Assad 'will take part' in 2014 Syria poll

BASHAR al-Assad will take part in Syria's next presidential election in 2014, Iran's foreign minister says.

"In the next election, President Assad, like others, will take part, and the Syrian people will elect whomever they want," Ali Akbar Salehi said at a news conference with his visiting Syrian counterpart, Walid al-Muallem.

Salehi also said that "the official position of Iran is that... Assad will remain the legitimate president until the next... election" in 2014.

Muallem arrived on Saturday in Tehran - a close ally of Damascus - for talks aimed at ending the nearly two-year conflict in Syria that the United Nations says has killed at least 70,000 people and is tearing the country apart.

His visit comes after a week of intense international diplomacy aimed at ending the bloodshed.

Salehi threw Iran's weight behind Damascus's call this week for dialogue with the armed opposition, calling the initiative a "positive step," but reiterated that Assad's regime has "no choice" but to keep fighting rebels.

"We believe that the crisis has no military solution and only a Syrian political one," said the Iranian minister.

"Iran firstly wants a stop to the bloodshed but the Syrian government has no choice but to fight against the terrorists and we cannot ask the Syrian government not to do so and leave them alone," he added.

Muallem, meanwhile, condemned the announcement by US Secretary of State John Kerry on Thursday that Washington would provide $US60 million ($A59 million) in "non-lethal" assistance to support the Syrian political opposition.

"When the US (says it has) allocated $US60 million to the opposition and this opposition is killing people, I don't understand this initiative... are there any weapons that do not kill people? Who are you kidding?" Muallem asked.

He repeated calls for pressure to be exerted on Turkey and Qatar, among the main supporters of the rebels alongside Western countries.

While in Tehran, Muallem is also due to meet the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, Saeed Jalili, Mehr news agency reported.

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Kenya prepares to go to the polls

KENYA'S top two presidential candidates have held their final rallies before large and raucous crowds.

However, it was an interview with a British newspaper that upended the campaign's final days, with the prime minister quoted as saying violence could be worse than 2007-08 if he loses because of rigging.

Monday's vote is the first nationwide election since Kenya's December 2007 vote devolved into tribe-on-tribe violence that killed more than 1000 people. Kenyan leaders and community groups have been working to ensure that massive violence isn't repeated, but fears linger that bloodshed will reappear.

The Financial Times in a story on Saturday quoted Prime Minister Raila Odinga - one of the two top presidential candidates - as saying he knows his opponents are planning to rig the vote and "I have warned them the consequences may be worse than last time round. The people will not stomach another rigging."

The paper also quotes him as saying that if he loses it will because of "blackmail and intimidation."

Odinga, in a statement on Saturday, denied talking about violence in the interview and said he felt "absolutely slandered."

The Financial Times did not release an audio recording of the interview.

Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta - Odinga's top challenger - called Odinga's words "dangerous and inflammatory" and he called on Odinga to retract them.

"We have in public, and our words and deeds throughout this election - all of us presidential candidates - committed to campaign in this election in peace, and just as importantly, to accept the result in peace," Kenyatta said.

"So then why is it that at the most delicate time in the election campaign Raila sought to use such dangerous, inflammatory words? In the interests of the people of Kenya he must publicly reject what he has said to this newspaper."

Kenyatta and his running mate - William Ruto - both face charges at the International Criminal Court over allegations they instigated the 2007-08 violence. If Kenyatta wins, he may be forced to spend much of presidency before The Hague-based court.

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Syria army captures key Aleppo road

THE Syrian army says it has seized control of a key road linking the central province of Hama to Aleppo international airport, scene of weeks of fierce battles with rebel fighters.

The capture of the road will allow the army to deploy fresh reinforcements and send supplies to the area near the airport, where fighting has raged since mid-February.

"In collaboration with honourable citizens, troops carried out a special operation and restored security and stability to villages on the airport road," the military said in a statement published on Saturday by state news agency SANA.

"This achievement shows the commitment of our forces to continue to fulfil their sacred national duty, repelling killings and aggression targeting our people and our country," said the statement.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed the report and said the army will now be able to deploy fresh troops and supplies in the area and the nearby Nayrab military airport.

Rebels launched last month an all-out assault on several airports in Aleppo province, including the international airport and Nayrab, which are located southeast of Syria's second-largest city.

They have since captured Al-Jarrah military airport as well as several other air defence complexes and nearby checkpoints.

But Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said that if the army succeeds in keeping control over the road "it will change the course of battles" around Aleppo and Nayrab airports "and even Aleppo", Syria's second city.

While rebels have taken over large swathes of territory and a number of key military garrisons in Aleppo province, fighting in the city has been at stalemate for months.

Abdel Rahman said that clashes around the airport road continued despite the army's capture.

Aleppo international airport has been closed since the start of the year.

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Bangladesh clashes over death sentence

DEMONSTRATORS protesting the death penalty given to an Islamic political party leader have clashed with Bangladeshi security forces for a third straight day, killing two people and injuring about a dozen.

Delwar Hossain Sayedee, one of the top leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami, the country's largest Islamic party, was sentenced to death on Thursday by a war crimes tribunal for atrocities committed during Bangladesh's 1971 war of separation from Pakistan.

The sentence triggered rioting across the country, killing at least 46 people, including the two in the latest fighting, authorities said on Saturday.

Sayedee, 73, is the third defendant to be convicted by the tribunal, which was set up in 2010 by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government.

Another seven top leaders of Jamaat, including its chief, Matiur Rahman Nizami, are on trial on war crimes charges.

Jamaat campaigned against Bangladesh's nine-month independence war and formed some auxiliary forces to help the Pakistani troops, but denies committing atrocities.

Bangladesh says the war left three million people dead, 200,000 women raped and forced millions to flee to neighbouring India.

On Saturday, security forces used tear gas to stop Jamaat supporters from smashing vehicles and blocking roads in Chittagong district, police said. The area is 216km southeast of Dhaka, the capital.

Two men were killed and about a dozen injured in the fighting, said a local police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Dhaka's private television stations Ekattor TV and Somoy TV reported that Jamaat supporters erected road blocks and attacked homes of government supporters in parts of the country.

Jamaat is an ally of Bangladesh's main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which is led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, and was a partner in Zia's government from 2001 to 2006.

Zia says the war crimes trials are politically motivated to target the opposition, an allegation denied by the government.

Jamaat and Zia's party have called for a three-day nationwide general strike starting Sunday.

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Aust troops 'kill two Afghan children'

AUSTRALIAN soldiers in southern Afghanistan have shot dead two children tending cattle, officials say, in an incident likely to escalate tensions over the conduct of international troops.

