Ecuador vows to resolve Assange situation

THE Ecuadorian government has stressed its commitment to finding a solution to the position of Julian Assange on the anniversary of the WikiLeaks founder being granted political asylum.

The Australian has been living inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London for more than a year as part of his campaign to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces allegations of sexual assault against two women - claims he denies.

Assange fears that if he travels to Sweden he will be forcibly taken to the United States to face questioning over documents published by WikiLeaks.

A statement from the Ecuadorian government said: "One year ago today Ecuador took the decision to award asylum to Julian Assange, a journalist who feared political persecution after publishing information sensitive to the US government that exposed war crimes, killings, torture and other human rights abuses that would otherwise never have come to light.

"After thoroughly examining the evidence, the government of Ecuador concluded that it shared Julian Assange's concerns that there is a real and present danger to his freedoms."

The statement said the recent guilty verdict against US soldier Bradley Manning and attempts to prosecute Edward Snowden for leaking information about US surveillance underlined why Ecuador granted asylum.

It added: "The decision taken was based on Ecuadorian and international law. As Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights declares 'Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution'.

"However, Ecuador accepts that resolving Julian's status and specifically his right to leave the embassy without threat of arrest and onward extradition to the US involves the jurisdictions of three sovereign nations - the UK, Sweden and Ecuador.

"The government of Ecuador remains committed to finding an equitable solution to this situation that respects domestic and international law while at the same time protecting Julian Assange from inhumane treatment and the threats of political persecution."

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Stopping boats will hurt Christmas Island

CHRISTMAS Island is bracing itself for the ripple effect that stopping asylum seeker boats will have on its people and economy.

Administrator of Island Territories Jon Stanhope says the island's population could effectively halve if the detention centre on the island is closed.

There are currently just under 2000 permanent residents on the island plus another 500 fly-in fly-out workers.

When the number of boat arrivals slowed about eight years ago the island's population dropped to around 800, Mr Stanhope said.

The coalition's plan to resettle asylum seekers in Papua New Guinea and stop boats coming to Christmas Island is a threat to the community's future.

Mr Stanhope said while Christmas Island residents had differing views on asylum seekers, there was a common understanding the island's economy would be severely impacted if they stopped coming.

A bigger emphasis needed to be placed on developing the island's ailing tourism sector to protect it from going broke, he said.

"The great challenge is to try to protect the economy from such boom and bust. It is imperative that we strengthen tourism," Mr Stanhope said.

Mr Stanhope met on Friday with a delegation of federal election candidates from mining magnate Clive Palmer's party which wants all remote detention centres such as Christmas island closed.

The Palmer United Party (PUP) revealed its asylum seeker policy on Friday during a fact-finding mission to Christmas Island.

The party wants to set up processing centres at Australian airports in an effort to stop asylum seekers coming by boat.

PUP candidate for Moreton, Jeremy Davey, concedes the policy could see a surge in asylum seekers wanting to test the system.

"For an $800 flight you might want to try your luck," the former naval officer told AAP.

"(Arrivals) will invariably increase but we will be stringent in who we do and don't accept into the country."

Mr Davey argued the policy would save taxpayers billions of dollars by cutting down security and processing costs associated with boat arrivals.

Seven PUP candidates, from Queensland, NSW and the Northern Territory, have taken part in the party's mission to Christmas Island, arriving on Mr Palmer's private jet.

The billionaire himself, however, did not attend.

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Islamabad gunman shot after stand-off

A GUNMAN is fighting for his life in hospital after a dramatic end to a five-hour stand-off with police in Pakistan's capital Islamabad, which shut down part of the city.

Pakistani police defended their response after the stand-off ended with him being shot and wounded.

Waving two semi-automatic guns and occasionally firing into the air, Mohammad Sikandar was accompanied by his wife and children throughout the tense drama late on Thursday that took place close to Islamabad's political quarter.

Broadcast live on Pakistan's freewheeling rolling news channels, hours of stalemate came to a chaotic end when Zamarud Khan, a senior member of the opposition Pakistan Peoples Party sent to negotiate, made a sudden lunge at the gunman.

Khan slipped and missed his man, but police opened fire, seriously wounding Sikandar in the chest and leg before arresting him, dragging him off as blood poured from his wounds. Doctors said he was improving on Friday.

The drama in the centre of the normally sleepy capital drew a huge crowd of onlookers and media, and Islamabad police chief Muhammad Rizwan said they were to blame for the slow response, denying his men had dithered in the face of the challenge.

"The commando operation was delayed because we needed proper space between the general public and the gunman," he said on Geo TV.

"We had asked media and the general public who had gathered there to stay at least 300 metres away for their own safety, but they did not move away."

Rizwan said there was a gap of only 50 metres between the crowd and Sikandar, making it impossible to tackle him safely.

He said it appeared Sikandar was not part of any extremist outfit.

"The preliminary investigations suggest that this man is not associated with any group and it was his own individual act," he told Geo TV.

The stand-off began around 5.30pm (2230 AEST) on Thursday when police flagged down the car for a traffic offence on the central Jinnah Avenue neighbourhood - just over a kilometre from the presidency and parliament buildings.

Sikandar then started firing into the air, forcing markets and shops in the area to close, before making a series of rambling demands including the resignation of the government, the imposition of Sharia law and the release of a son from prison in Dubai.

