Japan PM escapes injury in five-car crash

Japan's PM Shinzo Abe has escaped injury when his car was involved in a five-car pile-up in Tokyo. Source: AAP

A LIMOUSINE carrying Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been involved in a five-car pile-up at a toll gate in Tokyo but he escaped without injury.

Two guards in a police car accompanying Abe's official vehicle suffered slight injuries to the face, a Metropolitan Police Department spokesman said on Saturday.

The police car made a sudden stop at the toll gate, which led to Abe's vehicle bumping into it from behind.

Two other police cars and a saloon carrying reporters, which were trailing Abe's limousine, were also involved in the collision, said the official.

Abe, known for his nationalist views, was on his way to a park in central Tokyo to attend a rally calling on North Korea to return Japanese nationals kidnapped by the communist state during the Cold War, local media said.

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Dreamliner flights resume from Ethiopia

AN Ethiopian Airlines Dreamliner jet has taken off on a commercial flight, becoming the first carrier to resume flying the Boeing 787 aircraft that were grounded worldwide three months ago due to battery problems.

The flight took off from Addis Ababa on Saturday and headed to Nairobi, according to an AFP journalist.

"I am very happy to see the airplane is back to the air now and I am very happy also we are the first one," Ethiopian Airlines CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam told journalists ahead of take off.

The US Federal Aviation Authority on Thursday issued formal approval of Boeing's 787 battery fix, clearing the way for the troubled aircraft to fly again after the prolonged grounding.

The directive from the FAA to ground the 50 Dreamliners in operation worldwide came after a series of safety scares with the aircraft, including an emergency landing by Japan's All Nippon Airways in January following a battery malfunction.

Ethiopian Airlines has four Dreamliners, which Gebremariam said would all resume service in the coming weeks after being retrofitted with new batteries.

"This is the first airplane which has completed the work," he told reporters, adding that work has started on the company's other three 787s.

Each of the aircraft are set to receive a new battery, which is encased, allowing the plane to continue flying in the event of a malfunction.

"We've fixed the battery, we've now contained the battery, so for some chance that there is a failure with the battery, it's contained, it's isolated, the airplane will be able to continue flying," Boeing's VP of Marketing for commercial airplanes, Randy Tinseth, told AFP at the airport.

Despite the previous safety scares with the aircraft, he said customers have no reason to feel nervous about flying the Dreamliner.

"I can't wait to get back on the aircraft, and I wouldn't hesitate to bring my family on it," he said.

The three-month grounding of the 50-strong fleet has not translated to major financial losses for the US-based Boeing Company. On Wednesday Boeing reported a 20 per cent year-on-year jump in first-quarter profit.

The 787 will head back to Addis Ababa - some 1160 km from the Kenyan capital - later Saturday, airline officials said.

Passenger Francois Vaillancourt told AFP he was "not at all" nervous about flying on the first commercial flight since the fleet was grounded.

"Airlines are safest after they've had a problem, so they fixed it and it is probably three times as safe as it was before," he said.

Ethiopian Airlines is the first African carrier to operate the Dreamliner.

In addition to the four Dreamliners which were in operation before January, Ethiopian Airlines has six more on order from Boeing. The full fleet is expected to arrive by the end of 2014, including one that will be delivered in June.

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Vic Labor claims victory in Lyndhurst

Martin Pakula is confident he can win the by-election in the Victorian state seat of Lyndhurst. Source: AAP

LABOR'S Martin Pakula has claimed victory in Victoria's Lyndhurst by-election but the party's primary vote is well down on its result at the state poll.

The result leaves Labor with 43 seats on the floor of the parliament to the coalition's 44, including the speaker. It means the government has to rely on the support of independent MP Geoff Shaw to pass legislation opposed by Labor.

The former Liberal MP is under police investigation for misconduct in public office.

With more than half of total votes counted, Labor's primary vote is 15 per cent weaker than the result at the 2010 state election.

The result is way down on Labor's 55 per cent primary vote at the state poll and there is no Liberal candidate in the by-election.

Mr Pakula said he expected to improve his primary vote once pre-poll and postal votes were counted.

"By-elections are very difficult, they're very challenging," he told AAP.

"History will tell you that in by-elections people take the opportunity to vote differently, they vote all over the card."

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'Indian spy' fights for life in Pakistan

AN Indian national on death row in Pakistan who was attacked by fellow inmates armed with bricks has been put on a ventilator as he fights for his life.

Sarbajit Singh, who was sentenced to death 16 years ago on espionage charges, was rushed to hospital on Friday with multiple wounds, including a severe head injury, after an argument in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat Jail.

"Singh's condition is critical with multiple wounds on his head, abdomen, jaws and other body parts, and he has been put on ventilator," a senior doctor in Lahore's Jinnah hospital told AFP on Saturday on condition of anonymity.

Sigh is fighting for his life in the hospital's intensive care unit(ICU), and the next 24 hours are critical, the doctor said, adding that the head injury was "quite severe".