Civilian casualties caused by NATO-led forces have been one of the most contentious issues in the campaign against Taliban insurgents, often triggering widespread public anger and harsh criticism from President Hamid Karzai.

The two children, aged seven and eight, were killed on Thursday morning as Australian soldiers fought back after a Taliban attack in Oruzgan province, provincial governor Amir Mohammad Akhundzada told AFP on Saturday.

"The children were killed by Australian troops, it was a mistaken incident, not a deliberate one," Akhundzada said, adding that insurgents had first shot at a helicopter carrying Australian soldiers.

NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) expressed its "deep regret" over the children's deaths and said it remained committed to minimising civilian casualties.

"I offer my personal apology and condolences to the family of the boys who were killed," General Joseph Dunford, commander of ISAF, said in a statement.

"I am committed to ensuring we do the right thing for the families of those we harmed, as well as for the community in which they lived. We take full responsibility for this tragedy."

ISAF said the troops had opened fire at what they believed were insurgent forces. It added that a joint Afghan-ISAF team visited the district of Shahidi Hassas in Oruzgan on Saturday to investigate and meet with local leaders.

Last month, 10 Afghan civilians, including five children, were killed by a NATO airstrike in Kunar province.

Following the attack, Karzai barred Afghan forces from seeking air support from foreign troops in a bid to curb civilian casualties.

Karzai has regularly lashed out at senior ISAF leaders, demanding that civilian deaths must be avoided and saying the killings have worsened relations between his government and the international coalition.

Previous civilian deaths caused by ISAF forces, especially those involving children, have brought protesters onto the streets of Kabul chanting slogans against the presence of international troops in Afghanistan.

Security responsibility for Oruzgan, a restive province where Taliban insurgents have been holding sway, is being handed over to Afghan forces.

The bulk of Australia's 1550 troops are based in the province, and are focused on training and mentoring Afghan soldiers ahead of the withdrawal of NATO combat troops by the end of next year.

Comment was being sought from Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

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Eight S.Africa cops arrested over killing

SOUTH Africa's police watchdog has arrested eight policemen on murder charges linked to the death of a Mozambican taxi driver who died in custody after being dragged by a police van.

"Eight policemen have been arrested by IPID at Benoni police station," Moses Dlamini, spokesman for the Independent Police Investigation Directorate, told AFP on Friday.

Twenty-seven-year-old Mozambican taxi driver Mido Macia was filmed being manhandled, handcuffed and dragged by a police van through the streets to a police station east of Johannesburg.

Just over two hours later he was found dead in custody.

A post mortem examination found the cause of death was head injuries with internal bleeding.

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) then opened its murder investigation.

South African President Jacob Zuma earlier condemned the killing as "horrific, disturbing and unacceptable".

Footage of the incident spread quickly online and sent shockwaves through the country, shining a spotlight yet again on the conduct of South Africa's much maligned police force.

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US stocks drop as budget cuts loom

US stocks have opened lower as Washington appeared headed for sharp mandatory spending cuts that could slow the economy in the wake of failed budget talks in Washington.

Five minutes into trade on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 74.42 points (0.53 per cent) to 13,980.07.

The broad-based S&P 500 declined by 9.32 points (0.62 per cent) to 1505.36, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite declined 20.07 (0.64 per cent) to 3140.12.

US markets are bracing for $US85 billion ($A83 billion) in spending cuts after President Obama and congressional Republicans failed to compromise on a less austere deficit reduction program.

Also, the Eurostat data agency said unemployment in the 17-nation eurozone rose to 11.9 per cent in January. An EU official called the results "unacceptable" and "a tragedy for Europe."

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Death of Mali's al-Qaeda chief 'credible'

THE United States finds reports that one of the most notorious leaders of al-Qaeda's North African wing has been killed in fighting with French troops "very credible", an official says.

Speaking on condition of anonymity because the report has not been formally confirmed, the US official said that if Abdelhamid Abou Zeid was indeed slain in Mali "it would be a significant blow to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb".

"We find the reports very credible," he said.

Algeria's independent Ennahar TV reported this week that Abou Zeid, a senior leader among the Islamist fighters of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), had been killed in northern Mali along with 40 other Islamist militants.

France has deployed troops to the area, backed by Chadian and Malian government forces, and has carried out airstrikes.

But French officials reacted with caution to the report, which is still being investigated by the military on the ground.

Algeria's El Khabar newspaper reported on Friday that authorities there had carried out DNA tests to try to confirm Abou Zeid's death.

"The security services are comparing DNA taken from two close relatives of Abou Zeid with samples taken from the remains of a body supplied by French forces," it said.

But French government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem warned that reports of his death were so far unconfirmed.

French and African troops are hunting rebels they dislodged from northern Mali's main cities in a rapid campaign over recent weeks.

Abou Zeid, a 46-year-old whose real name is Mohamed Ghedir, was seen in the cities of Timbuktu and Gao after the Islamists took control last year and his presence stoked fears the region could become a haven for extremists.

An Algerian born near the border with Libya, Abou Zeid is a former smuggler who embraced radical Islam in the 1990s and became one of AQIM's key leaders.

He is suspected of being behind a series of kidnappings, including of British national Edwin Dyer, who was abducted in Niger and executed in 2009, and of 78-year-old French aid worker Michel Germaneau, killed in 2010.

Abou Zeid was also believed to be holding a number of Western hostages, including four French citizens kidnapped in Niger in 2010.

He is thought to have about 200 seasoned fighters under his command.

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New life starts with TV, snooze

Pope Benedict XVI blesses faithful during his weekly general audience at the Vatican. Source: AFP

Faithful watch a giant screen showing Pope Benedict XVI in St Peter's Square on the day of his last public appearance as pontiff. (AP Photo/Dmitry Lovetsky) Source: AP

BENEDICT XVI has begun his life of retirement by watching some television, getting a good night's sleep and reciting the rosary, the Vatican says.

After bidding the faithful a final emotional farewell on Thursday, the Pope had dinner and then watched television news broadcasts about his departure.

"He really appreciated the coverage," spokesman Federico Lombardi said on Friday, adding: "A Pope can also appreciate good media work in his heart".

Afterwards, the Pope Emeritus paced up and down a long reception room, the Hall of the Swiss, overlooking Albano Lake in his new temporary residence of Castel Gandolfo near Rome in the final moments of his eight-year pontificate.

"He then retired for prayer and rest," said Mr Lombardi, who still referred to the ex-pontiff as "Pope" on the first day of a popeless interim for the Catholic Church ahead of a conclave this month to elect a successor.

Mr Lombardi said the Pope had brought a few books with him on theological and historical themes including one titled Hans Urs von Balthasar's Theological Aesthetics: A Model for Post-Critical Biblical Interpretation.