He underwent three hours of surgery during the night, doctor Wasim Khawaja, spokesman for the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences hospital, said.

Sikandar's wife was also shot in the leg as the scene reached its conclusion but doctors said she was out of danger on Friday.

As the standoff played out during the evening, Sikandar smoked cigarettes and spoke to TV stations on his mobile phone while his children played around his car.

The politician Khan, hailed a hero by some local media, said he felt he had to intervene.

"I was sitting at home and watching this whole drama on TV," he told Geo TV.

"I came out with a commitment that I will catch this guy, even if it takes my life."

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Smartphones 51.8% Of global mobiles sales

SMARTPHONES have made up the majority of mobile phone sales worldwide for the first time, according to new figures.

Some 225 million smartphones were sold globally between April and June, or 51.8 per cent of all mobiles sold in that quarter, research firm Gartner said.

It is the first time smartphone sales exceeded those of feature phones - the more basic models that have limited or no access to the internet and applications.

The figures also show that Microsoft edged out BlackBerry for the first time in the smartphone operating system (OS) market, taking third position with a 3.3 per cent market share compared with BlackBerry's 2.7 per cent.

Android continued to increase its lead, taking 79 per cent of the market in the second quarter, followed by iOS with 14.2 per cent.

The figures show Samsung sold 71.3 million smartphones in the quarter, a market share of 31.7 per cent, followed by Apple at 31.8 million units or 14.2 per cent of market share and LG Electronics with 11.4 million units or 5.1 per cent.

Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner, said: "Smartphones accounted for 51.8 per cent of mobile phone sales in the second quarter of 2013, resulting in smartphone sales surpassing feature phone sales for the first time.

"While Microsoft has managed to increase share and volume in the quarter, Microsoft should continue to focus on growing interest from app developers to help grow its appeal among users."

He added: "With second quarter of 2013 sales broadly on track, we see little need to adjust our expectations for worldwide mobile phone sales forecast to total 1.82 billion units this year.

"Flagship devices brought to market in time for the holidays, and the continued price reduction of smartphones, will drive consumer adoption in the second half of the year."

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Divers find three bodies in Indian sub

INDIA'S navy has retrieved four badly burned bodies from a submarine that exploded in a Mumbai dockyard and said it was unlikely any of the other 14 missing crewmen would be found alive.

The diesel-powered INS Sindhurakshak sank in a military dockyard early on Wednesday, dealing a setback to India's naval ambitions just days after it unveiled its first domestically made aircraft carrier.

Navy divers managed to enter the vessel, whose forward section was totally destroyed in the fire, but their progress was hampered by extreme heat, poor visibility and mangled hatches.

The first bodies were retrieved from a compartment behind the tower on Friday and have been sent for DNA testing because severe burns prevented their identification, a navy statement said on Friday.

The state of the bodies and conditions within the submarine "leads to the firm conclusion that finding any surviving personnel within the submarine is unlikely", the statement said.

It also suggested some bodies might never be found because of the fierce temperatures generated in the fire during which some of the weapons on board - cruise missiles and torpedoes - ignited.

"The navy will continue to search every inch of the submerged submarine till all bodies are either located or it can be stated with finality that no bodies remain to be found," it said.

The navy's focus remains on accessing all compartments of the vessel before attempting to salvage the vessel.

"Salvage of the submarine would only be attempted thereafter for which many alternatives including deploying professional salvors are also being considered," it added.

An inquiry has been set up to determine what caused the blasts, which turned the recently refurbished Russian-built submarine into a fireball.

The Times of India newspaper speculated on Friday that sabotage might have been the cause of the explosion, but the navy chief said on Wednesday that "the indicators at this point of time do not support that theory".

The families of the 18 men on board at the time of the explosion, whose names have been released, have gathered in Mumbai.

The 16-year-old submarine returned from Russia in April where it underwent a two-year overhaul of its communication, weapons and propulsion systems.

It is still covered by a Russian warranty and the Russian company responsible for the refit, Zvyozdochka, has offered its assistance.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, addressing the nation in a traditional Independence Day speech on Thursday, voiced sorrow at the blast.

"The accident is all the more painful because the navy had recently achieved two major successes in the form of its first nuclear submarine, INS Arihant, and the aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant," Singh said.

In addition to the aircraft carrier launched on Monday, India announced sea trials for its first domestically made nuclear submarine last weekend, which Singh trumpeted as a "giant stride" for the country.

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Man charged over Townsville murder

A MAN has been charged with the murder of a woman found dead in a north Queensland alleyway.

The 35-year-old was charged with murdering the 46-year-old Townsville woman after a day of investigations by police.

Members of the public found the body at the side of a business at Hermit Park in Townsville on Wednesday morning.

The accused murder is due before Townsville Local Court on Friday.

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Egypt under emergency rule, 464 dead

Egypt's health ministry has raised the death toll from Wednesday's nationwide violence to 278. Source: AAP

EGYPTIANS have emerged from an all-night curfew imposed after the worst violence since their 2011 uprising, with at least 464 people killed as security forces broke up protests supporting ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

The army-backed interim government imposed a month-long nationwide state of emergency, and curfews in Cairo and 13 other provinces.

Shortly after the curfew ended on Thursday morning, light traffic began returning to Cairo's streets, with roads blocked for weeks by the pro-Morsi protests now reopened.

