EGYPT'S powerful military says it "supports dialogue" to resolve the political crisis dividing the nation, in its first statement since street protests against President Mohamed Morsi erupted more than two weeks ago.
"The path of dialogue is the best and only way to reach agreement and achieve the interests of the nation and its citizens," the statement, from the spokesman of the armed forces, said on Saturday.
A POLICE officer clocked driving at more than double the speed limit in Melbourne's southeast has been suspended with pay.
Highway patrol recorded the leading senior constable travelling at 122km/h in a 50km/h zone in Garden Road, Clayton, about 10.15pm (AEDT) on Friday.
His car will be impounded for 30 days and he is expected to be charged on summons with driving offences, a police spokeswoman said.
The ethical standards command will investigate the incident and has suspended the officer with pay.
The officer will also face an internal disciplinary inquiry.
Road Policing Command Superintendent Neville Taylor said anyone caught driving dangerously would be held accountable.
"We expect all motorists to behave responsibly on our roads, regardless of who they are," he said in a statement.
"No one is above the law and if you do the wrong thing you will be caught and penalised."
THE US military has detained more than 200 Afghan teenagers who were captured in the war for about a year at a time at a military prison next to Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, the United States has told the UN.
The US State Department characterised the detainees held since 2008 as "enemy combatants" in a report sent every four years to the UN in Geneva updating US compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The US military had held them "to prevent a combatant from returning to the battlefield", the report said.
A few teenagers are still confined at the detention facility in Parwan, which will be turned over to the Afghan government, it said.
"Many of them have been released or transferred to the Afghan government," said the report, which was distributed this week.
Most of the juvenile Afghan detainees were about 16 years old, but their age was not usually determined until after capture, the US report said.
If the average age is 16, "this means it is highly likely that some children were as young as 14 or 13 years old when they were detained by US forces," Jamil Dakwar, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's human rights program, said on Friday.
Tina M Foster, executive director of the International Justice Network, which represents adult and juvenile Bagram detainees, questioned the report's figures.
"I question the number of 200, because there are thousands of detainees at Parwan."
The US State Department was called for comment on the criticism, and a representative said they were seeking an officer to reply.
The report said "the purpose of detention is not punitive but preventative: to prevent a combatant from returning to the battlefield".
However, Foster said the teens seized are not in uniform or even typically taken in combat.
A US air strike in Pakistan has killed an al-Qaeda leader, Khaled Bin Abdel Rahman al-Hussainan, while he was having dinner after a day of fasting, the group has announced.
The militant, also known as Abu Zaid al-Kuwaiti, was killed when he was having a late dinner after fasting during the day, the group said in a brief statement posted on several jihadist websites late on Friday.
"We announce the martyrdom of Sheikh Khaled al-Hussainan who died as he was having his sohur meal and we pray to God to accept him in heaven," the statement said.
US television network NBC News quoted terrorism experts saying that the militant, a 46-year-old Kuwaiti, was a second generation leader of al-Qaeda.
They said he was among those who could have replaced Ayman al-Zawahiri as head of the extremist network, adding that the militant had been killed in a drone attack.
YOU could call it primitive art - but stone age man knew what he was doing when he daubed figures of animals on cave walls.
In fact, many modern artists could learn a lesson or two from their ancient forbears who lived up to 30,000 years ago, scientists claim.
The lifelike images found at sites such as the famous Lascaux Cave in southwest France are said to demonstrate an ability to depict animal movement superior to that seen today.
Researchers in Hungary examined prehistoric and modern artworks of paintings and statues of animals including horses, bulls and elephants.
They found the majority of depictions of animals walking or trotting had the legs wrongly positioned.
However, prehistoric paintings had the lowest error rate of 46.2 per cent.
In contrast, modern era artworks of animals in motion prior to the late 19th century were incorrect 83.5 per cent of the time.
Even Leonardo da Vinci, famous for his anatomical drawings, got it wrong when he tried to portray animal movement.
After the pioneering work of Eadweard Muybridge, who made the first detailed studies of animal gait in the 1880s, the error rate decreased to 57.9 per cent.
But even then, pictures of moving animals could not match those of the cavemen for accuracy.
The research, led by Dr Gabor Horvath from Eotvos University in Budapest, has been published in the online journal Public Library of Science ONE.
In their paper the scientists wrote: "Cavemen were more keenly aware of the slower motion of their prey animals and illustrated quadruped walking more precisely than later artists."
The Lauscaux Cave in the Vezere Valley of France's Dordogne region contains nearly 2000 figures of animals, human figures and abstract signs painted onto the walls with mineral pigments.
They include more than 300 pictures of horses, 90 paintings of stags, cattle, bison, cats, a bird, a bear and a rhinoceros.
