China quake toll up to 113

THE earthquake that has struck the steep hills of China's southwestern Sichuan province has left at least 113 people dead and more than 2,600 injured.

Nearly five years after a devastating quake wreaked widespread damage across the region, Saturday's quake toppled buildings, triggered landslides and disrupted phone and power connections in mountainous Lushan county.

The village of Longmen was hit particularly hard, with authorities saying nearly all the buildings had been destroyed.

Rescuers turned the square outside the Lushan County Hospital into a triage centre, where medical personnel bandaged bleeding victims, according to footage on China Central Television.

Rescuers dynamited boulders that had fallen across roads to reach Longmen and other damaged areas lying farther up the mountain valleys, state media reported.

The official Xinhua News Agency, citing the Sichuan earthquake bureau, said at least 113 people had died.

The government of Ya'an city, which administers Lushan, said in a statement that more than 2,600 people were injured, 330 of them severely.

The quake - measured by China's seismological bureau at magnitude 7.0 and the US Geological Survey at 6.6 - struck the steep hills of Lushan county shortly after 8am local time, when many people were at home, sleeping or having breakfast.

People in their underwear and wrapped in blankets ran into the streets of Ya'an and even the provincial capital of Chengdu, 115 kilometres east of Lushan, photos, video and accounts posted online showed.

The quake's shallow depth, less than 13 kilometres, likely magnified the impact.

It was along that fault line that the devastating magnitude-7.9 quake struck on May 12, 2008, leaving more than 90,000 people dead or missing and presumed dead in one of the worst natural disasters to strike China in recent decades.

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Female suicide bomber kills 4 in Pakistan

A FEMALE suicide bomber has blown herself up outside a hospital in a lawless tribal area of northwest Pakistan, killing at least four people and wounding four others.

The attack took place on Saturday in Khar, the main town of Bajaur tribal district bordering Afghanistan where the military has carried out several offensives against al-Qaeda-linked Taliban militants.

"At least four people were killed and four others were wounded in the blast outside the main gate of the hospital," Mohammad Riaz, chief doctor at the government hospital said.

"It was a female suicide bomber, about 18-20 years old. We have found her legs and head," local administration official Abdul Haseebhe said.

The dead included a security personnel, a hospital worker and two civilians, he added.

Bajaur is one of seven districts that make up Pakistan's federally administered tribal areas (FATA).

The semi-autonomous region of mountains, valleys and caves is one of the most deprived in the country.

It has been a stronghold for Afghan Taliban, al-Qaeda and other Pakistani militant groups, and a battleground between the army and insurgents.

Pakistan has lost more than 3,000 soldiers in the fight against homegrown insurgents but has resisted US pressure to do more to eliminate the havens in remote areas where they hide.

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Japan wins spot in mega trade pact

JAPAN has won its bid to enter talks on a massive Pacific trade pact that includes Australia.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would account for more than 40 per cent of the global economy.

Japan had to win over Canada to be included in the US-driven partnership, which also includes Brunei, Chile, Canada, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam.

Canada had been the sole nation of the 11 in the proposed agreement that still opposed Tokyo's participation.

"These consultations have been informed by a robust and ongoing engagement with Canadian stakeholders, and it's that engagement that helped inform this process," Canadian Trade Minister Ed Fast said.

"We look forward to continuing to work together (with Japan) to deepen our trade and investment relationship in a manner that will generate significant benefits for hard-working people in both our countries."

Canada's approval came after bilateral talks on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation trade ministers' meeting in Surabaya.

Washington earlier this month gave Japan the thumbs-up for talks on the free-trade agreement despite opposition from Japanese farmers and some US labour groups and manufacturers.

President Barack Obama has championed the TPP as a way to boost the US economy through trade and to build a US-driven order in a fast-growing region where China - which is not part of the talks - is gaining clout.

To allay concerns of higher competition in the US automotive industry, Japan, the world's third-largest economy, agreed that US tariffs on its cars would be phased out at the latest possible time allowed by a future accord.

Japan's Ministry of Economy APEC office director Ken Sasaji said Japan's participation in the talks was a major step toward the TPP's aim to create a free-trade zone among nations on the Pacific rim.

"As APEC leaders agreed, our final destination is FTAAP - a free-trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific," Sasaji told reporters.

"Now Japan is promoting various efforts to promote economic integration and economic partnerships, especially the trans-Pacific partnership, which is one of the most important efforts."

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Dozens killed in battle near Damascus

AT least 69 people, many of them rebels, have been killed in a four-day battle pitting Syrian insurgents against government forces in Jdaidet al-Fadl near Damascus, a monitoring group says.

"Regime troops are trying to seize total control of the town of Jdaidet al-Fadl" southwest of Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday.

"Sixty-nine people were killed in violence raging there over the past four days," added the British-based watchdog, citing activists on the ground, who said many were killed in shelling and also in summary executions by the army.

Violence also raged in Sunni areas of the nearby majority Christian town of Jdaidet Artuz.

The two towns are near Daraya, the scene of fierce fighting for several months.

"Daraya was subjected to tank and rocket fire, and fresh clashes broke out in the morning on the southern and western fronts," the town's opposition local council said in a statement.

It added that regime troops had deployed reinforcements including "30 tanks and military vehicles" to the town.

Since last year the army has tried to root out rebels positioned southwest and east of Damascus, in a bid to secure the capital.

Elsewhere, a woman and three children were killed in an army shelling of Kharita town in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, the Observatory said.

In the central province of Homs, regime troops took control of Radwaniyeh village near the flashpoint rebel town of Qusayr, it said.

Fierce firefights between insurgents and regime troops, pro-regime militiamen and fighters loyal to Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah were also reported in several areas around Qusayr near the border with Lebanon, it added.

Saturday's violence comes a day after at least 157 people were killed across Syria, said the Observatory, breaking the toll down to 75 civilians, 44 rebels and 38 soldiers.

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NSW keen to extend Governor Bashir's term

Premier Barry O'Farrell asked Marie Bashir (pic) to stay on as NSW Governor for an extra six months. Source: AAP

PREMIER Barry O'Farrell has asked NSW Governor Marie Bashir to extend her commission for six months.

