to the matters which are the subject of the Italian proceedings, and the Qantas Board has no reason whatsoever to doubt that position."

Ms Namblard, a French financier who joined the Qantas board in 2011, has been questioned in Italy as part of an investigation into alleged bid rigging and the Tuscan Monte dei Paschi di Seina bank.

She reportedly was asked to by Italian investigators to provide evidence about her involvement in the privatisation of Siena airport in 2007.

She was chief executive of Galaxy Fund, the winning bidder, at the time.

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Hutchison loss widens as customers flee

HUTCHISON Telecommunications (Australia) has widened its full year loss to almost $400 million as nearly half a million customers abandoned its poorly performing joint venture network.

However, the beleaguered telecommunications company expects to improve its performance through this year and into 2014, but did not give any guidance.

Vodafone in Australia is a 50/50 joint venture between Hutchison Telecoms and Vodafone Group of the UK, and has been plagued by customer complaints about poor service and reliability.

During the year Vodafone's customer base declined by 443,000 to 6.6 million, leading to a fall in customer revenue by 16.8 per cent to $1.7 billion.

Earnings before interest, tax and depreciation decreased 43.3 per cent to $177.3 million.

Hutchison Australia chairman Canning Fok said Vodafone was implementing a turnaround plan with the full support of its shareholders.

He said in a statement that the network had made "meaningful inroads" in stabilising customer numbers and financial performance.

"Although continuing losses are anticipated in 2013, HTAL (Hutchison Telecommunications Australia Ltd) expects improvements in VHA's (Vodafone) performance through the year and into 2014," he said.

Hutchison Telecommunications on Monday reported a $393.5 million loss for calendar 2012 compared with a loss of $167.7 million in the previous year.

In the statement released after the close of share marketing trading, the company said its share of its joint venture in Vodafone Hutchison Australia (Vodafone) was a net loss for 2012 of $408.8 million. This compared with a net loss of $175.4 million in 2011.

Law firm Piper Alderman on Monday announced plans to proceed with the class action against Vodafone but did not reveal further details.

Piper Alderman lawyers will outline details of the legal action at a media conference in Sydney on Tuesday morning.

The legal move comes more than a year after Vodafone said it was working hard to improve its service.

This followed a damning report that outlined more than 12,000 complaints ranging from patchy network coverage to poor customer service.

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Israel, US successfully test anti-missile

A JOINT exercise with US forces has successfully tested the Arrow anti-missile system for the first time, Israel's Defence Ministry says.

The system is meant to defend Israel from the threat of an Iranian strike.

The ministry said Monday's test was "a major milestone in the development of the Arrow 3 Weapon System."

The Arrow is produced jointly by Israel Aerospace Industries and Boeing.

It detects an incoming missile and destroys it with a second missile. Iran's Shahab ballistic missile can carry a nuclear warhead and has a range of 2000km, putting Israel well within range.

The Arrow is part of Israel's multi-layered shield designed to intercept rockets and missiles. Israel sees Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program as an existential threat.

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Centre-left are favourites as Italy votes

ITALIANS fed up with austerity went to the polls on Sunday in elections likely to be won by the centre-left, as Europe held its breath for signs of fresh instability in the eurozone's third largest economy.

The elections are Italy's first since billionaire tycoon Silvio Berlusconi was ousted in 2011 during a wave of financial market panic and replaced by former top European commissioner Mario Monti.

The most likely winner is the Democratic Party and its leader Pier Luigi Bersani, who says he will stick to reforms but also do more for growth as Italy endures its longest recession in 20 years.

"I am voting for the Democratic Party. I don't want us to end up like Greece," said Alessandro, a 63-year-old manager, as he cast his ballot in Milan.

But the scandal-tainted Berlusconi, a three-time prime minister who is also a defendant in two trials for tax fraud and having sex with an underage prostitute, could come a close second.

In third place, according to the polls, could be a new protest party led by comedian turned activist Beppe Grillo who has channelled growing social discontent and anger at traditional politicians.

"Italy votes in uncertainty," read a headline in La Stampa daily, while the Il Fatto Quotidiano said: "The undecided voters will decide it".

Polls will close at 2100 GMT on Sunday (0800 Monday AEDT) and open again for a second day of voting at 0600 GMT (1700 AEDT) on Monday, closing at 1400 GMT (0100 Tuesday AEDT).

Exit polls are expected immediately after the close and preliminary official results will begin trickling through later on Monday and perhaps into Tuesday.

Officials have called on Italians to vote, amid fears that general disenchantment with politics could mean a much lower turnout than usual.

Forty-seven million Italians are eligible to vote.

Opinion polls indicate the result may not give Bersani alone a strong enough majority to rule and he may have to seek an alliance with Monti, which could bring the economics professor back into government.

A coalition between Monti and Bersani would not be simple because of the differences between the free-marketeer Monti and a small far-left party that is already in coalition with Bersani.

Berlusconi will also continue to be a powerful force. He has risen sharply in the polls with a promise to reimburse an unpopular property tax.

He has also won votes by blaming a "hegemonic" Germany for Italy's woes.

Candidates were supposed to stay silent on Saturday on the eve of the vote but Berlusconi apparently broke the rules by speaking to journalists.

In an interview with Greek television that was reported by Italian media, Berlusconi said, "I contradicted the lords of austerity who are now trying to get rid of me."

