Man caught almost 'eight times over limit'

A MAN has allegedly returned a blood alcohol reading almost eight times above the legal limit, Queensland police say.

Around 6.40pm (AEST) on Saturday police were called to Deagon, in Brisbane's north, after reports an intoxicated man may try to drive his vehicle.

A short time later police allegedly found a man in a utility with the keys in the ignition. He allegedly returned a reading of 0.397 per cent.

The 38-year-old NSW man was charged with being in charge of a motor vehicle while under the influence of liquor.

He is due to appear in the Sandgate Magistrates Court on February 25.

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Rhino named S Africa newsmaker of 2012

THE rhino has been named South Africa's newsmaker for 2012, based on the extensive media coverage around the slaughter of the creature for its horn.

It is the first time that such recognition has gone to an animal, as poaching figures reach all-time highs.

"Stories of rhino poaching dominated the headlines throughout the year, the story was covered extensively locally and internationally," said Antoinette Slabbert, chairperson of South Africa's National Press Club.

Poachers are increasingly targeting South Africa's rhinos, and last year killed a record 668 of them in parks across the country.

"We made this decision after a long and serious thought," Slabbert said, adding "there wasn't any other bigger story than this."

The plight of the pachyderm eclipsed the shooting of 34 mineworkers by police during a strike at Lonmin platinum mine in August, and a host of prominent political news.

"People need to understand that we selected a newsmaker not a news event, the Marikana shooting was a news event, with many faces," Slabbert said.

South Africa is home to about three-quarters of Africa's 20,000 or so white rhinos and 4800 critically endangered black rhinos.

"While the rhino has dominated headlines for all the wrong reasons, the media has played a fundamental role in informing not only South Africans, but the world, about the massive tragedy that is unfolding in our country," Slabbert said.

Rhinos are victims of a surging demand for their horns, which some people in Asia think have medicinal properties. The claim is widely discredited.

South Africa and Vietnam last year signed a deal to tackle the trade and several Asian nationals have been arrested for involvement in poaching.

The number of rhinos poached in the country rose sharply over the last five years, from 13 in 2007 to 448 in 2011.

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Syria's Kurds urge opposition to stop Isla

SYRIAN Kurds have urged the opposition to halt a siege against them by Islamist rebels, as the UN condemned the killing of dozens of children across the country over the past week.

The Kurdish National Council, a pro-opposition umbrella group of Syrian Kurdish parties, condemned what it said was an ongoing assault "against unarmed civilians" by jihadist insurgents on the northern town of Ras al-Ain.

It said the rebels, who came across the border from Turkey, were shelling the town indiscriminately, and called on the main opposition National Coalition and the Free Syrian Army to "pressure these militants to stop this criminal war which is detrimental to the Syrian revolution."

On Saturday, one rebel was killed in shelling and fierce clashes that pitted the jihadist Al-Nusra Front against Kurdish fighters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

A resident of Ras al-Ain told AFP both sides appeared to be preparing for a fierce battle, with Kurdish fighters building fortifications and digging trenches, and rebels bringing in reinforcements from across the border.

Turkey, which supports the revolt against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, is home to a sizeable Kurdish minority whose demands for greater independence it has moved to suppress, notably in air strikes on Kurdish militants groups.

Activists say Turkey may be using jihadists in Syria to fight its own battle against the Kurds.

Elsewhere, Syrian warplanes raided the eastern outskirts of Damascus as army reinforcements arrived in Daraya, a key battleground near the capital, the Observatory said.

The violence came a day after 149 people were killed, according to the Observatory, including 103 civilians and 18 children.

The United Nations Children's Fund condemned the killing of children in Syria.

"A series of reports from Syria this week underlines the terrible price children are paying" in a conflict that has ravaged the country for 22 months and killed more than 60,000 people, UNICEF said.

"Media reports (Friday) from the scene of mass killings in the village of Hasawiya outside Homs said whole families were among the dead," it added.

"UNICEF condemns these latest incidents in the strongest terms, and once again calls on all parties to ensure civilians - and children especially - are spared the effects of the conflict."

The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists and medics for its information, says 3,538 children have been killed since the start of the revolt in March 2011.

Meanwhile, Syria's foreign ministry criticised a petition by UN rights chief Navi Pillay and 58 countries calling for a war crimes case against Damascus to be opened at the International Criminal Court.

"The Syrian government regrets the persistence of these countries in following the wrong approach and refusing to recognise the duty of the Syrian state to protect its people from terrorism imposed from abroad," it said.

Those countries, are "hindering the Syrian national dialogue for a peaceful settlement of the crisis as proposed by Assad on January 6." Those talks would only include opposition forces tolerated by the regime, disqualifying the vast majority of the country's rebels.

Rebels offered a stark reply on Saturday by assassinating Khaled al-Hilal, a local official responsible for arranging any such talks in the southern province of Daraa.

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Gas pistol pointed at Bulgaria politician

BULGARIAN police have detained a man after he pointed a gas pistol at an ethnic Turkish party leader delivering a speech at a party caucus in the capital.

No shots were fired from the self-defence device, which is not lethal but can cause serious injuries if fires at close range.

The video from the Saturday event in Sofia shows the man climbing the podium where Ahmed Dogan, the leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, was speaking, and pointing the gun to his face.

Dogan struck the man before he could pull the trigger, while other delegates wrestled the assailant to the ground. TV footage showed several people punching, kicking and stomping on the man when he was on the ground.

Police arrested him and took him to a hospital. It wasn't immediately clear if he sustained serious injuries, or how he got past security to enter the hall with nearly 3000 people attending.

Eventually, the attacker was identified by police as 25-year-old Oktai Enimehmedov, a Bulgarian national and ethnic Turk, from the coastal city of Burgas.

He was carrying the gas pistol and two knives.

Interior Minister Tsvevtan Tsvetanov told journalists the assailant had a criminal record for drugs possession, robberies and hooliganism.

The liberal MRF party mainly represents ethnic Turks and other Muslims in Bulgaria, who make up 12 per cent of its 7.3-million population.

The conference had to elect a new leader to succeed Dogan, who is one of the Balkan country's most influential political figures. The 58-year-old has been at the helm of the party since founding it in 1990.

Saturday's assault was the gravest attack on a politician in post-communist Bulgaria after the 1996 killing of ex-prime Minister Andrei Lukanov.

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Same driver caught twice for drug driving

A BMW driver has allegedly been caught driving under the influence of drugs twice within three hours.

State Highway Patrol intercepted the black BMW sedan at Melton northwest of Melbourne, just after 8.30pm (AEDT) on Saturday, police say.

The 28-year-old Brookfield man returned a positive reading for methamphetamine and was fined for driving an unregistered vehicle and banned for driving for 12 hours.

Police say the same vehicle was stopped at 11.30pm (AEDT) at Melton South by another patrol unit, where the Brookfield man allegedly again tested positive for drugs.