Professor Bashir is due to stand down in February next year but will now retire on September 26, 2014.

Mr O'Farrell says the Queen supports the move.

"Her Majesty has welcomed my suggestion to extend the Commission of Her Excellency the Governor," he said in a statement on Friday.

"I will now formally submit that request to The Queen for approval."

He said Professor Bashir was one of the state's most loved governors and he regretted her decision to stand down.

"As a person of Lebanese descent, there is no better example of the success of our multicultural society than Professor Bashir, who had a very successful career in health and academia before being appointed Governor," he said.

She was appointed the 37th Governor of NSW on March 1, 2001.

Opposition Leader John Robertson said Prof Bashir had served the people of NSW with the utmost distinction and been an outstanding ambassador for the state.

"Her wisdom and grace will long be remembered, as well as her strong advocacy for causes such as mental health and indigenous health."

Parliamentary speaker Shelley Hancock said Ms Bashir had whole-heartedly supported the institution of the NSW parliament and regularly attended events with her husband, Sir Nicholas Shehadie.

"(Her) energy, passion and drive is second to none," she said.

"Professor Bashir's work not only with the parliament but with charitable and non-government organisations is remarkable and I know first-hand that her support has been greatly appreciated."

Ms Hancock said that as the state's first female governor, Ms Bashir had broken down an important barrier for women in high office.

"(She) will continue to be a role model for women both young and old across NSW until the end of her service in September next year and beyond," she said.

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Pakistan's Musharraf under house arrest

A Pakistani court put ex-military leader Pervez Musharraf under detention in his fortified home. Source: AAP

A PAKISTANI court put ex-military leader Pervez Musharraf under arrest in his plush villa in an unprecedented move against a former army chief of staff.

The Islamabad High Court ordered his arrest on Thursday for sacking senior judges while in power, the latest humiliating blow to the man who returned to Pakistan from four years in self-imposed exile to contest elections.

It is the first arrest of any former chief of the Pakistani army, considered the most powerful institution in the nuclear-armed country, which has been ruled for around half its 66-year existence by the military.

The 69-year-old is now officially under detention in his heavily fortified home in a smart suburb of the capital, where media were massed outside and police barricaded the street.

Musharraf took to Facebook to say he would fight the charges.

"These allegations are politically motivated and I will fight them in the trial court, where the truth will eventually prevail," he said in a statement.

Live TV footage showed Musharraf arriving dressed in a traditional shalwar kamiz and waistcoat surrounded by police and paramilitary.

"General Musharraf has been sent on a two-day judicial remand and he will stay at his farmhouse," said a spokesman for his All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) party, now expected to win no seats when the country goes to the polls on May 11.

An official at the magistrates court in Islamabad confirmed the arrest order over for sacking judges when Musharraf imposed emergency rule in November 2007, a move which hastened his downfall.

APML spokesman Muhammad Amjad denied media reports that he had been arrested prior to going to court and said he had been ordered to re-appear before an anti-terrorism court in Rawalpindi in two days' time.

"Musharraf himself surrendered before the court," Amjad said.

"We will now file an application for post-arrest bail in the trial court," said his lawyer Ahmad Raza Kasuri.

Commentators say it is clear that Musharraf is finished politically.

He was on Tuesday disqualified from contesting the elections, to mark the first democratic transition of power after a civilian government completes a full-term in office.

Lawyers have also petitioned Pakistan's top court to try him for treason for imposing emergency law, punishable by death or life in prison, although it will have to be the state that initiates any trial.

He also faces charges of conspiracy to murder opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in 2007 and over the death of a rebel leader during a 2006 military operation.

Political analyst Hasan Askari warned that any arrest or trial risked overshadowing the elections, set to mark the first democratic transition of power after a civilian government has completed a full term.

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Baghdad bomb kills 27 as unrest spikes

A cafe bombing has killed 27 people ahead of the first elections since US troop withdrew from Iraq. Source: AAP

VIOLENCE spiked as Iraq readied for its first elections since US troops withdrew, with 27 people killed in a late-night bombing at a Baghdad billiards cafe frequented by young men.

The attack raises further questions about the credibility of Saturday's provincial elections, with 14 candidates already having been killed and a third of the country's provinces not even voting amid an ongoing political crisis.

The polls are seen as a key test of Iraq's stability and security, and will provide a gauge of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's popularity as he grapples with infighting in his national unity government and months of protests by Iraq's Sunni Arab minority.

The latest bombing struck at 10pm on Thursday in the west Baghdad suburb of Amriyah, leaving 27 dead and more than 50 others wounded, security and medical officials said.

Among the dead were at least three children and a woman.

It exploded at the Dubai cafe, which lies on the second floor of a small shopping mall in the predominantly Sunni neighbourhood that is filled with families as it contains restaurants and clothes shops.

The cafe itself, however, is mostly frequented by young men playing billiards and video games.

Security forces restricted movements in Amriyah on Friday in the wake of the blast.

The bombing is the latest in a wave of violence, with 50 people killed in nationwide attacks on Monday, and March having been the deadliest month in Iraq since last summer, according to an AFP tally.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Sunni militants linked to Al-Qaeda frequently set off bombings in both Sunni and Shi'ite neighbourhoods across the capital, and the country, in a bid to undermine confidence in the government and security forces.

Officials and diplomats also complain that a long-running spat that has pitted Maliki against several of his erstwhile government partners has been exploited by insurgent groups who use the political differences to enhance their room for manoeuvre on the ground.

An estimated 13.8 million Iraqis are eligible to vote on Saturday for more than 8,000 candidates, with 378 seats being contested.

It is the first vote in Iraq since March 2010 parliamentary polls, and the first since US forces withdrew from the country in December 2011.

Diplomats have raised questions over the credibility of the vote, however, as attacks against candidates have left at least 14 dead and others withdrawing for fear of being targeted, while six of Iraq's 18 provinces will not be taking part, including two where authorities say security cannot be ensured.

Iraqi forces are solely responsible for polling day security, the first time they have been in charge without support from American or other international forces during elections since dictator Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003.

