Gunmen kill Nigeria politician: police

Gunmen on a motorcycle have shot dead a prominent lawmaker in northern Nigeria, police say. Source: AAP

GUNMEN on a motorcycle have shot dead a prominent lawmaker in northern Nigeria, police say, in the latest in a series of such attacks in a region hit hard by a radical Islamist group.

It was not clear who carried out the shooting in Kano, Nigeria's second city, on Friday, but Boko Haram Islamists have repeatedly targeted politicians in the north as part of an insurgency that has killed hundreds since 2009.

"I can confirm that Danladi Isa Kademi, a lawmaker at the Kano state house of assembly was shot dead by two gunmen around 6pm (local time) today," said Kano state police spokesman Magaji Majia.

"The gunmen came on a motorcycle and fired several shots into the lawmaker," who was serving as the minority leader in the state assembly.

Kademi was shot outside a guesthouse he owned, Majia said.

Another state politician was killed in similar circumstances last month in Kano, weeks after a prominent retired general, Mohammed Shuwa, was shot dead at his home in the northeastern city of Maiduguri.

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S Africa's ANC party set to choose leader

SOUTH Africa's governing African National Congress political party is set to return to where it first formed a century ago to pick its next leader.

The occasion comes at a time some believe the movement is fighting to regain its moral high ground.

Some 4000 delegates will gather on Sunday at its Mangaung conference, being held in the city also known as Bloemfontein, to choose whether President Jacob Zuma or his quiet, unionist deputy Kgalema Motlanthe should lead the party.

Whoever the party picks will likely be the next president of this country of 50 million people, leading Africa's top economy into an uncertain future where all now have a right to vote, but don't have access to the country's wealth.

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400 asylum seekers reach Italian island

TWO boats carrying more than 400 African migrants have arrived on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa, the latest in a wave of thousands of undocumented migrants arriving from North African shores.

The boats were intercepted on Saturday by Italian coast guards in open sea south of the rocky outcrop, which is closer to Africa than to the Italian mainland.

The first boat carried 218 sub-Saharan migrants including seven women.

The second boat, which was some 20 metres long, had around 220 people including 20 women, Italian news agency ANSA reported, citing the coast guard.

Most of the recent Lampedusa arrivals have been on boats coming from Libya.

Migrants are usually taken to a small facility on Lampedusa and then to centres for asylum-seekers and undocumented migrants in other parts of Italy.

The charity Save the Children on Thursday said the situation was "chaotic", with 722 migrants still on the island including 102 women and 15 unaccompanied minors, and urged the government to transfer them to better accommodation.

Tens of thousands of migrants landed on Italian shores last year in the wake of the Arab Spring uprisings.

Thousands more have arrived this year despite Italy's calls for Tunisia and Libya to step up their maritime border controls.

Hundreds have died over the past two years in the perilous Mediterranean crossings, when their heavily overcrowded dinghies and fishing boats capsized or sank in stormy weather or were cast adrift due to engine failure.

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Syrian troops attack rebels: report

SYRIAN opposition activists say government troops have launched a major attack on rebel-held areas south of the capital Damascus.

"The Syrian troops are trying, under a barrage of heavy shelling, to storm Daraya from various directions," Haytham al-Abdullah, a Damascus-based activist, said.

Daraya is a poor Sunni Muslim suburb and a stronghold of the hardline group al-Nousra Front, which has been blacklisted by the United States as "a terrorist organisation".

The head of the opposition British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdel Rahman, said forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad were eager to tighten their grip on the area.

"Daraya is the closest point to the Mezzeh military airport, which is currently the only facility used by the regime's officials and troops to move in and out of the capital," he said.

Rebels have recently been fighting with troops in and around Damascus, raising the possibility that Assad could lose his hold on the capital.

Rebels are believed to be controlling several areas near Damascus airport.

News from Syria is difficult to verify, as authorities have barred most foreign media from the country since an uprising started in March last year.

Meanwhile, the ambassadors of Russia, China, Syria and Iran to Lebanon reiterated at a meeting in Beirut that a political solution was the only way to end the 21-month conflict.

"The ongoing fighting in Syria, which targets the regime and is supported by some states, has so far only resulted in further death and destruction, and should stop immediately," the envoys said, according to a statement issued by the Iranian embassy in Beirut.

The meeting came two days after Russia's deputy foreign minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, said rebels might eventually defeat Assad's regime.

Those remarks were later played down by the Russian Foreign Ministry.

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Defiant N Korea celebrates rocket launch

A mass rally has been held in Pyongyang to celebrate North Korea's successful rocket launch. Source: AAP

HUNDREDS of thousands of North Koreans have rallied in the freezing cold to revel in the country's rocket launch as South Korea voiced concern that its rival could follow up with a third nuclear test.

