Sept 7 in doubt as Rudd has things to do

Speculation is growing that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is looking to approve a September 7 election. Source: AAP

KEVIN Rudd says he has "made no determination whatsoever" on when the federal election will be held, throwing doubt on the likelihood of a September 7 election.

The prime minister also told reporters on Saturday he wanted to attend a G20 summit just days before what had been considered the favoured poll date, raising the prospect the election could be pushed out to at least September 21.

Speculation had been building that Mr Rudd was planning to visit the governor-general on Sunday or Monday to seek approval for a September 7 election.

But Mr Rudd said the government had yet to conclude negotiations with Victoria over schools funding, with Western Australia on disability care, and with NSW over new environmental assessment procedures.

"We have a few things to attend to yet," he said after signing a new asylum-seeker resettlement agreement with Nauru on Saturday.

"So therefore on your question (about September 7), I've made no determination whatsoever in terms of the date of an election."

Whether Mr Rudd would attend the upcoming G20 leaders summit had also been a source of constant speculation, as the St Petersburg meeting is being held on September 5 and 6.

Mr Rudd confirmed it was "my intention to be in St Petersburg".

"But I'm very mindful also of the challenges that lie ahead of us as well," he told reporters in Brisbane.

"I place enormous priority to the G20 and its agenda.

"At the same time I will always balance that against other considerations before us as well."

If Mr Rudd does still decide on a September 7 election, it will need to be called by Monday to cover the minimum 33-day campaign period.

With September 14 all but ruled out because it had been chosen by his predecessor Julia Gillard, a September 21 election would be the next possible date.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott declared his team ready for the campaign.

"We've been ready for a long time," Mr Abbott told reporters in Melbourne, when asked about a September 7 election.

"I think the Australian people are eager to seize the chance to control the government once more.

"This election is a choice between strength and stability under the coalition, or more chaos, division and dysfunction under the Labor party."

Speculation over the election date came a day after the government's economic update, which predicted weaker economic growth, growing unemployment and more government debt, as well as a $33.3 billion writedown in revenues.

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey said he expected the prime minister to "run to the polls in the next two days".

"Because the boats keep coming, the debt is blowing out by $3 billion a week and unemployment continues to rise, heading towards 800,000," he told reporters in Sydney.

"If I were Kevin Rudd I would be going to the polls as soon as possible."

But foreshadowing how central the economy will again be during the campaign, Finance Minister Penny Wong released government analysis which, she said, uncovered a $70 billion hole in the coalition's fiscal credentials.

"The government has laid out our plans and our budget," Senator Wong told reporters in Melbourne.

"It's time Tony Abbott did, because what this document shows against what Tony Abbott has said is that he would have to make $70 billion worth of cuts."

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Nauru signs up to Rudd's stop boats plan

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced a new refugee plan with the Pacific Island nation of Nauru. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has announced a new agreement with the Pacific Island nation of Nauru, which like Australia's deal with Papua New Guinea, will deny asylum seekers the chance to resettle in Australia.

But the Opposition says it's just a ploy to win votes.

Mr Rudd and the president of the Republic of Nauru, Baron Waqa, signed the memorandum of understanding at a press conference in Brisbane on Saturday.

The deal supercedes the one struck between the nations last year and allows for asylum seekers to not only be processed in the Pacific Island nation, but also to be settled there.

"No matter where people smugglers try to land asylum seekers by boat in Australia, they will not be settled in Australia," Mr Rudd told reporters.

"This is our core principal."

The Nauru agreement is similar to the deal struck with Papua New Guinea's prime minister, Peter O'Neill, two weeks ago and is the latest salvo in Mr Rudd's tough new approach to asylum seekers.

Immigration Minister Tony Burke attended Saturday's announcement and agreed the number of asylum seekers sent to Nauru would be small.

They would comprise families or unaccompanied minors and a new site to house them had been chosen, he said.

The most urgent priority though was expanding the capacity of the island nation's prison, he said.

Australia will provide $29.9 million in aid to Nauru in 2013-2014 under the plan.

A further $17 million will be spent on rebuilding the prison, which was damaged in a recent riot on the island.

Funds from a contingency reserve will also be allocated according to the number of refugees Nauru accepts.

Mr Burke flagged the possibility of reaching similar deals concerning refugees with other nations in the region.

"I'm prepared to say there are other countries who have raised this with us as well," he said.

"There are a number of countries within the region who have signed the convention and who have a genuine commitment to wanting to take a regional approach, and if we're able to reach agreements with them then we will."

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said the plan was "elaborate staging" by Labor with no real substance.

"Nauru will play no real role in offshore processing arrangements for the foreseeable future under Labor," he said in a statement on Saturday.

"This announcement is just a patch-up for the devastation of the riots that cost taxpayers up to $60 million and was allowed to occur on Labor's watch."

The Australian Greens said the government had hit a new low on refugee policy.

"This is just more cruelty at the cost of Australia's generous heart and it is trashing our global reputation," Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said in a statement on Saturday.

"It seems there is no limit to the cruelty that either Kevin Rudd or Tony Abbott are prepared to inflict on refugees in their race to bottom as they race to the polls."

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Mugabe claims victory in 'sham' poll

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe looks to extend his 33-year rule after a shock landslide vote. Source: AAP

ZIMBABWE is set to release the official results of disputed elections, in which President Robert Mugabe's party romped to victory, as the opposition holds emergency talks over the "sham" polls.

Full results were expected later on Saturday but Mugabe's ZANU-PF party said it had already won the 140 seats in parliament required to press ahead with controversial amendments to the constitution.

"We have already gone beyond two-thirds. It's a super majority," a top party official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

With 186 of 210 constituencies officially counted after Wednesday's disputed poll, Mugabe's party already had a commanding lead, winning 137 seats in parliament.

Party spokesman Rugare Gumbo said: "Our opponents don't know what hit them", adding that 89-year-old Mugabe could win "70 to 75 per cent" in the presidential vote.

The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, who described the vote as a "sham", went into emergency talks on Saturday to decide their next action.

The MDC has vowed not to accept the election results, sparking fears of a repeat of bloody violence that marked the aftermath of the 2008 election.

"Emotions are high, tensions are high across the country," MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said.

While on the country's streets things have remained calm, UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged both political rivals to send "clear messages of calm" to their supporters.

Ban hopes that the broadly "calm and peaceful atmosphere" of election day "will prevail during the vote counting and throughout the completion of the electoral process," said his spokesman Martin Nesirky.

A senior MDC official, speaking on condition of anonymity, painted a picture of the dilemma the party faces amid its claims the election was stolen by ZANU-PF.

