Merkel kicks off German campaigning

GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel is highlighting Germany's economic strength and dismissing worries that her party could be dragged down by its struggling coalition partner as she kicks off campaigning for an important state election.

Mrs Merkel's centre-right coalition faces a tough battle to extend its 10-year hold on Lower Saxony state in the Jan. 20 election.

Polls suggest the centre-left opposition has a good chance of winning - giving it a significant boost ahead of September national elections in which Mrs Merkel will seek a third term.

Mrs Merkel, speaking after her conservative Christian Democrats' leadership met in Lower Saxony, criticised opposition plans for tax increases.

Mrs Merkel's party leads polls in Lower Saxony and nationally but its junior partner, the pro-market Free Democratic Party, is very weak.

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Iran building software to control networking sites

IRAN'S police chief says the Islamic Republic is developing new software to control social networking sites.

Gen. Esmail Ahmadi Moghadam was quoted in Iranian newspapers as saying the new software will prevent Iranians from being exposed to malicious content online while allowing users to enjoy the benefits of the Internet. He did not say when the software would be introduced.

Gen. Moghadam also did not specify which social networking sites would be affected, but both Facebook and Twitter are popular in Iran.

Iranians currently have access to most of the Internet, although authorities block some sites affiliated with the opposition, as well as those that are seen as promoting dissent or considered morally corrupt.

Iran created a government agency last year to oversee Internet usage in the country.

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Obama warns on 'dangerous debt game'

US President Barack Obama warned Congressional Republicans overnight against playing a "dangerous game" with the economy as lawmakers prepared for a new battle over the national debt ceiling.

But the Democratic president also congratulated lawmakers for passing an 11th-hour deal that avoided the so-called fiscal cliff.

Signed into law Thursday, the compromise raised taxes on the wealthiest Americans while avoiding a tax hike on the middle class that "could have thrown our economy back into recession," Mr Obama said in his weekly radio address.

But new battles are brewing after the deal delayed by two months a debate over raising the country's $US16.4 trillion borrowing limit and more than $US100 billion in automatic spending cuts for military and domestic programs.

If Congress fails to clinch a deal to allow more government borrowing, it risks causing the government to default on its bills and financial obligations.

Republicans, who accepted the fiscal cliff deal without any significant spending cuts, are now demanding concessions on expenditures in return for allowing the ceiling to rise.

Yet Mr Obama vowed that he "will not compromise" on insisting that Congress raise the federal debt ceiling. The US credit rating was downgraded in 2011 when lawmakers threatened to leave the debt ceiling as it stood.

"If Congress refuses to give the United States the ability to pay its bills on time, the consequences for the entire global economy could be catastrophic," he said.

"Our families and our businesses cannot afford that dangerous game again."

House Speaker John Boehner has warned Republicans will ask for "significant spending cuts" and reforms of expensive programs that provide pensions and health care services for the elderly.

Mr Obama said he backs spending cuts, but insists he will not shortchange education, job training, research and technology.

"Spending cuts must be balanced with more reforms to our tax code," he said.

"The wealthiest individuals and the biggest corporations shouldn't be able to take advantage of loopholes and deductions that aren't available to most Americans."

In the Republican address, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp of Michigan said that in addressing the debt limit, lawmakers "must identify responsible ways to tackle Washington's wasteful spending."

And he said American families know that "when you have no more money in your account and your credit cards are maxed out, then the spending must stop."

China is the largest foreign holder of US debt, owning about $US1.2 trillion in US treasury bills, notes and bonds, according to the Treasury Department. In total, China owns about eight percent of publicly held US debt.

Camp accused the president and Democratic lawmakers of refusing to take "any meaningful steps to make Washington live within its means" and urged them to reconsider their position and join the fight on "wasteful spending."

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Five die in plane crash in French Alps

POLICE say five people have died after their plane crashed shortly after taking off from an airport in the French Alps.

The plane crashed in a forest in an uninhabited area outside Grenoble, a city that is the gateway to the mountain resorts of the Alps in southeastern France.

An official with the French gendarmerie said the plane crashed shortly after it took off from Grenoble's airport. Everyone aboard died.

It was not clear what kind of plane they were flying. The identities of the victims were not immediately known.

The official would only give the information on condition of anonymity because of police rules.

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Depardieu touches down in Russia

FRENCH actor and tax exile Gerard Depardieu has flown to Russia after receiving Russian citizenship.

Mr Putin on Thursday approved the actor's application for Russian citizenship, causing a scandal in France, where Depardieu has been fighting a proposed 75 per cent income tax on millionaires.

Mr Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by the state RIA Novosti news agency as saying Depardieu arrived overnight in Sochi, the host city of the 2014 Winter Olympics, and could meet with Mr Putin later today.

Mr Peskov said "it cannot be excluded that during the meeting Depardieu could receive a passport."

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Puerto Rico activates US National Guard

PUERTO Rico's new governor is calling out the National Guard to help prevent drug and weapons smuggling.

Alejandro Garcia Padilla says soldiers will be stationed in ports and airports across the US territory to help bolster security.

National Guard spokesman Major Paul Dahlen said on Friday that he did not immediately know how many soldiers will be involved or when they will be activated.