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Manhunt after first Boston suspect dies

POLICE killed one of the Boston marathon bombing suspects in a shootout early Friday and pursued a chaotic street-to-street manhunt for his accomplice, officials said.

The Boston bomb suspects are from a Russian region near Chechnya, and have lived in the United States for at least a year, US media report has said.

Several Boston suburbs were put under effective lockdown and public transport was suspended throughout the region.

In addition, thousands of heavily-armed police continue a house-to-house search in suburban Watertown for an "armed and dangerous... terrorist... who has come here to kill people."

The two men, dubbed "Suspect One" and "Suspect Two" by the FBI, led police special forces on a violent cavalcade that left inhabitants of towns around Boston cowering in their homes as gunfire and explosions erupted through the night.

One police officer was killed and another wounded in the operation, Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said.

Davis also confirmed that Suspect One had been killed.

The man, whose identity has not been released, died in the hospital after being hit with bullets and injured by an explosion, a doctor at Beth Israel hospital told reporters.

Police told inhabitants of Watertown and nearby towns to stay home as they hunted the second man believed to have planted the bombs that killed three people and injured about 180 at the Boston Marathon on Monday.

The governor also suspended all public transit services through the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

The surviving fugitive was "armed and dangerous," Davis said.

"We believe this to be a terrorist, we believe this to be a man who has come here to kill people," the police chief told reporters.

Police said the first suspect had explosives on his body, and there were fears the second suspect still at large was also strapped with bombs.

The suspects first tried to rob a convenience store in Cambridge, across the river from Boston, Davis said.

They then went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where one campus police officer was shot several times and died, the commissioner added. The pair then hijacked a Mercedes car and eventually let the driver out in Watertown, which is close to MIT, Davis added.

The chase went on through Watertown where the two were seen throwing explosives out of the car, local media said, citing police reports. Blasts and gunfire were heard in several districts.

During a shootout, one wanted man was hit and died later in hospital, Davis said. Another police officer was also wounded. The second suspect, who has been shown in pictures wearing a white baseball cap, escaped.

MIT students were kept in a lockdown for three hours after the shooting on campus. Police with rifles flooded the streets, and search helicopters patrolled the skies.

MIT, one of the world's top universities, is in Cambridge, just across the Charles River from Boston where the double bomb attack was staged on Monday in the worst militant attack on the United States since the September 11 atrocities in 2001. Authorities cancelled classes Friday, in the wake of the incident.

Hours before the manhunt, the FBI released pictures and video of the two suspects, appealing for help to identify the pair who were carrying large backpacks.

Both appeared to be young men, one dressed in a white baseball cap and the other in a black cap. The FBI gave no details of their identities or origin, naming them only as Suspect One and Suspect Two.

Two bombs were placed around the marathon finish line on Monday, spraying nails, ball bearings and other metal fragments into massed spectators, many of whom suffered horrific injuries.

The men are seen in the video walking calmly, one a few paces behind the other, weaving between crowds on Boston's Boylston Street where the race finished.

President Barack Obama vowed to the people of Boston Thursday that the "evil" bombers would be brought to justice.

The surviving Boston bomb suspect identified as Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, reports the Associated Press.

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Abbott declares all bets off on surplus

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott has declared "all bets are off" on a timeframe for delivering a budget surplus.

Mr Abbott, answering questions from Geelong voters in the nation's most marginal seat of Corangamite, said he didn't know the starting point to achieve a surplus.

Asked by an elderly Geelong woman what his top priority would be as prime minister, Mr Abbott said it would be to get "the budgetary house in order."

"We were confident that we could deliver a surplus based on what the government was telling us until just before Christmas," Mr Abbott said.

"But all bets are off, given the government won't tell us what the deficit will be."

He reiterated that it was in the coalition's DNA to deliver surpluses and pay back debt.

Mr Abbott flagged industrial relations changes should the coalition win power.

But any change would be "careful, cautious, responsible", he said.

"We will have a lot more to say about this in the relatively near future," the opposition leader said.

He said the coalition's plans would address "flexibility, militancy and productivity problems emerging under the Fair Work Act".

"We will work within the framework of the existing act," Mr Abbott said.

Mr Abbott said the carbon tax would be scrapped by the middle of 2014 if he wins government.

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Govt must help carmakers innovate: Combet

THE federal government must help the carmaking industry to innovate so that the embattled sector remains viable in the years ahead, the federal government says.

Speaking in Sydney on Thursday night, Innovation and Industry Minister Greg Combet said he hadn't given up on the local auto industry.

"I believe we can have a viable automotive manufacturing sector," Mr Combet told the launch of the 2013 Australian Innovation Festival.

His comments come after former Ford boss Jacques Nasser recently warned that the local automotive industry could collapse entirely if Ford, Holden or Toyota pulled out of the country.

The federal government and opposition don't agree with Mr Nasser, but differ on the measures needed to help prop up the struggling sector.

Mr Combet conceded the sector was suffering "structural adjustment pressures" and had been hit "pretty hard" by the high Aussie dollar and a devaluation of the Japanese currency, the yen.

"That hits very hard at motor vehicle manufacturing and it's competitiveness against Japanese imports," he said.

He said the government needed to back innovation in the sector, which supports about 250,000 people nationwide.

"Many, many firms and supply chains depend on it and I think it's incumbent on governments to try to work with industry to support innovation within it," he said.

He said the government was working to build innovation "precincts" where industry and universities could collaborate on projects in the hope of boosting competitiveness.

He said such "industry led" precincts had already been set up in the food processing and manufacturing sectors.

NSW Finances and Services Minister Greg Pearce said the O'Farrell government was trying to cut the red tape that "kills innovation".

"What we can do as a government is try to get our own act together," he said.

However, he conceded the state had a "long way to go".

He said he couldn't guarantee that "good submissions" from firms with innovative ideas were reaching the relevant ministers.

"We're doing our best," Mr Pearce said.

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Nestle reports Q1 sales rise of 2.3%

Food and drinks giant Nestle has reported 2.3 per cent rise in first quarter sales. Source: AAP

SWISS food and drinks giant Nestle SA has reported first-quarter sales of 21.9 billion Swiss francs ($A22.87 billion), up 2.3 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

The maker of Nescafe, Haagen Dazs and Jenny Craig says sales in developed markets continue to be subdued by low consumer confidence amid global financial uncertainty both in the United States, which is Nestle's biggest market, and in Europe.

