Barnett celebrates resounding WA poll win

TRIUMPHANT West Australian premier Colin Barnett says the Liberals' landlside state election victory was an endorsement of an ethical and principled government - and proved the Labor party was "on the nose" in Australia.

Mr Barnett's Liberal party annihilated their WA Labor opposition in a result that even surprised blue-blooded onlookers, with predictions of a Liberal/National alliance which could hold as many as 40 seats in the WA's Lower House on Monday.

Speaking to hundreds of delirious onlookers in his electorate of Cottesloe, who chanted "four more years" on his arrival, Mr Barnett said the result was "resounding".

"I think Labor is on the nose to a lot of people, and that was a factor," Mr Barnett said.

"I think the message, if there is one, is that you need to make decisions, for the good of the economy and the good of the people.

"Get the policy right, make the decisions - don't play politics."

After polling suggested a massive victory for the incumbent Liberals, the voters duly delivered, with huge swings away from Labor in dozens of seats.

The sight of Labor veteran and former minister Michelle Roberts battling to hold on to her seat in Midland was beyond the wildest dreams of even the most die-hard Liberal supporter.

The Liberals were also poised to claim the previous safe Labor seat of Perth, along with winning Joondalup, Forrestfield, Balcatta and Belmont from Labor.

Mr Barnett, who arrived at his celebration party minutes after WA Labor leader Mark McGowan conceded, said he had been called and congratulated by his Rockingham rival.

"Fundamentally there was not a mood for change," Mr Barnett said.

"Mr McGowan did run an energetic campaign, he gave people a choice on major issues and I genuinely congratulate him.

"It is not easy for an opposition ... but I think the last two weeks getting down to some personal issues, I think the perhaps took away some of his support."

The night was made even sweeter with the convincing win of Nationals leader Brendon Grylls in the Pilbara, who secured his own double figure swing.

Mr Barnett said he would govern alongside the Nationals, despite the Liberals winning an overall majority in their own right.

"We will govern in partnership with the National Party," Mr Barnett said.

"That was a remarkable result in the Pilbara, a gutsy move and congratulate Brendon for that.

"I would be hopeful the Liberals and Nationals would have the numbers (in the upper house) as well."

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Soccer verdict sparks unrest in Cairo

VIOLENCE has erupted in Egypt after a court confirmed 21 death sentences for a deadly soccer riot but exonerated 28 people.

A protester was killed on Saturday in fresh clashes with police in central Cairo. Huge flames rose above the main building of the Egyptian Football Association and a police officers' club in an affluent neighbourhood on an island in the Nile.

Fans of Al-Ahly football club, whose members were killed in the 2012 riot that claimed 74 lives, had warned police they would retaliate if defendants were exonerated.

The trial has been a ticking time bomb for Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, who is facing a revolt in Port Said, growing nationwide unrest and an unprecedented police strike.

The court handed 15-year sentences to the former head of police security, General Essam Samak, and to Brigadier General Mohammed Saad, who was responsible for the stadium gates, which were locked, when the riot broke out.

Seven other police defendants were acquitted.

During sentencing, the judge read out a string of names without explaining who they were, leading to much confusion.

"First we were happy when we heard the 21 death sentences. We were cheering and didn't hear the rest of the verdict," one football supporter in Cairo told AFP. "Then we were very angry."

In Port Said, hundreds of people prevented ferries from shuttling residents between the banks of the Suez Canal, in protest at the confirmation of the 21 death sentences against supporters of the local team.

Tension has been running particularly high in an already divided Egypt since January 26, when the court first issued the death sentences for the country's deadliest football disaster.

Dissent has even reached police ranks, with police officers refusing orders to deploy, saying they are ill-equipped to deal with violent protesters and were made to suffer the consequences of government mistakes.

In Port Said, the government has almost completely lost its grip on security.

Port Said police on Friday withdrew from their headquarters and handed responsibility for securing it to the military.

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World's best restaurant poisons diners

NOMA, the world's top-ranked restaurant, has offered to reimburse dozens of diners who suffered food poisoning.

Denmark's two-Michelin-star Noma restaurant said on Saturday that tests had shown the poisoning was caused by the stomach bug norovirus, which was brought in by a staff member.

Sixty-three customers fell ill over five days, health officials said on Friday.

Noma said customers could choose between a refund or a free meal, if they dared to return. A menu at Noma costs 1,500 kroner ($A250). Drinks are extra.

The restaurant has been ranked No. 1 in the world by Restaurant magazine for the past three years.

Inspectors from the Danish food ministry criticised the restaurant for not alerting authorities quickly enough and for failing to take adequate action after the worker fell ill.

Noma blamed a delay in disinfecting the restaurant's kitchen on internal communication problems.

Even when members of two separate dining parties complained by email, and one employee reported being ill after handling food, no measures were taken the next day.

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Labor federal support at 32%: poll

THE day after Labor's woes continued with a landslide loss in the West Australian election, a new poll shows the party's primary vote federally has dropped to 32 per cent.

The Galaxy Poll conducted for The Sunday Telegraph newspaper showed the government's support had dropped three points in the past month.

Asked who they'd vote for if a federal election were held today, 32 per cent of respondents opted for the Labor party, while 48 per cent chose the coalition.

Eleven per cent said they'd vote for the Greens and nine per cent chose another party or an independent.

On a two-party preferred basis, the coalition earned 55 per cent of the vote to the government's 45 per cent.

Given the choice between prime minister Julia Gillard, a new leader or former prime minister Kevin Rudd, 32 per cent believed Ms Gillard should remain PM, while 33 per cent wanted a fresh start.

Twenty six per cent favoured a Rudd return.

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WA election loss adds to Labor woes

FEDERAL Labor's woes played a significant role in tainting the party's West Australian election bid, helping to deliver a crushing defeat to state opposition leader Mark McGowan.