The Vatican spokesman also revealed that Benedict - an accomplished pianist - has been playing the piano more frequently in the run-up to the resignation although the piano remained silent on the night of his departure.

"The Pope slept really well. This morning he celebrated mass," Mr Lombardi said, adding that later in the day Benedict would probably have lunch and recite the rosary on a quiet walk in the gardens of Castel Gandolfo palace.

While Benedict rested Catholic cardinals from around the world begun preparing for a conclave to elect a new pope.

Letters were due to be sent inviting the cardinals to take part in meetings next week that will set the date for a conclave under Michelangelo's frescos in the Sistine Chapel.

The meetings - known as "general congregations" - will also be a way of vetting possible candidates to be leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics at a difficult time for the Church.

The conclave is to start in the first half of March.

After an emotional final day as pope on Thursday, world newspapers paid tribute to the 85-year-old German pope's historic decision, which could set a precedent for ageing popes in the future.

"Farewells made with courage, humility and grace," ran a headline on an editorial in the German conservative daily Die Welt, while top-selling tabloid Bild said: "Our pope has retired."

"This is how great popes go," said Italian daily Il Messaggero, hailing the "greatness of his humility, the simple step of a pilgrim".

La Repubblica daily said the 85-year-old Benedict's troubled eight-year reign had ended abruptly "not with an apocalypse, but with the sigh or relief of a man who became man again."

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State, at centre with red skull cap, officially takes over the vacant See as camerlengo, chamberlain, before sealing Pope Benedict XVI's apartment, after Benedict left the Vatican. (AP Photo/L'Osservatore Romano, ho) Source: AP

Benedict's final hours as pope were filled with ritual and emotion, from the pealing bells of St Peter's Basilica to the Swiss Guards who shut the giant doors of his new temporary residence of Castel Gandolfo near Rome to mark the moment that Benedict was no longer pope.

The Vatican flag flying over the palace was lowered as the Swiss Guards - the papacy's military corps since the 15th century - formally completed their mission to protect the pope.

"Long live the pope!" a crowd outside chanted as a clock chimed the hour that Benedict said he would step down in an announcement earlier this month that stunned the world.

"I will no longer be pope but a simple pilgrim," the pope told supporters earlier after arriving at Castel Gandolfo from the Vatican in a helicopter that flew as the bells of St Peter's rang out.

A placard in Rome pays tribute to the papcy of Benedict XVI. AFP HOTO / GABRIEL BOUYS Source: AFP

German Chancellor Angela Merkel attended a mass in Berlin to mark the pope's last day in office and at a special mass in New York's Saint Patrick's Cathedral hundreds of worshippers paid homage.

Many ordinary Catholics hope the next pope will breathe new life into a Church hit hard by rising secularism in the West and discrimination against Christians in some developing countries.

The former pope Benedict will now be known as "Roman pontiff emeritus" - a completely new title created especially for this new situation.

He will still be addressed as "Your Holiness".

In a last tweet sent from his @pontifex Twitter account as he left the Vatican, the pope said: "Thank you for your love and support."

"May you always experience the joy that comes from putting Christ at the centre of your lives."

Benedict is only the second pope to resign in the Church's 2000-year history, and in his final hours as pontiff he took the highly unusual step of pledging allegiance to his successor.

"Among you there is also the future pope to whom I promise my unconditional obedience and reverence," the pope said to 144 cardinals in the ornate Clementine Hall in the Vatican.

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European stocks drop

EUROPE'S main stock markets have fallen as investors fretted over Italy's post-election deadlock, poor economic data, looming US budget cutbacks and a raft of company results.

London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of leading companies dropped 0.57 per cent to 6324.85 points approaching midday on Friday in the British capital.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 shed 1.27 per cent to 7643.44 points and in Paris the CAC 40 fell 1.19 per cent to 3678.85.

Milan's FTSE Mib index lost 2.0 per cent to 15,602.66 points as rising Italian unemployment numbers compounded worries about ongoing political uncertainty following inconclusive elections earlier this week.

Madrid's IBEX 35 retreated 1.27 per cent to 8,125.40 points after gloomy news that Spain's manufacturing sector continued to shrink in February.

The euro fell to $US1.3010 from $1.3062 late in New York on Thursday, having briefly moved below the $1.30 level. Gold prices declined to $1570 an ounce on the London Bullion Market from $1588.50 on Thursday.

Fears were mounting over the looming $85-billion in indiscriminate, across-the-board cuts known as the sequester, which are due to kick in later on Friday in the United States.

The impending spending cuts also sent US stocks down, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.53 per cent to 13,980.07 points in early trading.

The broad-based S&P 500 declined by 0.62 per cent to 1505.36, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite declined 0.64 per cent to 3,140.12.

Official data also painted a far from encouraging picture of the European economy, with unemployment running at record and "unacceptable" highs in the eurozone while inflation fell sharply, highlighting the weakness of consumer demand.

"European markets are under pressure, slapped by a combination of uncertainties over Italy's political outlook, the failure to avert the US sequester by lawmakers in Washington and damp economic data," said analyst Ishaq Siddiqi at trading group ETX Capital.

Equities had risen in Europe on Thursday as dealers brushed aside lower-than-expected US economic growth to focus on upbeat jobs data in the world's biggest economy, dealers said.

However, investor sentiment was hit on Friday also by weak data in China - and in the 17-nation eurozone where unemployment rose to a record 11.9 per cent in January from 11.8 per cent in December, with nearly 19 million people out of work.

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Pessimists live longer, study shows

OLDER people who look on the darker side of life tend to live longer than optimists, who in turn face an increased risk of illness and mortality, a new study by a German research institute has found.

Researchers in Germany and Switzerland found older people who believe their life satisfaction will be above average in future face a 10 per cent higher mortality risk or are more likely to develop physical health problems, the DIW think-tank said.

"It is possible that a pessimistic outlook leads elderly people to look after themselves and their health better and take greater precautions against risks," said one of the researchers, Frieder Lang.

"It seems that older people who have a low expectation of how contented they will be in future lead longer and healthier lives than those who believe their future is rosy," DIW said.

The study was conducted by a team from the Friedrich Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuernberg, the Berlin-based DIW as well as Humboldt University in Berlin and the University of Zurich.

They analysed long-term data compiled between 1993 and 2003 where the same people belonging to three different age groups were asked every year to assess their current level of life satisfaction and how contented they expected to be in five years.

Over the 10-year period the researchers checked with each participant six times whether their expected level of satisfaction tallied with reality five years on.

Results showed 25 per cent of older participants realistically estimated their future contentment, while around 43 per cent underestimated it and 32 per cent overestimated, the DIW said.