The executive order issued on Thursday was Garcia's first as governor.

The National Guard was last activated in February 2010 for one year to help Puerto Rico fight rising crime on the island of 4 million people.

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Iraq anti-govt rallies draw thousands

THOUSANDS of Sunni Muslims have demonstrated in Baghdad, in the latest of nearly two weeks of rallies criticising Iraq's premier and demanding the release of prisoners they say are wrongfully held.

Demonstrators gathered at the Abu Hanifa mosque in the mostly-Sunni neighbourhood of Adhamiyah, but were barred by security forces from leaving the compound to rally on the street, an AFP correspondent said.

The protesters held up banners calling for a mass prisoner release, stronger human rights provisions in Iraq's prisons, and a repeal of current anti-terror legislation.

They have called for the release of prisoners they say were detained because of their Sunni background, and an end to the alleged misuse of anti-terror legislation by the Shi'ite-led authorities against their community.

"Baghdad, free, free! Iran, go away!" they shouted, a reference to their belief that premier Nuri al-Maliki's government is beholden to Iraq's Shi'ite neighbour Iran.

"How much longer will our children stay in prisons for no other reason than being Sunni," asked a man who gave his name as Abu Abdullah.

Another protester who identified herself as Umm Mohammed told AFP: "My three children were arrested four years ago for no reason and I ask Maliki - release them."

The protests come amid a political deadlock between Maliki's Shi'ite-led government and a secular Sunni-backed party that is in his cabinet but publicly opposes him.

The protests began on December 23, and were sparked by the arrest of at least nine guards of Finance Minister Rafa al-Essawi, a Sunni Arab and a leading member of the secular Sunni-backed Iraqiya bloc, which is part of Maliki's unity government but frequently criticises him in public.

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Hadron hiatus sets stage for more discovery

THE world's largest and most powerful atom smasher goes into a two-year hibernation in March, as engineers carry out a revamp to help it reach maximum energy levels that could lead to more stunning discoveries following the detection of the so-called "God particle."

With the reopening of its $10 billion proton collider in early 2015, the stage will be set for observing more rare phenomena - and unlocking more mysteries, said James Gillies, chief spokesman for the European particle physics laboratory known as CERN.

The Large Hadron Collider under the Swiss-French border will operate for two more months then shut down through 2014, allowing engineers to lay thousands more superconducting cables aimed at bringing the machine up to "full design energy," Mr Gillies told The Associated Press on Friday.

Physicists at the European Center for Nuclear Research, known by its French acronym CERN, won't exactly be idle as the collider takes a break. There are still reams more data to sift through since the July discovery of a new subatomic particle called the Higgs boson - dubbed the "God particle - which promises a new realm of understanding of the universe.

For the next two months, the Large Hadron Collider will be smashing protons with lead ions, then undergo several weeks of testing before it shuts down. The collider launched in September 2008, but had to be switched off just nine days later when a badly soldered electrical splice overheated, causing extensive damage to the massive magnets and other parts of the collider some 100 metres below the ground.

It cost $40 million to repair and improve the machine. Since its restart in November 2009, the collider has performed almost flawlessly and the power produced has been ramped up to ever-new record levels, creating a treasure trove of new data to sift through.

But because of the 2008 accident, the collider could only run at an energy level far below what it was designed to do. To fix that, Mr Gillies said, engineers over the next two years will install 10,000 redesigned superconducting cables that connect between the magnets. That will vastly improve its capacity to simulate the moments after the Big Bang nearly 14 billion years ago.

"It will bring you more collisions. Which means that the more collisions you have, the more likely you are to see rare events," he said. "The Higgs particle was just one of many on the wish list that we'd like to find, so higher energy increases your discovery potential."

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Cops caught egging superior's home

MASSACHUSETTS police responding to reports of teenagers tossing eggs at a house last month got quite a surprise when they tracked down the suspects.

A department spokesman tells The MetroWest Daily News the three people who egged the house in Framingham early Dec. 11 were fellow law enforcement officers serving with the Newton police. They were off duty at the time.

They told Framingham police the egging incident was "a prank, a joke between friends."

The homeowner is a Newton police sergeant and their superior officer. He says is handling the matter internally.

No charges were filed, and the Newton officers were not publicly identified.

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Permanent residents first policy: CFMEU

A KEY construction union is pushing for employers to be allowed under law to discriminate in favour of Australian permanent residents over temporary foreign workers.

The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) is demanding that if employees are to be made redundant, those on 457 visas should go first, The Australian newspaper reported on Saturday.

The call is despite past legal advice to the government that laying off 457 visa holders first could breach state anti-discrimination laws.

The union makes the call in a new submission to Labor's draft to consolidate discrimination laws from five acts to one.

The CFMEU says permanent residents and Australian citizens should "have the primary right to Australian jobs".

The single exception would be for New Zealand citizens, who can get unrestricted work rights in Australia.

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Armed guards at US paper after gun outcry

A NEW York state newspaper that created a public outcry when it published the names and addresses of residents with handgun permits is being protected by armed guards.

"The safety of my staff is my top priority," Journal News publisher Janet Hasson told The New York Times.

The newspaper last month published online maps with the names and addresses of pistol permit holders in two counties it covers. It sought the public records after the school shooting in nearby Newtown, Connecticut.

