Seven soldiers killed in the Philippines

SEVEN Philippine soldiers have been killed and eight others wounded in a clash with communist guerrillas waging a decades-old Maoist insurgency.

The army casualties on Saturday were part of a foot patrol that clashed with New People's Army (NPA) rebels in a remote area of Isabela province on the main island of Luzon, Philippine Army spokesman Cirilito Sobejana said.

"They were on security operations, combat operations. We have inserted reinforcements by helicopter and are picking up the casualties," Sobejana told reporters in Manila.

Residents had told the army up to five guerrillas were also killed but no bodies of any rebels were found when the army casualties were evacuated, he said.

Fighting has broken out in two areas of the northern province of Isabela amid efforts by the government to restart stalled talks aimed at ending one of Asia's longest-running rebellions.

Sobejana said the deadly skirmish occurred during the army's patrol at dawn near the mountainous town of San Geronimo.

NPA rebels also clashed on Saturday with another army unit in the adjacent town of San Mariano, but there were no known casualties there, the military spokesman said.

Peace talks between the government and the National Democratic Front, the rebels' front organisation, were due to have resumed in Norway last month.

The rebels called them off after Manila again rejected their long-standing condition that 18 jailed comrades be released before negotiations can resume.

The communists have been waging a rebellion since 1969 and more than 30,000 people have died in the conflict, according to the government.

Both sides announced in February last year, following talks in Norway, that they had set a deadline of June 2012 to sign a final peace deal, but negotiations went nowhere due to the issue of the detained guerrillas.

The military estimates the NPA's current strength at about 4000 fighters nationwide, significantly down from over 26,000 at its peak in the 1980s.

However, the NPA retains support particularly in impoverished rural areas.

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Storms create havoc across Qld

More than 6000 homes and businesses remain without power in Brisbane following a damaging storm. Source: AAP

A FIRE started, powerlines were ripped down, trees were uprooted and roofs collapsed as severe thunderstorms ripped across Queensland and caused mass electricity outages.

About 13,000 homes and business in Brisbane, Ipswich and Somerset were left without power as rain, hail and lightning struck the region at about 11am (AEST) on Saturday.

In Ipswich, a small grass fire was sparked when lightning struck a crane next to the city's hospital just after 10am but the incoming rain extinguished it, a Department of Community Services (DCS) spokeswoman told AAP.

In Ann Street in the CBD, a hotel roof collapsed under the storm while another 72 calls for assistance were made asking for help with leaking roofs and fallen trees,

"It turned day into night," a SES worker said.

"It came quickly and then it left."

By 6.30pm about 300 homes remained without power, with the majority of the outages continuing in the Algester area south of Brisbane.

An Energex spokeswoman said they were unsure as to when power would be returned to the area as the repairs were "complicated".

"We are working through the problems and doing it as quickly as we can," she said.

More than 11,000 lightning strikes were recorded across Queensland's southeast since 10am, with Energex receiving reports of more than 100 powerlines down.

Despite the widespread outages, the situation was not as bad as they have seen, the spokeswoman said.

"In our storm season we can see 20,000 to 30,000 lose power so 13,000 is really reasonable for us," she said.

But she said Energex was looking towards Toowoomba to see if the second forecast storm would wreak more damage.

On Saturday evening the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) was continuing to send out severe weather warnings for much of the state.

"Very dangerous thunderstorms" were detected at a weather radar near Oakey, west of Brisbane, at about 6.30pm.

The thunderstorms were forecast to move towards the northeast and to hit Haden, Cooyar and the area north of Crows Nest, Blackbutt, Yarraman and the area north of Cooyar.

"Destructive winds, heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding and large hailstones are likely," the BoM said.

The BoM said severe thunderstorms were also likely to produce damaging winds over the next few hours in parts of the Northern Goldfields and Upper Flinders, Central Highlands and Coalfields, Central West and Maranoa and Warrego districts.

People in Warwick, the Gold Coast, Toowoomba, Brisbane, Dalby, Coolangatta, Ipswich, the Moreton Bay islands, Kingaroy, Stanthorpe, Caloundra and Taroom were warned just before 8pm (AEST) to brace themselves for wild weather over the following hours.

Along the southeast, the BoM said "very dangerous" storms were detected near Esk and Lake Wivenhoe, with the front moving towards the northeast.

The wild weather was also forecast to hit the D'Aguilar Ranges, Dayboro and Mount Mee north of Brisbane by 9.15pm.

In the hour leading up to 8pm, the BoM recorded 65mm of rainfall at Buaraba, west of Brisbane.

But the BoM said severe thunderstorms were no longer occurring in the Northern Goldfields and Upper Flinders, Central West and Maranoa and Warrego districts.

As the storm continues to lash Queensland, Energex said more than 1000 homes and businesses were without power in the Lockyer Valley area west of Brisbane.

Meanwhile more than 1600 homes had lost power in Brisbane city.

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Turkish journalist freed in Syria

A TURKISH journalist who went missing in Syria in August and was believed to have been held by government troops has been freed and handed to Turkish MPs touring the country.

"I am very happy, I am doing well," Cuneyt Unal was quoted by the Anatolia news agency as saying by telephone from Syria on Saturday.

One of the MPs, Hasan Akgol of Turkey's main CHP opposition party, told the agency that the cameraman was in good health.

The journalist and MPs were due to return to Turkey later in the day, Akgol said.