"He needs surgery but the doctors are not performing it because they don't want to take any chances and want him to stabilise," he said.

Singh was hit with bricks and other blunt objects by two inmates, a police officer investigating the case said, identifying the suspects only by single names Aamir and Mudasir.

The attack on Singh was front-page news in Indian newspapers on Saturday, with Indian television stations running frequent updates on his condition and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh describing it as a "very sad incident", according to the Press Trust of India.

Singh was arrested following a bombing in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore in 1990 in which 14 people were killed.

He was sentenced to death after being convicted by a Pakistani court on spying charges. His family has previously filed mercy petitions to Pakistani authorities seeking Singh's release.

Pakistan maintains he was an Indian spy, but Singh's family say he is a farmer who accidentally crossed the border into Pakistan while drunk.

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Renault sales slide in first quarter

French automaker Renault says sales in the first quarter fell 11.6 per cent to $A10.55 billion. Source: AAP

FRENCH automaker Renault says sales in the first quarter of 2013 fell 11.6 per cent year-on-year to 8.27 billion euros ($A10.55 billion) but maintained its outlook for the year.

Vehicle sales worldwide fell by 4.7 per cent to 608,455 units, the company said, due to a poor performance in Europe where unit sales fell by 11.6 per cent, worse than the overall market which was down 10 per cent.

Renault added it believes the French and European markets will both contract by five per cent this year, despite the global market expanding a projected three per cent.

Sales in the Americas fell, down eight per cent in an overall market rising 1.6 per cent, which the company said was due to a plant renovation currently underway in Brazil.

Sales in Eurasia however skyrocketed 20.8 per cent, well above the market rise of 1.8 per cent and making Renault the biggest seller in Russia after domestic company Lada.

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NSW driver runs down man, punches police

A DRIVER deliberately drove into a group of men outside a hotel in Bathurst, running down and injuring one before resisting arrest, police say.

A 23-year-old man has been charged with a number of offences after allegedly crossing to the wrong side of the road and ploughing into the group about 1.30am (AEST) on Thursday.

One of the men suffered injuries to his head, leg, arm and ribs when he was struck by the car, said police in the NSW central west city.

They said an off-duty officer tried to stop the car but it had accelerated towards him and hit his foot.

Another motorist stopped the car in a nearby street.

Police say when the off-duty officer tried to arrest the driver, he was punched repeatedly before managing to restrain him.

The 23-year-old man was taken to Bathurst police station where he returned a breath-analysis reading of 0.108, they said.

He was charged with a number of offences including dangerous driving and is to appear in Bathurst Local Court on Monday.

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Protests as Bangladesh toll hits 200

HUNDREDS of thousands of garment workers have walked of the job in Bangladesh after the deaths of 200 people in a building collapse.

Grief turned to anger on Thursday as the workers, some carrying sticks, blockaded key highways in at least three industrial areas just outside the capital Dhaka, forcing factory owners to declare a day's holiday.

"There were hundreds of thousands of them," said Abdul Baten, police chief of Gazipur district, where hundreds of large garment factories are based.

"They occupied roads for a while and then dispersed."

Police inspector Kamrul Islam said the workers had attacked several factories whose bosses had refused to give employees the day off.

"They were protesting the deaths of the workers in Savar," he said, referring to the town outside Dhaka where Wednesday's collapse of an eight-storey building housing five garment factories took place, injuring more than 1000 people.

"Many wanted to donate blood to their fellow workers," he added.

About 1500 workers marched to the Dhaka headquarters of the main manufacturers association, demanding the owners of the collapsed factories be punished.

"The owners must be hanged," one protester cried, as others tried to lay siege to the headquarters.

Some workers smashed windows and vehicles before they were chased away by police, said Wahidul Islam, a deputy commissioner of Dhaka police.

Rescuers in Savar pulled dozens of bodies from the collapsed building on Thursday as the death toll in the country's worst industrial disaster reached 200, police said.

Managers had allegedly ignored workers' warnings that the building had become unstable.

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Iraq bloodshed stokes fears of civil war

THE deaths of more than 100 people in violence between Iraqi security forces and Sunni Arab protesters and their supporters have raised fears of a return to all-out sectarian conflict.

The trouble began on Tuesday when security forces moved into an area near the northern town of Hawijah where Sunnis had been holding protests since January, sparking clashes in which 53 people died.

That fighting set off a wave of revenge attacks that hit five different Sunni-majority provinces, killing dozens more people, and which saw gunmen take control of the town of Sulaiman Bek.

The violence is the deadliest so far linked to demonstrations that erupted in Sunni areas of the Shi'ite-majority country more than four months ago.

The Sunni protesters have called for the resignation of Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and railed against the alleged targeting of their community by the authorities.

"This is the deepest and most dangerous crisis... since 1921," former national security adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie said, referring to the year in which the state of Iraq was established.