He is expected to be charged on summons with a number of traffic related offences, and if the test results are confirmed, he will face a $366 fine, and three month suspension of his licence.

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About 100 foreign hostages freed, 32 held

ALGERIAN special forces have freed about 100 foreign hostages from Islamist gunmen at a remote gas plant near the Libyan border, but some 30 are still missing, national media says.

"Around 100 foreigners out of 132 hostages seized by a terrorist group that attacked the Tiguentourine gas plant on Wednesday have been freed," APS reported on Friday, citing a security official.

The Algerian news agency had said earlier that "more than half" of the foreign hostages, as well as 573 Algerians had been freed in the rescue operation.

Amid foreign criticism over the haste of an Algerian military assault on the remote desert site, the APS news agency said the army was still trying to free those foreigners still held by Al-Qaeda-linked militants across the complex deep in the Sahara near the Libyan border.

It "is trying to reach a peaceful solution before neutralising the terrorist group that is holed up in the plant and freeing a group of hostages still being held there."

British Prime Minister David Cameron warned that the In Amenas plant was a "large and complex site and they are still pursuing terrorists and possibly some of the hostages in other areas of the site."

Some of those who escaped or spoke of their ordeals said they had had explosives wrapped around their necks. Others said they hid, petrified, under beds, in gaps above ceilings or wherever they could.

The Algerian operation was launched on Thursday, a day after kidnappers seized the plant to avenge what they said was Algiers' support for French air strikes in neighbouring Mali.

The kidnappers said 34 captives were killed in the army assault, but an Algerian security source called that "fantasy," saying 18 of more than 30 Islamist gunmen were killed.

Cameron, who said he was "disappointed" not to have been told by the Algerians in advance, said "significantly" fewer than 30 British citizens remained at risk at the field, operated jointly by Britain's BP, Norway's Statoil and Sonatrach of Algeria.

BP said a "small number" of its staff were unaccounted for on Friday, adding that it had evacuated hundreds of workers from the complex and other fields.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said in London US officials were "working around the clock" to secure the safe return of an unknown number of American hostages.

"Terrorists should be on notice that they will find no sanctuary, no refuge. Not in Algeria, not in north Africa, not anywhere," he said.

A senior US official said Washington "strongly encouraged" the Algerian authorities to make the hostages' safety their top priority.

Japanese plant builder JGC said it had now accounted for 17 of its employees, but that the whereabouts of 61 more remained unknown.

Statoil said another of its Norwegian employees was now safe, but that the fate of eight others was unknown.

France said two of its nationals had returned safely but it had no word on two others reportedly seized. Vienna said one Austrian had been released.

One man from Northern Ireland, Stephen McFaul, escaped. His brother said he fled when the convoy he was in came under army fire. He had earlier "had explosives tied around his neck."

Alexandre Berceaux, who works for France's CSI Catering, said he stayed in his room and hid before finally being freed by Algerian troops on Thursday evening.

"I was under the bed and I put boards everywhere just in case," Berceaux said. "I had a bit of food, a bit to drink. I didn't know how long it would last."

The gunmen from a group known as "Signatories in Blood" want to negotiate an end to French intervention in Mali and exchange American hostages for prisoners held in the United States, Mauritanian news agency ANI quoted sources close to their leader, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, as saying on Friday.

ANI reported that Belmokhtar, a veteran Algerian Islamist with Al-Qaeda ties who has claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack, had proposed that Paris and Algiers negotiate "an end to the war being waged by France in Azawad" (northern Mali).

In what ANI said was a video that would be released to media, he also proposes exchanging American hostages held by his group for Egyptian Omar Abdul Rahman and Pakistani Aafiah Siddiqui, jailed in the United States on charges of terrorist links.

Algeria has insisted it will not negotiate with "terrorists."

Earlier, a spokesman for the group said that, "taking into account the suffering of the Algerian people, we promise the regime in place that there will be more operations," ANI said.

The hostage drama dragged Algiers and Western powers into the Mali conflict, taking the spotlight off French and government troops battling Islamists who control the country's vast desert north.

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US VP Biden to travel to Europe next month

US Vice-President Joe Biden will visit Germany, France and Britain early next month for wide-ranging talks at the start of President Barack Obama's new administration, the White House says.

"At all stops, the vice-president will discuss with key leaders a full range of bilateral, regional and global issues," the White House said in a statement on Friday.

Biden will meet with Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, President Francois Hollande in Paris, and Prime Minister David Cameron in London, it said.

In Germany, Biden also will address the Munich Security Conference, an annual event that draws policy makers and experts on security issues from around the world.

Biden addressed the conference in 2009 at the start of Obama's first term.

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Benign weather slows massive Vic bushfire

BENIGN weather conditions have slowed down a massive bushfire burning in Victoria's east as residents in the town of Licola, 15 kilometres from the fire front, were bracing for possible impact.

Almost 300 firefighters battled the 48,000-hectare blaze through Friday night while 28 firefighters remained with 10 residents who chose to stay and defend their homes at Licola.

A CFA spokesman said the fire was still headed for the town of Licola on Friday night.

But while the blaze was just 15km away from the town, it was moving slowly thanks to cooler conditions and calming winds, he said.

"Benign weather conditions have slowed the fire down," he said.

The fire began in the Baw Baw National Park on Thursday and had forced the evacuation of homes in Seaton, Licola and Heyfield by Friday morning.

The blaze has already claimed the life of a man whose body was found in a burnt-out car in the Seaton area.

Victoria Police have confirmed that at least five properties have been destroyed.

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Rod Dickson said favourable weather conditions were forecast for the bushfire-affected areas.

"In terms of bad fire weather, that sort of period has passed," Mr Dickson said.

"There's nothing nasty in terms of strong wind changes, it's all pretty settled.

"We have got more stable conditions coming up."

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Swedish train crash 'most likely' accident

A CLEANING lady accused of stealing a train and smashing it into a block of flats outside Stockholm this week, most likely set it in motion by accident, Swedish prosecutors say.

The train was travelling at 80km/h when it reached the end of the line and hurtled 25 metres in the snow, crashing into a three-storey building in the upscale suburb of Saltsjoebaden in the small hours of Tuesday.

The woman, whose condition was described as "serious but stable" after the crash, was detained in hospital on suspicion of destroying public property.

But on Friday the prosecutor in the case said she was no longer suspected of wrongdoing.

"Everything suggests it was a pure accident where several temporary and unfortunate circumstances caused the woman to set the train in motion when she was cleaning," Paer Andersson said in a statement.

"We will of course question the woman as soon as we can, but at present there aren't sufficient grounds to consider her a suspect," he added.

An investigation found "several serious security breaches" around the train and the area where it was parked, the prosecution authority said.

A search of the woman's home and questioning of her friends and family found nothing to suggest that she would have tried to commandeer the train.