Cameraman Unal and his Jordanian colleague Bashar Fahmi, who were working for US broadcaster Al-Hurra, disappeared in the northern city of Aleppo on August 20.

The Anatolia report had no immediate information on Fahmi's whereabouts or fate.

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Afghan govt, Taliban urge inmate releases

THE Afghan government and Taliban said they wanted to see more of the latter's inmates released from Pakistani jails, in a move seen as a step to bring militants to the negotiating table before NATO's 2014 withdrawal.

An agreement was reached this week at a meeting between Pakistani government officials and Afghanistan's High Peace Council (HPC) in Islamabad that resulted in the release of a group of Taliban in Pakistan.

"We hope the releasing of Taliban prisoners from Pakistani jails continues and more Taliban who are willing for talks are released," the chief of Afghanistan's HPC, Salahuddin Rabbani, told reporters on Saturday in Kabul.

Afghan officials have pressed for the release of senior Taliban leaders held in Pakistan, believing they could help to bring militants to the negotiating table, to end over a decade of war ahead of the 2014 pull-out of US-led NATO troops.

Rabbani said nine members of the Taliban were released but the group did not include its former deputy leader, Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who was captured in Pakistan in 2010.

"Those who were released were also important members and they can help us in peace and negotiations," he said.

The Taliban - whose government was toppled by a US-led invasion in 2001, leading to an 11-year insurgency to regain power - welcomed the move, calling it a "positive step" to "increase trust between two neighbouring nations and people".

They also "requested the rest of the prisoners ... to be released", in a statement posted on one of their websites.

The militants have always publicly refused to negotiate directly with Kabul, calling the government of President Hamid Karzai a US puppet.

Preliminary contacts between the US and the Taliban in Doha were broken off in March when the militants failed to secure the release of five of their comrades held at the Guantanamo Bay prison on the US base in Cuba.

Support from Pakistan, which backed the Taliban regime that held power in Kabul from 1996 to 2001, is seen as crucial to peace in Afghanistan.

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Hong Kong shares close higher

HONG Kong shares climbed 0.24 per cent on Friday, bouncing back slightly from a big loss in the previous session.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index added 50.08 points to 21,159.01 on turnover of HK$47.43 billion ($6.12 billion).

Chinese shares closed down 0.77 per cent. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index lost 15.56 points to 2,014.73 on turnover of 36.8 billion yuan ($5.9 billion). It fell 2.63 per cent for the week.

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Fast worker took office on road

TEXTING while driving is nothing. German police say they nabbed a driver who had wired his Ford station wagon with an entire mobile office.

Saarland state police said Friday the 35-year-old man was pulled over for doing 130 km/h in a 100 km/h zone while passing a truck.

Built on a wooden frame on his passenger seat they found a laptop on a docking station tilted for easy driver access, a printer, router, wireless internet stick, WLAN antenna, and an inverter to power it all.

A navigation system and mobile phone mounted to the windshield completed the array.

Since there was no evidence he used the office while moving, he got away with a 120 euro ($A149.61) speeding ticket and a possible fine for having unsecured items in his car.

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Buddhist monk self-immolates in France

A BRITISH monk died in a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in France after he poured petrol over his clothes and set himself alight, police said Friday.

The 38-year-old Briton, whom police did not name, had been living at Nalanda monastery near the southwestern village of Labastide-Saint-Georges for the past five years.

He carried out the act on Thursday in the garden of the monastery, which is home to 25 monks and 20 lay people and which on its website describes itself as "a unique monastery for Western monks in the Tibetan Geluk tradition".

Police were seeking to establish whether the victim had been depressive or if he might have committed suicide in an act of solidarity with Tibetans in China.

More than 30 people have set themselves on fire in China's Tibetan-inhabited regions since March 2011 in protest at what they say is religious and cultural repression by the Chinese authorities.

Tibetans have long chafed under China's rule over the vast Tibetan plateau, accusing Beijing of curbing religious freedoms and eroding their culture and language.

The tensions have intensified over the past year, but Beijing insists that Tibetans enjoy religious freedom and have benefited from improved living standards brought on by China's economic expansion.

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Royals wave goodbye to New Zealand

Prince Charles (L) and wife Camilla will tour Christchurch on the final day of their tour of NZ. Source: AAP

PRINCE Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, have waved goodbye to New Zealand and are winging their way back home to Britain.

The royals departed Christchurch Airport late on Friday night, having spent six days in the country on the last leg of their Diamond Jubilee tour representing the Queen.

The final day of the tour was spent in quake-ravaged Christchurch, where the couple checked out work being done to rebuild the city.

There were blue skies overhead as the couple arrived at the 150th Canterbury A&P show for their final public engagement on Friday afternoon.

After presenting the award for supreme animal in show, the prince and duchess wandered around some of the stalls, picking up a bottle of Lone Goat wine along the way.

Camilla also sampled some cheese at the Neudorf Dairy stall, which she said was "delicious".

Earlier, the duchess was taken for a twirl on a makeshift dance floor in the Christchurch central business district by the founder of the student volunteer army, Sam Johnson.

Mr Johnson asked Camilla for a dance at the dance-o-mat, a temporary space created in response to the loss of many dance studios and performance spaces around the city as a result of the quakes.

Not to be overshadowed, Prince Charles swayed on to the mat, followed by Christchurch mayor Bob Parker and his wife, Jo Nicholls Parker.

The youthful army was formed in response to the need for volunteer help in the wake of the February 2011 quake which killed 185 people and destroyed the centre of Christchurch.