Some critics said the publication was an invasion of privacy and could put gun owners at risk.

Others compared it to lists of sexual predators or other criminals and said it was tantamount to presenting gun permit holders as wrongdoers.

Hasson said the newspaper knew the publication would be controversial, but that "we felt sharing information about gun permits in our area was important in the aftermath of the Newtown shootings".

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Man in hospital after Sydney home invasion

A MAN is in hospital after being bashed by three men and stabbed in the arm with a chisel when he answered the front door of his home in Sydney's west.

The 45-year-old man was confronted at his front door in Smithfield about 2.45pm (AEDT) on Thursday by a man who started punching him, police said.

Two other men appeared and also started assaulting him.

Police said he was struck to the body with a spirit level and stabbed in the arm with a chisel, both tools belonging to the victim.

He was taken to Fairfield Hospital for treatment to non-life threatening injuries.

Police describe the first man as being of Middle Eastern/Mediterranean appearance, 30 years old, 170cm to 175cm tall, medium build with black hair.

The second man has been described as being of Caucasian appearance in his mid-20s, 180cm to 185cm tall with a large build. He was wearing brown shorts and a blue shirt.

The third man has been described as being of Middle Eastern/Mediterranean appearance, 25 to 30 years of age, 170cm to 175cm tall with a muscular build and wearing a black T-shirt.

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Iraq car bomb kills 12 Shiite pilgrims

IRAQI officials say a car bomb has struck a procession of Shiite pilgrims south of Baghdad, killing at least 12 and wounding dozens.

A police official says the bomb exploded late Thursday afternoon in the town of Musayyib, about 60 kilometres south of the Iraqi capital.

He says the bomb hit the pilgrims as they were returning from the holy city of Karbala to commemorate the Arbaeen.

The religious event marks the passing of 40 days after the anniversary of the seventh century martyrdom of the revered Shiite saint Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

A hospital official confirmed the casualty toll. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to release the information to reporters.

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141 journalists killed in 2012: watchdog

LAST year was one of the deadliest on record for journalists, with 141 killed in 29 different countries and Syria the most dangerous place on earth for reporters, a media watchdog says.

The Swiss-based Press Emblem Campaign (PEC), which fights for the protection of journalists, said the figure was up by 31 per cent on 2011.

At least 37 journalists, among them 13 working for foreign media, were killed in Syria, it said in a statement.

Four journalists are reported missing or detained: Ukrainian Anhar Kochneva, Jordanian-Palestinian Bashar Fahmi, freelance US reporter Austin Tice and another American reporter James Foley, who has contributed video to Agence France-Presse.

The situation in Somalia has deteriorated dramatically, where 19 were killed, said the PEC.

Three Latin American countries followed among the most dangerous places: Mexico with 11 journalists killed, Brazil also with 11 dead, and Honduras, where six journalists were killed.

The Philippines ranked number seven with six killed, followed by Bangladesh and India with four each, said the PEC.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists for its part said last month that 67 reporters were killed in 2012, up 42 per cent from the previous year, due in large part to the Syria conflict, shootings in Somalia, violence in Pakistan and killings of reporters in Brazil.

The Paris-based press rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) meanwhile put the number of those killed at 88 last year.

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Bin Laden report out, but not public

A PAKISTAN judicial commission submitted findings Thursday from its investigation into how Osama bin Laden lived in the country undetected for years until his killing by US special forces, officials said, but the report might never be revealed.

The commission was appointed 18 months ago, in what was welcomed as a chance to get to the bottom of one of the most embarrassing episodes in Pakistani history, but its findings could remain classified.

The Pakistani government set up the five-member panel after US Navy SEALs conducted a secret raid on a compound in the garrison city of Abbottabad on May 2, 2011, killing bin Laden without informing Islamabad until afterwards.

Parliament demanded an independent investigation into how bin Laden had been able to hide and whether there was any government or military collusion.

The commission's chairman, retired judge Javed Iqbal, submitted the report to Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on Thursday, a statement from Ashraf's office said.

Pakistani officials say Ashraf will decide whether to keep the report classified or make it public, but observers have said they expect little of substance to be revealed.

The commission interviewed senior civilian and military officials and the three widows of bin Laden before they were deported to Saudi Arabia in April last year.

Pakistani-US ties drastically deteriorated over the bin Laden raid, which prompted accusations of incompetence or complicity against the military.

Relations slumped to a fresh low after botched US air strikes killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November 2011, but diplomats say the relationship improved after Pakistan re-opened its Afghan land crossings to NATO goods after a seven-month suspension.

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Syria death toll spirals to 60,000

This image taken from video obtained from the Shaam News Network shows a Free Syrian Army fighter in Taftanaz village, northern Syria, yesterday. Rebels attacked a sprawling air base in an attempt to sideline President Bashar Assad's forces. Source: AP

MORE than 60,000 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's regime erupted in March 2011, a top UN official says.

Navi Pillay, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said an exhaustive analysis carried out by data specialists showed 59,648 people had died up to the end of November.

"Given there has been no let-up in the conflict since the end of November, we can assume that more than 60,000 people have been killed by the beginning of 2013," Mr Pillay concluded in a statement yesterday.

