Measles alert in Brisbane and Mount Isa

RESIDENTS of Brisbane and Mount Isa could have been exposed to measles when a traveller returned from abroad with the disease, Queensland health officials say.

The traveller returned home from Asia on January 2 while still infectious with measles after picking up the disease overseas.

The infected person flew into Brisbane where they spent the day before flying to Mount Isa.

The Queensland Department of Health is urging anyone who was at the Brisbane International Airport abound 1am (AEST) on January 2 or in the the Brisbane CBD the same day to seek immediate medical advice if they feel unwell.

People at the city's domestic airport about 6am on January 3 or anyone who flew to Mount Isa that morning should also be on alert for symptoms.

Measles can be spread by droplets expelled during coughing or sneezing.

Early symptoms include fever, lethargy, a moist cough and sore and red eyes, followed a few days later by a red rash.

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Boy, 13, drives father's Merc to Germany

A 13-YEAR-OLD boy has run away from his adoptive parents in Italy, driving his father's Mercedes 1000 kilometres towards his native Poland before being stopped in Germany.

The boy - a go-kart enthusiast - managed to pass motorway toll booths and cross two international borders in his two-day drive across northern Italy, Austria and half of Germany.

"He looks like a 16-year-old, but still! He managed to fuel up and pass two borders. It's just incredible," Eleonora Spadati, head of local Carabinieri police in Montebelluna in northeast Italy where the boy ran from, told AFP on Saturday.

Spadati said the boy missed Poland and wanted to see his biological sister.

Just before leaving on Thursday with just 200 euros ($A252.14) in his pocket and a passport, he had also argued with his parents after they confiscated his mobile phone as a punishment for topping up its credit without their consent.

The boy's parents quickly realised he might have tried to go to Poland and contacted local Italian police, asking for an alert along his possible route.

German traffic police picked him up just 200 kilometres from the Polish border on Friday.

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Single parents to protest over payments

WELFARE advocates are planning to protest around Australia next month over the government's cuts to single parent benefits.

From January 1, single parents have not been eligible for the Parenting payment once their youngest child has turned eight years old and have been transferred to the lower Newstart allowance.

More than 60,000 single parents now receive between $60 to $100 a week less under entitlement changes.

The single parents action group (SPAG) are organising rallies in all major cities on February 5 to push for the government to reverse its decision, with the main protest at Parliament House in Canberra.

Protest organiser Samantha Seymour said the payment changes would have a detrimental impact on single parent families.

"Our purpose is to show the government that we will not tolerate their decision to further deprive and isolate Australians whose only crime is being single parents," Ms Seymour said in a statement on Sunday.

Families spokeswoman for the Australian Greens, Rachel Siewert, said she was concerned about the long-term impact of the lower Newstart payments on parents and their children.

"We shouldn't be condemning people to poverty," Senator Siewert said in a statement.

She said the government should reverse these payment cuts and also boost the Newstart allowance by $50 a week.

The government introduced the changes, worth around $728 million in savings over four years, in its bid for a budget surplus in 2012/13.

Last December, Treasurer Wayne Swan said the government was unlikely to have a surplus this financial year due to lower than forecast tax revenue.

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Savile's victims set to seek damages

AROUND 50 victims of sexual abuse by Jimmy Savile are set to seek damages from the late broadcaster's estate and from organisations including the BBC and Britain's health service, their lawyer said.

A report by British police on Friday said Savile "groomed the nation" over six decades, hiding behind his fame to assault girls, boys and adult women on BBC premises and in schools and hospitals.

Liz Dux, a lawyer representing more than 50 of Savile's victims, said that because Savile had died in 2011 aged 84, civil claims were the only way that they could get justice.

"Compensation is not at the forefront of their mind, but of course it's the only method of recompense that we can get for them now, given that he can't be prosecuted," she said.

Dux said they would consider making claims against Savile's heirs, against the BBC -- the publicly funded UK broadcaster that made Savile one of its biggest stars in the 1970s and 1980s -- and the state-run National Health Service.

"We now have to look at what was known in the organisations. Once these inquiries have taken place then we will be able to make progress with the civil claims.

"Those inquiries are hugely important to the evidence and it will be foolhardy to press ahead straight away with the civil claims now without that evidence coming forward.

"A moratorium has been agreed in respect of the majority of the potential defendants to await the outcome of the inquiry."

In the three-month investigation by police and the NSPCC children's charity, it emerged that Savile used his fame as presenter of BBC TV's Top of the Pops chart show and children's program Jim'll Fix It to rape and assault victims on BBC premises as well as in schools and hospitals where he did charity work.