The polls had pointed to a landslide win on Saturday for the WA Liberals, but even Premier Colin Barnett, dubbed the Emperor for his decisive and autocratic approach, appeared taken aback by the magnitude of his sweeping victory.

The Liberals, who will once again form a coalition with the Nationals, kept all of the 24 seats they won at the 2008 election, secured a further seven seats and a few were still up for grabs, Mr Barnett said in his victory speech.

With three quarters of the vote counted late on Saturday night, the Liberals had enjoyed a swing of 8.5 per cent which could translate into many as 40 seats for the coalition to Labor's 19.

It was one of the state's - and perhaps the nation's - most swiftly called elections.

Also swift was a comment by deputy federal opposition leader Julie Bishop that the WA election results reflected poorly on Labor's brand.

So too was a brutally frank admission by defence minister Stephen Smith that federal Labor had not helped Mr McGowan, who, despite a strong campaign, could not achieve an extremely rare defeat of a first term government.

Mr Smith said Saturday's result in the west proved the Labor party had many issues to work on before the federal election on September 14.

"We've had a tough time federally - you don't need to be a rocket scientist to work that out - and there's no doubt we have been a drag on Mark and there's no doubt that we haven't been helpful," Mr Smith said.

"We have a range of tough political issues to work through between now and September.

"It will go down to the wire."

Mr Barnett said the resounding result was a combination of his good government and a distaste for Labor federally.

"I think Labor is on the nose to a lot of people, and that was a factor," Mr Barnett said.

"I think the message, if there is one, is that you need to make decisions, for the good of the economy and the good of the people."

The Liberals were poised to claim the previous safe Labor seat of Perth, along with winning Joondalup, Forrestfield, Balcatta and Belmont from Labor.

Deputy Opposition leader Roger Cook admitted there had been some damage from the federal government.

"To what extent it had a role to play in the state election is very difficult to say," he said.

Ms Bishop also said state Labor had put all of its eggs in one basket with its ambitious Metronet suburban rail plan, whereas the government ran local campaigns seat by seat.

But Mr McGowan said he was proud of the values that were reflected in his party's policies, which aimed to support West Australians in the regions as well as in the suburbs.

"I think we did a good job," he said.

"I know that we need to provide those basic core services, those basic facilities where people live in an expanding, growing state like Western Australia, and that was the vision we took to the election."

WA Treasurer Troy Buswell, who had been personally attacked by the Labor party in the last week of the campaign, said the tactic backfired.

"It's pretty un-Australian to play the man - I don't think West Australians have taken too kindly to that," Mr Buswell said.

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US jobless rate falls to 2008 level

THE US has announced better-than-expected jobs data, with the unemployment rate falling and solid jobs growth in February.

The jobless rate fell to 7.7 per cent, from 7.9 per cent in January, and a net 236,000 jobs were gained, the government said on Friday.

The last time the jobless rate was as low as 7.7 per cent was in December 2008.

The numbers were much better than analysts expected. The average estimate was for the jobless rate to remain stuck at 7.9 per cent for the second month in a row and additional jobs to total 165,000.

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US stocks open higher

US stocks have opened higher as a surprisingly strong jobs report suggests the economic recovery is on track.

The monthly jobs report said the unemployment rate fell to 7.7 per cent from 7.9 per cent, while the net number of jobs gained came in at 236,000, according to the Labor Department.

Both numbers were better than expected.

Five minutes into trade on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial average gained 71.21 (0.5 per cent) to 14,400.7, climbing to a new intra-day record.

The broad-based S&P 500 added 6.79 (0.44 per cent) to 1,551.05. The index was about 14 points below its all-time closing high.

The tech-rich Nasdaq composite index increased by 22.57 (0.7 per cent) to 3,244.93.

Analysts hailed the strong jobs report.

"American companies are hiring again in greater numbers," said Sal Guatieri, senior economist of BMO Capital Markets.

"Employment should strengthen further as the fiscal fog clears and companies see sustained strength in consumer spending and housing activity."

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Bieber recovers after halting London show

CANADIAN pop star Justin Bieber says he is feeling better after halting a London show for 20 minutes for being "light of breath".

The 19-year-old - who angered British fans with a very late start on Monday in the first of four shows at the O2 Arena - returned to finish his set before being taken to hospital on Thursday.

A spokeswoman said he was determined to plough ahead with Friday's final London show.

The teen idol posted a picture of himself lounging on a hospital bed wearing headphones.

In a tweet, he said: "Getting better. Thanks for everyone pulling me thru tonight. Best fans in the world. Figuring out what happened. Thanks for the love."

The performer has the world's most popular Twitter account, with 35.6 million followers.

But some suggested on the micro-blogging website that Bieber's apparent illness had been a sympathy stunt designed to show his determination to perform after Monday's public relations disaster.

A spokeswoman for the star said: "Justin has been released from the hospital after a check-up and, while he's feeling a little under the weather, he's currently planning on going ahead with tonight's show."

Bieber walked off midway through a song towards the end of his set on Thursday.

His manager, Scooter Braun, told the 20,000-strong crowd the singer was determined to return to the stage against medical advice.

"Justin got very light of breath, the whole show he's been complaining. He's backstage with the EMTs (emergency medical team) and the doctor," Braun said.

"They're telling him they want him to go and see somebody and find out what's going on with his lungs, he's just told me that in five minutes, if it's OK with you guys, he's going to come out and finish the show."

His representative told entertainment channel E! News that emergency personnel gave him oxygen.

"He insisted on finishing the show," she added, as he was being taken to hospital.

Bieber blamed Monday's delay on technical difficulties.

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Hamas brands Obama visit a 'trap'

THE Hamas prime minister says an upcoming regional visit by US President Barack Obama is a "trap" aimed at undermining Palestinian reconciliation.

