Convincing win for WA Lib/Nats emerging

EARLY results from the West Australian election point to a convincing win for the Liberal/National coalition.

ABC election analyst Antony Green called the result in favour of the incumbents, as polling predicted, about one hour after counting began.

With 12.71 per cent of the votes tallied at 7.15pm WST, the Liberals accounted for 47 per cent of valid votes and the Nationals 10.04 per cent, compared to 30.43 per cent for Labor.

Labor's federal defence minister Stephen Smith said from the outset that it was going to be a tough night for Labor.

"If there is a swing on, it's a swing to the coalition, a swing to Colin Barnett," Mr Smith said.

"That means we'll lose seats and the question for us is what will be the extent of that."

Mr Smith acknowledged it was very tough to defeat a first term government, and had only happened twice in Australia's history.

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Ebullient mood at WA Liberal gathering

PIZZAS by the hundreds were ordered, the balloons were standing proudly to attention, and the mood at the Sea View Golf Club in Colin Barnett's heartland of Cottesloe was a combination of New Year's Eve and a raucous 70th birthday party.

With the polls predicting a landslide, and the analysts saying similar within minutes after the polling booths closed, any Liberal nerves that may have existed on the morning of March 9 had dissipated long before the sun had set over the Indian Ocean.

The blue waves lapping against the nearby Cottesloe beach were being mirrored on the tally boards, as the seat of Churchlands fell first and many more followed.

Mr Barnett's advisors, who had spent the first weeks of the campaign playing catch-up to Mark McGowan's Metronet express, had the tired, relieved looks of those that would still have a job on Monday morning.

And when the numbers came through that there was an eight per cent swing toward Liberal enfant terrible Troy Buswell, who had become the target of Labor's bile in the final days of the campaign, the party really got started.

Mr Barnett had begun the day casting his vote next to a fellow constituent wearing his budgie smugglers.

And such was the astonishing tide of votes flowing the way of the Liberals, that the sight of a few of the more elderly supporters donning similar apparel running across the 18th green would not have been out of the question.

Balcatta, Kimberley, and then the seat of the Midland - parliamentary home of former Labor Police Minister Michelle Roberts - all swung violently, and the gasps of astonishment from the staunchest of Liberal supporters told the story.

Not only was Colin Barnett going to win, he was going to annihilate Labor, and secure himself a mandate to power ahead with his big vision for WA, while also sending a significant message to Prime Minister Julia Gillard, and a major boost to her September opponent Tony Abbott.

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Three men drown at Victorian beaches

TWO fathers have drowned trying to rescue their sons, while a third man has also died while snorkelling with friends at separate unpatrolled beaches across Victoria.

Paramedics were first called to a beach at Lorne, on the Great Ocean Road, about 12.30pm (AEDT) on Saturday, where a man used a surfboard to help a boy, aged 12, safely to shore.

Surf life savers then arrived and used an inflatable rescue boat to haul the boy's father, aged his sixties, unconscious from the water.

Paramedics arrived, but the man could not be revived through CPR and was pronounced dead at the scene, Ambulance Victoria spokesman John Mullen said.

The boy - whose father had tried to rescue him from the rip - was taken to hospital in a stable condition, having swallowed water and suffered shock, Mr Mullen said.

The beach at St George River, southwest of Lorne's main beach, is not patrolled and features a permanent rip flowing out its narrow entrance, according to Life Saving Victoria (LSV).

At 2.30pm, paramedics also attended a beach in Rye, on the Mornington Peninsula, where a man in his 30s, who had been snorkelling with friends, was found unconscious in the water.

He also couldn't be revived and was pronounced dead on the beach, Ambulance Victoria's Ray Rowe said.

A third man, aged in his forties, died after being reported missing in waters at Golden Beach near Sale, in Victoria's Gippsland region.

He had reportedly swum out to try to save his 10-year-old son after he became caught in a rip.

Paramedics were called around 3.20pm, but at 6pm police confirmed his had been found at the beach.

LSV spokeswoman Jennifer Roberts said 57 beaches had been patrolled across the state on Saturday.

She urged people check signs and survey the risks at any beach before getting in the water, and never to swim alone.

"Every drowning death is a tragic occurrence," Ms Roberts said.

"Every beach is inherently dangerous."

Lorne Police Sergeant David Cooper had risked his life to save the 12-year-old boy, Victoria Police said.