The enormous rally in central Pyongyang on Friday came two days after the launch of the rocket and just ahead of Monday's anniversary of the death of new leader Kim Jong-Un's father.

The West fears the launch has taken the nuclear power a step closer to firing intercontinental ballistic missiles across the planet, and it has provoked UN Security Council condemnation along with calls for more sanctions.

North Korea is already under international sanctions for conducting two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009, which both came after long-range rocket launches, and South Korea said history could be repeating itself.

"A nuclear test is highly probable, and judging from analysis of intelligence, significant preparations have been made," Unification Minister Yu Woo-Ik told a parliamentary committee in Seoul, without elaborating.

"North Korea has a track record of conducting nuclear tests following missile launches whose aim was to develop a delivery system for nuclear warheads."

Refuelling its criticism of Wednesday's launch, the US State Department said Kim had the chance as new leader "to take his country back into the 21st century" but instead was making the "wrong choices".

Unbowed, North Korean state media said Kim, who is in his late 20s, had personally signed off on firing the three-stage rocket and had declared his regime's "unshakable stand" that the program will continue.

Kim stressed the need "to launch satellites in the future ... to develop the country's science, technology and economy", according to the North's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) as it gave new details of the launch.

The "dear respected Marshal" visited mission control an hour before the rocket took off on Wednesday morning and praised the "ardent loyalty and patriotic devotion" of the technical team, KCNA said in the report.

The report gave no reaction to the international opprobrium that has been heaped on North Korea since the rocket went up, ostensibly to place a research satellite in orbit, with even close ally China expressing its "regrets".

While again calling on North Korea to obey UN resolutions, Beijing's foreign ministry reiterated its stance that any action by the international community "should be prudent and measured" so as to preserve peace and stability.

China, keeping a wary eye on the US military presence in South Korea, has defended North Korea's right to a peaceful space program and kept a measure of ambiguity in its responses to the rocket launch by its erratic ally.

However, a new nuclear test by Pyongyang would be an unambiguous menace to China's attempts to keep a lid on the situation on its northeastern border and make it harder for Beijing to impose restraint at the UN Security Council.

While the US and allies ponder their next moves, Friday's rally was an emphatic demonstration of organised support for the Kim dynasty within North Korea, one of the world's most tightly controlled states.

Under a grey winter sky, the massed ranks of civilians and soldiers were assembled into columns and proclaimed their obeisance to the younger Kim under giant portraits of his father and grandfather, chanting "long live!".

Many of the civilians were in thin coats against the cold, and the soldiers in olive-green greatcoats and Russian-style trappers' hats, as they pumped their fists in unison, state television showed.

Addressing the crowd on Kim Il-Sung Square, senior officials lavished praise on the Kim dynasty and its scion for the rocket launch - which came after an April attempt ended in fiery failure.

Analysts say the launch's symbolism was a prime motivating factor for North Korea as Kim shores up his leadership credentials.

"The launch means the fulfillment of Kim Jong-Il's last wish," said Yoo Ho-Yeol, a political science professor at Korea University in Seoul.

"As such, it helps cement Jong-Un's grip on power and strengthens his authority over the North's military elites, securing their loyalty and a sense of solidarity under his leadership."

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Scientists urge pardon for gay codebreaker

LEADING scientists including Stephen Hawking have urged Britain to pardon World War II code-breaker Alan Turing, who committed suicide after he was convicted of the then crime of homosexuality.

Often hailed as a father of modern computing whose code-cracking is credited with shortening WWII, Turing took his own life in 1954, two years after he was sentenced to chemical castration for the "gross indecency" of homosexuality.

"Successive governments seem incapable of forgiving his conviction for the then crime of being a homosexual, which led to his suicide," the scientists wrote in a letter published in The Daily Telegraph newspaper on Friday.

"We urge the prime minister formally to forgive this British hero, to whom we owe so much as a nation, and whose pioneering contribution to computer sciences remains relevant even today."

Hawking and 10 other scientists, including Royal Society president Paul Nurse, described Turing as "one of the most brilliant mathematicians of the modern era".

"It is time his reputation was unblemished," they said.

Turing died aged 41 after poisoning himself with cyanide.

In his short life, he lay the theoretical foundation for the modern-day computer and unravelled Nazi codes, which some historians argue saved millions of lives by cutting the war short.

He is credited with breaking the "Enigma" code used to encrypt communications between German U-boats in the North Atlantic ocean, but he was virtually unknown to the public at the time of his death as his work was kept secret until 1974.

He also published pioneering work on early computers.

