Two A380s to fly over Sydney Harbour

TWO Airbus A380s will fly in formation over Sydney Harbour on Sunday to mark the start of a partnership between airline carriers Qantas and Emirates.

A Qantas A380 and Emirates A380 will start flying north of Longreef, turn around into Sydney Harbour and pass over the Sydney Opera House before flying in tandem over the bridge at 1500 feet around 10.30am (AEDT) on Sunday, Qantas said in a statement.

The airline said it's believed to be the first time two commercial airline A380s have flown in formation.

"Qantas and Emirates have worked extremely close together to make this possible," Qantas chief pilot Philip Green said.

"Pilots from both airlines have conducted dozens of special simulator training sessions since January this year".

The flyover marks the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's approval of a Qantas and Emirates partnership earlier this week, which allowed both airlines to combine operations for an initial period of five years.

Under the alliance, Qantas will use Dubai, rather than Singapore, as the carrier's stopover point for its flights to London.

The flyover manoeuvre on Sunday has been approved by safety regulators in both Australia and the United Arab Emirates.

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Teen to face court over fatal Easter crash

A girl will face court after a fatal crash north of Adelaide which killed a 17-year-old boy. Source: AAP

A 17-YEAR-OLD South Australian girl will face court over causing death by dangerous driving after a fatal crash that killed another teenager.

Police say a 17-year-old boy died after a car carrying five passengers crashed just before midnight on Friday near Balaklava, north of Adelaide.

The girl, from Balaklava, will appear in Youth Court over causing death by dangerous driving and driving unlicensed.

The other passengers in the car, all teenage girls aged between 14 and 17 years, received non-life threatening injuries.

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US hands over troubled area to Afghans

US special operations forces have handed over their base in eastern Afghanistan. Source: AAP

US special operations forces handed over their base in a strategic region of eastern Afghanistan to local Afghan commandos on Saturday, a senior US commander said.

The withdrawal from Nirkh district meets a demand by Afghan President Hamid Karzai that US forces leave the area after allegations that the Americans' Afghan counterparts committed human rights abuses there.

"We're coming out of Nirkh," said Maj. Gen. Tony Thomas, the top US special operations commander in Afghanistan.

Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the governor of Wardak province outside Kabul in which Nirkh is located, confirmed that US special operations forces withdrew and were replaced by a joint Afghan security forces team.

The transfer of authority ends a controversial chapter in which Karzai accused US troops and an interpreter working with them of torture, kidnapping and summary execution of militant suspects in Nirkh - charges US officials including top commander in Afghanistan Gen. Joseph Dunford firmly denied.

The incident shows the larger struggle of Karzai's government to assert its authority over security matters, even as its green security forces try to assume control of much of the country from coalition forces on a rushed timeline, ahead of the scheduled withdrawal of most of coalition forces by December 2014.

Karzai had originally demanded the US special operations forces pull out from the entire province, a gateway and staging area for Taliban and other militants for attacks on the capital Kabul.

But he scaled down his demands to just the single district after negotiations with Dunford and other US officials.

"President Karzai was specific, it's only for Nirkh, that was a provocative point," Thomas said.

"American special operations forces are integral in the defence of Wardak from now until the foreseeable future."

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Tibet copper mine landslide kills 83

Eighty-three workers have been buried after a large-scale landslide hit a mining area in Tibet. Source: AAP

RESCUE teams have found the first body almost 36 hours after a giant landslide in Tibet buried 83 mine workers.

Xinhua news agency said rescuers "found the first body at 5.35 pm (8.35pm AEDT)", after two million cubic metres of earth buried a copper mine workers' camp in Maizhokunggar county, east of the Tibetan capital Lhasa, at 6 am on Friday.

The report came after officials said at a press conference Saturday that no survivors or bodies had been found.

About 2,000 rescuers battled difficult terrain in the hunt for survivors after a vast three-kilometre-long section of land, with a volume of two million cubic metres, crashed down a slope, covering the miners' camp.

The rescuers braved bad weather as an emergency response team attempted to prevent a secondary disaster.

One rescue worker had earlier described the chance of survivors being found as "slim", Xinhua reported.

China's new president Xi Jinping and new premier Li Keqiang had ordered "top efforts" to rescue the victims, Xinhua said.

Mountainous regions of Tibet are prone to landslides, which can be exacerbated by heavy mining activity.

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Cyprus will not leave euro, president vows

The Cypriot president tweeted his thanks to citizens for staying calm as national banks reopened. Source: AAP

PRESIDENT Nicos Anastasiades vowed Friday Cyprus would stay in the eurozone despite the harsh terms of a EU-led bailout, as the island's banks resumed normal trading for the first time in two weeks.

Cypriots queued for a second day outside banks - after they reopened on Thursday following the long lockdown - with the eurozone's first ever capital controls set to hit people for at least another month.

Anastasiades said the 10 billion euros ($A12.33 billion) rescue package from the "troika" of the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund had saved the Mediterranean island from bankruptcy.

"We will not leave the euro and I stress that," Anastasiades told a conference of civil servants in the capital Nicosia, the Cyprus News Agency reported.

"I repeat, we will not engage in risky experiments that will endanger the future of our country."

The rightwing Greek Cypriot leader criticised the previous government for pouring money into the country's second largest lender Laiki, or Popular Bank, which will be wound up under the terms of the bailout.

The comments by Anastasiades, who has only been in the job for a month, came after an official at a top global grouping of banks said there was still a real chance Cyprus could exit the eurozone.

"This is the first case where you can see some kind of exit as a very distinct possibility," said Philip Suttle, deputy managing director of the Institute of International Finance, which represents some 450 banks worldwide.

Cyprus's banking system - bloated with Russian money and exposed to toxic Greek debt - paid a heavy price for the bailout that Anastasiades made it his priority to secure when he was elected on February 24.

