Pope greets clowns, acrobats

POPE Benedict XVI has greeted thousands of clowns, acrobats, puppeteers and even a pair of lion cubs as the circus came to town for an unusual papal performance.

Benedict clapped and watched amused as circus workers flipped, flopped, juggled and twisted before him in what the Vatican has called a historic audience to make street performers and other itinerant entertainers feel like they belong to the church.

Benedict, a known cat lover, paid particular attention to a pair of lion cubs that were brought up to him on Saturday, stroking them and chatting with their trainers. At one point Benedict even bent down to caress one - not an easy feat given the 85-year-old pope has trouble with his knees and occasionally uses a cane.

Benedict acknowledged the sacrifices circus workers make to bring joy to young and old alike, travelling constantly and living on the margins of society. He noted they lack schools for their children or parish churches to call home. But he urged them to keep the faith.

"I hope that you can find, in the communities where you stay, people who are welcoming and available and able to care for your spiritual needs," Benedict said. He urged governments to better integrate itinerant entertainers in the social fabric.

A big top tent and carousel were mounted in St Peter's Square to make the scene complete, and thousands of entertainers from a dozen countries filled a Vatican audience hall for the papal performance that featured acrobats and a puppet show.

Benedict has been entertained before by various circus troupes, but Vatican officials said Saturday's audience was unusual in that it involved so many different types of travelling performers from around the world, and was dedicated to them alone.

 

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US warns against N.Korean missile launch

THE United States has urged North Korea to scrap plans to launch a rocket later this month, warning the "highly provocative" move would destabilise the region.

"Devoting scarce resources to the development of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles will only further isolate and impoverish North Korea," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement on Saturday.

Her comments came after Pyongyang announced it would conduct between December 10 and 22 its second long-range rocket launch this year following a much-hyped but failed attempt in April.

As in April, the North said it would be a purely "peaceful, scientific" mission aimed at placing a polar-orbiting earth observation satellite into orbit.

The announcement was certain to ratchet up tensions with South Korea, which is just days from a presidential election.

The US and its allies insist the launches are disguised tests for an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

As such, they would contravene UN resolutions triggered by Pyongyang's two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.

"A North Korean 'satellite' launch would be a highly provocative act that threatens peace and security in the region," Nuland said.

"We call on North Korea to comply fully with its obligations under all relevant UNSCRs," she added, referring to UN Security Council resolutions.

Washington and its allies say the North's Unha-3 rocket is actually a three-stage variant of the Taepodong-2 ICBM that Pyongyang has been developing for years but has never tested successfully.

"The path to security for North Korea lies in investing in its people and abiding by its commitments and international obligations," Nuland added.

She said Washington was "consulting closely" with its allies on a response.

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Internet resumes in Syria after blackout

INTERNET connections were back up and running in Damascus, after a three-day blackout of Internet and mobile phone communications, according to an AFP journalist in the capital.

"Internet is back in Damascus and in parts of Damascus province," the correspondent said.

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Protesters, police clash in Mexico

HUNDREDS of protesters have clashed with police outside Mexico's congress ahead of Enrique Pena Nieto's presidential inauguration, throwing firebombs while officers responded with tear gas.

At least five police officers were injured on Saturday as around 500 protesters, many wearing masks, threw objects and Molotov cocktails outside the congress, which was surrounded by metal barricades.

One officer was hit in the face by a stone while two others were struck by a Molotov cocktail. They were taken away in ambulances.

Two more officers were carried out by their colleagues, apparently affected by the tear gas.

"We weren't expecting something so violent," an officer told AFP.

Pena Nieto's presidency will mark the return of the Institutional Revolutionary Party, which ruled Mexico with an authoritarian hand for 71 years until it lost the 2000 presidential election.

The second-place finisher in this year's election, leftist leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, has refused to conceded defeat, charging that the PRI bought millions of votes. The electoral court threw out his claims.

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European stealth-combat test drone flies

A PAN-EUROPEAN stealth combat drone has taken its first test flight in southern France.

French defence company Dassault-Aviation is lead contractor on the "Neuron" project launched in 2005 involving firms from France, Italy, Sweden, Spain, Greece and Switzerland to provide a test bed for developing future combat aircraft.

Its successful flight took place on Saturday near Istres.

Program officials say the Neuron is not a prototype, but aims to help European countries explore stealth technology for possible use - years from now - in future drones or successors of fighters like the Eurofighter or France's Rafale. The program will also seek innovations like the release of air-to-surface weapons from an internal bay.

Many experts believe armed drones will play an increasing role in the future of air combat.

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Mass Cairo protests after charter adopted

TENS of thousands of protesters have rallied in Cairo as the opposition piled pressure on Islamist President Mohamed Morsi after a panel rushed through a draft constitution seen as undermining basic freedoms.

"Down with the constitutional assembly," vast crowds armed with megaphones chanted on Friday as they filed into Tahrir Square, the epicentre the uprising that overthrew Hosni Mubarak in early 2011.

Banners condemned "dictatorial Morsi" while protesters shouted "down with the rule of the Guide," a reference to the leader of the Muslim Brotherhood movement, through whose ranks Morsi rose before becoming president.

The marches, led by opposition figures, set off from several Cairo districts early in the day to join the protesters in the square.

The Islamist-dominated assembly, tasked with drafting a new charter to replace the one suspended after Mubarak's ouster, approved the draft early on Friday after an almost 24 hour-long session boycotted by liberals and Christians.

The panel's head, Hossam el-Ghiriani, said a delegation from the Constituent Assembly would visit Morsi on Saturday to present him the draft constitution. Morsi is expected to call for a referendum within two weeks.

Rights activists say the charter undermines freedoms of women and religious minorities while the opposition says it was rushed through to force an early referendum.

The constitution has taken centre stage in the country's worst political crisis since Morsi's election in June, squaring largely Islamist forces against liberal opposition groups.

The crisis was sparked when Morsi issued a decree on November 22 giving himself sweeping powers and placing his decisions beyond judicial review.

His decree prevented the constitutional court from ruling on the constituent assembly's legality, as it was meant to do on Sunday. A court had disbanded an earlier panel.