He said Monti was "subservient and always on his knees in front of Mrs Merkel (German Chancellor Angela Merkel) and now she does not want to lose him".

"I would give her a run for her money," he said.

Berlusconi was forced out in November 2011 after a parliamentary revolt, a myriad of sex scandals and a wave of panic on financial markets.

The sober Monti, a former economics professor, has brought the markets to heel and restored Italy's image as a key player in the eurozone debate.

Italy is the euro area's third largest economy after Germany and France and a major exporter.

While its debt is sky-high at around 120 per cent of its gross domestic product (GDP) - second only to Greece's - its public deficit is under control.

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WA nurses accept 14 per cent pay rise

NURSES have accepted an in-principle offer of a 14 per cent pay increase over three years from the West Australian government, putting an end to bed closures and further strike action.

But under the agreement, there will be no changes to their work conditions.

The Australian Nurses Federation (ANF) had been threatening to go on strike for 24 hours if the state government did not offer them a 20 per cent pay increase over three years by Monday.

But union state secretary Mark Olson told AAP the ANF had only increased that demand from 12.75 per cent out of frustration at the lack of response from the state government.

The ANF had voted on Friday to keep one in five beds closed at hospitals over the weekend and to wait until Monday to decide if it should take industrial action.

This was despite the Industrial Relations Commission ordering that they cease their work bans or risk patient safety.

Premier Colin Barnett said on Sunday he had finally struck an in-principle agreement with the ANF to cease bed closures, not to strike on Monday and accept the conditional offer.

The proposed 14 per cent increase involves a five per cent increase from July 1 this year followed by a four per cent increase in 2014 and another five per cent increase in 2015.

But no official agreement can be signed until after the March 9 election because the government is still in caretaker mode.

Earlier, Labor leader Mark McGowan said he had sent the premier a letter explaining that any agreement made with the nurses would be supported by the opposition and implemented if they won the election.

Mr Barnett said he had not seen the letter but had been advised by the chief medical officer and heads of emergency departments that industrial action would place lives at risk, which was why he had to push for an in-principle agreement.

The premier denied he had caved in to pressure from the union because the election was less than two weeks away and said it should not encourage other unions to carry out similar action close to an election.

Mr Olson told AAP he was relieved to finally have the matter agreed on but was disappointed that it had taken so long to reach this point when the deal could have been struck a week ago when the first bed was closed.

"I think it's due to the determination, courage and solidarity of the nurses that we have reached this point," he said.

"The public has always supported us from day one and the premier knew that."

Mr McGowan issued a statement after the announcement was made and said while he welcomed the nurses decision to cease industrial action, the process adopted by Mr Barnett had been abysmal and had forced the saga to drag on unnecessarily.

"We will be seeking a briefing from the director-general of the Department of Premier and Cabinet to establish whether a deal was struck on behalf of the Liberal party or on behalf of the people of Western Australia and whether the government has acted in accordance with the caretaker conventions," he said.

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Iraqi president communicating after stroke

A DOCTOR who oversees Iraqi President Jalal Talabani's medical care says the president is able to speak and understand people around him as he recovers from a stroke he suffered over two months ago.

In an interview on Sunday Dr Najmaldin Karim described the improvement in the president's health as encouraging and "a good development".

Karim oversees Talabani's medical care when he is in Iraq, although the president is currently in Germany for treatment.

Karim says he is hopeful Talabani will be able to return to Iraq, but acknowledged that any decision rests with the doctors treating him in Germany.

Talabani was rushed to a hospital on December 17 for what officials described as a serious stroke. He was later moved to Germany. Few details have been released about his condition.

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Fire in Sydney store suspicious: police

POLICE say a fire in a home decorator store in Sydney's northwest was deliberately lit and are urging witnesses who may have seen suspicious activity to contact them.

Emergency services were called to Victoria Avenue in Castle Hill at about 11.30am (AEDT) on Sunday after a customer saw smoke and flames in the floor rug section of the store.

As staff evacuated the shop another employee put the blaze out with a fire extinguisher, confining damage to a stand of rugs.

Police believe the fire was deliberately lit and want shoppers who were evacuated from the store to contact them if they noticed someone acting suspiciously at the time of the fire.

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'Sex stimulant' found in Pistorius home

A SUBSTANCE found in star athlete Oscar Pistorius' home during a search by police investigating the killing of his girlfriend is a herbal sexual stimulant, a South African newspaper reported.

The prosecution said during Pistorius' bail hearing last week that police had found two boxes of "testosterone" and needles in his Pretoria home, but the defence countered that it was a legal herbal remedy known as testocompasutium coenzyme.

The City Press newspaper said on Sunday the remedy was a combination of vitamins, herbal cures partly derived from animal organs.

Sports physician Jon Patricios told the paper the product is used to boost sexual energy, but that athletes are not advised to use it since it may increase their testosterone levels.

"This is not an anabolic steroid and it is unlikely it will lead to irrational anger," he said.

The National Prosecuting Authority has said it was awaiting the results of forensic tests to determine what the product is.

"Blade Runner" Pistorius, 26, an Olympic and Paralymic hero, was freed on bail on Friday ahead of a trial on a murder charge over the Valentine's Day killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

The International Paralympic Committee said the double amputee was tested twice during the London Paralympics in 2012 and tested negative.

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