In 2009, Britain's then prime minister Gordon Brown issued a posthumous apology to the code-breaker, saying he had been treated "terribly".

Homosexuality was decriminalised in Britain in 1967.

The government rejected a call to pardon Turing in February after it was presented with an online petition of more than 23,000 signatures.

Junior Justice Minister Tom McNally said at the time that it would be "inappropriate" to pardon him as he was "properly convicted of what at the time was a criminal offence".

The office of Prime Minister David Cameron said it was considering its response to the scientists' letter.

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Two strong quakes strike off California

A STRONG 6.4-magnitude earthquake has struck off the coast of California, immediately followed by a 6.1-magnitude temblor, according to the US Geological Survey.

There were no immediate reports of damage or casualties from the earthquakes early on Friday, which took place 262 kilometres and 93 kilometres off the coast, respectively, according to seismologists.

There was no immediate warning of any tsunami from the quakes.

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Tokyo shares chalk up big gains

TOKYO shares have jumped more than two per cent this week in the lead up to Japanese national elections on Sunday, as opinion polls point to a sizeable victory for the opposition Liberal Democratic Party (LDP).

For the week to December 14, the benchmark Nikkei 225 index at the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 2.21 per cent, or 210.17 points, to 9,737.56.

The broader Topix index of all first-section shares added 1.37 per cent, or 10.80 points, to 801.04.

Japan's premier exchange had been relatively quiet until midweek when the Nikkei logged consecutive eight-month highs as the expected LDP victory upped speculation of more central bank easing.

That weighed on the yen, which tumbled to multi-month lows against the dollar and euro, propping up exporters' shares. Japanese manufacturers benefit from a weaker currency by making their products more competitive overseas.

Central bank easing speculation has been stoked by comments from LDP leader Shinzo Abe, the frontrunner to become the country's next prime minister, who has vowed to pressure the Bank of Japan for more aggressive monetary easing measures to counter slowing in the world's third-largest economy.

A US Federal Reserve policy meeting ended with the central bank saying it would replace its "Operation Twist" bond swapping program with $US45 billion ($A42.94 billion) a month in straight bond buys, on an open-ended basis.

That came on top of the $US40 billion a month purchasing announced earlier.

The Fed move further stoked speculation over more easing by the European Central Bank and Japanese policymakers.

"Expectations for more central bank policy easing have certainly not abated," Kenichi Hirano, market analyst at Tachibana Securities, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Earlier in the week, markets cheered data that showed German investor sentiment at a seven-month high, raising hopes Europe's top economy will dodge recession, while debt-hit Spain saw its borrowing costs fall sharply in a sale of short-term treasury bills, another salve for eurozone fears.

Investors were also heartened by figures that showed a pickup in China's economy, although a deal on the US fiscal cliff impasse remained elusive.

Dampening sentiment on Friday, the Japanese central bank released its key Tankan survey that showed confidence among large Japanese manufacturers at its lowest level in nearly three years.

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Greece debt buyback gets offers of $39.7bn

GREECE says it has attracted offers worth 31.9 billion euros ($A39.75 billion) under a debt buy-back scheme tied to the release of EU-IMF bailout funds needed to avert bankruptcy.

But the country's debt management agency said to complete the procedure, it would need 11.29 billion euros in funds from the European Union's EFSF rescue fund overall, 1.29 billion euros more than was originally allocated for the operation.

"The aggregate principal amount of EFSF notes expected to be delivered is 11.29 billion euros," the agency said in a statement, adding Greece had "advised its official sector creditors" over the issue.

"Approximately 31.9 billion euros...will be exchanged and transferred to (Greece) pursuant to the invitation," the agency said, adding it had offered a weighted average price of 33.8 cents per euro to debt-holders, or 33.8 per cent.

Private holders of Greek sovereign bonds originally had to submit by Friday their offers to participate in the buyback, which offered them 32.2 to 40.1 per cent of the face value of the securities.

But the operation was extended to Tuesday, reportedly to achieve higher offers from Greek banks.

Greek stocks opened with small gains on Wednesday but the main index fell into the red as the announcement was made.

The buy-back aims to cut Greece's debt by about 20 billion euros and is vital to unblock pending loans from the European Union and International Monetary Fund, which were frozen earlier this year owing to reform delays.

The IMF and the eurozone have agreed to release 43.7 billion euros in rescue loans in four instalments to enable Greece to avoid bankruptcy provided Athens carries out the bond buyback.

Part of that money, an amount of 34 billion euros, is urgently needed to recapitalise Greek banks which took part in a previous operation to write-down another part of the country's debt in the spring.

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Clan leader pleads not guilty to massacre

A PHILIPPINE politician accused of helping plan the country's worst political massacre has pleaded not guilty to organising the murder of at least 57 victims, a court official says.

