Pakistan PM arrives in India

Pakistan's PM Raja Pervez Ashraf (R) arrived in India for a pilgrimage to a revered Muslim shrine. Source: AAP

PAKISTAN'S premier Raja Pervez Ashraf has arrived in India for a pilgrimage to a revered Muslim shrine, with Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid welcoming him with "open arms".

Khurshid's warm words for Ashraf - making his first visit to India as prime minister - come despite strained relations between the nuclear-armed rivals over recent border clashes.

"It's in our culture to welcome our guests with open arms," Khurshid said on Saturday ahead of a lunch he will host for Ashraf at the Rambagh Palace, a luxury heritage hotel in the tourist city of Jaipur in northern India.

An Indian foreign ministry official told AFP however there would be no "substantive talks" at the meeting.

"India is happy to host a lunch for the Pakistani prime minister. We are just extending our hospitality," a senior Indian foreign ministry official told AFP.

Ashraf is the most senior Pakistani to visit India since last April when President Asif Ali Zardari made a similar pilgrimage and had lunch with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Ashraf and his family planned a day-long private trip to the 13-century shrine of Sufi saint Hazrat Khwaja Gharib Nawaz in Ajmer, 130 kilometres from Jaipur.

Tensions spiked between New Delhi and Islamabad in January and February as a total of six soldiers were killed in exchanges along the de facto border in Kashmir, a region claimed by both countries. Four of the soldiers killed were from Pakistan while two were from India.

One of the Indians was beheaded allegedly by Pakistanis.

India, which has fought three wars with Pakistan since independence in 1947, accuses Islamabad of fomenting cross-border militancy - a charge that the Islamic republic rejects.

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Figures show foreign worker visas rising

Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor says 457 visa applications have increased 10 per cent. Source: AAP

NEW figures show a recent surge in 457 visa applications that justifies the federal government's planned crackdown on rorts, Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor says.

But the opposition says the government's figures show the increase was confined to the Christmas period and do not point to evidence the system is being rorted.

Mr O'Connor said the numbers support the government's decision to take action to close loopholes in the 457 program and ensure local jobseekers are not disadvantaged by unscrupulous employers bringing in temporary foreign workers.

"These January figures show that after the traditional December lull, 457s have continued to increase," he said on Saturday.

"At January 31, there were more than 105,000 people in Australia working on temporary 457 visas. That is an increase of 22.4 per cent compared to January 2012."

Mr O'Connor said he was concerned the growth in applications and granting of 457 visas were outstripping the total employment growth rate by a "very significant" margin.

"That says to me that there are now more 457 applications coming in where there are not demonstrable skill shortages," he said.

Mr O'Connor said the overall trend was clear - more people were coming in on temporary skilled worker visas at a time when the unemployment rate was flat, not falling.

That was particularly so in the IT industry, where 457 visas had increased by 68 per cent while vacancies for local IT workers were decreasing.

The 457 visa scheme was introduced in 1996 to allow local business to fill skills shortages with overseas workers able to stay for up to four years, who were also entitled to bring their families and travel in and out of Australia as often as they wanted.

Unions have long objected to the scheme but the opposition backs it as an effective means of filling skill vacancies when there aren't enough Australian workers.

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said the figures prove nothing other than that Labor had handed out more 457 visas than any other government.

Mr Morrison said the figures jumped from December to January because it was Christmas.

"To suggest there are rorts because more visas have been handed out is like suggesting there is a drought because the sun is shining. One is not evidence of the other," he told AAP.

"All I have called for in the wake of the government's announcement is to produce the report of the inquiry or the investigation conducted by the department that demonstrates the widespread rorting and abuse that the government claims, and that is absent."

Mr Morrison said this was just another desperate and cynical attempt to distract attention from the government's failure on border control.

"The prime minister should stop attacking skilled migrants who come the right because she can't stop people coming in boats the wrong way," he said.

"The unions have always said they don't like 457 visas and now the government is parroting the union line."

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Malaysia detains 79 'Borneo intruders'

Malaysian police have detained 79 suspects linked to Filipino intruders on Borneo Island. Source: AAP

MALAYSIAN police say they've detained 79 suspects linked to Filipino intruders in Borneo as they intensify an operation to flush out members of a Filipino Muslim clan who took over a village last month.

The armed clansmen have caused political havoc for Malaysia and the neighbouring Philippines by trying to stake a claim to Malaysia's state of Sabah in Borneo.

National police chief Ismail Omar said 79 men and women, held without trial under a security law, were being investigated for their links to the gunmen.

He said they were detained outside the conflict zone but didn't give further details. The detainees are believed to be informants or food suppliers to the gunmen but it's unclear if they were Malaysians or Filipino nationals.

Ismail said a Filipino gunman was killed early Saturday after he tried to escape a police cordon, raising the death toll to 61.

The clansmen are led by a brother of Jamalul Kiram III, who claims to be the sultan, or hereditary ruler, of the southern, predominantly Muslim province of Sulu in the Philippines. Malaysia's government has rejected a call by Kiram for a ceasefire and urged the gunmen to surrender unconditionally.

International rights group Human Rights Watch on Saturday echoed a call by the UN's chief to ensure protection of civilians and for humanitarian access to help those affected by the violence.

"The situation on the ground in the conflict zone in Sabah is still quite murky and the government of Malaysia should provide clear and accurate information on what has occurred," said its Asia deputy-director Phil Robertson.

The New York-based group said it was concerned over the use of a new security law to detain dozens of suspects and urged the government to charge or release them.

Fifty-three gunmen and eight Malaysian policemen have died, mainly in shootouts between security forces and the Filipino group and their suspected allies.

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West Australian polling booths close

POLLING booths in Western Australia have closed after record-breaking early queues in the state's first fixed-term election.

A Newspoll published on Saturday pointed to a landslide win for the incumbent Liberal party, showing it would win 59.5 per cent of the vote on a two-party preferred basis.

Premier Colin Barnett, who holds the seat of the affluent western suburb of Cottesloe, said the poll was encouraging, but he wasn't taking anything for granted.

"Those polls are across all electors and the Liberal party has done detailed polling in individual seats, and that shows a different story," Mr Barnett said.

"There'll be a number of very close seats tonight."

He maintained that at least a dozen seats hung in the balance, and that the Liberals would form another coalition with the Nationals even if the conservatives won the election outright.

Labor leader Mark McGowan, who holds the seat of the working-class suburb of Rockingham, said he'd run the best campaign he could have.

"You can't get down, you can't get distracted - you have to focus on what matters to the people in the community and not be deterred by whatever comes along," Mr McGowan said.

Both leaders spent the day visiting polling booths around the city in a bid to drum up last-minute support.

The WA Electoral Commission (WAEC) said voters surged to the polls early in the day, but a new computerised voter checking system at many centres kept waiting times to a minimum.

In the regions, WAEC staff in the Pilbara town of Karratha were stretched to their limit with the early turnout.

"We were hammered," local returning officer Jill Johnson said.

"And in all my time working on elections I have never seen so many party officials and volunteers working so hard to canvass people's votes."

On top of the strong morning turnout, there was a 30 per cent increase in early voting, with 140,000 votes ready for tallying as soon as booths closed.

There were some light moments, including a raft of fancy-dressed superhero and fantasy fans who attended the Oz Comic-Con convention casting their votes in the Perth city polling place.

And a complete bridal party arrived at the Riverton district's Shelley Primary School centre before kicking on for festivities.

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Kabul suicide bomber kills nine

A suicide bomber kills at least nine people in an attack at the gates of the defence ministry in Kabul during a visit by U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. Sarah Charlton reports.