At least 421 civilians died in Wednesday's violence, ministry spokesman Mohammed Fathallah said. He said 137 people had been killed in the main Rabaa al-Adawiya camp which pro-Morsi protesters had occupied for weeks.

At the smaller of the two encampments in Nahda square, 57 people were killed and 227 died in the rest of the country, he said.

The interior ministry said 43 policemen had also been killed.

Egypt's press carried photos on Thursday of Morsi supporters brandishing weapons and throwing stones at police during the previous day's confrontations.

"The nightmare of the Brotherhood is gone," daily Al-Akhbar's front page headline read.

"The Brotherhood's last battle," added Al-Shorouk.

At least four churches were attacked, with Christian activists accusing Morsi loyalists of waging "a war of retaliation against Copts in Egypt".

The day's violence was the worst since the 2011 uprising that ousted president Hosni Mubarak, with an AFP correspondent counting at least 124 bodies in makeshift morgues in the Rabaa al-Adawiya protest site.

Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood spoke of 2200 dead overall and more than 10,000 wounded.

The violence prompted vice-president and Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei to resign, saying he was troubled over the loss of life, "particularly as I believe it could have been avoided.

"It has become too difficult to continue bearing responsibility for decisions I do not agree with and whose consequences I fear," he said.

The dramatic assault on the sit-ins shortly after dawn surprised many, coming after officials had described plans to gradually disperse the sit-ins over several days.

The operation began with security forces firing tear gas before surging into Rabaa al-Adawiya, sparking pandemonium among the thousands of protesters camping there in opposition to Morsi's July 3 ouster by the military.

After the worst of the violence, many Morsi supporters were given safe passage out of the camp, some flashing victory signs as they left.

By Wednesday evening, a security official said Rabaa al-Adawiya was "totally under control", adding: "There are no more clashes."

In the smaller of the protest camps, at Al-Nahda square in central Cairo, police said they had control of the area after two hours.

Dozens rounded up in the dispersal were shown sitting on the ground, handcuffed and surrounded by security forces.

Authorities later said calm had been restored across the country.

The United Arab Emirates and Bahrain separately voiced their support, but Europe's leading powers, along with Iran, Qatar and Turkey, strongly denounced the use of force by the interim government.

Denmark announced on Thursday it was suspending development aid to Egypt.

"Denmark has two projects in direct collaboration with the Egyptian government and public institutions, and they are now going to be suspended," Christian Friis Bach, the development aid minister told the Berlingske newspaper. He also called on the European Union to examine its aid to Cairo, and told the newspaper that Denmark plans to suspend its contribution to EU funding there.

The White House said Washington, which provides Egypt with $US1.3 billion ($A1.43 billion) in annual military aid, "strongly condemns" the violence against the protesters and opposed the imposition of a state of emergency.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting over the bloody crackdown.

"The Security Council of the United Nations should convene quickly to discuss the situation in Egypt," Erdogan told reporters in Ankara.

"This is a very serious massacre ... against the Egyptian people who were only protesting peacefully," he added, criticising "the silence" of the global community in the face of the bloodshed.

But Egypt's interim prime minister Hazem al-Beblawi praised the police for their "self-restraint" and said the government remained committed to an army-drafted roadmap calling for elections in 2014.

The Brotherhood urged Egyptians to take to the streets in their thousands to denounce the "massacre".

"This is not an attempt to disperse, but a bloody attempt to crush all voices of opposition to the military coup," spokesman Gehad al-Haddad said on Twitter.

Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim said no more protests would be tolerated, and in several neighbourhoods residents clashed with angry Morsi loyalists.

Clashes also erupted between security forces and Morsi supporters in the northern provinces of Alexandria and Beheira, the canal provinces of Suez and Ismailiya, and the central provinces of Assiut and Menya.

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Audi developing a plug-in hybrid for China

AUDI has announced plans to jointly develop a plug-in hybrid vehicle with its Chinese partner, First Automotive Works (FAW) based in the southern city of Foshan.

Audi chief executive Rupert Stadler said the company was determined to bring plug-in-hybrid technology to China soon.

He gave no specific details, confirming only that the model will use a combustion engine and an electric motor that "work together effectively".

The model's batteries will be replenished using a conventional electric socket rather than a custom-made charger,

Audi parent company Volkswagen has already developed a hybrid electric car especially for the Chinese market and both Mercedes-Benz and BMW are working on similar projects.

Stadler was tight-lipped about an introduction date for the Audi plug-in but said the petrol-electric car was an "important milestone" that would strengthen Audi's "international competitive position" and help the company achieve the goal of selling 2 million vehicles annually by 2020.

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Death toll in Egypt crackdown now 464

At least 464 people have been killed in the ongoing violence in Egypt, government officials say. Source: AAP

AT least 464 people have been killed in nationwide violence sparked by a crackdown on the protest camps of supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, government officials say.

At least 421 civilians died in Wednesday's violence, ministry spokesman Mohammed Fathallah said on Thursday.

He said 137 people had been killed in the main Rabaa al-Adawiya camp which pro-Morsi protesters had occupied for weeks.

At the smaller of the two encampments in Nahda square, 57 people were killed and 227 died in the rest of the country, he said.

The interior ministry said 43 policemen had also been killed.

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Former Speaker Slipper to run in election

Former Speaker Peter Slipper announced he will recontest his Queensland seat. Source: AAP

FORMER Speaker Peter Slipper says he faces a David and Goliath contest to retain his federal seat of Fisher after vowing to fight for a ninth term in office.