A coalition of leading dissidents formed in protest at the decree has warned that an ongoing judicial strike could escalate into mass civil disobedience.

The strike, called by the top Cassation Court and several other tribunals to protest the decree, could place the referendum in jeopardy, if judges who normally supervise elections refuse to grant it legitimacy.

Rights activists have lambasted the draft charter, with Human Rights Watch saying it "protects some rights but undermines others".

"Rushing through a draft while serious concerns about key rights protections remain unaddressed will create huge problems down the road that won't be easy to fix," the US organisation's Middle East director Joe Stork said in a statement.

The document retained a vague Mubarak-era constitution article stating that the "principles of Islamic law" are the main source of legislation.

But it added a new provision stipulating that the principles of Islamic law were to be interpreted according to the tenets of Sunni Islamic rulings, a clause Christian churches have opposed.

The draft also allows that state a role in "protecting ethics and morals" and bans "insulting humans," which rights activists say could censor political criticism of the president.

Nobel Laureate and opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei slammed it, saying "it's fate will be the dustbin of history" in a television interview.

Several private newspapers announced that they would not appear on the street next Tuesday to protest what they consider to be a lack of press guarantees in the new charter.

Abdallah Sennawi, a member of the Committee to Defend Freedom of Expression and Thought, said private television channels would follow suit on Wednesday.

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Google activates voice tweets for Syrians

GOOGLE and Twitter have announced they have reactivated a voice-tweet program to allow Syrians affected by the shutdown of the Internet to get messages out.

The service allows people with a telephone connection to compose and send a tweet by speaking on their phones.

Google and Twitter said they were reactivating the system which was used in 2011 when the Internet was shut down in Egypt by authorities for several days.

Google's David Torres acknowledged that many Syrians may not be able to use the service because telecom networks in the war-ravaged country are also functioning poorly.

"But those who might be lucky enough to have a voice connection can still use Speak2Tweet by simply leaving a voicemail," he said.

Those able to dial out can leave messages on several phone numbers: +90 212 339 1447 or +30 21 1 198 2716 or +39 06 62207294 or +1 650 419 4196, "and the service will tweet the message," Torres said.

"No Internet connection is required, and people can listen to the messages by dialing the same phone numbers or going to twitter.com/speak2tweet."

AFP correspondents noted that Internet and telephone communications, including mobile phones, were cut in the capital.

On Thursday, activists accused the regime of preparing a "massacre" when the telephone lines and Internet first went down, while the authorities explained the cut was due to "maintenance" work.

Washington branded it as a desperate move on part of the regime.

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DSK settles with accuser for $US6m: report

DOMINIQUE Strauss-Kahn, the disgraced former IMF chief, has agreed to pay $US6 million ($A5.7 million) to settle a lawsuit brought by a Manhattan maid who accused him of sexual assault, reports say.

France's Le Monde newspaper reports in its Saturday edition that the former frontrunner for the French presidency has told friends that he has agreed to pay hotel maid Nafissatou Diallo that amount in order to end an 18-month legal saga.

The Le Monde article followed a report in The New York Times that 63-year-old Strauss-Kahn and Diallo had "quietly reached an agreement to settle".

According to Le Monde, Strauss-Kahn will raise the money by borrowing $3 million from a bank and the rest from his estranged wife, Anne Sinclair, a former newsreader who inherited a fortune from her art dealer father.

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

Diallo's legal team would not comment but Strauss-Kahn's lawyers dismissed Le Monde's report as a fantasy.

A statement read: "Neither Dominique Strauss-Kahn nor his advocates intend to comment on the case under way in the United States. But they vigorously deny the imaginary and mistaken report carried by Le Monde."

Strauss-Kahn suffered a stunning fall from grace following his arrest last year on the basis of Diallo's allegation that he had leapt on her in his room at New York's Sofitel hotel and forced her to perform oral sex.

He said there had been a sexual encounter but that it was consensual.

Prosecutors eventually threw out the charges after deciding that discrepancies in the maid's testimony meant the case would not stand up.

By then Strauss-Kahn's career was in tatters, his marriage was on the rocks and he was facing a string of other sex-related investigations in France as well as the civil case.

Strauss-Kahn's lawyers repeatedly said they would not agree to a pay-off deal while Diallo's legal team played up claims she wanted her day in court to confront her alleged abuser.

Strauss-Kahn will learn on December 19 if he is to face further investigation into pimping charges arising from allegations that he and associates arranged sex parties with prostitutes in the northern French city of Lille.

His lawyers have filed a request for the charges to be dismissed.

French prosecutors last month dropped an investigation into Strauss-Kahn's alleged participation in a gang rape after the woman involved said she had consented and was not pressing charges.

After his return to France, Strauss-Kahn was accused by 32-year-old author Tristane Banon of trying to rape her in 2002.

French investigating magistrates questioned Strauss-Kahn and his accuser and concluded that while there appeared to be evidence of a sexual assault, the alleged attack had occurred too long ago to be prosecuted.

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Men charged after guns and cash found

POLICE have charged two men after finding two handguns, more than $300,000 cash, drugs, a stun gun and steroids during raids on four homes in Sydney's west.

Properties in Hinchinbrook and Bonnyrigg Heights were searched by officers from the firearms and organised crime squad on Friday.

A Glock semi-automatic pistol, a Browning semi-automatic pistol, a stun gun and six vials of steroids were seized from a home in Bonnyrigg Heights, police said.

"The seized firearms will undergo ballistic testing to determine if they are linked to any crimes," police said in a statement.

Police also found $290,000 cash, a small quantity of ammunition, a rifle barrel and cannabis at another property in Bonnyrigg Heights.

From one of the houses in Hinchinbrook an extendable baton and 40 vials of steroids were seized.

Just under $30,000 cash was located at the other Hinchinbrook address.

Police charged two men, aged 26 and 19, over the seized items.

The 26-year-old man was charged with possessing a prohibited weapon, three counts of possessing a prescribed restricted substance, recklessly dealing with the proceeds of crime and breaching bail.