The woman, born in 1990, worked for a cleaning company contracted by train operator Arriva, which on Tuesday was quoted by news agency TT as saying she had "taken" the train.

A spokeswoman for Stockholm Public Transport had told daily Aftonbladet that the train was "stolen."

"We are very sorry that we could have contributed to spreading a false image of the sequence of events," a spokesman for Stockholm Public Transport, Jesper Pettersson, said.

A spokesman for Arriva, Tomas Hedenius, said the company "unfortunately wasn't clear enough" in its initial statements on the crash.

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Greek debt not viable without more EU help

GREECE will need additional help from its European partners to bring its huge debt under control in 2016, a senior IMF official says.

"There is a gap according to our preliminary projections for 2015/2016" of up to 9.5 billion euros ($A12.15 billion)," Poul Thomsen, the IMF's mission chief for Greece, told a conference call on Friday.

"The IMF's policy is that the program needs to be fully financed for the 12 months ahead...What is key is that the Europeans know there is a gap and they'll have to fill it," he said.

The IMF has been pressing Europe to do more to resolve the Greek debt crisis, after the Fund extended its Greek rescue loan to four years from three years and lowered the interest charged on it.

Despite two bailouts involving the EU, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the IMF as well as a private-sector debt cut, Greece is set to enter its sixth year of recession in 2013, pushing its debt mountain to 190 per cent of output in 2014.

The global lender on Wednesday unblocked a frozen slice of 3.2 billion euros ($A4.09 billion) from its outstanding aid package.

But Thomsen insisted on Friday: "We only went ahead because we got assurances from the Europeans that they would provide the money" for Greece's future needs, before the country can return to the markets for financing.

He said the IMF did not think it was "realistic" that Greece would return to borrowing markets before the end of 2014.

"We have a need for more money from the official sector. And there is a commitment to provide that. The Eurogroup has said 'we will do so if there is no return to markets," Thomsen said.

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Vic residents told to leave bushfire zone

RESIDENTS in the east Victorian town of Licola are being told to consider leaving their homes as a fast moving bushfire fanned by changing wind directions threatens the community.

The fire in the eastern part of the Baw Baw National Park had grown from 250 hectares on Thursday afternoon to 4200 hectares that night.

Watch-and-act alerts are advising residents in several surrounding towns to activate their bushfire plans ahead of a wind change expected in the early hours of Friday.

A CFA spokeswoman said strong winds had helped fan the fire, making it fast moving and unpredictable.

Smoke could be seen 50km away, she said.

Residents of Licola have received emergency SMS alerts and are being told to consider leaving the area as soon as possible as the CFA anticipates the blaze will hit Licola Road on Friday.

The CFA warning says the out-of-control fire is expected to impact the towns of Coongulla, Coopers Creek, Cowwarr, Glengarry, Glenmaggie, Heyfield, Licola, Parkers Corner, Seaton, Toongabbie, Glengarry North, Erica and Rawson between 6am (AEDT) and 10am on Friday.

Residents of Maiden Town, Walhalla and Mormon Town are being warned they could be affected by embers from the blaze.

An emergency relief centre has been established at the Sale Baptist Church.

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster James Taylor said hot weather overnight combined with gale force winds forecast to hit the region on Friday morning were concerning.

A total fire ban has been declared for the West and South Gippsland, north east, northern country and East Gippsland districts for Friday.

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Canberra community remembers 2003 fires

A DECADE on from the fatal Canberra firestorm, the community will gather for a low key commemoration service.

On January 18, 2003 a bushfire killed four people and destroyed more than 500 homes on the city's western edge.

In the shadow of the bushfires now burning at Cooma and Yass, the people of Canberra will come together on Friday to remember that disaster.

The commemoration will have the theme of Reflection, Inspiration, and Looking Forward.

It will involve speakers from the community, churches and emergency services as well as ACT Chief Minister Katy Gallagher.

ACT Emergency Services Minister Simon Corbell, who lives in the area affected by the fire, says he thinks people's recovery from 2003 has been mixed.

"Many people have very much responded to the confronting nature of the circumstances they faced ... in 2003," he told AAP.

"But for others the impact and the harm caused is still very real and very raw in their emotions."

But he thought the community overall had shown "extraordinary resilience and capacity to grow".

Mr Corbell said the ACT was much better prepared now to deal with "the ever-present threat" of bushfires.

The commemoration service will take place at 10am AEDT at the ACT Bushfire Memorial on the corner of Uriarra and Cotter Roads in Weston.

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NRA head defends using Obama girls in ad

THE head of the powerful National Rifle Association has defended his group's mention of President Barack Obama's daughters in a web ad criticising the administration's moves on gun control.

"Our point is not about the president's kids. It's about everybody else's kids," said NRA president David Keene, speaking to CBS television.

"We think that one of the most important things we can do is provide security to the children of America and we don't think that's an inappropriate message."

The ad, released by the NRA on Tuesday, has been roundly criticised for breaking a cardinal rule in Washington - that the children of a sitting US president are off-limits for criticism or as a political talking point.

The NRA released the ad one day before Obama signed 23 executive actions in a bid to check a rash of gun violence including the killings of 20 children at Sandy Hook Elementary School last month and other recent mass shootings.

The NRA spot asked why Obama is "sceptical about putting armed security in schools when his kids are protected by armed guards at their school?"

Like the children of earlier presidents, the Obama girls - Malia, 14, and Sasha, 11 - receive the protection of armed Secret Service officers wherever they go, including their private Washington, DC school.

The NRA ad slammed the duplicity of "protection for their kids, and gun-free zones for ours".

"Are the president's kids more important than yours?" the NRA's narrator asked in a deep voice.

In a December interview, Obama said he was "sceptical" that an NRA proposal of placing armed security guards at schools around the country was the sole answer to curbing mass shootings.

White House spokesman Jay Carney released a statement on Wednesday responding to the ad shortly before Obama outlined his new gun proposals.

"Most Americans agree that a president's children should not be used as pawns in a political fight," Carney said in a statement emailed to reporters.

"But to go so far as to make the safety of the president's children the subject of an attack ad is repugnant and cowardly."

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Apple's iPhone business 'has no future'

APPLE is going to be trading sideways for the next 12 months, says Pacific Crest analysts Andy Hargreaves and Corey Barrett.

They are downgrading the stock to "sector perform" and giving it a price target between $US440 ($A417) and $US550 ($A522)for the next 12 months.

They believe Apple has real long-term problems.

The high-end market for smartphones and tablets is going to be saturated sooner than expected which will lead to poor growth for Apple.

They say that demand for "incremental" hardware improvements is "waning." Essentially, they don't believe people will continue to upgrade to a new iPhone. If the market for new iPhone buyers is already maxed-out, and the market for upgrading iPhones is weak, then Apple's iPhone business is going to struggle.

While the iPad should pick up the slack for Apple in terms of slowing iPhone growth, the truth is the iPad Mini, which is relatively inexpensive will hurt Apple's revenue and EPS growth.