Among the most famous images are four huge black bulls, or aurochs, one of which is 17ft long.
Indonesia's sports minister has resigned after being named as a suspect in a corruption case. Source: AAP
INDONESIA'S youth and sports minister has stepped down, a day after he was named as a suspect in a graft case linked to a sports education construction project near the capital.
Andi Mallarangeng, 49, claimed he was innocent, but said he needed to "focus on my legal case".
"Under the current situation, I won't be able to carry out my duties effectively."
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono had accepted his resignation, and he had also stepped down from the advisory board of Yudhoyono's Democratic Party, the former minister said.
A project to build a sports education centre on Jakarta's outskirts showed signs of corruption costing the state around 243 billion rupiah ($A24.15 million), auditors have said.
The Corruption Eradication Commission has said it suspects Mallarangeng of delegating the signing of the contract to build the 1.1-trillion-rupiah centre to his secretary, breaching a law that requires a minister to sign any contract over 50 billion rupiah.
Democratic Party chairman Anas Urbaningrum has also been implicated, but not named as a suspect in the case, the latest in a series of corruption scandals involving top officials of the ruling coalition's largest party.
Party former treasurer and legislator Muhammad Nazaruddin is serving a jail term of more than four years and 10 months for taking a 4.6-billion-rupiah bribe for awarding the construction of an athletes' village for the 2011 South-East Asian Games.
Nazaruddin has accused Mallarangeng of receiving a kickback of 20 billion rupiah in connection with the sports education complex project.
Another senior party official and legislator, Angelina Sondakh, is on trial in a separate corruption case.
Mallarangeng was on Thursday banned from travel to be questioned over the allegations.
SENIOR Labor senator John Faulkner will move reforms at NSW Labor's next annual conference aimed at opening up the ALP and eliminating corruption.
Senator Faulkner this week said ALP powerbrokers held too much control over the party and Labor rank-and-file needed a greater say.
He's called for a code of conduct covering MPs and senators, including a "one strike and you're out" policy for any Labor member found guilty of corrupt behaviour.
Senator Faulker on Friday said he would take his reforms to NSW Labor's 2013 annual conference.
"It's my intention to move those proposals as rule changes at the next NSW annual conference," Mr Faulkner told ABC television's 7:30 Report.
"I don't intend to let those matters go. I intend to proceed with them."
Mr Faulkner said reform was urgent and conceded that without it Labor would take a hit at the next federal election.
"In a federal election this will cost us votes and cost us support as it will in a state election," he said.
The ALP stalwart said one key reform would be to end binding factional votes, an internal rule blamed for making it easy for party powerbrokers to maintain control.
"The problem comes when factions' interests are put before the interest of the Labor Party," Mr Faulkner said.
"The binding issue is just unacceptable, there's no need for that."
Mr Faulkner's call comes as a NSW corruption watchdog inquiry probes the involvement of former Labor ministers Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald in the opening up of coal mining in the state's upper Hunter.
The inquiry has heard Mr Obeid was able to exert considerable control within parliamentary Labor as leader of a faction called the "Terrigals".
FEDERAL prosecutors say they have filed espionage charges against a German-Moroccan man on allegations he spied on Moroccan opposition supporters in Germany for the country's government.
Spokesman Marcus Koehler said on Friday that Bagdad A., 59, was charged on November 8.
His last name was not given in accordance with German privacy laws.
He's accused of providing Morocco's spy agency information on opposition supporters living in Germany that he had collected through a network of contacts from 2007 to 2012.
Among other things prosecutors say he provided details of opposition leaders who planned anti-government demonstrations.
A SOUTH Sudanese reporter often critical of the government has been shot dead at his home in the capital Juba, colleagues say, adding that he been recently threatened to stop writing.
Diing Chan Awuol, who wrote for news websites including Sudan Tribune and Gurtong under the pen-name Isaiah Abraham, was shot dead by unidentified men in his home in the early hours of Wednesday morning, police said.
"Police are investigating and they will be discovering what happened... they suspect an assassination as nothing has been stolen," said police spokesman James Monday Enoka.
One of his last articles urged Juba's government to improve relations with former civil war foes in Khartoum and stop any support for Sudanese rebel groups.
"Journalists said Chan had been threatened several times in the past and had received anonymous phone calls warning him to stop writing," the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists said, calling for a "thorough investigation".
"His real name was recently discovered and as a friend, he told me that security agents are after him," said a friend of Awuol, who asked not to be named.
"I advised him to abandon using 'Isaiah Abraham' and create a different pseudonym, but it was too late."
South Sudanese journalist Ayuen Panchuol said the killing was a way of saying "look, this is what will happen to you if don't shut up".