"We can't tell people to be calm, we can't tell people to demonstrate unless you know the outcome," said the source.

Another senior party official dismissed speculation that the MDC is being offered a few posts in government.

The influential 15-member southern African bloc SADC also implored "all Zimbabweans to exercise restraint, patience and calm".

All eyes are now on the MDC which was expected to hold a press conference on Saturday afternoon following its meeting.

Observers appeared divided over the conduct of the poll.

The African Union's top poll observer, Olusegun Obasanjo, said shortly after polling stations closed that the election had been "peaceful, orderly, free and fair".

The SADC stopped short of declaring it "fair" but said it was "free and peaceful".

"We have said this election is free, indeed very free," said top SADC election observer Bernard Membe. "We did not say it was fair ... we didn't want to jump to a conclusion at this point in time."

Membe on Friday met Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe for three decades, to "wish him good luck as he is preparing himself for the inauguration," he told later told journalists.

He said he would try to convince Tsvangirai to concede defeat.

SADC negotiated the creation of a power-sharing government in the wake of 2008's bloody poll.

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UN warns of plight of children in Syria

The United Nations has sounded the alarm about the plight of women and children in Syria. Source: AAP

THE UN has sounded the alarm about the plight of women and children in Syria's Homs, urging all parties in the conflict to enable access to some 400,000 trapped civilians.

"The situation of women and children in the Syrian city of Homs is rapidly deteriorating," UNICEF said in a statement, adding that "new checkpoints are preventing more supplies from entering" the neighbourhood of Al-Waer.

"Cannot all those involved agree that the innocent women and children in Homs, and across Syria, should be spared all possible suffering?" UNICEF's Executive Director Anthony Lake asked.

Around 400,000 civilians, mostly women and children, who were forced to flee other areas of Homs have sought refuge in Al-Waer, and are now "living in partially constructed buildings, schools and other public buildings", Lake said.

But the situation there "has worsened, with reports of intense daily clashes, and rocket and mortar strikes causing many casualties", he added.

UNICEF says it and other organisations have been distributing basic supplies and ensuring access to water for civilians fleeing the fighting.

"Water and electricity is still available for now but vegetables, milk and other essentials are in increasingly short supply. Our own emergency supplies will run out within days," said the agency.

Lake called on "all parties to facilitate immediate safe access to these families so we can provide life-saving assistance, and to allow those families currently trapped in Al-Waer who wish to leave to do so in safety and in dignity".

Homs has suffered some of the worst violence in Syria's 28-month conflict.

This week, government forces overran Khaldiyeh district, one of the rebels' last bastions in Syria's third city.

The army is now pressing its campaign to uproot rebels from other areas in Homs, including the central Old City district.

The UN says more than 100,000 people have been killed in Syria's war, most of them civilians.

Millions more have been forced to flee their homes, about 75 per cent of them women and children.

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Russia faces US fury over Snowden asylum

RUSSIA is facing the fury of the US after granting asylum to fugitive intelligence leaker Edward Snowden and allowing him to walk free from an airport transit zone where he was marooned for more than five weeks.

The whereabouts of Snowden - who is wanted by the US after leaking details of vast US surveillance programs - is now a mystery with his lawyer refusing to disclose the location for security reasons.

The White House said it was "extremely disappointed" by Moscow's decision to grant Snowden asylum, adding that it would now review the need for a planned summit between President Barack Obama and President Vladimir Putin in September.

The former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor left Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport on Thursday and took a taxi to a secret location. He now has temporary asylum in Russia for a year.

On Friday, Life News website published a photograph showing Snowden smiling broadly as he walked through the airport with a rucksack on his back and carrying another bag.

He was shown accompanied by his Russian lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, and a staff member of WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website, Sarah Harrison, as well as an unidentified dark-haired woman.

Snowden and Harrison had stayed in the transit zone of the Sheremetyevo airport north of Moscow since flying in from Hong Kong on June 23.

Kucherena said Snowden would eventually emerge into public view and give media interviews, but that the fugitive first required an "adaptation course" after so long in the transit zone.

"He has sorted out where he will live, everything is fine," Kucherena told the RIA Novosti news agency on Friday, refusing to give further details.

WikiLeaks said in a statement Snowden is now in a "secure, confidential place".

Snowden thanked Russia and slammed the administration of US President Barack Obama for having "no respect" for international or domestic law.

"But in the end the law is winning," he said in the WikiLeaks statement.

Russia's decision to award Snowden asylum status came two days after US soldier Bradley Manning was convicted of espionage for passing US secrets to WikiLeaks.

The White House warned Russia's decision could prompt Obama to cancel a planned visit to Moscow for talks with Putin ahead of the Saint Petersburg G20 summit.

"We're extremely disappointed," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters. "We're evaluating the utility of a summit in light of this.

"This move by the Russian government undermines a long-standing record of law enforcement co-operation," he added.

Obama declined to comment when pressed by reporters in an Oval Office briefing.

Putin has yet to comment on Snowden's temporary asylum. He is due to meet youth supporters at an annual summer camp later on Friday.

Robert Menendez, chairman of the powerful US senate foreign relations committee, described the asylum as a "setback" for US-Russia relations.

But Putin's foreign policy adviser, Yury Ushakov, on Thursday sought to limit the potential diplomatic damage. "This situation is rather insignificant and should not influence political relations between Russia and the US," Ushakov said.

On Friday, the news anchor of Channel One television, seen as a Kremlin mouthpiece, said it was an "open question whether the meeting of the two presidents will take place in Moscow in September".

By granting asylum to Snowden, Russia has further strained already tense Russia-US relations, analysts said.

"The basis on which the US can continue holding a conversation with the Russia is getting seriously narrower," Dmitry Trenin, who heads the Moscow Carnegie Center, told Kommersant daily.

"You can't say that relations between Moscow and Washington will be wound up, but they will not be able to develop now."

Russian politicians praised Moscow for asserting its independence by granting Snowden's asylum, however.

"Any other decision would have been a loss of face for Russia. If we hadn't provided Snowden with asylum, people would stop seeing Russia as a force to be reckoned with," a lawmaker for the ruling United Russia party, Vyacheslav Nikonov, who visited Snowden in the airport last month, the told Kommersant daily.

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Kiwi appointed Royal Bank of Scotland boss

Royal Bank of Scotland has appointed New Zealander Ross McEwan as its new chief executive. Source: AAP

TAXPAYER-RESCUED Royal Bank of Scotland has appointed New Zealander Ross McEwan as its new chief executive.

Mr McEwan, who joined RBS as head of retail banking last year after holding a similar position at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, will replace outgoing CEO Stephen Hester from October 1.