There is nothing on the horizon that will provide a jolt of growth, either, they argue.

An Apple television isn't going to be a huge business like the iPhone. It will make less money and sell in smaller units.

A cheaper iPhone will create the same problems the cheaper iPad Mini creates - cannibalisation of existing sales and profits.

Software and services revenue from products like iTunes and iCloud aren't going to be enough to accelerate the earnings of a company as big as Apple.

In short, Apple is an iPhone company. The days of the iPhone's mega growth are over and thus, Apple's fantastic stock run is too.

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Man charged in WA head-in-bag mystery

WEST Australian police have charged a 28-year-old man with the murder of convicted drug trafficker Stephen Cookson whose head was found in a bag on Rottnest Island.

Detectives arrested, questioned and released a man on Wednesday night, after a forensic team descended on a property near Mandurah as they continued the search for the rest of Cookson's body.

On Thursday night they charged the 28-year-old man from Guildford with one count of murder.

He will appear in the Perth Magistrates Court on Friday.

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2 dead as helicopter hits crane in London

TWO people have been killed when a helicopter hit a crane at a building site in central London during morning rush hour and plunged to the ground in a ball of flames.

Police said at least 13 people were injured after the aircraft smashed into a crane on the top of an unfinished luxury apartment block at Vauxhall, near the headquarters of the MI6 foreign spy agency on the south bank of the River Thames.

The top of the 51-storey building, The Tower at One St George Wharf, was shrouded in mist at the time. Police have ruled out a terror attack.

Witnesses said part of the crane fell on a street below sending construction workers fleeing for their lives, while the helicopter, spewing a thick plume of black smoke, cast burning wreckage over the ground.

Firefighters said they rescued a man from a burning car. An AFP reporter later saw a charred vehicle lying alongside a pile of twisted metal from the helicopter, just metres from a major train line.

Commander Neil Basu of the Metropolitan Police said it was "something of a miracle" that more people had not died given that the crash occurred in a busy residential and business district at rush hour, around 8am (1900 AEST).

He confirmed that the pilot, believed to be the only one in the helicopter, had been killed along with a person on the ground.

Emergency services said six injured people were taken to hospital, five with minor injuries and one with a broken leg, while seven others were treated at the scene, which is near the site of the new US embassy.

"There was a flash and the helicopter plunged to the ground. It exploded and you can imagine the smoke coming out of it," said eyewitness Paul Ferguson, who was working in an office near the tower.

"It may be that on this misty morning the lights on nearby St George's Tower weren't on and it moved and clipped the edge of the crane and lost control," he told BBC News.

The commercial helicopter set off from Redhill in Surrey, just south of London, bound for Elstree to the north of the city. But bad weather caused the pilot to request a diversion to London Heliport, five kilometres from the crash site, officials said.

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch is now looking into what happened, including suggestions that the crane did not have its aircraft warning light on.

London Fire Brigade said more than 50 firefighters were working to secure the rest of the damaged crane after putting out the blaze in around 25 minutes, but said there was no risk of it falling.

Several construction workers said they had heard that crane operator had been running late and was only halfway up to his cabin when the aircraft hit.

Witnesses said part of the crane crashed into the street below the tower, which is due for completion later this year.

Paul Robinson, 42, had been waiting to get onto the building site in his rubbish truck when he felt something hit his vehicle.

He thought the truck driver behind had driven into him. "Then I looked up, saw debris falling and ran like hell," he told AFP.

Looking back, "I saw the crane, the boom, hit the ground. It made a big bang."

The street was empty at the time, he said, but "if it was 30 seconds later, there'd have been cars there".

Local resident Nic Walker, 35, said he had been in bed when he heard a helicopter flying overhead, followed by "an almighty crash".

"I knew immediately what had happened -- it's extremely foggy this morning," he told AFP. "I put on some clothes and rushed outside to see if anyone needed help. There was burning fuel everywhere."

The crash caused gridlock on the city streets and temporarily shut down several train, bus and Underground stations in the area.

Prime Minister David Cameron paid tribute to the emergency services for their "rapid and professional response".

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US stocks open lower; Boeing plunges

US stocks have fallen in early trading despite reports from leading Wall Street banks that bested expectations, as Boeing's 787 problems dinged sentiment.

After 15 minutes of trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 58.28 points (0.43 per cent) at 13,476.61.

The broad-based S&P 500 fell 4.08 (0.28 per cent) to 1468.26.

The Nasdaq Composite slipped 2.52 (0.08 per cent) to 3108.26.

The selling came as both JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs reported fourth-quarter profits that bested expectations.

But US aerospace giant and Dow member Boeing fell 4.1 per cent following the latest problem with its 787 Dreamliner plane.

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Prime Minister to visit fire-ravaged areas

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard is due to visit fire-ravaged parts of northwest NSW as firefighters brace for a return of hot and windy conditions.

Ms Gillard will visit Coonabarabran on Thursday, where the state's most destructive fire in more than a decade has raged this week.

The fire at Coonabarabran has burnt 42,000 hectares and on Wednesday evening was burning along a 100km front after destroying 40 homes, 110 sheds, machinery, fences and untold numbers of livestock.

No lives have been lost in any of the state's scores of fires this month, but there are now concerns that blazes which have already threatened communities in the state's south may prove dangerous again when hot and windy conditions return on Friday.

As residents returned to view the destruction around Coonabarabran on Wednesday, RFS Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers warned the number of homes destroyed could rise as assessors entered burnt areas.

Mr Rogers said there were also revived concerns about fires that threatened homes in NSW's south last week, including the Deans Gap fire in the Shoalhaven and the Yarrabin fire in the Cooma-Monaro regions.

"It's looking like a severe fire danger day on Friday all the way from Sydney right down the eastern side of the ranges and then along the Victorian border past Wagga to the Riverina area," he said.

On Wednesday evening, 81 fires were burning across the state, 11 of them out of control, including fires in the Gwydir, Namoi and Tamworth areas in the state's north.

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India, Pakistan to 'de-escalate' tensions

INDIA'S army has reached an "understanding" with Pakistan to "de-escalate" military tensions in Kashmir after a recent deadly flare-up in the disputed border region, a spokesman says.

"An understanding has been arrived at between the two director-generals of military operations to de-escalate the situation along the Line of Control (LoC)," army spokesman Jagdeep Dahiya said in reference to a de facto border in Kashmir.

Dahiya said that the two sides' senior military commanders had spoken for 10 minutes over the telephone where they reached their agreement.

"The two DGMOs spoke to each other at 10:00 am (1530 AEST) for 10 minutes and the Pakistan DGMO said strict instructions have been passed not to violate the ceasefire," he said.

Dahiya said Indian troops stationed along the border would also not breach the ceasefire forged between the two nuclear-armed rivals in 2003.