South Sudan, the world's newest country after it split from Sudan in July 2011 following decades of war, is struggling to rebuild basic institutions.
Awuol, who was married and with five children, fought with the South Sudanese rebels who battled Khartoum from 1983-2005, now the official army of the fledgling country.
Most recently he worked at the national justice commission.
Tanks have been deployed outside Egypt's presidential palace following a night of deadly clashes. Source: AAP
EGYPT'S army has deployed tanks outside the presidential palace after a night of deadly clashes between opponents and supporters of President Mohamed Morsi.
Three tanks and three armoured personnel carriers were stationed metres from the front gate of the palace in northern Cairo on Thursday as hundreds of Morsi's partisans chanted slogans in support of the president.
The military pledged on Thursday not to use violence against protesters.
General Mohammed Zaki, head of the Republican Guard tasked with protecting the president, said that "the armed forces, and the Republican Guard, will not be an instrument of oppression against protesters," the official MENA news agency reported.
AN altercation between two drivers near Perth has led to the death of another man, whose vehicle collided head-on with one of their cars.
Police said it was believed two men in separate vehicles were involved in an incident shortly before 2pm (WST) on Thursday.
One of the vehicles then drove off and shortly after smashed into another car that was travelling in the opposition direction along South Western Highway in Byford, on Perth's southeastern fringe.
The man in the third vehicle died, while the driver in the other car was airlifted to Royal Perth Hospital.
The driver who'd been involved in the earlier altercation left the area.
He is now helping police with their inquiries.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
The South Western Highway has been closed in both directions, between Thomas Road and Larsen Road.
FOUR Chinese immigrant bus drivers accused of inciting Singapore's first labour strike in 26 years have been granted bail in a case that highlighted growing social friction caused by an influx of foreign labour.
A fifth Chinese driver has already been sentenced to six weeks in prison even though prosecutors said he was not an instigator of the strike, which was called to demand equitable pay.
Walking off the job in protest is almost unheard of in Singapore, and the swift prosecution following the November 26-27 strike was a clear sign the government of this strictly-enforced country will not brook any disobedience from its work force.
Three of the men who appeared in court on Thursday were allowed a bail of 10,000 Singapore dollars ($A7,880).
A fourth driver, He Jun Liang, who faces an additional charge of making an online post in Mandarin, was given a bail of $S20,000.
It is not clear if they will be able to raise the money to get out of detention before their case resumes on December 12.
A Chinese embassy official who was present at the hearing declined to comment on the cases.
If found guilty, all four men face up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $S2,000.
The four drivers and the fifth already in jail were among 171 Chinese bus drivers of a state transport company who went on strike in protest at being paid nearly a quarter less than their Malaysian colleagues.
The labour action disrupted about five per cent of the city-state's bus services.
Singapore requires essential service workers to give 14 days' notice of a strike.
The last strike in the country was in 1986 by shipyard workers.
The government revoked the work permits of 29 other drivers and deported them to China.
The remaining drivers in the group were issued warnings, and will be allowed to remain and work in Singapore.
Authorities say a police investigation found the strike was premeditated and the drivers were absent from work without reason.
The bus company's chief, Desmond Kuek, has said the Chinese drivers' salary was fair.
He said the Chinese were paid less than the Malaysians because the company bore their expenses for transport, accommodation and utilities.
Singapore relies on hundreds of thousands of immigrants from countries such as Indonesia, Bangladesh, China, Malaysia and Myanmar (Burma) to work as maids, construction workers, waiters, rubbish collectors and at other jobs deemed unappealing to many locals.
But the massive influx of foreigners has created much resentment among locals who see them as undisciplined and noisy.
They also blame the foreigners for the overcrowding that has put pressure on infrastructure, and for raising housing prices because of bigger demand on limited supply.
The case has not caused any diplomatic rift between Singapore and China, a major trading partner.
But activists in Hong Kong staged a protest outside the Singapore consulate on Wednesday.
The NSW government is under fire over a report revealing a record number of transport complaints. Source: AAP
THE NSW government has come under fire after a report revealed a record number of complaints against Railcorp and a drop in the overall number of on-time trains.
The Auditor-General's NSW transport report, released on Wednesday, found complaints about on-time running were up almost 18 per cent on 2011.
On the roads, the report also shows there's little joy for Sydney's road commuters, as average speeds slowed on five of the city's seven major roads.
Afternoon peak-hour speeds on the M2 Lane Cove Tunnel/Gore Hill freeway dropped from 60km/h down to 52km/h in the space of 12 months.
Auditor-general Peter Archterstraat said only nine of the state's 16 rail networks achieved 92 per cent the on-time running target, down from 14 previously.