Mr McEwan, 56, will take on the top job on a STG1 million ($A1.70 million) salary and receive a STG350,000 ($A596,049.05) cash payment in lieu of pension.

While he is eligible to receive a long term incentive award in 2014, the bank says he does not wish to be considered for an annual bonus in 2014 or for the remainder of 2013.

The announced appointment came alongside half-year figures showing RBS swung out of the red with pre-tax profits of STG1.4 billion ($A2.38 billion) against losses of STG1.7 billion ($A2.90 billion) a year earlier, following its first two consecutive quarters of growth since 2008.

The Edinburgh-based bank is 80 per cent government after it was bailed out in 2008 during the financial crisis with more than STG45 billion of taxpayer money.

Mr McEwan was passed over two years ago as CBA's head after being widely seen as having been groomed for the role.

The married father-of-two, then accepted an offer to become head of RBS's retail arm.

The resignation in June of his Mr Hester, amid claims of political interference, paved the way for Mr McEwan to take charge.

His appointment is being seen as politically acceptable - indicating a shift in emphasis towards the bank's more traditional high street branches as opposed to its investment side, associated with high-rolling City risk-takers.

Mr McEwan has already launched a STG700 million ($A1.19 billion) plan to improve RBS's branches and services, and has been scathing about the state of UK high street banking.

He reportedly told analysts earlier this year: "Having come into this market six months ago I've been quite surprised at how bad this industry is from a retail banking perspective. I'd even go as far as to say that there's not a good retail bank, and our job is to create that."

Eyebrows may be raised in the City about the background of a chief executive who reportedly spent his early career working in human resources, and once told an interviewer that he was "more comfortable with people than with figures".

In an article for an alumni magazine at Massey University, where he gained a business degree in the 1970s, Mr McEwan admitted that he had twice failed accounting exams.

He has worked in the insurance and investment industries for more than 25 years, including as managing director of stockbroking business First NZ Capital Securities and chief executive of AXA New Zealand.

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Iran's Rowhani calls Israel an 'old wound'

IRAN'S president-elect Hassan Rowhani has called Israel "an old wound that must be eliminated", the ISNA news agency reports, drawing a sharp response from Israel's prime minister.

"The Islamic world must show unity against the Zionist regime, since this regime is an old wound that has lain for years in its body and must be eliminated," Rowhani was quoted as saying on Friday.

Rowhani - who will be inaugurated at the weekend - spoke on the sidelines of al-Quds (Jerusalem Day), an annual event organised by the Iranian establishment on the last Friday of Ramadan, to express solidarity with the Palestinians and opposition to the Israelis.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the comments revealed the true face of Iran's president-elect, often considered a moderate reformer.

"Rowhani has shown his true colours sooner than expected," Netanyahu said in Jerusalem.

"This is what the man thinks and it is the action plan of the Iranian regime," he said.

"There is a new president, but the goal of the regime has not changed - to develop nuclear weapons to threaten Israel, the Middle East and peace and security in the entire world."

Netanyahu added that a state that threatens Israel with annihilation should be prevented from acquiring any weapons of mass destruction.

The non-recognition of Israel has been part of Iran's foreign policy doctrine since the 1979 Islamic Revolution and is therefore untouchable.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has on past occasions referred to Israel as a "cancerous tumour" to be "removed from the region". Outgoing president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad frequently expressed similar sentiment.

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Tunisia mounts anti-Islamist operation

Tunisian has launched a land and air operation against Islamist militants near the Algerian border. Source: AAP

TUNISIAN forces have launched a land and air operation against Islamist militants near the Algerian border, the military says, as Tunis battles a crisis sparked by a political slaying.

"A huge operation, with ground and air units, was launched at dawn to clean up the (Chaambi) mountain" area, armed forces spokesman Taoufik Rahmouni told Mosaique FM radio on Friday.

He said the assault was mounted after clashes on Thursday night between soldiers and "a terrorist group", referring to fugitive Islamist militants.

"We have not killed or arrested any terrorists" to date, he said, without giving a number for the hunted militants.

A military source on the ground earlier told AFP "the terrorist group is surrounded" in the Mount Chaambi area where eight Tunisian soldiers were slain this week.

He said helicopters had carried out air strikes.

"Either they give themselves up or they will be killed," he told AFP.

He said the attack took place around 16 kilometres from the town of Kasserine, near Mount Chaambi, where the soldiers were found on Monday with their throats cut after an ambush by militants.

Mosaique FM said the raids were aimed at destroying militant hideouts. The explosions could be heard in Kasserine.

Tunisian troops have intensified their hunt for gunmen in Mount Chaambi since the spring, after several members of the security forces were killed or wounded by explosive devices.

A military source also said on Friday that a group of Salafists, a hardline branch of Sunni Islam, were arrested in a Kasserine mosque.

This week's gruesome attack on soldiers has prompted the army in neighbouring Algeria to reinforce its presence along the border.

The latest military operation came as leaders in Tunis opened talks with opposition and civil society representatives to try to defuse the political crisis sparked by the July 25 murder of opposition MP Mohamed Brahmi.

The killing has been blamed on Islamists, with a connection made to the February murder of fellow opposition head Chokri Belaid - the same gun was used in both killings.

Suspects in the Brahmi case have been named but so far no arrests have been announced.

As the political crisis enters its second week, thousands of supporters and opponents of the government have been holding rival street protests every night after breaking the Ramadan fast.

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Twitter bomb threat to UK women reporters

British police are investigating a bomb threat made on Twitter to three British female journalists. Source: AAP

BRITISH police are investigating a bomb threat made on Twitter to several women including three prominent journalists, amid a growing outcry over abusive tweets.

The message from anonymous user @98JU98U989, now suspended, said: "A BOMB HAS BEEN PLACED OUTSIDE YOUR HOME. IT WILL GO OFF AT EXACTLY 10.47PM ON A TIMER AND TRIGGER DESTROYING EVERYTHING".

Hadley Freeman, a columnist with the Guardian newspaper, Grace Dent of the Independent and Catherine Mayer, Europe editor of the US-based Time magazine, all said on Twitter they had received the message on Wednesday evening.

Freeman had written a column a day earlier headlined "How to use the internet without being a total loser", responding to a series of violent and sexually explicit messages aimed at women on the social network.

High-profile women in Britain have long complained of online harassment, but the issue reached front pages last week when feminist campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez met with a barrage of abuse after successfully lobbying for novelist Jane Austen to appear on a banknote.

"We can confirm that the Metropolitan Police service has received allegations relating to bomb threats sent to a number of females on Twitter," a spokesman for the London force said on Thursday.