The report recorded 214 criminal offences, including 34 rapes -- 28 of them of children. Three-quarters of the victims were children, mostly girls aged between 13 and 16, but the youngest was an eight-year-old boy.

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Judi Dench 'sorry' over Bond's Oscar snub

VETERAN British actress Judi Dench has spoken of her disappointment that the latest James Bond film Skyfall did not feature more prominently in the latest round of Oscar nominations.

The 23rd outing of 007 in a 50-year franchise opened in Britain late last year to rave reviews and broke box office records, but failed to meet expectations in Thursday's shortlist of screen candidates.

"I'm very, very sorry nothing has been recognised," said Dame Judi, who plays MI6 chief M in Skyfall.

"That's a great pity. I thought Sam (Mendes) directed it beautifully. It's a terrific film. I think that all round it was really wonderfully presented, filmed, lit and shot," she added, during an interview with London's Radio 4.

Skyfall received five nominations in Los Angeles in production categories.

British singer Adele made the shortlist for the best song, with Skyfall's theme.

Asked if she thought there was a bias against 007 films when it comes to awards, Dench replied: "I hope not."

The film, starring Daniel Craig as Bond, has eight 2013 Bafta nominations, including one for Outstanding British Film.

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Honda axes 800 British jobs on weak demand

HONDA has announced it intends to cut 800 jobs this year at its Swindon plant in Britain owing to weakening demand for its vehicles in Europe.

"Honda Motor Europe has today announced changes to its UK car manufacturing operation to ensure the long term stability of its future business," the group said in a statement on Friday.

"Sustained conditions of low demand in European markets make it necessary to realign Honda's business structure. As such, Honda ... will enter into formal consultation with its associates to consider these changes and the proposal that it will reduce the workforce by 800 associates by spring 2013."

Ken Keir, executive vice president at Honda Motor Europe, added that current "conditions of sustained low industry demand require us to take difficult decisions."

The Swindon plant in southwest England currently employs about 3500 staff, including 500 recruited only last year, in part to work on a new diesel engine line.

Britain's biggest union Unite called Honda's decision "a hammer blow to UK manufacturing and the local economy."

A spokesman for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said the British government would be working "to minimise the impact of the job losses."

He added: "Times are tough in the European market but the automotive industry remains a major success story for the UK.

"Over the last two years global manufacturers including Nissan, Jaguar Land Rover and BMW have invested STG6 billion ($A9.21 billion) in the UK, safeguarding and creating new jobs."

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France hunts Kurd killers amid feud claim

POLICE are hunting down the assassins of three Kurdish activists shot dead in Paris even as Turkey said an internal feud in the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) was most likely behind the slayings.

Judicial sources say the three female activists, including founding PKK member Sakine Cansiz, were each shot in the head at least three times, giving further credence to the theory of an execution-style hit.

Autopsies on the bodies revealed one of the women had been shot four times in the head and the other two shot three times, the sources said on Friday.

The killings came days after Turkish media reported Turkey and the PKK leadership had agreed on a roadmap to end the three-decade-old insurgency that has claimed more than 45,000 lives.

The PKK, which took up arms in 1984 for Kurdish self-rule in southeastern Turkey, is considered a terrorist organisation by Ankara and much of the international community.

Experts have suggested a number of potential motives for the killings, including an attack by Turkish extremists and internal feuding within the PKK.

The three were found dead on Thursday at the Kurdistan Information Centre in Paris's 10th district, after last being seen alive at the centre at midday on Wednesday.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday the slayings bore the hallmarks of an internal feud, noting that the victims appeared to have given the killer or killers access to the centre.

"The place was protected not by one lock but many coded locks," Anatolia news agency quoted Erdogan as telling reporters. "Those three people opened it (the door). I do not assume they would open it to people they didn't know."

But the Turkish leader also upheld his earlier suggestion that the slayings could be aimed at derailing peace talks between Ankara and the PKK's jailed leader, Abdullah Ocalan.

A former guerrilla of the organisation, Cansiz was considered a close ally of Ocalan.

"The killings could be the result of an internal feud or steps aimed at disrupting the steps we are taking with good intentions," Erdogan said.

Experts have said potential internal feuding could be linked to the peace process or to other PKK activities, in particular conflicts over money.

A French judicial source said police are running 21 investigations into potentially illegal fundraising by the PKK.

The group raises funds through a "revolutionary tax" on Kurdish expatriates that authorities in several countries have condemned as extortion. Several PKK leaders have also been designated as drugs traffickers by the United States.

There are around 150,000 Kurds in France, the vast majority of them of Turkish origin.