The East Hills, South, Western, Northern via Strathfield, South Coast, Blue Mountains, Southern Highlands, Hunter and Newcastle and Central Coast lines are all operating below the 92 per cent target, according to the report.
Complaints about hygiene have increased by 26 per cent, with 35 complaints lodged every week.
Opposition Transport spokeswoman Penny Sharpe said during eight peak hour periods in the past year, less than 60 per cent of the network operated on time, with train reliability at its lowest level in four years, .
Commuters were being charged up to $156 extra in fares each year, a figure that is set to increase again from January 1.
"Trains are getting later, dirtier and more crowded under Barry O'Farrell," Ms Sharpe said in a statement.
Greens MP and transport spokesperson Cate Faehrmann said critical infrastructure decisions were being made according to the government's privatisation agenda, rather than in the best interests of the community.
She said NSW has been sent down a risky path by committing to a public private partnership (PPP) to build the North West Rail Link.
"We've had a series of failed transport PPPs in NSW and now the auditor-general himself has raised serious concerns - we can't afford to stuff up public transport infrastructure because of this government's ideological obsession with privatising public services," Ms Faerhmann said in a statement.
NRMA Spokesman Peter Khoury said the slowing of commutes for Sydney drivers shows that as the economic hub of Australia, Sydney should be doing better instead of stifling businesses.
"The longer it takes to deliver goods and services, the harder it is to make a buck," he said.
"It's not the way to run an economy. It's not the way to run a city."
Mr Khoury said the report showed the NSW government needed to increase spending on roads, developing the WestConnex project and completing upgrades to the M2 and M5.
"Decades of neglect has resulted in making life harder for commuters, but if we do finish projects that are on the drawing board and continue to improve public transport then we will see a substantial improvement in how Sydney moves around," he said.
A mortar has slammed into a ninth-grade classroom in Damascus, killing nine students and a teacher. Source: AAP
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged Syria's regime against using its stockpile of chemical weapons, warning of "huge consequences" if Bashar al-Assad resorts to such weapons of mass destruction.
Ban also suggested that he would not favour an asylum deal for the Syrian leader as a way to end the country's civil war and cautioned that the United Nations doesn't allow anyone "impunity".
"I again urge in the strongest possible terms that they must not consider using this kind of deadly weapons of mass destruction," Ban told The Associated Press on Wednesday, speaking on the sidelines of a climate conference in Qatar.
"I have warned that if in any case this should be used, then there will be huge consequences. And they should be accountable," he said of the Syrian regime.
Syria is believed to have hundreds, if not thousands, of tons of chemical agents, including mustard gas, a blistering agent, and the more lethal nerve agents sarin and VX, experts say.
Assad has said he would not use such weapons on his own people even if it had them. Syria is party to the 1925 Geneva Protocol banning chemical weapons in war.
US intelligence has seen signs that Syria is moving materials inside chemical weapons facilities recently, though it is unsure what the movement means. Still, US officials said the White House and its allies are weighing military options should they decide to secure Syria's chemical and biological weapons.
In Qatar, the UN chief was asked about the potential for an asylum deal that would remove Assad from power. The Syrian president vowed in an interview with Russia Today last month that he would never be forced into exile and that he would "live and die in Syria".
"Whoever commits (a) gross violation of human rights must be held accountable and should be brought to justice. This is a fundamental principle," Ban said.
Ban's warnings came as fighting around the Syrian capital, Damascus, was closing in on Assad's seat of power.
Clashes between rebels and regime troops have intensified in the suburbs ringing the city in recent weeks. The area has been a stronghold of predominantly Sunni Muslim rebels, who are fighting to topple Assad's regime, dominated by Alawites, an offshoot Shi'ite group.
The increased pressure of the opposition fighters on the capital has raised worries that Assad or his forces will resort to desperate measures, perhaps striking neighbours Turkey or Israel, or using chemical weapons.
Syria's uprising began with peaceful protests in March 2011 and later escalated into a civil war that the opposition says has killed more than 40,000 people. So far, both sides have refused international calls for a negotiated solution.
MORE than 50 bushfires burned across Queensland on Tuesday, as temperatures soared to 40 degrees Celsius across much of the state.
New records for December were set in the southeast, where Tewantin on the Sunshine Coast hit 39.7C - its hottest December temperature on record.
"Their previous record was set in 1901," senior weather bureau forecaster Michelle Berry told AAP.
Brisbane reached 38C - the city's hottest December day since 2001.
"Gold Coast got to 35.1C at Coolangatta, the hottest December reading since 2004," Ms Berry said.
"Charters Towers got to 40.5C, which is its hottest December day since 2002, and Rockhampton reached 39.1C, its hottest December day since 2008."
With more dry air forecast to blow across the state on Wednesday, fire danger will remain in the severe to near-extreme range in many areas.