"We are convinced that Obama's visit will not produce the necessary breakthrough for our people," Ismail Haniya said at a sermon during weekly Muslim prayers in the Gaza Strip's Al-Omari mosque on Friday.

He urged rival Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, who is due to meet Obama at his West Bank headquarters, not to be deluded by the visit or sacrifice efforts to seal Palestinian reconciliation.

Palestinian Authority president Abbas should "not fall into the trap of Obama's visit to the region and shut the door to reconciliation," said Haniya.

Obama's visit "will focus on regional developments and will only address our cause in a way to undermine Palestinian national reconciliation efforts and to relaunch the absurd so-called negotiations" with Israel, he said.

Obama is due in Israel at the end of this month on a trip that will also involve him travelling to see Abbas in the the West Bank and also visiting Jordan on the first foreign policy mission of his second term.

On Thursday he met American Jewish community leaders at the White House and said there would be no big Middle East peace initiative on the table when he arrives in Israel for his first visit as US leader.

A US official said "the president noted that the trip is not dedicated to resolving a specific policy issue, but is rather an opportunity to consult with the Israeli government about a broad range of issues - including Iran, Syria, the situation in the region, and the peace process."

Palestinian-Israeli peace talks have been deadlocked for more than two years.

Abbas wants to renew peace talks in tandem with a freeze on Jewish settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and in east Jerusalem.

Hamas and the Fatah faction of Abbas signed in April 2011 a reconciliation agreement, but nearly two years later divisions remains over how to apply the deal.

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News of the World editors face UK courts

FORMER News of the World editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, a one-time top aide to British Prime Minister David Cameron, have appeared in court on bribery charges.

Coulson, 45, is accused of requesting and authorising payments to public officials in exchange for information, including contact details of the royal family.

He is charged alongside Clive Goodman, the former royal correspondent for the News of the World, the tabloid which was shut down by Rupert Murdoch in 2011 amid a wave of public revulsion over phone hacking.

Brooks, 44, a journalist and former editor who rose to become chief executive of Murdoch's British newspaper unit News International, is also accused of making payments to a public official.

The two separate cases were adjourned on Friday until next month.

The police investigation into allegations of bribery at the News of the World and other newspapers is running alongside a probe into phone hacking.

The hacking scandal rocked Murdoch's media empire and embarrassed Cameron, who is friends with Brooks and also hired Coulson as his communications chief.

John Kay, the chief reporter for Murdoch's The Sun tabloid, meanwhile, pleaded not guilty on Friday to conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office.

Separately, a former police officer, Alan Tierney, admitted selling information to The Sun about the arrests of footballer John Terry's mother and Rolling Stone musician Ronnie Wood.

The information concerned Sue Terry and Sue Poole, the mother and mother-in-law of the former England football captain, who had been arrested on suspicion of shoplifting, and were given police cautions.

Wood was arrested on suspicion of beating up his Russian lover, Ekaterina Ivanova. He also accepted a caution.

Another public official, prison officer Richard Trunkfield, 31, also admitted in court on Friday to leaking information about a high-profile inmate to The Sun.

In two other separate cases, two officials admitted misconduct in public office. The court banned the publication of any further details about them.

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Berlusconi sentenced to jail over wiretaps

AN Italian court has sentenced former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi to a year in prison over the publication of leaked transcripts from a police wiretap in a newspaper he owns.

Berlusconi, who faces two more verdicts this month for tax fraud and having sex with an underage prostitute, can appeal the conviction, which would suspend the sentence under Italian law.

Italian sentencing guidelines indicate that people aged over 75 and with sentences of less than two years do not have to actually go to prison.

Berlusconi, a billionaire media tycoon, is 76.

"I am disappointed and concerned because I am convinced that the proof was insufficient, contradictory or missing," Berlusconi's lawyer Piero Longo told reporters after the hearing on Thursday.

"I was not expecting a conviction," he said.

Fabrizio Cicchitto, a leading member of Berlusconi's People of Freedom party, said: "The plan to eliminate Silvio Berlusconi through the justice system is now so obvious that it is dangerous for democracy."

The party is preparing a demonstration later this month against a justice system that Berlusconi frequently portrays as left-wing and biased.

Berlusconi stood accused of violating secrecy laws after his Il Giornale newspaper published transcripts in 2005 that were widely seen as an attempt to discredit a senior member of the centre-left Democratic Party ahead of elections in 2006.

The leaks were about the attempted takeover of BNL bank by insurance giant Unipol.

Berlusconi's brother Paolo, editor of Il Giornale, was sentenced to two years and three months.

Silvio Berlusconi also faces a verdict possibly this month in a trial in which he is accused of having sex with a then 17-year-old prostitute when he was prime minister and then abusing the power of his office by putting pressure on police to release her from custody.

A verdict in his appeal trial against a tax fraud conviction from last year in which he was also sentenced to a year in prison is also expected this month.

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UN orders new North Korea sanctions

THE UN Security Council has imposed new sanctions against North Korea amid escalating tensions as the North threatens a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the United States.

The council unanimously passed a resolution, agreed by the United States and China, which added new names to the UN sanctions blacklist and tightened restrictions on the North's financial dealings, notably its "bulk cash" transfers.

North Korea said ahead of the meeting that a new war was "unavoidable" because of South Korean-US military exercises.

The North's military "will exercise the right to a pre-emptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors", said the foreign ministry.

North Korea now faces one of the toughest UN sanctions regimes ever imposed after three nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and the latest on February 12.

The new sanctions will "bite hard", the US ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, said.

"Taken together, these sanctions will bite and bite hard. They increase North Korea's isolation and raise the cost to North Korea's leaders of defying the international community," Rice told reporters after the unanimous vote by the council.

Resolution 2094 agreed by the 15-member Security Council threatened "further significant measures" if the North stages a new nuclear test or rocket launch.