A bomb has exploded near Kabul's defence ministry during a visit by the US Defense Secretary. Source: AAP

A SUICIDE bomber on a bicycle has killed nine people outside the defence ministry in central Kabul during a visit to the Afghan capital by new US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

The blast occurred on Saturday near the main entrance gate to the heavily-guarded ministry, and Taliban militants immediately claimed the attack was timed to send a message to Hagel, who arrived in Kabul late on Friday.

One Afghan soldier covered in blood at the scene said he had helped carry five people from the attack site, where several cars were damaged and a wall was left pock-marked.

Gunfire erupted after the loud explosion was heard across Kabul as streets around the blast were closed off by security forces.

Hagel was at a US facility in the city less than a mile from the attack but reporters travelling with him were told that he was not under any threat.

"The secretary was in a briefing when the incident occurred. The briefing continued as planned without interruption," a spokesman for the Pentagon chief said.

Zahir Azimi, spokesman for the Afghan defence ministry, told reporters at the scene that the bomber had arrived on a bicycle and detonated himself 30 metres from the ministry gate.

Police said in a statement that nine civilians had died and 13 others were injured including two military personnel, without giving further details.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid told AFP: "This was not a direct attack to target him (Hagel) but we want to send a message that we are always capable of hitting Kabul even when the top US defence official is there."

Hagel arrived in Kabul as the international military coalition prepares to pull out by the end of next year and leave Afghan security forces to battle the Taliban insurgency that has raged across the south and east of the country.

"We have a lot of big issues and challenges ahead as we prepare for a responsible transition," he told reporters on his plane before he arrived.

In another suicide attack on Saturday, eight children and a policeman were killed in the eastern city of Khost in a strike that targeted a joint Afghan and international troop patrol.

Hagel was sworn in 10 days ago as heavy cuts loom for the US military, but he said Americans realised that Afghanistan remained a major conflict zone with US troops fighting against Islamist militants since the 9/11 attacks.

"We have 66,000 troops still at war in a combat zone," he said. "We're still at war in Afghanistan."

A total of 100,000 NATO-led international troops are currently deployed in Afghanistan, with all combat forces due to exit by the end of 2014.

President Barack Obama last month announced that 34,000 US troops would withdraw in the next year, halving the size of the current 66,000-strong US force.

Afghan forces are assuming control of security across the country, but there are widespread fears that they will be unable to face down the Taliban and that the country could tip into greater instability.

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10 die in Iraqi attacks

TEN people have been killed in a series of attacks in northern and central Iraq, most of which targeted security personnel, police say.

Two people were killed and seven injured in bombings in the Salah al-Din province, some 170km north of Baghdad.

Blasts shook the cities of Tikrit, Beiji and Samraa.

In the city of Mosul gunmen killed an army officer, his wife and child in an attack on their home.

Five members of the one family were killed in a similar attack in the city of Hilla.

The five were pro-government militiamen.

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Over 50 arrests after Malaysia clashes

Malaysian police say they have arrested more than 50 people in the eastern state of Sabah. Source: AAP

MALAYSIAN police say they have arrested more than 50 people in a remote state since the start of a nearly month-long incursion by Filipino Islamists.

Malaysian forces have been widening their hunt for armed followers of a Philippine sultan who have been staking a territorial claim in the eastern state of Sabah.

Malaysia has said previously that clashes between the gunmen and its security forces had left 60 people dead and has rejected a call by the fighters' leader for a ceasefire in a farming region where the militants were being pursued.

In announcing the arrests, federal police chief Ismail Omar said on Friday they had all occurred in other areas of the state of Sabah, outside the battlezone where the militants and armed forces were facing off.

"Outside the operation area, police already arrested certain suspects who we believe have links to the invaders," Ismail said.

He said more than 50 had been arrested, including men and women.

He declined to give any further details on the identities of those arrested, including whether they were foreigners or Malaysians.

Scores of followers of the self-proclaimed Philippine sultan landed in the state on Borneo island in February to assert a long-dormant territorial claim in what has become Malaysia's worst security crisis in years.

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Queensland's crimefighting boss resigns

Campbell Newman called on the CMC chairman to consider resigning, saying he's failed the state. Source: AAP

THE head of Queensland's top crime fighting body, the Crime and Misconduct Commission, has resigned as he continues his battle with cystic fibrosis, amid allegations he's failed the state.

CMC chairman Ross Martin resigned late on Friday afternoon, and revealed he's preparing to undergo a lung transplant after a long battle with cystic fibrosis.

He's been in hospital for the past 10 days.

"I no longer have the resources of health necessary to continue to perform the job," he told reporters.

Mr Martin boss has been under fire all week after errors that saw the watchdog release some sensitive files, and shred others, from the historic Fitzgerald inquiry into police corruption.

Premier Campbell Newman said earlier on Friday that he had failed the state.

Mr Newman said Mr Martin should be held to account in the same way ministers are, and made to resign.

"My concern is we have a senior important public servant who doesn't seem to understand his responsibility or his accountability to the people of Queensland," he said.

Mr Martin admitted ministerial responsibility was an informing principle in regard to his position, but warned that a CMC chair shouldn't be too ready to resign, lest the watchdog's independence be undermined.

"The CMC chair's position has a powerful statutory entrenchment to defend its security against political whim," he said.

That job will now fall to Assistant Commissioner Warren Strange, who has assumed the position of acting chair.

The opposition said the circumstances behind the resignation showed how badly the government had handled the issue, by failing to find out the facts before seeking to force Mr Martin to quit.

Comment has been sought from Mr Newman.

Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie said he was saddened to learn of Mr Martin's medical condition.

"We wish him all the very best in the weeks and months ahead," he said in a statement.

"The commission is facing a number of challenges. The government will work with the acting chairman to ensure Queenslanders can have confidence in the commission."

Mr Martin thanked his family and the officers and staff of the CMC.

"My family have suffered my pursuit of a career for too long. They are entitled to as much of my time as I can give them," he said.

"I thank my staff for their dedicated, largely unsung, devotion to the virtues of fighting crime and of integrity.

"I will not be coming back.

"I wish my successor and CMC generally the very best in its vital work."

A spokesman for Mr Newman later told AAP the premier had phoned Mr Martin to wish him all the best.

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Indian malnutrition fund used to fix buses

Money collected to help Indian children has been spent on fixing public transport. Source: AAP

A FUND of hundreds of millions of rupees raised to help malnourished children in western India has been diverted to maintain public buses, it's been reported.

The "Child Nutrition Surcharge" was set up 16 years ago to collect a small percentage of each bus ticket fare in major cities in Maharashtra state, where thousands of children die from malnutrition each year.

But public transport officials say that millions raised have yet to be transferred to the state treasury because they allegedly need the funds to maintain buses and keep them on the road, the NDTV news channel reported.

"All the transport undertakings are suffering huge loses. Therefore we cannot give the government the nutrition taxes we collect," said Ravindra Pardesi, a spokesman for the public transport company in Pune city.

"If we had deposited the money the government would have given us 2.5 per cent commission but the transport bodies are not in a position to do away with the funds because of the huge losses," he told NDTV.

Since 1997, Pune has collected 550 million rupees ($A9.79 million) from bus passengers but handed over less than a 10th of that amount to the fund, to the anger of local charities.

Mumbai owes 500 million rupees and other cities in the state could owe even more, the report said.

Varsha Gaikwad, the state's minister for children and women's development, said she had been unaware the fund existed and would set up an inquiry into the matter.

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Bin Laden's son-in-law to face US court

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith will face charges that he conspired to kill Americans in his in al-Qaeda. Source: AAP

OSAMA bin Laden's son-in-law was due to appear in a New York court on Friday to face charges that he conspired to kill Americans in his role as al-Qaeda's top propagandist, as a landmark prosecution on US soil takes aim at one of the terror network's senior leaders.

Officials said Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was captured in Jordan over the last week.

The Kuwait-born al-Qaeda spokesman, part of bin Laden's inner circle, lauded the attacks of September 11, 2001 and warned there would be more.