"Inquiries continue. There have been no arrests and no bombs actually went off."

Freeman said police had advised her not to stay at home overnight.

"If it's illegal to threaten to bomb an airport, it's illegal to threaten to bomb me," she added on Twitter.

Sara Lang, a social media manager at US campaign group AARP, tweeted that she had also received the bomb threat and had contacted US police.

More than 100,000 people have signed an online petition asking Twitter to improve its procedures against abusive messages since the spate of threats spread from Criado-Perez to two female MPs.

Twitter is rolling out a "report abuse" button on individual tweets, but campaigners say the form to which it leads is too long and complicated for those facing a barrage of threats.

Two British men were arrested after Criado-Perez and the MPs reported menacing tweets to police - a 21-year-old from Manchester in central England and a 25-year-old from Northumbria in the northeast.

Both were questioned on suspicion of malicious communications, and have been released on bail.

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Exiled Kazakh oligarch arrested in France

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France, Aug 1 AFP - Mukhtar Ablyazov, an exiled oligarch and fierce critic of Kazakhstan's regime, is being held in France as he awaits potential extradition after his high-profile arrest, prosecutors say.

The former Kazakh energy and trade minister, who became an opposition leader before fleeing the country over accusations he embezzled billions of dollars, was arrested on Wednesday near the French Riviera resort of Cannes on a warrant issued by Ukraine.

Solange Legras, prosecutor at the local court handling his case, told AFP Ablyazov would likely be put in prison as authorities examine extradition requests against him and decide whether or not to send him away - a process that will take at least 40 days.

Once close to the Kazakh elite, Ablyazov was jailed in 2002 for abuse of power and illegal business activities after co-founding and leading an opposition party, in a move widely seen as a bid to silence him.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has been at the helm of the ex-Soviet country for almost 22 years, bringing economic reforms and prosperity to the energy-rich nation but cracking down on political opponents and drawing accusations of rights violations.

Upon his release, Ablyazov returned to finance and led the Kazakh BTA Bank, but fled to Britain in 2009 amid accusations he stole billions of dollars in state and investor funds.

He later left London and his whereabouts had been unknown ever since.

Three countries - Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine - have demanded his extradition.

Legras said France and Kazakhstan do not have an extradition agreement, and added Russia may no longer want to pursue him.

"So we are examining the extradition demand of Ukraine, where the BTA Bank also had some interests," she said.

Ablyazov was arrested on Wednesday in his home in Mouans-Sartoux, around 10 kilometres (six miles) outside Cannes.

"There was no violence. There had been some risks (of violence) as he is protected by a kind of private militia," Legras said, adding police had previously flown over his home to prepare the arrest.

Ablyazov's wife and six-year-old daughter were deported back to Kazakhstan from Italy in May without being given the right to appeal, sparking a huge scandal in the country.

In a statement in the Italian daily La Stampa, two more of his children called on French authorities not to extradite him to Ukraine.

"We know that Ukrainian authorities act on behalf of Kazakhstan, because our father is the most important political opponent to the dictator Nazarbayev," Madina and Madiyar Ablyazov wrote.

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Weak demand weighs on ArcelorMittal's Q2

ARCELORMITTAL, the world's largest steelmaker, has cut its forecasts for the full-year as it reported a fall in production, shipments and earnings during the second-quarter due to continued weak demand and low raw material prices.

But the Luxembourg-based company says that the worst of a market downturn is behind it now and with the outlook in Europe improving, it expects a stronger second half.

The company posted a net loss of $780 million (585 million euros) during the period, in contrast to a $1.02 billion profit in the same period of 2012. Revenues meanwhile fell to $20.2 billion from $22.5 billion.

Despite the disappointing second quarter performance, chief executive Lakshmi Mittal said the benefits of the restructuring efforts "are evident," particularly in Europe.

"Although we have revised our full year guidance, the second half should deliver a clear underlying improvement relative to the second half of 2012, which we believe marked the lowest point in the cycle," he said.

He forecast operating earnings before interest, depreciation of goodwill and amortisation, or EBITDA, of $6.5 billion this year. After first quarter results, he had forecast full year EBITDA of $7.1 million. However, he said the underlying business will be picking up steam by year end, driven by an increase of 1-2 per cent in steel shipments, a 20 per cent increase in iron ore shipments and as cost cutting initiatives bear fruit.

In early trading in Amsterdam, shares were up 0.2 per cent to 9.918 euros.

Steel production fell to 22.5 million tons in the quarter from 22.8 million tons a year ago. However production during the second quarter was slightly above the 22.4 million tons recorded in the first quarter of 2013. Similarly, steel shipments of 21.3 million tons were slightly below last year's levels but above first quarter 2013 levels.

Lakshmi also said he expected company debt to peak at $17 billion this year.

In Europe, where markets have been weakest and the company has struggled with politically-sensitive plant closures, the company posted a net loss of 150 million euros that included 119 million euros of restructuring costs.

But sales of flat carbon increased slightly, as did steel shipment volumes.

It added that it believed car sales are at or near a cyclical bottom.

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Exiled Kazakh oligarch arrested in France

Three countries have demanded extradition of an exiled oligarch who was arrested in France. Source: AAP

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France, Aug 1 AFP - Mukhtar Ablyazov, an exiled oligarch and fierce critic of Kazakhstan's regime, is being held in France as he awaits potential extradition after his high-profile arrest, prosecutors say.

The former Kazakh energy and trade minister, who became an opposition leader before fleeing the country over accusations he embezzled billions of dollars, was arrested on Wednesday near the French Riviera resort of Cannes on a warrant issued by Ukraine.

Solange Legras, prosecutor at the local court handling his case, told AFP Ablyazov would likely be put in prison as authorities examine extradition requests against him and decide whether or not to send him away - a process that will take at least 40 days.

Once close to the Kazakh elite, Ablyazov was jailed in 2002 for abuse of power and illegal business activities after co-founding and leading an opposition party, in a move widely seen as a bid to silence him.

Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has been at the helm of the ex-Soviet country for almost 22 years, bringing economic reforms and prosperity to the energy-rich nation but cracking down on political opponents and drawing accusations of rights violations.

Upon his release, Ablyazov returned to finance and led the Kazakh BTA Bank, but fled to Britain in 2009 amid accusations he stole billions of dollars in state and investor funds.

He later left London and his whereabouts had been unknown ever since.

Three countries - Kazakhstan, Russia and Ukraine - have demanded his extradition.

Legras said France and Kazakhstan do not have an extradition agreement, and added Russia may no longer want to pursue him.

"So we are examining the extradition demand of Ukraine, where the BTA Bank also had some interests," she said.