Erdogan's government recently revealed Turkish intelligence services had for weeks been talking to Ocalan, captured in 1999 and held on an island prison south of Istanbul.

Under the reported peace roadmap, the government would reward a ceasefire by granting wider rights to Turkey's Kurdish minority, whose population is estimated at up to 15 million in the country of 75 million.

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Catherine 'delighted' with first portrait

THE first official portrait of Prince William's wife, Catherine, has been unveiled in London, with the Duchess giving the work a royal thumbs up.

Catherine, 31, attended the National Portrait Gallery on Friday where artist Paul Emsley's work was revealed to a private audience which included the Duke of Cambridge.

"I think, from what I can see this morning, she's delighted with it. I'm very happy about that," Emsley said of Catherine's reaction.

The award-winning artist was commissioned by the gallery to capture Catherine and worked with the Duchess during a series of photography sessions.

The larger-than-life sized head and shoulders painting shows Catherine's flowing brunette hair and soft features against a dark background.

"In discussions it became clear that what she wanted herself, and I was very happy with that, was that the portrait should convey her natural self as opposed to her official self," Emsley told reporters, as published by The Independent online.

"The fact she is a beautiful woman is for an artist difficult. In the end I think what I tried to do really was to convey something about her warmth and her smile."

Asked of any royal feedback he received during the unveiling, Emsley said Catherine, who has a history of art degree, commented on the portrait: "It's just amazing".

The work was praised by prolific royal portrait artist Richard Stone, who said Emsley is "brave" to have embarked on a work of such large scale.

"It's very challenging to do something larger than life, and he seems to have pulled it off very well," said Stone, whose first royal commission was to paint the Queen Mother, which he went on to do six times.

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Syria says Turkey involved in looting

SYRIA has accused neighbouring Turkey of involvement in looting factories in the industrial city of Aleppo, in letters sent to UN chief Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council.

"Some 1000 factories in the city of Aleppo have been plundered, and their stolen goods transferred to Turkey with the full knowledge and facilitation of the Turkish government," the foreign ministry said in the letters.

"It is an illegal act of aggression that amounts to piracy. It is an act of aggression against the Syrian people's livelihood," the ministry added.

The ministry charged that Turkey, which backs the armed rebellion against the Damascus government, "is supporting terrorism while providing the conditions to help plunder Syria's riches.

"This requires a reaction by the UN Security Council," the ministry said.

Turkey's alleged actions "contribute directly to cross-border crime and piracy, which require an international reaction", it said.

The ministry also called on Turkey to "return the (looted) property to its owners, and pay compensation to those affected".

On Tuesday the head of the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Industry, Fares Shihabi, wrote the foreign ministry accusing "armed groups" - the term used by the government to describe the rebels - of having stolen machinery, equipment, vehicles, cranes and raw materials from the northern city of Aleppo.

Shihabi said these groups smuggled the stolen goods into Turkey across Syria's porous northern border via rebel-controlled crossings.

He also urged the Syrian authorities to press the UN to investigate the "plight of Syrian industrialists".

Aleppo, Syria's second city and commercial hub, is home to some 30,000 factories that were churning out everything from soap to textiles before the uprising launched against the regime in March 2011.

But much of the industry has ground to a halt as the city and surrounding areas have been engulfed in violence since a major rebel onslaught in July last year.

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US jobless claims rise by 4,000

US jobless claims increased by 4,000 from last week, according to government data released on Thursday.

Seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance in the week ending January 5 rose to 371,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 367,000.

The current number of jobless claims is above the 364,000 estimated by analysts.

Claims, a sign of the pace of layoffs, trended in the 370,000 range for most of 2012.

The four-week moving average was 365,750, an increase of 6,750 from the previous week's revised average of 359,000.

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Pakistan says soldier killed in Kashmir

PAKISTAN has accused Indian troops of opening fire and killing a Pakistani soldier, in the third deadly cross-border incident reported in five days in the disputed Kashmir region.

The Pakistan military said the incident happened in the Battal area of the Himalayan region on Thursday.

There was no immediate reaction from India.

"Pakistan Army soldier, Havildar Mohyuddin, embraced shahadat (martyrdom) due to unprovoked firing by Indian troops at Hotspring sector in Battal at 2.40pm (2040 AEDT) today," the military said.

"Today, India troops resorted to unprovoked firing at a Pakistani post named Kundi," it added, giving no further details.

The United States has urged the nuclear-armed rivals to cool tensions along the heavily militarised Line of Control, the de facto border in divided Kashmir.

On Tuesday India said two of its soldiers were killed by Pakistani troops and one of them was beheaded. Pakistan denied any responsibility.