"We have always upheld the ceasefire and have only retaliated," the spokesman said.

He did not give further details of the conversation between India's DGMO Lieutenant General Vinod Bhatia and his Pakistani counterpart, Major General Ashfaq Nadeem.

An Indian military source in Kashmir told AFP there had been no cross-border firing since the two generals spoke.

Earlier, the village of Dara Sher Khan in Pakistan's Tatta Pani sector, where a soldier was killed on Tuesday night, appeared deserted on Wednesday as residents cowered in their homes.

Muhammad Afsar, a former army man, said he and his family hid under bedding in their newly-built house, which was damaged by mortar shrapnel fired by Indian gunners.

"Indian soldiers keep watching our activities and we live in a state of constant fear," he told AFP.

The two generals spoke hours after Pakistan's Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar hit out at strident comments by Indian politicians over the clashes, and warned against "upping the ante" between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

"We see warmongering," Khar said at the Asia Society in New York late Tuesday.

"It is deeply disturbing to hear statements which are upping the ante, where one politician is competing with the other to give a more hostile statement."

India says two of its soldiers have been killed, one of them beheaded, since hostilities erupted along the LoC. It has demanded the return of the soldier's head which is still missing.

Khar again denied Indian accusations that Pakistani forces had beheaded one of the two soldiers and said an inquiry had found "no evidence" of the deaths.

The two countries have fought three wars since their independence in 1947, two of them over the Himalayan region of Kashmir. But Khar said they had to get over their "narrative of hostility".

"The doors to dialogue are open," Khar said. "We need to meet at any level, I think we need to call each other, we need to become mature countries which know how to handle their truth."

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Jobless rate tipped to rise

THE December jobs figures, out on Thursday, are expected to show a rise in the unemployment rate.

AAP's survey of 14 economists reveals a median forecast for the unemployment rate to increase 0.2 percentage points to 5.4 per cent in December.

The total number of employed people is expected to remain flat in the month, according to the forecast, with population growth pushing the unemployment rate higher.

JP Morgan economist Tom Kennedy said more than 20,000 additional people needed to find jobs every month in order to maintain the current unemployment rate.

"And we don't think, considering the structural and fiscal headwinds facing it, that the economy can produce that many jobs over the month," Mr Kennedy said.

He said the unemployment rate was likely to continue to move higher throughout 2013, as the mining investment boom peaked and underperforming sectors like housing struggled to make up for the shortfall.

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US stocks open lower on weak German data

US stocks have opened lower following a disappointing German report on growth.

Five minutes into the trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 40.97 points (0.3 per cent) to 13,465.35.

The broad-based S&P 500 lost 6.22 points (0.4 per cent) to 1464.46.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 19.09 points to 3098.4141.

The declines followed a fourth-quarter contraction in Germany of 0.5 per cent, said Briefing.com. The results mean full-year registered growth of 0.7 per cent instead of the consensus expectation for 0.8 per cent, Briefing said.

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New Dan Brown novel 'Inferno' out in May

A NEW Dan Brown novel is coming in May, and the subject is Dante.

Doubleday announced on Tuesday that Brown's book is called Inferno, named for Dante's epic journey in verse. Brown again will feature Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, the protagonist for his blockbuster The Da Vinci Code and for the million-selling follow-up The Lost Symbol.

The new book might seem familiar in other ways, as Brown again takes on a masterpiece of Western civilisation. The Da Vinci Code centered on an iconic painting, the Mona Lisa.

"Although I studied Dante's Inferno as a student, it wasn't until recently, while researching in Florence, that I came to appreciate the enduring influence of Dante's work on the modern world," Brown said in a statement. "With this new novel, I am excited to take readers on a journey deep into this mysterious realm. a landscape of codes, symbols, and more than a few secret passageways."

Brown may also be returning to the religious controversies of The Da Vinci Code, when he infuriated some Catholics by suggesting that Jesus and Mary Magdalene had children. Dante himself was a Catholic who was critical of church leaders.

Inferno comes out on May 14, a week before another likely top seller of 2013, Khaled Hosseini's And the Mountains Echoed.

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Alleged KGB spy couple in German trial

A MARRIED couple accused of spying for the Russian secret services for more than 20 years have gone on trial in Germany in one of the biggest espionage court cases since the Cold War.

The pair, identified only by codenames Andreas and Heidrun Anschlag, are accused of having been planted in West Germany from 1988 by the Soviet Union's KGB and later used by its SVR successor secret service.

The defendants, whose alias surname means "attack" in German, declined to confirm any details about their identity or the charges as the trial got underway in the higher regional court in the southwestern city of Stuttgart.

Defence lawyer Horst-Dieter Poetschke said they had Russian citizenship.

Prosecutors say one of them arrived in still divided Germany in 1988 - a year before the Berlin Wall fell - and the other in 1990, posing as Austrian citizens who had been born and grew up in South America.

According to the Federal Prosecutor's Office, light could only be shed on the last three years of their alleged activities as agents.

They had "the mission from SVR headquarters to obtain NATO and EU political and military secrets", federal public prosecutor Wolfgang Siegmund said, adding: "Particularly also geo-strategic findings on the relationship of NATO and the EU with the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia."

Prosecutors say the couple set up a "middle-class existence" to cover up their activity for the secret services.

Andreas Anschlag studied engineering and worked in the car industry while Heidrun was a housewife. According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung weekly, even their own daughter had no idea about their double lives.

The couple allegedly passed on documents they obtained from a Dutch official in the foreign ministry between 2008 and 2011.

The court heard that the official, Raymond Valentino Poeteray, obtained several hundred pages of classified, partly secret documents from different Dutch embassies and received more than 72,000 euros ($A92,000).

The accused left the documents in "dead-letter boxes", for example under certain trees, from where they were picked up by employees of the Russian consulate general in the western city of Bonn, according to the federal prosecutor.

Heidrun Anschlag was responsible for communicating with the SVR via short-wave radio, the court heard.

The pair, who allegedly were jointly paid around 100,000 euros a year, communicated with their Moscow masters using text messages via satellite phone or hidden messages in comments in YouTube videos under agreed names, it heard.

In mid-2011, Siegmund said the pair had received orders to withdraw from Germany because of the risk of being exposed and were preparing to do so when they were arrested in October of that year.

They face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty.

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Guardian makes Aussie expansion official

BRITISH daily newspaper The Guardian has announced its intention to launch a digital edition in Australia.

Due to start up this year, the operation aims to capitalise on an existing substantial Australian readership, launch editor Katharine Viner said.

"We already have a large number of Australian readers, who tell us they want more of our on-the-ground reporting, lively commentary and groundbreaking open journalism," Viner said in a statement announcing the venture on Tuesday.

"We will build a small Australian team to cover the issues that really matter to the nation and connect our Australian readers to the Guardian's global network of correspondents and commentators."