Young adults mostly had an unrealistically rosy view of their future while middle-aged people were largely spot on, it said.

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Fukushima cancer risk near plant: WHO

JAPAN'S 2011 Fukushima disaster raised the cancer risk for people living near the atomic plant, but no jump in cases is expected elsewhere, the UN's health agency says, sparking an angry reaction from anti-nuclear campaigners.

Within a 20km perimeter of the plant, rates of thyroid cancer among women who were exposed to radiation as infants were expected to be up to 1.25 per cent, the World Health Organisation said in a report.

This represented a 70 per cent increase over the baseline risk of thyroid cancer over a Japanese woman's lifetime, which is 0.75 per cent, the UN health agency noted.

"In view of the estimated exposure levels, an increased risk of cancer was the potential health impact of greatest relevance," Maria Neira, the WHO's director of public health and environment, told reporters as she launched the report on Thursday.

"Outside the most exposed areas, so outside of Fukushima prefecture, and even in some areas of Fukushima prefecture, the predicted risk remains low and even non-observable. That means we didn't observe any increase in cancer above what we call the natural variation in baseline rates," she explained.

Other forms of cancer also looked set to rise, albeit to a lesser extent, the agency said.

It pointed to a slightly higher risk of breast cancer among women exposed as infants, and of leukaemia among men.

Radiation doses from the stricken plant were not expected to cause an increase in miscarriages, stillbirths and physical and mental conditions that could affect babies born after the accident, the WHO said.

Senior WHO official Angelika Tritscher added: "In neighbouring countries and the rest of the world, the estimated increase in cancer risk is negligible. So there's no additional health risk expected due to the Fukushima accident."

Anti-nuclear campaigners slammed the report.

"The WHO's flawed report leaves its job half done," said Rianne Teule, Greenpeace International's nuclear radiation expert.

"The WHO report is clearly a political statement to protect the nuclear industry and not a scientific one with people's health in mind."

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Scientists link two rats' brains

CREATING a "superbrain" of connected minds, scientists say they have enabled a rat to help a fellow rodent while the animals were a continent apart but connected through brain electrodes.

With electrodes imbedded in its cortex, a rat in a research institute in Natal, Brazil sent signals via the internet to a counterpart at a university lab in Durham, North Carolina, helping the second animal to get a reward.

The exploit opens up the prospect of linking brains among animals to create an "organic computer", said Brazilian neurobiologist Miguel Nicolelis.

It also helps the quest to empower patients stricken with paralysis or locked-in syndrome, he said.

"We established a functional linkage between two brains. We created a superbrain that comprises two brains," Nicolelis said in a phone interview with AFP.

Published in the journal Scientific Reports, Nicolelis' team gave basic training to thirsty rats, who had to recognise lights and operate a lever to get a reward of water.

They then implanted ultra-fine electrodes in the rats' brains, which were linked by a slender overhead cable to a computer.

In a glass tank in Natal, the first rat was the "encoder", its brain sending out a stream of electrical pulses as it figured out the tricks for getting the reward.

The pulses were sent in real time into the cortex of the second rat, or "decoder", which was facing identical apparatus in a tank in North Carolina.

With these prompts from its chum, the decoder rat swiftly found the reward in turn.

This "suggests we could create a brain net, formed of joined-up brains, all interacting", the scientist said, hastening to stress that such experiments would only be conducted on lab animals, not humans.

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Scientists study Richard the Lionheart

FORENSIC scientists say they have delved into the embalmed heart of Richard the Lionheart, finding chemical evidence the remains of England's Crusader king were handled with holy reverence.

Reduced to dust by eight centuries, the heart of the legendary warrior was analysed by modern lab technology.

It indicates the organ was treated with the veneration reserved for a Christian relic, said Philippe Charlier of the Raymond Poincare University Hospital in Garches, near Paris.

"We found things that we didn't expect," said Charlier, one of the world's top historical pathologists.

Medieval embalmers used mercury and tar-like creosote to preserve the heart, then applied frankincense, myrtle, daisy and mint to it so that it would smell sweet, his team found.

The organ was then wrapped in linen and sealed for eternity inside a lead box.

"The frankincense is something we have never seen until now. It is a substance whose use comes directly from divine inspiration," he said in an interview with AFP.

"It was one of the three gifts brought by the Wise Men at Jesus's birth, and it was used by Joseph of Arimathea to help preserve Jesus's body at his death. So using it is a direct reference to Christ."

The probe, reported in the journal Scientific Reports, sheds light on the contemporary status of a king who across Western Europe became the emblem of gallantry.

Through today's prism, though, many historians say the Lionheart was a neglectful king and war mongerer who slaughtered thousands of hostages in his battle to wrest Jerusalem from Saladin.

King Richard I died in 1199 at 41 while fighting the French in Chalus, central France, where he was shot in the left shoulder by a crossbow arrow, reputedly fired by a boy.

He died 12 days later, presumably from septicaemia or gangrene, although some folk tales suggest the arrow was deliberately poisoned.

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S Africa to probe donkey meat scandal

SOUTH Africa has launched an "urgent" investigation into how unlabelled donkey, water buffalo and goat got into meat products sold in supermarkets.

The cabinet requested the probe after reports had created "alarm and panic" after the irregular ingredients were revealed in a university study.

"We will probably begin with the retailers themselves," acting National Consumer Commission commissioner Ebrahim Mohamed told reporters on Thursday.

"All in the supply chain can be held responsible and all will be subject to this investigation."

The study found that over two thirds of meat products tested contained undeclared ingredients.

The DNA-based study was sparked by the horse meat scandal in Europe.

Products will be tested and the commission would be working quickly, said Mohamed.

"We are going to push so that we can get finality on this matter," he said.

Stellenbosch University found that up to 68 per cent of 139 meat samples from shops and butcheries had irregular ingredients, with pork and chicken most often substituted for other meat.

Plant matter was also found in the minced meat, burger patties, sausages and deli and dried meat.

Europe has been battling its own food drama after horsemeat was found in so-called beef ready-made meals and burgers in several countries.

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US stocks flat after mixed goods report

US stocks have opened essentially unchanged after a mixed report on durable goods orders.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 3.87 points (0.03 per cent) to 13,904.00.

The broad-based S&P 500 edged lower by 0.45 point (0.03 per cent) to 1,496.49, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 0.42 (0.01 per cent) to 3,130.07.

The trading came after durable goods orders for January sank by 5.2 per cent because of a big drop in aircraft orders.

However, excluding transportation orders, which can be volatile month-over-month, new durable goods orders were up 1.9 per cent, almost double the increase in December.