The resolution expresses "gravest concern" over the nuclear test and adds three new individuals, a government science academy and trading company to the UN blacklist for a travel ban and assets freeze.

Two of the individuals are Yon Chong-Nam and Ko Chol Chae, the head and deputy chief of Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (KOMID). The resolution described KOMID as North Korea's "primary arms dealer and main exporter of goods and equipment related to ballistic missiles and conventional weapons".

The government's Second Academy of Natural Sciences was also added to the list. It carries out research on North Korea's "advanced weapons systems, including missiles and probably nuclear weapons", said the resolution.

The resolution calls for "enhanced vigilance" over North Korean diplomats. US officials suspect the diplomats have been carrying suitcases of cash to get around financial sanctions.

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Malaysia incursion toll rises to 60

MALAYSIA says clashes between intruding Filipino militants and its security forces have left 60 people dead, as it rejected a ceasefire offer from the fighters' leader.

Police chief Ismail Omar said 32 followers of a self-proclaimed Philippine sultan had been killed in two confrontations since Wednesday near the scene of a three-week standoff in Sabah state, after a military assault to dislodge them.

That brought the total dead to 60, including 52 militants. Eight Malaysian policemen were killed in skirmishes last weekend.

Troops and police are currently hunting the Islamic militants in a remote region of Borneo island, where they landed last month to assert a long-dormant territorial claim in what has become Malaysia's worst security crisis in years.

A spokesman for their Manila-based leader, who called for a midday ceasefire, said 235 people including eight women took part in the original incursion.

Prime Minister Najib Razak, who flew to the region on Thursday to inspect security operations, said he told Philippine leader Benigno Aquino by phone the ceasefire offer was rejected.

"I told President Aquino they must lay down their arms immediately," Najib told reporters in a village near where the army and police were searching for scores of militants.

"They have to surrender their arms and they have to do it as soon as possible."

The "sultan", Jamalul Kiram III, declared a unilateral ceasefire for 12.30pm (1530 AEDT) and urged Malaysia to reciprocate.

But Najib said Malaysian forces would press on with the offensive, sending more soldiers into the hilly region of vast oil palm estates and pockets of jungle.

Authorities said one intruder was killed in a clash on Wednesday and 31 on Thursday.

They gave no details, other than to say one encounter was in the village of Tanduo, where the standoff began, and the other in the neighbouring village of Tanjung Batu to the east.

The remaining militants were still believed to be in the two villages.

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British PM vows to continue austerity

BRITISH Prime Minister David Cameron says his government will stick to the path of austerity despite a turbulent few weeks in which the country's credit rating has been downgraded.

Cameron said in a speech in a factory in West Yorkshire on Thursday changing course on the economy would plunge Britain "back into the abyss".

The warning followed suggestions by Business Secretary Vince Cable the government should consider borrowing more to stimulate economic growth.

Cameron said: "I know some people think it is somehow stubborn to stick to a plan.

"As far as I'm concerned nothing could be further from the truth. My motives, my beliefs, my passion for sticking to the plan are exactly about doing the right thing to help families and to help businesses up and down the country."

He added: "Because the truth is this: If we want good jobs for our children, we will not get them if we are burdened with debt and out-competed by India and China.

"If we want, and I do want, good public services, we won't be able to afford them if our economy is weak and we're spending half of the budget on debt interest."

Cameron, a Conservative, said Britain was reaping the rewards of the tough economic course the coalition set, pointing to the creation of one million extra private sector jobs and higher employment rates.

Writing in the New Statesman, Cable - from the Liberal Democrat junior coalition partners - suggested the government might need to consider borrowing more.

He said the danger of slow growth may now be more damaging than the loss of confidence through increased borrowing and the "balance of risk" had changed since the coalition made deficit reduction the key plank of its policies.

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French mum on trial for son's 9/11 T-shirt

A MOTHER on trial in southern France has defended herself for dressing her three-year-old son in a T-shirt reading "I am a bomb" and "Born on September 11".

Bouchra Bagour, 35, is on trial in Avignon on charges of defending terrorism after sending her boy, named Jihad, to school wearing the T-shirt.

A ruling in the case is expected on April 10.

Bagour admitted in court on Wednesday the move was "tactless" but insisted it was not meant as a provocation.

She said she simply wanted to make note of her son's birthday on September 11 and did not intend to reference the 9/11 attacks in the United States in 2001.

Her brother Zeyad Bagour, who is also facing charges for having bought Jihad the T-shirt, told the court: "We were never trying to claim responsibility for this thing or defend a cause."

Prosecutors said there was no doubt at the meaning of the T-shirt.

"Who can claim that this is not a direct and scandalous reference to terrorism?" prosecutor Olivier Couvignon told the court.

The two face up to five years in prison and fines of up to 45,000 euros ($A60,000) each.

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Crisis blamed as Italian man kills 2, self

AN Italian clothes maker whose business was turned down for credit has shot dead two civil servants and himself in the city of Perugia in an attack the local mayor blamed on the financial crisis.

"This is an immense tragedy - the product of a terrible climate linked to the current economic situation," Perugia mayor Vladimiro Boccali said as he came out of the regional administration office where the shootings took place.

The man, named by Italian media as 43-year-old entrepreneur Andrea Zampi, shot the two women several times before turning the gun on himself.

PerugiaToday news website said the regional administration had turned down his request for credit that would have allowed him to raise some 130,000 euros ($A166,688).

He had come to their offices several times in recent days to complain.

Italy is suffering through its longest recession in 20 years and access to credit for businesses has become particularly difficult in recent months.

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News Corp shows education tablet

NEWS Corp has taken the wraps off its new tablet computer for the school market, saying the device will use "digital innovation to transform teaching and learning".

Rupert Murdoch's media conglomerate showed the Amplify device at the South by Southwest conference in Austin, Texas, after having announced plans in July.