"The highest readings are across the Darling Downs and Granite Belt, into the Lockyer Valley district," Ms Berry said.
"Some of the highest readings have been occurring around the Oakey, Dalby and Warwick areas, but we've also had severe fire danger values further west towards Birdsville, Longreach and up towards Mt Isa.
"We say anything over 50 is severe and we've been getting readings of about 85 around the Oakey area, which is near extreme."
Temperatures are forecast to ease a little on Wednesday, but the bureau says it will still be warmer than the December average.
"That, combined with the dry air and gusty southwest winds, means we will still have enhanced fire dangers through the southern, western and central parts of the state," she said.
As temperatures peaked in the mid-afternoon, 54 bushfires were burning around Queensland but a few hours later that number had fallen to 35.
A number of people voluntarily evacuated their homes in the face of a large blaze near Miles in south central Queensland as 12 fire crews and two water-bombing aircraft fought to bring it under control.
But Peter Varley from Queensland Fire and Rescue Service said the day could have been a lot worse.
"There has been nothing that's caused us any major concerns - I think we've got off pretty lightly considering the conditions," Mr Varley told AAP.
"Tomorrow, and possibly on Thursday as well, there'll be milder temperatures but an increase in the wind speed and low humidity.
"Of the three factors, temperature is our least worry."
RESIDENTS of a community in Western Australia's Great Southern region are being allowed back into their homes after the threat from a bushfire eased, while another fire in a national park in the state's southwest is generating lots of smoke.
There were fears the summer tourist destination of Bremer Bay could be threatened by a bushfire on Wednesday, while another fire in a national park near Augusta in the state's southwest is being held in check by water bombing.
But both fires were under control on Wednesday evening with threat levels decreased from watch and act to advice in both cases.
Bremer Bay residents were told they could return to their homes after improved weather conditions lowered the threat from the bushfire, which was started by lightning and has burned more than 11,000 hectares.
"Although there is no immediate danger you need to be aware and keep up to date," WA's department of environment and conservation said in a statement.
A Bremer Bay primary school, however, will remain closed for a third day.
"We are not taking any chances and must protect students and staff from fire, which is why we have closed the school," Department of Education deputy director-general of schools David Axworthy said on Wednesday.
Many of the town's residents had taken refuge after hearing earlier warnings, but winds in the area ended up being weaker than forecast.
Shire of Jerramungup president Robert Lester said some protective backburning had also been conducted in the area.
Bremer Bay has a population of around 300 residents, but the township can swell in size to 10,000 in January, he said.
The second bushfire, roughly 7km west-north-west of Augusta, in the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park is generating a lot of smoke but poses no immediate danger.
Authorities plan on updating residents again on both fires by 11am (WST) on Thursday.
LAWYERS for the Queensland government have defended the use of confidential information that helped it declare a chapter of the Finks bikie club a criminal organisation, saying the public has a right to live free of crime.
Pompano Pty Ltd, a company linked to the Gold Coast chapter of the Finks, is challenging the state's Criminal Organisation Act in the High Court in Canberra.
Queensland police want the chapter and the company declared criminal organisations, on the basis that their members associate for the purposes of engaging in or conspiring to engage in serious criminal activity.
But lawyers for the Finks say hearings on the issue have been limited to a small group of people, excluded the club's legal representation and dealt with criminal intelligence which came from untested information.
They claim the Queensland legislation is unconstitutional, stripping courts of their independence and denying procedural fairness.
Police should use criminal law if they have evidence to lay charges, Finks lawyer Bret Walker SC told the court on Tuesday.
"This is another scheme enacted by a state parliament which seeks to address the suppression of crime in ways other than by criminal trial," Mr Walker said.
Walter Sofronoff, QC, representing the Queensland government, said the laws were designed to strike a balance and were in aid of a serious purpose.
"Sometimes these competing rights will come into collision," Mr Sofronoff said.
He said it was not merely about rights but the right of informants to give information without their lives being risked and the right of the public to live free of organised crime.
Others states have sought to implement laws allowing particular groups, especially motorcycle clubs, to be declared criminal organisations and are intervening in the case, as has the federal government.
If the Queensland government wins the High Court case, its laws could allow police wide-ranging powers to pursue past and current Finks members by restricting their activities and banning them from recruiting, entering clubhouses or owning weapons.
Brisbane criminal lawyer Bill Potts, who lodged the application on behalf of the Finks and Pompano Pty Ltd, says the laws are a "step too far".
If the High Court deems the anti-association laws to be proper, then other states and the commonwealth could legislate in similar ways.
The hearing was adjourned until Wednesday.
A SWEDISH man has been charged with breaking international sanctions against Iran after allegedly trying to export material typically used in uranium enrichment.