"The number of casualties is much higher than we expected, and is truly shocking," she said.

Mr Pillay had said in December 2011 that the UN was unable to provide a precise figure on the number of deaths, and media have been relying on the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based watchdog, which on Monday had put the total number of those killed at more than 46,000.

In reference to the UN figure, Mr Pillay said that "although this is the most detailed and wide-ranging analysis of casualty figures so far, this is by no means a definitive figure.

This citizen journalism image taken from video provided by Shaam News Network shows a wounded man being pulled from the site of a Syrian government airstrike on a gas station in the eastern Damascus suburb of Mleiha, Syria, yesterday.

"We have not been able to verify the circumstances of each and every death, partly because of the nature of the conflict and partly because we have not been allowed inside Syria since the unrest began in March 2011."

The UN High Commissioner added that "once there is peace in Syria, further investigations will be necessary to discover precisely how many people have died, and in what circumstances, and who was responsible for all the crimes that have been committed".

The analysts cited by the UN official noted 60,000 was likely to be an underestimate of the actual number of deaths, given reports containing insufficient information were excluded from the list, and a significant number of killings might not have been documented.

The analysis - which the UN High Commissioner stressed is "a work in progress, not a final product" - shows a steady increase in the average number of documented deaths per month since the beginning of the conflict, from around 1000 per month in the northern summer of 2011 to an average of more than 5000 per month since July 2012.

The greatest number of reported killings have occurred in Homs (12,560), rural Damascus (10,862) and Idlib (7686), followed by Aleppo (6188), Daraa (6034) and Hama (5080).

Smoke rises from buildings in Taftanaz village, Idlib province, northern Syria, yesterday after rebels attacked a sprawling air base in an attempt to sideline President Bashar Assad's forces.

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Egypt journo probed for 'insulting' Morsi

AN EGYPTIAN newspaper editor is under investigation for allegedly insulting President Mohamed Morsi, a prosecution source said, a day after a similar probe was launched against a comedian.

State prosecutor Talaat Ibrahim ordered the investigation into Abdel Halim Qandil, editor of the Sawt al-Umma newspaper and a critic of Mr Morsi, after a political activist sued him for allegedly insulting the president.

On Tuesday, the prosecutor ordered in investigation into satirical talk show host Bassem Yousef, also on charges of insulting Mr Morsi.

The prosecutor was also weighing a complaint filed by the presidency against the leading independent Al-Masry Al-Youm newspaper, after it mistakenly reported on its website that Mr Morsi was to visit the hospital hosting ousted dictator Hosni Mubarak.

Last month, Mr Ibrahim ordered a probe into three top opposition leaders accused of trying to incite Mr Morsi's overthrow amid mass opposition rallies against the Islamist president.

A controversial new constitution, voted for by Egyptians in a December referendum, became the focus of Egypt's worst political crisis since Mr Morsi came to power in June.

Human rights activists and opposition groups said the new charter, drafted by an Islamist-leaning panel close the president, potentially curtailed freedom of expression and basic rights for minorities.

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Mubarak watched uprising on TV: commission

EGYPT'S Hosni Mubarak watched the uprising against him unfold through a live TV feed to his palace, despite his denial he knew the extent of the protests and crackdown against them, a member of a fact-finding mission says.

The finding could lead to the retrial of the 84-old ousted leader, who's already serving a life sentence.

In questioning for his trial for the deaths of some 900 protesters during the uprising, Mubarak said he was kept in the dark by top aides as to the gravity of the situation during the uprising, and fended off charges he ordered or knew of the deadly force used against the protesters.

Mubarak was still convicted in June of failing to prevent the deaths. But many Egyptians were angered he was not convicted for ordering or having a direct role in the crackdown.

Ahmed Ragheb, a human rights lawyer and a member of the commission, said state TV had designated a coded satellite TV station that fed live material from cameras installed in Tahrir and surrounding areas directly to Mubarak's Palace throughout the 18 days of the uprising.

"Mubarak knew of all the crimes that took place directly. The images were carried to him live, and he didn't even need security reports," Ragheb told The Associated Press. "This entails a legal responsibility" in the violence against the protesters, including the infamous camel battle, where men on horses and camel and other Mubarak supporters stormed the square trying to drive protesters out.

At least 11 people are said to be killed in that attack.

The finding came in a 700-page report on protester deaths the past two years, submitted on Wednesday to President Mohamed Morsi.

Morsi had formed this commission soon after he came to office in June, having promised during his election campaign he will order new retrials for former regime officials if new evidence were revealed.

The commission also found security forces and the military used live ammunition in crackdowns on protesters during the 18-day uprising against Mubarak and during the 17 months of rule by the military that followed his February 11, 2011 fall, Ragheb said.

The military repeatedly denied it used live ammunition against protesters, despite several death caused by bullets and pellets.

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Demand for bullet-proof kid clothes

MIGUEL Caballero has been making bullet-proof clothes for politicians and other bigwigs for 20 years, but not for kids. The latest US school massacre has changed that.

This year he plans a line for children - T-shirts, vests, and combination backpack-vests - and geared toward the US market.