The 19-year-old man was charged with two counts of possessing a prohibited pistol, possessing a prohibited weapon and possessing a prescribed restricted substance.

Bail was refused for both men, who will face Parramatta Bail Court on Saturday.

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Israel plans 3000 settler homes after UN vote

A Palestinian protester throws a stone toward an Israeli bulldozer on the sidelines of a demonstration against Israel in the West Bank. Source: AFP

ISRAEL revealed plans to build 3000 settler homes in east Jerusalem and the West Bank in response to the Palestinians' historic success in being recognised as a non-member state at the United Nations.

During the landmark Thursday vote in New York, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly backed a resolution recognising Palestine within the 1967 borders as a non-member observer state.

It was a major diplomatic coup for the Palestinians but a stinging slap in the face for Israel, which had lobbied hard to prevent it, arguing that it would cripple peace hopes.

Reports of the decision to build the 3000 housing units in response to the UN vote emerged on Friday afternoon, with an official source confirming it to AFP.

"It's true," he said, without specifying exactly where.

Palestinian Rafet Dabash looks at a bulldozer destroying his home in the east Jerusalem district of Sur Baher after an Israeli court ruled that the house was built without a municipality permit.

Media reports said some of the construction would be in a highly contentious area of the West Bank known as E1, a corridor that runs between the easternmost edge of annexed Jerusalem and the Maaleh Adumim settlement.

Palestinians bitterly oppose the E1 project, as it effectively cuts the occupied West Bank in two north to south and makes the creation of a viable Palestinian state highly problematic.

The Palestinians want annexed east Jerusalem as capital of their promised, future state and vigorously oppose expansion plans for Maaleh Adumim, which lies five kilometres from the city's eastern edge.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the UN vote as "a meaningless decision that will not change anything on the ground," and said peace could only be found in "direct negotiations... and not in one-sided UN decisions."

But he also warned that by going to the UN, the Palestinians had "violated" previous agreements with Israel, such as the 1993 Oslo Accords, and that his country would "act accordingly."

A report on the Ynet news website said the decision to connect Maaleh Adumim with Jerusalem had been taken by Netanyahu's inner circle, the Forum of Nine, on Thursday.

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom had mooted the idea of building in E1 as a response to the UN move, which he said was a violation of agreements the Palestinians had signed with Israel, such as the Oslo Accords.

"The violation of these agreements... means Israel can also take unilateral initiatives such as applying Israeli sovereignty in the territories or connecting Maaleh Adumim and Jerusalem," he told public radio.

Linking the settlement and the city is an idea long espoused by hardliners within Mr Netanyahu's ruling right-wing Likud party but strongly opposed by Washington.

Israel has long feared that if the Palestinians won the rank of a UN non-member state, they could pursue the Jewish state for war crimes at the International Criminal Court in The Hague - particularly over its settlement building.

Two days before the UN vote, Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour warned that if Israel continued "to illegally build settlements - which is a war crime from the point of view of the ICC and the Rome statute - then we will consult with all of our friends, including the Europeans, to (ask) them what should we do next to bring Israel into compliance" with UN resolutions.

With their newly acquired status, the Palestinians now have access to a range of UN agencies as well as to the ICC, but officials said they had no plans to immediately petition the tribunal.

"If Israel refrains from settlement activities and so on... there's no immediate pressing reason to do that. If Israel persists in its violations, then certainly it will have to face accountability," senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi said on Wednesday.

The decision to build more settler homes was roundly denounced by Peace Now, Israel's settlement watchdog.

"Instead of punishing the Palestinians, this government is punishing Israel by making peace harder to achieve and showing that Israel does not want peace," said Hagit Ofran.

"That is very dangerous."

Arab east Jerusalem was captured by Israel with the rest of the West Bank in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed in a move not recognised by the international community.

Israel considers all of Jerusalem as its "eternal, indivisible" capital, and does not view construction in the eastern sector to be settlement activity.

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CNN names Jeff Zucker as new chief

CNN has named former NBC Universal chief Jeff Zucker as its new top executive.

Mr Zucker is replacing Jim Walton, who announced he was leaving this past summer.

Mr Zucker takes over a network that was the first in cable news but has lagged behind Fox News Channel and, often, MSNBC in the ratings and has been searching for direction.

Since leaving as chief of NBC Universal, Mr Zucker has been working with Katie Couric to put her talk show on the air. He spent many years as the top producer on NBC's Today show during its glory years in the 1990s.

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Syria 'shuts off the internet'

TWO US-based internet-monitoring companies say Syria has shut off the Internet nationwide.

Activists in Syria reached Thursday by satellite telephone confirmed the unprecedented blackout, which comes amid intense fighting in the capital, Damascus.

Renesys, a U.S.-based network security firm that studies internet disruptions, says Syria effectively disappeared from the internet at 12:26pm local time.

Akamai Technologies, another U.S-based company that distributes content on the Internet, also confirmed a complete outage for Syria.

Syria has partially cut Internet connections during the 20-month uprising against President Bashar Assad but a nationwide shutdown is unprecedented.

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S&P affirms China's credit rating

STANDARD & Poor's has affirmed China's sovereign credit rating, another sign that the world's second largest economy is rebounding as Beijing prepares to usher in new leaders.

The ratings agency said China's "exceptional growth prospects" and "modest government indebtedness" were key factors supporting its creditworthiness. It also said China's outlook was "stable".

China's AA- long-term and A-1+ short-term sovereign credit ratings rank just below S&P's highest rating of triple-A.

S&P's credit analyst Kim Eng Tan said the upbeat assessment comes amid expectations of no major policy changes following the unveiling of new leaders at the Communist Party's pivotal congress earlier this month.

"We expect no major change in policy directions in China in the wake of the recent top leadership changes," he said.

"Efforts toward deepening structural and fiscal reforms are likely to continue.

"We expect the Chinese economy to continue its strong growth while the country maintains its large external creditor position in the next three to five years."

China's economic growth hit a more than three-year low of 7.4 per cent in the third quarter this year, but recent data has fuelled optimism that its economy is rebounding.