On Sunday the Pakistani army accused India of killing one of its soldiers and wounding another in a cross-border attack. India said its troops opened fire following a Pakistani mortar attack, but denied they crossed the border.

Around 30 kilometres south of Battal but right on the Line of Control, Pakistani residents of Darmasaal village told AFP on Thursday they had been confined to their homes by heavy firing for days.

"We are scared. We can't come out because the area is under constant fire," said Shaukat Butt, 38.

"We used to cross the river by boats but yesterday Indian soldiers fired at our boat, so everybody is confined inside now and the boats have stopped."

Kashmir, a Muslim-majority territory, is claimed in full by both countries but divided between the two. It has been the cause of two of their three wars since independence from Britain in 1947.

A ceasefire has been in force along the Line of Control since 2003 but there are sporadic violations on both sides.

Despite claims and counter-claims this week, both countries have appeared determined to prevent the killings from wrecking a fragile peace process.

In the initial aftermath of the killings on Tuesday, Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid railed against the "ghastly" attack.

But by the next day he was telling reporters: "We cannot and must not allow for an escalation of a very unwholesome event that has taken place."

His Pakistani counterpart, Hina Rabbani Khar, welcomed his comments.

"There was, I believe, a sense of trying to de-escalate on their side ... and I think that is the right way to go," she told reporters on Thursday.

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UK says all options on table for Syria

WORLD powers will have to step up their response to the Syrian conflict if the violence worsens, British Foreign Secretary William Hague says, warning that all options are on the table.

He has reiterated that Britain will seek to amend the EU weapons embargo on Syria when it comes up for review on March 1 to allow them to arm rebels opposed to President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

In an update to the House of Commons, Hague said Britain was supporting UN and Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi's efforts to end the 21-month-old conflict, and revealed he would visit London for talks later this month.

But the foreign secretary warned: "Given the regime's intransigence and brutality, there is a serious risk that the violence will indeed worsen in the coming months.

"If that happens the international community's response will have to be stepped up.

"So we will not rule out any options to save lives and protect civilians in the absence of a political transition in Syria.

"We will ensure that our efforts are legal, that they're aimed at saving life and they support at all times the objective of a political transition and encouraging moderate political forces in Syria."

Hague repeated that Britain would seek to amend the European Union embargo blocking the delivery of weapons to either side in the Syrian conflict.

"No decisions have yet been made to change the support we provide to the Syrian National Coalition or the Syrian people," he said.

"But European countries now have the flexibility to consider taking additional steps to try to save lives if there is no progress in the near future.

"Clearly the best outcome for the Syrian people would be a diplomatic breakthrough, bringing an end to the bloodshed and establishing a new Syrian government able to restore stability.

"However we must keep open options to help save lives in Syria and to assist opposition groups opposed to extremism if the violence continues.

"We should send strong signals to Assad that all options are on the table. We will therefore seek to amend the EU sanctions so that the possibility of additional assistance is not closed off."

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Walkies morsels prove poisonous for pooch

SCAVENGING canines have been left bleary-eyed after inadvertently feasting on cannabis while on walkies in northwest England.

Patch was one of several dogs "poisoned" after tucking in to a package left on a walking track in greater Manchester, British newspaper The Daily Telegraph reported.

"Patch was just totally out of it," said owner Neil Rogers of his four-legged friend.

"When I got home he just collapsed and couldn't do anything. I realised he had eaten something."

Mr Rogers returned to the track and collected the package, the contents of which police later identified as cannabis.

Veterinary surgeon Lorna Cook, who treated two of the intoxicated dogs, said: "I haven't seen anything like this before.

"We had two dogs with similar signs in quick succession so we knew there was something suspicious. Both dogs collapsed and had dilated pupils."

All the stoned pooches have reportedly made a full recovery.

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Berlusconi blasts 'feminist, commo' judges

MILAN court officials have defended the impartiality of their judges after ex-Premier Silvio Berlusconi blamed "feminist, communist" magistrates for a 200,000 euros ($A251,193) a day divorce settlement.

Berlusconi made the accusation in an interview on Tuesday with the La7 private television network and said he was appealing the settlement with his second ex-wife, Veronica Lario.

In a joint statement on Wednesday carried by the ANSA news agency, the president of the Milan tribunal and the head of the appeals court "strongly rejected any insinuation of impartiality" of the tribunal's judges, whom they described as "diligent professionals."

The statement noted that both sides in the divorce have the right to appeal the decision.

Italian media initially reported the settlement amounted to 100,000 euro a day. But Berlusconi said the figure, with arrears, was double that.