Mr Caballero has made good money in his 22-year-old business with a factory on the outskirts of Bogota. He sells around 50,000 garments a year that go for about $2000 a piece, but the US market had been tough to crack.

Then, after a lone and deranged gunman killed 20 small children and six staffers at Sandy Hook Elementary School last month in Newtown, Connecticut, he started getting orders from very worried parents.

"We would answer that we do not make clothes for kids. But the emails kept coming," Mr Caballero said.

So, in just a week, he designed garments and subjected them to ballistic tests. Now his factory is fitted to churn out a first lot of 1800 bullet-proof garments for children and is waiting for firm orders.

Carolina Ballesteros, Mr Caballero's director of research and development, said the impact of the Newtown shooting was huge because of the age of most of the victims: just six and seven.

Asked how you explain to a child that simply going to school can be so dangerous you have to wear a bullet proof vest,  Ms Ballesteros explained that her company's garments are not designed for everyday use.

Rather, they are for emergencies, to be handed out by teachers when needed.

The new line is tailored for kids aged 8 to 16, with prices ranging from $200 to $400, depending on the garment and its size.

Mr Caballero's factory employs 235 people, and 95 per cent of its output is exported to 23 countries in the Middle East and Latin America.

The company makes uniforms for security forces and suits for public figures in many countries, she said.

"Three royal families in the Middle East are customers of ours. We made a bullet-proof kimono for the American actor Steven Seagal. Our experience is beyond question," Ms Ballesteros said.

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Iran claims it shot down more US drones

IRAN said it had shot down two US-made RQ-11 reconnaissance drones in the past 15 months, adding to a ScanEagle drone and RQ-170 Sentinel stealth aircraft it already claims to have captured.

"The army's air defence shot down two... RQ-11 drones," Rear Admiral Amir Rastegari told state television and Fars news agency, adding that the army was carrying out "research" on the downed unmanned aircraft.

He said the first had been brought down in Shahrivar 1390 (August-September 2011) and the second in Aban 1391 (October-November 2012), but gave no details of their location.

He did not offer proof for the claim.

Iran has in the past claimed to have hunted down a number of US drones, showing detailed images of the alleged spoils.

In December it said it had captured a small US ScanEagle drone in its airspace above the Gulf, which the US navy denied.

A year before that, it claimed to have captured a much bigger and more sophisticated CIA stealth drone, an RQ-170 Sentinel.

The AeroVironment RQ-11 type aircraft that Mr Rastegari said had been shot down is a small, hand-launched and remote-controlled drone used by US military intelligence, and has also been adopted by some US allies.

It has a range of over 10 kilometres and can fly at up to 95 kilometres per hour for 80 minutes.

Mr Rastegari made the announcement after a six-day Iranian naval exercise in the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz, through which a third of the world's marketed oil passes.

Several surface-to-air missiles were fired as part of the manoeuvres, according to Iranian media.

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Syria sees in New Year with more violence

SYRIANS woke up to air strikes near Damascus on New Year's Day as Aleppo airport was closed after repeated rebel attacks, casting doubts on diplomatic drives to end the 21-month conflict.

The violence came a day after activists reported finding the corpses of dozens of people who had been tortured, another sign of the gruesome nature of the conflict, and as the regime said it welcomed any initiative for talks to end it.

Warplanes bombed the northeastern and southwestern suburbs of Damascus in a fresh bid to push rebels further from the capital, and troops attacked insurgent strongholds on the road to Damascus airport.

"Three air strikes by MiG planes have targeted Daraya since the morning, and the shelling is continuing," Abu Kinan, an activist from the town southwest of Damascus told AFP over the internet.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the raids came amid fierce clashes near the towns of Bait Saham and Aqraba along the airport road, and that shelling killed three civilians in nearby Ziabiyeh.

Battles have raged for weeks outside Damascus where insurgents have set up rear bases.

Analysts say the army is set on taking total control of Damascus and its immediate surroundings to create conditions necessary for future dialogue.

In northern Syria, where insurgents hold huge swathes of territory, authorities announced the temporary closure of Aleppo international airport after rebel attacks in recent days.

"There have been continued attempts by opposition militants to target civilian aircraft, which could cause a humanitarian disaster," an airport official told AFP.

But he added that the airport would be closed for a "very short period of time" while the army tries to regain control of rebel-held areas around it.

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Russian ban on US adoptions kicks in

RUSSIA'S controversial ban on adoptions of Russian children by American families has come into force, days after its signing by President Vladimir Putin sparked an international outcry.

The ban is part of a law rushed through parliament to hit back at the United States over its passing of a law sanctioning Russian officials implicated in the death in jail of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in 2009.

But opponents say it makes Russian orphans - many with physical or mental difficulties - the blameless victims of a diplomatic standoff between Washington and Moscow.

The law came into force on January 1 after being signed by Putin on December 28, Russian state media said.

The blanket ban brings to an end a process that according to the US State Department has seen US families adopt more than 60,000 Russian children over the past 20 years.

It also forbids US citizens who are deemed to have hurt the rights of Russians from entering Russia, and allows the authorities to shut down NGOs funded by the United States.

The ban on adoptions caused an unusual amount of dissent within the political establishment, with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov indicating his discomfort and Deputy Prime Minister in charge of social policy Olga Golodets vehemently opposed.