The case marks a legal victory for the Obama administration, which has long sought to charge senior al-Qaeda suspects in US federal courts instead of holding them at the military detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Charging foreign terror suspects in American federal courts was a top pledge by President Barack Obama shortly after he took office in 2009 - aimed, in part, to close Guantanamo Bay.

Republicans, however, have fought the White House to keep Guantanamo open, and bringing Abu Ghaith to New York immediately sparked an outcry.

Abu Ghaith will appear on Friday in US federal court in New York, according to a Justice Department statement and indictment outlining the accusations against him.

US Attorney General Eric Holder defended holding Abu Ghaith in New York.

Holder reluctantly agreed in 2011 to try self-professed al-Qaeda mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a Guantanamo Bay military court instead of a civilian court after a fierce Republican backlash.

"No amount of distance or time will weaken our resolve to bring America's enemies to justice," Holder said in a statement.

The Justice Department said Abu Ghaith was the spokesman for al-Qaeda, working alongside bin Laden and current leader Ayman al-Zawahri, since at least May 2001.

Abu Ghaith is a former mosque preacher and teacher and urged followers that month to swear allegiance to bin Laden, prosecutors said.

The day after the September 11 attacks, prosecutors say he appeared with bin Laden and al-Zawahri and called on the "nation of Islam" to battle against Jews, Christians and Americans.

A "great army is gathering against you," Abu Ghaith said on September 12, 2001, according to prosecutors.

Shortly afterward, Abu Ghaith warned in a speech that "the storms shall not stop - especially the airplanes storm" and advised Muslims, children and al-Qaeda allies to stay out of planes and high-rise buildings.

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Bolshoi dancer admits acid attack

Moscow police say a star dancer is believed to have ordered the disfiguring attack on Sergei Filin. Source: AAP

A LEADING Bolshoi Theatre dancer admitted in court that he ordered an assault on the famed Russian ballet troupe's artistic director but denied ever planning the use of acid to ruin his sight.

The Moscow district court on Thursday ordered leading Bolshoi soloist Pavel Dmitrichenko remanded in custody until at least April 18 while the investigation proceeds.

It was later to make similar decisions on the two other suspects arrested in raids on Tuesday - the suspected perpetrator of the attack and the getaway driver.

Dmitrichenko on Wednesday confessed to planning the attack on the Bolshoi Ballet's chief Sergei Filin, 42, reportedly in revenge for his treatment of his dancer girlfriend.

The acid attack left Filin battling to save his eyesight and prevent permanent facial disfigurement. He is undergoing a long rehabilitation in Germany.

Looking drawn and wearing a black coat, Dmitrichenko sat in a cage in the corner of the courtroom, nervously exchanging glances with his defence lawyer.

The defence had asked that he should be released on 500,000 rubles ($A15,963) bail and said that he "de-facto" admitted his guilt while denying Dmitrichenko had wanted to cause such serious harm to Filin.

"My client never had any intention of causing such harm to health, all the more in such a loathsome way like disfiguring the face or the loss of sight," said defence lawyer Alexander Barkhanov.

Police said in a statement that Dmitrichenko had paid the perpetrator Yuri Zarutsky 50,000 rubles to attack Filin, who had acid flung in his face while returning home on the night of January 17.

Dmitrichenko, who was arrested on Tuesday, was shown in a police video confessing to planning the attack but "not on the scale" that it turned out.

In court he said that it was Zarutsky who had originally suggested attacking Filin as a way of getting back at him for what Dmitrichenko considered his bad leadership of the Bolshoi.

"I told Yuri Zarutsky about the politics that took place in the Bolshoi Theatre, about the violations that took place and the corruption," Dmitrichenko said in televised comments.

"Then he (Zarutsky) suggested: 'Okay, then I'll beat him up' and I agreed to his suggestion. That is all that I am admitting," said Dmitrichenko.

Police have said the crime was motivated by Dmitrichenko's hostile personal relationship with Filin, which Russian press reports have suggested was caused by the Bolshoi chief's refusal to give his ballerina girlfriend Anzhelina Vorontsova top roles.

In a tale of bitterness reminiscent of the hit ballet film Black Swan, Dmitrichenko is reported to have been particularly riled that Vorontsova was not allowed to dance the main Odette-Odile role in Swan Lake, the dream of any ballerina.

Filin's wife Maria told the Komsomolskaya Pravda daily that her husband had suspicions about Dmitrichenko but believed that a "much wider" circle of people was involved.

"Not just the three who they arrested. We hope the security forces unearth those who are implicated in this," she said.

Police however said in a statement that the case was "solved" and no further arrests of suspects were expected.

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Miners' underground dance harmless: lawyer

A lawyer says 15 WA miners sacked for doing a dance routine underground did no harm. Source: AAP

THE lawyer for one of the sacked "Harlem Shake" miners who broke into a dance craze in a WA underground mine says the 30-second dance that cost 15 employees their lucrative jobs did no harm.

West Australian mining contractor Barminco made worldwide headlines earlier this week when it sacked more than a dozen workers from the Agnew gold mine after their YouTube version of the internet's latest dance craze went viral.

Citing safety issues, Barminco sparked a national debate as to whether they were heavy handed in sacking the employees, posting on its company Facebook page that "safety takes unconditional priority at all times ... and we will not make any exception to this".

Barminco said rigid safety rules were needed in the inherently hazardous underground environment.

It has been revealed one of the sacked miners, Stephen Dixon, had referred his case to Fair Work Australia.

His lawyer John Hammond has told Fairfax Radio his case will focus on whether the men breached safety regulations.

Those taking part had considered safety before making the video, and had performed it during a meal break, Mr Hammond said.

"Around town, opinion seems to be very, very split as to whether or not these miners should have been sacked," he said.

"In making these comments I am talking about what people think politically. Everywhere you go people are discussing whether it was right or wrong for the company to have sacked those who engaged in what was a 31-second dance.

"Mr Dixon did consider safety. They left their steel capped boots on, they left their headlamps on and left the self-rescuers on before they engaged in the Harlem Shake.

"Doing a dance on the spot, jumping up and down gyrating, to me personally, was not a harmful act."

Mr Hammond said 14 or 15 men had been sacked over the dance, eight who actually danced and six or seven who watched.

He said no one would disagree with Barminco that safety was paramount in mining, but it was yet to be seen whether the men contravened any safety requirements.

Mr Dixon told The West Australian newspaper he was a dedicated worker, not a clown, and the workers had been anxious about their job security when they performed the dance to "let off steam".

More than 10,000 Harlem Shake videos - based on the track by electronic musician Baauer - had been posted online by the middle of last month. The internet "meme" was originated by five teenagers from Queensland, registered on YouTube as TheSunnyCoastSkate.

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Senator ends filibuster of CIA pick

Republican senator Rand Paul (pic) led a 13-hour filibuster of John Brennan's appointment. Source: AAP

A REPUBLICAN senator seeking to block President Barack Obama's pick to lead the CIA over concerns about drone strikes on US soil completed a nearly 13-hour speaking filibuster.

In a remarkable display highlighting the partisan rift in Washington, Rand Paul led the filibuster of John Brennan's appointment after the White House refused to unequivocally rule out drone strikes on US soil.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat, tried to bring the blocking tactic to a close, but Paul, a favourite of the Republican Party's conservative Tea Party faction, refused to stop.

His oratory held up any other Senate action as he railed against US policy on targeted killings from 11:47am local time on Wednesday until 12:39am on Thursday - a total of 12 hours and 52 minutes.

During the marathon delaying tactic, Paul said he would be happy to yield the floor "if the president or the attorney general will clarify that they are not going to kill non-combatants in America".

The issue has gained fresh currency on Capitol Hill, with senators from both parties pressing Attorney General Eric Holder on whether the administration believes drone attacks on American soil could be justified.