"These are three women judges, feminists and communists, OK?" he said. "These are the Milan judges who have persecuted me since 1994."

Lario filed for divorce in 2009, citing Berlusconi's fondness for younger women. The 76-year-old billionaire media mogul, who is currently dating someone nearly 50 years his junior, is on trial in Milan accused of paying for sex with an underage Moroccan teen and using his office to cover it up. He and the girl deny the charges.

Berlusconi also was convicted by another Milan judge of tax fraud last year and is appealing that decision.

The decision in the pay-for-sex case could come before elections next month. Berlusconi has been on a media blitz in recent weeks, seeking to boost his party's chances.

Polls currently give the lead to the centre-left Democratic Party, with Berlusconi's People of Freedom party and the civic movement of Premier Mario Monti vying for second and third place.

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Berlin museum spotlights Scorsese

A BERLIN museum is to open what it calls the first exhibition worldwide dedicated to the work of veteran US filmmaker Martin Scorsese, who has opened his vast archive for the show.

Featuring relics such as Robert De Niro's shirt drenched in fake blood from Cape Fear and his battered boxing gloves from Raging Bull, the show at the Museum for Film and Television offers an in-depth look at Scorsese's half-century of cinema.

The 70-year-old Oscar winner was unable to attend Wednesday's gala opening because he is editing The Wolf of Wall Street, his fifth picture starring Leonardo DiCaprio, whose filming was delayed by Hurricane Sandy in October.

But he said in a video message shown to reporters that he was honoured to be the subject of a show at a museum whose permanent collection is devoted to the work of icons such as Marlene Dietrich, Fritz Lang and FW Murnau.

"Some of the objects you will see have literally been taken off the walls of my house and my office," said Scorsese, who also narrates the show's audio guide.

"I hope these objects and the exhibition... help give you an idea or convey my lifelong passion for film."

Scorsese made available his personal collection of scripts covered in handwritten notes, vintage posters and photographs for what the museum called the first exhibition devoted exclusively to Scorsese's monumental output.

The exhibition, which will run until May 12 then continue on to Turin and Geneva, is opening just weeks before next month's 63rd Berlin film festival.

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Tymoshenko in 'disobedience campaign'

JAILED Ukrainian opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko has launched a "campaign of civil disobedience" and spent the night in a shower of her hospital, a prison official says.

On Tuesday, Tymoshenko who has been sentenced to seven years in jail for abuse of power while in office and is in hospital for treatment for back pain, said she no longer recognised the country's judicial authorities.

The move takes the confrontation of the fiery former prime minister with her arch-foe President Viktor Yanukovych to a new level. In the past she had repeatedly refused medical treatment and announced several hunger strikes to protest her treatment in jail.

As part of what she called her "personal campaign of civil disobedience," the co-leader of Ukraine's 2004 Orange Revolution said she would no longer appear in court or cooperate with investigators and prosecutors.

"The time for my patience and tolerance is over," she said in a statement.

After making her announcement she moved out of her hospital room into the hospital corridor where she sat perched on a walking frame, prison officials said.

"She then moved into a shower room and spent the night there," said Andrei Lapinsky, a top prison official in the Kharkiv region where Tymoshenko is serving out her sentence.

Tymoshenko, 52, has been in hospital for back pain she developed after being sentenced in 2011 to a seven-year jail term for abuse of power while prime minister.

The charges were brought shortly after she lost a bitter election contest against Yanukovych in 2010.

Tymoshenko's conviction, which she calls a vendetta by Yanukovych for her political ambitions, caused a dramatic deterioration of Ukraine's ties with the West.

She is also being tried in a separate tax evasion case and has been linked by prosecutors to the 1996 murder of a deputy.

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New TV headphones bypass your ears

TV watchers who don't want to disturb sleeping family members may be interested in new headphones which don't need cables.. or even your ears.

The wireless headphones from Panasonic connect to a TV via Bluetooth and attach to your head like a normal set of headphones.

But instead of using your ears to pick up sound, the headphones work like hearing aids by transmitting sound waves through your skull.

They are one of several innovations Panasonic unveiled at the International CES show in Las Vegas.

It also showed off a new user interface for its "Smart Viera" TVs, featuring a TV-mounted camera that recognises the user and sets viewing preferences accordingly.

The Japanese electronics maker also demonstrated an easy way to send YouTube videos from smartphones to the TV.

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Vietnam schoolgirl banned for Ho parody

A VIETNAMESE teenager has been suspended from school for a year for posting a parody of a famous speech by independence hero Ho Chi Minh on her Facebook page, local media says.