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Rusty rolls inland, prompting flood fears

MAJOR flooding is expected as Tropical Cyclone Rusty moves inland from Western Australia's Pilbara coast and puts new towns on red alert.

The eye of the massive storm hit land just before 3pm (WST) on Wednesday, more than 30 hours after the northwest coastline was placed on red alert and residents told to take shelter and stay indoors.

Late on Wednesday night, people in or near communities between Pardoo and Nullagine, including Marble Bar, were on red alert and advised to go to shelter immediately.

Rusty will gradually weaken as it moves inland, but wind gusts of more than 165kmh are expected near the eye of the cyclone overnight on Wednesday, when the threat of a dangerous storm tide remains for the coast between De Grey and Wallal.

Wind gusts of more than 125kmh were expected to reach Marble Bar on Thursday as the cyclone heads that way.

Flooding is expected in the De Grey catchment, and possibly in the Fortescue catchment and in Pilbara coastal streams, on Thursday.

Late on Wednesday, Perth Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre duty forecaster Peter Clegg said the cyclone was moving at a speed of 9kmh in a south to south-easterly direction, but within about 12 hours its speed is expected to double.

He said the cyclone is still a category three, but it is expected to weaken over the next two days.

Port Hedland, which was initially expected to bear the brunt of the storm, appeared to have come off relatively unscathed, after the cyclone took a last minute turn before making landfall.

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Ikea confirms horsemeat in meatballs

IKEA says it is withdrawing more food products from its stores in Europe as tests confirmed the presence of horsemeat in its meatballs.

The Swedish furniture giant pulled its hot dogs in France, Spain, Britain, Ireland and Portugal, and two traditional dishes sold in Sweden: a veal patty known as "wallenbergare" and a cabbage beef casserole.

Earlier this week the company pulled its Ikea-brand one-kilogram bags of frozen meatballs off its shelves and withdrew meatballs from its restaurants in 25 countries, primarily in Europe but also in parts of Asia and in the Dominican Republic after Czech authorities said they found traces of horse DNA in the product.

Ikea said its own tests had so far only shown the presence of horsemeat in its meatballs, but the other products were being removed because they were made by the same supplier as the meatballs, Swedish company Dafgaard.

"Out of several hundred test results we have received ... a handful have shown indications of horsemeat," Ikea spokeswoman Ylva Magnusson said, referring to the meatball tests.

The announcement came just after Dafgaard confirmed it had found horsemeat in several batches of its meatballs.

"The affected batches are all frozen meatballs that have already been blocked from sale," Dafgaard said in a statement.

Swedish news agency TT reported the level of horsemeat found was between one and 10 per cent, which is higher than the level usually considered to be the result of contamination in a slaughterhouse.

Ikea said no decision had been taken about whether it would terminate its contract with Dafgaard.

"For several years we have been working closely with Dafgaard, we view this just as seriously (as they do). Together we are looking at how to proceed," Magnusson said.

The furniture retailer was the latest group to become caught up in a Europe-wide scandal over horsemeat in food products that erupted in January when horse DNA was detected in beefburgers in Britain and Ireland.

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Britain set to cull thousands of badgers

BRITAIN is set to cull up to 5,000 badgers in a bid to combat tuberculosis in cattle which has outraged animal welfare groups, after two pilot schemes were given the green light.

The culls will see 70 per cent of the black and white animals killed in two areas of southwest England - Gloucestershire and west Somerset - after the Natural England government agency approved the pilots.

Ministers say culls are needed as bovine TB, which spreads from badgers to livestock, costs farmers and the taxpayer millions of pounds every year.

"Bovine TB is spreading at an alarming rate and causing real devastation to our beef and dairy industry," Environment Secretary Owen Paterson told a conference of Britain's National Farmers' Union on Wednesday.

"These pilot culls are just one part of our approach to control and eradicate this dreadful disease."

But opponents claim culling badgers is an inhumane and ineffective way of battling TB.

Britain's biggest animal welfare charity, the RSPCA, described the plans as "senseless".

"All the evidence shows that the answer to the problems of bovine TB in cattle does not lie in a cull that will be ineffective, wasteful and potentially damaging to the welfare of both farm and wild animals," said the charity's chief executive Gavin Grant.

"We care about cattle and badgers alike and have great sympathy for the farmers dealing with the effects of this disease, but killing badgers is not the answer."

The pilot schemes were due to begin late last year but were delayed in October after condemnation by wildlife experts and a high-profile campaign led by Queen guitarist Brian May.

Almost 35,000 cattle were slaughtered in 2012 because of TB infection, according to government figures.

Paterson said the disease had cost the British taxpayer STG500 million ($A744.32 million) in the past 10 years, and costs could reach 1 billion over the next decade if the disease is left unchecked.

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Three dead, 7 hurt in Swiss shooting

A 42-YEAR-OLD employee killed two workmates and wounded seven when he opened fire in a Swiss factory, rocking the small community where the plant is located.

Police said that the gunman, who also died, had worked for more than 10 years at the Kronospan wood panel plant in Menznau, near Lucerne in central Switzerland.

He had no record of making trouble, police and factory officials said, but workmates quoted by Swiss media said he may have been suffering from mental problems since last year.

The man, who was not identified by name, reportedly launched his assault with a handgun at around 9:00 am (1900 AEST) in the plant's canteen.

Police said that he appeared to have aimed deliberately at his victims, rather than spraying shots at random.

Of the seven wounded, six were in a serious condition.

Three helicopters from the Swiss emergency service REGA evacuated four of the wounded to neighbouring hospitals, a spokesman told AFP.

Police would not say how the shooter died and added they were waiting for the results of an autopsy.

"We still don't know what his motives were," Lucerne's police chief Daniel Bussmann told reporters.

Some Swiss media claimed the gunman had fallen out with his employers, with local newspaper Willisauerer Bote noting that Kronospan had last week announced it was cutting production.

Owned by Austrian group Kronospan, the factory is the top employer in Menznau, giving jobs to about 400 people in the community of almost 2,600.

Kronospan underlined that the production cutback was the result of a wood shortage due to bad weather, and that there had been no threat to jobs.

Capozzo said the gunman was known as a very calm individual. "We can't understand what happened," he said.

The national daily Blick said the gunman was a family man who worked as a machine operator at the plant.

The regional newspaper Luzerner Zeitung quoted an unnamed colleague as saying that the man's behaviour over recent months suggested he was having mental problems.

"He changed last year. He talked to himself, or to people who weren't there. And he'd change the subject completely in mid-conversation, so you could barely talk to him any more," the colleague said.