Mr Slipper announced on Thursday he will recontest his Queensland seat as an independent, up against former Howard minister Mal Brough, who was accused of conspiring to bring sexual harassment claims against him to court.

"It is a David and Goliath effort, every election is a challenge," he told reporters outside his Sunshine Coast electorate office on Thursday.

"This is my most difficult election ever because I'm up against the major parties but one of the reasons I'm standing is to provide real choice for local people."

Mr Slipper admits his family has felt the toll of the past 18 months in which he's been accused of sexually harassing staffer James Ashby, charged with misusing expenses and resigned as Speaker over offensive text messages.

"We've all made mistakes and I'm sure that you've made mistakes, and any mistake I've made, you guys have tried to report. But we all make mistakes as we go through life," he told reporters.

His wife Inge-Jane Hall stood by him throughout the time and was with him again on Thursday, speaking up for her husband and their marriage.

"You just don't understand him and I think that's really sad," she said.

"I do want to say to people that our marriage is real, I've had to listen to rumours spread throughout this community about how our marriage is not real, that we've divorced and all those sorts of things.

"I do love my husband ... he's a really good guy."

The sexual harassment case was thrown out by Federal Court Justice Stephen Rares, who found Mr Ashby's predominant purpose for bringing the case was to pursue a political attack against his former boss.

"The LNP candidate Mal Brough and other LNP and Liberal Party figures were deeply involved," Mr Slipper said on Thursday.

Mr Slipper resigned from the Liberal National Party (LNP) in 2011 after then prime minister Julia Gillard appointed him speaker of the House of Representatives.

Despite being at long odds to keep the seat he has held since 1993, Mr Slipper was optimistic.

"I'm very confident to be judged by the people of Fisher," he said.

"The messages that I get back from the community, particularly since the Justice Rares decision, is that people have seen through the plot that was set up against me."

Mr Slipper was coy when asked who he would direct his preferences to.

"One doesn't decide what happens with preferences until nominations close. They have closed, but of course those who have nominated will not be announced until tomorrow," he said.

"I'll be making the appropriate decisions at the appropriate time."

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Israel unveils plans for new settler homes

Israeli authorities have announced the approval of 942 new settler homes in east Jerusalem. Source: AAP

ISRAELI authorities have announced the approval of 942 new settler homes in annexed east Jerusalem, on the eve of the resumption of fragile peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

The announcement on Tuesday comes ahead of the expected release by Israel of 26 long-term Palestinian prisoners - the first batch of 104 inmates to be freed in stages depending on progress in negotiations.

There was no immediate comment from the Palestinians on the latest development, but they had earlier slammed a weekend announcement that about 1200 homes are to be built elsewhere in east Jerusalem and in the West Bank as a move aimed at "preventing" peace talks.

US Secretary of State John Kerry during a visit to Colombia on Monday urged the Palestinians "not to react adversely" to the weekend Israeli settlement announcement.

Kerry, who took the lead in securing last month's resumption of peace talks after a three-year hiatus,stressed the need for the two sides to return to the negotiating table as planned on Wednesday in Jerusalem.

The last peace talks broke down in 2010 on the issue of settlement building.

"The Jerusalem municipality has approved a construction plan for 942 homes in Gilo," an existing settlement in east Jerusalem, deputy mayor Yosef Pepe Alalu told AFP.

"This is a terrible decision which is a provocation against the Palestinians, the Americans and the whole world who oppose continued settlement building," the left-wing municipal councillor said.

Israeli settlement watchdog Peace Now said the announcement would undermine talks.

"The government is doing all it can to sabotage peace talks even before they've started," Peace Now's spokesman Lior Amihai told AFP.

Israel's housing ministry on Sunday announced tenders for the construction of 793 settlement housing units in annexed east Jerusalem and 394 elsewhere in the West Bank.

Palestinian officials reacted furiously to that announcement.

"Israel is attempting to prevent negotiations from taking place on Wednesday," negotiator Mohammad Shtayyeh said.

Kerry, speaking in Bogota, sought to neutralise the atmosphere, noting that the settlement plans were "to some degree expected," and calling for both sides to resolve their major issues.

"We have known that there was going to be a continuation of some building in certain places, and I think the Palestinians understand that," the chief US diplomat said in Bogota.

But he added: "I think one of the announcements or maybe one of them was outside of that level of expectation, and that's being discussed right now."

Kerry said he did not expect the latest developments to become a "speed bump," but he reiterated that the United States regards all settlements as illegal.

"What this underscores, actually, is the importance of getting to the table ... quickly, and resolving the questions with respect to settlements, which are best resolved by solving the problem of security and borders," Kerry told reporters.

"Once you have security and borders solved, you have resolved the question of settlements. And so I urge all the parties not to react adversely or to provoke adversely, whichever party may do one or the other in any way," he said.

The EU warned on Monday that approval for the West Bank settlements threatened to torpedo the peace talks.

"Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law and threaten to make a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict impossible," EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton's spokesman Michael Mann said.

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Iraq violence kills 9, pipeline blown up

A suicide attack on a crowded cafe in northern Baghdad has killed at least 24 people. Source: AAP

ATTACKS in Iraq have killed nine people including three police, while militants have bombed a major pipeline carrying oil to Turkey, halting exports.