Paul demanded answers from President Barack Obama on the secret unmanned aerial drone program, which has emerged as the most contentious element of Brennan's nomination to head the Central Intelligence Agency.

"I rise today to begin to filibuster John Brennan's nomination for the CIA," he said shortly before noon.

"I will speak until I can no longer speak. I will speak as long as it takes, until the alarm is sounded from coast to coast that our Constitution is important, that your rights to trial by jury are precious, that no American should be killed by a drone, on American soil, without first being charged with a crime, without first being found guilty by a court."

He finally yielded the floor after midnight, to a round of applause.

"I've discovered that there are some limits to filibustering and I'm going to have to take care of one of those in a few minutes here," he joked.

Paul later said he hadn't planned the move ahead of time.

"My legs hurt, my feet hurt, everything hurts right now," he told reporters afterwards.

"I didn't wear my most comfortable shoes or anything. I would have worn different shoes."

Brennan's nomination easily cleared the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday, despite fury from leading Republican lawmakers at what they said was a lack of disclosure over last year's attack on the US mission in Benghazi, Libya, which killed four Americans, including US ambassador Chris Stevens.

The Senate plans to vote on Brennan by Saturday at the latest.

At close to the 12-hour mark, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell joined the filibuster, saying: "I intend to oppose the nomination and congratulate my colleague from Kentucky for this extraordinary effort."

Paul had earlier enlisted Republicans Mike Lee, Ted Cruz and Saxby Chambliss. Rising Republican star Marco Rubio also joined, as did Democrat Ron Wyden, who has long questioned White House power on national security issues.

"You are raising some of the most important questions... we could be asking," Wyden said. "This is just the beginning of this debate."

Paul's effort recalled the classic "talking filibusters" of old, famously portrayed in the fictional 1939 classic, Mr Smith Goes to Washington, starring Jimmy Stewart.

But Paul acknowledged Brennan was a virtual lock for the CIA, calling the filibuster "a blip" in the process.

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Jailed Pussy Riot punk seeks parole

One of the two Pussy Riot performers serving a jail term, has asked to be released on parole. Source: AAP

JAILED Pussy Riot performer Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, serving a two-year sentence in a Russian prison camp, has asked to be released on parole, Russian media quoted her lawyer as saying.

Tolokonnikova, 23, has asked a regional court that she be released on parole on several grounds, including the fact that she has a five-year-old daughter, lawyer Irina Khrunova told the Kommersant daily.

The prisoner "has every reason to be released soon", Khrunova said on Thursday, saying Tolokonnikova had good character references, did not have conflicts in the prison camp, and had received job offers she could take up on her release.

The court is not due to hold a hearing on her parole request until April at the earliest, Khrunova said.

Under Russian law prisoners are eligible for parole when they have served half their sentences.

Tolokonnikova, a philosophy student, was sent to prison camp in October along with bandmate Maria Alyokhina, after being convicted of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred for singing a "punk prayer" in a Moscow cathedral protesting President Vladimir Putin's close links with the Russian Orthodox Church.

The women have been in custody since first being detained in March 2012, several weeks after the February cathedral protest.

A third bandmate, Yekaterina Samutsevich, was released with a suspended sentence because of her peripheral role in the performance.

The other jailed woman, Maria Alyokhina, 24, was recently refused a request to postpone her sentence until her five-year-old son becomes a teenager.

She also has received two reprimands, which would affect her chances of parole, but nevertheless plans to petition for one next week, Khrunova said.

Supporters of Pussy Riot plan to hold a series of one-person pickets outside the prison service in Moscow on Friday, which is International Women's Day.

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Valuable artworks taken from Adelaide home

South Australian police are seeking information about the theft of six pieces of artwork. Source: AAP

ART dealers should be on the lookout after six rare and valuable artworks, worth more than $100,000, were stolen from an Adelaide home.

The art includes a canvas by French impressionist Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and paintings and sketches by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt and his protege Egon Schiele.

Whoever stole the works got inside the residence at Brooklyn Park, in the city's west, by forcing a front door early on Tuesday afternoon, police said.

Anyone with information on the theft or the location of any of the artworks is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or report online at www.sa.crimestoppers.com.au.

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Rally planned over Mardi Gras 'brutality'

GAY rights activists will rally in Sydney this week to demand an external investigation, apologies and compensation for alleged police brutality at last weekend's Mardi Gras celebrations.

Politicians and community groups called for an inquiry after a video emerged that appears to show a handcuffed 18-year-old, Jamie Jackson, being thrown to the ground by an officer at the festival about 11.30pm (AEDT) on Saturday.

Bryn Hutchinson, 32, later came forward to say he had been thrown to the ground by several officers in Darlinghurst after a disagreement over whether he should be allowed to cross a road.

"I was pushed onto the ground, kneeled on and kicked several times," Mr Hutchinson told AAP on Wednesday.

It is understood both men have been charged with assaulting police.

NSW police have confirmed two internal investigations are being carried out and urged the community not to jump to conclusions about the arrests.

"While two incidents is still two too many, in the grand scheme of things we don't have a super big problem," NSW Assistant Police Commissioner Mark Murdoch told reporters.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said he was confident a police investigation would "get to the bottom of what went on", and Police Minister Mike Gallacher said oversight from the ombudsman meant no additional investigation was necessary.

NSW Police Association president Scott Weber, a serving officer, said an internal investigation was appropriate as NSW police were subject to more oversight than any other force.

In the video of Mr Jackson, an officer is seen to throw the handcuffed man to the ground before standing with one foot on his back for at least 20 seconds.

The initial encounter between the young man and officers was not shown.

Mr Jackson said on Wednesday it was a "completely excessive use of force" and one of the police officers present had apologised to him.

"One of them was like, 'I'm actually so sorry,'" he told the Seven Network.

Mr Murdoch said the video showed only part of a larger incident and the full circumstances would be revealed later.

Activists aligned with the Community Action Against Homophobia (CAAH) group plan to march from Taylor Square on Oxford Street to Surry Hills Police Station on Friday, and say 1200 people have already said they will attend.

CAAH member Karl Hand told reporters he had met with Mr Hutchinson on Sunday morning, and the man's wrists were swollen and marked by deep handcuff grooves.

"He couldn't use his knife and fork. I had to cut up his food," Mr Hand said.

"Every Mardi Gras we talk to people who have been brutalised by police. It's been happening since 1978," he said.

His group wants the two men to receive apologies and compensation from police.

Human rights lawyer-turned-researcher Dale Mills said oversight by the ombudsman was not enough.

"In my opinion, the ombudsman's office is part of the problem. They don't have the legislative power, or the resources, or the political will," he said.

"Really what's needed is a separate statutory body that can investigate allegations of police misbehaviour."

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Files of Qld corruption inquiry exposed

PEOPLE who helped uncover entrenched police corruption in Queensland over two decades ago could be in danger after information about them was accidentally made public.

The Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) is reviewing how a clerical error led to the public release of secret files from the 1987-89 Fitzgerald Inquiry into police corruption.

That inquiry led to the fall of the state government and jailing of three former ministers and a police commissioner.

The CMC accidentally released dozens of the files about it, more than a year ago, through the Queensland State Archives.

The files reportedly include details about murder suspects, secret informants, undercover agents, drug operations and police corruption.

They also contain unsubstantiated allegations of corruption, rigged trials, drug-smuggling and murders involving senior figures in business, the police, the judiciary and the underworld.

The documents were meant to remain secret until 2055, when most of the people involved in the inquiry would have died.

The CMC only found out about the leak last week.

Journalist Matthew Condon, who recently wrote a book about the inquiry, says there are people "who would genuinely lose sleep over it".

But CMC chairman Ross Martin wouldn't say if anyone was in danger because of the bungle.