Paul Bulcke, chief executive of the Vevey, Switzerland-based company, said in a statement on Thursday the first three months of 2013 "reflects the caution" that it had anticipated for the entire year.

But he said the company expects to see stronger momentum in key emerging markets, where it reported 8.4 per cent growth in the first quarter, a reflection of contrasting trading conditions across different regions.

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Germany approves aid to Cyprus

The German parliament has approved an international bailout package for Cyprus. Source: AAP

THE German parliament has approved an international bailout package for stricken eurozone member Cyprus by a large majority.

In the Bundestag lower house, 486 deputies on Thursday voted for the measure with 104 against and three abstentions.

MPs also overwhelmingly backed a deal by eurozone finance ministers giving Ireland and Portugal an extra seven years to repay aid they have received to allow them to consolidate progress.

Eurozone finance ministers formally approved on Friday new terms for the Cyprus debt rescue that will cost far more than first thought - 23 billion euros ($A29.29 billion) rather than 17 billion euros.

Eurozone partners and the International Monetary Fund are to provide 10 billion euros of this amount while the Cypriot government will have to find the rest.

Germany will kick in about one-third of the international assistance.

The debt rescue involves a radical restructuring of Cyprus's bloated banking sector, with an economy heavily dependent on financial services now expected to shrink by up to 12.5 per cent over the next two years.

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble had urged MPs to back the Cyprus bailout, citing the gradual recovery of other stricken eurozone members as evidence the aid-for-reforms strategy worked.

Speaking to the Bundestag, he said that countries such as Portugal and Ireland had shown that tough budget cutting coupled with international assistance could save a debt-mired country.

"Both have undertaken enormous efforts, are fulfilling the requirements of their (rescue) programs and are on the right track," he said.

Schaeuble also noted substantial progress made in the past three years in taming the eurozone crisis, with economic progress such as a hike in exports from southern European countries as well as a sharp drop in public deficits.

Striking a conciliatory note, the usually tough-talking Schaeuble noted Germany's preaching of austerity in Europe sometimes lacked compassion for the sacrifices made by the people of crisis-battered countries.

"In our country in particular, where the euro crisis is not felt in everyday life, we must issue a reminder that the people in Greece, Portugal and Cyprus are going through tough times," he said.

But he stressed there was "no other way" than fiscal discipline to achieve sustainable long-term stability and growth.

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Putin foe Navalny goes on trial in Russia

The trial of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on embezzlement charges has been adjounred. Source: AAP

RUSSIAN opposition leader Alexei Navalny has gone on trial on charges he says were ordered by President Vladimir Putin to eliminate a top opponent, but the process was swiftly adjourned for a week to allow the defence more time to prepare.

Hundreds of journalists and Navalny supporters on Wednesday descended on the provincial northern city of Kirov 900 kilometres from Moscow for the trial of Navalny and a co-defendant on embezzlement charges related to a timber deal.

But the first act in what the opposition claims is the latest political show trial in Putin's Russia was over in less than 40 minutes after Judge Sergei Blinov agreed to give the defence more time, adjourning the trial for one week until April 24.

Navalny, who risks up to 10 years in prison in the embezzlement case, has predicted he will be convicted and possibly jailed. Even a suspended sentence would make it illegal for him to run for office.

The trial is a potential turning point in the standoff between the Kremlin and the opposition that erupted with mass opposition protests in the winter of 2011-12 ahead of Putin's return for a third Kremlin term last May.

Navalny - who emerged as by far the most eloquent of the protest leaders - had raised the stakes ahead of the trial by announcing earlier this month he wanted to stand for president.

The 36-year-old is a new breed of Russian protest leader who has yet to fully embrace party politics, but has built a huge internet following with sharply-written blogs and corruption exposes.

Dressed in a white shirt without a tie and jeans and looking relaxed, Navalny sat with his lawyers and co-defendant Pyotr Ofitserov. His right hand was bandaged after a minor injury.

Navalny flashed smiles and used a mobile phone emblazoned with Putin's face and the word "thief" to take a picture of the dozens of journalists pointing cameras at him.

"One way or another I am sure that during the hearing my innocence will be completely proved. But what decision the judge makes or whoever makes the decision, we'll see," Navalny said after the adjournment.

"I won't go on about how the case is fabricated and falsified. I am completely innocent," he said. Noting that he had posted the case documents online, he added: "I think any person even without legal education can be sure of this."

Navalny is charged with organising the misappropriation in a timber deal of more than 16 million roubles ($A495,092.59)from the Kirov regional government that he advised in 2009.

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N. Korea refuses South access to Kaesong

North Korea will not be returning to the negotiating table with the US, media reports say. Source: AAP

NORTH Korea has barred a delivery of supplies to South Koreans in the closed Kaesong industrial zone, as the South's president said it was time to stop rewarding Pyongyang's provocations.

A delegation of 10 businessmen representing the 123 South Korean firms in Kaesong had applied to travel to the zone to bring food and other daily necessities to their staff and to inspect their facilities.

"North Korea informed us that the request for a visit ... had been turned down," said Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-seok on Wednesday.

"It is very regrettable that the North has rejected the request and disallowed a humanitarian measure," Kim said.

North Korea has blocked access to Kaesong - which lies 10 kilometres inside its border - since April 3 amid soaring military tensions on the Korean peninsula.

South Koreans in Kaesong at the time were told they could leave when they wanted, but as of Wednesday there were still 200 remaining.

The North withdrew all its 53,000 workers and suspended operations in the zone on April 8.

"Humanitarian problems are bound to only worsen as days go by," Kim said.

Three cars crossed back into South Korea from Kaesong on Wednesday, all laden down with bundles of products and personal belongings squeezed into every available seating space and tied onto the roof.

Oh Heung-Gi, a 50-year-old clothing company employee, said the situation was increasingly difficult for those holding out.

"It's tough, but everyone helps each other to cope with the problem of food shortages," Oh told Yonhap news agency.