The attacks on Tuesday are the latest in a surge in violence that security forces have failed to curb, despite carrying out major operations against militants said to have resulted in scores of arrests, including 82 on Monday.

In the deadliest attack on Tuesday, a car bomb exploded in the northern province of Kirkuk, killing three police.

Bombings also killed a soldier, a Sahwa anti-Al-Qaeda fighter and two civilians in Salaheddin province, north of the capital, while gunmen shot dead a former soldier and a civilian in the northern province of Nineveh.

And militants bombed a major pipeline carrying oil from northern Iraq to Turkey, near the town of Albu Jahash in Nineveh province.

The attack halted exports via the pipeline, a senior official from the North Oil Company said, adding that production was still continuing, but the oil was being stored.

Repairing the pipeline, which runs from the northern Iraqi oil hub of Kirkuk to the port of Ceyhan in Turkey, is expected to take between one and three days, the official said.

The attacks came a day after bombs targeting a cafe, a football field and a market in areas north of Baghdad killed 28 people.

The interior ministry on Monday announced the arrest of 82 suspected militants in Salaheddin and Diyala provinces, 56 of them at an alleged Al-Qaeda training camp.

Authorities have repeatedly highlighted security operations - among the largest since US forces departed in December 2011 - which they say have led to the killing or capture of many militants.

But whatever gains the operations have made, they have failed to stop the bloodshed.

Violence in Iraq has increased markedly this year, with analysts saying the upsurge is driven by anger among the Sunni Arab minority that the Shi'ite-led government has failed to address, despite months of protests.

Attacks killed 3417 people in Iraq since the beginning of 2013, according to figures compiled by AFP - an average of more than 15 per day.

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CSIRO to release bullying report

AUSTRALIA'S national science agency is set to release the findings of an independent investigation into claims of bullying within the organisation.

The CSIRO appointed former Commonwealth ombudsman Dennis Pearce to investigate allegations from current and former staff of workplace bullying and other unreasonable behaviour in their organisation.

CSIRO chief executive Megan Clark will release the report by emeritus Professor Pearce on Wednesday along with CSIRO's response to the findings.

Earlier this year, CSIRO deputy chief Mike Whelan said 11 allegations of bullying and harassment had been made over the prior three years at the agency, with one being substantiated.

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No Syria peace talks before October

A PROPOSED international peace conference on Syria that aims to bring together President Bashar al-Assad's allies and the opposition will probably not happen until October at the very earliest, a top Russian official says.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said additional preparatory talks for the meeting will be held between Moscow and Washington at the end of August, and that the diplomatic schedule was already busy for September.

"It will probably not happen in September because there will be other events," Gatilov told the Interfax news agency late on Monday.

"We are in favour of holding the conference as soon as possible, but we have to take certain realities into account that may have an effect on when this forum is convened."

The so-called Geneva 2 talks were initially agreed in May by US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a time when the Syrian rebels were making steady advances on the ground.

Russia, one of Assad's strongest international backers, had initially proposed having the meeting by the end of May.

But as Assad's forces mounted a counter-offensive, the talks were repeatedly postponed because of the opposition's failure on the need or terms under which they would attend.

Additional difficulties were sparked by Russia's insistence that Iran, which has provided the Assad regime with weapons and diplomatic support, also attend the negotiations.

Gatilov said the issue of Iran will be discussed by Russian and US officials when they meet at the end of August "in one of the European capitals that will probably not be Geneva".

Lavrov said after meeting Kerry on Washington on Friday that Russia and the United States were in agreement about the need to stage the talks "as soon as possible", but gave no specific date.

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French Alps accidents kill four climbers

TWO Italian women have died in an avalanche and the bodies of two French climbers have been found in a crevasse after climbing accidents in the French Alps, local officials say.

The two Italians were among a group of at least seven climbers caught up in the avalanche as they were ascending Mont Blanc du Tacul, at an altitude of 4200 metres, the gendarmerie in the Haute-Savoie region said.

Rescuers later found the two women, aged 37 and 41 and both from Italy's Piedmont region, dead under the snow.

An Italian mountain guide was rescued alive from under the snow, but suffered serious injuries and was in intensive care in a hospital in nearby Annecy.

A fourth climber was also missing after the avalanche and a search was under way. The rest of the party appeared to have escaped unharmed.

Meanwhile the bodies of two French climbers - a man and a woman both in their fifties - were found on Tuesday morning at the bottom of a 20-metre crevasse on Roche de la Muzelle, a mountain in the Ecrins massif of the Alps.

Mountain rescue services in the Isere region said the couple, described as "amateur climbers", had left a refuge on Monday morning and appeared to have fallen into the crevasse on their descent from the summit.

The woman was identified as a 51-year-old from the southeastern French city of Chambery. No further details were provided about the man's identity.

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Hundreds flee as Indonesian volcano erupts

Hundreds have been evacuated from a tiny Indonesian island where a volcano erupted on the weekend. Source: AAP

MORE than 500 people have been evacuated from an Indonesian island where a volcanic eruption killed five at the weekend, an official says, as Mount Rokatenda spews more clouds of ash.

The volcano on Palue island in East Nusa Tenggara province threw red-hot ash two kilometres into the sky on Saturday and unleashed molten lava onto a beach, killing three adults and two children as they slept.

Officials had previously put the death toll at six, but on Monday revised it down.

Rescuers have been battling through roads blocked by ash to reach affected areas and try to persuade reluctant villagers to leave their homes.