Zaldy Ampatuan, allegedly a key plotter of the 2009 attack in the country's south, entered a plea on Wednesday after the court struck down months of manoeuvres challenging the legality of his arrest, said court officer May Datuon.

"He has exhausted all the remedies," Datuon said.

The Ampatuan clan allegedly carried out the massacre in November 2009 to keep a rival candidate from challenging one of their members in the 2010 local elections.

At the time Zaldy Ampatuan was governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, a self-rule area where then-president Gloria Arroyo armed hundreds of the clan's supporters to help the military fight Islamic guerrillas.

The family patriarch, Andal Ampatuan Sr, and his son and namesake, Andal Ampatuan Jr, are also among 75 suspects on trial.

The two are accused of plotting the murders along with Zaldy Ampatuan and other clan members, the court said.

Andal Ampatuan Jr allegedly led a group of about 100 gunmen in stopping a convoy of cars carrying relatives of the rival candidate, their lawyers and journalists, and then shooting them dead in a remote area.

The massacre, in which the victims were buried in mass graves using an excavator owned by the provincial government, shocked the nation.

It forced Arroyo to break ties with the clan and order the arrest of its leaders.

State prosecutors ruled earlier this year that there were 58 massacre victims, with extra dentures found at the mass graves identified to be those of a missing journalist.

However, Zaldy Ampatuan was initially only charged with the murders of 57 victims, which was the official toll when he was indicted.

Philippine police said 103 people have been arrested over the massacre, including the clan patriarch. However, more than 90 other suspects remain at large, raising fears the clan may still intimidate potential witnesses.

The trial is seen as a test of whether the Philippines can really abolish the "culture of impunity" surrounding powerful figures.

Government lawyers and human rights advocates warn that the trial could take years due to delaying tactics by some of the wealthy defendants and the overburdened legal system.

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PM Gillard to visit China in 2013

AUSTRALIA has a "true and enduring friend" in China and will strengthen governmental links with the Asian powerhouse, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has told a dinner celebrating the nations' diplomatic ties.

Ms Gillard hopes to make her second visit to China as prime minister in 2013, to meet the country's new leadership.

At the gala dinner celebrating the 40th anniversary of Gough Whitlam's recognition of China and the establishment of diplomatic ties, Ms Gillard said Australia valued deep relationships with China at every level.

"Our peoples are partners, working together still," she told the audience at Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday.

"Creating wealth together, working for peace together and sharing a bright future together."

The prime minister said the two countries needed to "craft a new and deeper phase of our relationship" with stronger government-to-government links.

This would include stronger bilateral architecture to co-ordinate the relationship, a comprehensive country strategy that outlines shared objectives and a stronger diplomatic footprint.

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PR guru denies he sold royal butler's data

PR guru Max Clifford has denied claims by former royal butler Paul Burrell that he breached his confidentiality by passing personal details about him to the News of the World.

The claims by Burrell - once known as Princess Diana's "rock" - are an "affront to common sense", Clifford said in a statement issued by his solicitor, Dan Morrison.

"The claims made by Mr Burrell have no merit. His allegations are opportunistic and are denied," the statement said.

"It is an affront to common sense to suggest that Mr Burrell, who has sold stories to the newspapers, made countless appearances on TV and has even written a book about his dealings with the royal family, now feels able to claim that any information he provided was confidential.

"We will defend these claims in court and will be asking the judge at the earliest opportunity to strike out these claims as having no prospect of success and an abuse of process."

The denial comes after Burrell's lawyer, Mark Lewis, confirmed that papers have been lodged at the High Court alleging breach of confidentiality by Clifford.

Burrell has claimed he hired Clifford to limit bad press coverage about him a decade ago, but rather than stopping stories, the publicist passed them to the now-defunct News of the World, Sky News reported.

The claim emerged after Clifford said he would try to continue to lead a normal life after being arrested by detectives investigating the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal, describing the allegations against him as "totally untrue".

The publicist was questioned last week on suspicion of sexual offences as part of Operation Yewtree, the investigation into allegations of sex abuse surrounding Savile and others.

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Mali PM's resignation 'not a coup'

Mali's PM has resigned after soldiers who led a recent coup burst into his home and arrested him. Source: AAP

MALIAN Prime Minister Cheick Modibo Diarra's resignation after his arrest by soldiers is not a coup and a new premier will be named soon, the spokesman for the country's ex-junta says.

"This is not a new coup d'etat," Bakary Mariko told France 24 television on Tuesday after Diarra's arrest on the orders of Mariko's boss, former coup leader Amadou Sanogo.