It involves the closure of Laiki with the loss of thousands of jobs, cuts to the biggest lender Bank of Cyprus, and a raid on deposits over 100,000 euros.

The banks returned to normal hours on Friday, opening at 8:30 am (0630 GMT) and due to close at 1:30 pm (1130 GMT), but with draconian controls still in place including a daily withdrawal limit of 300 euros ($385).

Small queues built up outside many branches with some banks limiting the numbers allowed in at one time.

The controls were imposed on Wednesday for an initial period of one week in a bid to stop a catastrophic bank run.

Cypriots are already the feeling pinch. Withdrawal limits are making it hard for small businesses to pay salaries and for families to make rent payments, especially as both tend to fall around the end of the month.

"There will be some difficulties and discomfort as regards the payment of wages," Michalis Antoniou, assistant director of the Employers' and Industrialists Federation, told AFP.

More than 100 members of the right-wing nationalist ELAM party demonstrated in central Nicosia on Thursday night chanting slogans such as "Troika, out!" and "This island is Greek!"

Foreign Minister Ioannis Kasoulides said late Thursday the capital controls could be "lifted within a month if everything goes as well as it did" when the banks reopened.

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Four car bombs hit Iraq Shi'ite mosques

FOUR car bombs struck Shi'ite mosques during Friday prayers in Baghdad and the disputed northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, killing at 15 people and wounding more than 80, officials said.

The blasts all struck within an hour of each other from around 1pm local time in the Baghdad neighbourhoods of Jihad, Qahira and Zafraniyah, as well as in an area of south Kirkuk.

In the deadliest attack, three people were killed and 70 wounded by a car bomb in southern Kirkuk city, near the al-Rasul al-Aadham mosque, according to Sadiq Omar Rasul, chief of the provincial health directorate.

The blasts in Baghdad, meanwhile, left at least one dead and 18 wounded, security and medical officials said.

The attacks come amid a spike in violence nationwide as the country prepares for its first elections in three years - provincial polls that will be held in 12 of Iraq's 18 provinces on April 20.

Questions have been raised over the credibility of those polls as elections have been postponed in two provinces roiled by months of protests, and at least 11 candidates have been killed, according to an AFP tally.

While no group immediately claimed the attacks, Sunni militants linked to al-Qaeda frequently target Shi'ite Muslims whom they regard as apostates and supporters of the Shi'ite-led government in Baghdad.

Violence is down from its peak in 2006 and 2007 but attacks remain common - at least 245 people have been killed this month, already more than in February, according to an AFP tally based on reports from security and medical officials.

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Harry Potter actor Richard Griffiths dies

RICHARD Griffiths, the versatile British actor who played the boy wizard's unsympathetic Uncle Vernon in the Harry Potter movies, has died. He was 65.

Agent Simon Beresford announced Friday that Griffiths died a day earlier of complications following heart surgery at University Hospital in Coventry.

He paid tribute to Griffiths as "a remarkable man and one of our greatest and best-loved actors."

Griffiths appeared in dozens of movies and TV shows, but will be most widely remembered as a pair of contrasting uncles - the hero's grudging Muggle guardian in the Harry Potter series, and flamboyant Uncle Monty in 1980s cult classic Withnail and I.

"I was proud to say I knew him," said Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe.

A large man and a huge stage presence, Griffiths was one of Britain's leading theatre actors, creating roles including the charismatic teacher Hector at the emotional heart of Alan Bennett's The History Boys - a part he took to Broadway, winning a Tony Award, and repeated for the film adaptation.

National Theatre artistic director Nicholas Hytner, who directed The History Boys, called Griffiths' performance in that play "a masterpiece of wit, delicacy, mischief and desolation, often simultaneously."

Griffiths also played poet W.H. Auden in Bennett's The Habit of Art, a hugely persuasive performance despite the lack of physical resemblance between the two men.

Known for his sense of humour, large store of theatrical anecdotes and occasional bursts of temper, Griffiths was renowned for shaming audience members whose mobile phones rang during plays by stopping the performance and ordering the offender to leave.

Griffiths' last major stage role was in a West End production of Neil Simon's comedy The Sunshine Boys last year opposite Danny DeVito.

In 2007 he appeared in a London production of Equus alongside the then 17-year-old Radcliffe.

"Richard was by my side during two of the most important moments of my career," Radcliffe said on Friday.

"In August 2000, before official production had even begun on Potter, we filmed a shot outside the Dursleys', which was my first ever shot as Harry. I was nervous and he made me feel at ease.

Seven years later, we embarked on 'Equus' together. It was my first time doing a play but, terrified as I was, his encouragement, tutelage and humour made it a joy.

"In fact, any room he walked into was made twice as funny and twice as clever just by his presence."

Griffiths is survived by his wife, Heather Gibson.

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At least two dead in Tanzania construction

AT least two people were confirmed dead after a building under construction collapsed Friday in Tanzania's economic capital of Dar es Salaam, police said.

Dozens were feared trapped in rubble of the toppled building in an affluent area of the city as many people including children were working or playing nearby, witnesses said.

"I thought there was an earthquake and then I heard screaming. The whole building fell on itself," witness Musa Mohamed told AFP.

Residents were seen trying to rescue those trapped by digging through the rubble of the building, which was believed to have 16 floors.

Dar es Salaam regional police chief Suleiman Kova said the rescue operation was "going well".

"So far we have managed to retrieve 19 people. Two of them are dead and are two seriously injured," he said as he briefed Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete on the accident.

Kikwete, who visited the scene, posted messages of condolence on his Twitter account.

"We pray for those who have ben afflicted by this tragedy. We pray for togetherness in this time of need," Kikwete said.

Dozens of people were reportedly working in and around the building at the time of the collapse, but their exact number was not immediately known.