The demolition work didn't stop for the visit, with concrete tumbling from one of the nearby buildings carefully being pulled down in the CBD red zone and dust lingered in the air as the royals wandered through Cashel Mall.

Thousands of Cantabrians lined the mall hoping to catch a glimpse of the prince and duchess.

On her visit to the shipping container mall, Camilla picked up some items from one store, Hapa, including a merino scarf, a jumper, and five kiwi toys which she said were for her grandchildren.

Her press secretary tried to pay for the items, but the shop owner refused the money.

The royals had arrived in the city about midday and were welcomed at Christchurch City Council by the mayor, Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Minister Gerry Brownlee and Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) chief executive Roger Sutton.

The couple then met privately with 20 people seriously injured in the 2011 quake and their caregivers.

The tour has also included visits to Auckland, Wellington and Feilding.

It was Camilla's first trip to New Zealand, while Prince Charles was last there in 2005.

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S Africa platinum workers report for duty

ANGLO American Platinum Ltd. says miners in South Africa have returned to work, ending a more than eight-week strike that crippled the world's largest platinum producer.

Company spokeswoman Mpumi Sithole said the workers returned on Thursday and would get safety briefings before work began.

During the strike the company fired 12,000 workers then later reinstated them. They reached a deal after Anglo American offered a one-time payment and salary options to the striking workers.

In a statement to investors, the company said its year-end earnings "will decrease by more than 20 per cent" compared with the previous year, partly because of the strike.

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Australia urges calm in Middle East

THE Australian government has urged Israel and Palestine to exercise restraint and step back from the brink of full-scale war.

Israel has launched a major offensive on Hamas in the Gaza Strip, assassinating military commander Ahmed Jabari and striking more than 100 militant targets.

It says it has been forced to act due to mounting rocket attacks on towns in its south.

The offensive has killed at least ten Palestinians and wounded about 100 more. Three Israelis were killed by a rocket attack on the town of Kiryat Malahi on Thursday.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr said he did not want to see the conflict escalate further.

"All we can do is urge both sides to exercise restraint," he told Sky News.

Senator Carr called on Hamas to cease its rocket attacks on Israel's south but also called on Israel to ensure its response was proportionate.

"But rather than attacks and responses, let's set that aside and have mutual restraint and have both sides - Palestinians and Israelis - commit to resuming negotiations to get that two-state solution."

Senator Carr said he hoped the United Nations Security Council could push both sides towards restraint.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott condemned the rocket attacks on Israel.

"We of course regret the escalation of conflict, but Israel has every right to defend itself against the threat while continuing to take every effort to avoid civilian casualties," he said in a statement.

Mr Abbott's deputy, Julie Bishop, said the extremists behind the attacks on Israel's south were seeking to terrorise and kill Israeli civilians.

"The first step towards resolving this latest conflict is for Hamas and other armed groups to halt the attacks on Israel and to commit to peaceful negotiations," she said.

Australia-born Israeli diplomat and spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mark Regev, said Israel's operation was "fundamentally defensive".

"Israel is acting to defend our people, as I believe the Australian government would if Australian citizens were being rocketed by terrorists," he told ABC television.

"We have to deal with this threat and we have to try to neutralise this threat."

He conceded the situation "could get worse before it gets better."

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Accused Sydney killer faces third trial

A SYDNEY jury has been told they must not draw any "adverse inference" from the fact a man accused of killing his gay lover is facing a third trial.

Philip Wan Por Leung, 51, has pleaded not guilty to the manslaughter of 72-year-old Mario Guzzetti, who died at the home they shared at Alexandria, in inner Sydney, on April 7, 2007.

Paramedics found Mr Guzzetti lying on his back at the base of a staircase, with a hysterical Leung cradling a pillow under his partner's head and rocking him from side to side.

The crown alleges the couple argued while Leung was making carrot juice, resulting in Leung striking Mr Guzzetti and applying pressure to his neck area.

In the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday, Justice Derek Price told the jury they had "heard there have been two previous trials".

"Due to matters of law, the accused is standing trial. You must not draw any inference adverse to the accused from that fact," he said.

Earlier, Leung broke down sobbing during evidence being given by Josephine DiFrancesca, a friend of him and Mr Guzzetti.

Ms DiFrancesca was questioned about a phone call she made to Leung on the morning of Mr Guzzetti's death.

"Did you hear Philip crying over the phone?" crown prosecutor Mark Hobart SC asked.

"Yes," she said, adding that she assumed something was wrong and called her husband to go to the house and check on the couple.

She said her husband found Leung holding Mr Guzzetti and told his daughter to call an ambulance.

Fiona Cunney, who lived next door, told the court she heard noises about an hour before paramedics arrived.

She said she heard "crashing sounds", like a shelf with pots and pans falling, and what she believed was Mr Guzzetti "singing opera" for about 10 seconds and then silence.

Leung later started crying "like a baby", Ms Cunney said, but she decided not to call police because she "didn't want to get involved".

Defence barrister Winston Terracini SC questioned her evidence, alleging Ms Cunney did not like Leung and had had prior arguments with him over renovation works.

Friend Raymond Carter said he was called to the police station where Leung was being held but could barely understand him.

He told the court Leung repeatedly screamed, "Mario is not dead," before saying he and Mr Guzzetti had argued while he was making carrot juice.

"Mario kept at me," Leung allegedly said.

Mr Carter, a former boyfriend of Leung's, added that he'd never witnessed any violence between the "loving and caring" couple but had heard of occasional arguments.