"Since the eruption on Saturday, 511 people living near the Rokatenda volcano have been evacuated from Palue island to Maumere," said national disaster agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, referring to a city on nearby Flores island.

Six motorboats were being used to evacuate people and the disaster agency had sent aid to help those displaced, including 20,000 masks so people could protect themselves from volcanic ash and 1000 blankets, he added.

Yosep Ansarera, head of Sikka district, of which Palue is part, said those evacuated came from two villages.

However, he added, "dozens of people remain in their villages, refusing to be evacuated as they don't want to leave their livestock and homes".

Those who have so far left the island are some of the 3000 people in need of evacuation following the eruption, said Nugroho.

They were inside a three-kilometre exclusion zone around the crater. Authorities had urged people to leave the area and banned all activities inside but many had refused to abandon their homes.

Officials still hope to evacuate the remaining 2500 people in the zone.

But Bakri Kari, a member of the rescue team, said rescue efforts were proving difficult as "a lot of infrastructure has been damaged".

An AFP reporter on Flores on Monday said he could see the volcano emitting clouds of ash, but they were much smaller than at the weekend.

Surono, head of the state volcanology centre, said ash clouds on such a small scale were unlikely to be life-threatening but warned the volcano was volatile and could erupt violently again.

"Rokatenda remains a threat for those living inside the three-kilometre zone," he said.

Rokatenda had been showing signs of increased activity since October.

About 2000 people had already been evacuated to Flores before the weekend eruption, leaving around 8000 people still on the island.

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Motorists admit driving without MOT

A THIRD of motorists in the UK have admitted driving a vehicle without a valid MOT safety certificate, according to a survey.

With some drivers, the illegal motoring has gone on for as long as six months, the poll by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) found.

Men are more likely to drive a vehicle with no MOT than women, while the worst offenders are in the south west of England.

The MOT test ensures vehicles meet road safety and environmental standards.

Of 1000 drivers questioned, a third had driven without an MOT, with 67 per cent of these admitting to driving without a certificate for up to a week.

In addition, 24 per cent had driven without an MOT certificate for up to a month, seven per cent for up to six months and two per cent for more than six months.

Drivers in the East Midlands are the best at ensuring their cars had an MOT test on time, with only 14.6 per cent of them admitting to driving without a certificate.

In contrast, as many as 40.5 per cent of south west England drivers own up to driving without an MOT.

The survey showed that younger motorists are worst at remembering the test date, with 39 per cent of drivers aged 18-24 saying they had continued to drive after their MOT had expired.

The most diligent motorists are 45 to 54-year-olds, with only 28 per cent driving after the certificate's expiry.

The SMMT survey was carried out in partnership with car manufacturers and their dealer networks throughout the UK.

"Each year, a significant proportion of motorists forget their car's MOT, risking safety, fines and penalty points," said SMMT interim chief executive Mike Baunton.

"Manufacturer main dealers are the best place to go to be sure of the most highly-trained technicians, using the parts manufacturers recommend along with the best diagnostic equipment."

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Syrians hold protests against jihadists

PROTESTERS have held daily demonstrations against jihadists in the northern Syrian city of Raqa, demanding the release of "hundreds" of missing people including an Italian Jesuit priest, a watchdog says.

News of the protests comes two weeks after Father Paolo Dall'Oglio went missing when he went to meet commanders of the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) in late July to ask for the release of activists kidnapped by the group.

"Demonstrations have been held daily for two weeks demanding the release of hundreds of civilians" kidnapped by ISIS, including Dall'Oglio, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based watchdog described Dall'Oglio as a "messenger of peace" and "a friend of the Syrian opposition" to President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Known for his charisma and good relations with peaceful anti-Assad activists, he has lobbied several Arab and Western officials to support the democratic opposition for fear of the rise of radical Islamism.

Raqa is the only provincial capital to have fallen out of regime hands since the start of Syria's protest movement in March 2011.

What began as a popular uprising has since morphed into a bloody insurgency after the regime unleashed a brutal crackdown against dissent.

The Observatory also reported on Monday clashes in Raqa five days ago that pitted ISIS against a local rebel group.

The fighting broke out after jihadists "attacked the headquarters of the Ahfad al-Rasul brigade in the Mahatta neighbourhood of Raqa", said the monitoring group.

In protests the day after, residents called jihadists "to leave" their area, the Observatory added.

In the early days of the uprising, when opponents of the regime were desperate for assistance from any quarter, jihadist fighters were welcomed.

But a spate of abuses is fuelling a backlash against the groups, particularly in northern Syria, swathes of which are out of army control.

Meanwhile the head of Syria's rebel Free Syrian Army visited the coastal province of Latakia, as opposition fighters battled regime forces in President Bashar al-Assad's heartland, an activist said.

Assad's family hails from the coastal region of Latakia, which is also home to many members of the Alawite community he hails from, and has seen intense fighting in recent months.

General Selim Idriss "was in the Kafr Dalba area of Jabal al-Akrad" in the province on Sunday, Latakia-based activist Omar al-Jeblawi told AFP via the internet.

Amateur video showed Idriss dressed in civilian clothing as he addressed a group of rebel fighters in the countryside.

Idriss' visit comes a week after rebels launched a "battle to liberate the coast". They have since progressed and taken control of 11 majority Alawite villages, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog.