Saidi Mecky Sadiky, the Dar es Salaam regional commissioner, said up to 60 people, including workers, food vendors and children could have been around the area.

The accident occurred in an affluent area which has a mixture of both commercial and residential developments.

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Queues form as Cyprus reopens banks

CYPRUS banks have reopened under armed guard after a nearly two-week lockdown but customers faced harsh curbs to stop them draining the island's coffers after its eurozone bailout.

Queues of dozens of people formed on Thursday before the doors swung open at 2100 (AEDT) for the first time since March 16, and there were tensions as a few branches opened late, with customers banging on the doors.

World markets were jittery over the crisis, which has seen capital controls imposed for the first time by a eurozone economy in order to prevent financial meltdown after the 10 billion euros ($A12.33 billion) EU-IMF rescue package.

"It will be a very bad day - there will be swearing and a lot of anger," Philippos Philippou, an unemployed electrician told AFP outside Laiki bank in Nicosia's Makarios Street where about 12 people were lined up.

Banks were handing out lists of the controls including a daily withdrawal limit of 300 euros, imposed to prevent a run on the banks that could wreak havoc on the east Mediterranean island's already fragile economy.

Five shipping containers reportedly filled with billions of euros were delivered to the central bank late Wednesday, an AFP photographer said. A helicopter and police cars accompanied the cash convoy.

The Cyprus stock exchange remained closed.

Most banks in Nicosia had between one and three guards posted at their entrances early Thursday, some of them carrying weapons - an alien sight in the generally peaceful tourist island.

There were queues of up to 25 people at other banks.

Cypriot authorities appealed on television late Wednesday for people to give priority to the elderly as many do not have credit cards and have to withdraw their money over the counter.

Roula Spyrou, 50, a jewellery shop owner, said she would not bother going.

"There's going to be queues so I'm not going to spend so many hours there to get 300 euros," she said.

The restrictions - which last for a week before they are reviewed - also ban the cashing of cheques and ordered those travelling abroad not to take more than 1000 euros out of the country.

Under a deal agreed in Brussels on Monday, Cyprus must raise 5.8 billion euros to qualify for the full 10-billion-euro loan from the "troika" of the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Depositors with more than 100,000 euros in the top two banks - Bank of Cyprus (BoC) and Laiki - face losing a large chunk of their money.

Banking employees union ETYK said staff were ready to go back to work but urged the public not to blame them for the tight controls. Unlike in other European countries Cypriot tellers are not housed behind glass barriers.

Monday's deal kept the Mediterranean island from crashing out of the euro - but it has provoked fury at home.

Finance Minister Michalis Sarris said that Cyprus "will see worse days in 2013 ... the economy will go into deeper recession."

On Wednesday, around 1500 anti-austerity protesters marched on the presidential palace.

Bank workers could be among the worst hit by the bailout as it demands major reforms to its banking system, which is heavily dependent on Russian money.

The bailout involves restructuring the Bank of Cyprus and eventually winding down Laiki, whose "good" assets will be absorbed by the bigger bank. BoC's chief executive was sacked on Wednesday.

Cyprus is the first eurozone country to impose capital controls after bailouts - unlike Greece, Spain, Portugal and Ireland, which have also received multi-billion-dollar rescue packages.

As well as raising concerns that other countries could face similarly harsh bailouts in future, the move has raised fears that it could effectively create "two euros" as euros trapped in Cyprus are effectively worth less.

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China can end immolations: Tibetan envoy

An envoy of the Dalai Lama says China should end self-immolation protests that have killed Tibetans. Source: AAP

AN envoy of the Dalai Lama says Tibetans would likely end a wave of self-immolation protests if China reopened dialogue with the exiled spiritual leader.

More than 110 Tibetans have set themselves alight, with most of them dying, in demonstrations since 2009 against what they see as China's oppressive rule. China has since ramped up its security presence in Tibetan areas.

Lobsang Nyandak, the Dalai Lama's representative to the Americas, said that China should resume dialogue with the spiritual leader's envoys. China held nine rounds of dialogue between 2002 and 2010 with no tangible results.

"I believe, definitely, if China is to engage His Holiness's representative envoys and come up with a positive gesture, then it's almost certain that Tibetan people will - at least for the time being - watch and see what's really going to happen," Nyandak said on Wednesday.

"We always say that it's up to the Chinese leaders whether they want to put an end to the self-immolations in Tibet.

"But the way that they can put an end is not out of further intensifying repression in Tibet, but through engaging His Holiness's representatives in a very positive manner."

Nyandak was addressing a Washington meeting of the pro-democracy group Initiatives for China, part of efforts by the exiled Tibetan leadership to reach out to sympathetic members of China's ethnic Han majority.

Chinese officials have accused the Dalai Lama of encouraging violence through the self-immolations.

Beijing rejects criticism of its rule, pointing to economic development of Tibet.

The Dalai Lama, a Nobel Peace laureate who has lived in exile in India since 1959, has described the self-immolations as spontaneous acts of desperation and said he is powerless to stop them.

In the latest protest, US-based Radio Free Asia reported a Tibetan mother of four burned herself to death in southwestern China's Sichuan province on Sunday.

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SAfrica court clears Pistorius for travel

Oscar Pistorius' older brother pleaded not guilty to the culpable homicide of a female motorcyclist. Source: AAP

A SOUTH African court has cleared Oscar Pistorius for international travel after the Paralympian sprint star, charged with murdering his girlfriend, challenged his stringent bail terms.

Pistorius, 26, had appealed against a raft of conditions including the confiscation of his passport that he said were unfair and unwarranted.

"I find that the magistrate's decision not to grant the appellant his passport to travel abroad was wrong," Judge Bert Bam told the High Court in Pretoria on Thursday.