China is set to install new Communist Party general-secretary Xi Jinping as president in March, replacing incumbent Hu Jintao. While Li Keqiang is expected to replace current Premier Wen Jiabao.

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Halloween stampede claims fifth victim

A FIFTH young woman has died from injuries sustained in a stampede during a Halloween dance party in Madrid arena.

Spanish National Radio said 20-year-old Maria Teresa Alonso died in Madrid's Fundacion Jimenez Diaz hospital from brain injuries.

Three young women died in the stampede early Nov. 1 while a fourth woman died days later in another Madrid hospital.

Madrid authorities investigating the tragedy are probing whether the venue's maximum capacity of 10,600 people was exceeded on the night of the disco party that starred American DJ Steve Aoki.

The stampede occurred in a passageway leading to the central concert area of the Madrid Arena venue.

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Australian witness praises Leveson report

MORE than seven years after becoming embroiled in a phone hacking scandal that rocked the world's media, Australian woman Mary-Ellen Field has welcomed a British report into the affair.

The former business adviser to fashionista Elle Macpherson was one of 184 witnesses - including politicians and celebrities - to give evidence to the independent Leveson Inquiry, probing the culture, practice and ethics of the press.

Justice Brian Leveson on Thursday called for a new media regulatory system backed by law, including fines of up to STG1 million ($A1.5 million) for breaches.

"I think he's done an excellent job," Field told AAP from Sydney after hearing Justice Leveson's recommendations.

"There has been a lot of scaremongering about imposing statutory regulations ... and I would prefer there wasn't any, but (regulation) doesn't work otherwise. It has to have some mechanism to force (the press) to behave."

After some two years working together, Macpherson in 2005 called Field an alcoholic and blamed her for leaking personal stories to the press while drunk, leading to the end of the pair's relationship.

Now the head of a brand valuation company, Field was labelled an "innocent bystander" by Justice Leveson.

He wrote in the report that Field was among a sideline group "who are not even targeted or explicitly written about but become collateral damage because of the suspicions generated by subterfuge".

In her evidence to the inquiry on November 22, 2011, Field outlined the damage to her reputation and livelihood as the consequence of what she believed to be the hacking of Macpherson's voicemail.

"The inquiry has restored my reputation. As soon as I gave evidence I had past clients come forward and say 'why didn't you tell us?'. But it's tough to say, 'people are lying about me being a drunk'," Field said.

"It's seven years last Saturday since I was accused of doing this and really, the battle has only just begun. But it's in a part of my head now where I don't obsess about it. The truth is out there. We're on the right track."

Field filed a claim against News Group Newspapers - the Rupert Murdoch-owned operator of the former News of the World newspaper - in March 2011 and is legally prevented from speaking about the ongoing matter.

Macpherson's representatives were contacted for comment.

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Cameron mum on press regulation

BRITISH Prime Minister David Cameron failed to offer any clues on whether he will support new more stringent regulation of Britain's press following the conclusion of a yearlong inquiry into the country's unruly tabloids.

Mr Cameron got a sneak preview of Lord Justice Peter Leveson's report, which is set for public release later today.

But in carefully crafted remarks that shielded how he would respond to the judge's recommendations, Mr Cameron told lawmakers he wanted all of the major parties agree on the next step.

"I would agree that a free press is absolutely vital to democracy. We should recognise all the press has done and should continue doing to uncover wrong doing, to stand up to the powerful," Mr Cameron said.

"Whatever the changes we make, we want a robust and free press in our country."

The inquiry was launched after revelations of widespread illegal behavior at the News of the World, the top-selling Sunday publication that was eventually closed down by its owner, News International.

The scandal rocked Britain's establishment with evidence of media misdeeds, police corruption and too-cozy links between the press and politicians.

And News International, which is part of New York listed News Corp., has been hit with dozens of lawsuits over the interception of telephone voicemails. Reporters and media executives have been arrested - and the entire media supervision system has been called into question. News Corp is the parent company of News International and of the publisher of this report.

The essential issue swirling around the report is whether the government will pass new laws to curb the press, possibly involving the creation of a new regulatory body, or whether some modifications can be made to the current system.

Mr Cameron declined to respond to members of his own Conservative Party, who are pressuring the government to pass new laws. Instead, he said he would meet with opposition leaders about the report's contents in a quest for cross-party support.

"What matters most I believe is that we end up with an independent regulatory system that can deliver, and in which the public have confidence," he said.

Mr Cameron is already being besieged with advice about how to respond to the still-secret recommendations. It is not clear yet if Lord Justice Leveson will recommend that the government legislate to regulate newspapers, or give newspapers another chance at monitoring themselves, so-called self-regulation.

More than 80 politicians from all three main parties have signed a letter warning Mr Cameron against legislating, while 42 members of his Conservative Party, the dominant partner in the coalition government, have urged tough new laws.

Harriet Harman, the deputy leader of the Labour opposition, said she agreed with Mr Cameron's comments, telling the BBC the present system had failed.

"Yes, it has to be independent of government and politics and Parliament. We don't want to have anything to do with regulating the press," she said.

"But it's also got to be independent of newspapers. You can't have the editors marking their own homework in the way they have been doing in the past."

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Italian teacher jailed for killing rabbits

AN Italian teacher has been sentenced to eight months in prison for killing two rabbits with a hammer in front of his pupils in an anatomy class, the animal protection association LAV said on Wednesday.

Carlo Rando, a trained surgeon, had ordered a delivery of four dead rabbits to be dissected for his class, the association said in a statement.

Two were dead when they arrived but the two were alive and escaped into the classroom before being captured by the teacher.

He first tried to strangle them, then punched them and finally finished them off with a hammer in front of terrified teens, LAV said.

"Horrific scenes worthy of an abattoir were played out in front of minors," the group said, hailing "the courage of other teachers and pupils who wanted to denounce the terrible actions of their teacher".

Michela Kuan, a biologist working for LAV, said: "Such barbaric methods are unacceptable not just from an ethical standpoint but also because they are completely useless since anatomy is no longer taught by dissecting animals."