Among the supplies the business delegation had wanted to take to Kaesong on Wednesday were boxes of rice, medicine and the Korean food staple, kimchi.

"It's not like anyone is starving, but the food is clearly running out and what's left isn't up to much," said a Unification Ministry spokeswoman.

Kaesong was established in 2004 as a shining symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.

On Tuesday, North Korea said the South was seeking to shift responsibility for Kaesong's closure, which Pyongyang insists was forced by Seoul's policy of "confrontation" and its "war-mongering" statements.

"The puppet regime can never escape from the criminal responsibility for putting Kaesong in this grave situation," the North's state body in charge of special economic zones said in a statement.

The South is "clinging to sanctions against the North, while bringing in massive volumes of new war machines and madly engaging in exercises for a war of aggression while prattling about dialogue," the statement said.

Neither of the Koreas has allowed previous crises to significantly affect the complex, which is seen as a bellwether of stability on the Korean peninsula.

Seoul's offers of talks to find a way out of the impasse have been dismissed by the North as a "crafty trick".

South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who was elected on a promise of greater engagement with Pyongyang, said Seoul would not be intimidated into a dialogue.

"We must break the vicious cycle of holding negotiations and providing assistance if (North Korea) makes threats and provocations," Park told a gathering of foreign ambassadors.

On Tuesday, North Korea had threatened the South with "sledge-hammer" retaliation unless Seoul apologised for anti-Pyongyang protesters burning effigies of its revered leaders.

Kaesong is a crucial hard currency source for the impoverished North, through taxes and revenues, and from its cut of the workers' wages.

Turnover in 2012 was reported at $A454.00 million, with accumulated turnover since 2004 standing at $A1.91b.

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Sex charges over assaults on Sydney girls

A MAN has been charged with indecently assaulting two teenage girls, including allegedly attacking one of the girls on a train in western Sydney.

Police said they charged the man, 36, on Wednesday with five counts of indecently assaulting a person under 16.

The charges relate to alleged assaults on two 13-year-olds.

Police allege the man indecently assaulted one of the girls when she was travelling on a train between Strathfield and Seven Hills on the afternoon of April 4.

The man got on the train at Granville and exited at Parramatta, police said in a statement.

The man is alleged to have indecently assaulted the other girl on a number of occasions between December 2013 and April this year.

The man was arrested at Doonside on Wednesday morning.

He was refused bail and will front Blacktown Local Court on Thursday.

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Trial begins over faulty breast implants

Four executives and the founder of PIP are in court over the sale of faulty breast implants. Source: AAP

FRANCE has launched one of its biggest-ever trials as five managers from company PIP faced charges of selling faulty breast implants that sparked a global health scare.

More than 5000 women registered as plaintiffs in the case, which sees the defendants including PIP founder Jean-Claude Mas charged with aggravated fraud for using industrial-grade silicone in implants.

An estimated 300,000 women in 65 countries are believed to have received the implants, which some health authorities say are twice as likely to rupture as other brands.

The trial, which began around 1930 AEST on Wednesday, has been moved to a congress centre in the southern city of Marseille to accommodate the hundreds of plaintiffs and lawyers attending.

The defendants face up to five years in prison and the trial is set to last until May 17.

As the trial began, Mas was booed when he took to the stand to state his name and profession.

He had earlier arrived, accompanied by his lawyer, Yves Haddad, who chided reporters for their treatment of his client, who will turn 74 next month.

"Whatever happened, what you are doing to a 74-year-old man is not dignified," he said.

Hundreds of women who were given the faulty implants are expected to attend the trial in the 700-seat congress centre hall or three other rooms where more than 800 people will be able to watch video transmissions.

Angela Mauro, a 47-year-old plaintiff, said she hoped the court would treat the women with the same respect accorded other victims of medical malpractice.

"I expect us to be considered as victims and not just as women who wanted implants," said Mauro, whose implants ruptured twice, requiring her to interrupt work for treatments.

News of the faulty implants in 2011 sparked fears worldwide, but health officials in various countries have said they are not toxic and do not increase the risk of breast cancer. A 10-year case study has been launched in France to determine the long-term effects.

More than 4000 women have reported ruptures and in France alone 15,000 have had the PIP implants replaced.

Mas, a former travelling salesman who got his start in the medical business by selling pharmaceuticals, founded PIP in 1991 to take advantage of the booming market for cosmetic implants.

He built the company into the third-largest global supplier but came under the spotlight when plastic surgeons began reporting an unusual number of ruptures in his products.

Health authorities later discovered he was saving millions of euros by allegedly using industrial-grade gel in 75 per cent of the implants. PIP's implants were banned and the company eventually liquidated.

The others on trial with Mas are PIP's former general manager, Claude Couty, quality control director Hannelore Font, technical director Loic Gossart and product director Thierry Brinon.

Some of the defendants, including Mas, have also been charged in separate and ongoing manslaughter and financial fraud investigations into the scandal.

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Whistleblower seeks help from NSW premier

A policeman who exposed alleged child sexual abuse by priests wants the NSW premier to step in. Source: AAP

A SENIOR policeman who says he won't be protected under whistleblower laws after he exposed alleged child abuse by Catholic priests is seeking support from NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell.

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Fox has claimed the church in the NSW Hunter region covered up evidence about paedophile priests and hindered police investigations into child abuse.

His claims prompted a state government inquiry into the matter and helped pave the way for a royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse.

Mr Fox says he received a letter from NSW police on Monday confirming one of his disclosures won't be classified under whistleblower legislation.

"The letter is very hostile. It's basically saying that I don't qualify and if I have a problem with it, I can take them to court," Mr Fox told AAP on Tuesday.

"I'm disappointed and also very let down. I've had phone calls from some in the police force that told me there wouldn't be a problem with this," he said.

Police have said Mr Fox has made several disclosures covered by whistleblower legislation, but one disclosure didn't meet the requirements of the NSW Public Interest Disclosures Act.

They say the other matters were deemed to be protected disclosures, meaning the officer is afforded protection under the act.

Police say Mr Fox is also protected from recriminations by provisions in the NSW Police Act.

Mr Fox says he intends to write to Mr O'Farrell to ask him for his view on the issue.

