Late flurry of Victorian bushfires

Victorian firefighters are bracing for a tough day as unfavourable conditions stoke two major fires. Source: AAP

VICTORIA'S firefighters working on two major fires in the state's east have been battling a late flurry of blazes closer to Melbourne.

State control centre spokesman Graeme Baxter said five choppers are battling fire that jumped containment lines in remote terrain at the 80,000-hectare Aberfeldy fire in Gippsland in Victoria's east.

"We have had a spot over of 20 hectares which has blown westward. It is in very steep, difficult terrain," Mr Baxter told AAP.

Closer to Melbourne, a watch and act alert has been issued for a fire at Kerrie, northwest of Melbourne.

Previously a watch and act had also been issued for the Arthurs Creek area, northeast of Melbourne.

Both fires are now under control.

"Late in the day we have had a spate of some other fires happening closer to Melbourne," Mr Baxter said.

"It was a bit of late flurry, which often happens as the air dries out at the end of the day."

Conditions at a second major blaze at Harrietville in alpine country in the northeast had eased, Mr Baxter said.

Flames reached eight metres on Friday as the blaze breached containment lines, with fire breaking the line near Hotham Heights and coming close to chalets.

"Crews were able to mop that up quite quickly," Mr Baxter said.

"The bush in the fire near the chalets has been burned, which means the fuel has been taken away."

A watch and act has been issued for the Hotham Heights and Dinner Plain areas, but all residents are believed to have evacuated earlier.

A watch and act warning is in place for Dargo and Omeo at the southern side of the Harrietville blaze that has so far burned around 15,000 hectares.

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Radar failure at Delhi airport

AN electrician accidentally unplugged the radar system at the Indian capital's airport, forcing air traffic controllers to manually guide in aircraft, media reports say.

Electricians fixing a fault accidentally unplugged the main power source of the radar late on Friday, causing radar screens to go blank, said the Times of India newspaper and other media.

Operations were shifted to manual control to assist the planes in air and for those lined up for a take-off, the media said quoting officials. No incidents were reported.

"Though the standby power took over the system within seconds, it took over 45 minutes to reboot all consoles and restore the operations fully," officials told India's NDTV network.

In 2011, a five-hour electricity blackout at the airport's newly inaugurated terminal affected scores of domestic and international flights.

The Delhi airport is hailed as an example of India's ability to build state-of-the-art infrastructure projects.

AFP w

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Tunisia ruling Islamists call for rally

MEMBERS of Tunisia's main ruling Islamist party are calling for a rally in the capital on Saturday, a day after police clashed with protesters at the funeral of murdered opposition figure Chokri Belaid.

The Ennahda party demonstration was to take place in the centre of Tunis on Habib Bourguiba Avenue, where the latest violence has taken place, the party said in a statement.

The protest would "defend the legitimacy of the national constituent assembly," where the Ennahda-dominated coalition holds a majority, and would "fight against (the political) violence" it said the opposition is using.

Tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets on Friday for the funeral procession of Belaid, who was killed by a lone gunman on Wednesday, and clashes with police led to 132 arrests, said the interior ministry.

The opposition blames Ennahda for the murder of the outspoken government critic, but the ruling party vehemently denies any involvement.

The unrest comes amid tension and division within Ennahda itself, after the recent sacking of the party's leader and as Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali attempts to form a new government of technocrats, which hardliners oppose.

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Unidentified child found wandering alone

POLICE are searching for parents of a young child who was found wandering alone in the streets of Perth's east more than 24 hours ago.

The boy, who is about three-years-old, was found on Belgravia Street in Belmont at about midday on Friday.

He has not been able to provide his name or details of his parents or guardians, and is currently being cared for by the Department for Child Protection (DCP).

Neither the DCP nor police have received any reports of a missing child.

Police have now released a picture of the boy, who has short brown hair, brown eyes and a light olive complexion.

He has limited speech.

Anyone able to identify the boy should contact the Department's Crisis Care Unit on 9223 1111.

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Domestic violence tracking set for WA

SERIOUS domestic violence offenders in Western Australia will almost certainly find themselves being monitored electronically, with both main political parties pushing the plan.

If WA Labor wins the March 9 election, Opposition Leader Mark McGowan says the party will start a $4.5 million electronic monitoring trial of domestic violence offenders who breach restraining orders - a plan he mooted in March last year.

But Corrective Services Minister Murray Cowper said the Liberal-led government had already approved the drafting of legislation to create a new category of a serious, violent offender to enable courts to order them to wear GPS tracking devices.