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UN vote on Palestinian status: likely yes

A LARGE majority of the 193 member states of the United Nations are expected to vote in favour of an upgraded status for the Palestinians at the world body's General Assembly on Thursday.

Among the 'no' votes will figure those of Israel, and its key Western ally the United States, which is one of the five powerful permanent members of the UN Security Council. Germany has also said it will vote against the new status.

Russia and China, which also have permanent seats on the Security Council, have long stated that they will vote in favour of granting the Palestinian Authority the status of a 'non-member state'.

However attention is likely to focus on a handful of Western states, such as France, who have said they will favour the motion.

The other permanent Security Council member, Britain, said on Wednesday that it would abstain in the vote unless certain conditions, including the return of the Palestinians to peace talks and a promise by them to refrain from taking Israel before the International Criminal Court (ICC), were fulfilled.

Australia will also abstain from voting.

Among other Western countries which have said recently that they will support the General Assembly motion are Austria, Denmark, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and Turkey.

Hanan Ashrawi, a senior member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, said on Wednesday that a number of governments were seeking guarantees that if the Palestinians gained the new status, they would refrain from taking Israel before the ICC in the Hague.

Despite Britain's expected abstention, and opposition to the bid from nations including the United States and Germany, the Palestinians are expected to easily win approval at the 193-member General Assembly.

"We're going to have a vast majority, a vast majority, more than two-thirds," Ashrawi said.

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Obama, Romney to have lunch

US President Barack Obama will host his former political rival Mitt Romney for a private lunch at the White House today, their first meeting since the election.

Mr Obama promised in his victory speech earlier this month to engage with Mr Romney following their bitter campaign and consider the Republican's ideas.

"In the weeks ahead, I also look forward to sitting down with Gov. Romney to talk about where we can work together to move this country forward," Mr Obama said at the time.

Obama aides said they reached out to Mr Romney's team shortly before Thanksgiving last week to start working on a date for the meeting. The two men will meet in the White House's private dining room, with no press coverage expected.

While in Washington, Mr Romney will also meet with his former running mate, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, according to a Romney campaign aide. Mr Ryan is back on Capitol Hill, where he's involved in negotiations to avert a series of automatic tax increases and deep spending cuts that have come to be known as the "fiscal cliff."

Much of that debate centres on expiring tax cuts first passed by former US president George W. Bush.

Mr Obama and Mr Romney differed sharply during the campaign over what to do with the cuts, with the Republican pushing for them to be extended for all income earners and the president running on a pledge to let the cuts expire for families making more than $US250,000 ($239,000) a year.

The White House sees Mr Obama's victory as a signal that Americans support his tax proposals.

Mr Obama and Mr Romney's sit-down today will likely be their most extensive private meeting ever. The two men had only a handful of brief exchanges before the 2012 election.

Even after their political fates became intertwined, their interactions were largely confined to the three presidential debates.

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NYC nanny pleads not guilty in deaths

A NANNY accused in the stabbing deaths of two children at their upscale Manhattan home has pleaded not guilty at a hospital where she's been treated for self-inflicted stab wounds.

Yoselyn Ortega, who was handcuffed to her hospital bed and wearing a blue hair net, entered the plea through her attorney. She appeared alert but didn't speak during the 10-minute hearing.

A judge ordered Ms Ortega held without bail while she undergoes psychiatric exam. A court date was set for Jan. 16.

Police say that on the evening of Oct. 25, while the children's mother was out with a third child, Ms Ortega repeatedly stabbed 6-year-old Lucia Krim and her 2-year-old brother, Leo.

When their mother, Marina Krim, returned with her 3-year-old daughter, she found their bodies in the bathtub, with Ms Ortega lying on the bathroom floor with stab wounds to her neck. A kitchen knife was nearby.

The children's father, CNBC digital media executive Kevin Krim, had been away on a business trip when the killings occurred.

The couple's apartment building sits in one of the city's wealthiest and most idyllic neighbourhoods, a block from Central Park, near the Museum of Natural History and blocks from Lincoln Centre for the Performing Arts. The neighbourhood is home to many affluent families, and seeing children accompanied by nannies is an everyday part of life there.

Some of Ms Ortega's friends and relatives said she appeared to be struggling emotionally and financially recently, but they still couldn't believe she could have committed such a heinous act.

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US stocks open lower despite Greek deal

US stocks have opened lower after Greece secured a revised bailout deal that will help it again avert a default on its huge debt load.

Doubts remained about the new deal, which allows Athens to trim its debt load through bond buybacks and reduced rates and promises new rescue loan instalments of 43.7 billion euros ($A54.63 billion) through March.

Five minutes into trade the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 27.19 points (0.21 per cent) at 12,940.18.

The broad-market S&P 500 lost 2.37 (0.17 per cent) at 1403.92, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 4.26 (0.14 per cent) to 2972.52.

European markets were mostly higher after the deal, but critics said the European Union and the International Monetary Fund had again "kicked the can down the road" with the new arrangement.

"We think that Greece will eventually need a much larger debt relief, but any agreement on this is unlikely to happen before German elections next fall," said Tullia Bucco of UniCredit Research.

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Pot-loving defendant asks for final toke

AN AVID marijuana user has agreed to give up his favourite pastime to avoid a jail sentence, but not before asking a judge if he could have just one more toke.

Nineteen-year-old Damaine Mitchell got credit for time served for marijuana possession, ending that case. Mitchell first had to pledge to stop smoking marijuana and to seek treatment.

Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Melba Marsh convicted him of possession Monday after ruling him not guilty of trafficking. He remains jailed on a trespassing charge.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Mitchell told her in an earlier court appearance that he doubted he could stop smoking marijuana, which he'd been doing since age 10. She had denied his request to smoke one more joint before he gave it up.

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Amazon deforestation at record low

DEFORESTATION of Brazil's Amazon has slowed for a fourth consecutive year to its lowest rate since authorities began monitoring the world's largest rainforest, officials said.

The National Institute of Space Research found that the Amazon lost 4656 square kilometres of rain forest over a period running from August 2011 to July 2012, 27 per cent less than the previous year.