Police are not disclosing the identity of the 31-year-old, who is accused of trying to sell 11 advanced valves to Iran in February and April last year. A court document claims the man lacked permission to export such valves and has broken international sanctions.
Swedish nonproliferation expert Daniel Nord said on Tuesday the equipment could be used in the oil and gas industry and other sectors but the valves' properties are so advanced "it would be overkill to use them" for such purposes.
Nord said the valves were typically used for enriching uranium, a crucial procedure for developing nuclear fuel and weaponry.
HUNDREDS of Indonesians have rallied to demand a district chief's resignation following his text message divorce to a teenage girl four days after their marriage.
Aceng Fikri, 40, chief of West Java district in Garut, took Fani Oktora, 17, as his second wife in July.
But he divorced her via a short SMS, alleging Oktora was not a virgin when they married as he had expected.
He says he spent the equivalent of $A25,000 on the wedding.
On Tuesday, students and rights activists in Garut spit and trampled on pictures of Fikri before burning them outside the local council building.
Some Muslims believe in an Islamic ritual allowing men to end a marriage by telling their wives they divorce them.
However, divorce by text message is uncommon.
IRAN'S state TV says the country's Revolutionary Guard has captured a US drone after it entered Iranian airspace over the Persian Gulf.
The report on Tuesday quoted the navy chief, General Ali Fadavi, as saying Iranian forces caught the "intruding" drone, which had apparently taken off from a US aircraft carrier.
Fadavi said the unmanned ScanEagle aircraft was in Iran's possession.
"The US drone, which was conducting a reconnaissance flight and gathering data over the Persian Gulf in the past few days, was captured by the Guard's navy air defence unit as soon as it entered Iranian airspace," Fadavi said.
"Such drones usually take off from large warships."
He didn't provide any further details or say when the incident happened.
The US Navy's 5th Fleet, based in Bahrain, said it was "looking into" the Iranian claims.
If true, the seizure of the drone would be the third reported incident involving Iran and US drones in the past two years.
Al-Alam, the Iranian state TV's Arabic-language channel, showed two Guard commanders examining what appeared to be an intact ScanEagle drone.
It was not immediately clear if that was the same drone Iran claimed to have captured.
In the footage, the two men then point to a huge map of the Persian Gulf in the background, showing the drone's alleged path of entry into Iranian airspace.
"We shall trample on the US," was printed over the map, next to the Guard's coat-of-arms.
Last month, Iran claimed that a US drone had violated its airspace.
The Pentagon said the unmanned aircraft came under fire - at least twice, but was not hit - and that the Predator was over international waters.
The November 1 shooting in the Gulf was unprecedented, and further escalated tensions between the United States and Iran, which is under international sanctions over its suspected nuclear program.
UKRAINIAN President Viktor Yanukovych has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and the entire government, the presidency said.
The ministers would remain in their posts until a new government was formed, a statement on Monday said.
"President Viktor Yanukovych accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Mykola Azarov, satisfying the demand of the latter," the statement added.
It noted that according to Ukrainian law, whenever the prime minister resigns the entire government must do so alongside the government chief.
The move comes as a new parliament prepares to meet after parliamentary elections on October 28 which raised new concerns about democratic standards under Yanukovych.
The ruling Regions Party appears to have retained control of the Verkhovna Rada with the help of independents despite a strong challenge from the opposition parties of boxer Vitali Klitschko and imprisoned ex-premier Yulia Tymoshenko.
A Russian-speaking bureaucrat mocked by many in Ukraine for his dry and humourless image, Azarov took office in 2010 shortly after Yanukovych defeated Tymoshenko in fiercely contested presidential elections.
BRITAIN summoned Israel's ambassador for talks about the Jewish state's new settlement plans, saying it "deplores" the proposals and threatening a "strong reaction".
Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt called in Daniel Taub on Monday to express Britain's concerns about the impact all settlement buildings, particularly those in east Jerusalem, could have on peace talks with the Palestinians.
"We deplore the recent Israeli government decision to build 3,000 new housing units and unfreeze development in the E1 block (a controversial corridor of West Bank land east of Jerusalem). This threatens the viability of the two-state solution," the Foreign Office said in a statement.
"We have called on the Israeli government to reverse this decision."
In an earlier statement, the ministry said: "We have told the Israeli government that if they go ahead with their decision, then there will be a strong reaction."
Israel's announcement about the 3,000 Jewish settler homes in occupied Palestinian territories came in response to a historic vote by the United Nations General Assembly to upgrade the Palestinians' diplomatic status.
France also summoned the Israeli ambassador on Monday, amid speculation that the two countries are considering recalling their own envoys to Israel.
A diplomatic source in London said the recall of the British ambassador was an option, but insisted that no decisions had yet been taken.