He said Leung was "stubborn" and "not a very diplomatic person" but never violent.

"He'd walk away, slam the door and it'd be a day or two before you'd see him," he told the court.

The trial before Justice Price continues.

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US military chairman backs Gen John Allen

THE Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is confident General John Allen will be promoted to NATO supreme commander in Europe despite his being linked to a sex scandal.

Allen, the top US commander in Afghanistan, is under investigation over thousands of emails exchanged with the woman who inadvertently led the FBI to CIA director David Petraeus's mistress, leading to his resignation.

US President Barack Obama and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta have expressed confidence in Allen, but his nomination to become the next NATO supreme allied commander has been put on hold pending the investigation.

The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Martin Dempsey, the highest-ranking US military officer, said he "absolutely had confidence" in Allen's ability to continue directing the country's longest-running war.

"I asked him if he thought, in the context of this additional stress in his life, if he would be affected by it and he assured me that he was ready, willing and able to continue in command," Dempsey said in a report posted on the Defense Department's website.

"I absolutely have confidence in his ability to do that," he said in an interview with the Pentagon's American Forces Press Service.

"We have John Allen scheduled to become the (European Command) commander, and I wouldn't want him to miss that opportunity unless there is reason for that to happen," Dempsey said.

"I don't see that at this point, but I see this investigation and how long it could take affecting that."

Pentagon officials said Allen, who is married, exchanged 20,000 to 30,000 emails - some of which may have been "inappropriate" - with Jill Kelley, a married Tampa socialite who was friends with top generals and their families.

Earlier this year Kelley reported receiving threatening emails, which led FBI investigators to married army reservist Paula Broadwell and uncovered her affair with Petraeus, who is also married.

Allen denies any sexual liaison with Kelley, but the volume of emails, some of which is reported to be "flirtatious," could amount to a breach of military rules on the part of the four-star Marine general.

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Hong Kong shares close 1.20% higher

HONG Kong shares have climbed 1.20 per cent, in line with a regional rebound after recent selling fuelled by concerns over the US fiscal cliff.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index, which had lost more than four per cent in the past four sessions, rose 253.34 points to 21,441.99 on turnover of HK$48.34 billion ($A6.01 billion) on Wednesday.

Dealers were also looking to mainland China as the Communist Party prepares to unveil its top decision-making body on Thursday, with hopes leaders will clarify their plans for the economy.

The index, along with global markets, has fallen over the past week as investors grow nervous about the US fiscal cliff of tax hikes and spending cuts that are due to take effect from January 1.

The package, agreed last year during a spending cap face-off between Democrats and Republicans, will almost certainly tip the economy back into recession if a deal between deeply divided politicians cannot be made.

"It is difficult to understand the confidence that investors have in the ability of US politicians to accomplish in the next few months what they haven't been able to do in the past two years," investment house UBS said.

US politicians are expected to begin negotiations on Friday.

In Hong Kong, aluminium giant Chalco rose 2.8 per cent to HK$3.32, while China's largest two banks ICBC and China Construction Bank, and mainland developer China Resources Land all rallied more than 3.0 per cent.

Chinese shares closed 0.37 per cent higher. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 7.53 points to 2,055.42 on turnover of 35.9 billion yuan ($A5.59 billion).

"The market is likely to welcome a Politburo Standing Committee line-up that includes more leaders who favour reform," Changjiang Securities analyst Wu Bangdong told Dow Jones Newswires.

Aluminium producers rose as dealers bet that the falls in prices would be arrested after state media said China may soon start government procurement of the metal.

Chalco jumped 4.65 per cent to 4.95 yuan, Shandong Nanshan Aluminium rose 2.22 per cent to 6.45 yuan and Dongyangguang Aluminum added 0.86 per cent to 8.24 yuan.

Among liquor makers, Xinjiang Yilite Industry gained 3.01 per cent to 13.68 yuan, while Sichuan Swellfun climbed 1.33 per cent to 22.81 yuan.

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Aust could keep some forces in Afghanistan

UNITED States Defence Secretary Leon Panetta says a deployment of Australian special forces to assist in maintaining security in Afghanistan after 2014 is worth considering.

Mr Panetta, who visited the barracks of the Special Air Service Regiment in Perth to meet some of those who had fought in Afghanistan, said Defence Minister Stephen Smith had expressed an interest in an Australian special forces presence in Afghanistan in the post-2014 period.

"I believe that is worth considering," he told the media conference at the conclusion of the annual Australia-US Ministerial (AUSMIN) consultations in Perth.

Under current transition plans, Afghan National Security Forces are progressively taking the lead in security, with that process to be fully completed by the end of 2014.

Australia is now considering what assistance it can provide after that period. Among the possibilities is ongoing help with training and deployment of special forces, subject to a suitable mandate and legal framework.

Mr Panetta said one of the missions in Afghanistan after 2014 would be counter-terrorism and continuing to target al-Qaeda and other groups.

"As we design that post-2014 presence, we want to consider the role not only of Australia but other countries can provide in special forces that I think would be very important in the future security of Afghanistan," he said.

In the communique released at the close of AUSMIN, Australia and the US reiterated the continued commitment to a secure, stable and prosperous Afghanistan that is not a safe haven for international terrorists.

Australia and the US reiterated their commitment to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) transition strategy and to a post-2014 mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan National Security Forces.

Much pre-AUSMIN discussion centred on alleged US concerns at the level of Australian defence spending but the topic was only mentioned briefly in the media conference after a specific question to Mr Panetta.