"He's come out before and said I would be protected under the legislation. He made some very strong statements in parliament ... he said my disclosures were in the public interest and would be treated that way".

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Asylum granted to dictator's son-in-law

THE Seychelles have granted a year's asylum to the son-in-law of Tunisia's deposed dictator Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, officials say.

Sakhr El Materi, who was convicted in absentia of corruption by a Tunisian court, appealed for asylum in the Indian Ocean archipelago in February.

Materi and his family "have been granted a 12 month residence permit in Seychelles," a statement from the immigration department read.

The Seychelles said that while the country's law "does not make specific provisions for political asylum", the residence permit was issued because they believed Materi would not receive justice in his home nation.

"The government of Seychelles has not satisfied itself that the conditions exist in Tunisia at this point for a free and fair trial if Mr El Materi were to be repatriated back to face the charges set out against him there," the statement added.

Materi first fled to Qatar just before the overthrow of his father-in-law's regime in 2011, but the Gulf emirate agreed to expel him in September 2012.

In December he travelled briefly to the Seychelles, leaving after he was questioned by police for trying to enter on an expired diplomatic passport, but returned to Victoria in January.

Tunisian officials have said they would do everything to get Materi extradited.

Ben Ali and his close family used to go on holiday to the Seychelles in secret prior to the revolution.

Said to be the ex-dictator's favourite son-in-law and long seen as a possible successor, Materi was sentenced in absentia to 16 years in prison and fined 97 million dinars ($A59.4 million) for corruption and property fraud.

Married to Ben Ali's eldest daughter Nesrine, the businessman owned Princess Holding and was active in virtually every economic sector.

His properties have either been confiscated or placed under state administration.

The north African country has repeatedly asked Saudi Arabia, where Ben Ali took refuge with his wife Leila Trabelsi after they fled Tunisia on in January 2011, to extradite him.

Ben Ali has been sentenced in absentia to life in prison for presiding over the bloody protest crackdown that ignited the Arab Spring, and convicted on other charges that include incitement to murder, embezzlement and abuse of power.

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EU court stops extradition of UK Islamist

THE European Court of Human Rights has ruled against the extradition from Britain of a mentally ill man who is wanted by US authorities for conspiring to establish an Islamist militant training camp in Oregon.

A seven-judge panel which examined the case concluded that extraditing Haroon Aswat was likely to exacerbate his condition of paranoid schizophrenia, for which he has been detained in a secure psychiatric hospital since 2008.

As such, a decision to hand him over to the United States would violate the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) provisions on the prohibition of inhuman or degrading treatment, said the judges on Tuesday at the court based in Strasbourg, France.

Their ruling was based on a judgment that Aswat was likely to undergo a lengthy period of pre-trial detention in the United States and, in the event of his conviction, be placed in a high security prison.

The judges stated: "In light of the medical evidence before it, the Court found that there was a real risk that Mr Aswat's extradition to the USA, a country to which he had no ties, and to a different, potentially more hostile prison environment, would result in a significant deterioration in his mental and physical health.

"Such treatment would be capable of amounting to treatment in breach of Article 3 (of the ECHR)."

Aswat was arrested in Britain in 2005 following a request for his extradition from US authorities who suspect him of links to al-Qaeda.

His attempts to contest extradition through the British courts finally failed in 2007, but his transfer across the Atlantic was blocked after he appealed to the European rights court.

His case was subsequently considered, along with that of one-eyed cleric Abu Hamza and four other men facing extradition who had argued that their likely incarceration in the Florence Max federal prison in Colorado would violate their rights under Article 3 of the ECHR.

The court rejected their appeal last year but adjourned Aswat's case to allow for updated medical reports to be submitted. On the basis of those, the judges ruled that the severity of his condition justified opposing extradition.

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At least 16 killed in Ghana mine collapse

A MINE collapse in Ghana's central gold-producing region has killed 16 people who were working illegally and had been told to leave by the operator, police say.

"They retrieved 16 bodies," area police commander William Otu said of Monday's disaster near the town of Kyekyewere.

The operator had completed its work in the area and had returned only to shut down the mine and affirm its claim to the land, Otu added, without identifying the company.

They found several people from the local community mining illegally, who refused when asked to leave.

Not long after, "the operator got information that the mine caved in and covered the people", the police commander told AFP on Tuesday.

The west African nation of about 25 million people is one of the world's top gold exporters.

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Costa Concordia pre-trial hearings begin

The deadly Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster has returned to court in Italy. Source: AAP

THE deadly Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster has returned to court in Italy with the start of a long series of indictment hearings against six suspects including captain Francesco Schettino.

Thirty-two people lost their lives, including a five-year-old Italian girl, when the giant luxury liner crashed into an Italian island on the night of January 13, 2012.

The chief suspect is Schettino who is accused of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, misinforming coast guards during the rescue operation and abandoning the ship.

He was present at Monday's hearing.

Among the four other crew members accused by prosecutors is the ship's Indonesian helmsman Jacob Rusli Bin, suspected of contributing to the tragedy by misunderstanding a vital command moments before the crash.

Rusli Bin's whereabouts are not known but he has been assigned a lawyer and the accusations against him will be heard in absentia.

The sixth accused is Roberto Ferrarini, the head of ship owner Costa Crociere's crisis unit who is also suspected of failing to keep the coast guard adequately informed and therefore delaying the rescue.

All six are accused of manslaughter.

Schettino has denied abandoning ship while passengers still had to be evacuated, telling investigators that he fell off the liner when it tilted at a near 90-degree angle.

The Costa Concordia crashed at high speed into the island of Giglio with 4229 people from 70 countries on board as Schettino attempted a risky "salute" manoeuvre to the island.

The giant liner veered sharply and then keeled over in shallow water.

Most of the passengers and crew were evacuated with the ship's lifeboats but hundreds had to jump into the sea and swim ashore in the dark.

The court has scheduled 40 pre-trial hearings lasting into July before it rules on whether a trial should go ahead and when it will take place.

Survivors are allowed to attend the hearings, where prosecutors and defence lawyers will tackle some of the key issues in the expected trial.