"It is the lowest deforestation rate since Brazil began its monitoring" in 1988, said Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira.

"I believe that it is the only good piece of environmental news," she told a press conference called to unveil a new electronic system to slap fines on those found guilty of deforesting the Amazon.

A year ago, INPE reported that the Amazon lost 6238 square kilometres of rainforest between August 2010 and July 2011, 11 per cent less than the previous year.

Declines in the extent of deforestation have been registered in each of the past four years.

Destruction of forests releases large quantities of CO2, which account for 17 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.

Large-scale deforestation has made Brazil one of the world's top greenhouse gas emitters, but the government has made significant strides in curbing it over the past decade.

Key causes of Amazon deforestation are fires, the spread of agriculture and stockbreeding and illegal trafficking in timber and minerals.

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Gunmen kill 10 in Nigerian pub

GUNMEN said to be dressed as soldiers have opened fire on a central Nigeria pub, killing 10 people in a region hit by waves of clashes between Christian and Muslim ethnic groups, authorities say.

The incident occurred in the Barkin Ladi area of Plateau state late on Monday and saw gunmen storm the pub then open fire indiscriminately on customers, according to a military spokesman who denied soldiers were involved.

Barkin Ladi is a mainly Christian area of the region which lies on the fault line between the mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south of Africa's most populous nation.

"The gunmen opened fire indiscriminately on customers, killing eight on the spot, while two others died later as a result of the gunshot wounds they sustained," Captain Salisu Ibrahim Mustapha said.

"In protest to the killings, some members of the community barricaded the highway, preventing commuters from using the road."

Some residents claimed the gunmen were wearing army uniforms, while a Christian activist from the Stefanos Foundation made the same accusation.

"There was an attack on a drinking spot in Heipan last night by five gunmen dressed in army uniform," Mark Lipdo told AFP, referring to the neighbourhood in Barkin Ladi.

Mustapha denied any soldiers were involved. Criminals have in the past dressed as soldiers or police to carry out crimes or commit violence.

Nigeria's Plateau state has been hit by waves of clashes that have left scores of people dead in recent years. Policies favouring ethnic groups considered to be indigenous to the area have worsened the conflict.

The violence has often involved clashes between mainly Christian Beroms and Hausa-Fulani Muslims.

However, in addition to the ethnic clashes, Islamist extremist group Boko Haram has also carried out a number of attacks in the region as part of its insurgency.

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Gunmen on the run after fatal shooting

POLICE are still searching for the gunmen who shot one man dead and seriously injured another in Sydney's southwest on Tuesday.

Police found the dead man's body at the back of a house in Lumeah Avenue at Punchbowl after receiving reports of multiple shots around 4.10 pm (AEST).

Another man was found at the front of the home with at least five gunshot wounds and was rushed to St George Hospital.

The man, who remains in a serious but stable condition, reportedly suffered gunshot wounds to the back of his legs, hands and the back of his head.

Both men were shot inside the home, which was being renovated.

A woman who arrived on the scene told AAP she owned the property where the shootings took place.

She declined to comment other than to say the victims were "family friends".

It is believed the men, both aged in their 30s, were of Middle Eastern appearance and not known to police.

A manhunt for at least two suspects is continuing after the dog squad and police helicopter scoured the area shortly after the incident.

"We will be seeking further persons who are believed to have left the premises shortly after the shooting," Superintendent Michael McLean told reporters at the scene.

Police have established three crime scenes: where the shooting took place in Lumeah Avenue; in Christian Road where the incident may have spilled into; and in nearby Werona Ave where at least two spent shell casings were found on a nature strip.

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Thousands at funeral for Egypt activist

THOUSANDS of Egyptians have turned out for the funeral of an activist who died overnight after he was critically injured in clashes near Cairo's Tahrir Square last week.

Gaber Salah, a member of the April 6 movement known by his nickname "Jika", was hurt in confrontations between police and protesters on Mohammed Mahmud street where protesters had been marking the first anniversary of deadly clashes.

Some wept, others chanted for justice as Jika's white coffin was carried from Omar Makram mosque in Tahrir Square - where activists have been camping out to protest President Mohamed Morsi's assumption of sweeping powers - towards Mohammed Mahmud street, where violence has been brewing for the past week.

Mourners comforted his devastated mother, as one protester carried a sign that read "Glory for Gaber".

"It isn't acceptable to have such killings now. We refuse all sorts of violence," said long-time activist George Ishak who attended the funeral.

"What is happening is a warning to Morsi that the country is in danger," he said.

The funeral comes on the eve of rival mass rallies in response to a decree granting Morsi broad powers that are immune from judicial review and threaten to deepen the country's divisions.

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Secret confetti confounds New York police

IT rained confetti - and secrets - on last week's Thanksgiving parade in New York.

The traditional deluge of shredded paper over the Macy's parade in Manhattan on Thursday turned out to include legible snippets of police files, including a mention of a motorcade used by Republican Mitt Romney.

Officers at the Nassau County Police Department on Long Island, where the files were traced back to, declined to give details on Monday about how the parade became a charade.

"We're not really commenting any further," a spokesman said.

Earlier, Nassau Police Inspector Kenneth Lack said he was "very concerned".

"The department will be conducting an investigation into the matter, as well as reviewing procedures for the disposing of police documents."

The New York Post reported pieces of paper tumbling down into the parade still had social security numbers, names of detectives, and details relating to Romney's campaign motorcade.

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Soft drink raises prostate cancer risk

MEN who drink one normal-sized soft drink per day are at greater risk of getting more aggressive forms of prostate cancer, according to a Swedish study.

"Among the men who drank a lot of soft drinks or other drinks with added sugar, we saw an increased risk of prostate cancer of around 40 per cent," said Isabel Drake, a PhD student at Lund University.

The study, to be published in the upcoming edition of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, followed more than 8000 men aged 45 to 73 for an average of 15 years.

Those who drank one 330-millilitre soft drink a day were 40 per cent more likely to develop more serious forms of prostate cancer that required treatment.

The cancer was discovered after the men showed symptoms of the disease, and not through the screening process known as Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA).