The Declaration of Students of Ly Tu Trong Secondary School satirises a famous 1946 speech by then-president Ho calling for national resistance against French colonialists.

"All students! As we desire peace, we have made concessions. But the more concessions we make, the more the teachers press on, for they are bent on failing us once again," said the post, quoted by the Thanh Nien newspaper.

"All students... have to find ways to get good marks in the exam... those who have neither health or head (intellect) have to copy or use cheat sheets."

The local authorities said the 14-year-old's post distorted history and insulted the school in the central province of Quang Nam.

"Forcing her to stay at home is also a way of educating her," head teacher Nguyen Tan Si was quoted as saying in local media.

The suspension prompted a storm of criticism online. A survey by the VNExpress website showed that around 70 per cent of readers thought the punishment was too harsh.

Facebook is popular in Vietnam but is sometimes blocked by the communist authorities, who maintain a cult of personality around Ho.

The father figure led the country to independence from the French but died in 1969, aged 79, before the country was unified at the end of the war.

His embalmed body is on display in Hanoi while his image appears on banknotes and his portrait is hung in classrooms and other public buildings.

All Vietnamese children are told stories about Uncle Ho from the time they enter nursery school at age three until they finish university.

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Lenin mobile phone ads spark Polish anger

VLADIMIR Lenin is not considered funny in Poland.

A Polish mobile phone operator that used a cartoon image of the Russian communist revolutionary found itself barraged by angry feedback and responded this week by stopping its advertising campaign.

Older Poles remember Lenin for shaping a communist regime that killed millions and which other Soviet leaders later imposed on Poland.

The company, Heyah, counted on younger Poles having shaken such associations, and recently started a campaign that used a cartoon of Lenin with the command "Keep Talking!" The ad was for a low calling rate available to all customers, playing with the communist promise of egalitarianism.

The company said late Monday it is pulling the ads due to the outcry. It said it had never intended offence.

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Poachers slaughter Kenyan elephant family

KENYAN wildlife rangers are tracking a team of poachers who massacred a family of 11 elephants in what they said was the worst single such killings in the country in the past three decades.

"We have not lost as many elephants in a single incident since the early 1980s," said Patrick Omondi, head of the elephant program at the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS). "This is a clear signal that things are getting worse."

The bullet-riddled corpses of the elephants - all with their tusks hacked off, and including a two-month old baby - were found on Saturday in south-eastern Kenya's vast Tsavo East National Park.

"Our initial investigations show that the poachers numbered at least 10 and were armed with an assortment of guns," Omondi said, adding that the normal weapon of choice for poachers is an AK-47 assault rifle.

Rangers were tracking the poachers in "hot pursuit" but had so far not caught the gang, KWS said.

Officials say that an increase in demand for ivory in Asia - where elephant tusks are used in traditional medicines and to make ornaments - has led to a substantial increase in the killing of elephants in Africa.

"A kilogram of ivory can fetch up to $US2500 ($A2392) in the black market, money that comes back to fund extremely organised gangs with sophisticated weapons," said Omondi.

In 2012, Kenya lost approximately 360 elephants to poaching, a figure that rose from 289 the previous year, KWS said. At least 40 poachers were killed last year as rangers battled the raiders.

The international trade in elephant ivory, with rare exceptions, has been outlawed since 1989 after elephant populations in Africa dropped from millions in the mid-20th century to some 600,000 by the end of the 1980s.

Last week officials in Hong Kong seized more than a tonne of ivory worth about $1.4 million in a shipment from Kenya.

Ivory trade is banned under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which is due to hold its next meeting in March, a date that Omondi says has in the past triggered a rise in poaching.

As the conference approaches, "countries with elephant herds register a surge in poaching... speculators stockpile the contraband with the hope that the conference will lift the ban on ivory trade," he said.

Africa is home to an estimated 472,000 elephants whose survival is threatened by poaching and habitat loss.

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Sri Lanka court stops judge's impeachment

SRI Lanka's Court of Appeal has ordered parliament to drop its impeachment of the country's top judge, amid international concern for judicial independence on the island.

The court issued an order quashing a report by ruling party MPs who found Chief Justice Shirani Bandaranayake guilty of financial and professional misconduct more than a month ago.

"The court granted the writ sought by the chief justice (against parliament)," a court official told reporters outside a packed courthouse on Monday. "This means parliament cannot legally proceed with the impeachment."

He said the court declared the Parliamentary Select Committee that probed the chief justice was illegal and the legislature could not take any action against Bandaranayake on the basis of its flawed findings.

The ruling was widely expected after the Supreme Court four days ago ruled the committee had no powers to find a judge guilty.