"The Israeli ambassador to London, Daniel Taub, has been formally summoned to the Foreign Office this morning by the minister for the Middle East, Alistair Burt. The minister set out the depth of the UK's concerns," the Foreign Office statement said.
"Any decision about any other measures the UK might take will depend on the outcome of our discussions with the Israeli government and with international partners including the US and European Union."
PRINCE Andrew will pick up the greatly reduced rent on an exclusive central London property for his two daughters, British media reports.
The Queen's second son will pay about STG20,000 ($A30,900) a year to allow his daughters Princess Beatrice, 24, and Princess Eugenie, 22, to live in a four-bedroom apartment at the tudor-style St James's Palace.
The fifth and sixth in line to the throne, Beatrice and Eugenie are no longer entitled to live rent free because they have finished their education and do not undertake official duties representing the Queen, Britain's Daily Express newspaper reported.
Real estate agents estimate annual rent on the property, which dates back to the 1500s and was last refurbished in 2008, would be up to STG150,000.
While palace officials declined to confirm the exact figure being paid by Andrew, they said market value could not be charged because the property is in a secure zone, not open to the public.
Since completing a history degree, Beatrice has started work with a venture capital firm in the English capital, while Eugenie has been doing work experience with Christie's auction house since graduating from English and history of art studies.
AT least five people, including two women, are dead after a bomb targeting an army vehicle exploded in southern Afghanistan.
The remote-controlled bomb was placed on a motorcycle and hit an Afghan army patrol truck as it was passing in Trin Kot the capital of Oruzgan province, officials said on Monday.
"Two Afghan army soldiers and three civilians were killed in the blast," provincial police spokesman Farid Ayal said.
The Oruzgan governor's spokesman, Abdullah Hemat, said two women were among those killed.
The blast also wounded eight others, including two soldiers, he said.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but in the past such attacks have been claimed by the Taliban, who are waging an 11-year old insurgency to topple the US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai.
The attack in Oruzgan comes a day after Taliban suicide attackers struck at a NATO base on an Afghan city airport, killing five people and wounding several foreign troops.
A tunnel has caved in 80 kilometres west of Tokyo, trapping an unspecified number of vehicles. Source: AAP
JAPANESE rescuers found five charred bodies in a highway tunnel that collapsed, crushing cars, triggering a blaze and sparking fears of another cave-in.
At least seven people are missing inside the nearly five-kilometre-long tunnel. Witnesses spoke on Sunday of terrifying scenes as at least one vehicle burst into flames, sending out clouds of blinding, acrid smoke.
Rescuers were forced to suspend their efforts to reach those believed trapped under thick concrete ceiling panels for several hours when engineers warned more debris could fall.
Emergency crews who rushed to the Sasago tunnel on the Chuo Expressway, 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of the capital, were hampered by thick smoke billowing from the entrance.
Dozens of people abandoned their vehicles on the Tokyo-bound section of carriageway, and ran for one of the emergency exits or for the mouth, where they huddled in bitter winter weather.
Emergency crews equipped with breathing apparatus battled around a third of the way into the tunnel, where they found up to 70 metres of concrete panels had come crashing down, crushing at least two vehicles.
The Fire and Disaster Management Agency later confirmed there were five bodies, adding another vehicle had also been burned.
By late afternoon the operation had resumed. Footage from security cameras showed large concrete panels in a V shape, apparently having collapsed from the middle, with teams of men in protective gear scrambling over them.
One 28-year-old woman who emerged from the smoke-darkened tunnel by herself told rescuers she had been in a rented van with five other people, fire department official Kazuya Tezuka told AFP by telephone.
"I have no idea about what happened to the five others. I don't know how many vehicles were ahead and behind ours," she was quoted as saying.
A truck driver who telephoned a colleague from inside the tunnel was also believed to be trapped.
The tunnel, which passes through hills not far from Mount Fuji, is one of the longest in Japan. It sits on a major road connecting Tokyo with the centre and west of the country.
President Mohammed Morsi has called on Egyptians to vote in a December 15 referendum. Source: AAP
HUNDREDS of supporters of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi have protested outside a top Egyptian court, forcing judges to delay a hearing on a constitutional panel at the heart of a deepening crisis.
The Supreme Constitutional Court could not even begin sitting on Sunday when it called an "administrative delay" to the session that would have also looked into the status of the Islamist-dominated senate, a judicial official told AFP.
Any rulings would have escalated a crisis with Morsi, who in a decree expanding his powers barred the court from examining the case, before the panel adopted the constitution on Friday.
Both the judicial official and state television did not say when the court would hold any new session.
The Islamists, many wrapped in blankets and carrying posters of Morsi, had spent the night outside the courthouse in a bid to prevent its judges from entering.