The double amputee - who faces trial later this year over the Valentine's Day killing of his model girlfriend Reena Steenkamp - was not in court for the appeal, which was opposed by the state.

The judge also ruled that Pistorius could return to his upmarket Pretoria home where Steenkamp was shot dead in the early hours of February 14.

He claims he mistook her for an intruder - although the state maintains that the shooting was premeditated murder.

"Why would this athlete go to a country without extradition and go and hide?" lawyer Barry Roux had told the court, saying the bail terms were tantamount to "house arrest" and that Pistorius needed to take part in races abroad to earn a living.

Earlier this month his lawyers argued that the bail conditions treat Pistorius as a flight risk.

The "Blade Runner", who last year became the first double amputee to compete against able-bodied athletes in the Olympics, has cancelled upcoming competitions and has not restarted training, according to his agent Peet Van Zyl.

But Roux said Pistorius wanted to be able to go abroad under controlled circumstances to earn money.

"It is not as if the appellant is travelling for holiday in Mauritius; it's only to gain an income, there's no other reason," Roux said.

After being freed on bail of one million rand ($A104,000) last month, the sprint star was ordered to surrender his passport and told to inform a corrections officer if he wanted to travel outside Pretoria.

The defence lawyers had also objected to the random mandatory alcohol and drug tests that are part of the bail conditions.

"Of course he was emotional, but does that mean because he is emotional you put him on probational supervision? There's no causal link," Roux said.

His next court appearance is scheduled for June 4, but the prosecution said they were not sure trial would start on that date.

Thursday's hearing came a day after Pistorius's older brother Carl pleaded not guilty to culpable homicide and reckless driving over a 2008 road accident in which a woman motorcyclist was killed.

The Johannesburg court dismissed a bid by public broadcaster SABC to be allowed to provide live coverage of the proceedings involving Carl Pistorius, 28, saying the two brothers' cases were unrelated and should not be allowed to influence each other.

"This trial pertains to Mr Carl Pistorius, not Mr Oscar Pistorius. This is what we are dealing with here," magistrate Buks du Plessis said.

"These proceedings must not be used or have an influence on any later proceeding against this accused's brother."

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Berezovsky 'had ligature around neck'

Russian Boris Berezovsky was found with a 'ligature around his neck', an inquest has heard. Source: AAP

RUSSIAN oligarch and Kremlin critic Boris Berezovsky was found lying on his bathroom floor with a piece of material around his neck and the same material on a shower rail, an inquest into his death heard.

The 67-year-old was found in his mansion in Ascot, west of London, last Saturday.

A post-mortem examination found Berezovsky's death was consistent with hanging, but toxicology tests are being carried out and it will be several weeks before the results are known.

At the opening of the inquest, Detective Inspector Mark Bissell of Thames Valley Police said Berezovsky was found with a "ligature around his neck and a piece of similar material on the shower rail above him".

Although the post-mortem found no evidence of a violent struggle, Bissell said the involvement of a third party "cannot be completely eliminated as tests remain outstanding".

The inquest at Windsor Coroner's Court was opened and adjourned on Thursday.

In their first public response to the death, Berezovsky's daughter Anastasia Berezovskaya said he was not a "typical parent" but described him as an "extraordinary" man.

Friends have said Berezovsky, who fled to Britain in 2000 and launched verbal attacks on the Kremlin from exile, had become deeply depressed after losing a multi-million-pound court case against fellow British-based Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich last year.

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Mystery over corpse hung from Paris cable

FRENCH police have been left baffled following the discovery of a charred corpse hanging from a railway cable above tracks in Paris.

Detectives were at a loss to explain how the unidentifiable corpse could have got to where it was found overnight on Wednesday as there was no bridge anywhere near the spot.

"It's extremely puzzling," said a police source, refusing to speculate on the possibility the dead man may have been the victim of a mafia-style killing.

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Egypt court overturns Morsi decision

AN Egyptian court has overturned a decision by President Mohamed Morsi to sack prosecutor-general Abdel Meguid Mahmoud and ordered his reinstatement.

The ruling by the appeals court will once again put the presidency on a collision course with the judiciary, while any enforcement of its terms remains trapped in a legal labyrinth.

Morsi sacked Mahmud in November, in a decree that granted the president sweeping powers and placed his decisions beyond judicial review.

Mahmud was replaced by current prosecutor general, Talaat Abdallah.

The decree was eventually repealed under immense street pressure, but the decisions stemming from it were protected by the constitution that was passed in December.

Wednesday's ruling comes because the court believes that Morsi acted outside his executive jurisdiction in sacking Mahmud, but "it faces big obstacles," said Khaled Abubakr, a prominent lawyer.

"There is a court decision that needs to be applied, but at the same time there is a decree that is protected by the constitution," he told AFP.

The decision will intensify long-running tensions between the presidency and the judiciary which accuses Morsi of interfering in its independence.

"The solution is for a higher court, like the Supreme Constitutional Court, to rule on the crisis," Abubakr said.

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Seselja keeps ACT Senate ticket spot

Zed Seselja will remain the Liberal Party's lead ACT Senate candidate in the federal election. Source: AAP

ZED Seselja will remain the Liberal Party's lead ACT Senate candidate in the federal election after a bid to overturn his preselection failed.

Mr Seselja, the former ACT opposition leader, ousted incumbent senator Gary Humphries for the preselection in February.

He won that ballot by 114 to 84.

But party members were unhappy at the process which saw many ineligible to vote in the preselection.

About 400 Liberal members were ineligible to cast a vote because of party rules that they must have recently attended a branch meeting.

A special divisional council meeting was called for Wednesday night to debate a motion to overturn the preselection result and hold a new vote.

That motion was defeated 138 to 168, so Mr Seselja keeps his spot on the ticket for the September 14 general election.