Ablyazov was arrested on Wednesday in his home in Mouans-Sartoux, around 10 kilometres (six miles) outside Cannes.

"There was no violence. There had been some risks (of violence) as he is protected by a kind of private militia," Legras said, adding police had previously flown over his home to prepare the arrest.

Ablyazov's wife and six-year-old daughter were deported back to Kazakhstan from Italy in May without being given the right to appeal, sparking a huge scandal in the country.

In a statement in the Italian daily La Stampa, two more of his children called on French authorities not to extradite him to Ukraine.

"We know that Ukrainian authorities act on behalf of Kazakhstan, because our father is the most important political opponent to the dictator Nazarbayev," Madina and Madiyar Ablyazov wrote.

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New leads in SA cold case

SA police revealed they have seven new leads in the disappearance of a teenage girl 23 years ago. Source: AAP

SOUTH Australian police have seven new leads in their investigation into the disappearance of a teenage girl 23 years ago.

Police have spent the past week excavating four mines in the South Australian outback to search for the remains of 16-year-old Karen Williams, who was last seen in Coober Pedy in the early hours of August 4, 1990.

Thirty-five people have come forward with information about the cold case since a search began in Coober Pedy a week ago for her remains, police say.

Seven of those are considered positive leads.

Detective Superintendent Des Bray says he believes Karen's remains are close to where the search has been undertaken.

Major Crime detectives are now planning to finalise the search and will return to Adelaide to investigate the new information.

Ms Williams was last seen with friends at the Opal Inn and at Sergio's Restaurant in Coober Pedy, before she was allegedly dropped off by a young local man in Dawes Street.

Last year a $200,000 reward was offered for information leading to an arrest in the case.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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ICAC findings could cost Labor 3% of vote

CORRUPTION findings against NSW Labor figures could cost the party up to three per cent of its primary vote, former premier Nathan Rees says.

That could be enough for Labor to lose the upcoming election, Mr Rees said on Wednesday.

"It's probably dragged our primary vote down in the order of two to three per cent in NSW. If we consider that the election may be won or lost in NSW, then that's a very significant factor in the political landscape," he told ABC television.

Following months of sensational hearings, the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption released its report on Wednesday, finding former NSW Labor heavyweights Eddie Obeid and Ian Macdonald acted corruptly.

Mr Rees, premier from September 2008 to December 2009, was ousted after losing the backing of Obeid's right faction.

He said it was clear their conduct did not meet the standards the public expected.

"They are political players of longstanding. They have very thick hides. It doesn't surprise me that they are contesting these findings. Equally I don't think the findings by the ICAC surprised anyone else," he said.

Mr Rees said the ICAC inquiry had been exhaustive and the players were well known.

"None of them are central to federal Labor," he said.

Mr Rees said people of NSW visited their judgment on NSW Labor for its method of operation at the state election in March 2011 when the party experienced the biggest defeat in Australian political history.

"It may be the case that voters want to see more punishment, in particular as it pertains to people who are subject to these allegations," he said.

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Rihanna wins Topshop T-shirts fight

SINGER Rihanna has won a High Court battle with British brand Topshop over T-shirts bearing her image.

She had accused the fashion chain of passing off, or attempting to pass off, the garments as being approved by her.

Topshop disputed her claim.

Justice Birss ruled in her favour on Wednesday after a hearing in London.

Justice Birss said Topshop's sale of a Rihanna T-shirt at the centre of the dispute was an act of " passing off".

But he said the "mere sale" of a T-shirt bearing the image of a famous person was not necessarily an act of "passing off".

He said a "substantial number" of buyers were likely to have been deceived into buying the Rihanna T-shirt because of a "false belief" that it had been authorised by the singer.

The judge said that was damaging to her "goodwill" and represented a loss of control over her reputation in the "fashion sphere".

He said it was for the singer not Topshop to choose what garments the public thought were endorsed by her.

Rihanna had claimed that she was entitled to damages for the unauthorised use of her picture.

The judge did not make any assessment of damages in a written judgment published on Wednesday.

His judgment analysed whether Topshop's sale of the T-shirt was "passing off".

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Rihanna wins Topshop T-shirts fight

Singer Rihanna won a High Court battle with British brand Topshop over T-shirts bearing her image. Source: AAP

SINGER Rihanna has won a High Court battle with British brand Topshop over T-shirts bearing her image.

She had accused the fashion chain of passing off, or attempting to pass off, the garments as being approved by her.

Topshop disputed her claim.

Justice Birss ruled in her favour on Wednesday after a hearing in London.

Justice Birss said Topshop's sale of a Rihanna T-shirt at the centre of the dispute was an act of " passing off".

But he said the "mere sale" of a T-shirt bearing the image of a famous person was not necessarily an act of "passing off".

He said a "substantial number" of buyers were likely to have been deceived into buying the Rihanna T-shirt because of a "false belief" that it had been authorised by the singer.

The judge said that was damaging to her "goodwill" and represented a loss of control over her reputation in the "fashion sphere".

He said it was for the singer not Topshop to choose what garments the public thought were endorsed by her.

Rihanna had claimed that she was entitled to damages for the unauthorised use of her picture.

The judge did not make any assessment of damages in a written judgment published on Wednesday.

His judgment analysed whether Topshop's sale of the T-shirt was "passing off".

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Switzerland looks into deadly train crash

SWISS authorities are investigating a head-on train collision in the west of the country that has killed one of the drivers and injured 26 other people.

The accident on a rail network regarded as one of the world's most reliable came as Spain was mourning the 79 victims of one of Europe's worst train disasters in recent years.

Two trains collided head-on late on Monday just outside the station at Granges-pres-Marnand, a small town between the Geneva and Neuchatel lakes in Switzerland's French-speaking region.

Daniel Antonez, a resident of nearby Moudon, said he heard the impact.

"It's one I often take. I'm sure I know some people who were on the train," he said.

Rescuers retrieved the body of a driver from one of the crumpled engines early on Tuesday and investigators were surveying the crash site.

Flanked by cornfields, the two small trains were still on the track on Tuesday, both engines locked into each other and lifted slightly off the ground as workers used beams to prepare to remove the wreckage.

"The management and employees of the CFF are shocked by the death of their colleague," the company said in a statement, offering its condolences to the man's family.

Newspapers splashed photos of the wreckage across their front pages, claiming that the early departure of one of the trains may be to blame.

The police made no comment on the possible cause of the crash but CFF boss Andreas Meyer was due to brief the press later on Tuesday.

"Work is continuing to clear the line completely. Technical investigations will continue over coming days," police said in a statement.