"We'll look at it, see what's happened and try to find the answer," he told reporters.

Mr Martin said a CMC review would find out "what was hypothetically made available, who has had an opportunity to see it, and whether from that a hypothetical risk has become real".

"Whether anybody has actually looked at it that might be a villain for example," he added

The CMC boss hopes to quickly find out who has viewed the files at the archives, which record who accesses the documents it holds.

Mr Martin denied there was a systemic problem with how the CMC handled sensitive documents and said no other investigations had been compromised.

"This is a clerical error in circumstances where the consequences are most unfortunate," he said.

"The nature of this issue is limited to the archivist and to the material that's come to light now.

"This is the only case of which we're aware such a thing has occurred."

Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie is calling for the Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Committee (PCMC) to look into the leak and plans to meet Mr Martin as soon as possible.

The PCMC, which has oversight of the CMC, is expecting a report from the watchdog later this week.

The PCMC later announced that the leak and possible consequences would be investigated and an independent parliamentary report released.

PCMC chair Liz Cunningham said the committee was aware of "potential implications" of the release of the documents.

"The committee is also acutely aware of the sensitivity of information provided by protected witnesses during the Fitzgerald Inquiry," she said in a statement late on Wednesday.

"The committee has requested that the Parliamentary Crime and Misconduct Commissioner, an independent officer of the parliament, investigate and report back to the committee in relation to a broad range of emergent issues regarding this matter."

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Baillieu a man of integrity: Abbott

FEDERAL Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has congratulated Denis Napthine for being elected Victorian premier and praised outgoing leader Ted Baillieu as a man of integrity and honour.

Mr Baillieu resigned as Victorian premier on Wednesday night.

Mr Abbott thanked Mr Baillieu for his service to the people of Victoria.

"Ted is a man of integrity and honour and I wish him well for the future," he said in a brief statement.

As premier, Mr Baillieu had put Victoria's finances on a sustainable footing and made significant investments in infrastructure, Mr Abbott said.

Mr Abbott also congratulated Mr Napthine on his election as leader.

"I look forward to working closely with him," he said.

Other politicians took to twitter to share their reactions to the news.

Australian Greens MP Adam Bandt suggested the spill raised issues for Mr Abbott.

"Vic Libs ditch elected leader & then run a minority gov't. Presume Tony Abbott will call them illegitimate and demand election immediately," Mr Bandt tweeted.

Labor backbencher Laura Smyth referenced Harry Potter.

"Congrats Denis Napthine, new head boy for Slytherin House," she tweeted.

"Let's hope Ted's education 'plan' walks out the door with him."

Foreign Minister Bob Carr was watching a Sydney University production of Julius Caesar and drew parallels in the play's storyline to that of the Victorian Liberal leadership drama.

"The faction gathers in home of Brutus. "We all stand against the spirit of Caesar" - of Baillieu, of Abbott?" he tweeted.

Liberal backbencher Dan Tehan congratulated Mr Napthine on becoming premier.

"Happy Birthday Denis, you will be an outstanding Premier," he tweeted.

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WA premier defends workers on 457 visas

WA premier Colin Barnett has stood up for fly-in, fly-out workers on temporary visas. Source: AAP

FLY-IN, fly-out (FIFO) workers should be regarded as Australia's "modern day heroes", Western Australia's Premier Colin Barnett says, akin to the men who built the nation-defining Snowy Mountains irrigation scheme.

Mr Barnett made the comment in response to the federal government announcing a clampdown on the 457 visa program for temporary foreign workers, aimed at ensuring Australian workers get first preference for jobs.

While federal Treasurer Wayne Swan says he has "personal evidence" Australians are having trouble finding work in mining and other industries because overseas workers are filling jobs, Mr Barnett has not only stuck up for FIFO workers, but has also said the foreign labour is essential for WA's $237 billion economy.

Hitting back at what he said was a campaign of vilification of the FIFO workforce, Mr Barnett said those people should instead be lauded.

"FIFO workers are modern day heroes," Mr Barnett said in the final week of the state election campaign.

"They do separate from their families, they do put up with some loss of amenity, they work in harsh conditions, for long hours, doing exciting work.

"They are building this state and building this nation. You can draw a parallel with the migrant workers on the Snowy Mountain scheme - these are the modern day heroes of the economic development of Australia.

"They deserve more respect, and not to be treated like some scourge of the earth."

Around two thirds of the workforce employed in the construction of the Snowy Mountains scheme, which was finished in 1974 after 25 years, were immigrant workers originating from over 30 countries.

It is estimated the current FIFO workforce in WA totals 50,000 and is set to rise to 63,000 by 2015.

James Pearson, chief executive of the WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said he understood from the immigration department that "something less than one per cent of employers have been abusing the system".

But Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor rejected expert assessment suggesting only three per cent of temporary worker visas were questionable.

Mr Barnett said rather than clamp down on foreign workers who were willing to come to Australia to fill the positions, the government should be asking why more Australians were not willing to move where the high-paid work was.

"They (457 visas) are essential for WA in particular and we have been a big employer of 457 workers, and they go across a who lot of areas, trades, engineers, a whole scope of works," Mr Barnett said.

"I think it is a pity that in Australia more people with those skills aren't prepared to come to WA and aren't prepared to go into the Pilbara and take on these demanding, challenging, exciting jobs which are highly paid.

"That is one of the weaknesses of the Australian economy."

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Baillieu a man of integrity: Abbott

Former Victorian premier Ted Baillieu is a man of integrity, opposition leader Tony Abbott says. Source: AAP

FEDERAL Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has congratulated Denis Napthine for being elected Victorian premier and praised outgoing leader Ted Baillieu as a man of integrity and honour.

Mr Baillieu resigned as Victorian premier on Wednesday night.

Mr Abbott thanked Mr Baillieu for his service to the people of Victoria.

"Ted is a man of integrity and honour and I wish him well for the future," he said in a brief statement.

As premier, Mr Baillieu had put Victoria's finances on a sustainable footing and made significant investments in infrastructure, Mr Abbott said.

Mr Abbott also congratulated Mr Napthine on his election as leader.

"I look forward to working closely with him," he said.

Other politicians took to twitter to share their reactions to the news.

Australian Greens MP Adam Bandt suggested the spill raised issues for Mr Abbott.

"Vic Libs ditch elected leader & then run a minority gov't. Presume Tony Abbott will call them illegitimate and demand election immediately," Mr Bandt tweeted.

Labor backbencher Laura Smyth referenced Harry Potter.

"Congrats Denis Napthine, new head boy for Slytherin House," she tweeted.

"Let's hope Ted's education 'plan' walks out the door with him."

Foreign Minister Bob Carr was watching a Sydney University production of Julius Caesar and drew parallels in the play's storyline to that of the Victorian Liberal leadership drama.

"The faction gathers in home of Brutus. "We all stand against the spirit of Caesar" - of Baillieu, of Abbott?" he tweeted.

Liberal backbencher Dan Tehan congratulated Mr Napthine on becoming premier.

"Happy Birthday Denis, you will be an outstanding Premier," he tweeted.

Labor backbencher Darren Cheeseman described Dr Napthine as the "Steven Bradbury of Victorian politics".

His Labor colleague Mike Kelly asked on Twitter: "Don't you rub Napthine on wasp stings or is it for keeping moths out of your cupboard?"

Comment was being sought from the prime minister's office.

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Afghan bank execs jailed 5 years for fraud

AN Afghan court has sentenced two senior Kabul Bank executives to five years in jail for a $US900 million ($A888 million) fraud that caused the country's largest bank to collapse in 2010.

Judge Shamsul Rahman Shams said the men must pay back millions of dollars they gained from the sophisticated network of corruption in which cash was used to buy homes in Britain, Dubai, Switzerland and the US.