He said both the US and Australia were facing budget constrictions which had to be taken into consideration.

"But I remain fully confident that in light of what we are confronting that we have the capability to maintain a strong national defence for both of our countries," he said.

"We will be able to meet the threats that confront us, not only in this part of the world but elsewhere as well."

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Most Afghans optimistic about future: poll

MOST Afghans believe their country is headed in the right direction but still worry about the lack of security resulting from the 11-year war, a public opinion survey by a major international non-profit group says.

The poll by the San Francisco-based Asia Foundation also found that an overwhelming majority of Afghans back the government's efforts to negotiate and reconcile with armed insurgent groups.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has offered jobs and housing to Taliban fighters who defect and formed a High Peace Council to facilitate negotiations.

Though officials and diplomats say contacts are being made with insurgent leaders, no formal peace talks are currently under way - mostly because the Taliban broke off efforts to start negotiations earlier this year.

"Security continues to be the biggest indicator of both optimism and pessimism for Afghans," Abdullah Ahmadzai, the deputy representative for Afghanistan with the Asia Foundation, said on Wednesday.

Only 30 per cent of respondents in the poll expressed sympathy for the insurgents, while nearly two-thirds said they did not support them.

But when asked why the Taliban continue to fight, the most common reason cited was opposition to the presence of foreign troops in the country.

Other reasons included a desire to gain power, illiteracy, support from Pakistan and corruption.

Despite their opposition to the Taliban, many respondents also said they were afraid of the troops from the US-led NATO coalition and government's security forces.

Nearly three-quarters said they felt fear when meeting international troops, while just under half said they had the same reaction when encountering the Afghan army or police.

NATO has intensified training of the 352,000-strong Afghan police and army to help improve standards and enable them to operate independently after foreign combat troops leave the country at the end of 2014.

The survey, which included 89 questions on a wide range of issues, showed that the vast majority of Afghans see corruption as a major problem in all facets of life and at all levels of governance.

Nearly 80 per cent of respondents said graft was a serious problem across the country, the report said.

The in-person survey of 6,290 Afghans from all 34 provinces, conducted with support from the US Agency for International Development and other foreign agencies, had a margin of error of plus or minus 5.1 per cent.

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Syria regime bombards rebels

The leader of Syria's National Coalition is urging world powers to arm the rebels with weapons. Source: AAP

SYRIA'S regime has unleashed tanks and warplanes against rebels as battles rage, after France recognised the newly united political opposition and raised the prospect of arming its fighters.

Tanks on Wednesday shelled two refugee camps in southern Damascus, where fighting has intensified since the army put down a rebel assault in the southern belt of the capital city where anti-regime sentiment runs strong, a watchdog said.

Fighter jets bombed Maaret al-Numan, a northwestern town rebels captured last month in a major blow to the regime's ability to reinforce troops under attack in second city Aleppo, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

A day after France became the first Western nation to recognise the opposition National Coalition, the United States unveiled $US30 million ($A28.9 million) in extra humanitarian aid to those affected by the conflict as it endorsed the newly formed bloc.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev criticised countries siding with the opposition and insisted Moscow was staying neutral.

"We don't support anybody in this conflict, neither President Assad nor the rebels ... but unfortunately, the point of view of some states is more one-sided," Medvedev told Finnish broadsheet Helsingin Sanomat.

President Francois Hollande said Paris recognised the coalition as "the sole representative of the Syrian people and thus as the future provisional government of a democratic Syria, allowing an end to the Bashar al-Assad regime".

The question of arming the rebels would now "have to be necessarily reviewed not only in France but in all countries which will recognise this government," said Hollande.

National Coalition chief Ahmed Moaz al-Khatib has called on world powers to arm Assad's foes, saying they desperately needed "specialised weapons" in order to "cut short the suffering of the Syrians and their bloodshed".

The United States said on Tuesday that the coalition was "a legitimate representative" of the Syrian people, but stopped short of recognising it as the sole representative.

Britain said it wanted to see more evidence the grouping had strong support inside Syria before formally recognising it.

Announcing the latest US aid package on a visit to Australia on Wednesday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the coalition's formation was "a good beginning".

"We have long called for this kind of organisation," Clinton said, but added Washington wanted to see the momentum maintained from the hard-won unity agreement reached in Doha, Qatar.

"Specifically we urge them to finalise the organisational arrangements to support the commitments that they made in Doha and to begin influencing events on the ground in Syria."

The French move came 24 hours after the coalition was recognised by the members of the Gulf Co-operation Council: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The Arab League stopped short of granting the bloc full recognition, only saying it saw the alliance as "the legitimate representative of the Syrian opposition".

The opposition agreed on Sunday to unify their fighting forces under a military council and to set up a judicial commission for rebel-held areas. They plan to form a provisional government.

On the ground, tanks moved on the Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp and the neighbouring Damascus district of Tadamum following battles between the army and rebels in the area late on Tuesday.

Shells were fired into a second refugee camp east of Yarmuk on Wednesday morning, said the Observatory, though it did not specify whether they had been fired by the army or by rebels.

Elsewhere, fighter jets bombarded the rebel-held town of Maaret al-Numan in the northwestern province of Idlib.

"The air force has carried out two air strikes on the town of Maaret al-Numan," said the Observatory.

Rebels seized Maaret al-Numan on October 9, and the army has since waged an unrelenting, but unsuccessful, offensive to take back the town strategically located on the highway linking Damascus and second city Aleppo.