Heading in to the divisional council meeting, Senator Humphries said there was a lot of anger and bitterness in the party around the affair.

"I believe the party can only heal this division by having a fresh preselection," he told reporters in Canberra.

Mr Seselja led the Canberra Liberals to their best ever ACT election result last October, winning eight of the Legislative Assembly's 17 seats but failing to win the Greens' support to form government.

He moved to the backbench on announcing his intention to contest the federal preselection.

Senator Humphries, a former ACT chief minister, has represented the territory in the Senate since 2003.

Earlier on Wednesday Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said Senator Humphries had done an excellent job.

"In the end, I accept that these are matters for the lay party and I will respect the decision of the lay party but as one of my frontbenchers, Gary Humphries obviously has my full and total support," he told reporters in Melbourne.

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Euro hits four-month low under $US1.28

THE European single currency has fallen under $US1.28 for the first time since November owing to concerns about fallout from the Cyprus financial bailout.

The euro hit $US1.2789 about 1020 GMT (2120 AEDT) on Wednesday - the lowest point since November 21 - and compared with $US1.2861 late in New York on Tuesday.

The foreign exchange market "is concerned about medium-term contagion effects" of the Cyprus bailout, said Commerzbank analyst Thu Lan Nguyen.

Troubled eurozone nation Cyprus on Wednesday scrambled to finalise capital controls to avert a run on banks, a day before they are due to reopen after a nearly two-week lockdown while the island secured a huge bailout.

Meanwhile, there are fears that the controversial terms of the bailout could be mirrored in any future financial rescues of indebted eurozone members.

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Coalition climate policy yet to be costed

Tony Abbott has hinted the coalition's climate change policy cost will be similar to a 2010 figure. Source: AAP

THE federal opposition has yet to put a budget figure on the cost of its "direct action" plan to tackle climate change but has hinted it will be similar to its 2010 election pledge.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has vowed to rescind the carbon tax and replace it with a system of incentives to help consumers and businesses achieve a five per cent national cut in carbon emissions by 2020.

The Liberals' policy direction statement, A Strong Australia, says the emissions reduction fund would spend, on average, $1 billion a year.

Asked on Tuesday about the final cost of the coalition's 2013 election policy on climate change, Mr Abbott told reporters in Sydney, "Our policy will cost what we commit to it in the policy that we will announce before the election."

"We will spend no more and no less on reducing emissions than we allocate," Mr Abbott said.

"And the amount we allocated in the last election was $3.2 billion over four years."

He said the climate change policy would be administered by the environment department.

A spokesman for Climate Change Minister Greg Combet told AAP on Tuesday the coalition was unable to cost its policy because it would do nothing to tackle climate change or help industry reduce pollution.

"Yet it would hit ordinary people hard by scrapping the Gillard government's tax cuts and increases in family tax benefits and pensions," he said.

"Labor's clean energy policies are already reducing carbon pollution and helping households and businesses."

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Qld premier pushed to refer MP to watchdog

Premier Campbell Newman (pic) is under pressure to refer Scott Driscoll to the corruption watchdog. Source: AAP

QUEENSLAND Premier Campbell Newman is under pressure to refer his suspended MP Scott Driscoll to the corruption watchdog.

The rookie MP has faced months of allegations of improper business dealings and another has been added to the list.

The Courier-Mail reports Mr Driscoll wrote to Woolworths in November on behalf of the Retail Traders and Shopkeepers Association (QRTSA) he previously headed, but denies controlling since becoming an MP.

The paper says Mr Driscoll offered to reconsider the lobby group's opposition to extended trading hours, if the grocery giant stumped up some cash.

Woolworths confirmed to AAP it had received Mr Driscoll's offer, but rejected it.

QRTSA denied claims Mr Driscoll negotiated with Woolworths on their behalf.

Mr Driscoll only introduced the lobby group as a voluntary patron, but didn't enter into any negotiations, the QRTSA said in a statement.

The QRTSA said it also "strongly refutes" other allegations raised on Tuesday.

Mr Newman, who had Mr Driscoll suspended from the LNP on Monday, said the fresh allegations caught him unawares.

"Every single allegation that has been made (so far) has been referred to the relevant investigative arms of government," Mr Newman said.

But Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk said all new allegations should be referred to the Crime and Misconduct Commission.

"Any evidence, any document must be immediately forwarded to the CMC," she said.

"This is the job for the premier to stand up and do, not be an ostrich and bury his head in the sand."

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N Korea threatens to strike US mainland

North Korea has put its rocket units on combat ready status, with prepared orders to strike the US. Source: AAP

NORTH Korea has put its artillery and "strategic" rocket units on combat ready status, with orders to prepare for strikes against the US mainland, Hawaii and Guam, state media is reporting.

A statement from the Korean People's Army supreme command on Tuesday ordered "all artillery troops including strategic rocket units and long-range artillery units to be placed under class-A combat readiness".

The units should be prepared to attack "all US military bases in the Asia-Pacific region, including the US mainland, Hawaii and Guam", as well as South Korea, said the statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.

Despite its successful long-range rocket launch in December, most experts believe North Korea is years from developing a genuine inter-continental ballistic missile that could strike the continental United States.

Hawaii and Guam would also be outside the range of its medium-range missiles, which would be capable, however, of striking US military bases in South Korea and Japan.

The supreme command announcement came days after the South Korean and US militaries signed a new pact, providing for a joint military response to even low-level provocative action by North Korea.

While existing agreements provide for US engagement in the event of a full-scale conflict, the new protocol addresses the response to a limited provocation such as an isolated incident of cross-border shelling.

It guarantees US support for any South Korean retaliation and allows Seoul to request any additional US military force it deems necessary.

North Korea shelled a South Korean border island in November 2010, killing four people.