The bank's former chairman, Sher Khan Farnoud, and its former CEO Khalilullah Ferozi were both in court on Tuesday to hear the sentencing.

Kabul Bank was seized by the government in 2010 after the exposure of the massive fraud, which led the International Monetary Fund to temporarily halt its hundreds of millions of dollars of loans to Afghanistan.

Renamed New Kabul Bank, the institution was later bailed out by the government.

The criminal proceedings into the bank's collapse are being watched closely by Western donors for signs that the country is finally tackling rampant government corruption.

Donors have pledged billions of dollars in aid after NATO combat troops withdraw in 2014, but have demanded that corruption is brought under control.

A number of well-connected people allegedly implicated in the scandal as shareholders, including a brother of President Hamid Karzai, were not charged by the special court.

Farnoud in court accused Haseen Fahim, the brother of Afghan Vice President Mohammad Qaseem Fahim, of being one of the key organisers behind the scheme.

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Fake bishop tries to sneak into Vatican

An Italian man dressed up in fake robes has been escorted out of a meeting of Catholic cardinals. Source: AAP

AN Italian man dressed up in fake ecclesiastical robes has been escorted out of a meeting of Catholic cardinals by Swiss Guards after trying to sneak into the closed-door Vatican meeting.

The man told reporters his name was "Basilius" and he was a member of the "Italian Orthodox Church", which does not exist.

Before he was discovered, the "bishop" told reporters that Catholic bishops had "made a mistake by moving priests" who were accused of pedophilia around different parishes.

He was wearing a purple scarf around his waist that was similar to the sashes warn by senior Catholic prelates and he shook hands and chatted with priests and cardinals arriving at the meeting on Monday.

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Indonesia president visits Germany

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is winding up an official visit to Germany. Source: AAP

INDONESIAN President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is visiting Germany for talks aimed at strengthening business ties between the two countries.

He meets Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday, after which he will join her on a tour of the international travel fair.

Indonesia is the partner country for the world's largest tourism trade fair, which officially opens on Wednesday.

Yudhoyono's visit to Berlin follows Merkel's trip to Indonesia in July, when the two leaders signed the Jakarta Declaration.

The declaration is aimed at furthering co-operation in trade and investment, defence, research and technology, health and education.

The Indonesian leader is also set to meet Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit before walking through the German capital's historic Brandenburg Gate.

Yudhoyono is scheduled to continue his European trip later on Tuesday when he flies to Budapest for a three-day visit to Hungary aimed at what officials in Jakarta say will help reinvigorate Indonesia's relations with one of Central Europe's key states.

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Home builders need another rate cut: HIA

THE housing industry believes the central bank has missed an opportunity to provide a boost to the struggling residential building sector.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kept the cash rate at three per cent at its monthly board meeting on Tuesday.

RBA governor Glenn Stevens said with inflation likely to be within its two to three per cent target band, and with growth likely to be a little below trend over the coming year, an accommodative stance of monetary policy was appropriate.

"The inflation outlook, as assessed at present, would afford scope to ease policy further, should that be necessary to support demand," Mr Stevens said in a statement.

But Housing Industry Association senior economist Shane Garrett said the RBA should have cut rates now, with Monday's unexpectedly weak building approvals data for January indicating a sustained residential construction recovery is some way off.

"What's good for the residential construction market is good for the wider economy. International factors have squeezed many sectors of the Australian economy and this calls for further action from the RBA," Mr Garrett said in a statement.

Retailers were equally unimpressed, despite new data showing spending jumped by 0.9 per cent in January, more than double the growth expected by economists.

Australian National Retailers Association chief executive Margy Osmond, while welcoming the apparent lift in consumer spending, said this came after another poor Christmas period.

"Without continued cuts to the cash rate, we may lose the momentum of the return to spending at the start of the year," Ms Osmond said.

However, one mortgage broker believes retail banks could go it alone and cut their lending rates independently of the RBA.

"The banks have no issues at the moment with cost of funds and we can see them cutting their rates as they aggressively compete for home finance business," 1300HomeLoan managing director John Kolenda said in a statement.

"As the competition intensifies among lenders we could see rates reduced slightly by five to 10 basis points over the coming months."

One bookie agrees, saying homeowners could be in for a treat.

Sportsbet.com.au has odds of $2.50 that the National Australia Bank will independently cut first, despite the RBA's inaction, followed by Commonwealth Bank at $3.

Westpac and the ANZ are also in the market at $4 and $5 respectively

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Cigarettes worth $200,000 seized in Vic

Police have seized illegally imported cigarettes from a truck in Victoria's northeast. Source: AAP

MORE than 1000 cartons of cigarettes worth $200,000 have been seized from a truck in Victoria's northeast.

The cigarettes, believed to be illegally imported, were discovered when police searched the truck at Benalla on Saturday morning.

Police said the haul would be worth around $200,000.

The truck's 22-year-old driver from Sydney, was charged with two counts of possessing and conveying imported tobacco, possessing a prohibited weapon and exceeding the speed limit.

He was bailed to appear at Benalla Magistrates Court on April 4.

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Record 259 nominees for Nobel Peace Prize

A RECORD 259 nominees are in the running for this year's Nobel Peace Prize which will be announced in October, the Nobel Institute said on Monday.

The list of 209 individuals and 50 organisations is known to include Malala Yousafzai, the shot Pakistani schoolgirl-turned-icon of Taliban resistance, ex-Eastern bloc activists, and former US president Bill Clinton.

"The trend is upward, not every year but almost," the head of the Nobel Institute, Geir Lundestad, said.

"This reflects a growing interest for the prize. The nominations come from the entire world," he said.

The previous record dates back to 2011 when 241 candidates were nominated.

The list of nominees is kept secret for 50 years.

But thousands of people are eligible to nominate candidates - including former laureates, members of parliament and government around the world, some university professors, and members of certain international organisations - and they can reveal the names they have put forward.

As a result, it is known that Malala and Clinton are nominated, as well as Russian human rights organisation Memorial and Myanmar's reformist President Thein Sein.

The deadline to submit nominations closed on February 1.

The five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee will announce its choice in early October, and the prize will be awarded, as tradition dictates, on December 10, the anniversary of the death in 1896 of the Nobel Prizes' founder, philanthropist Alfred Nobel.

Last year the prestigious honour went to the European Union, a highly controversial choice as the bloc struggles through its worst crisis since its creation.

"There's no doubt that the choice of laureates in recent years has contributed to the increasing attention" on the award, Lundestad acknowledged.

In 2009, the prize also made waves when US President Barack Obama received the nod just months after he took office and as the US was fighting two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Petrol bomb near India president's hotel

PROTESTERS have thrown a home-made petrol bomb near the hotel of Indian President Pranab Mukherjee in the Bangladesh capital amid new deadly protests in the country.

An Indian foreign ministry official speaking on condition of anonymity said on Monday "protesters threw a crude cocktail bomb near the gate of the hotel where the Indian president is staying in Dhaka".

The official said nobody was injured and the president would continue his three-day state visit, which is set to finish on Tuesday.

A statement from the president's office said nobody in the delegation heard the "minor explosion".

"Bursting of such cocktails are common in Bangladesh during hartals (shut-downs) and cannot be described as a bomb," said the statement.

Local policeman Apurba Hasan told AFP officers had heard "a loud noise about 200 metres outside the hotel".

The Indian president is on a three-day state visit to Bangladesh, which has coincided with the worst violence in the country since independence in 1971.

The country's main Islamic party has enforced a two-day strike over the conviction of three of its top leaders for war crimes.

Sixty-four people have died since the vice-president of Jamaat-e-Islami was sentenced to death last Thursday.

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Spain's Iberia cancels 1300 flights

SPANISH airline Iberia says some 1300 flights will be cancelled this week as workers begin a second round of strikes to protest the loss-making company's plans to lay off almost a fifth of its workforce.