He warned that the situation "could lead to a sectarian conflict, and then division".

Sectarian violence, including bombings and death squad murders that peaked in 2006 and 2007, claimed tens of thousands of lives.

The security situation has since improved markedly but sectarian tensions remain.

Hamed al-Juburi, a spokesman for the Hawijah protesters, vowed revenge on Thursday for the "massacre" near the town.

Protesters have pledged their loyalty to a Sunni militant group called the Naqshbandiya Army "so we can be an armed wing related to it, working on cleaning Iraq from Safavid militias," he said, using a pejorative term for Shi'ites.

On Wednesday, Abdulghafur al-Samarraie and Saleh al-Haidari, top clerics who respectively head the Sunni and Shi'ite religious endowments, held a joint news conference in which they warned against sectarian strife.

Samarraie said there were "malicious plans... with the goal of taking the country towards sectarian conflict", and that he and Haidari agreed "to move quickly to extinguish the strife and stop the conspiracy."

US State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell told reporters that Washington condemns the violence in Iraq and that "there's no place for sectarian conflict in a democratic state."

An earlier statement from the US embassy said that "US officials have been in contact with senior Iraqi leaders to help defuse political and sectarian tensions".

John Drake, an Iraq specialist with risk consulting firm AKE Group, said the government's ready use of force in recent days highlighted shortcomings in the its response to protests.

"I think the government response indicates that it has a long way to go in terms of its policies for dealing with protest movements in the country," Drake said.

"The use of force so readily, including firearms, at protest camps and the bombing of settlements where militants are believed to be sheltering, is going to bring a very high risk of collateral damage," he said.

"An 'all-out' sectarian conflict is still unlikely," Drake said.

"But the fact that this is a predominantly Shi'ite government and it's predominantly Shi'ite security forces opening fire on predominantly Sunni individuals (civilians or militants) is going to have an impact on sectarian relations and could prompt a rise in sectarian violence as a result."

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China's H7N9 'one of most lethal' flus

Bird flu has spread to a new province in China, authorities say, with the death toll so far at 22. Source: AAP

INTERNATIONAL experts probing China's deadly H7N9 bird flu virus say it's "one of the most lethal influenza viruses" seen so far and conclude that the likely source of infection is poultry.

China had confirmed 108 cases and 22 deaths since the infections were announced on March 31, with a higher proportion of cases in older people.

"This is definitely one of the most lethal influenza viruses we have seen so far," said Keiji Fukuda, one of the leading flu experts for the World Health Organisation, which has led a team on a week-long visit to China to study H7N9.

"We think this virus is more transmissible to humans than H5N1," he said, referring to the strain the WHO estimates has killed more than 360 people globally since 2003.

"When we look at influenza viruses this is an unusually dangerous virus," he said.

But we are really at the beginning of our understanding, he said.

The team said the likely source of infection was poultry, as chickens, ducks and pigeons from poultry markets had tested positive for H7N9.

Experts have previously said the animal reservoir for H7N9 appeared to be unspecified birds.

There are worries over the prospect of such a virus mutating into a form easily transmissible between humans, which could then have the potential to trigger a pandemic.

Chinese health officials have acknowledged so-called "family clusters", where members of a single family have become infected but have so far declined to put it down to human-to-human transmission.

Such cases could be examples of what health officials call limited human-to-human transmission, in which those in close contact with the ill become infected, as opposed to widespread, or "sustained", transmission.

So far most H7N9 cases have been confined to the commercial hub Shanghai and nearby provinces in eastern China.

The number of reported new cases in Shanghai has seen a "dramatic slowdown", Cox said, calling the reduction in the frequency of new cases "very encouraging".

Tuesday marked the fourth consecutive day where no new cases were reported in Shanghai, although one was reported in Taiwan.

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YouTube's prayer-dancing video slammed

INDONESIA has asked YouTube to block a video showing high school girls performing Islamic prayers and then dancing to a song by US pop group Maroon 5.

The five girls have been expelled from their senior high school over the video, which has been viewed 300,000 times on the Google-owned video sharing website.

Police said they were considering charging the girls with blasphemy.

"We have cooperation with Google and contents that have the potential to cause religious and ethnic discords are usually dealt with promptly," Information Minister Taifatul Sembiring said.

In the video the girls, wearing school tracksuits, playfully perform an Islamic prayer known as salat, complete with the recitals of Koranic verses and then switch the apparent ritual to dancing to the song One More Time by Maroon 5.

The act, which involves shaking and suggestive hand gestures, was repeated several times in the five-minute video.

"It may seem trivial, but it can have dire consequences," Sembiring said.

The video was posted in March but brought to public attention last week by the school attended by the girls.

Hardline Muslims have called for the girls to be punished.

It was not clear how old the girls were. Police said the girls were not detained because they were minors.

Blasphemy is punishable by up to five years in jail under Indonesian law.