The disputed draft constitution - which declares "the principles of Islamic sharia" as the main source of legislation - is to be put to a referendum on December 15.
It has fuelled the country's worst political crisis since Morsi's election in June, squaring Islamist forces against secular-leaning opponents.
Mass rival rallies preceded Morsi's referendum announcement on Saturday, a day after crowds thronged to Tahrir Square to denounce his "dictatorial" decree.
"One nation, two peoples," read the front page of Al-Shuruq newspaper, while Al-Masri al-Youm ran with "Egypt at the mouth of a volcano".
Sunday's session on the legality of the constituent assembly, which drafted the new charter amid a boycott by secularists, liberals and Christians, would have defied a presidential decree barring any judicial body from dissolving the panel.
The protesters surrounded entrances to the courthouse and blocked off a main road that runs along the Nile leading up to it, trying to prevent the judges from entering.
"The will of the people is stronger than the will of a few judges," said demonstrator Ismail Ahmed, 39, referring to the judiciary that contains many judges left over from the reign of former strongman Hosni Mubarak, who was ousted by a popular uprising last year.
Hundreds of thousands of Islamist protesters gathered on Saturday in support of Morsi, his sweeping powers and the disputed constitution.
Morsi's November 22 decree sparked the crisis, with the constitution, which had been due for more deliberation, being rushed through days later amid popular unrest.
The Muslim Brotherhood and their supporters have branded the anti-Islamist opposition enemies of the 2011 revolution.
Sunday's protesters also chanted against secular and liberal opposition leaders.
A LARGE bushfire is burning out of control in Tasmania's far northeast.
The Tasmanian Fire Service (TFS) says the fire has jumped a containment line and may affect the Musselroe Bay township area by midnight Sunday (AEDT).
Residents are warned to check their bushfire plans as embers, smoke and ash may fall on the town.
The TFS says well built and prepared homes are defendable in these conditions, but if people choose to leave, they should do so only if the path is clear.
"As the fire approaches it may become unsafe to be either on foot or in a vehicle as the smoke and heat from the fire will create very dangerous conditions on the roads," the service says.
THE stars and powerbrokers of Hollywood have turned out for an exclusive evening to honour four film makers who between them have affected movies and movie-lovers world wide.
Documentarian D.A. Pennebaker helped make the medium mainstream with his direct-cinema approach. George Stevens, Jr., founded the American Film Institute and established the Kennedy Center Honors. Hal Needham developed new ways of performing and directing death-defying movie stunts. DreamWorks Animation chief Jeffrey Katzenberg raised hundreds of millions of dollars for charity.
Octogenarians Pennebaker, Stevens and Needham received honorary Oscars for their distinguished careers and Katzenberg was recognised with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Governors Awards ceremony, held at the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood and Highland Center.
The film academy has long awarded honorary Oscars, but established a new tradition four years ago of presenting those statuettes at a private dinner party where there are no time limits on speeches. Portions of the untelevised event may be included in the Feb. 24 Academy Awards telecast.
Each honoree was introduced by a pair of stars and a short film was shown of their work.
Michael Moore and Senator Al Franken introduced Pennebaker. Moore called him an inspiration and the inventor of the modern documentary. Pennebaker ditched the tripod and carried his camera on his shoulder, and "all filmmaking changed," Moore said, "nonfiction and fiction."
Sidney Poitier and Annette Bening introduced Stevens, speaking of his commitment to honoring, preserving and furthering the art of film. In accepting his Oscar, Stevens thanked his late father for encouraging him to consider film a timeless art and "for opening the door for me to a creative life."
Needham "pushed the boundaries of what could be done in action," Tarantino said as he introduced the stuntman and director, adding, "I've ripped off many shots from you."
Al Ruddy, Oscar-winning producer of "The Godfather," described Needham as "one of the good guys" and "a gift to any producer." The 81-year-old Needham called himself "the luckiest man alive": He grew up a sharecropper's son with eight years' education and went on to work with Billy Wilder, Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne. Now he's getting an Academy Award.
"My mom's looking down on tonight with a big smile on her face," he said, choking up and dabbing at his eyes with a handkerchief.
He closed by thanking "the entire Hollywood community for allowing me to be a part of it."
Tom Hanks and Will Smith introduced Katzenberg by joking about his persistent calls for charitable donations. The DreamWorks executive has raised more than $230 million as chairman of the Motion Picture and Television Fund foundation.
"Jeffrey has no problem asking for way too much money," Smith said.
"Mostly, all I did was pick up the phone and ask you," Katzenberg said as he accepted his award. "It's you who did it. You who gave of your time, your talent, your money, your hearts. Because that's what you do. That is what Hollywood does."