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Fight for gay marriage goes to court in US

Both sides of the same-sex marriage debate will present their positions before the US Supreme Court. Source: AAP

SAME-SEX marriage takes centre stage at the US Supreme Court on Tuesday as the justices begin hearing oral arguments on the emotionally-charged issue that has split the nation.

Over two days, lawyers from both sides of the debate will present their positions on two cases before the nine-member panel, as supporters and opponents converge on Washington.

The top court will first hear arguments over "Proposition 8", a California referendum measure that struck down that state's same-sex marriage initiative in 2008.

The two couples who are plaintiffs staged a photo opportunity on Monday by inspecting the original handwritten text of the US Constitution on the eve of their day in court.

Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo joined Kris Perry and Sandy Tier on the steps of the National Archives in the US capital, where they posed for photographers but declined to speak to reporters.

They then went in "to view the US Constitution and reflect on the importance of their case for gay and lesbian couples across the nation," said the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which supports their case.

Then on Wednesday, the court will consider the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a federal law which defines marriage as an act between a man and woman and thus denies married gays and lesbians the same rights and privileges.

The star plaintiff in that case is Edie Windsor, 83, who had to pay $US363,000 in federal estate taxes when her partner of more than 40 years, Thea Spyer whom she had married in Canada in 2007, died in 2009.

Under DOMA, the surviving member of a heterosexual married couple is exempt from such taxes.

Opinion polls have repeatedly indicated that a majority of Americans now accept the principle of same-sex marriage, which is legal in nine states plus the District of Columbia but banned or limited in 41 others.

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Melbourne thieves get away with guns

MASKED men have stolen a number of firearms after breaking into a storage unit in Melbourne's southeast.

Police say the thieves broken into the Huntingdale facility in the early hours of last Thursday using bolt cutters to cut the padlocks on several safes where the guns were stored.

It's believed the robbery was targeted.

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Gillard to have 'L-plate' cabinet: Abbott

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott says Prime Minister Julia Gillard will be working with an "L-plate cabinet" in the lead-up to the federal budget in 50 days' time.

Ms Gillard will announce a ministry reshuffle in Canberra at noon (AEDT) on Monday, following the resignations of ministers Martin Ferguson, Chris Bowen and Kim Carr and the sacking of Simon Crean following last week's botched leadership challenge.

Mr Abbott said the new ministry would be inexperienced at a time when Labor was under pressure to deliver a "responsible, honest budget" for 2013/14.

"This is quite a challenge for the government, given that the budget will be prepared with some of Labor's most respected and most competent members on the backbench rather than on the frontbench," he told reporters in Sydney on Monday.

"It is going to be very much an L-plate cabinet.

"There will be people in the cabinet who will be confronted with budget-making for the first time in their careers."

Mr Abbott said the new ministry would include the sixth small business minister in less than three years, after Mr Bowen stood down on Friday.

Mr Abbott said his team had "stability and continuity" and would examine the government's May 14 budget for honesty and responsibility.

The coalition's assessment of the budget would direct the timing of any no confidence motion in the government.

"There will be a no confidence motion put on the notice paper in budget week because it is time for the Australian people to have their say," Mr Abbott said.

"We've had the faceless men, we've had the backroom deals - now the Australian public deserve their say.

"The longer this government lasts the more damage it is doing to our country and to our economy."

Mr Abbott said his great fear was that the government would continue to play the class war card "even more fiercely in the future than they have in the past".

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey said the budget must include honest assumptions for both revenue and economic forecasts, particularly for growth.

Mr Hockey said he would be looking at the revenue forecasts for both the carbon and mining taxes.

He said the carbon tax was supposed to deliver $9.4 billion in 2015 based on a European price of $29 a tonne, when the price was trading around $5 to $6 per tonne.

"The mining tax obviously is not going to raise anywhere near what was originally forecast," he said.

In the first six months of the mining tax, it raised just $126 million, when it was supposed to bring in $2 billion in its first year.

Mr Hockey says costs associated with asylum seekers have also blown out.

He also wants to see the end of "money shuffling" in the budget, pointing to the push back to next year of some $3 billion due from spectrum licence sales.

The opposition also wants to see the cost of implementing major items, such as the Gonski education funding reforms and the national disability insurance scheme.

"The government can no longer fudge it by claiming to deliver the scheme then have a token amount compared to what the real cost of the scheme is in the budget," Mr Hockey said.

"That means going beyond the forward estimates - they need to lay down the six- to eight-year costs when it is at the full operational level."

He said there must also be a strategy to stop government debt increasing.

"The government has to have a plan to deliver a surplus and start to pay down the debt," he said.

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Avoidable indigenous deaths fall: report

AVOIDABLE deaths among Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders have dropped since 2001, but mortality rates for chronic diseases are still much higher for indigenous Australians.

Data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on Monday showed death rates for avoidable causes and circulatory diseases had declined between 2001 and 2010.

But the figures also showed almost half of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mothers smoke during pregnancy and unemployment rates continue to remain higher for indigenous people than for non-indigenous people.

In Western Australia, there was no improvement in incidence rates of treated end-stage renal disease in recent years - currently 12 times the rate for non-indigenous Australians.

But there was a 35 per cent fall in the overall mortality of indigenous people and a 17 per cent decline in avoidable mortality from 1997 to 2010.

Also in WA, infant mortality rates fell 62 per cent between 1991 and 2010.

In NSW, the number of indigenous people starting end stage renal disease therapy, currently three times the rate for non-indigenous Australians, had jumped 286 per cent since 1991.

Avoidable mortality fell in the state by 20 per cent, while there was an increase in the proportion of pregnant women attending antenatal care.

In Victoria, low birthweight was more than twice as common among babies of indigenous mothers as among babies of non-indigenous mothers.

Queensland saw a 41 decline in the rates of infant mortality and a 32 per cent decrease in avoidable mortality.