Amplify is a 25-centimetre screen tablet using the Android operating system, designed for primary and secondary school markets.

News Corp has a partnership with AT&T to provide wireless connectivity for the devices.

School districts will be able to buy a Wi-Fi device for $US299 ($A293.20) with a two-year subscription at $US99 per year.

A tablet with mobile connectivity will be sold at $US349 with a two-year subscription at $US179 per year.

It will be available for US markets for the school year starting in September.

"This is more than just a tablet. It's a complete learning solution organised around the school day," said Stephen Smyth, president of Amplify's Access division.

"We believe it's both more affordable and more impactful than just about any other product in the education technology market."

Amplify is also working on school curricula and other materials and other products for the classroom.

"It is our aim to amplify the power of digital innovation to transform teaching and learning and to help schools deliver fundamentally better experiences and results," said Joel Klein, chief executive of Amplify.

"We want to transform the way teachers teach and students learn."

News Corp is moving ahead on a plan to create separate companies for the huge entertainment division and the struggling publishing business, which includes the education unit.

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Dow extends record run in early trade

THE Dow Jones Industrial Average has extended its record-breaking run as US markets rallied for modest gains in opening trade.

After setting an all-time closing high on Tuesday of 14,253.77, the Dow added another 42.01 points (0.29 per cent) in the first five minutes of trade to 14,295.78.

The broader S&P 500 rose 4.33 points (0.28 per cent) to 1,544.12, still nearly two per cent shy of its October 9, 2007 record.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite rose 5.21 (0.16 per cent) to 3,229.34.

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Cyprus haircut 'catastrophic': minister

THE finance minister of cash-strapped Cyprus says a haircut on deposits in local banks will be catastrophic, not only for Cyprus but the entire eurozone.

Such a possibility has been raised and, on Monday, Eurogroup finance ministers failed to rule it out if Nicosia is to clinch a bailout deal.

"We have repeated in the strongest terms that this is not an issue that is on the table," Finance Minister Michalis Sarris told reporters in Nicosia on Wednesday.

"It would be disastrous for Cyprus and the euro zone, and I think this message is gradually getting through to those who may have imagined that it is a possibility."

He said the issue "is not on the table for negotiation" with the so-called troika of international lenders - the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund - currently on the island.

A senior troika negotiating team began contacts with the authorities on Wednesday over what steps need to be taken to secure a bailout agreement earmarked for the end of March.

Prior to their arrival, a team of technocrats was on the island collecting information on semi-governmental organisations as part of a deal to finalise financial aid.

They are checking the assets, projects and accounts of state-run enterprises such as the electricity and telecoms authority.

In order to seal a bailout agreement it could need to sell off state assets, agree a sum on bank recapitalisation and refute dirty money claims.

The anticipated 17 billion euros ($A21.80 billion) figure is roughly the same as the island's GDP, and would increase debt to more than 140 per cent of GDP, a level considered unmanageable.

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Greek police probe neo-Nazi hate speech

POLICE in Greece say they have opened an investigation after a report on Britain's Channel 4 television showed a Greek neo-Nazi threatening to turn immigrants into soap.

The statements were made by Alexandros Plomaritis, a 44-year-old who ran for parliament for the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn in last year's election.

"We are ready to open the ovens. We will turn them into soap ... to wash cars and pavements. We will make lamps from their skin," Plomaritis said of undocumented migrants, whom he also termed "miasma" and "subhuman".

Plomaritis was filmed ahead of the election handing out Golden Dawn tracts in an open-air market and chatting with his friends outside a cafe.

Golden Dawn dismissed the report as "grotesque".

"These views were stated to make people laugh," party spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris said in a statement.

"The cafe regulars were making fun of the English," he said.

Golden Dawn, formerly on the fringe of Greek politics, has seen its ratings soar since last year in a country weary of austerity and political corruption.

The party saw 18 deputies elected to parliament in June for the first time in its history and is the third most popular party in opinion polls.

Rights groups have regularly accused Greek police of turning a blind eye to suspected Golden Dawn attacks against migrants and political opponents.

Kasidiaris will be tried on Thursday for allegedly providing a getaway car to five men who beat up a student at a university campus in 2007.

The investigation into the neo-Nazi candidate's hate language was instigated by a special police department on racist violence that was only recently set up following international pressure.

Golden Dawn leader Nikos Michaloliakos gave a televised interview in May in which he denied the existence of gas chambers and crematoria during World War II.

He also called Adolf Hitler "a major historical figure of the 20th century."

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Resources exports to drive GDP growth

A RISE in iron ore and coal exports is expected to have been the major driver of economic growth in an otherwise weak final three months of 2012.

AAP's survey of 14 economists revealed a median forecast for the Australian economy to have grown by 0.7 per cent in the December quarter for an annual growth of 3.1 per cent.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics will release gross domestic product (GDP) figures for the December quarter on Wednesday.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch Australia chief economist Saul Eslake said resources exports were likely to be the major driver of growth in the quarter.

"You've got substantially higher volumes of iron ore and coal exports in particular and probably some softening of import volumes," he said.

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Indian navy helicopter crashes in sea

TWO crew members are missing after an Indian naval helicopter crashed into the sea off the country's southeastern coast, sparking an air-sea rescue search, a navy spokesman says.

The military helicopter took off from the city of Visakhapatnam and lost contact with air controllers after flying 18 kilometres from its base, Commander DK Sharma told AFP in New Delhi.

"We have rescued two of the crew and are looking for the remaining two in the sea," Sharma said.

The helicopter lost contact with military air controllers in mid-afternoon.

"Ships and aircraft have joined the search," the official said.

Naval officials initially said the helicopter was of Russian design, but later said the Chetak helicopter was produced in India by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd.

The navy said it would continue the search operation even though darkness had fallen over the area.