Mariko said Diarra was "not a man of duty" and added that a successor will "be named in the coming hours by the president".

Diarra, an astrophysicist who has worked on several NASA space programs and served as Microsoft chairman for Africa, was due to leave for Paris on Monday for a medical check-up.

The resignation plunges further into chaos a country already effectively split in two after armed Islamists linked to al-Qaeda and Tuareg rebels took control of the vast desert north.

Mariko said Diarra, who backed plans to send in a West African intervention force to drive out the extremists who are running the zone according to their brutal interpretation of sharia law, had not fulfilled his task.

Such foreign intervention is fiercely opposed by Sanogo, who launched a coup on March 22 to oust President Amadou Toumani Toure's government only six weeks before an election marking the end of his time in office.

"He had two main missions - to free the north and to organise free and transparent elections," Mariko said, accusing Diarra of only working to "hold on to power eternally".

"The Malian army has the necessary resources and the will to go and liberate the country," he said.

"If the international community drags its feet, the Malian army will assume its responsibilities to liberate its territory."

European Union foreign ministers on Monday approved plans to deploy an EU military training mission in Mali to help the government regain control of the north.

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Abbott defends abortion drug criticism

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has defended his position on the controversial abortion drug RU486. Source: AAP

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott has defended his position on the controversial abortion drug RU486 while he was a health minister in the Howard government.

Mr Abbott was responding to comments from blogger Mia Freedman that his attempts to keep a ban on the drug as minister remained an issue for some female voters.

"Because he's never addressed that on the record ... it sort of lingered and festered like this bit of a suspicious issue among women," Ms Freedman told ABC radio on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard invited Ms Freedman and other popular female bloggers to Kirribilli House in Sydney on Monday night.

Mr Abbott was full of praise for the popular blogger when quizzed by reporters in Sydney about her comments on Tuesday.

"I have a lot of time for Mia - I am an avid reader of her column," he said.

"But with respect, I did not do what you have put to me."

As health minister, he did not receive any applications regarding RU486, Mr Abbott said.

"Had any such application come before me, I would have dealt with it on the basis of the science and the expert advice."

Mr Abbott lost the ministerial power to approve RU486 in 2006 to the Therapeutic Goods Administration in a parliamentary conscience vote.

Health Minister Tanya Plibersek backed Ms Freedman's call for Mr Abbott to clarify his views on abortion and RU486.

"When he was health minister he was very opposed to it... he sought to protect ministerial veto," she told ABC TV.

"He said abortion was the 'easy way out' "

"If he has changed his mind on any of those things he should be clear about that."

Ms Plibersek said no woman wants to have an abortion and that it's a traumatic decision to make.

She said Australian women and men generally believe it is a woman's right to chose.

"If Tony Abbott wants to be prime minister he should be able to say one way or the other if he believes that or not," Ms Plibersek said.

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Nelson Mandela has lung infection

SOUTH Africa's former President Nelson Mandela is suffering from a recurring lung infection and is responding to treatments, the nation's presidency says.

The ailing Mandela, 94, has been in 1 Military Hospital near South Africa's capital, Pretoria, since Saturday, receiving medical tests.

The announcement on Tuesday ended speculation about what was troubling the anti-apartheid icon.

Government officials had declined repeatedly to say what caused the nation's military, responsible for Mandela's care, to hospitalise him over the last few days.

That caused growing concern in a nation of 50 million people that largely reveres Mandela for being its first democratically elected president who sought to bring the country together after centuries of racial division.

The tests Mandela underwent at the hospital detected the lung infection, said presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj in a statement.

"Madiba is receiving appropriate treatment and he is responding to the treatment," Maharaj said, referring to Mandela by his clan name as many do in South Africa in a sign of affection.

In January 2011, Mandela was admitted to a Johannesburg hospital for what officials initially described as tests but what turned out to be an acute respiratory infection.

The chaos that followed saw the military take charge of his care and the government control the information about his health.

In recent days many in the press and public have complained about the lack of concrete details on his condition.

Mandela has had a series of health problems in his life.

He contracted tuberculosis during his years in prison and had surgery for an enlarged prostate gland in 1985.

In 2001, he underwent seven weeks of radiation therapy for prostate cancer, ultimately beating the disease.

In February, Mandela spent a night in a hospital for a minor diagnostic surgery to determine the cause of an abdominal complaint.

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Carr to visit Sri Lanka this week

Foreign Minister Bob Carr will travel to Sri Lanka this week for talks on people smuggling. Source: AAP

FOREIGN Minister Bob Carr will travel to Sri Lanka on Friday to discuss trade ties, tourism and efforts to disrupt people smuggling.