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Qld Health blueprint to be unveiled

PREMIER Campbell Newman is set to inform Queensland Health staff of a shake-up to their sector, addressing them in a live broadcast.

He'll join Health Minister Lawrence Springborg in breaking the news to the 80,000 workers about 10.30am (AEST) on Wednesday.

Mr Springborg detailed some of the plan on Tuesday.

The state's 17 public hospital boards will decide if they can deliver services such as oncology, radiography and catering more efficiently through private contractors but any outsourced services will remain free to the public.

Mr Springborg said reporting would be improved to include hospital-acquired infections, efficiencies, and child and maternal welfare, while each hospital's performance would be easily comparable.

The Sunshine Coast University Hospital, due to open in 2016, is also likely to partner with the private sector under a similar deal as the Mater Hospital in Brisbane.

Queensland Health has already lost more than 2500 staff since the Newman government came to power, but Mr Springborg insisted there'd be no staff cuts under the latest reforms.

Mr Newman and Mr Springborg will further unveil the plan to a fundraising lunch for the Liberal National party later on Wednesday.

The move has outraged unions and the opposition, who say the LNP will be profiting from the misery of workers fearing for their jobs.

The opposition said the LNP is charging $200-per-head for the lunch, or $2000 a table, and has demanded all profits go to Queenslanders who've suffered in the recent floods.

The state public-service union Together will hold a rally outside.

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Bernanke: sequester would hit US recovery

FEDERAL Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned Congress Tuesday that the $US85 billion ($A83.02 billion) in spending cuts of the March 1 sequester would place a "significant" additional burden on the US economic recovery.

"The Congress and the administration should consider replacing the sharp, front-loaded spending cuts required by the sequestration with policies that reduce the federal deficit more gradually," he told a Senate hearing.

Bernanke cited data from the Congressional Budget Office projecting that the cuts, to be implemented over the next seven months if no moderate substitute program is agreed, would reduce potential economic growth by 0.6 per cent.

"Given the still-moderate underlying pace of economic growth, this additional near-term burden on the recovery is significant," he said.

"Besides having adverse effects on jobs and incomes, a slower recovery would lead to less actual deficit reduction in the short run."

Bernanke said US economic growth had rebounded from the fourth quarter, when initial estimates say the economy actually contracted by 0.1 per cent.

"Available information suggests that economic growth has picked up again this year," he said.

The economy continues to grow "at a moderate if somewhat uneven pace."

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19 killed as balloon explodes in Egypt

A HOT air balloon has exploded and plunged to earth at Egypt's ancient temple city of Luxor during a sunrise flight on Tuesday, killing up to 19 tourists, mainly Asians and Europeans, sources say.

The balloon carrying 21 tourists from Hong Kong, Japan, France, Britain and Hungary was flying at 300 metres when it exploded and caught fire, a security official said.

The pilot and one tourist survived by jumping out of the basket moments before it hit the ground, said an employee at the company operating the balloon, Sky Cruise. Both were taken to hospital.

"This is terrible, just terrible," the employee told AFP by telephone, declining to give her name. "We don't yet know what happened exactly or what went wrong."

Luxor Governor Ezzat Saad imposed an immediate ban on all hot air balloon flights in the province as Prime Minister Hisham Qandil ordered an investigation into the accident.

Security services cordoned off the scene of the crash in Luxor's dense sugar cane fields, as police and residents inspected the charred remains of the balloon.

"There was a terrifying sound when the balloon exploded," one resident, Ahmed, 40, told AFP.

"Bodies engulfed in flames were falling out of the balloon," said Youssef al-Tayyeb, another resident who witnessed the accident.

The balloon had been floating over the west bank of Luxor, one of Egypt's most renowned archaeological sites and home to the famous Valley of the Kings and the grand Temple of Hatshepsut, when it exploded.

There was confusion over the exact death toll and the tourists' nationalities, with different official bodies giving conflicting figures and details.

An Egyptian security official said 19 tourists from Hong Kong, Japan, Britain, France and Hungary had died. The health ministry put the toll at 18 dead.

Nine of those killed were thought to be from from Hong Kong, and two from Japan, along with the confirmed deaths of two French tourists and three Britons.

"I can confirm that sadly two of our citizens died in this accident," said French foreign ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot. "We are in contact with their families."

British tour operator Thomas Cook said three of its clients had also died in the crash.

The Foreign Office did not confirm the toll, saying only "we believe a small number of British nationals are involved in an incident in Luxor this morning", and that consular staff were offering assistance.

"We believe that there is a high possibility that nine of our customers have died," said Raymond Ng, general manager of travel agency Kuoni, which organised the Hong Kongers' tour.

The five women and four men were aged between 33 and 62, Ng told a news conference in Hong Kong. Their relatives were to fly to Cairo later on Tuesday accompanied by three Kuoni staff.

The nine were among a group of 15 Hong Kongers who had left for Egypt on February 22. Ng said that, according to local employees, the balloon caught fire about an hour after it had set off, plummeting to the ground two minutes later.

French hot air balloon expert Philippe Buron-Pilatre de Rozier said the blast could have been caused by a leak after a spark caused by a lighter or a cigarette.

Another reason could be wear and tear due to poor maintenance or if the pilot is badly positioned, said Buron-Pilatre de Rozier, adding that hot air balloons such as the ones used in Egypt are generally 40 metres high and can carry up to 25 passengers.

The Japanese embassy in Cairo said it was trying to confirm the reports that Japanese nationals died in the accident.

In 2009, 13 foreign tourists were injured when their hot air balloon hit a phone mast and crashed at Luxor. Sources at the time said the balloon was overcrowded.

The crash comes amid widespread anger over safety standards in Egypt following several deadly transport and construction accidents.

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US stocks higher ahead of Fed testimony

US stocks have opened solidly higher in anticipation of congressional testimony by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

The markets were also buoyed by upbeat earnings results, including from home-improvement retailer Home Depot.

Fifteen minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 83.01 points (0.60 per cent) to 13,867.18.

The broad-based S&P 500 jumped 7.45 points (0.50 per cent) to 1,495.30, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 7.28 points (0.23 per cent) to 3,123.53.

The gains partially offset deep losses sustained on Monday in the wake of the uncertain outcome of the Italian elections.

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S Africa minister wants tough gun controls

SOUTH Africa's women's minister has called for stricter gun controls, saying Oscar Pistorius' girlfriend would not have been killed if the sprinter did not keep a firearm.

"If there was no gun in the Pistorius home, Reeva Steenkamp would be alive today," said Minister Lulu Xingwana.

Xingwana said she was disappointed that Pistorius was granted bail on Friday after more than a week in custody for gunning down Steenkamp on Valentine's Day.