The anti-Putin opposition is trying to play on the splits within the elite by holding a mass rally against the law on January 13 in central Moscow, which organisers hope will muster up to 20,000 people.

Activists have said that American families were in particular prepared to adopt ill Russian children and the law risks consigning the most disadvantaged to orphanages for the rest of their childhood.

There is also concern about some 50 children caught in limbo after the law thwarted ongoing adoption processes, where in some cases the orphans had already met future adoptive parents.

The death of Magnitsky - who was charged with the very tax scam that he claimed to have uncovered - in pre-trial detention in 2009 has become a symbol of human rights abuses in the Russian prison system.

The Russian legislation responding to the US Magnitsky Act was dubbed as the Dima Yakovlev law, named for a Russian boy adopted in the United States who died after being locked in a hot car by his adoptive US father in 2008.

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Nigerian officials deny report of massacre

NIGERIA'S emergency agency has denied a report from one of its officials that 15 people were killed at a church in the country's volatile northeast, saying two were dead in unclear circumstances.

An official from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Monday told reporters that attackers had killed 15 people during a church service on Sunday in a remote village outside the town of Chibok.

The official who spoke is the agency's co-ordinator for the northeast region, but the agency's headquarters issued a statement on Tuesday providing a drastically different version. The military meanwhile denied any incident occurred.

The statement said the emergency agency had contacted the official quoted, Mohammed Kanar, and he had denied giving the information.

NEMA "has denied a report claiming that 15 worshippers were killed in an outskirt of Chibok local government council of Borno state on Sunday", the statement said.

"Though some of the reports claimed a source from NEMA provided the information, the agency not only contacted the same officer who denied it in its entirety, it also assigned a special team to investigate and verify the allegation which was later found to be unsubstantiated and untrue.

"Meanwhile the team has also discovered that two people were killed by unidentified gunmen around the area on Sunday and whose bodies had been deposited in a hospital. The victims were a security man and a bystander."

Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, a spokesman for a military task force in the region, which has been hard hit by Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, told AFP he was not aware of any incident in the area on Sunday.

Asked about the NEMA statement saying two were dead, he maintained his previous statement and declined further comment.

Death tolls and information on attacks are often controversial and conflicting in Nigeria, with authorities under pressure to show progress in the fight against Boko Haram.

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Fires leave 4000 homeless in Cape Town

SEVERAL unrelated fires have ripped through informal settlements in Cape Town, killing at least three people and leaving some 4000 homeless on New Year's Day.

"The cause of these fires has not been established, however it is alleged that they were caused by negligence by persons under the influence of alcohol," said city disaster management official Wilfred Solomons-Johannes.

Authorities battled to put out the blazes that ravaged homes in the township of Du Noon and various sections of the notorious Khayelitsha slum late Monday and early Tuesday.

Fire and rescue services - including a helicopter - as well as emergency medical services and law enforcement agencies were deployed to the scenes.

But they could not prevent the blaze spreading and destroying hundreds of shacks and houses, cutting electricity and forcing the closure of major nearby roads.

"The gusting wind ... has fuelled the spread of these fires that made it challenging for firefighters to effect fire suppression," said Solomons-Johannes.

Disaster management teams supplied food parcels, blankets, baby packs, clothing and building material and trauma counselling to victims.

Cape Town authorities encouraged residents to take care with open flames and when using electrical devices.

The use of gas burners, candles, lamps and paraffin stoves is common in poor areas throughout South Africa.

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Mariah Carey hosts family affair

FOR all the diva demands and high-profile fallouts, Mariah Carey can still hit the high notes when it comes to the real business of singing.

The 42-year-old star showed her unique vocal range as she delivered her first Australian concert in 15 years at the Gold Coast Convention Centre on Tuesday night.

After husband Nick Cannon warmed up the crowd with a DJ set, Carey made the occasion a family affair by bringing on her two young children, Moroccan and Monroe.

Visibly shy in the spotlight after spending their New Year's Eve on a luxury yacht, the pair left it to mum, one of the greatest female artists in history with 200 million album sales, to entertain the sellout audience.

Opening with the upbeat Can't Take That Away and Touch My Body, Carey moved through classics from her 22-year career, including fan favourite Hero and the rarely performed Close My Eyes from her Butterfly album.

While the voice has matured from her heyday, the Grammy winner turned American Idol judge was still able to reach her famous 'dolphin squeak' - the hard to master G#7 - during the song Obsessed.

She also gave a spine-tingling performance of the Michael Jackson classic I'll Be There alongside Trey Lorenz, who duetted on the 1992 hit cover.

Stopping for several costume changes throughout, Carey also showed off her diva side, complaining about bad sound and bizarrely breaking into song between numbers to vent her frustration.

"There's like two hundred of you, can one of you just fix the ear thing," she called to her sound crew.

"I hope I'm not asking for the moon and the stars."

Mariah Carey's concert tour continues to Sydney and Melbourne with tickets still available to the Melbourne show.

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Greeks want probe of tax scandal minister

GREEK MPs have called for a probe into former finance minister George Papaconstantinou's alleged role in scrubbing names from a list of accused tax dodgers, days after he was ejected from his party over the scandal.