The three-day trip will be Senator Carr's first visit to the south Asian nation as a minister and will include discussions on Australia's aid assistance to Sri Lanka, a spokesman for the minister told AAP on Tuesday.

People smuggling will also be on the agenda.

Sri Lankan authorities have in the past 12 months disrupted 69 people smuggling operations involving 2900 people who were intending to come to Australia, the spokesman said.

Meanwhile, HMAS Larrakia intercepted a boat carrying 57 suspected asylum seekers and two crew on Monday night, north of Ashmore Islands

The opposition's immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said asylum seeker boats were continuing to arrive in record numbers "even with the onset of the monsoon season where conditions are perilous and the risk of taking boat journeys to Australia intensifies".

Later on Tuesday, Senator Carr's office announced he would visit Timor Leste on Thursday ahead of the Sri Lankan trip.

Economic, aid and security issues are on the agenda when he meets East Timor leaders.

The visit coincides with the Australian-led International Stabilisation Force (ISF) ceasing security operations and commencing withdrawal from East Timor last month.

"The withdrawal marks a new era in Australia-Timor-Leste relations with the transfer of security responsibilities to local forces," Senator Carr said in a statement.

"Discussions would also involve future plans for development assistance, with an emphasis on Australia's continued support for education and health."

He will visit the Resistance Museum and present a gift from Australia - material about East Timor held by the National Film and Sound Archive.

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Man in 60s arrested for sex offences

BRITISH detectives investigating the Jimmy Savile sex abuse scandal have arrested a man in his 60s, police say.

The man, from London, was held at 6.45am local time on Monday on suspicion of sexual offences.

He was arrested as part of Operation Yewtree, the investigation into allegations of sex abuse surrounding Savile, a prominent BBC entertainer, and others, and falls under the strand termed "others", Scotland Yard said.

The force is leading the national probe into claims made against the disgraced TV presenter and figures in the entertainment industry.

The man is the sixth suspect to be arrested - and the seventh person to be questioned - in connection with the Yewtree operation which involves a team of 30 officers and has already cost around STG2 million ($A3.08 million).

The latest arrest comes after PR guru Max Clifford protested his innocence after being questioned by detectives last Thursday.

The publicist, who was held at his Surrey home on suspicion of sexual offences and questioned by police, said the allegations were "damaging and totally untrue".

Other high-profile names arrested in connection with the investigation include Gary Glitter, comedian Freddie Starr, DJ Dave Lee Travis and a man in his 70s, reported to be former television producer Wilfred De'Ath.

Last month the force said it was dealing with around 450 potential victims, the vast majority of whom claimed they had fallen prey to Savile.

Officers are looking at three strands within their inquiry: claims against Savile, those against Savile and others, and those against others.

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Jakarta, Canberra to ratify rescue pact

AUSTRALIA and Indonesia will sign an agreement on Tuesday that will boost cooperation in search and rescue operations involving asylum seekers.

The agreement, mooted earlier in the year in the wake of a series of incidents in which hundreds of asylum seekers lost their lives, is expected to give Australian aircraft rapid clearance to enter Indonesian airspace.

It also boosts maritime cooperation aimed at speeding up the response times of rescue agencies when dealing with incidents involving the safety of life at sea.

There has been criticism in the past about slow response times when dealing with asylum seeker boats sinking in Indonesian waters as they make their way to Christmas Island.

In August, more than 100 people perished when their boat foundered in the Sunda Strait.

The Indonesian search and rescue agency, BASARNAS, did not begin an aerial search until more than six hours after a distress call was received by the Australian Maritime and Safety Authority.

It was almost 24 hours before the first survivors were pulled from the water.

The agreement, to be signed in Jakarta on Tuesday by Australian Transport Minister Anthony Albanese and his Indonesian counterpart, E.E Mangindaan, will likely allow Australian aircraft to operate in Indonesian airspace.

Aircraft would also be able to land and refuel at airfields when engaged in search and rescue activities.

Indonesia will be provided with satellite communications technology to improve its search and rescue capabilities, while BASARNAS is to be given access to ship tracking capabilities to enable it to enlist the help of merchant ships in the event of emergencies involving asylum seeker boats.

Australia will provide $4.42 million to fund the measures, as part of the $38.4 million Indonesia Transport Safety Assistance Package established in 2007.

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European stocks slip at open

EUROPE'S main stock markets have fallen at the start of trading, with Milan's FTSE Mib index slumping 2.31 per cent to 15,336 points after Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti announced his intention to resign.

Elsewhere, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index on Monday retreated 0.16 per cent to 5,905.00 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index dropped 0.44 per cent to 7,484.95 points and in Paris the CAC 40 slid 0.46 per cent to 3,586.99.