"But I respect the decision of the court and I also acknowledge that strict measures have been put (in place) to ensure that he is not a flight risk," she told a media briefing.

The case has reignited debate over South Africa's high levels of violence, particularly against women, with prosecutors charging that Pistorius intended to kill the 29-year-old model and law graduate.

The paraplegic sprinter claims the shooting was an accident after he mistook Steenkamp for an intruder. He returns to court in June.

South Africa has tough gun ownership legislation which is credited with bringing down the firearm homicide rate. But better oversight was needed, said Xingwana.

"We are not calling for a law on gun control, we are calling for stricter monitoring of the law and monitoring of (the) distribution of guns in our society," she said.

Research showed a woman was three times more likely to die violently if firearms were kept in a house, she said, without giving details.

"We need to stand up and say we don't want so many guns in our society," she added.

Estimates of the number of privately owned firearms vary, but lobby group Gun Free South Africa put the figure at 2.9 million registered guns in 2011 for a population of nearly 52 million.

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Record British offshore energy investment

BRITAIN'S offshore oil and gas sector will invest a record STG13 billion ($A19 billion) in 2013, boosted by the impact of taxation changes in the previous year, an industry survey shows.

Overall investment is expected to surge by 14 per cent this year, compared with STG11.4 billion in 2012, industry body Oil & Gas UK said in a statement detailing its latest activity survey. Last year's figure had already been a 30-year high.

"Here is some really good news for the UK," said Oil & Gas UK chief executive Malcolm Webb.

"After two disappointing years brought about by tax uncertainty and consequent low investment, the UK continental shelf (UKCS) is now benefitting from record investment in new developments and in existing assets and infrastructure, the strongest for more than three decades."

He added that last year's changes in the taxation regime, which were aimed at promoting the development of a range of difficult energy projects, had prompted many companies to reassess their plans and sparked a new wave of investment.

Oil & Gas UK, which represents more than 300 firms, added that output was forecast to surge over the next three to four years thanks to the recent surge in investment.

Production was expected to jump to approximately 2.0 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) by 2017, it said.

However, the industry body noted production sank to 1.55 million boepd in 2012. That was 14 per cent lower than 2011 and 30 per cent lower than 2010.

And output was forecast to decline in the current year to 1.45-1.5 million boepd.

"Recent collaborative work between government and industry is now bearing fruit in terms of investment and job creation right across Britain and recovery in production and tax revenues will certainly follow," added Webb in the statement.

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World powers have 'good offer' for Iran

WORLD powers will present Iran with an updated and "good" offer at talks this week on its nuclear program, an EU official says, although hopes for a breakthrough are slim.

Talks aimed at curbing Tehran's nuclear drive start in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, with the so-called 5+1 world powers represented by the European Union sitting down with an Iranian team led by its top nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili.

"We have prepared a good and updated offer for the talks, which we believe is balanced and a fair basis for constructive talks," said the spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

"The offer addresses international concerns ... on the nature of the Iranian nuclear program, but is also responsive to Iranian ideas," said the spokesman, Michael Mann.

"We hope that Iran will seize this opportunity and come to the talks with flexibility and commitment to make concrete progress towards a confidence-building step."

A source close to the negotiations said the offer would still insist that Iran halts enriching uranium to 20 per cent, shuts down its controversial Fordo uranium enrichment plant and sends abroad all uranium already enriched to 20 per cent.

"This still forms the basis of the demands of the 5+1 group," said the source who asked not to be identified.

Another Western source said the powers could discuss lifting sanctions on Iran in exchange for specific concessions, although the source provided no further details.

Earlier reports said the powers could consider easing sanctions on Iran's gold and precious metals trade.

Jalili said at the weekend Tehran would not go beyond its obligations or accept anything outside its rights under the non-proliferation treaty.

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Fiennes pulls out of Antarctic expedition

BRITISH explorer Ranulph Fiennes has pulled out of the expedition to cross Antarctica during the region's winter after developing a severe case of frostbite.

The 68-year-old and his five-member team had hoped to conquer what has been called one of the last great polar challenges - traversing nearly 4000km in a place where temperatures often dip as low as minus 70C.

The expedition, dubbed The Coldest Journey, said in a statement on Monday the team is working toward evacuating Fiennes from Antarctica, but the evacuation is being hampered by a blizzard.

The rest of the team plans to continue on.

Expedition organisers are trying to raise $US10 million ($A9.75 million) for the charity Seeing is Believing, which seeks to prevent blindness.

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Sinopec buys shale stake from Chesapeake

CHINESE oil giant Sinopec is investing $US1.02 billion ($A995 million) in a US shale field as it teams up with Chesapeake Energy Corp in a 50-50 joint venture, the companies say.

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) will buy a 50 per cent interest in Chesapeake's 340,000 hectares in Mississippi Lime shale in northern Oklahoma, they said in a joint statement.

The two companies will share the costs of all future exploration and development, while Chesapeake will be in charge of leasing, drilling and operations and marketing activities.

Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake, the second-largest producer of natural gas in the United States, has been shedding assets to pare down massive debt.

The Mississippi Lime joint venture with Sinopec "moves us further along in achieving our asset sales goals and secures an excellent partner to share the capital costs required to actively develop this very large, liquids-rich resource play", said Steven Dixon, Chesapeake's chief operating officer.

Chesapeake produced on average 34,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from the Mississippi Lime assets in the 2012 fourth quarter, and at the end of last year proven reserves were estimated at 140 million barrels of oil equivalent.

The transaction was expected to be completed in the 2013 second quarter.

Analyst Paul Ausick of 24/7WallStreet.com noted that Chesapeake already had sold more than $US3 billion in assets to China's energy giant CNOOC.

"The interesting thing that could develop from this is a sale of a US producer - not necessarily Chesapeake, of course - as a result of the recently approved $US15 billion acquisition of Nexen Inc by CNOOC," he said.

"The US approved the sale of the Canadian-based firm and may have opened the door for more aggressive bidding by China's big state-backed oil firms."

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BP spill trial opens with scathing attack

THE blockbuster BP oil spill trial has opened with a scathing attack on the poor safety standards that led to the worst environmental disaster in US history.

Billions are at stake in the New Orleans courtroom where a federal judge is tasked with determining how much BP and its subcontractors should pay for the devastating Gulf of Mexico spill.

US prosecutors are determined to prove that gross negligence caused the April 20, 2010 blast that killed 11 workers and sank the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig, sending millions of barrels of oil gushing into the sea.

BP is equally determined to avoid a finding of gross negligence, which would drastically increase its environmental fines to as much as $US17 billion ($A16.5 billion).