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Thieves steal French amputee's wheelchair

FRENCH adventurer Philippe Croizon, a quadruple amputee known for his feats of swimming and diving, has had his custom-designed wheelchair stolen while on holiday in northern France.

Croizon, famed as the first quadruple amputee to swim across the English Channel, appealed to the thieves to return the wheelchair.

"They haven't just stolen my wheelchair, they've stolen my autonomy," Croizon told AFP after the theft of the wheelchair and its trailer, which he discovered missing on Friday morning while staying with friends near Dieppe.

"I feel sad and angry," he said. "Let them keep the trailer if they want, but at least give back the wheelchair."

Croizon, 45, said the high-tech, all-terrain wheelchair was brand-new and had been designed specially for him.

Croizon, a former metal-worker, had all four limbs amputated in 1994 from the elbows and knees after being struck by an electric shock of more than 20,000 volts as he tried to remove a TV antenna from a roof.

He has since carried out a series of exploits, including swimming the Channel in 2010, swimming four straits separating five continents, and in January becoming the first quadruple amputee to complete a 33-metre dive.

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Hong Kong shares up 2.13% by close

HONG Kong shares have closed up 2.13 per cent, buoyed by better-than-expected industrial data from China late last week that eased fears the world's second-largest economy is heading towards a slowdown.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index on Monday gained 463.72 points to 22,271,28, its highest close since early June, on turnover of $HK64.74 billion ($A9.14 billion).

On Friday, China reported industrial growth for July reached a five-month high. Industrial production, which measures output at factories, workshops and mines, rose 9.7 per cent year-on-year, well above analyst expectations.

Gross domestic product (GDP) in China expanded 7.8 per cent in 2012, its slowest annual pace in 13 years.

Growth slipped to 7.7 per cent in the January-March period this year and slowed further to 7.5 per cent in the second quarter, raising alarm bells over possible deeper weakness.

Steven Leung, head of institutional sales at brokers UOB Kay Hian, said long-term buyers returned to the market on Monday.

Yanzhou Coal jumped 9.9 per cent to $HK6.55 while Zijin Mining surged 10.7 per cent to $HK1.86.

But sportswear stocks in Hong Kong tumbled, with Chinese sporting goods company Li Ning falling 6.1 per cent to $HK4.91 after a disappointing first-half report, and rival Anta Sports closing down 3.3 per cent at $HK9.83.

Chinese shares closed up more than two per cent due to renewed optimism over the domestic economy, dealers said.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumped 2.39 per cent, or 49.04 points, to 2,101.28 on turnover of 116.5 billion yuan ($A20.79 billion).

"Market expectations changed after economic data showed improvement," Zheshang Securities analyst Zhang Yanbing told AFP.

"The market will definitely continue the upward trend if monthly economic figures continue to improve."

Resource and financial shares led the gains.

Shanxi Coal International Energy surged by its 10 per cent daily limit to 6.44 yuan while Yanzhou Coal Mining also jumped 10 per cent to 11.30 yuan.

Baotou Steel Rare-Earth advanced 5.01 per cent to 29.57 yuan and Jiangxi Copper gained 4.49 per cent to 17.93 yuan.

Southwest Securities rose 7.56 per cent to 9.53 yuan, Industrial Bank jumped 6.24 per cent to 9.88 yuan and New China Life Insurance gained 4.08 per cent to 23.19 yuan.

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Heatwave kills four in Japan

A HEATWAVE stifled Japan on Sunday as the temperature topped 40 degrees Celsius in two cities, leaving at least four people dead over the weekend, officials and reports say.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said the temperature reached 40.6 C in Kofu, 100 kilometres west of Tokyo, in mid-afternoon.

The weather agency had warned early Sunday that the temperature would soar past 35 C in 39 of the country's 47 prefectures. It warned people to drink plenty of water and use air-conditioners.

On Saturday, the mercury topped 40 C for the first time in Japan since August 2007, when it had reached an all-time high of 40.9 C in two separate cities.

An 84-year-old woman and a 66-year-old man in western Japan died from heat stroke on Saturday after they were found collapsed in fields, Kyodo news agency said.

Two more deaths from heat stroke were confirmed by officials on Sunday.

An 80-year-old woman died in hospital after she was found collapsed at her wooden home on Sunday morning in Arita, a city south of Osaka, a medical evacuation official said. The living room where she was found was not air-conditioned.

In Saitama north of Tokyo, a 60-year-old man died in hospital after he was found unconscious on a street.

The heatwave, also gripping parts of China, has been caused by a Pacific high pressure system covering most of the Japanese islands, the weather agency said.

In early July a heatwave in the country claimed at least a dozen lives, according to media reports.

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Fleeing SA dad and baby safe and well

A SOUTH Australian man who fled with his baby daughter after allegedly assaulting a family member has turned up with the infant at a police station.

Father and child are safe and well after Benjamin Koch, 38, presented at Mount Gambier Police Station just before 8pm (CST) on Sunday, police say.

Mr Koch, 38, took nappies and baby formula when he fled with the 10-month-old following an incident in the state's east about 3am on Sunday morning.

Police said there were no court orders preventing Mr Koch from having access to the child, but there had been concerns for the welfare of both him and the baby.

Police are also investigating an alleged assault after paramedics transported a 52-year-old woman with head injuries to Flinders Medical Centre.