A court in West Sumatra last year sentenced a self-confessed atheist to 30 months in prison for blasphemy after he posted messages on Facebook that were deemed insulting to Islam.

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New Iraq violence kills 15

VIOLENCE in Iraq killed 15 people, including 12 security force personnel and gunmen who died in attacks apparently launched in revenge for deadly clashes at a protest, officials said.

Fighting between security forces and protesters near the northern town of Hawijah left 27 people dead on Tuesday, and sparked a wave of revenge attacks in which a further 27 people were killed that day.

The revenge attacks continued on Wednesday, leaving nine security forces members and three gunmen dead.

In the deadliest fighting, gunmen killed five soldiers and wounded five more in the Suleiman Bek, area north of Baghdad, a high-ranking army officer and an administrative official said.

Gunmen also attacked a Sahwa anti-Qaeda militia checkpoint in Khales, northeast of Baghdad, killing four of the militiamen and wounding a fifth, a police lieutenant colonel and a doctor said.

And gunmen wounded a policeman in the northern city of Mosul, while a soldier was wounded in another shooting to its south, police and a doctor said.

Three of the gunmen were killed in the Mosul attack.

Three people were also killed in apparently-unrelated violence.

A car bomb against a police patrol killed two police and a civilian and wounded at least seven other people in Tarmiyah, north of Baghdad, an interior ministry official and a medical source said.

And in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, a mortar attack targeting the home of a provincial council member wounded a man and two children, although the politician was unharmed, a police captain and a doctor said.

Protesters have taken to the streets in Sunni-majority areas for more than four months, calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and decrying the alleged targeting of their minority community by the Shi'ite-led authorities.

The wave of violence that began on Tuesday is the deadliest to date linked to the protests.

Two Sunni members of the Iraqi cabinet have resigned after Tuesday's violence.

"The minister of education, Mohammed Ali Tamim, resigned from his post after the Iraqi army forces broke into the area of the sit-in in Kirkuk" province, an official from Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlak's office said.

"The resignation is final, and there will be no going back."

Parliament speaker Osama al-Nujaifi later said at a news conference that science and technology minister Abdulkarim al-Samarraie told him by phone that he too was quitting.

The resignations bring the number of ministers to leave Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's cabinet since March to four.

Agriculture minister Ezzedine al-Dawleh quit on March 8 after a protester was killed in north Iraq, and finance minister Rafa al-Essawi, some of whose bodyguards were arrested on terrorism charges in December, announced his resignation at an anti-government demonstration on March 1.

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Lone terrorists hard to spot: US experts

Accused Boston bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has admitted that he and his brother carried out the attack. Source: AAP

THE Boston bombings have highlighted the almost impossible task US law enforcement face in preventing terror attacks say security experts.

This is especially so when individuals act in isolation, they say.

Despite evidence that one of the suspects, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, had come to the attention of US authorities prior to last week's bomb blasts, analysts warn attempting to thwart similar attacks in the future may prove futile.

Tsarnaev, 26, is suspected of carrying out the April 15 attacks with his brother Dzhokhar, 19. The bombings killed three people and injured 264.

Tamerlan was killed during a bloody gun battle with police on Thursday as the net closed in on the two siblings of Chechen descent.

Dzhokhar, who remains under guard in a Boston hospital, has reportedly told investigators his older brother was the driving force behind the attacks and "wanted to defend Islam from attack".

The teenager, who faces life imprisonment or the death penalty after being charged for his role in the attack, has also told investigators the brothers received no financial support or assistance from any foreign group.

The 19-year-old also said he and his brother killed an MIT campus police officer on Thursday night, according to one source.

He made his statements at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Dzhokhar'S health is apparently improving - the hospital listed his condition as fair on Tuesday.

He was formally charged with using weapons of mass destruction against people in detonating two bombs on April 15 near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

The two men had firearms, ammunition and more bombs in their possession, suggesting they planned more attacks, the FBI said.

Dzhokhar said he and his brother were driven to the attack by jihadist radicalism sparked by the US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in which thousands of Muslims have died, a federal law enforcement official said.

The 19-year-old said they learned how to make the pressure cooker bombs used in the attack from an al-Qaeda website, said the official.

Tamerlan is believed to have instigated the attack after turning devoutly religious and possibly reading radical Islamic dogma on internet sites or associating with radicals during visits to Russia, law enforcement officials said.

According to counter-terrorism experts, the mounting probability that the Tsarnaevs may have been radicalised via militant Islamic sources on the internet is more alarming than the possibility they were part of a wider plot orchestrated by a group such as al-Qaeda.

Tamerlan Tsarnaev had showed increased signs of radical behaviour at the mosque he attended in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and he had been quizzed by the FBI at the request of Russian authorities in 2011.

He later travelled to Dagestan for five months, and US Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano acknowledged to lawmakers on Tuesday that security monitors "pinged" when he left.