Seventy-one MPs from Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's governing coalition proposed the parliamentary inquiry, which if voted through by the 300-seat legislature will investigate whether Papaconstantinou is guilty of "falsification" of an official document and "breach of duty".

The probe could lead to charges against Papaconstantinou, who helped draw up the debt-ridden nation's first austerity drive. The 51-year-old denies all wrongdoing in the tax affair, which he called a "conspiracy" on Sunday.

The ex-minister was booted from his socialist Pasok party on Friday after it was revealed that the names of four of his family members - two cousins and their husbands - had been deleted from the list of alleged tax dodgers.

Greek prosecutors are investigating some 2000 holders of HSBC bank accounts in Switzerland for suspected tax evasion, according to media reports.

Media have dubbed the case the "Lagarde list" affair, after International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde, who personally gave Papaconstantinou the list in 2010 when she was France's finance minister.

The list was originally leaked by an HSBC employee before being passed to Greece by Lagarde.

Authorities have claimed the list was illegally obtained and hence cannot be used in the battle against tax evasion, a chronic problem in the heavily indebted and recession-hit country.

But mounting anger against a new round of austerity cuts, imposed by Greece's international creditors, has put pressure on the government to act on the list.

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Venezuela axes New Year's with Chavez sick

VENEZUELA has called off public New Year's Eve festivities and social media sizzled with worry after the government revealed cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez had taken a turn for the worse.

The streets of Caracas were quiet as front-page headlines relayed that Chavez had developed "new complications" from a respiratory infection after undergoing his fourth cancer-related surgery on December 11 in Havana.

His vice-president and political heir, Nicolas Maduro, broke the news from Havana on Sunday night, saying the condition of the Venezuelan leader was delicate and that he faced an uphill battle.

Chavez, the face of the Latin American left for more than a decade and a firebrand critic of what he calls US imperialism, has been in power since 1999 in Venezuela, an OPEC member that sits on top of the world's largest proven oil reserves.

For many Venezuelans, a holiday season without their ubiquitous comandante just wasn't the same.

"I do not know what will happen to Chavez, but we have never had a Christmas like this. Only God knows what will happen with him and with us," said 70-year-old retiree Miguel Enrique as he prepared to attend Mass.

Authorities cancelled a New Year's eve concert in a downtown plaza and Information Minister Ernesto Villegas urged "families in Caracas and Venezuela in general to ring in the New Year at home, praying and expressing hope for the health" of Chavez.

On Twitter, hashtags translating into expressions such as "Chavez will live and conquer" and "I love Chavez" were all the rage.

But Chavez is also deeply polarising, even though he has ruled for nearly 14 years, and his detractors spoke out too.

Chavez, 58, won another six-year term in October's presidential election, and is scheduled to be sworn in on January 10.

But his ill health has raised concerns that he won't be well enough to attend his inauguration.

Chavez's government has said that the inauguration can be postponed if the president is not fit enough to be sworn in.

Not so, said Veppex, a Miami-based association of 25,000 Venezuelans living outside their country as refugees or political exiles.

It insisted the constitution must be respected verbatim and that new elections must be held within 30 days if Chavez cannot be sworn in on the scheduled day. It said all signs were that he will not be.

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Nine shot dead during party

NINE people have been shot and killed in a rural village in northwest Colombia, apparently during a party, a police official has said.

None of the four women and five men who were slain have been identified, no suspects have been arrested and authorities have no idea what the motive of the killings might be, said Yesid Vasquez, police chief for Antioquia department.

He said the victims were apparently celebrating in a rented villa in Envigado, near Medellin, when they were shot.

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Police searching for missing Sydney man

AN appeal has been issued for information on a 48-year-old man who has gone missing from his Sydney home.

Barry Kodesh was last seen between 9am and 10.45am (AEDT) on Sunday at his home in Everton Street, Pymble.

Police and family members are concerned for his welfare as the disappearance is out of character.

"There has been no access to any bank accounts and Mr Kodesh is not believed to have taken any other cash, medication or property with him," a police statement says.

Also missing is his blue 1995 Toyota Camry with a NSW registration of UBR 354.

Mr Kodesh is described as being of Caucasian appearance, about 180-185cm tall with a medium build, light brown hair, brown eyes, a beard and moustache.

Anyone with information about Mr Kodesh or his car is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Two-year-old boy attacked by dog in Sydney

A TWO-YEAR-OLD boy remains in hospital after he was attacked by a Rottweiler while visiting family in Sydney's west.

The boy and his parents were visiting a home in Fullerton Street, St Helens Park about 7.30pm (AEDT) on Monday, when he was attacked by the owner's five-year-old Rottweiler, police said.

The boy was playing with other children in the backyard of the premises and suffered serious facial injuries in the attack, while his father was also bitten several times on the leg as he tried to free his son.

The boy was taken to Campbelltown Hospital before being transferred to Westmead Children's Hospital in a stable condition, while his father also was treated at hospital.

The dog was surrendered to Campbelltown Council by the owner and will be destroyed.

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Man shot in stomach in Sydney's southwest

A MAN has been shot in Sydney's southwest.