A total of 46 passengers had been on board, all of them Swiss, police said.

Swiss media quoted Guy Delpedro, the mayor of the small town of 1200 inhabitants, as saying that the low speed of the trains explained why more people had not died.

One train had been bound for Lausanne, 38 kilometres to the south, while the other was travelling north from the same city.

A CFF spokeswoman told AFP that the two trains should have crossed at the station, thanks to a track system that allows them to pass one another.

The crash occurred shortly before 7pm local time on Monday (0300 AEST Tuesday) and rescuers worked into the night under arc lamps, using special equipment to cut through the wreckage and reach the missing driver.

They retrieved his body at 1.30am (0930 AEST) on Tuesday, but it was not clear whether he had died on impact.

In total, 26 people were taken to five separate hospitals while those with more minor injuries were treated on site by the emergency services and volunteer medics.

The collision came in the wake of the July 24 tragedy in Santiago de Compostela, when a speeding train flew off the rails, killing 79 people. A crash in suburban Paris a week earlier killed seven.

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Morsi 'well', says EU policy chief

The EU foreign policy chief held a two-hour meeting with ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi. Source: AAP

EGYPT'S ousted president Mohamed Morsi is "well" and has access to news, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton says after meeting him at an undisclosed location.

"Morsi is well," she told reporters on Tuesday, adding that he had access to newspapers and television, and describing their talks as "friendly, open and very frank".

Ashton held two hours of talks with Morsi in the early hours of Tuesday, with sources telling AFP she left Cairo on a military helicopter.

She declined to say where Morsi was being held or to characterise his comments to her.

"I'm not going to put words in his mouth," she said.

"We had a friendly, open and very frank discussion," she added. "We talked in-depth."

Ashton arrived in Cairo on Sunday night for an intensive schedule of meetings with Egyptian government officials and opposition representatives.

Her visit came in the wake of the deaths of 82 people at a pro-Morsi rally in Cairo on Saturday morning.

She has urged an end to the bloodshed and a political transition that would include the Muslim Brotherhood organisation from which Morsi hails.

But she said on Tuesday that she was not in Egypt to push either side to take particular actions or to present an initiative.

"I'm not here to ask people to do things," she said, adding that she would be looking to find "common ground" between the sides.

"I don't come here to say somebody should do this, somebody should do that, this is your country," she said.

"The solutions are for the Egyptian people."

In Paris, France's foreign minister demanded on Tuesday that Morsi be freed, and condemned the deadly unrest in Cairo.

"We condemn the violence ... We call for dialogue and for the release of President Morsi," Laurent Fabius told reporters.

Morsi is being held on suspicion of crimes relating to his escape from prison during the 2011 uprising that overthrew president Hosni Mubarak.

His supporters have rallied daily for his reinstatement and on Monday marched from a key Cairo sit-in to several security headquarters.

The marches raised fears of fresh clashes, but protesters kept their distance from security forces and headed back to their protest tent city after the demonstrations.

In the eastern city of Ismailia, however, a security source said clashes between Morsi supporters and opponents broke out, injuring 18.

The Anti-Coup Alliance called for a million-man march later on Tuesday under the banner of "Martyrs of the Coup" to commemorate its dead at a rally in Cairo on Saturday.

It urged Egyptians "to go out into the streets and squares, to regain their freedom and dignity - that are being usurped by the bloody coup - and for the rights of the martyrs assassinated by its bullets".

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Italy court to decide Berlusconi's fate

The fate of former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi will be decided by Italy's Supreme Court. Source: AAP

ITALY'S top court is to begin crucial hearings for former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi that could end the billionaire tycoon's parliamentary career and risk upsetting the country's fragile coalition.

The supreme court is set to decide on Tuesday whether or not to confirm a one-year prison sentence and a five-year ban from politics in a long-running tax fraud case involving Berlusconi's media business interests.

"Judgment Day", reads a headline in Italy's top-selling Corriere della Sera daily, while La Stampa said in an editorial that the case was like "a giant boulder that is paralysing the entire political framework".

"This is more than a simple verdict," La Stampa said.

The final appeal hearing is expected to start later on Tuesday but Italian media reported that the actual verdict may come only on Wednesday and there is a possibility that the case could be adjourned until September.

The verdict will be a milestone in the history of legal woes and sex scandals that have dogged Berlusconi's 20 years on the Italian political scene including three terms as prime minister.

In other court cases, Berlusconi has been convicted of having sex with an underage prostitute, abusing his powers as prime minister and publishing a secret police wiretap to damage a political rival.

He denies all charges and is appealing against those rulings, accusing prosecutors of being politically biased and pursuing a vendetta against him.

Even if the court upholds Berlusconi's tax fraud conviction, the Senate would still have to vote to allow the sentence to be implemented since Berlusconi has a seat in the upper house of parliament.

Legal experts say there is virtually no chance of Berlusconi being sent to prison because of lenient sentencing guidelines for over-70s in Italy.

There is however a possibility that the media magnate could be put under house arrest in his luxury villa in Milan or placed in the care of social services.

The political ban would eject the 76-year-old from the Senate and prevent him from running for office.

Berlusconi could however remain as a figurehead leader of his centre-right People of Freedom party.

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British female MP threatened on Twitter

British police are investigating violent and sexually explicit Twitter postings directed at an MP. Source: AAP

BRITISH police say they are investigating violent and sexually explicit Twitter postings directed at an MP in a growing row over threats to women on the social network.

Stella Creasy, an MP with the opposition Labour Party, faced a stream of abuse after supporting a feminist activist who was targeted for campaigning for an image of novelist Jane Austen to appear on banknotes.

Another MP said she too was receiving a barrage of offensive messages, while a man has been arrested and bailed over rape threats to feminist campaigner Caroline Criado-Perez.

"This isn't about Twitter, this is about hatred of women and hatred of women who speak up," Creasy told BBC radio on Monday.

"Twitter needs to be explicit that sexual violence and sexual aggression will not be tolerated as part of their user terms and conditions."

High-profile women in Britain have long complained of online harassment, but the issue reached front pages after Criado-Perez said she received "about 50 abusive tweets an hour for about 12 hours" last week.

Scotland Yard said on Tuesday that police had received an allegation from an MP about "malicious communications" over comments on Twitter.

Creasy retweeted a series of tweets that included threats from accounts named "killcreasynow" and "eatcreasynow", which have now been suspended.

She said she was reporting the abuse to both Twitter and police.

MP Claire Perry, from Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party, likewise retweeted a string of message including threats of sexual violence and one that read, "please disappear into obscurity and/or alcoholism. or die, whatever."