But Republican Senator Lindsey Graham had said earlier that an FBI official told him Tsarnaev's trip was not flagged to the agency because his name was misspelled, possibly on a plane ticket.

Even still, little could have been done because at that point he had not committed any crime, counter-terrorism expert Philip Mudd, a former deputy director of national security at the FBI said.

"We've got a Constitution that says you can be a radical, speak however you want to speak," Mudd said.

"Even if we wanted to, we could not investigate every radical in this country."

Tracking every individual with radical views in the United States is impossible, the Brookings Institution expert added.

Mudd's view is shared by Joseph Young, an assistant professor at American University's justice, law and society department.

"The really unsettling part is that it's really difficult to predict who's likely to do these kinds of things," Young said.

The brothers' parents are being questioned in Dagestan by US embassy staff and the FBI.

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French embassy in Tripoli bombed

A car bomb hit the France embassy in Libya, injuring two French guards and causing extensive damage. Source: AAP

A CAR bomb has hit the French embassy in Libya wounding two French guards and causing extensive damage.

It is the first attack on a foreign mission since militants stormed the US consulate in Benghazi in September.

Libyan Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdel Aziz branded the act a "terrorist" incident, and French President Francois Hollande said Tripoli must act quickly to find the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

The attack comes after the ouster of long-time dictator Moamer Gaddafi and as French forces are engaged in a battle against Islamist extremists in Mali.

The explosion occurred around 7am, residents said.

The wall surrounding the property was destroyed and the embassy building extensively damaged, with one French employee saying "there's nothing left of my office".

The explosion destroyed two cars parked nearby, damaged two neighbouring villas and blew out the windows of a shop 200 metres away.

The street in front of the mission was flooded with water, apparently from a pipe ripped by the blast.

A French source said one guard was seriously wounded and another lightly hurt in the attack on the mission, housed in a two-storey villa in the upmarket Gargaresh area.

France condemned the "odious" attack.

"In liaison with the Libyan authorities, the services of the state will do everything to establish the circumstances of this odious act and rapidly identify the perpetrators," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said in a statement.

A diplomat in Paris said Fabius would fly to Tripoli later in the day.

President Hollande said in a statement that "France expects the Libyan authorities to ensure that all possible light is shed on this unacceptable act so that the perpetrators are identified and brought to justice."

Libyan Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdel Aziz condemned the bombing as a "terrorist act," but declined to speculate on who carried it out or the motive.

"We regret this act and express our solidarity with the French government and people," he added, announcing that a joint commission had been formed to investigate the attack.

France, under then president Nicolas Sarkozy, led NATO air raids against Kadhafi's forces under a UN resolution aimed at protecting civilians.

Since Gaddafi's fall, Libya has been plagued by persistent insecurity, especially in the region of Benghazi, which has been hit by bombings and assassinations that has forced many Westerners to leave the eastern city.

Four Americans, including ambassador Chris Stevens, were killed when heavily armed men overran the Benghazi mission on September 11, setting fire to much of the compound and then attacking a nearby annex.

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Syria's Assad 'using chemical weapons'

PRESIDENT Bashar al-Assad is using chemical weapons, most likely sarin, against rebel forces in Syria, a senior Israeli army officer told a conference.

"Assad is using chemical weapons in Syria," said Brigadier General Itai Brun, head of research and analysis in the army's military intelligence division, in remarks quoted on the army's official Twitter feed.

Brun spoke as US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel wrapped up a three-day visit to Israel at the start of a regional tour, with concerns about the Syrian civil war and Iran's nuclear program featuring heavily in talks.

In remarks to the annual INSS security conference in Tel Aviv, Brun said the military had seen evidence indicating the use of chemical agents on several occasions, including in an incident on March 19.

"One of the characteristics of the recent period is the growing use by the regime of surface-to-surface missiles, rockets and chemical weapons," he said.

"To the best of our professional understanding, the regime has made use of deadly chemical weapons against the rebels in a number of incidents in the past few months," he said, referring to a March 19 incident in Aleppo province in which 31 people were killed, apparently by chemical agents.

Evidence could been seen in the physical symptoms suffered by those who had apparently been exposed to chemical agents, he said.

"The reduced pupils, the foam coming out of the mouth and other additional signs provide evidence that deadly chemical weapons have been used," he said, according to a transcript provided by the army.

"Which chemical weapons? Apparently sarin. The regime is also using chemical weapons that neutralise and are not fatal," he said.

Brun said the symptoms were observed in photographs taken of the affected area after the attacks in question.

Developed as a pesticide in Germany in 1938, sarin is a deadly and volatile nerve agent that is colourless and odourless.

In high doses, it paralyses the muscles around the lungs and prevents chemicals from "switching off" the body's secretions, so victims suffocate or drown as their lungs fill with mucus and saliva.

There were more than a thousand tonnes of chemical agents in Syria and "a lot" of warheads and missiles that could be armed with the deadly substance, Haaretz website quoted Brun as saying.