Another Indian Navy official said a court of inquiry had been ordered into the crash which occurred when the helicopter was on a "routine flying mission".

India has witnessed at least two other military helicopter crashes in the past year.

Last October, three naval personnel, including two pilots, died when their Chetak helicopter crashed while landing at Dabolim airport in Panaji, capital of the western Indian tourist state of Goa.

In August, nine Indian air force personnel were killed when two Russian-designed military helicopters collided in mid-air over a firing range in the western state of Gujarat.

India plans to buy as many as 400 helicopters, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, to replace its ageing aircraft fleet.

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Venezuela on edge as Chavez health slides

VENEZUELA has plunged deeper into an uncertain future after cancer-stricken President Hugo Chavez took a turn for the worse, hit by a severe infection and breathing problems.

The once omnipresent face of the Latin American left, now breathing with the aid of a tracheal tube, has neither emerged nor spoken in public in almost three months, leaving the oil-rich nation and the wider region on tenterhooks.

At the president's military hospital in Caracas, dozens of people prayed and cried in a new chapel named "hope" that was inaugurated for Chavez last Friday.

"He has a new and severe infection," Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said in a statement read from the hospital late on Monday, adding there was a "worsening of respiratory function".

He did not specify the type of infection, but the government had said earlier this month Chavez was still suffering from a respiratory infection he had contracted following surgery in Cuba.

Carlos Dzik, an oncologist at the Syrian Lebanese Hospital in Sao Paulo who is not involved in Chavez's treatment, told AFP that chemotherapy affects the immune system, causing infections "whose location is often not found in these cases."

The sombre government statement came two weeks after Chavez, 58, checked into the military hospital on February 18 following two months of treatment in Cuba.

Saying Chavez continues to "cling to Christ and life," Villegas reiterated he was undergoing "intensive chemotherapy, as well as complementary treatments" and that his "condition continues to be very delicate."

But the government did not give a prognosis for the health of the president who has been in power for 14 years.

Under the constitution, an election must be called within 30 days if the president is incapacitated.

Chavez's prolonged absence - which prevented him from being sworn in to a new six-year term earlier this year - has angered the opposition, which accuses the government of lying about his condition.

AFP

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Briton jailed for heist after 20 years

A BRITISH man dubbed "Fast Eddie" who spent nearly 20 years on the run in the United States has been jailed for driving off with a security van containing STG1.2 million ($A1.79 million).

Eddie Maher, 57, had been a fugitive ever since the van he was driving disappeared from outside a bank in Felixstowe, eastern England, on January 22, 1993.

He pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court in London and on Tuesday was jailed for five years.

In a series of property investments which detectives said were funded by the proceeds of his crime, Maher bought a house in Colorado with $120,000 six months after the theft, then built an 80 acre (32 hectare) ranch before moving around various US states.

He was working as a cable engineer in Missouri at the time of his arrest on February 9 last year.

Maher's lawyer, David Nathan, said the disgruntled ex-wife of his client's son had been his downfall.

When Maher's son Lee won a big prize on the lottery, she walked out on Lee's best friend to marry him instead, he said.

When the money ran out, she looked up the Maher name on the internet and saw her former father-in-law was wanted for theft.

"She heard that there was a reward and she went to the federal authorities," Nathan said.

Speaking after the case, Detective Inspector David Giles, from Suffolk Police, said: "Over the years, Edward Maher has almost been portrayed as a Robin Hood character, someone who stole from a bank, where no one was injured.

"Maher took on a position of significant trust working for a security company, a position he abused, resulting in the theft of over one million (pounds)."

Prosecutors said they were still looking to trace three possible accomplices.

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Iraq attacks kill 13

A STRING of bombings and shootings in Iraq has killed 13 people and wounded at least 35 others.

Two car bombs targeted police in the restive northern city of Kirkuk, killing five and wounding at least 18, while gunmen killed a town council member and a North Oil Company employee south of the city, police and a health official said.

A car bomb exploded near a football field southeast of Baquba, a city north of Baghdad, killing three people and wounding another 17, according to a police colonel and a doctor.

And gunmen attacked a real estate office near Taji, north of Baghdad, killing two people, as others armed with silenced weapons killed an agriculture ministry employee in Saidiyah in southern Baghdad, officials said.

Violence has fallen considerably compared to five years ago, although attacks in Iraq remain common, killing 220 people in February, according to an AFP tally based on security and medical sources.

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Dutch police arrest woman over art heist

DUTCH police have arrested a young Romanian woman in Rotterdam on suspicion of helping get a haul of masterpieces stolen from the city's Kunsthal museum out of the country, police say.

"Detectives investigating the art heist at the Kunsthal on Monday afternoon arrested a 19-year-old Romanian woman who is suspected of being involved in the handling of the seven stolen paintings," Rotterdam police said in a statement.

The woman is the girlfriend of one of three suspects being held in Romania for alleged involvement in October's swiftly executed theft of works by Picasso, Monet and Gauguin, among others.

The heist gripped the Netherlands and the art world as police apparently struggled to piece the crime together, despite putting 25 officers on the case.

Experts put the paintings' value at between 100 and 200 million euros ($A257 million).

Police said it appeared the paintings had been taken to a home in Rotterdam immediately after being stolen.

"There the frames were apparently removed from the paintings and later taken to Romania," police said.

The 19-year-old was one of several people living in the house at the time.

Dutch police last year released grainy security camera footage of the theft, which took place about 3am.

The footage showed two apparently young males entering and leaving the museum in central Rotterdam within barely 90 seconds.

The works stolen include Picasso's Tete d'Arlequin, Monet's Waterloo Bridge and Lucian Freud's Woman with Eyes Closed.

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Fake bishop tries to sneak into Vatican

AN Italian man dressed up in fake ecclesiastical robes has been escorted out of a meeting of Catholic cardinals by Swiss Guards after trying to sneak into the closed-door Vatican meeting.