The jihadist Al-Nusra Front claimed responsibility, meanwhile, for a November 5 suicide car bomb attack on a military post in the central province of Hama that it said killed at least 200 pro-regime fighters.

At the time, the Britain-based Observatory put the toll from the blast at more than 50 dead

The Observatory - which relies on a network of activists, lawyers and medics - said nationwide violence killed 189 people on Tuesday, including 90 civilians, 50 rebels and 49 soldiers.

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Take him to the Tower... oh, wait

BRITISH police have launched an investigation after an intruder managed to break in and steal keys from the grounds of the Tower of London.

Officials from the famous London landmark admitted they have been forced to change some of their locks after a set of keys were stolen from a sentry box at the fortress site.

Tower chiefs insisted that the Crown Jewels were never at risk of being stolen but admitted security procedures "were not carried out to the expected standard".

The keys gave access to the Tower's drawbridges as well as conference rooms and a restaurant, according to the Historic Royal Palaces, which runs the site.

A Historic Royal Palaces spokeswoman said: "We can confirm that an incident took place in the Tower environs in the early hours of November 6 and that this is now a police matter, so we are unable to discuss details.

"We can however confirm that during this incident, keys for a restaurant and conference rooms were taken together with a key to an internal lock to the Tower drawbridges that is not accessible from the outside.

"It would not have been possible to gain access to the Tower with any of these keys. All the affected locks were immediately changed.

The Tower of London is famously guarded by the Yeoman Warders, or Beefeaters.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "An allegation of theft has been made to police, which is being investigated by Tower Hamlets CID."

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Royals at NZ dinner fit for a king

CAPPING off a hectic day of official engagements all over Auckland, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, sat down to a dinner surely fit for a future king.

A thundering Cook Islands drumming group from Liston College in Henderson heralded the arrival of the royals at the SkyCity convention centre for the Diamond Jubilee Trust reception and dinner on Monday evening.

The prince and duchess waved to the crowds gathered on the street as they were greeted by Sir Don McKinnon, chair of the Diamond Jubilee Trust.

Camilla was wearing a floor-length silver chiffon Anna Valentine dress with New Zealand-themed black and white decoration.

Invited dinner guests were New Zealanders who had made significant donations to the trust. Prime Minister John Key also attended.

In his address to guests, Prince Charles said he was delighted to be back in New Zealand.

He said his wife, who had not visited New Zealand before, was determined to make up for lost time and they were looking forward to meeting Kiwis from all walks of life.

The menu, crafted by acclaimed chef Peter Gordon, included hot-smoked salmon fish cakes with warm bacon, broad bean and olive salad to start, and a roast fillet of New Zealand beef on roast root vegetables and wilted spinach with bone marrow sauce for the main course.

Dessert was a chocolate passionfruit delice, with vanilla roast rhubarb, runny cream and shortbread.

New Zealand wines were matched to each course.

Earlier in the day, the heir to the British throne and his wife embarked on a damp walk through the Auckland CBD.

Rain didn't deter the crowds, with hundreds of people filling the streets hoping to catch a glimpse of the royal visitors.

But Prince Charles probably got more than he bargained for during his visit to the AUT Millennium sport institute, with New Zealand women's Sevens team member Linda Itunu giving him a sweaty hug.

"I saw him and he just looked like he needed a hug," she said.

"He said he doesn't mind."

Itunu was even kind enough to wipe the prince's face clean afterwards.

Charles and Camilla then headed off to a performance of Kiwi childhood classic Hairy Maclary.

Author Dame Lynley Dodd was warmly greeted by the couple, who laughed heartily during the show.

The duchess also visited East Tamaki Primary School where she cut up a carrot cake and ate a piece herself.

The couple's six-day visit to New Zealand, which also includes visits to Wellington, Feilding and Christchurch, is the final leg of their Diamond Jubilee tour representing the Queen.

Tuesday is a rest day for the couple with no official engagements.

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Asian markets down on US fears

ASIAN markets were mixed as news that Japan's economy shrank in the July-September quarter and fears over the US "fiscal cliff" offset another round of healthy Chinese data.

The euro on Monday lost the gains it made earlier in the day after Greek MPs said they had approved a 2013 budget that would secure the latest batch of bailout cash that will help it avoid bankruptcy.

Tokyo fell 0.93 per cent, or 81.16 points, to 8,676.44, Sydney lost 0.31 per cent, or 14.0 points, to end at 4,448.0 and Seoul shed 0.19 per cent, or 3.54 points, to 1,900.87.

Hong Kong added 0.210 per cent, or 45.92 points, to 21,430.30 and Shanghai was 0.49 per cent, or 10.21 points, higher at 2,079.27.

Recent indications that the Chinese economy is emerging from a drawn-out slumber were reinforced on Saturday when figures showed exports rose 11.6 per cent year-on-year in October, following a near 10 per cent jump in September.

The numbers, which were released as the Communist Party holds its 18th congress and prepares for a once-a-decade leadership transition, came a day after officials said industrial output surged last month, while government asset investment also saw a healthy rise.

Zhang Ping, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, said the growth slowdown, which has impacted the global economy, had been "effectively curbed".

However, while the world's No.2 economy continues to show signs of a resurgence, Japan on Monday said gross domestic product had shrunk 0.9 per cent in the July-September period from the previous three months.

It comes after Japan posted its worst September trade figures for 30 years as exports slumped, with analysts blaming the continued strength of the yen, a territorial spat with Beijing and the debilitating debt crisis in Europe.