The White House has said the use of chemical agents in Syria would be a "game changer" but, although it is investigating such claims, it has yet to reach a definitive conclusion.

On Monday, Hagel said "our intelligence agencies are assessing what happened and what did not happen," refusing to discuss "contingency options" if the use of chemical agents were confirmed.

There was no immediate comment from Hagel's entourage on the army's claim.

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Musharraf in court over Bhutto killing

Former Pakistan ruler Pervez Musharraf (C) has appeared in court over the murder of Benazir Bhutto. Source: AAP

PAKISTAN'S former military ruler Pervez Musharraf on Tuesday appeared before an anti-terrorism court for the first time over the murder of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

Musharraf was driven to the court in Rawalpindi, the headquarters of the army he once led, from his plush villa on the edge of Islamabad where he is serving a two-week arrest order for other charges dating back to his 1999-2008 rule.

Musharraf is accused of conspiracy to murder Bhutto, who died in a gun and suicide attack in December 2007.

It's one of three cases he is fighting in the courts since returning home last month after four years in self-imposed exile.

His arrest and disqualification from contesting elections on May 11 have been a humiliating blow for the former ruler of nuclear-armed Pakistan, previously a key ally of US president George W. Bush in the war on terror.

Despite a heavy police and paramilitary presence, scuffles broke out between lawyers and Musharraf supporters, who threw stones and beat each other with sticks outside the court building.

About 150 lawyers shouted: "Dog, dog, Musharraf dog!" while two dozen supporters chanted "Long live Musharraf!"

"Today it was routine hearing of Benazir murder case and General Musharraf appeared for the first time in this case," said his lawyer Salman Safdar.

Musharraf spent around 15 minutes in court and then another 15 minutes with his lawyer, before being driven back to his home.

Nobody has been convicted or jailed for Bhutto's assassination on December 27, 2007, in Rawalpindi, despite a long-running court case.

In November 2011, the court indicted two police officers and five alleged Taliban militants over her assassination.

In August 2010, it ordered the confiscation of Musharraf's property and the freezing of his bank accounts in Pakistan over his failure, while in exile, to appear to answer questions related to her death.

Safdar said that Musharraf's team asked the court to rescind those orders, given that he was now prepared to appear in court, complained that lawyers had been barred from meeting him and ordered police to investigate.

The court adjourned until May 3.

Musharraf's government blamed Bhutto's killing on Pakistani Taliban chief Baitullah Mehsud, who denied any involvement and who was killed in a US drone attack in August 2009.

In 2010 a UN report said Bhutto's death could have been prevented and accused Musharraf's government of failing to give her adequate protection.

Bhutto's son, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who is chairman of the outgoing Pakistan People's Party, has accused Musharraf of her murder.

On Monday, Pakistan's caretaker government refused to put Musharraf on a separate trial for treason, saying it was beyond its mandate and up to the incoming government, which will be elected on May 11.

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13 die in Iraq revenge attacks

THIRTEEN gunmen have died carrying out revenge attacks on army checkpoints in north Iraq.

The deaths followed dawn clashes on Tuesday between protesters and security forces which had left 27 people dead, top army officers said.

The gunmen were killed in attacks on checkpoints in the Al-Rashad and Al-Riyadh areas of Kirkuk province, the officers said.

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PM wins over voters at polite pub forum

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has faced the people at a suburban Melbourne forum, more akin to a polite dinner party than a fiery debate.

Around 100 undecided voters filed into the Burvale Hotel, a Nunawading pub complete with pool tables and an $11 'Parma & Pot Deal' every Wednesday. The pub is in the nation's second most marginal seat of Deakin.

Marriage equality, education funding and superannuation featured prominently, but Ms Gillard was not heckled and voices weren't raised.

The prime minister believes marriage is between a man and a woman and last year voted against proposed changes to the marriage act in federal parliament that would have supported same-sex marriage.

"My view's pretty well known and I'm not seeking to impose my view on anybody," she said.

Federal parliament's response to a bill to change the marriage act was to vote it down 98-42, despite heavy lobbying by gay groups and some MPs.

Labor MPs were allowed a conscience vote on the issue, while Liberal MPs followed the party line and the majority opposed it outright.

Ms Gillard said for a future bill to pass, all MPs need to be allowed a conscience vote.

"So I hope the other side of politics gets there," she said.

University students questioned why the federal government had slashed higher education funding by $2.3 billion to bankroll the Gonski school education reforms.

"You are robbing Peter to pay Paul," student Kevin said.

Another student Michael said rather than cutting university funding to pay for the Gonski reforms the government should end the costly mandatory detention of asylum seekers.

"How does cutting education to fund education promote a smarter Australia?" he said.

"How does locking up desperate people who have committed no crimes for an indeterminate amount of time promote a fairer Australia?"

Ms Gillard said the government had boosted university funding by 50 per cent since winning office.