The statement said The Guardian already has a global digital audience of about 39 million, of which some 1.3 million are based in Australia, making the nation the masthead's fourth-largest market.

The operation will launch with the help of "founding investor" and chair of not-for-profit news and features website The Global Mail, Graeme Wood.

Outgoing director of editorial policies at the ABC Paul Chadwick will become non-executive director of the Guardian's Australian entity.

"I welcome the contribution to media diversity that the Australian operation of the Guardian will make," the Walkley Award winner said.

"The Guardian, with its long and distinguished tradition of editorial independence and valuable investigations, is a leading innovator in digital news and information.

"Its decision to commit to Australia is cause for optimism that quality journalism will continue to fulfil its democratic function in this era of rapid media change."

Guardian News and Media editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger said the Australian expansion comes as a "natural next step" for the publication, which dates back to 1821 in regional England.

"Our Australian digital edition will not only offer our unique take on Australia, a significant nation both regionally and globally, but will also serve as a base for reporting on, and engaging with, people across Asia," Rusbridger said.

"It will be of real benefit to our global audience, to see how dominant questions of our time - economics, geopolitics, climate change, immigration, media, democracy and more - are being grasped in such an important part of the world."

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West Bank teen killed by Israeli fire

ISRAELI troops have shot dead a Palestinian teenager near the separation barrier in the northern West Bank, Palestinian medical and security sources say.

Samir Ahmed Awad, 17, died after being hit by three bullets during an incident which took place in the West Bank village of Budrus, medical sources and the mayor said.

The shooting took place by a school 200 metres from Israel's separation barrier, where a handful of students had thrown stones at Israeli troops after finishing their exams, Budrus Mayor Mohammed Morar told AFP.

"It was the last day of school and some students threw stones. The soldiers caught him and tried to arrest him, but he escaped so they fired six bullets at him," he said.

Medics said he sustained bullet wounds to the back, head and leg.

An army spokeswoman said troops had "responded" after several Palestinians "approached the security fence near Budrus and damaged it in an attempt to infiltrate Israel" although police said troops had fired in the air after Palestinians threw stones at the barrier.

Several hours later, more than 2000 Palestinians from Budrus and the surrounding villages gathered for the teenager's funeral and protesters threw stones at troops..

In a separate incident, Palestinian medics said troops had shot and injured one person by the nearby village of Deir Nidham who was taken to Israel. The Israeli army had no immediate comment on the incident.

Awad was the fourth Palestinian shot dead in the past five days.

Two Gazan farmers in their early 20s were killed near the border fence with Israel - one on Friday and another on Monday. And on Saturday, a West Bank labourer was shot dead south of Hebron as he tried to cross the security barrier to find work, medics said.

The Gaza deaths were both close to the security fence where Israel maintains a no-go zone, and where troops habitually fire warning shots towards anyone coming within 100 metres of the frontier.

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Ruby avoids testifying in Berlusconi trial

AN Italian court has turned down a request from former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's defence for his trial for underage sex to be suspended until after February elections.

A Moroccan-born exotic dancer at the centre of the case, however, will not be testifying after Berlusconi's lawyers said they were taking her off their list of witnesses for the defence.

Berlusconi, who has launched his sixth election bid in two decades, is accused of paying for sex with Karima El-Mahroug in 2010 at his mansion near Milan when she was just 17 and he was the prime minister.

The 20-year-old, who used the working name "Ruby the Heart Stealer", would have been testifying in court for the first time.

The curvaceous brunette arrived in a black coat looking demure amid a scrum of photographers and cameramen outside the courtroom in Milan on Monday.

Judges said her written testimony, in which she referred to wild "Bunga Bunga" parties hosted by Berlusconi, will still be considered in the case.

Court attendance by El-Mahroug had been in doubt after she missed two previous hearings in December saying she was on a long holiday in Mexico.

The trial is only the latest in a series of legal proceedings against the irrepressible media tycoon, who has managed to avoid any definitive convictions.

Making his request for the trial to be suspended, lawyer Niccolo Ghedini said this was to avoid the proceedings being "exploited" for political ends.

But prosecutor Ilda Boccassini said: "I ask that this trial be allowed to go ahead because a trial cannot be suspended because of a campaign."

Elections "are not a legal question to be considered by this court", she said.

Italians take to the polls on February 24-25 and the trial is headed for a verdict next month.

Prosecutors have accused the defence of deliberately trying to draw out the sex trial to avoid a verdict before the election.

Berlusconi has risen in the ratings since taking to the airwaves with his campaign but some observers say a conviction could end his career.

He faces up to three years in prison on the sex charge as the age of consent in Italy is only 14, but sex with an under-18 prostitute is a crime.

He is also accused of abusing his official powers by pressuring police to release El-Mahroug when she was arrested for petty theft - a charge that carries a maximum prison sentence of 12 years.

His defence says Berlusconi thought El-Mahroug was a niece of then Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and wanted to avoid a diplomatic incident.

The 76-year-old, who is also appealing a one-year prison sentence for tax fraud, is unlikely to go to prison even if convicted since sentencing guidelines in Italy are very lenient for over-70s.

Berlusconi denies having sex with El-Mahroug, saying he only gave her money so she could set up a beauty parlour and avoid prostituting herself.

"I never had an intimate relationship of any kind with her," he said in October in his second appearance at the trial, which began in April 2011.

"I was sure she was 24, as she herself said," Berlusconi said.

He said the soirees she attended were "burlesque contests" and "elegant dinner parties".

According to transcripts of her questioning by investigators leaked in the Italian press, El-Mahroug said Berlusconi enjoyed lap dances from naked girls at parties that he called "Bunga Bunga" - a term that has since become notorious.

El-Mahroug has also denied a liaison with Berlusconi but was recorded in a leaked telephone wiretap telling a friend that he had said to her: "Ruby I'll give you anything you want, I'll turn you into gold, just hide everything."

El-Mahroug has said ran away from her immigrant family in Sicily when she was just 14 after suffering physical abuse at the hands of her father.

According to some reports she was then spotted by one of Berlusconi's ageing cronies at a beauty contest and was called to entertain the prime minister.

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Firefighters set for more NSW fire battles

FIREFIGHTERS in central western NSW will continue to battle a large 40,000 hectare bushfire on Tuesday that has destroyed at least 33 homes.

The fire in the Warrumbungle National Park has led to evacuations from the nearby town of Coonabarabran, and has also claimed 50 farm sheds.

It is burning in a northerly direction in the Bugaldie area, the RFS said on Tuesday.

Acting Premier Andrew Stoner said on Monday a wind change had removed the threat to Coonabarabran, but the fire could still threaten settlements to the north of the national park.

Additional RFS crews are being deployed to the area ahead of deteriorating weather conditions later in the week.

The RFS said another fire was burning northeast of Coonabarabran along the Newell Highway but was not threatening properties.

The bushfires were among 146 blazes burning across the state, which were being tackled by almost 800 firefighters, 208 trucks and 78 aircraft.