"I am tempted to shut down my Twitter account given the trolling going on incl. to me -- but that would be giving in," Perry tweeted.

Perry has been advising Cameron on his plans to introduce an "opt-in" system for blocking internet pornography.

The abuse to Criado-Perez sparked a huge outcry among Twitter users and prompted more than 60,000 people to sign an online petition demanding the network introduce a "report abuse" button and review its rules on abusive behaviour.

Twitter has introduced a report button on tweets in its iPhone app and plans to bring it to other platforms.

But some users say the form to which it links is too complex and time-consuming for those receiving a barrage of abusive tweets.

In a blogpost titled "We Hear You", Twitter said on Monday: "We are not blind to the reality that there will always be people using Twitter in ways that are abusive and may harm others".

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Rudd's PNG boat deal arrogant: Fiji

FIJI has accused an "arrogant" Australia of dumping its asylum seeker problem on Pacific nations, as the Rudd government prepares to send the first group of boat arrivals to Papua New Guinea for processing and resettlement.

Seventeen boats carrying almost 1400 people have arrived since Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced his hardline policy to banish asylum boat arrivals to PNG.

Fiji's Foreign Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola on Monday launched a scathing attack on the plan.

He accused Australia of using its economic muscle to persuade a Melanesian country to accept thousands of people who are not Pacific Islanders into the region.

"For an Australian problem, you have proposed a Melanesian solution that threatens to destabilise the already delicate social and economic balances in our societies," Mr Kubuabola told a business forum in Brisbane on Monday.

"We are deeply troubled by the consequent threat to the stability of these countries and the wider Melanesian community by the scale of what is being envisaged."

The foreign minister said the deal was aimed at solving Australia's domestic political problems for short-term political gain, without proper consideration of the long-term consequences.

"We cannot remain silent when the current Australian government dumps this problem, which is arguably of its own making, on our doorstep," Mr Kubuabola said.

"This deal continues a pattern of behaviour on the part of the Australian government that is inconsiderate, prescriptive, high-handed and arrogant."

Work is continuing at Australia's detention centre on Manus Island as the first group of asylum seekers due there by Friday complete health checks in Australia.

A fourth and final airlift of equipment destined for the expanded facility was due to arrive in Port Moresby on Monday.

Each flight carried 10 shipping containers with tents, marquees, poles, frames and a range of building equipment bound for Manus Island.

Immigration Minister Tony Burke said permanent accommodation would replace temporary shelters and the centre could be expanded rapidly as required.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott reiterated that the real test for the PNG arrangement will be whether asylum seekers will be resettled there.

"If the government is to be taken seriously, it does actually need to back up its words with deeds," he told reporters in Sydney.

Meanwhile, Nauru's chief justice, Geoffrey Eames QC, says the nation will need "significant funding" to properly conduct criminal trials for the 150 asylum seekers accused of rioting earlier in July.

"It would be unreasonable to expect the Nauruan government to provide that funding out of its existing budget," he said in a statement.

The detention centre was all but burned to the ground on July 19, the day Mr Rudd announced his radical PNG arrangement.

Only the kitchen and recreation facility remained following the blaze, with the damage estimated at $60 million.

PNG Prime Minister Peter O'Neill said the PNG government would meet the costs of resettling asylum seekers who came direct to PNG.

"Those who originate out of Australia will be the responsibility of the Australian government," he told ABC Television's 730.

"PNG will meet the costs if they are refugees who wish to seek refuge in PNG and come directly to PNG."

Mr O'Neill said his government was talking with Manus Island community leaders and the provincial government to address concerns of local people about the expansion of the asylum seeker program.

"Some are genuine concerns that the government will work through with them," he said.

"Generally the public is in support of the centre being expanded."

Mr O'Neill said when the first detainees will arrive on Manus would depend on the Australian government.

"I understood it to be a matter of days but of course it has taken a bit longer than that," he said.

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Italy bus crash death toll reaches 39

At least 39 people have been killed after a coach carrying pilgrims crashed near Naples in Italy. Source: AAP

AT least 39 people have been killed after a coach carrying pilgrims plunged off a motorway flyover near Naples in southern Italy.

The vehicle, carrying 48 people, had been travelling at high speed when it crashed on a busy dual carriageway between Naples and Bari in an area Italian media described as an accident black spot.

It rammed several cars before plunging through a crash barrier and down a steep slope before coming to a stop on its side off the road about 50 kilometres (30 miles) from Naples.

"As of now, the death toll has risen to 39," said Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi.

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Maharaja's daughters win $3.58bn case

AN Indian court has ruled that the daughters of a late maharaja should inherit his 200-billion-rupee ($A3.58 billion) estate because his will was forged more than 30 years ago, lawyers say.

The verdict in the northwestern city of Chandigarh ended a two-decade legal battle over the fortune of Maharaja Harinder Singh Brar, the ruler of the princely state of Faridkot who died in 1989.

Magistrate Rajnish Kumar ruled last Thursday that the will had been faked to award his vast property holdings and family heirlooms to a trust managed by one of his three daughters, his servants and lawyers.

"Since the will has been declared illegal ... the legal heirs of rajasahib (maharaja) are entitled to the property," a lawyer quoted the magistrate as saying in his ruling.

The two surviving daughters of the ex-ruler, including the daughter who managed the trust set up under the forged will, are the legal heirs.

The maharaja's third daughter, Maheepinder Kaur, died in 2001.

"We have won the case after 21 years," Vikas Jain, a lawyer representing one of the daughters excluded from the will, Amrit Kaur, said on Monday.

Amrit Kaur, who lives in Chandigarh, fought the battle against the "Meharwal Khewaji Trust" headed by her sister Deepinder Kaur who lives in the eastern city of Kolkata.

Media reports said the ruler was suffering from depression due to the death of his only son in a road accident when the will was purportedly fabricated by lawyers and his servants 32 years ago.

No one in his family was named as a direct beneficiary in the forged will.

His assets included forts, a palace, prime property in the capital, cash, jewellery and a nine hectare private aerodrome in the city of Faridkot.

Brar was an enormously wealthy Sikh ruler of Faridkot before India's independence from Britain in 1947.

After independence, 565 princely states either merged with India or with Pakistan through separate treaties and agreements.

The Indian government in 1971 through a constitutional amendment discontinued the practice of doling out lavish privileges and money to royal families.

Many of them, after losing their opulent and glamorous lifestyles, have converted their palaces and forts into hotels to make a living.

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Greek monks hurl petrol bombs at bailiffs

A GROUP of monks on Greece's monastic sanctuary of Mount Athos who are facing eviction have attacked court bailiffs with rocks and petrol bombs, according to civilian authorities on the peninsula in northern Greece.