"Funding will still go up, it just won't go up as sharply," she said.

"I want more kids to go to university, I want more kids to have apprenticeships."

She said the government had not been able to fully implement its asylum-seeker policy due to parliamentary gridlock.

After the forum, Kellie Gardner, of Fairfield, said she was persuaded to vote Labor at the September election.

"I thought she answered the questions well - she seems very approachable," she said.

"I don't like (Opposition Leader) Tony Abbott; I don't find him appealing."

Debbie, from Northcote, said she was impressed with Ms Gillard's performance.

"She was honest," she said.

During the forum, the prime minister pledged to investigate the issue of superannuation for foster carers.

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Police hunt for NSW prison escapee

A PRISONER has escaped from a jail in NSW's Upper Hunter, police say.

Dean Wells, 29, was last seen at St Heliers Correctional Complex in Muswellbrook at 4pm (AEDT) on Monday.

Wells had been serving a sentence of six years and six months for a range of offences.

He's described as Caucasian with short brown hair and blue eyes, and was dressed in prison greens.

Police are urging anyone who has seen Wells not to approach him but to contact them immediately.

AAP

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Rio appeals court ban on expansion

Mining giant Rio has lodged an appeal against a decision blocking it from expanding a coal mine. Source: AAP

MINING giant Rio has lodged a Supreme Court appeal against a decision blocking it from expanding a coal mine.

Rio-owned subsidiary Coal & Allied is appealing against last week's NSW Land and Environment Court decision not to allow the Mt Thorley Warkworth mine to be expanded.

While announcing the NSW appeal, the company also said it had cut the jobs of 40 employees and contractors from the mine on Monday as part of a review that it announced after last week's decision.

Last week's events overturned the 2012 NSW government approval of the project.

Coal & Allied acting managing director Darren Yeates said the court's decision was without precedent, overturning a three-and-half-year approval process including state, independent and Commonwealth support.

It set an alarming precedent and brought into question the ability to successfully secure development consents for major projects in NSW, he said.

"Mount Thorley Warkworth mine has been operating for 30 years and this rejection threatens the jobs of the 1300 employees who rely on its future," Mr Yeates said in a statement.

The company had spent more than $600 million with close to 1000 suppliers in relation to the mine last year, he said.

"The unfortunate reality is this decision has come at a time when the Australian coal industry is struggling to remain globally competitive in the face of high costs, a strong Australian dollar and low prices," Mr Yeates said.

Coal & Allied wants to expand the life of the mine by 12 years to 2033, producing 264 million tonnes of coal on current rates of 12 million tonnes a year.

Justice Brian Preston, chief judge of the NSW Land and Environment Court, cited adverse environmental and social concerns on the community as reasons for his decision.

The Bulga-Milbrodale Progress Association said the Hunter Valley community of Bulga would have been destroyed as it was subjected to noise, dust and other social impacts.

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Berlusconi sex trial suspended until May

The trial of Italy's ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi for allegedly paying for sex has been delayed. Source: AAP

AN Italian court has delayed the resumption of a trial against former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi for allegedly paying for sex with a then 17-year old prostitute.

The Milan court postponed the trial until at least May 13 while it waits for a decision by Italy's supreme court on whether to consider an appeal by Berlusconi's defence team to move the trial to another city.

The media magnate's lawyers have accused several Milan judges of "creating a hostile environment" around their client, and argue he will get a fairer trial in nearby Brescia.

The supreme court's decision is expected on May 6. Should it rule the case will stay in Milan, it will resume on May 13.

If it decides the trial should be moved, however, the hearings could be delayed further.

Berlusconi is accused of having sex for money when he was prime minister in 2010 with Karima El-Mahroug, an exotic dancer nicknamed Ruby the Heart Stealer.

He faces up to three years in prison on that charge and up to 12 years for allegedly putting pressure on police to have her released from custody when she was arrested for petty theft.

El-Mahroug is expected to testify in May in a separate trial against three Berlusconi allies - starlet turned politician Nicole Minetti, newsreader Emilio Fede and talent scout Lele Mora - for allegedly procuring dozens of young women for torrid parties at the billionaire's house.

In October, the three-time premier was sentenced to a year in prison and handed a five-year ban from holding public office for fraud linked to his business empire Mediaset, but the punishment has been suspended during the appeal process.

The 76-year-old media baron faces the next hearing of his appeal against that conviction on May 8.

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Blaze guts historic Sydney Anglican church

AN historic Anglican church in Sydney's inner west has been gutted by fire.

Authorities say Dulwich Hill's Holy Trinity Church has been severely damaged by the blaze that broke out in the early hours of Sunday.

The building, dating back to 1886, was converted to a church-run centre to help troubled youth about 20 years ago.

NSW Fire Brigade Inspector Chris Sedgewick said the church was "totally burnt out inside", with no floors and half the roof gone.

The building had housed a gym and boxing ring and was also home to a playgroup.