So far the state's bushfires have scorched more than 500,000 hectares of bush, scrub and grass - as much land as the greater Sydney basin, RFS spokeswoman Laura Ryan told AAP.

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Taronga elephant attack review complete

TARONGA Zoo is set to release its findings after an investigation into an elephant attack that nearly crushed a zoo keeper to death.

Lucy Melo spent 12 days in a Sydney hospital in October last year after she was pinned to a bollard by the two-year-old elephant calf, Pathi Harn, formerly known as Mr Shuffles, during a routine training exercise.

She was conscious when paramedics arrived, but lapsed into unconsciousness and had a cardiac arrest for about five minutes.

After a spell of convalescence at Sydney's Royal North Shore Hospital, Ms Melo was given the all clear to return home.

The Taronga Zoo Life Sciences Division conducted an investigation into the events surrounding the attack, and will release its findings on Tuesday morning.

Shortly after the attack, an animal behaviour expert told AAP that Mr Shuffles may have been testing Ms Melo's authority.

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Toyota regains global auto sales crown

TOYOTA has regained the global sales crown lost when the 2011 Japanese tsunami devastated its supplies as US rival General Motors' share of the global market shrank.

Toyota first overtook GM as the world's biggest carmaker in 2008, a position GM had held for 77 years in a row.

A year later, GM was forced to restructure under bankruptcy protection and has shed a number of unprofitable brands.

While the largest US automaker is once again making record profits, its sales have been hit by a deep downturn in Europe, the reduction in its offerings and a decision not to chase market share with costly incentives and low-margin fleet sales.

GM said its share of the global auto market fell 0.4 points to 11.9 per cent in 2012 despite sales that grew 2.9 per cent to 9.2 million vehicles.

It has hung onto the No.2 spot in worldwide sales, but German rival VW - which aspires to be the world's biggest automaker by 2018 - is not far behind with sales up 11 per cent in 2012 to 9.07 million.

Toyota maintains a much larger lead and has forecast its 2012 sales will jump 22 per cent to 9.7 million vehicles.

"Last year was a breakout year for us in a number of ways," said Jim Lentz, head of Toyota Motor Sales USA.

While it's great to be back on top again, Lentz said: "It's not that big of a deal."

"I don't really look at the global sales crown very much," he told AFP on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show.

"I'm sure we'll have a cup of coffee and say wasn't that great but by lunch we'll have forgotten about it and be back to business."

While Toyota also set new records for vehicle production, sales and vehicle launches in the United States last year, Lentz said the key measure is how the company connects with customers.

"The important number is how we're doing with retail customers," Lentz said, noting that the Toyota brand was the No.1 US retailer in 2012 as sales grew 27 per cent.

The group's total US sales topped two million vehicles and captured 14.4 per cent of the US market, placing it in second place behind GM's fleet-fuelled 17.9 per cent stake.

GM's international operations - Asia-Pacific, Africa and the Middle East - posted the biggest gains, with sales up 10.1 per cent at 3.6 million while its share was flat at 9.5 per cent.

Sales fell 8.2 per cent in Europe to 1.6 million vehicles, while GM's share narrowed by 0.2 points to 8.5 per cent, the biggest US automaker said in a statement.

North American sales rose 3.2 per cent to just over three million, though GM's share of its home market fell 1.5 points to 16.9 per cent.

Sales in South America shrank 1.9 per cent to just over a million vehicles, while GM's share of the region fell 0.8 points to 18 per cent.

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Style, luxury, performance at US auto show

STAND-OUT styling, performance and luxury dominates the Detroit auto show as carmakers jostle for position amid booming sales and renewed optimism as the US economy rebounds from a deep downturn.

"Wow, what a difference three years make," Fred Diaz, head of Chrysler's Ram brand said as he accepted the truck of the year award for the Ram 1500 pickup truck.

GM, which like Chrysler was restructured under bankruptcy protection in 2009, was awarded the car of the year for its Cadillac ATS sedan.

"The mood is going to be pretty good," said Dave Sergeant, an analyst with JD Power. "The industry is coming off a reasonably good year and this year should be even better."

The Detroit Three carmakers are raking in huge profits again after years of painful restructuring and a renewed focus on the product side of their business.

Their Asian and European counterparts are also investing heavily in the United States, as they jostle for position in the highly competitive market and look for a place to grow sales amid a slowdown in China and Brazil and the collapse of European demand.

"The product is the best consumers have seen in a long time," Jesse Toprak, an analyst with the automotive site TrueCar.com, told AFP.

GM's new Corvette was the most hotly anticipated and select journalists were given a sneak preview at a lavish preview on Sunday night.

The muscular and sculpted Corvette Stingray shares a name with the iconic 1963 model but is an entirely new vehicle, sharing only two parts with the previous generation Corvette.

"The soul of our company is sitting right here in Corvette," GM North America president Mark Reuss said.

"This car is the reason I work at GM."

Daimler also offered a sneak peak at an entirely new car, the compact, stylish - and lower priced - Mercedes CLA coupe, which is aimed squarely at the youth market.

"The CLA is a style rebel," Mercedes design chief Gordon Wagener said.

"The dynamic design idiom is manifested in breath-taking proportions, muscular, flowing contours and sculptural surfaces."

Both vehicles will compete with luxury sports cars from Audi, BMW and a new muscle car from specialty carmaker Shelby at the show.

Pickup truck fans also have plenty of new models to feast their eyes upon, with the new Chevy Silverado and a concept (or pre-production) truck from Ford ahead of the 2015 launch of the next version of its top-selling F-series.

Honda will be testing out a concept for a smaller four-wheel drive or sport utility vehicle, as will Ford's luxury Lincoln brand. There will be plenty of new hulks on the floor as well, especially from Chrysler's Jeep and Dodge brands.

And even the more downmarket vehicles are going to be decked out with features once reserved for luxury brands, such as collision avoidance technology and heated side mirrors.

"Those features tend to be fairly profitable because once they get into the mass market they're not that expensive to install and consumers will pay fairly well for them," said Jeremy Anwyl, vice-chairman of automotive site Edmunds.com.

Drivers looking for improved fuel economy will have a wide range of options as automakers push hybrids, diesel and electric vehicles, and boost the efficiency of standard petrol engines ahead of tough new government standards.

But with hybrids and other alternative powertrains still making up only about three per cent of the US market, carmakers are going to have to work harder on their green car pitches.

There is hope that younger buyers could help push demand for green cars to the point where it would have a significant impact on fuel consumption.

"While they're not necessarily going to gravitate to and make a buying decision because of 'green', they have a preference towards new technologies," said Joe Vitale, an auto analyst with Deloitte.

"We think this generation may be the generation that creates a tipping point to an electrified world."

More than 50 new models will be revealed on Monday and Tuesday as automakers vie for the attention of some 6000 journalists from around the world.