Those who ate a diet heavy on rice and pasta increased their risk of getting milder forms of prostate cancer, which often required no treatment, by 31 per cent, while a high intake of sugary breakfast cereals raised the incidence of milder forms of the cancer to 38 per cent, Drake told AFP.

While further research was needed before dietary guidelines could be changed, there are already plenty of reasons a person should cut back on soft-drink consumption, she noted.

The men in the study had to undergo regular medical examinations and kept a journal of their food and drink intake.

Previous studies have shown that Chinese and Japanese immigrants in the US develop prostate cancer more often than peers in their home countries.

Further research on how genes respond to different diets would make it possible to "tailor food and drink guidelines for certain high-risk groups", Drake said.

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Indian, Chinese companies sign deals

INDIAN and Chinese companies have signed agreements worth billions of dollars as the two emerging market giants sought to broaden commercial ties despite political tensions.

The deals inked in New Delhi during the countries' second strategic economic dialogue included plans for investments in clean energy, infrastructure, electric power, steel and other projects.

"We must aim at a magnitude and intensity of (economic) engagement appropriate for the world's two most populous nations," said Montek Singh Ahluwalia, one of India's most powerful government figures who led the Indian side at the talks on Monday.

"It is only through larger mutual investments that we can take the India-China economic cooperation to a higher level," Ahluwalia, deputy chairman of India's economic planning commission, told reporters.

The agreements included a plan to develop renewable energy projects envisaging an investment of $US3 billion ($A2.9 billion) by India's Reliance Power and China's Ming Yang Wind Power Group, a leading wind turbine manufacturer.

India's debt-laden Lanco Infratech said the state-run China Development Bank would arrange $US2 billion worth of loans for its two power projects.

Territorial disputes, Beijing's role as arms supplier to Indian rival Pakistan and the presence in India of Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, all fuel an atmosphere of mutual political suspicion.

At the same time, India and China are major trading partners with bilateral trade totalling $US75 billion with the two countries targeting a goal of $US100 billion by 2015.

Ahluwalia said the latest tiff between the neighbours over a map issued by Beijing on its new passports claiming disputed territory did not come up in the talks.

At the government-to-government level, India signed an agreement with China to explore co-operation in modernising the dilapidated, more than century-old Indian railway system.

There was no immediate comment from the Chinese side but Ahluwalia said the view "emanating from the Chinese side is that they would also like a deepening of economic cooperation".

He said the large Chinese delegation, which had 180 members, indicated "how serious they are" about improving economic ties.

The economic dialogue emerged from a visit by outgoing Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao to India in December 2010.

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Obama drafts in Geithner for budget talks

US President Barack Obama has made Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner lead White House negotiator in budget talks with Congress aimed at averting the fiscal cliff, a report says.

The Wall Street Journal said Geithner was viewed on Capitol Hill as a straight-shooter who had a better chance of brokering a deal than Jacob Lew, Obama's former budget chief, who has burnt his bridges with some Republicans.

If no deal is reached before the end of the year, a poison pill law of tax hikes and massive spending cuts, including slashes to the military, comes into effect with potentially catastrophic effects for the fragile US economy.

The report said Geithner, who is preparing to leave his post as treasury secretary early in Obama's second term, has spent months already preparing for the fiscal talks, which will begin this week in earnest in Washington.

Geithner will be joined by White House budget and tax experts, including Lew, now Obama's chief of staff, and National Economic Council director Gene Sperling, the Wall Street Journal said.

They will try to hammer out an elusive compromise with congressional aides but final decisions will be made by political leaders such as Obama and Republican House Speaker John Boehner, the report said.

In recent days, several leading Republicans have indicated a willingness to accept a deal that includes more revenue from ending loopholes in the tax code in return for cuts in funding to Democrats' beloved welfare programs.

Geithner, 51, is not affiliated with any party and has spent his career in government finance and on the political sidelines.

He first joined the Treasury at age 27. When George W Bush became president in 2001, he went to work for the Council on Foreign Relations and the International Monetary Fund.

At 42, he was tapped to be head of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, considered the Fed's second-most influential post because the New York bank interacts directly with a powerful constituency that includes Wall Street.

Despite holding high office in the years leading up to the 2008 financial collapse, when regulatory authorities are accused of having been asleep at the wheel, he was tapped by Obama to lead the recovery.

Upon assuming office in early 2009, he was charged with overseeing two major bailout packages worth more than $US1.5 trillion ($A1.4 trillion) and aimed at shoring up the country's distressed banking sector.

The administration has said that the stimulus, while costly, averted another Great Depression, while conservative critics have branded it a costly expansion of government that has failed to revive the economy.

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Driver dies as US band's bus overturns

SWISS police say a bus carrying the Marcus Miller Band, an American jazz group, has overturned - killing the driver and injuring several musicians.

Police in the central canton (state) of Uri said the German-registered private bus tipped over on Sunday as it drove into a bend and came to a rest on its side.

A police statement said the bus was carrying 13 people: two drivers and 11 members of the band, who were on their way from Monte Carlo to the Dutch town of Hengelo.

One of the drivers suffered fatal injuries. Several people were injured and taken to hospitals; police say none of them have life-threatening injuries.

The cause wasn't immediately clear. It appears no other vehicles were involved.

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China in first aircraft carrier landing

CHINA has conducted the first landing of a fighter jet on its new aircraft carrier in a move that extends Beijing's ability to project its growing military might in territorial disputes.

The Chinese-made J-15 made the successful landing on the Liaoning, a former Soviet carrier, during recent exercises, the defence ministry said in a report on Sunday on the flight tests.

The Liaoning went into service in September in a symbolic milestone for China's growing military muscle that comes at a time when Beijing is increasingly embroiled in a series of territorial disputes with its neighbours.

"The successful landing ... has always been seen as a symbol of the operating combat capability for an aircraft carrier," Zhang Junshe, a vice-director at the military's Naval Affairs Research Institute, told state television.

"This is a landmark event for China's aircraft carrier ... and (moves it) one step closer to combat readiness."

Video carried by China Central Television showed a tail hook on the rear of the J-15 catching hold of a cable on the deck of the aircraft carrier as the jet landed and slowed to a halt.