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Thailand to talk peace with separatists

AFTER nine years of violence in Thailand's southernmost provinces and 5300 lives lost, the government will on Thursday initiate peace talks with the enemy.

But exactly who that enemy is and whether it will be genuinely represented on the other side of the table remains to be seen.

The breakthrough agreement for public peace negotiations was reached in Malaysia on February 28, after six years of sporadic secret talks.

Previous administrations have rejected high-profile talks to avoid lending legitimacy to the insurgents, whose apparent goal is the independence of Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces.

Brokered by the Malaysian government, the latest agreement to talks was finalised by Paradon Pattanatabut, secretary-general of Thailand's National Security Council, and Hassan Taib, liaison officer of the rebel Barisan Revolsi Nasional-Coordinate (BRN-C).

But many insurgents in southern Thailand do not recognise Taib, who has reportedly been living in Malaysia for the past 20 years.

"The Thai government is holding talks with people we don't even know," said one militant of the Runda Kumpalan Kecil, a splinter group from the BRN-C.

Attacks on authorities and civilians in the south have increased since the February 28 deal.

Thailand's problem with the insurgency has been confounded by the murkiness surrounding various Muslim separatist groups behind the violence.

The first thing observers are watching is who will come to the table. No representative from the Thai military, which has more than 90,000 troops in the three southern provinces, has yet been appointed to join the talks.

The government side has been trying hard to attract Sapae-ing Basor, a Muslim leader and a key player in the BRN-C, and leaders of other groups, according to Don Pathan, foreign affairs director of the Pattani Forum, an advocacy group for Muslims rights in the South.

"But they want a guarantee of immunity before the agree to come," Pathan said. An arrest warrant was issued for Sapae-ing in 2005.

The second thing to look for is whether the government will discuss some sort of self-administrative zone, a minimum requirement from the separatists.

And the third question is whether there will be an ebb in the rebel's bombing attacks.

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Musharraf returns to Pakistan from exile

Former Pakistani president Pervez Musharraf says he wants to "free" his homeland from terrorism. Source: AAP

PAKISTAN'S former military ruler Pervez Musharraf has returned home after more than four years in exile, defying a Taliban death threat to contest historic general elections.

Hundreds of well-wishers gathered at Karachi airport on Sunday, beating drums, dancing, waving green flags with pictures of Musharraf and Pakistan's founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah, and showering rose petals in anticipation of his arrival.

The 69-year-old ex-dictator says he is prepared to risk any danger to stand for election on May 11, in what will be the first democratic transition of power in the history of a nuclear-armed country dominated by periods of military rule.

But Musharraf is not thought likely to win more than a couple of seats for his All Pakistan Muslim League party and he remains a highly controversial figure.

He seized power in a bloodless coup as army chief in 1999 and left the country after resigning in 2008, when Asif Ali Zardari was elected president after the murder of his wife, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Musharraf was forced to scrap plans to hold a public rally at Jinnah's tomb in Karachi over security concerns, after the Taliban threatened to dispatch a squad of suicide bombers to assassinate him.

He was whisked away by airport security after his scheduled Emirates flight landed from Dubai, but was expected to address the crowd at around 5:00 pm (2300 AEDT) .

His official Facebook and Twitter accounts provided an upbeat commentary on his return, complete with photographs. An AFP reporter said supporters on the flight shouted "long live Musharraf", annoying some of the regular passengers.

Musharraf, who has been granted protective bail to lift the threat of immediate arrest on his return to Pakistan, told reporters before leaving Dubai that he was "not feeling nervous" but admitted to some concerns.

"I am feeling concerned about the unknown... there are a lot of unknown factors of terrorism and extremism, unknown factors of legal issue, unknown factors of how much I will be able to perform (in the elections)," he said.

In one of the legal cases that has long ensnared Musharraf, Benazir Bhutto was assassinated when he was running the country in December 2007, three months after she returned to Pakistan from her own self-imposed exile.

Karachi, a city of 18 million, is already in the throes of record political and ethnic violence. On March 3, a huge car bomb killed 50 people in a mainly Shi'ite Muslim area of the city, the worst single attack in the city for years.

At the airport, local police official A.D. Chaudhry said 1,000 well-wishers had turned out although an AFP reporter said the number appeared about half that.

Supporters chanted "Long Live Musharraf" and his catchphrase, "Pakistan First". Young boys wore "Pakistan First" T-shirts emblazoned with his picture.

Security was tight with police, paramilitary and traffic police deployed in large numbers at the airport, where there was also a sizeable media contingent.

On Saturday, a suicide bomber killed 17 Pakistani soldiers by ramming a water tanker packed with explosives into a checkpoint in the tribal district of North Waziristan on the northwestern Afghan border.

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Leighton shareholder denies interference

LEIGHTON Holdings' major shareholder has denied it had anything to do with the shake-up of the construction giant's board.

Leighton chairman Stephen Johns and non-executive directors Wayne Osborn and Ian Macfarlane, a former Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) governor, have tendered their resignations following what the company said was a breakdown in relations with German construction company Hochtief, which owns a 40 per cent stake in Leighton.

But in a letter to the Leighton board before a board meeting later on Sunday, Hochtief has denied it influenced the resignations.

"We are disappointed by the resignation as we do not consider that Hochtief has done anything to undermine the independence of the Leighton Board or threatened any such action," the company said.

Hochtief, which is majority owned by Spanish Group ACS, has two representatives on what was the company's 10-person board.

Mr Johns said in his letter of resignation that one of the Hochtief representatives on the board and the German construction giant's chief executive, Marcelino Fernandez Verdes, had interfered in the appointment of a new director.

But Hochtief said Mr Fernandez Verdes was merely exercising his right to participate in the selection and appointment process.