In a dramatic weekend of tense political drama, Monti announced his resignation and Silvio Berlusconi launched a comeback bid.

The developments have put the Monti government's reform agenda on hold and brought forward the election, with a vote now expected as early as February - well before the government's mandate runs out at the end of April.

In earlier deals, Asian equities mostly rose on Monday as dealers cheered an improvement in the US unemployment rate and another batch of manufacturing figures indicating China's economy is emerging from a slumber.

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IPART recommends more NSW taxi licences

The Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal recommends an increase in Sydney taxi licences. Source: AAP

PEOPLE won't have to wait as long to get a cab or pay as much for the ride under moves by NSW's pricing regulator to increase the number of taxis on the road.

In its annual draft report, the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) identified the need to offer 280 more licenses for operation between 12pm and 5am.

In order to improve entry to the industry, it's also recommended 205 additional unrestricted taxi licences.

The recommended increase from July next year would allow the industry to meet growth in passenger demand while reducing costs for operators and drivers, IPART chairman Peter Boxall said on Monday.

"(It) strikes a careful balance between positive outcomes for consumers, drivers and taxi operators, and minimising the impacts on existing licence holders," he said in a statement.

He said the draft recommendations would cut waiting times on Friday and Saturday nights by an average of 7 per cent while increasing the number of taxi trips taken in Sydney by about 6 per cent.

"Increasing the number of taxis, particularly during underserviced Friday and Saturday night-shifts, will reduce waiting times leading to more taxi trips, higher taxi occupancy and improved hourly earnings for drivers," Mr Boxall said.

There's also good news for customers catching taxis over the festive period, with Transport for NSW confirming on Monday that secure taxi ranks would be operating on more nights of the week throughout December.

Extra security guards will be on hand to make sure Christmas shoppers and those attending parties get home safe.

"With more people out at night celebrating Christmas and the end of 2012, we want to make sure both revellers and taxi drivers are kept safe and everyone gets home safely," said a Transport for NSW spokesman.

"That's just as important in Cowra as in Coogee, so we have secure ranks operating extra nights throughout the state, not just in Sydney."

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Italy faces vote as Monti leaves

Italian PM Mario Monti (pic) is stepping down, the president's office has announced. Source: AAP

ITALY is gearing up for early elections after Prime Minister Mario Monti said he will resign in the coming days and Silvio Berlusconi announced he will run again for the sixth time in two decades.

"I have matured the conviction that we could not continue like this any longer," Monti was quoted as saying a day after his announcement in an interview with Ferruccio De Bortoli, editor of top daily Corriere della Sera.

Monti explained that he made his decision after MPs from Berlusconi's People of Freedom party withdrew their support for his government last week in a symbolic protest, saying Italy was now economically worse off than before.

Party chief Angelino Alfano told parliament that Italy's debt, unemployment and tax rates had risen while the economy had plunged ever since Monti took over from Berlusconi at the head of a non-elected cabinet in November 2011.

"I felt profoundly hurt by these words," Monti was quoted as saying on Sunday, adding that he wanted to make his announcement with "markets closed".

Monti also said he had noticed the "concern" of his interlocutors with Italy's political situation at an economic forum in Cannes on Saturday.

Investors have reacted nervously after the PDL abstained from two confidence votes in the government on Thursday, with the stock market plunging and the differential between the yields on Italian and German benchmark bonds widening.

In the latest in a series of closed-door talks held by President Giorgio Napolitano with political leaders, Monti on Saturday told the president he will be stepping down as soon as parliament approves next year's budget.

Monti "does not think it possible to continue his mandate and consequently made clear his intention to present his resignation", Napolitano's office said in a statement after the hour-long meeting on Saturday.

The budget is expected before the end of the year but is only one of several items pending before parliament, including key reforms, whose future is unclear.

Elections will have to be held within a minimum of 45 days and a maximum of 70 days, meaning a vote could come as early as February.

The current parliament's mandate runs out at the end of April.

Analysts said Monti's decision to speed up the election calendar could also be a way for him to prepare his own entry into politics after three-time prime minister Berlusconi announced his dramatic return on Saturday.

The irrepressible 76-year-old has said he is running, despite a fraud conviction earlier this year and an ongoing trial against him for having sex with an underage prostitute and abusing his powers when he was premier.

"I am running to win," he said on Saturday, after declaring in October that he would not run.

He added: "When I did sport, when I worked and studied, I never entered into a competition to be well-placed but always to win."

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Monk arrested for inciting self-immolation

A MONK and his nephew were detained for inciting eight Tibetan people to set themselves on fire in a restive Chinese region that has become a flashpoint for protests against Beijing's rule, state media has said.