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Victorian firefighter dies in Tasmania

A 60-YEAR-OLD Victorian firefighter has been found dead near a hamlet on the Tasman Peninsula where he was conducting a backburn.

Police say the body of the man, part of a Victorian contingent assisting the Tasmania Fire Service, was found near Taranna.

He was preparing for backburning operations at Waterfall Bluff, which is about two to three kilometres from the active fire edge.

Workers were sent to the area after the man failed to make a scheduled call-in.

Police say there appears to be no suspicious circumstances at this stage.

The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) said the dead man was from Gippsland.

A DSE statement from its secretary Greg Wilson and chief fire officer Alan Goodwin said the firefighter's family had been notified and no further personal details were available at this time.

They had offered their sincere condolences to the family and support had been offered.

DSE representatives have been sent to Tasmania to support crew members still on the ground.

Police are investigating the death and will prepare a report for the coroner.

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Steam train chugs through London's Tube

TOURISTS waiting for their train to Madame Tussauds in London have been treated to an unusual sight: a 19th century steam engine chugging down the tracks.

Officials sent the Met Locomotive 1, built in 1898, down London's Metropolitan Line to mark the 150th anniversary of the Tube network, the world's oldest.

Hundreds of train fans, costume-wearing enthusiasts and curious onlookers gathered at platforms and bridges across the city to watch as the locomotive travelled non-stop from Kensington Olympia station in the west to Moorgate station in central London.

London Mayor Boris Johnson was among the invited passengers aboard the historic black-and-red locomotive. He said the trip was "romantic", describing "thick clouds of white steam going past and then bits of soot coming through from the engine".

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Beijing choked by third day of smog

BEIJING has endured a third day of pollution at hazardous levels, as authorities warned a thick cloud of smog may not lift from the Chinese capital until the middle of the week.

While those venturing outside wore face masks, dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei went one step further, posting pictures of himself on Twitter in a gas mask.

As the dense smog shrouded large swathes of northern China, flights were cancelled and traffic delayed as visibility was reduced to 100 metres in some areas.

The dangerously poor air quality was highlighted by a steady stream of news broadcasts on state television, many of which warned residents against venturing outside.

The pollution also provoked China's huge number of microbloggers to take to the internet, with some high-profile web users calling for a re-evaluation of China's rampant modernisation.

Rapid economic growth has led to a dramatic increase in the consumption of coal and clogged city streets with cars.

"The foreign media is laughing at us. I agree with their laughter," said Hu Xijin, the editor of the state-run Global Times newspaper on Weibo, China's version of Twitter.

"This is a warning to the Government and Beijing's citizens. We have to think about what kind of modernisation we want and how to manage it."

Hu said the pollution issue would be on the front page of his newspaper on Monday.

Beijing-based Ai, 55, an outspoken critic of China's communist government, posted three pictures of himself on Twitter standing against a white background wearing a gas mask, his beard frizzing out beneath. But he did not make any verbal comment.

Beijing's municipal environment warning centre issued its second alert in two days, warning people to avoid outdoor physical activity.

The centre also urged government officials to set an example to other residents, by not using their cars.

Air quality in Beijing showed small airborne particles with a diameter small enough to deeply penetrate the lungs at a reading as high as 993 micrograms per cubic metre on Saturday evening, the warning centre said.

The World Health Organisation says the figure for such particles, known as PM2.5, should ideally be no more than 25 micrograms per cubic metre.

High levels have been linked to health problems including respiratory disease, heart disease and lung cancer.

Official PM2.5 figures have only been monitored in China's major cities since the beginning of last year.

The lack of official data makes it difficult to compare the recent smog with previous cases of pollution, said Ma Jun, director of the Beijing-based Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs.

"But it is interesting to see that residents have been warned about the dangers of pollution by official media," Ma told AFP.

"This has never happened before, and is a result of the transparency that we now have with the figures."

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French strike Islamist bases in Mali

THE French air force has struck the northern Malian city of Gao, which had been controlled by the al-Qaeda offshoot MUJAO, destroying Islamist bases and forcing the insurgents to flee, residents say.

"There were dozens of strikes in and around Gao. All Islamist bases have been destroyed," a resident told AFP by phone.

Another witness said all Islamist fighters had been forced to flee by the air strikes.

Meanwhile witnesses said French fighter jets also struck a camp used by Islamist militants in Lere, about 150 kilometres north of Konna, a key central town that government troops recaptured with French aerial backing on Friday.

"The Lere camp, which was abandoned by the Malian army and had been used by the Islamists, was completely razed by air raids," a local official said, speaking from Mauritania where he took refuge.

Several other refugees said French air raids also struck weapons and ammunition depots used by Ansar Dine (Defenders of Faith), a group whose leaders are connected to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

France has said its intervention was to stop a southward advance by Islamist insurgents that threatened the capital Bamako.

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Depardieu slams Russia protest movement

FRENCH actor turned Russian national Gerard Depardieu has accused President Vladimir Putin's opposition of lacking vision and defended the Kremlin's treatment of the Pussy Riot protest punks.

Depardieu received a Russian passport at a January 6 dinner with Putin that followed a bitter and very public fight with the French authorities over a disputed new tax on the super-rich.

The screen star has denied seeking to profit from Russia's flat 13 per cent tax on incomes and has never specified whether he intends to live in Russia long term.

But he has been feted as a hero by Russian state media for offering the Kremlin a chance to highlight the benefits of its policies in the face of broad criticism of Putin abroad.

Both Putin and Depardieu refer to each other as friends and the French actor offered a severe criticism of those who oppose the Russian leader's 13-year rule.

"The Russian opposition has no program - it has nothing," he told Rossiya state television's weekly analytical program in comments carried by local news agencies.

"Unfortunately, the masses are stupid. Only the individual is beautiful," Depardieu was quoted as saying in remarks translated to Russian from French.

Russia's first mass post-Soviet rallies emerged a year ago in response to a fraud-riddled December parliamentary poll in which the ruling party barely hung on to power.

The opposition held a series of subsequent protests that reached up to 120,000 people at their height.

But Putin's thumping presidential return in May cast a pall over the movement and just over 20,000 turned out for a march held on Sunday in protest against a new law banning adoptions by American families.

Depardieu said the opposition had "very smart people" such as former chess champion Garry Kasparov in its ranks.

"But that is good for chess and not much else," said the star of films such as Cyrano de Bergerac and the Asterix & Obelix series.

He also heavily criticised the anti-Putin protest stunt that the Pussy Riot all-female punk band performed last year in Russia's main cathedral.

Two band members are serving two-year sentences in Russia's notorious manual labour camps.

Depardieu almost directly repeated Putin's argument that the band members would have been treated much more severely had they gone to an Arab country and performed in a mosque.

"Imagine if these ladies walked into a mosque; they would not come out alive," said the actor.

"But when I say such things in France, I am considered an idiot."

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