The case is being heard in Grosseto, the city nearest to the site of the tragedy where the ship still lies on its side as an unprecedented salvage operation prepares to right it, refloat it and tow it away.

Dozens of survivors in civil courts are suing Costa Crociere, the biggest cruise operator in Europe and a subsidiary of the US-based giant Carnival Corp.

Most of the survivors who did not suffer injuries or lose loved ones have accepted compensation from Costa of around 11,000 ($A13,841) each.

In terms of criminal proceedings, the company negotiated a controversial plea bargain with the court last week in which it accepted some responsibility as the employer of the suspects and paid a one million euro fine.

Codacons, a consumer association which is suing Costa Crociere on behalf of some survivors, has published a report that showed key equipment on board apparently malfunctioned including its sealed doors and lifts.

Bruno Neri, a professor called by Codacons to carry out the technical analysis, said: "Schettino has been turned into a scapegoat."

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Vic Legal Aid workers reach pay deal

VICTORIA Legal Aid has avoided a 48-hour work stoppage planned to start on Friday after reaching an in-principal agreement with workers.

Legal Aid initially rejected the 11.23 per cent wage increase that is part of the tentative new three-year enterprise bargain agreement.

As part of the deal, lawyers and court workers on Victoria Legal Aid staff will receive one-off payments of between $100 and $500.

The breakthrough avoids a 48-hour stopwork action planned for Friday and Monday and follows a protest last week.

Victorian Legal Aid said the next step was to confirm government approval so the agreement can go to a staff ballot.

"The agreement will enable us to deliver quality services in new ways and in a financially responsible manner," Legal Aid said in a statement.

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Wave of bombs kills 19 ahead of Iraq polls

MORE than a dozen bombings across Iraq have killed at least 19 people in the latest in a spike in violence just days before the country's first elections since US troops withdrew.

The violence, which struck during morning rush hour amid tightened security ahead of the polls, also wounded almost 200 people and raises further questions about the credibility of the April 20 vote, seen as a key test of Iraq's stability and its security forces' capabilities.

A total of 14 election hopefuls have already been murdered and just 12 of the country's 18 provinces will be taking part.

Officials said 18 car bombs exploded on Monday in Baghdad, the northern cities of Kirkuk, Tuz Khurmatu and Tikrit, the central city of Samarra, and Hilla and Nasiriyah south of Baghdad.

Three roadside bombs also hit Baquba, north of the capital.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Sunni militants frequently attack both government targets and civilians in a bid to destabilise the country, and have reportedly sought to intimidate candidates and election officials ahead of polls.

The deadliest attacks were in Baghdad, where six car bombs struck in five neighbourhoods across the capital despite tougher checkpoint searches and heightened security.

Eight people were killed and 48 wounded in the capital, security and medical officials said, and officials in a tow truck were seen checking for suspicious vehicles in central Baghdad after the violence.

In Tuz Khurmatu, which lies 175 kilometres north of Baghdad, six people were killed and 60 wounded by three near-simultaneous car bombs, according to a provincial council member and a doctor.

And in Kirkuk, four people were killed and 19 wounded by another trio of car bombs, provincial health chief Sadiq Omar Rasul said.

Explosions elsewhere in Iraq killed one person and wounded 64 people.

Kirkuk and Tuz Khurmatu lie at the centre of a tract of disputed territory that stretches from Iraq's eastern border with Iran to its western frontier with Syria.

The swathe of land is claimed by both the mostly-Arab government in Baghdad and the three-province autonomous Kurdistan region of northern Iraq.

The dispute is often cited by officials and diplomats as the biggest long-term threat to Iraq's stability.

Soldiers and policemen cast their ballots for the provincial elections on Saturday, a week ahead of the main vote, the country's first since March 2010 parliamentary polls.

It is also the first election since US troops withdrew from Iraq in December 2011.

The election also comes amid a long-running crisis between Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and several of his erstwhile government partners.

More than 8000 candidates are standing in the elections, with 378 seats on provincial councils up for grabs.

An estimated 16.2 million Iraqis are eligible to vote, among them about 650,000 members of the security forces.

Although security has markedly improved since the height of Iraq's confessional conflict in 2006-2007, 271 people were killed in March, making it the deadliest month since August, according to Agence France-Presse figures.

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Tight security for Thatcher funeral

Margaret Thatcher's funeral will have tight security as police fear protesters could disrupt it. Source: AAP

MARGARET Thatcher's funeral will be surrounded by tight security as police fear protesters opposed to her political legacy and anarchists could try to disrupt the ceremonial occasion.

The British former prime minister has been as divisive in death as she was in life and police are taking no chances that Wednesday's funeral procession through central London to St Paul's Cathedral will be targeted by the same protesters who staged celebrations of her death.

A major security operation has been planned, amid fears it could be disrupted by far-left groups, Irish republicans or individuals obsessed with the Iron Lady.

The high-profile guest list, headed by Queen Elizabeth II and set to include a host of international political figures and celebrities, has also increased the pressure on Scotland Yard.

Hundreds of people joined a "party" in London's Trafalgar Square on Saturday, and several said they would return to demonstrate when her flag-draped coffin is carried through the streets of the capital with full military honours.

"I plan to go there and turn my back when she comes," said Sigrid Holmwood, a 34-year-old artist, saying she objected to the estimated STG10 million ($A14.7 million) cost of the send-off.

Police are scanning social networking sites for information about possible protests, after the events last week were advertised on Twitter and Facebook.

They have also urged people planning to disrupt the funeral to contact them so that lawful protests can be organised, a pro-active tactic used successfully during last year's Olympic Games in London.

"The right to protest is one that must be upheld. However, we will work to do that while balancing the rights of those who wish to pay their respects," said Commander Christine Jones, who is leading the security operation.

Jones was also in charge of security at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in April 2011, which passed off peacefully.

"We are hugely experienced in safely delivering high-profile and ceremonial events in the capital," Jones said.

Police officers will be deployed at strategic points along the route that the funeral cortege will take from parliament to the cathedral and a mobile team will be on hand to deploy to trouble spots.

Fears of violent protests were sparked by impromptu parties by left-wing activists celebrating Thatcher's death on May 8, which flared up in London, Bristol, Liverpool and Glasgow.