"Mr Fernandez Verdes suggested that the board would benefit from the addition of a new director with a different set of skills to that offered by the proposed candidate," he said.

Hochtief also said the reasons behind its lack of support for Mr John's re-election were explained to other directors.

"Neither of these matters relate to any attempt by Hochtief to undermine the independence of the board," the company said.

Hochtief has reaffirmed its commitment to the independence agreement with Leighton and said it was "greatly concerned " with a proposal from the independent directors to replace the governance protocols.

"This was contained in their letter to the Mr Fernandez Verdes and, if implemented, would have effect of excluding Hochtief from any material role in the nomination of any future independent director," the statement said.

A board meeting is scheduled for 6pm AEDT when an interim chairman is expected to be appointed.

After a board meeting on Sunday night, a company spokesman said the new Chairman was Bob Humphris. He has been a director of the construction giant since September 2004.

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Central Africa rebels 'seize' presidency

Rebel forces in the Central African Republic say they have entered the capital city of Bangui. Source: AAP

REBELS in the Central African Republic fighting to topple President Francois Bozize say they have seized the presidential palace in the capital Bangui.

Fighters in the Seleka rebel coalition advanced into the riverside capital on Saturday after the collapse of a two-month-old peace deal in the notoriously unstable and deeply poor former French colony - ignoring a call for talks to avoid a "bloodbath".

"We have taken the presidential palace. Bozize was not there," one of the rebel commanders on the ground, Colonel Djouma Narkoyo, told AFP on Sunday.

He said the rebels were planning to move on to the national radio station where rebel leader Michel Djotodia planned to make an address.

"Today will be decisive," Narkoyo said. "We call on our brothers in FACA (the Central African army) to lay down their arms."

Bozize, who himself led a coup in the landlocked country in 2003, has not been seen since his return from South Africa on Friday and there was no statements from the government Sunday about the latest developments.

Heavy gunbattles erupted at about 0700 GMT (1800 AEDT) but later the shooting became more sporadic, an AFP correspondent said.

"We head gunfire everywhere in the city centre. It was chaos," said one witness. "Everyone started running in all directions."

Narkoyo had told AFP on Saturday the rebels were ready to meet with regional African leaders on the crisis, but refused to negotiate with Bozize.

And he warned that if Seleka - a loose alliance of three rebel movements - captured Bangui, it would set up a new government.

Bangui resident Francis Komgdo, who lives near a checkpoint that effectively marks the entrance to the capital, told AFP the rebels had passed through Saturday in vehicles and motorbikes, occasionally firing in the air.

Gunfire and explosions in Bangui on Saturday saw the streets emptied as local people fled to their homes.

The city was also plunged into darkness last night after rebels sabotaged a hydroelectric power plant in Boali, north of the capital, an official with the Enerca electricity company and residents said.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye on Saturday called on the rebels to accept talks to "avoid a bloodbath".

Tiangaye, an opposition figure, was only appointed as part of the peace deal brokered between the government and the rebels in January, an agreement that broke down last week.

Paris-based rebel spokesman Eric Massi has said the rebel leadership was urging its forces on the ground to refrain from "looting or score-settling with the local population".

Former colonial power France has called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss the deteriorating situation, said Romain Nadal, a spokesman for the president's office.

France had not issued an evacuation order, but the estimated 1,250 French nationals in the country were advised to stay at home, said Nadal.

There were no immediate plans to send reinforcements to back up the 250 French troops in the country to protect them, he added.

The UN Security Council on Friday voiced strong concern about the rebel advances "and their humanitarian consequences" amid reports of widespread summary executions, rapes, torture and the use of children in conflict.

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Syrian rebels seize border area

Syrian rebel fighters say they have seized an air base in the southern province of Daraa. Source: AAP

SYRIAN rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad's regime have seized a 25-kilometre strip of land from the Jordanian border to the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday fighters loyal a series of rebel brigades had taken control of the Al-Rai military checkpoint in the southern province of Daraa.

"The fighters seized the site after regime forces retreated," it said.

"The 25km area located between the towns of Muzrib (near the Jordanian border) and Abdin (in the Golan) is now out of regime control."

The Britain-based Observatory said in the past few days the rebels had seized several army checkpoints in the area and captured weapons and vehicles.

On Saturday they captured a key air base Daraa after two weeks of fierce battles with loyalist troops, it added.

The report came as Israel's new Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon vowed on Sunday an "immediate" answer to all Syrian gunfire onto the Golan Heights.

Yaalon issued the warning shortly after Israeli troops on the strategic plateau shot at a Syrian army post after coming under fire for the second time in 12 hours, according to the Israeli army.

"We see the Syrian regime as responsible for every breach of sovereignty. We shall not allow the Syrian army or any other body to violate Israeli sovereignty firing into our territory," Yaalon said in a statement.

It was not immediately clear whether the shooting was from the Syrian army or from rebel forces in the area.

The rebel advances came days after insurgents seized a border crossing on the frontier with Jordan, said the Observatory.

A security source in Damascus said last week Jordan was allowing jihadist fighters and arms bought by Saudi Arabia from Croatia to be smuggled into Syria.

The source said around 2500 trained and heavily equipped rebels have entered Daraa in recent weeks, following reports American instructors were training rebels in neighbouring Jordan.

Jordanian Information Minister and government spokesman Samih Maaytah said earlier this month his country "rejects interfering in Syrian affairs".

"The Jordanian army is exerting a lot of efforts to control the border and prevent infiltrations," he said.

Louay Moqdad, a spokesman and co-ordinator for opposition forces, acknowledged that several Arab and Western nations had started training rebels forces, but declined to provide further details.

Earlier this month, the German magazine Der Spiegel reported rebels were being trained in Jordan by American specialists, a claim US officials have refused to comment on.

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