The government has ordered a minimum amount of services should remain, meaning 85 per cent of long-haul flights, 62 per cent of medium-haul and 47 per cent of domestic flights are guaranteed.

Unions representing most Iberia workers, but not pilots, called strikes between February 18-22, March 4-8 and March 18-22.

A demonstration will be held at Madrid's Barajas airport later on Monday.

International Airlines Group, which owns British Airways and Iberia, lost 923 million euros ($A1.18 billion) last year on restructuring costs and writedowns on the value of Iberia.

Iberia last month said it planned to cut 3807 jobs.

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Denmark seeks $1b in taxes from Microsoft

DANISH tax authorities are demanding 5.8 billion kroner ($A995 million) in tax arrears from Microsoft, public broadcaster DR reports.

"Microsoft owes the treasury five billion kroner ... amounting to a total of 5.8 billion with interest included," DR wrote on its website on Monday.

Danish tax authority Skat is in negotiations with its US counterpart and the company to try to recover the "huge sum," the broadcaster said.

The unpaid taxes relate to Microsoft's acquisition of Danish group Navision, now called Microsoft Dynamics Nav, through its Irish subsidiary.

The Danish agency believes the US group underpaid for the company and then transferred its assets to Ireland, which has a lower tax rate.

Skat declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

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Cardinals begin pre-conclave talks

CATHOLIC cardinals have begun talks ahead of a conclave to elect a new pope after Benedict XVI's resignation, as an absent British cardinal admits to sexual misconduct with priests.

Monday's Vatican meetings will set the date for the start of the conclave this month and help identify candidates among the cardinals to be the next leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

"We're going to take as much time as we need to think about what sort of pope the Church needs now," French cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois told reporters as he arrived for Monday's meetings.

"I'd be keen to have a polyglot, a man of faith, a man of dialogue ... The new pope will certainly have to confront problems within the Curia," the government of the Catholic Church, he said.

Benedict's eight-year pontificate was often overshadowed by Vatican intrigue and scandals in Europe and North America over sexual abuse by paedophile priests going back decades and the cover-up of those crimes by senior prelates.

A total of 115 "cardinal electors" - cardinals aged under 80 - are expected at the conclave after Britain's Keith O'Brien opted out and an Indonesian cardinal said he was too sick to attend.

O'Brien had already recused himself from the conclave and resigned as head of the Scottish church after allegations of misconduct surfaced.

"My sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me as a priest, archbishop and cardinal," he said in a statement on Sunday.

The field for the next pope remains wide open after Benedict became only the second pontiff to step down by choice in the Church's 2,000-year history and the first to do so since the Middle Ages.

The Vatican says it expects a new pope by Easter, the most important date on the Christian calendar which this year runs from March 29 to April 1.

Vatican observers say there are possible candidates from every corner of the world and from both progressive and traditionalist wings of the Church, which is facing challenges on many levels.

Church leaders are also concerned about issues like priestly celibacy, treatment of gays, attitudes towards divorcees, the Catholic stance on contraception as well as inter-religious dialogue, particularly with Islam.

Benedict's effort to revive faith amid rising secularism is also seen as crucial.

"The key themes the Church will have to face are inter-religious issues and poverty and the crisis we're now seeing throughout Europe will spread," Vingt-Trois said on Monday.

No date has yet been set for the election of the Church's 266th pope, although Italian media have mentioned next Monday, March 11 as a possibility.

The dean of the college of cardinals, Angelo Sodano, has said the start date will not be set until all the "cardinal electors" are in Rome.

The profile of an ideal candidate for pope is beginning to come into focus as cardinals have their say - many would prefer a relatively youthful, pastoral figure who can help foster spiritual renewal, particularly among young people.

Among the leading candidates this time around are Italian cardinal Angelo Scola, a big promoter of inter-religious dialogue, and Austria's Christoph Schoenborn, a former student of Benedict's with strong progressive ideas.

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Gillard woos jaded western Sydney voters

Julia Gillard announces a major federal government push to fight gang-related drugs and gun crime. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has tried to realign her government with the two million-plus residents of western Sydney, telling them they needed recognition, respect and shouldn't be viewed as second-rate.

Ms Gillard on Sunday began a five-day tour of the area, which is the third biggest economy in the nation, and a region in which Labor is facing seat losses that could send it into opposition.

"I want to make sure that areas like Sydney's west - and the people who live and work here - get a fairer share of what you create," she said in her election-style speech to ALP supporters.

"You deserve it because of your work and your endeavour."

Labor's stocks in western Sydney have been dwindling since Ms Gillard overthrew former prime minister Kevin Rudd in 2010 and voters took out their anger on the former NSW ALP government in 2011.

A number of key federal seats - including Lindsay, Fowler, Parramatta, Greenway, Banks and Werriwa - are held by tight margins and could be lost to the Liberals if the current trend in the opinion polls continues.

About 1000 ALP members attended Ms Gillard's address at the University of Western Sydney, where Home Affairs minister Jason Clare likened her to the area's residents.

"A Labor prime minister made of the same stuff as western Sydney - toughness, hard work, courage, determination, dreams and aspirations," he said.

In her speech, Ms Gillard referenced government initiatives in health, education and its national broadband network project and said she was determined to make lives easier.

"Put simply, we don't accept that other suburbs come first and you come second," she said.

Ms Gillard promised to put jobs and Australian workers first, deliver the National Disability Insurance Scheme, improve schools and help families manage living costs.

She noted pressures on manufacturing businesses, particularly in western Sydney, due to the high Australian dollar which is making exports more expensive and less competitive.

But the area was better equipped than others to adapt and rise to meet the opportunities presented by the rise of the Asian middle class over the next 20 years.

"So let's go and get that work, seize that opportunity, create those jobs," Ms Gillard said.

The prime minister also raised the spectre of the coalition revisiting its dumped Work Choices policy, warning that "another path" could led to wage cuts.

"I'll always fight anyone and everyone who wants to take us down that path," she said.

While Ms Gillard referred several times to her plan help families "making a good life", she made no further policy announcements.

On transport infrastructure, a key issue in an area where commutes are long and traffic is dense, Ms Gillard said she would have more to say in coming days.

Earlier on Sunday, the government announced a plan to fight gang-related drug and gun crime, which has risen in western Sydney, by creating a $64 million National Anti-Gang Taskforce.

Before her speech, a number of ALP members said they believed Ms Gillard was being treated unfairly in the media.

"She's bagged no matter what she does," Carol Christie, 45, from Dulwich Hill, said.

Also attending the event were ministers Wayne Swan, Bob Carr, Anthony Albanese, Chris Bowen, Tony Burke, Greg Combet, Craig Emerson and Peter Garrett.

The federal election is on September 14.

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Rapist's body found after Melbourne siege

A stand-off between police and fugitive rapist Antonio Loguancio has entered its second full day. Source: AAP

THE body of convicted rapist Antonio Loguancio has been found in a bungalow after a two-day siege in Melbourne came to a fiery end.

Police say the siege escalated about 1pm (AEDT) on Sunday when a number of shots were fired from the bungalow at the rear of a property in Glenroy.

The bungalow caught fire around 2pm and firefighters found Loguancio's body when they extinguished the blaze.

Loguancio had been holed up in the Justin Avenue property since 7pm on Friday but the stand off came to an end after loud bangs heard coming from the property were followed by billowing smoke.

Ambulances and fire trucks parked outside the house in the normally quiet suburban street began to leave around 4pm, to be replaced by homicide squad detectives.

Deputy police commissioner Tim Cartwright said police had tried to talk Loguancio out of the bungalow throughout the siege.

"His behaviour continued to escalate. At about two o'clock this afternoon the bungalow was seen to be on fire," he said.