Scotland Yard is also bracing for potential threats from individuals fixated with Britain's first female prime minister, who was in office for 11 years from 1979 to 1990.

Dai Davies, a former head of royal protection at the London police force, told The Times newspaper that police chiefs were most likely to be concerned "about a fixated person with a psychological hatred of Margaret Thatcher".

Another potential threat could come from Irish republican dissidents who have never forgiven Thatcher for her hardline approach to hunger strikers during the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

The Irish Republican Army (IRA), the main paramilitary group fighting British rule in the province, tried to kill her by bombing the hotel where she and her cabinet were staying for the 1984 Conservative Party conference.

The IRA gave up its armed struggle a decade ago, but dissident groups are still active in Northern Ireland.

"Baroness Thatcher's funeral is bound to excite dissident MP ambitions. It is something I know the security services are taking very seriously," Conservative MP and security expert Patrick Mercer told The Guardian newspaper.

A large section of central London will be closed off for the funeral, including roads around Buckingham Palace and Parliament Square, home to parliament and Westminster Abbey.

Several London Underground stations will also be closed along the route as part of the lock-down.

A full military rehearsal of the procession took place in the early hours of Monday.

Some police leave has been cancelled. In the worst case scenario, the police will be able to call on the armed forces, 700 of whom are taking part in the funeral procession.

Army Major Andrew Chatburn, the man in charge of choreographing the parade, said protests were a matter for the police.

But he added: "Many of these (military personnel) have served in Afghanistan and if there is anything that they have to adapt to, they will adapt to it within the confines of their responsibility."

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Roadside bomb kills Pakistan politician

A bomb blast on a bus in Pakistan has killed at least nine people. Source: AAP

A ROADSIDE bomb in restive northwest Pakistan has killed a political party official as he travelled to a campaign meeting, a month before the country votes in a historic general election.

The blast on Sunday in the Swat valley, which was ruled by the Pakistani Taliban during a 2007-2009 insurgency, comes a day after militants blew up the office of an independent candidate in North Waziristan tribal district.

The attacks will fuel concerns that violence will mar the national and regional elections on May 11, which will mark the country's first democratic transition of power after a civilian government has served a full term in office.

Sunday's blast killed a local leader of the Awami National Party (ANP), which ruled the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province from 2008 until assemblies were dissolved last month for elections.

"Mukarram Shah, a local leader of ANP, was travelling to Mingora when his vehicle was targeted by an IED (improvised explosive device), around 12 kilometres northeast of Mingora city," Gul Afzal Afridi, the district police chief said.

Shah was alone in his car and no-one else was hit by the explosion.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the Pakistani Taliban have targeted a number of top ANP figures in recent months, assassinating the number two in the provincial government in December.

The militants claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on an ANP rally on March 31 that killed two people and have warned they will strike again.

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Gunmen attack Somali court complex: report

GUNMEN have stormed the main court complex in Somalia's capital, firing guns and detonating two blasts, witnesses say.

Yusuf Abdi, who was near the court when the attack happened on Sunday morning, said that armed men forced their way inside and immediately set off an explosion.

A government spokesman, Mohamed Yusuf, confirmed the attack and said security forces had responded and were battling the militants.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene reported hearing a second explosion and said gunmen were on top of a court building, firing their weapons.

No casualty toll was immediately available because the fighting was ongoing.

Most militant attacks in Mogadishu are blamed on fighters for the Islamic extremist rebel group al-Shabab.

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14th Iraqi local polls candidate killed

A ROADSIDE bomb has killed an Iraqi provincial elections candidate and three other people north of Baghdad, bringing the number of candidates killed in attacks to 14.

Najm al-Harbi was travelling to Baquba on a highway in Diyala province in his personal vehicle on Sunday when the bomb exploded, killing him, two of his brothers and a bodyguard, a police lieutenant colonel and a doctor said.

An official from Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlak's office confirmed Harbi's death, and said he was the head of the deputy premier's list in Diyala province.

Harbi's killing comes a day after Hatim Mohammed al-Dulaimi, a candidate for Salaheddin provincial council, was shot dead by gunmen near his home in Baiji, north of the Iraqi capital.

Soldiers and policemen cast their ballots for the provincial elections on Saturday, a week ahead of the main vote, the country's first since March 2010 parliamentary polls.

The election comes amid an uptick in violence and a long-running political crisis between Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and several of his erstwhile government partners.

The credibility of the elections has been drawn into question following deadly attacks on candidates and a government decision to partly postpone voting that means only 12 of Iraq's 18 provinces will take part.

More than 8000 candidates are standing in the elections, with 378 seats on provincial councils up for grabs.

An estimated 16.2 million Iraqis are eligible to vote, among them about 650,000 members of the security forces.

Although security has markedly improved since the height of Iraq's sectarian conflict, 271 people were killed in March, making it the deadliest month since August, according to Agence France-Presse figures.

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Brits opposed to paying for funeral: poll

SIXTY per cent of Britons are opposed to taxpayers contributing millions of pounds to Margaret Thatcher's funeral, a new poll suggests.

Baroness Thatcher's ceremonial send-off on Wednesday is to cost the country STG10 million ($A14.7 million).

It will stop traffic in central London and thousands of police will be on hand to deal with expected protests.

A Sunday Mirror poll of 2000 people has found six out of 10 believe Baroness Thatcher was Britain's "most divisive" prime minister ever.

That's the same percentage opposed to the government paying the funeral costs.

Some 41 per cent of voters disagree with current Prime Minister David Cameron's suggestion last week that Lady Thatcher was the country's greatest peacetime leader.

Hundreds of people gathered in the rain at Trafalgar Square on Saturday to protest against Lady Thatcher's legacy and mark her death with a party.

Union members from across the UK who had fierce battles with Lady Thatcher in the 1980s rubbed shoulders with those demonstrating against present-day welfare cuts.

The Iron Lady's funeral will be the largest Britain has seen since the Queen Mother's 11 years ago.

The 20-minute military procession from Westminster to St Paul's Cathedral will feature more than 700 serving armed forces personnel from units particularly associated with the Falklands War.

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