The man told reporters his name was "Basilius" and he was a member of the "Italian Orthodox Church", which does not exist.

Before he was discovered, the "bishop" told reporters that Catholic bishops had "made a mistake by moving priests" who were accused of pedophilia around different parishes.

He was wearing a purple scarf around his waist that was similar to the sashes warn by senior Catholic prelates and he shook hands and chatted with priests and cardinals arriving at the meeting on Monday.

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US stocks slip after launch of budget cuts

US stocks have opened modestly lower as traders remained cautious after Washington moved into austerity mode with the launch of the steep sequester spending cuts.

Ten minutes into trade on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 40.63 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 14,049.03.

The broad-based S&P 500 lost 2.68 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 1,515.52.

The Nasdaq Composite slipped 4.98 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 3,164.76.

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Frostbitten explorer Fiennes back home

BRITISH explorer Ranulph Fiennes showed off a heavily bandaged hand as he returned home following his evacuation from Antarctica with severe frostbite, and vowed to help the team he left out there.

The 68-year-old said it was "extremely frustrating" to be pulled off the trip, which if successful would have meant him had become among the first people to ski across the world's coldest continent in winter.

He insisted the remaining five members of his team would succeed in their quest to be the first men to conquer Antarctica in winter, and said he would focus on helping them raise their target of $US10 million ($A9.85 million) for charity.

"I'm not good at crying over spilt milk or split fingers," Fiennes told journalists at London's Heathrow Airport on Monday after flying in from South Africa, where he received several days of treatment on his frostbitten left hand.

"I started work on this expedition five years ago. I've been working on it, and nothing else, full time and unpaid - so it is definitely frustrating, but unavoidable," he said.

"I will make the best of it by putting my focus full time onto the expedition team - which of course is going on."

The team are making the epic trek in a vehicle dubbed the Ice Train, made from two snow tractors dragging carriages for scientific research, storage and accommodation.

They are set to start the winter crossing on March 20. The six-month journey via the South Pole will be mostly in darkness.

Fiennes told AFP he will probably not attempt to ski across Antarctica again.

"I probably won't because it takes a long time to set up," he said, adding that he would be unlikely to get fresh permission for the challenge because he could "die and become embarrassing to the British government".

The explorer, who is taking strong painkillers for his injuries, said the pain of frostbite "has to be experienced to be believed".

He famously sawed off the fingertips of the same hand himself after suffering severe frostbite on an expedition more than a decade ago.

"I had every reason to suspect that the damage from 13 years ago had completely gone," he told AFP.

He explained he had had no problems with the hand on recent expeditions, so the new bout of frostbite "was very bad luck indeed".

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Slim, Gates, Ortega are world's richest

MEXICAN tycoon Carlos Slim, Microsoft's Bill Gates and Zara fashion house boss Amancio Ortega of Spain have topped the Forbes list of the world's wealthiest billionaires.

Gina Rinehart is the highest-ranked Australian, coming in at number 36 with $US17 billion ($A16.75 billion), followed by Rupert Murdoch at 91 with $US11.2 billion.

James Packer ranks 198th with $US6 billion, Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest is 211th with $US5.7 billion, Frank Lowy is 229th with $US5.3 billion and Harry Triguboff is 276th with $US4.5 billion, according to the business magazine.

Slim, who controls Latin American telecommunications power America Movil and retail/industrial group Grupo Carso, came in first among the mega-rich for the fourth straight year, with a fortune estimated at $US73 billion, up $US4 billion from a year ago.

Microsoft chairman Gates, a perennial top finisher in the list, placed second with $US67 billion, up $US8 billion from 2012.

Ortega, whose Inditex fashion group includes the popular Zara chain, vaulted from the seventh position into the third spot. His wealth is now estimated at $US57 billion, rocketing from $US31 billion a year ago.

Slim and Gates were also in the top two spots last year.

Warren Buffett, chief of US conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, ranked fourth with $US53.5 billion, and Larry Ellison, chief executive of US technology company Oracle, rated fifth with $US43 billion.

Asia's richest man, Li Ka-shing, came in eighth with $US31 billion. He owes his fortune to his sprawling transportation, trading and energy businesses.

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SpaceX capsule arrives at space station

A PRIVATELY owned Dragon capsule has arrived at the International Space Station, delivering a tonne of supplies with high-flying finesse after a shaky start to the mission.

The Dragon's arrival was one day late but especially sweet - and not because of the fresh fruit on board for the station astronauts who snared the capsule.

SpaceX, the California-based company founded by billionaire Elon Musk, had to struggle with the Dragon following its launch on Friday from Cape Canaveral. A clogged pressure line or stuck valve prevented thrusters from working, and it took flight controllers several hours to gain control and salvage the mission.

In the end, the Dragon approached the orbiting lab with its load about as smoothly as could be expected, with all of its thrusters, or little manoeuvring rockets, operating perfectly. The capture occurred as the two spacecraft zoomed 400km above Ukraine.

"As they say, it's not where you start, but where you finish that counts," space station commander Kevin Ford said, "and you guys really finished this one on the mark."

Among the items on board: 640 seeds of a flowering weed used for research, mouse stem cells, food and clothes for the six men on board the space station, garbage bags, computer equipment, air purifiers, spacewalking tools and batteries. The company also tucked away apples and other fresh treats from an employee's family orchard.

The Dragon will remain at the space station for most of March before returning to Earth with science samples, empty food containers and old equipment.

SpaceX - Space Exploration Technologies Corp - has a $US1.6 billion ($A1.58 billion) contract with NASA to keep the station well stocked.

Musk, who helped create PayPal, acknowledged the problem was "frightening", but believed it was a one-time glitch.

The 41-year-old entrepreneur, who also runs the electric car maker Tesla, oversaw the entire operation from Hawthorne, California, home to SpaceX and the company's Mission Control.