In forex trade the euro bought $US1.2712, compared with $US1.2709 in New York late on Friday. It also edged up to Y101.97 from Y100.99.

The dollar was trading at Y79.44 against Y79.47.

The euro was given a little support from the news out of Athens that the parliament had passed a 2013 budget full of swinging cuts deemed necessary to meet creditors' demands for its next round of rescue money.

The vote passed with a comfortable majority of 167 deputies in favour from the 300-seat chamber but markets are still edgy until a decision is finally made by Greece's lenders on whether to release the much-needed money.

Eyes are also on the United States, where rival politicians must reach a deal to avoid a fiscal cliff of deep spending cuts and huge tax hikes which would come into force on January 1 and which observers say would tip the country back into recession.

The package was put together after a protracted but possibly reckless compromise was reached last year - with the expectation a less painful plan could be agreed - to raise the country's borrowing cap.

Oil prices were mixed, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in December, gaining seven US cents to $US86.14 a barrel in the afternoon, while Brent North Sea crude for December delivery shed eight US cents to $US109.32.

Gold was at $US1,733.50 by 1905 AEDT, compared with $US1,730.30 late on Friday.

In other markets:

- Taipei fell 0.35 per cent, or 25.47 points, to 7,267.75.

Smartphone maker HTC ended up by its seven per cent daily limit at $Tw241.5 after reaching a global patent settlement with US giant Apple. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 0.55 per cent higher at $Tw91.3.

- Manila closed flat, edging up 1.91 points to 5,470.70.

Ayala Corp gained 0.45 per cent to 450 pesos while Metro Pacific Investment rose 3.04 per cent to 4.40 pesos.

- Wellington added 0.66 per cent, or 26.08 points, to 3,983.99.

Fletcher Building rose 3.3 per cent to $NZ7.48 and Telecom was 1.04 per cent higher at $NZ2.44.

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Syrian jet bombs area near Turkish border

A SYRIAN fighter jet has bombed a rebel-held area near the Turkish border, killing at least six people and wounding a dozen others, while a rocket propelled grenade also landed inside Turkey, officials and witnesses say.

An Associated Press video journalist saw the plane bomb an area around the Syrian town of Ras al-Ayn, some 10 metres from the Turkish border, on Monday. Last week the rebels overran three security compounds in the town, located in the predominantly Kurdish oil-producing northeastern province of al-Hasaka, wresting control from the regime forces.

An official at the local mayor's office said Turkish ambulances ferried 18 wounded Syrians to a hospital, across the border in the Turkish town of Ceylanpinar but six died, he added that the death toll from the attack was expected to rise.

The force of the blast from the aerial bombing shattered windows in Ceylanpinar, in southeastern Turkey, the official said. A few people were injured in Ceylanpinar, mostly from broken glass and shrapnel.

The fighting in Ras al-Ayn touched off a massive flow of refugees two days ago, and more refugees were seen coming after the blast.

Earlier, a Syrian helicopter bombed rebel positions in an area further south of Ras al-Ayn and the rebels could be heard responding with machine guns, the official said.

The violence in Syria has killed more than 36,000 people since an uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March 2011.

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13 killed in strong Burma quake

A POWERFUL earthquake has struck Burma, killing at least 13 people, injuring 40 and sparking panic in the central city of Mandalay.

The shallow 6.8-magnitude quake struck in a rural area 116 kilometres north of Mandalay and was followed by strong aftershocks, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said on Sunday.

Four labourers flung into the Irrawaddy River from a partly-built bridge near the town of Shwebo, north of Mandalay and nearer to the epicentre of the quake, were among those believed to have died, according to a situation report from Save the Children.

The collapse of a monastery in the nearby village of Kyauk Myaung killed two people and one died in Mandalay, it said. A further six were killed in Sint Ku township, including two people who died when a gold mine collapsed.

"People everywhere are very worried that another earthquake might strike," the aid organisation said.

Residents of Mandalay fled shaking buildings in terror, although no major damage was reported there.

"I ran from my bed carrying my daughter out to the street. There were many people in the road. Some were shouting and others felt dizzy," said Mandalay resident San Yu Kyaw.

A government official in the capital Naypyidaw who asked not to be named could only confirm two deaths so far.

Another official from Burma's Relief and Resettlement Department said most of those injured were workers on construction sites, with 15 people taken to Shwebo and Kyauk Myaung hospitals.

"We have sent a team to Shwebo where the earthquake was centred to assist in relief works and providing food to the victims," he said on condition of anonymity.

Save the Children, which has an office in Mandalay, said reports indicated that 25 were injured in the bridge collapse on the Irrawaddy, with 10 taken to hospital.

It said 20 people were thought to have been taken to hospital in Shwebo and a further 10 were being treated in Mandalay.

Construction standards are generally poor in Burma, one of Asia's most impoverished nations.

A large crack stretching from the second to the sixth floor of Mandalay's highest building, the 25-storey Mann Myanmar Plaza, appeared after the quake, a local resident said.

He said people were afraid to enter the structure and it remained closed.

The USGS issued a yellow alert, saying "some casualties and damage are possible" but the impact should be relatively localised.

The quake, which was initially thought to be magnitude 7.0, hit at 7.42 am (1212 AEDT) at a depth of just 10 kilometres.

It was followed by two shallow 5.0-magnitude aftershocks within 20 minutes, according to the USGS.