Police in southwest China's Sichuan Province, which has a large ethnic Tibetan population,on Sunday detained a 40-year-old monk named as Lorang Konchok for "goading" the protests, which resulted in three deaths, Xinhua said.

He was held at Kirti Monastery in Aba County, which has been the focal point of a crackdown on separatism since anti-Chinese riots rocked the Tibetan plateau in 2008.

More than 90 Tibetans have set themselves on fire since 2009 to protest China's rule of the Tibetan plateau, rights groups have said, with the frequency of incidents increasing sharply in November.

The monk was acting on the instructions of the Dalai Lama and his followers, Xinhua said, citing the monk's "confession and police investigation".

Beijing has long-blamed the Tibetan spiritual leader for inciting the burnings as a means of realising Tibetan independence.

Since 2009, the monk was said to have passed information on self-immolations to a "media liaison team" linked to a "Tibet independence organization of the Dalai Lama group", the Xinhua report said.

"At the requests of the media liaison team, Lorang Konchok took advantage of his position and influence in the monastery and often encouraged others to self-immolate, telling local monks and followers that self-immolation was not against Buddhist doctrines and those who did it were 'heroes'," it added.

The monk also recruited Lorang Tsering, his 31-year-old nephew, in his efforts to encourage the protests, the report claimed.

State media reported earlier this month that China will charge anyone caught aiding or inciting Tibetan self-immolations with murder.

A joint legal opinion issued by China's supreme court, top prosecution body and police said the charge of "intentional murder" should apply to anyone urging Tibetans to set themselves alight, the state-run Gannan Daily reported.

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Pilot killed in NSW helicopter crash

A 48-YEAR-OLD pilot has died in a helicopter crash in central-west NSW.

The man was thought to be spraying weeds in a remote area 25km south of Mudgee when the aircraft crashed at about 11am (AEDT) on Sunday.

The wreckage of the Robin44 helicopter was found in steep and rugged bushland at Grattai. The pilot, a local man, was pronounced dead at the scene.

A crime scene was established and a police guard remained at the site on Sunday night.

NSW Police Force air crash investigators and officials from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau are to continue their inquiries on Monday.

Police will prepare a coroner's report.

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South African president visits Mandela

Nelson Mandela has been admitted to a hospital for tests, officials say. Source: AAP

SOUTH Africans is praying for the health of former President Nelson Mandela and anxiously awaited further word about the anti-apartheid leader after he was admitted to a military hospital.

President Jacob Zuma visited Mandela on Sunday morning at the hospital in Pretoria and found the frail 94-year-old to be "comfortable and in good care," presidential spokesman Mac Maharaj said in a statement. Maharaj offered no other details about Mandela, nor what medical tests he had undergone since entering the hospital Saturday.

The continued uncertainty about Mandela's health saw worshippers gather on Sunday morning at the Regina Mundi Catholic church in the Soweto area of Johannesburg to pray for the leader. The church was a centre of anti-apartheid protests and funerals.

"Yes, it really worries us because he is a great person," church goer Shainet Mnkomo said as she left an early morning service. "He did so many things to the country, he's one of those persons who we remember most."

Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison for fighting racist white rule, became South Africa's first black president in 1994 and served one five-year term. He later retired from public life to live in his remote village of Qunu, in the Eastern Cape area, and last made a public appearance when his country hosted the 2010 World Cup soccer tournament.

Many in the country of 50 million people view Mandela, who led the African National Congress to power, as a father figure and an icon of integrity and magnanimity amid the nation's increasingly messy politics. Inside the church, a stained glass window depicts Mandela, in a grey suit and blue tie, raising his hands to wave at a crowd. His image stands just next to another portraying a man carrying the corpse 13-year-old, Hector Pieterson, who was gunned down by police in the black township of Soweto in June, 1976, as students protested peacefully against the white government.

A statement from Zuma's office on Saturday announced that Mandela had been hospitalised for tests and was receiving medical care "which is consistent for his age."

In February, Mandela spent a night in a hospital for a minor diagnostic surgery to determine the cause of an abdominal complaint. In January 2011, however, Mandela was admitted to a Johannesburg hospital for what officials initially described as tests but what turned out to be an acute respiratory infection. He was discharged days later.

Mandela contracted tuberculosis during his years in prison. He also had surgery for an enlarged prostate gland in 1985.

While South Africa's government has offered no details about who would provide medical attention for Mandela, the nation's military has taken over medical care for the aging leader since the 2011 respiratory infection. At 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria on Saturday night, the facility that previously cared for Mandela in February, everything appeared calm, without any additional security present. On Sunday morning, soldiers set up a checkpoint to search vehicles heading into the hospital's grounds.

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