A 21-year-old man was found with a wound to his stomach after police were called to Green Valley Road, Busby about 11.15pm (AEDT) on Sunday following reports of a shooting.

The man was treated by ambulance paramedics before being taken to Liverpool Hospital.

A crime scene was established that will be examined by specialist forensic officers.

Police have urged anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Benghazi security a 'huge problem': Obama

PRESIDENT Barack Obama has admitted that a probe into a deadly assault on a US consulate in Libya had uncovered a "huge problem" in security procedures at the mission.

"We're not going to be defensive about it," Obama said in an interview recorded on Saturday for NBC's Meet the Press. "We're not going to pretend that this was not a problem. This was a huge problem."

On September 11, the anniversary of the 2001 attacks by al-Qaeda on New York and Washington, heavily-armed militants stormed the US consulate in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi and attacked a nearby CIA safehouse.

Four Americans died in the assault, including US ambassador Chris Stevens, and Obama's domestic opponents have attacked the administration's handling of both security prior to the attack and public statements afterwards.

In his interview, Obama said all of the recommendations of a critical report into the State Department's operation in Benghazi would be implemented, and said US agents were hunting down those responsible for the killings.

"With respect to who carried it out, that's an ongoing investigation. The FBI has sent individuals to Libya repeatedly," the president said.

"We have some very good leads, but this is not something that I'm going to be at liberty to talk about right now."

Obama also defended UN ambassador Susan Rice, who was accused by Republican lawmakers of misleading the public when she said the attack was a spontaneous protest against an anti-Muslim film made privately in the United States.

Rice had been considered the frontrunner to replace Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as America's top diplomat in Obama's second term, but dropped out of the running after becoming the focus of Republican attacks.

"She appeared on a number of television shows reporting what she and we understood to be the best information at the time," Obama said, accusing opponents of making a scapegoat of his close ally.

"This was a politically motivated attack on her. I mean, of all the people in my national security team, she probably had the least to do with anything that happened in Benghazi."

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Russia sends landing ships to Syria

A RUSSIAN warship carrying a marines unit has left its Black Sea port for Syria amid preparations for a possible evacuation of nationals living and working in the strife-torn country, news reports say.

The Novocherkassk landing ship is the third such craft dispatched since Friday to the Tartus port that Russia leases from its last Middle East ally, agencies cited an unnamed official in the general staff as saying.

The reports said the Azov and Nikolai Filchenkov landing ships had also been sent to Syria from their Russian bases.

The military source said the Novocherkassk would arrive at Tartus within the first 10 days of January.

The Novocherkassk and another landing ship called Saratov both made a rare port call to Tartus in late November.

Officials did not disclose the details of that visit.

The Tartus base is Russia's only remaining naval station outside the former Soviet Union and is seen as a major strategic asset for Moscow.

Russia has been accused of using the base to supply Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with secret military shipments supplementing the official weapons sales that Moscow has made to Damascus since Soviet times.

But recent rebel gains prompted Russia to admit for the first time this month that Assad's days in power may be numbered.

Officials have since openly acknowledged making preparations for a possible evacuation should the safety of Russians in Syria be threatened by Assad's downfall.

The three landing ships will be joining what Russian reports said was a much broader exercise off the coast of Syria involving vessels from three naval fleets.

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Magazine mistakenly publishes Bush obit

GERMANY'S respected news weekly Der Spiegel has mistakenly published an obituary for former US president George Bush senior, hours after a family spokesman said the 88-year-old was recovering from illness.

Bush was hospitalised in Houston November 23 for treatment of a bronchitis-related cough and moved to intensive care on December 23 after he developed a fever.

On Saturday, spokesman Jim McGrath said Bush was moved out of intensive care into a regular hospital room again after his condition improved.

The unfinished obituary appeared on Der Spiegel's website for only a few minutes on Sunday before it was spotted by internet users and removed.

In it, the magazine's New York correspondent described Bush as "a colourless politician" whose image only improved when it was compared to the later presidency of his son, George W Bush.

"All newsrooms prepare obituaries for selected figures," the magazine said on its Twitter feed. "The fact that the one for Bush senior went live was a technical mistake. Sorry!"

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Switzerland freezes Mubarak sons' $300m

SWISS authorities have frozen $US300 million ($A290 million) sitting in Credit Suisse accounts in Geneva held by the sons of deposed Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, the newspaper Le Matin Dimanche has reported.

The funds are held in accounts belonging to Alaa and Gamal Mubarak, sons of the ex-president who are currently being held in an Egyptian prison.

The brothers are accused of using their position as scions of Egypt's long-time ruler to help themselves to villas, luxury cars and stakes in the country's key companies.

According to the newspaper, the funds were deposited at the Credit Suisse in 2005, which was after Switzerland tightened rules governing transactions by politically exposed depositors.

A Credit Suisse spokesman refused comment, citing the bank's secrecy policy.

The paper said Egypt-linked funds had also been frozen at the Swiss office of French banking giant BNP Paribas.

Switzerland has opened a probe targeting 14 people close to the Mubarak regime who are suspected of embezzling public funds and widescale corruption.

Earlier this month, Swiss authorities refused to provide their Egyptian counterparts with access to their findings so far, citing concerns for the "institutional situation" in Cairo.

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