This would initially target repeat domestic violence offenders, Mr Cowper said, after the Liberals announced their GPS tracking policy last month.

The government had also passed legislation that meant a mandatory one-year jail term for anyone who tampered with the device, he said.

"Will Mr McGowan commit to mandatory sentencing for tampering with a device?" Mr Cowper said.

Mr McGowan said domestic violence was on the rise and victims were not being adequately protected.

He pointed to Saori Jones, who was murdered in front of her two children by her ex-husband Bradley Wayne Jones.

Jones received a five-year prison sentence in 2011, moving WA Labor to introduce a private member's bill, known as Saori's Law, to parliament last year, but it was voted down by the Barnett government.

The bill sought the near-automation of restraining orders in domestic assault cases and would have cleared the way for victims to remain in their homes even if the properties were registered in the offenders' names.

Mr McGowan also took a swipe at Premier Colin Barnett's announcement on Saturday - Chinese New Year's Eve - to promise $2 million to improve Chinatown in Northbridge.

Sticking with one of his key campaign themes of transforming the CBD, Mr Barnett said he wanted to turn the area into a vibrant laneway precinct, building on the Perth City Link project currently under way.

This involves sinking the Fremantle rail line to make the border between the city and the entertainment district more pedestrian-friendly.

Two new street connections would be created, the premier said, including linking the high-end King Street - home of Perth's most expensive retail rentals - to Lake Street, one of Northbridge's most bustling roads.

But Mr McGowan said the announcement confirmed the Premier's priorities were wrong and out-of-touch, and came as the WA government racked up record debt levels.

Instead, Mr McGowan said he was focused on traffic congestion, which the opposition planned to solve with its Metronet rail plan to connect outer suburbs to the city and airport, and easing high costs of living.

The Australian newspaper's Newspoll figures on Friday pointed to a landslide win for the WA Liberals, who lead 57 per cent to 43 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.

But Mr McGowan is romping it in as preferred premier, jumping 11 points to 40 per cent. On the same basis, Mr Barnett has slipped to 44 per cent, down four points.

The poll has a three per cent margin of error.

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Vic deputy premier 'chirpy' in hospital

Victorian Deputy Premier Peter Ryan is in hospital undergoing tests for a possible blood infection. Source: AAP

VICTORIA'S Deputy Premier Peter Ryan is "itching to get back into action" as he undergoes hospital tests to diagnose a possible blood infection, Premier Ted Baillieu says.

Mr Ryan has been absent from state parliament this week as he undergoes tests in hospital for what could be a blood infection.

Premier Ted Baillieu said his deputy remained in good spirits.

"Apart from feeling a bit flat I think he's not too bad," Mr Baillieu told reporters in Melbourne.

"He's just been advised to stay in hospital while they conduct some tests and he's been working from a hospital room but we decided yesterday we'd take the workload off him and give that to some other ministers while he completes those tests.

"But he's still chirpy and positive and itching to get back into action."

It is not known how long Mr Ryan will be absent but his diary has been cleared until Tuesday.

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Woman vandalises famed French painting

FRANCE'S Louvre museum has shut down one of its galleries after a woman vandalised an iconic painting by Delacroix by writing on it with a black marker.

The 28-year-old woman was apprehended by an attendant late on Thursday after scrawling "AE911" on Liberty Leading the People, which was on show in the Louvre's recently-opened satellite branch in the northern former mining town of Lens.

It was not immediately clear what the slogan meant.

Police detained her and on Friday the museum said it was temporarily closing the wing of the museum in which the painting was being displayed.

The Louvre said in a statement that a specialist art restorer was being sent to the site but that it believed the damage was not significant and could be easily repaired.

A prosecutor in the nearby town of Bethune who is handling the case said he had asked for a psychiatric evaluation of the woman who he said appeared to be "unbalanced".

He said her reasons for defacing the painting were not yet clear.

The painting by Delacroix commemorates France's July Revolution of 1830.

It shows a bare-breasted woman personifying Liberty leading the people forward over the bodies of the fallen, holding the French tricolour in one hand and a bayonetted musket in the other.

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Carr confident of arms trade treaty

FOREIGN Minister Bob Carr says he's confident Australia's seat on the UN Security Council will help push through a global arms trade treaty.

Speaking after giving the British High Commission's annual Magna Carta lecture in Sydney, Senator Carr said a push for the arms treaty at the UN would "come to a head next month".