BP is also hoping to shift much of the blame - and cost - to rig operator Transocean and subcontractor Halliburton, which was responsible for the runaway well's faulty cement job.

Transocean's poor safety record was the focus of the first lawyer to speak, Jim Roy of the plaintiffs steering committee, which represents thousands of individuals and business impacted by the spill.

Roy told the court the Swiss giant's top safety official on the multimillion-dollar rig "was not even minimally competent for this job".

"His training consisted of a three-day course. Amazingly, he had never been aboard the Deepwater Horizon," Roy said, noting the blowout was the seventh major incident aboard a Transocean rig in the space of 17 months.

It took 87 days to cap BP's runaway well, which blackened beaches in five states and crippled the region's tourism and fishing industries in a tragedy that riveted the nation.

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One killed in fierce Syria-Lebanon clash

FIERCE fighting erupted during the night on the Syria-Lebanon border between Syrian troops and unknown gunmen, leaving a Lebanese man dead and four wounded, a Lebanese security source says.

Lebanese President Michel Sleiman demanded on Sunday that Syria "refrain from firing towards Lebanese territory".

He also stressed, in a statement, the need to "respect the neutral position of (Lebanon) which means not interfering in the internal affairs of other countries, notably Syria".

The violence was triggered by the death hours earlier of another Lebanese man, who was killed on Saturday in gunfire coming from the Syria side of the border near a river separating the two countries, the security source said.

Members of his clan took part in the clashes against Syrian troops during the night in the Bukayaa region of northern Lebanon, a Lebanese official told AFP.

The Syrian army used artillery, mortars and automatic weapons fired from the Syrian village of Mcherfe as they clashed with the gunmen, according to the security source, who said a Lebanese man was killed and at least four others wounded in the fighting.

He was unable to say whether the gunmen were Lebanese or Syrians opposed to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

Beirut has officially adopted a neutral policy towards the Syria conflict, but it has deepened divisions in the country, with the Sunni-led March 14 movement supporting the revolt and the Shi'ite Hezbollah and its allies backing the Assad regime.

The violence has raised fears of the kind of sectarian strife that rocked Lebanon during its 1975-1990 civil war.

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Bond's Aston Martin up for sale

JAMES Bond's famous Aston Martin car, complete with hidden machine guns and a smoke screen, is up for grabs for a cool STG3 million ($A4.5 million).

Swiss millionaire Thomas Straumann put the vehicle up for sale in Britain with the price tag, the Swiss newspaper NZZ am Sonntag said.

Straumann, a shareholder in a dental implant firm, bought the Aston Martin DB5 in 2006 and spent three years restoring the car driven by Sean Connery as the fictional British spy in Goldfinger and Thunderball.

After buying the car for $US2.7 million ($A2.65 million) at a US auction, Straumann had 3000 hours of work put into its overhaul, according to NZZ am Sonntag.

Its famous JB007 licence plate aside, the Aston Martin boasts machine guns hidden behind retractable headlights, a smoke screen and a bullet-proof shield.

But one notable absence is a gadget Straumann chose to eliminate during the makeover: the ejector seat.

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French photographer dies after Syria blast

FRENCH freelance photographer Olivier Voisin, who was seriously wounded in Syria on Thursday, has died of his wounds after surgery in Turkey, the foreign ministry says.

Voisin, 38, had suffered head and arm injuries from shrapnel when a shell exploded near Idlib in northern Syria.

Turkish surgeons operated on Voisin on Friday in the border city of Antakya.

"We confirm his death," a ministry spokeswoman said on Sunday.

Voisin's pictures have been published in major French and British newspapers and he collaborated with AFP in January, providing about a dozen pictures from Aleppo.

Apart from Syria, he also covered news events in Libya, Somalia, Brazil, Haiti, Kenya and the United States.

Voisin was born in South Korea and adopted by a French family.

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Afghans order US forces out of province

AFGHAN President Hamid Karzai has demanded the withdrawal of US special forces from Wardak within two weeks, accusing them of fuelling "insecurity and instability" in the volatile province neighbouring the capital Kabul.

"In today's national security council meeting ... President Karzai ordered the ministry of defence to kick out the US special forces from Wardak province within two weeks," presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi said on Sunday.

"The US special forces and illegal armed groups created by them are causing insecurity, instability, and harass local people in this province," he told a media conference.

The announcement would be another blow to the prestige of US-led forces as they prepare to withdraw combat troops from the war against Taliban Islamist insurgents by the end of next year.

The bulk of NATO's 100,000 troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

A US Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A) spokesman said he was aware of the reported comments by Faizi.

"We take all allegations of misconduct seriously and go to great lengths to determine the facts surrounding them," he said.

"Until we have had a chance to speak with senior (Afghan) officials about this issue we are not in a position to comment further. This is an important issue that we intend to fully discuss with our Afghan counterparts."

More than 3200 NATO troops, mostly Americans, have died in support of Karzai's government in the war since the Taliban were ousted by a US invasion in 2001, but relations between the president and the US are often prickly.

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Pope told of alleged 'inappropriate acts'

POPE Benedict XVI has been informed about allegations of inappropriate behaviour by Britain's most senior Roman Catholic cleric, who is due to vote on the pontiff's successor, the Vatican says.

Cardinal Keith O'Brien, leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland, denies allegations by three priests and a former priest which were sent to Rome a week before the Pope's resignation on February 11, the Observer newspaper reported.

"The Pope is informed about the problem and the matter is now in his hands," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told journalists when asked about the report in the British newspaper.

A spokesman for O'Brien said the claims were contested.

The four claimants, from the diocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh in Scotland, reported to nuncio Antonio Mennini, the Vatican's ambassador to Britain, that O'Brien had committed "inappropriate acts" going back 33 years, the Observer said.

One priest claims he received unwanted attention from the cardinal after a late-night drinking session. Another alleges that O'Brien used night prayers as cover for inappropriate contact, according to the paper.

O'Brien has a vote in the forthcoming papal conclave, which is due to take place next month.

The claimants, who are demanding the cleric's resignation, are worried their report will not be properly addressed if he is allowed to travel to Rome.

But Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the former archbishop of Westminster and ex-head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales, said O'Brien should still be allowed to help choose the next pope if he chooses.

"The cardinal has denied the allegations, so I think we will just have to see how that pans out," Murphy-O'Connor told BBC television.

O'Brien, who is due to retire next month, has angered the gay community with his conservative stance on homosexuality. He was named "bigot of the year" last year by the rights charity Stonewall.

He recently said that same-sex marriages would be "harmful to the physical, mental and spiritual well-being of those involved" and has long voiced opposition to gay adoption.

But in comments this week he also called for the Catholic Church to end its celibacy rule for the priesthood.

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