Bandaranayake, 54, had angered the ruling party after recent constitutional decisions that went against the government. She has also resisted pressure to step down. Unless removed legally she could remain in office for 11 more years.

The United Nations as well as international rights groups have raised concern over moves by President Mahinda Rajapakse's government to remove the chief justice. The impeachment is seen as politically motivated.

Rajapakse has tightened his grip on power after crushing Tamil rebels in 2009 following a major military offensive that has sparked international allegations of rights abuses.

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Islamists strengthened in Egypt reshuffle

THE Muslim Brotherhood has strengthened its position in the Egyptian government following the latest government reshuffle, which saw members secure three more portfolios, media reports say.

The ministries of transport, domestic development and supply went to members of the Brotherhood from which President Mohamed Morsi hails, reports said.

Eight of the 35 ministers led by Prime Minister Hisham Qandil come from the Islamist group, which already holds the ministries of information and housing.

The new Finance Minister Al-Morsi al-Sayyed Hegazi, an academic specialising in Islamic finance, is also considered to be close to Brotherhood although he is not a member of the powerful organisation.

Ten new ministers joined the government in Sunday's reshuffle, which drew criticism in the media and among some parties.

"The Islamisation of the government," wrote the independent newspaper Al-Shuruk.

The newspaper also quoted the head of the leftist Tagammu party, Rifaat al-Said, slamming the reshuffle and describing it as a "stranglehold" by the Brotherhood over the government.

The liberal Al-Wafd newspaper cast doubts over the government's ability to deal with a difficult agenda within two months, or until legislative elections are due to take place in February or March.

State media, meanwhile, quoted Morsi urging the new government to intensify its efforts to solve the country's deepening economic crisis.

Sunday's reshuffle came on the eve of talks due to resume Monday in Cairo with the International Monetary Fund for a loan of $US4.8 billion ($A4.6 billion), which many see as a key prerequisite for economic recovery.

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Sunshine Coast bank robbed

A SUNSHINE Coast bank has been robbed by a man claiming to be armed.

Police are investigating the robbery of the Buddina bank, which occurred about 3pm (AEST) on Monday.

A man entered the Nicklin Way bank before approaching a teller and producing a note stating he was armed and wanted money.

The teller complied with his demands and the man fled the scene with a sum of cash.

The man is described as being about 175cm tall with a tanned complexion. He was wearing a dark blue shirt, pants and cap and black sunglasses.

No one was injured during the incident.

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UK far-right leader jailed over passport

THE leader of the far-right English Defence League (EDL) has been jailed for 10 months by a British court for using a friend's passport to travel to the United States.

Stephen Lennon, 30, whose group opposes what it calls the "Islamisation" of Britain, pleaded guilty to possession of a false identity document with improper intention.

Lennon had previously been refused entry to the United States and so used a passport in the name of his friend Andrew McMaster to travel to the country, Southwark Crown Court in London heard.

He used a self check-in kiosk to board a Virgin Atlantic flight from London's Heathrow airport to New York in September 2011.

But when Lennon arrived at New York's John F Kennedy airport US customs officials took his fingerprints and realised that he was not the person on the passport, the court heard.

He was asked to attend a second interview but left the airport, entering the US illegally, before leaving the country the following day using his own passport.

British police arrested Lennon in October.

In a further twist it emerged Lennon's own legitimate passport bears the name Paul Harris.

"You knew perfectly well that you were not welcome in the United States," Judge Alistair McCreath told Lennon as he sentenced him on Monday.

"I am going to sentence you under the name of Stephen Lennon although I suspect that is not actually your true name, in the sense that it is not the name that appears on your passport."

The court heard Lennon was previously jailed for assault in 2005 and has previous convictions for drugs offences and public order offences.

The EDL was formed in 2009 after Muslim hardliners jeered a homecoming parade for British troops who had served in Afghanistan. It has held a series of sometimes violent rallies in Britain.

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Shots fired in Sydney's southwest

AN investigation is under way after shots were fired in Sydney's southwest on Sunday.

Police were called to Clunes Lane, Canterbury, about 2.15pm (AEDT) on Sunday after a resident reported hearing gun shots.

At the scene, officers were told the shots were fired by two men in a blue sedan. There were no reports of injury or damage to property.

The vehicle is described as being a dark blue sedan similar to a Holden Commodore or Ford Falcon.

The car occupants are described as being of Mediterranean or Middle Eastern appearance, aged in their mid 20s, with a stocky build, and unshaven.

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Suspected body in bag washes up in WA

POLICE in Western Australia are investigating the discovery of what appears to be human remains stuffed into a plastic bag that washed up on a beach on Rottnest Island.