"The quake was quite strong. I was shopping in the market at the time and I saw women crying in fear when they felt it. We expect more quakes are coming. Everybody is afraid," said 23-year-old Win Win Nwe, a resident in Shwebo.

It comes little more than a week before US President Barack Obama is due in Burma on a historic visit, as the West begins to roll back sanctions to reward dramatic political reforms under President Thein Sein.

The quake was felt in neighbouring Thailand including in Bangkok.

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Syria planes strike near Iraq border

SYRIAN warplanes have launched air strikes on the eastern town of Albu Kamal near the Iraqi border and pounded rebel lines near Damascus and in the northern city of Aleppo.

Early morning fighting, meanwhile, has raged around the northeast town of Ras al-Ain on the border with Turkey, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.

The surge in violence follows another day of bloodletting across Syria on Saturday which saw 121 people killed, including 11 civilians in Daraya just outside the capital, the site of the worst massacre in Syria's 20-month conflict.

The Britain-based watchdog said in eastern Syria, two civilians were killed in air raids on the town of Albu Kamal on the Iraqi border while several districts of Deir Ezzor city were shelled by tanks.

The watchdog also reported clashes between President Bashar al-Assad's forces and rebels during the night in the town of Harasta on the northeastern outskirts of Damascus.

The Local Co-ordination Committees, a network of opposition activists on the ground, meanwhile, reported heavy shelling overnight by regime forces on rebel areas southwest of the capital and in the town of Yabrud to the north.

In the northern city of Aleppo, where fighting between rebels and government troops has raged since mid-July, mortars rained down on the rebel bastions of Shaar in the east, Sukari in the south and Halab al-Jadida in the west, according to the Observatory.

Residents said fierce clashes erupted in the northwest districts of Zahraa and Liramun, where tanks fired on rebel positions, and in the embattled Old City.

The Observatory reported army shelling on Sunday of the strategic rebel-held town of Maaret al-Numan, the nearby village of Maarshmisha and Idlib city in the northwest province of Idlib.

The army on Saturday retook a stretch of the Damascus-Aleppo highway in Idlib province used to send its reinforcements to main northern battlefields, but has failed to regain control of Maaret al-Numan.

According to Observatory, which relies on a network of activists, lawyers and medics in civilian and military hospitals, fighting also broke out on Sunday south of Ras al-Ain, in Hasakeh province.

The mainly Kurdish province of Hasakeh has seen heavy fighting in the past few days, with 46 combatants killed as the opposition seized Ras al-Ain on Friday.

The Observatory had on Saturday reported that Kurdish residents backed by militia from the Democratic Union Party (PYD) had taken control of three towns near the border with Turkey after convincing pro-government forces to leave.

The PYD has links with Turkey's rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

The watchdog said the residents had feared the same kind of violence that saw 9,000 Syrians flee to Turkey in 24 hours in the face of the fighting in Ras al-Ain.

Meanwhile, Syrian opposition groups said on Sunday they were close to an agreement on creating a new, united body against the Assad regime.

"At a meeting grouping representatives of different opposition groups and independents, more than 90 per cent of the agreement has been finalised," said Salem al-Muslat, a member of the main opposition bloc, the Syrian National Council (SNC).

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Qld mill worker dies in crushing accident

A 46-YEAR-OLD worker has died in an accident at a Queensland sugar mill.

The man was crushed between two cane bins at the Proserpine Sugar Mill on Sunday morning, receiving severe injuries to his pelvis.

He was taken to Proserpine Hospital by ambulance and treated there by rescue helicopter medical staff, before being airlifted to the Mackay Base Hospital.

He was in a serious condition when he arrived at the hospital and died at 2.30pm (AEST), some two and a half hours after the accident.

A Queensland Police spokesman said because it was an industrial accident, a Workplace Health and Safety investigation would take place.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.

Comment was sought from mill owner Sucrogen.

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Two houses destroyed in SA bushfire

Fire crews in SA have issued an emergency warning about a serious scrub fire burning out of control. Source: AAP

BUSHFIRES are burning on a number of fronts in South Australia with the biggest at Tulka, near the coastal city of Port Lincoln, claiming at least two houses and a hay shed.

Crews from the SA Country Fire Service (CFS) supported by the SA Metropolitan Fire Service (MFS) and Department for Environment, Water and Natural Resource are fighting the blaze which has burned out 2000 hectares and is threatening areas surrounding Sleaford Bay and Fishery Bay.

CFS State Coordinator Malim Watts says more than 100 firefighters and three fixed wing aircraft are battling to bring the fire under control and will remain on scene overnight and beyond.

Fresh crews from Adelaide are being flown in on Monday to help the exhausted CFS volunteers.

"Unfortunately this afternoon CFS has had confirmation of the loss of two houses, at least two sheds and a hay shed," Mr Watts said.

"CFS volunteers and other emergency services, together with the community, have done an outstanding job in very difficult and dangerous circumstances."

He said investigators from the police, CFS and MFS will be on the scene on Monday to find out how the fire started.

Police said residents living in the Port Lincoln area affected by the fire can find refuge at Port Lincoln Bowling Club.

Meanwhile, on the Eyre Peninsula lives and homes are at risk with a bushfire at Calpatanna Waterhole Conservation Park, north of Calca.

The CFS said the fire is heading in south towards Calca.

Crews are also fighting fires at Yalata in South Australia's southwest, near Avon north of Adelaide, and at Quorn in the southern Flinders Ranges, northeast of Port Augusta.

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