China had not previously announced that its navy possessed such highly technical cable landing technology.

The J-15 had also successfully taken off from the aircraft, the ministry said.

The J-15 is a Chinese designed multi-purpose carrier-borne fighter jet based on Russia's Sukoi 33, equipped with Russian engines and capable of carrying precision-guided bombs, press reports said.

Since the carrier entered service, the crew have completed more than 100 training and test programs, the ministry said.

China bought the stripped-down 300-metre carrier from Ukraine nearly 10 years ago and refurbished it at the northeastern port of Dalian.

Construction of the vessel, formerly known as the Varyag, was commissioned by the former Soviet Union more than 20 years ago, but work halted with the sudden collapse of the Soviet bloc.

The Liaoning - named for the northeastern province that includes Dalian - is not expected to be fully operational for another three years at least.

Over the past year, China has become increasingly assertive over its long-time maritime territorial claims as its economic and military power have expanded, causing rising anxiety among its neighbours.

Tensions in the East China Sea have risen dramatically in recent months over islands known as the Diaoyus to Beijing and claimed by Tokyo as the Senkakus.

China is locked in a similar row with Vietnam and the Philippines in the South China Sea.

At a key Communist Party congress earlier this month, outgoing President Hu Jintao urged the nation to push forward fast-paced military modernisation and set the goal of becoming a "maritime power".

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Newman says rest of LNP MPs are loyal

QUEENSLAND Premier Campbell Newman has refused to say whether he's checking his MPs loyalties after one defected to Katter's Australian Party (KAP).

Veteran MP Ray Hopper, the member for the rural seat of Condamine, resigned from the Liberal National Party (LNP) on Saturday night to join the KAP.

Mr Newman says Monday afternoon's party room meeting will give all MPs a chance to discuss the matter.

"It'll give people an opportunity to express, no doubt their dismay about the way the member of Condamine has let down his people," he told reporters on Sunday.

But when asked if he'll be seeking loyalty pledges from MPs, he said: "My people are totally committed to getting the economy of Queensland going."

Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk said it's likely a lot of phone calls were being made.

"I think it's going to be a very interesting party room meeting," she said.

Mr Hopper said he left the LNP because it's not governing for regional communities and "is at war with itself".

Cabinet will also meet on Monday morning.

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Merkel defends snip with angry Jews

ANGELA Merkel sought to ease the concerns of Germany's Jews over a disputed ruling against circumcision.

Ms Merkel became the first chancellor to address the Jewish community's annual council meeting in a bid to ease concerns about the ruling.

"The respecting of religious ritual is a fundamental good," she told the annual gathering of the Central Council of Jews in Germany in the western city of Frankfurt.

"I am delighted ... that there is a lively Jewish community in Germany," added the chancellor.

In a ruling published in June, a court in the western city of Cologne judged the rite to be tantamount to grievous bodily harm, prompting international outrage and calls for more legal clarity.

The Cologne ruling united Jewish and Muslim groups in opposition and German diplomats admitted privately that it had proved "disastrous" for Germany's international image, particularly in light of its Nazi past.

Merkel was reported to have cautioned that Germany risked becoming a "laughing stock" if circumcision were banned in the country.

Last month, Merkel's cabinet passed a draft law to permit circumcision and clarify the legal situation.

She said she believed it to be a "balanced text".

"I hope it can be agreed in the Bundestag before Christmas," she added, referring to the German lower house of parliament.

The new bill stipulated certain provisos for a boy to be circumcised.

Among these conditions, the draft law said the practice must be carried out "professionally" and "with the most effective pain relief".

An exception must also be made in individual cases if there are health risks, for example if the infant is suspected of being a haemophiliac.

The head of the central committee for Jews in Germany, Dieter Graumann, thanked Merkel for her assistance in what he described as "difficult times."

"It is important that German politicians acted and came up with legislation that we can live with," Graumann said.

"This visit has done us good in a time that is difficult for us," he added.

Merkel also used the visit to reiterate Berlin's support of Israel following eight days of violence in and around Gaza, which left 166 Palestinians and six Israelis dead.

"Every country has the right to defend itself. This is not only the right but also the duty of every government," added Merkel.

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Europe mulls Greece 'haircut' in 2015

EUROZONE finance ministers are considering a possible "haircut" for Greece in 2015, a German newspaper reports, in a bid to reduce the recession-wracked country's debt mountain.

Other eurozone countries and institutions like the European Central Bank could be ready to discuss writing down a part of their Greek debt holdings to put Greece's debt on a more sustainable footing, said the Welt am Sonntag.

The issue was discussed at a secret meeting of ministers and officials in Paris on Monday, the paper said, without citing sources.

Such a haircut might be used as an added incentive for Greece to carry out the reforms required in its second aid package, which runs out in 2014, according to the Welt am Sonntag.

Germany has been firmly opposed to taking a loss on its holdings of Greek debt, unwilling to ask German taxpayers to foot the bill for keeping Athens in the eurozone.

The ECB has also ruled out such a move, saying it is tantamount to financing Greece directly, strictly forbidden by its founding treaties.

But the Spiegel newsweekly reported that the ECB, as well as the International Monetary Fund, now considered a haircut unavoidable.

Nevertheless, Joerg Asmussen, a member of the ECB's executive board, dismissed the plan.

"To close the financing gap, we need a package of measures that would include, among other things, a clear reduction of the interest rate on aid and a debt buy-back program for Greece," Asmussen told the Bild newspaper.

"A haircut does not belong to this (package)," the German central banker said in comments to appear in Monday's edition of the newspaper.

By writing off half of their Greek debt holdings, eurozone governments and institutions could drive down Greece's debt to 70 per cent of output in 2020, compared to 144 per cent, wrote Spiegel.

Eurozone ministers meet on Monday for their third effort to agree on unlocking a 31.2 billion euro ($A39 billion) slice of aid for Greece as it teeters on the verge of bankruptcy.

Both Welt am Sonntag and Spiegel wrote that the haircut issue would not be decided at Monday's talks.

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