The grim discovery was made on late on Sunday afternoon at Porpoise Bay, on the southeast of the island, with police immediately called in to investigate fears the bag contained a body.

A WA police spokesman said officers are "fairly convinced" the remains in the bag are human, with a pathologist due to be called in to confirm the find.

The pathologist will examine the contents of the bag either late on Sunday night, or first thing on Monday.

Rottnest Island, situated 18km off the coast of Perth, has been a popular holiday spot for West Australians for generations.

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Philippine army kill 13 suspects in clash

PHILIPPINE army special forces and police have killed 13 suspected criminals in a fierce gunbattle on the main northern island of Luzon in the latest violence to erupt in the country in the last week.

A police officer was wounded in the shootout in the coastal town of Atimonan in Quezon province, about 140km southeast of Manila, the capital.

The gunmen, who were riding in two black 4WDs, opened fire on about 50 army soldiers and police when they were flagged down at a highway checkpoint in Atimonan, sparking the firefight, said Lt Col Monico Abang, who led the army platoon in the clash. Gunmen also fired from a third van but turned around and escaped, he said.

Quezon provincial police chief Valeriano de Leon said 11 gunmen died at the scene of the clash. Two others died while being brought to a hospital, he said, adding that government forces recovered two assault rifles and eight pistols used by the gunmen.

"They rolled down their windows and started firing, so we had to retaliate," Abang said by mobile phone from the scene of the clash. "They were clearly outnumbered and outgunned."

A police colonel was shot in the hand and foot and taken to a hospital, de Leon said.

Abang said the army and police set up a checkpoint along the highway after police received a tip-off from an informant that gunmen involved in illegal drugs, gambling and kidnapping for ransom would pass through Atimonan.

The shootout followed two other violent incidents that have revived calls for tighter gun control in the country. A man who reportedly was drunk and high on drugs killed eight people before being gunned down by police on Friday in Kawit town in Cavite province, 16 km south of Manila.

A seven-year-old girl died a day after being hit in the head by a stray bullet while watching fireworks with her family on New Year's Eve outside their home in Caloocan city, near Manila, despite a high-profile government campaign against powerful firecrackers and celebratory gunfire by Filipinos to welcome 2013.

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Depardieu in Mordovia to see new home

FRENCH actor Gerard Depardieu, who's received a Russian passport in a move to avoid higher taxes for the rich back home, has travelled to Mordovia in central Russia, where he's been offered to set up a residence.

Local television showed the actor, fresh from his meeting with President Vladimir Putin the previous day, arriving in snow-covered Mordovia, a region known for its harsh climate and a network of Stalin-era prison camps.

Depardieu was seen on television showing off his new red passport to his hosts in the regional capital, Saransk, a city of around 300,000 people located some 600 kilometres to the southeast of Moscow.

Upon arrival on Sunday Depardieu, who wore no hat and left his coat unbuttoned, was greeted by young women wearing national costumes and served blini, or pancakes, before touring a local history museum.

"Gerard Depardieu was greeted as a hero," a correspondent said on Russian television.

The television report said the French actor was also expected to receive keys to a new home and to be granted official residence registration in Mordovia.

The Interfax news agency reported from Saransk that local governor Vladimir Volkov had made the French actor an offer to pick an apartment or a place to build a house in Mordovia.

"I am very happy; it's very beautiful here, beautiful and soulful people live here," Interfax quoted the actor as saying.

Depardieu also complimented local women on their beauty, it said.

The French film star also expressed a desire to see a monument to Yemelyan Pugachev, the leader of one of the most violent peasant revolts in the 18th century who he reportedly wants to play.

Among the gifts the star of Cyrano de Bergerac and Green Card received in Mordovia were a pair of felt boots, or valenki, and two kittens for his new Russian home, television said.

Mordovia is famous for its often unforgiving climate and a large number of prison camps, which appeared in the 1930s as part of the Stalin-era GULAG system of labour camps.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, a member of Pussy Riot punk band, is serving her two-year prison sentence in Mordovia, after she and her band mates performed an anti-Putin song in a church last year.

Depardieu was travelling to the region on the eve of the Orthodox Christmas, which Russia celebrates on January 7 and was also taken to a cathedral.

On Saturday, Depardieu met Putin over a meal at the Russian strongman's residence in Sochi on the Black Sea and was handed a Russian passport.

When Depardieu first announced he would leave France to avoid a proposed higher tax on millionaires, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault branded the move "pathetic".

Depardieu, the Russian television said, was so angry with France that when he learnt that two French reporters were in Mordovia to cover his visit, he told them to leave.

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