"The fire brigade eventually attended those premises but as always the safety of the fire brigade was critical.

"When we were eventually able to control the fire, the body of a man was found inside the premises.

"This is a tragedy. Our aim is always to resolve these situations with the minimum of injury and loss of life.

"We need to protect the people involved, we need to protect the members of the public, we need to protect out own members."

The homicide squad will investigate the death.

The bungalow was in the backyard of a rental property which is currently listed for sale.

Neighbouring homes were evacuated, as police cars, fire trucks and paramedics set up outside the house.

Nearby residents crowded along the police tape cordoning off sections of the street and were repeatedly ordered by police to stand back during the 45-hour siege.

Throughout Sunday, police used a loudspeaker to communicate with Loguancio.

"Come to the front door with nothing in your hands. Walk down the driveway and you will be met by police," police negotiators told Loguancio.

Loguancio was alone in the bungalow and emerged briefly at one stage on Saturday.

Police spotted an object strapped to his body but were unable to establish if it was a firearm.

Police had described Loguancio as a significant risk to the community after he breached a supervision order and allegedly assaulted his partner before going into hiding.

He had threatened to harm himself and others after making contact with police while on the run.

He was released on a supervision order after being jailed for 12 years for multiple counts of rape, assault and other offences.

Loguancio's best friend, Mick Collett, had spoken to him over the phone during the standoff and told AAP his mate was not a monster.

"I'm worried he's going to hurt himself," Mr Collett said on Saturday.

He said Loguancio was agitated and panicky and was worried he was going to be shot when he spoke to him on Saturday.

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Assad refuses to quit as foes advance

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has accused the British government of wanting to arm "terrorists". Source: AAP

PRESIDENT Bashar al-Assad insisted he will not step down and blasted Britain's support for his armed foes who reportedly killed dozens of soldiers on Sunday in attacks on a police academy in northern Syria.

"We are ready to negotiate with anyone, including militants who surrender their arms," Assad told Britain's Sunday Times newspaper, in a rare interview conducted last week at his Al-Muhajireen palace in Damascus.

"We can engage in dialogue with the opposition, but we cannot engage in dialogue with terrorists," he said in the videotaped interview.

His offer of talks was aired as UN chief Ban Ki-moon and his Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said they were prepared to broker peace talks between the Assad regime and the opposition.

A joint statement by the pair said the UN would "be prepared to facilitate a dialogue between a strong and representative delegation from the opposition and a credible and empowered delegation from the Syrian government".

The offer came after both sides in Syria had indicated a "willingness to engage in dialogue", the UN said.

In Iran, Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said that Assad, a close ally of Tehran, would contest a presidential election next year and it was up to the Syrian people to choose their own leader.

Syria is locked in a two-year-old conflict in which the United Nations estimates more than 70,000 have been killed. But Assad rejected the idea of standing down to end the bloodshed.

"If this argument is correct, then my departure will stop the fighting," the president told The Sunday Times. "Clearly this is absurd, and other recent precedents in Libya, Yemen and Egypt bear witness to this."

Assad turned his sights on Britain, accusing London of seeking to arm the rebels.

"How can we expect them to make the violence less while they want to send military supplies to the terrorists and don't try to ease the dialogue between the Syrians?" he asked.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague has called for changes to a European arms embargo on Syria "so that we can provide a broader range of support to the National Coalition", the opposition umbrella group.

Assad ruled out any mediation role for Britain, saying: "We don't expect an arsonist to be a firefighter."

On a reported Israeli air strike near Damascus in January, Assad said his country would retaliate. "Retaliation does not mean missile for missile or bullet for bullet. Our own way does not have to be announced," he said.

On the ground in the mainly opposition-held north, rebels killed more than 34 government forces in an attack on a police academy in Aleppo province and seized large parts of the facility, a monitoring group said.

They "seized control at dawn of large parts of the police academy" in Khan al-Assal, after eight days of fierce fighting for one of the regime's last bastions in the west of Aleppo province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"More than 34 regime forces were killed" inside the town's sprawling police academy, said the watchdog, which has reported dozens of fighters killed on both sides in the battle for the police academy.

It also reported that Jihadist fighters seized control of a prison in Raqa province and freed "hundreds" of detainees on Saturday night.

"Government forces pulled out of Raqa's central prison located in the northern part of the provincial capital after clashes that lasted days," the Britain-based watchdog said.

The prison takeover came as battles raged Saturday on the outskirts of the city of Raqa between rebels and Syrian troops, the Observatory said.

Sixteen rebels and 14 government soldiers were killed in the fighting, which the Observatory said was "the most violent in the region" since the uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011.

In the oil-rich northeastern province of Hassakeh, Kurdish militants captured the towns of Ramilan and Qahtaniyeh from government forces, said the monitoring group which relies on a vast network of activists and medics for information.

A total of 182 people were killed in violence across Syria on Saturday, including 83 rebels and two Palestinians hanged at the Yarmuk refugee camp in Damascus on suspicion of aiding the regime, it said in an updated toll.

The Observatory circulated a picture of the hangings.

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Heat on Thailand at wildlife conference

Thailand has been forced onto the defensive over the rampant smuggling of ivory. Source: AAP

GLOBAL conservationists converged on Bangkok for the start of endangered species talks, as host Thailand was forced onto the defensive over the rampant smuggling of ivory through its territory.

The plight of elephants and rhinos - threatened by poaching networks driven by insatiable demand for tusks and horn from Asian nations - are set to dominate the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which lasts until March 14.

Thailand, seen as a hub for traffickers of all endangered species, is facing particular pressure over its ivory market.

Activists say criminals exploit a legal trade in Asian elephant tusks to sell illicit stocks of African ivory and conservation groups WWF and TRAFFIC have called on the Thai government to respond by outlawing the entire ivory trade.

"After years of failing to end this unfettered trade, Thailand should grab the spotlight and shut down these markets that are fuelling poaching of elephants in Africa," said Carlos Drews, director of WWF's global species programme.

In opening remarks to the conference, Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said her country was working closely with foreign governments to curb the illicit trade and had tightened scrutiny of its ivory products.

"Elephants are very important for Thai culture. I must stress that no one cares more about the elephant than the Thai people," she said.

"Unfortunately, many have used Thailand as a transit country for the illegal international ivory trade," she added, stating her faith that "Thailand will be a strong ally" in the fight against the illicit business.

Since coming into force in 1975, CITES has placed some 35,000 species of animal and plants under its protection, controlling and monitoring their international trade.

The 178 countries who have signed up to the convention - and must undertake measures to implement its decisions at home - will also consider growing calls for the greater regulation of the shark fin trade.

Similar proposals to protect a number of shark species - whose fins are prized in Asia - have previously failed in the face of opposition from a group of Asian countries concerned about their fishing industries.

Humans kill about 100 million sharks each year, mostly for their fins, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, and conservationists are warning that dozens of species are under threat.

"We are now the predators. Humans have mounted an unrelenting assault on sharks, and their numbers are crashing throughout the world's oceans," said Elizabeth Wilson, manager of global shark conservation at Pew Charitable Trusts.

Conservationists are calling on Australia to take a stand to protect several shark species.

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.

CITES, which on Sunday celebrates 40 years since its inception in 1973, is also looking to strengthen protection for multiple plant species, including Madagascar ebony and rosewood, from a host of countries.

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Mubarak retrial to open April 1

A RETRIAL of former president Hosni Mubarak, jailed for life for his role in the deaths of protesters in 2011, is to open on April 13, Egypt's official MENA news agency reports.

Mubarak, former interior minister Habib al-Adly and six top security chiefs will be retried on orders of the Court of Cassation, Egypt's top appeals court, over the hundreds of killings during the 2011 uprising which ousted him from power.

The court agreed in January on a retrial for Mubarak, 84, who appealed against his life sentence for involvement in the deaths.

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