The Dragon's splashdown in the Pacific remains on schedule for March 25.

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Hundreds die in Syria police academy fight

HUNDREDS of Syrian troops and rebels have been killed in a week-long battle for a police academy in the northern province of Aleppo, with insurgents seizing control of most of the complex, a monitoring group says.

"Rebels have seized most of a police academy in Khan al-Assal in Aleppo province ... after eight days of fighting that left 200 troops and rebels dead," said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based group said at least 120 army troops were among those killed in the battle for one of the regime's last remaining bastions in the west of Aleppo province. On Sunday alone, rebels killed more than 34 troops at the facility.

A police source in Aleppo confirmed that much of the academy had fallen into rebel hands, reporting that 40 security forces were believed dead. As many as 300 rebels were among those killed, he said.

Elsewhere, two mortars hit an area near Umayyad square in the heart of Damascus, close to a duty-free zone and customs offices, Syrian state media said, reporting only material damage.

The affected area is home to the state television building, the Assad Library and the army general command headquarters.

The Observatory reported that three mortar rounds smashed into the area, which was hit last year by a car bombing claimed by the jihadist Al-Nusra Front. On February 21, two mortar rounds hit the same area.

Also on Sunday, rebels in the southern province of Daraa seized an artillery battalion in Jamla village near the armistice line with Israel, according to the Observatory.

Eight rebel fighters were killed in the battle, the group said, adding the insurgents summarily executed the commander of the captured battalion.

In an unprecedented escalation of violence in the coastal province of Latakia, a regime stronghold, at least 15 rebel fighters were killed in a battle against troops, the Observatory said.

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Large anti-corruption protests in Bulgaria

TENS of thousands of Bulgarians have rallied across the country, in the latest sign that the government's resignation last month has failed to calm public anger about poverty and corruption.

In the capital Sofia metal fences and a heavy police presence prevented protesters from reaching an official flag-raising ceremony for national liberation day commemorating the end of Ottoman occupation in 1878.

But about 7000 demonstrators, according to AFP estimates, blocked traffic on several key boulevards for hours on Sunday, waving white-green-and-red Bulgarian flags and shouting "Mafia!"

Local media said more than 20,000 gathered in the Black Sea city of Varna, where the initial protests against high electricity bills started last month, calling for the resignation of mayor Kiril Yordanov.

Smaller protests were held in about a dozen other cities, gathering between several hundred and several thousand people, reports said.

In Sofia, protesters carried slogans that read "Anarchy against organised crime and the monopolies!", "The mobsters in jail!" and "People against the mafia".

Lawyer Ivan Hristov, who raised a "Power to the people" slogan as the rally passed by the parliament buildings, told AFP that protesters wanted more say in how the country was run.

"We will rally outside parliament on Wednesday to demand changes to the elections code to give civil groups the same rights as those enjoyed by political parties," he said.

Bulgaria has been rocked for three weeks by sometimes violent demonstrations over high electricity prices, deepening poverty, cronyism and corruption in the European Union's poorest member state.

The rallies forced the surprise resignation on February 20 of tough-guy Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's government five months before his term was due to expire, clearing the way for early elections on May 12.

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Gillard ramps up western Sydney stay

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard continues her five-day swing through western Sydney after a rousing reception by the Labor party faithful in Parramatta.

Ms Gillard is expected to make a number of announcements that may benefit the region in her five-day western stopover and will open the week with live breakfast TV appearances from Rooty Hill RSL club on Monday.

She received standing ovations from around 1000 people at the University of Western Sydney on Sunday as she outlined her Labor vision and promised that the people of the west would not be left behind in the delivery of government programs.

Earlier in the day she announced a national anti-gang task force to boost cooperation between federal and state police in targeting gang-related gun violence and drug trafficking.

Her stay is widely seen as a bid to shore up Labor support in the area when opinion polls signal a hammering for the party in Sydney's western suburbs at the next election.

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Britain blasts 'delusional' Assad

BRITISH Foreign Secretary William Hague says Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is "delusional" for failing to see the bloodshed in his country is at his own hands.

Hague says he will announce this week more assistance to the Syrian opposition in the form of non-lethal equipment and refuses to rule out the possibility of arming them in the future.

Britain has been pushing to lift a ban on the sale of arms to Syria's rebels, but at a meeting last month European Union foreign ministers ruled that only "non-lethal" aid and "technical assistance" could be given to the opposition.

In an interview with British newspaper The Sunday Times, Assad accused London of wanting to arm terrorists in Syria.

"How can we expect them to make the violence less while they want to send military supplies to the terrorists and don't try to ease the dialogue between the Syrians?" Assad said in a rare interview with Western media.

"This is a man presiding over this slaughter," Hague told BBC television of Assad.

"We, Britain, are the people sending food and shelter and blankets to help people driven from their homes and families in his name.

"We are the people sending medical supplies to try to look after people injured and abused by the soldiers working for this man.

"Assad thinks and is told by his inner circle that all of this is an international conspiracy, not the actual rebellion and revolt of his own people.

"This will go down as one of the most delusional interviews that any national leader has given in modern times."

In the interview, Assad dismissed the suggestion that Britain could play a constructive role in resolving the conflict, saying: "We don't expect an arsonist to be a firefighter."

Hague said he would be announcing in parliament this week details of more equipment assistance given directly to the Syrian opposition and warned that Britain could not simply "sit it out" in the conflict.

"The longer this goes on, the greater the danger that extremism takes hold, the greater the danger of destabilising neighbouring countries ... and the greater the extreme humanitarian distress involved so we cannot just sit on the sidelines and watch.

"The situation in Syria now is too dangerous to the peace and security of that entire region and thereby of the world to ignore it."

Asked about arming the opposition, Hague said: "I don't think we can rule that out for the future."

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