No one was injured in the incident early on Monday outside the administrative offices of Esphigmenou Monastery, and no arrests were reported. The bailiffs retreated from the site.

Mobile phone video of part of the incident, taken by the rebel monks and seen by the Associated Press, showed the court-appointed bailiffs using a small earthmoving machine in an unsuccessful attempt to force their way into the grounds of the office at Karyes, the capital of the all-male sanctuary from where its 20 monasteries are run.

About 100 monks in the 1000-year-old Esphigmenou monastery have been involved in a years-old dispute with the spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, over his efforts to improve relations with the Vatican.

The monks have defied court orders to leave the monastery and allow church-appointed replacements to take over the site and the Karyes offices about 25 kilometres to the south.

"According to the information we have received from the police, explosive materials were thrown at the bailiffs," Aristos Kasmiroglou, civilian governor of Mount Athos, told the AP.

"The law must apply to everyone. And all sides must safeguard the pious nature of the site."

The Esphigmenou monks - who argue that they are safeguarding centuries-old Orthodox traditions - have refused to leave the complex, and receive food and other assistance from supporters in other parts of Greece.

"They came in the morning and started banging on the doors," Esphigmenou monk Elder Savvas, who said he witnessed the incident, told the AP.

"We had warned them that if they provoked us, we would respond."

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Woman talking to police about Qld baby

THE woman believed to be the mother of a baby boy who was abandoned on the doorstep of a Queensland home is talking to police.

Police said on Sunday that a woman was assisting them with their inquiries into the newborn who was found by a family in front of their home in the Logan City suburb of Kingston, near Brisbane, about 5.30am (AEST) on Saturday.

He was wrapped in blankets and placed in a basket.

The woman is suspected of being the boy's mother but officers are continuing their investigations and have yet to confirm this, a police spokesman told AAP.

The family who found the boy have reportedly already named him "Moses", in reference to the biblical prophet who was also found in a basket as a baby.

The family have said they are prepared to raise the child as their own if the mother was not found.

Detectives on Sunday showed the small wicker basket, blanket and baby's clothes to the media in the hopes it might jog someone's memory.

They also have been scouring churches and hospitals in the search for clues about the mother's identity.

But Detective Sergeant Deon Ditton says police suspect the underweight baby, who is no more than a few days old, was born at home before being left at the doorstep with a note pleading for the family to look after him.

He says the family, who are well known and respected in multicultural Logan's Samoan community, are eager to care for the boy.

The baby appears to be of Samoan or Pacific Islander descent.

Logan Samoa Advisory Council President Lesa Changwai says she has spoken with the family, who are going through a gamut of emotions.

"They are so surprised and anxious because their feelings are very involved now with the baby," she told AAP.

"They feel that they should be looking after the baby because a note was left for them with their names on top of the note.

"They love the baby now, but it's out of their hands."

Sgt Ditton said the family had been with the boy at Logan Hospital, where it would remain at least until it reached a normal weight.

The Department of Child Safety is also involved.

"As far as I'm aware, the baby's in good health," Sgt Ditton told reporters.

Sgt Ditton is also calling on anyone who may have been in Juers St around the time the baby was found to come forward.

Logan churches held special services on Sunday, praying for the wellbeing of the little boy and his mother.

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Bad ecstasy blamed for SA hospitalisations

A bad batch of ecstasy has been blamed for several people in Adelaide being hospitalised. Source: AAP

A BAD batch of ecstasy has been blamed for several people in Adelaide being hospitalised.

A number of people were admitted to Royal Adelaide Hospital with overdose symptoms on Saturday night and another was taken to Lyell McEwin Hospital.

Almost all of the patients have been discharged.

Police have arrested a 21-year-old man from North Adelaide.

They will allege he was in possession of 33 ecstasy tablets and $900 cash at the time of his arrest.

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Israel government adopts peace referendum

Israel will free 104 Palestinian prisoners to coincide with the resumption of peace talks. Source: AAP

THE Israeli government has approved a bill to submit any peace treaty with the Palestinians to a referendum, a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office says.

"Any agreement which may be reached in negotiations will be put to a referendum," it quoted him as saying on Sunday.

"It is important that on such historic decisions every citizen should vote directly on an issue deciding the country's future."

A Palestinian official told AFP on Saturday that a US-brokered renewal of peace talks, stalled since September 2010, would open in Washington on Tuesday.

There has so far been no official confirmation.

A cabinet briefing paper said the government saw the referendum bill as "urgent and important" and said it would be asking parliament to fast-track its passage into law.

Israeli media said that it could go before the house for a first reading this week.

If adopted, a referendum would be a final endorsement of a treaty after ratification by the government and parliament.

The draft is seen as a gesture to rightwing ministers apprehensive of concessions that could be demanded of Israel in the talks.

It would oblige a referendum in cases where territory over which Israel claims sovereignty is ceded in a peace agreement or by a cabinet decision.

That would include any part of mainly-Arab east Jerusalem, which Israel occupied in the 1967 Six-Day War and later annexed in a move never recognised by the international community.

The Palestinians claim east Jerusalem for the capital of their state. Israel rules out ceding sovereignty over any part of what it calls its "eternal and indivisible capital."

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Thousands rally against PNG plan: Greens

THOUSANDS of people have gathered in Sydney to demand the Australian government scrap its Papua New Guinea plan about processing and resettling asylum seekers, the Greens say.

Up to 3,000 people congregated at Sydney Town Hall before marching along George Street on Sunday to protest the government's handling of asylum seekers, Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon said.

"The purpose of today ... was to send a clear message that what they (the government) is doing is wrong," she told AAP after the rally.

"It's also to enable people to come together. There is a lot of stress in the community about how our country is treating people."

Ms Rhiannon said one of the topics raised during the protest was concerns over the use of the security firm G4S to run the Manus Island facility.

Describing the company as an "unaccountable multi-national", she said there were concerns among the community that the frontline staff aren't trained to deal with the problems already experienced at the centre.

She pointed to G4S's failure to provide all of the 10,400 contracted guards for the 2012 Games, which forced the British government to step in with military personnel.

The rally comes as a Galaxy poll published by News Corp Australia on Sunday found people rated Prime Minister Kevin Rudd better than Opposition Leader Tony Abbott at handling the asylum seeker issue, 40 to 38 per cent.

Under the federal government's deal with PNG, people arriving by boat will be denied resettlement in Australia, taken to Manus Island for processing and and may be settled there if found to be genuine refugees.

The Refugee Action Coalition (RAC) will be holding another rally in Sydney's inner west next month.

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