There were no injuries in the fire.

Police forensic teams are investigating its cause.

ABC Television is reporting that arson is suspected.

"We're on the front line and you can't run a community centre like this without pissing people off," Holy Trinity's Father Dave Smith told the broadcaster.

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Musharraf in house arrest 'isolation'

Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf is being held in "isolation" a spokesman says. Source: AAP

PAKISTAN'S former military ruler Pervez Musharraf is reportedly being held in "isolation" in his luxury farmhouse, confined to two rooms and stripped of personal staff.

A court remanded Musharraf, who ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008, in custody on Saturday after his arrest over his decision to sack judges when he imposed emergency rule in November 2007.

Authorities declared the retired general's plush home on the edge of Islamabad a "sub-jail", saving him the indignity and risk - his life has been threatened by Taliban militants - of going to prison.

But Mohammad Amjad, spokesman for Musharraf's All Pakistan Muslim League party, complained on Sunday that his lawyers and staff were being denied access to him.

"General Musharraf is being kept in isolation," Amjad told reporters outside the former army chief's heavily guarded residence in Islamabad.

"I was not allowed to have a meeting with him. His family members are not allowed to see him. He has been allocated two rooms in the farmhouse and his movements are confined in those rooms. His personal staff have been removed."

Musharraf's arrest on Friday was an unprecedented move against a former army chief in Pakistan, which has seen three periods of military rule and where the armed forces still wield enormous power.

The 69-year-old returned from four years of self-imposed exile last month promising to "save" the nuclear-armed country from economic ruin and militancy, but his homecoming has turned sour.

On Tuesday he was disqualified from running in the May 11 general election, which should mark the first democratic transition of power after a civilian government completes a full-term in office.

He also faces a litany of serious criminal allegations: lawyers have petitioned Pakistan's top court to try him for treason for imposing emergency law and he also faces charges of conspiracy to murder opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in 2007 and over the death of a rebel leader during 2006.

The next hearing in the Supreme Court treason petition comes on Monday.

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Drone raid kills two militants in Yemen

A SUSPECTED US drone strike in Yemen has killed two al-Qaeda militants and destroyed an arms cache.

The raid targeted a house in Wadi Abida, in the central province of Marib, where the two unnamed militants were killed, an official said.

He said an arms cache in the house also exploded.

Witnesses said an unmanned drone conducted the air raid, just like in most US air strikes that target al-Qaeda suspects in the Arabian Peninsula nation, which is home to al-Qaeda's most active branch.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is led by Nasser al-Wuhayshi.

In July 2011, he reaffirmed AQAP's allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri, head of the worldwide al-Qaeda network since the killing of its founder, Osama bin Laden, in May of the same year.

US drones strikes in Yemen nearly tripled in 2012 compared with 2011, from 18 to 53, according to the New America Foundation, a Washington-based think tank.

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S Korea vows to counter any North attacks

South Korea has noted new plans for a possible missile launch in North Korea, military sources say. Source: AAP

SOUTH Korea has monitored new preparations for a possible missile launch in North Korea, military sources say, as Washington and Seoul's top generals vowed to counter any attacks from Pyongyang.

US Army General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met his South Korean counterpart Army General Jung Seung Jo during a three-hour stop in Seoul on Sunday on his way to a four-day visit to China.

"The two allies have the capabilities and will to counter any North Korean provocative threats," they said in a joint statement after their meeting.

They added that "North Korea's recent torrent of provocative threats will have an unfavourable impact on the isolated communist regime," according to the Yonhap news agency.

Latest satellite imagery showed that Pyongyang has moved two more missile launchers to its east coast, Yonhap reported.

The two additional mobile launchers were spotted at the South Hamgyeong province after April 16, it quoted a defence source as saying.

"The military is closely watching the North's latest preparations for a missile launch," the source said.

The North was monitored earlier in the month to have positioned two mid-range Musudan missiles in Wonson and at least five mobile launchers in Wonson and South Hamgyeong Province.

The movements led South Korean authorities to believe that Pyongyang was preparing for a test launch to coincide with the 101st birth anniversary of its late founder Kim Il Sung on April 15.

No missile launch was conducted then, as the US government warned North Korea that it would be a "huge mistake."

South Korea's military has been on high alert since the North ordered its armed forces on March 26 to be combat-ready, Yonhap said.

"As long as this order remains in place, there are possibilities that the North could fire off a missile," a defence source said.

North Korea has been issuing almost daily threats since the UN imposed tougher sanctions against the communist state after it conducted a third nuclear test in February.

The US and South Korea have called on Pyongyang to resume the six-party talks over its nuclear programs to ease tensions on the peninsula.

The negotiations involving both Koreas, the US, Japan, Russia and China, stalled in 2009.

But Pyongyang said on Saturday it would never agree to talks on denuclearisation, but would be open to negotiations for arms reduction. It added it will not give up its nuclear program until the entire world is denuclearised.

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