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Malians vote in presidential run-off

Polls are set to open across Mali for a presidential run-off election. Source: AAP

MALIANS are voting in a watershed presidential election run-off expected to usher in a new dawn of peace and stability in the conflict-scarred nation.

Almost seven million voters have a choice between former premier Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and ex-finance minister Soumaila Cisse to lead Mali's recovery following a military coup that ignited an Islamist insurgency and a French-led military intervention.

Both candidates declared themselves confident of victory in the run-off, called after none of the 27 candidates in the first round on July 28 achieved an outright majority.

The election, the first since 2007, is crucial for unlocking more than $US4 billion ($A4.42 billion) in aid promised after international donors halted contributions in the wake of last year's coup.

The run-up to the vote was largely uneventful, with cities and towns deserted as Malians - over 90 per cent of whom are Muslim - stayed at home to celebrate the Eid al-Fitr festival marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.

The rivals have faced off before, losing the 2002 presidential election to Amadou Toumani Toure, who was overthrown by a military junta in March last year as he was preparing to end his final term in office.

The return to democratic rule will allow France to withdraw most of the 4,500 troops it sent to Mali in January to oust al-Qaeda-linked extremists who had occupied the north in the chaos that followed the coup, imposing a brutal regime of sharia law characterised by executions and amputations.

Keita, who is considered the favourite, was more than 20 percentage points ahead of his rival in the first round but Cisse has remained optimistic.

Cisse had complained about widespread fraud in the first round while more than 400,000 ballots from a turnout of around 3.5 million were declared spoiled.

Mali's Constitutional Court rejected the allegations, however, confirming that Keita, 68, had won 39.8 per cent, while Cisse attracted a 19.7 per cent share.

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Al-Qaeda attack kills five Yemen soldiers

An attack by "al-Qaeda elements" at a gas terminal in Yemen has killed five soldiers. Source: AAP

AN attack by "al-Qaeda elements" at a gas terminal in Yemen has killed five soldiers, a military source says, as Washington kept its embassy in Sanaa closed.

"The attackers arrived in a car at the army checkpoint near the Balhaf terminal. They opened fire with automatic weapons, killing five soldiers before fleeing," the source told AFP on Sunday condition of anonymity.

The soldiers belonged to an army unit responsible for security at the Balhaf terminal in Yemen's Shabwa province, part of which is run by French company Total.

The terminal, through which the bulk of Yemen's gas exports pass, was not among the reported targets of a large-scale al-Qaeda plot that Yemeni authorities say they foiled in recent days.

But a government spokesman said that pipelines leading to the terminal were among the targets.

Al-Qaeda also plotted to assault the Canadian-run Mina al-Dhaba oil terminal in Hadramawt province further east and take staff hostage, including Western expatriates, spokesman Rajeh Badi told AFP.

A nearby export facility for oil derivatives was also targeted, Badi said.

Sunday's attack follows a wave of US drone strikes against suspected al-Qaeda militants in Yemen that has killed 38 people since July 28.

The latest strike hit late on Saturday north of the port city of Aden, killing two people and wounding one.

The intensification of the US drone war in Yemen came as a security alert prompted Washington to close 19 embassies and consulates in the Middle East and Africa.

Communications intercepts reportedly included an attack order from Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri to Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

AQAP is considered by Washington to be the deadliest branch of the global extremist network.

Both Washington and London pulled out diplomatic personnel from Sanaa on Tuesday, citing intelligence reports of an imminent AQAP attack.

The United States said on Friday that all of the embassies it shut would reopen this week, except the mission in Yemen.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Washington would also keep its consulate in the Pakistani city of Lahore closed, after pulling out staff on Thursday.

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Morsi loyalists call fresh Egypt protests

Mohamed Morsi's turbulent year in power polarised Egyptians and his removal only deepened divisions. Source: AAP

SUPPORTERS of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi have called more rallies to demand his reinstatement, amid last ditch efforts for reconciliation ahead of a threatened crackdown on protests.

The Anti-Coup Alliance said 10 marches would take off on Sunday from various parts of the capital "to defend the electoral legitimacy" of Egypt's first freely elected president Morsi, ousted by the military on July 3.

His supporters, led by the Muslim Brotherhood, have kept up two huge protest camps in Cairo and said nothing short of his reinstatement will persuade them to disperse.

The call for fresh rallies comes as Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning, called for reconciliation talks in the latest of a string of attempts to find a peaceful solution to the political deadlock.

Al-Azhar's Grand Imam, Ahmed al-Tayyeb, is to begin contacts with political factions on Monday aimed at convincing them to sit down to talks later this week, state media reported.

"Al-Azhar has been studying all the proposals for reconciliation put forward by political and intellectual figures... to come up with a compromise formula for all Egyptians," Tayyeb's advisor, Mahmud Azab, told the state-owned al-Ahram.

Morsi's turbulent single year in power polarised Egyptians and his removal by the military only deepened divisions.

The army-backed leadership is under immense pressure at home to crack down on the protests, and immense pressure from the international community to avoid bloodshed.

Senior US, EU and Arab envoys flew into Cairo in recent weeks to try to persuade the two sides to find a peaceful way out of the crisis.

But the government vowed on Wednesday to clear the Islamist protest camps, saying foreign mediation had failed.

More than 250 people have been killed in clashes since Morsi's ouster by the military, following days of mass rallies demanding his resignation.

The government had already ordered police to end the pro-Morsi protests, which it described as a "national security threat."

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