"On the back of our credibility built up over the decades on cluster munitions I think that (an arms trade treaty) will be a discerning note in our contribution," Senator Carr told the audience of around 150 people on Friday night.

The proposed UN treaty would impose new controls on illicit cross-border dealings in weapons such as automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades and ammunition.

It is aimed at improving the efficiency of UN sanctions by reducing the flow of conventional weapons to terrorists.

Senator Carr said that since being elected to the Security Council Australia had brought to the role its experience in peacekeeping in the Pacific region, especially in Bougainville and East Timor.

He also said he was also working hard at the UN towards achieving nuclear non-proliferation by using the federal government's "credibility" on the issue.

However, he would not be drawn when asked if the government was failing to comply with the aspirations of the Magna Carta, given its policy on asylum seekers.

"I think that's a question best addressed to our attorney general," Senator Carr said.

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Malaysian duo face Syria terror charges

MALAYSIAN prosecutors have charged a former army captain and a woman with inciting terrorist acts that could have involved violence in Syria.

Yazid Sufaat, who spent seven years in detention without trial before being freed in 2008, and Halimah Hussein face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

The charge read in a Magistrate's Court said that Yazid "encouraged terrorist activities" at a house in a suburb outside Kuala Lumpur sometime between early August and late October, while Halimah abetted him.

Police arrested Yazid, Halimah and another man on Thursday, saying they were the masterminds of an effort to recruit militants.

It was not clear whether the third suspect would be charged.

Prosecution documents offered scant details except that their actions could have threatened public safety in Syria.

Malaysia's national news agency, Bernama, late on Thursday quoted unidentified sources as saying the suspects tried to recruit young people to be trained for missions that included suicide bombings.

Police officials declined on Friday to comment.

The case was being transferred to a higher court that would determine hearing dates and find out whether Yazid and Halimah intended to plead innocent.

The two were being held in separate prisons while awaiting trial.

Yazid was one of Malaysia's most prominent security detainees in the last decade.

A US-trained biochemist and former captain in Malaysia's army, he was detained without trial in 2001 after being accused of belonging to Jemaah Islamiah, a South-East Asian militant network.

He was released seven years later when officials said he no longer posed a threat.

Malaysia's parliament last year abolished a longstanding law allowing indefinite detention without trial following decades of criticism over human rights concerns.

Yazid was previously arrested when he returned from Afghanistan, where he was suspected of working on a biological and chemical weapons program for militants.

Yazid, now a cafeteria operator, has not spoken publicly about many of the previous accusations against him, but in an interview with news website Malaysiakini last year he said he had met Osama bin Laden before his detention and underwent combat training in Afghanistan.

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Chinese flag-burner jailed in Hong Kong

A PROMINENT Hong Kong political activist has been jailed for nine months for burning both the Chinese and city flags during anti-Beijing protests, court officials say.

Pro-democracy campaigner Koo Sze-yiu was sentenced by a magistrate's court on Thursday on four charges - three of desecrating the national Chinese flag and a fourth of desecrating the Hong Kong flag, a judiciary spokeswoman told AFP.

"When I am released, I will do this again," Koo told the court, according to the South China Morning Post.

Koo said he burnt the national and regional flags because he was unhappy with the regime in mainland China, which he claims killed Chinese dissident Li Wangyang, and over the jailing of Nobel laureate Liu Xiaobo, the SCMP reported.

The charges against Koo, 66, came after he burned a Chinese flag outside the central government's liaison office in June last year, during a protest to commemorate the death of Li.

He was also seen with damaged Chinese and Hong Kong flags at a demonstration against Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying, who is considered by critics as a stooge for Beijing, on January 1 this year.

Hong Kong saw massive anti-Beijing protests last summer with hundreds of thousands taking to the streets when Chinese President Hu Jintao swore Leung into office, amid growing discontent over the influence of the mainland.

Speaking in court Thursday, magistrate David Chum said the flags had to be protected.

"Every country has her national flag... it is the symbol of the country and represents its dignity," he said, according to the SCMP.

Under Hong Kong's National Flag and National Emblem Ordinance, anyone who defaces the flags faces a a jail term of up to three years.

Koo was also part of a crew which landed in August on an island chain, known as the Senkakus in Japanese and Diaoyus in Chinese, which is disputed by China and Japan.

Hong Kong, a semi-autonomous territory with its own political and legal system that guarantees civil liberties not seen on the mainland, including the right to protest, was returned to China by Britain in 1997.

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