Upon learning of the boy caught in a rip, Sgt Cooper rushed to the scene, commandeered a surfboard from a beach-goer, stripped to his boxer shorts and paddled out through heavy surf more than 100 metres from shore to reach the boy.

He and another swimmer secured the semi-conscious boy to the board and brought him safely ashore, only to then learn the 62-year-old Noble Park man had also been swept away in the rip, police said.

Paddling out again, Sgt Cooper reached the unconscious man floating face down in the water, as two other men on surfboards came to his assistance, followed by surf life savers in a rubber dingy.

The officer commenced CPR on the man in the dingy, and continued once ashore with the help of a paramedic.

Despite the pair performing CPR on the man for almost an hour, he could not be revived.

"I will sleep tonight knowing that I did all I could possibly do to save both of the swimmers," Sgt Cooper said in a statement.

"It is sad that a family has lost a loved one but it could very easily been two deaths here today."

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Egypt Football Association HQ set ablaze

THE headquarters of the Egyptian Football Association were set ablaze, minutes after a police officers' club was torched following sentencing over a deadly football riot last year.

Firefighters were working to put out the fire on Saturday, which spread through the building located in the same neighbourhood as the officers' club, an AFP reporter said.

Football officials were holding emergency talks in Cairo to discuss upcoming fixtures around the country, state television reported.

The unrest comes hours after a court upheld death sentences for 21 defendants over a deadly football riot in Port Said last year and handed down life sentences to five defendants, with 19 receiving lesser jail terms and another 28 acquitted.

In Cairo, fans of Al-Ahly football club, whose members were killed in the February 2012 stadium riot in Port Said in which 74 people died, had warned police that they would retaliate if the defendants, including nine policemen, were exonerated.

AFP

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Sombre mood at WA Labor HQ

IT was such a somber mood among the WA Labor camp on election night that one of the only cheers from the crowd came when an image of the party's leader appeared on the television.

Less than 100 people gathered in Mark McGowan's electorate of Rockingham on Saturday night.

Heading into the state election, it looked like Labor was going to lose.

But no one expected political experts to begin calling the result before 7.30pm (WST).

"It looks terrible. What a bloodbath," one Labor supporter lamented.

Deputy leader of the Opposition Roger Cook was the only Labor politician to front the venue early in the evening and admitted to reporters that it was looking like a tough night ahead for his party.

"We need to just wait and see how the night develops," he said.

Mr Cook said there was still a sense of anticipation because it was early in the count.

He said there was a sense of pride in how the election campaign had been run by Labor.

"We believe we've run a very competitive campaign for a party that obviously doesn't have the resources to draw upon that the Liberal party does," he said.

"We've brought forward bold policies, bold visions for Western Australia."

Mr Cook also admitted there had been some damage to the Labor brand from the federal government.

"To what extent it had a role to play in the state election is very difficult to say," he said.

They may be headed for a whitewash in the election, but at least there is plenty of good food to eat while Labor supporters drown their sorrows.

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Syria rebels won't budge over hostages

The UN says it is still trying to negotiate the release of 21 peacekeepers abducted in Syria. Source: AAP

UN efforts to secure the release of 21 peacekeepers abducted in the Golan dragged on into a third day as Manila said rebels holding the Filipinos were sticking to their demand Syrian troops leave the area.

UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous was to brief the Security Council on the abduction later on Friday as concern mounted about its implications for the future of the four-decade-old UN force patrolling the sensitive armistice line between Israel and Syria.

The refusal by the Syrian rebels to compromise had dampened hopes of a swift release and forced Manila to step up its negotiation efforts, Philippine foreign affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said.

The 21 Filipinos, members of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) monitoring the armistice between Syria and Israel that followed the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, were abducted by the rebels on Wednesday just one and a half kilometres to the Syrian side of the ceasefire line.

The rebels are demanding that Syrian troops move 20km back from Jamla, an area at the southern end of the armistice zone, Hernandez said.

"The demand of the rebels for the repositioning of Syrian forces in the area of Jamla is still outstanding so this is still being worked out," he said on ABS-CBN television.

"That is the main demand of the rebel group," he said, adding that he did not know of any other conditions.

The Philippine government had previously received information that raised hopes the 21 would be released on Friday morning, Philippine time, and the government now did not know if or when they would be freed, Hernandez said.

"We are trying to intensify our negotiations with the rebel groups."

However he said the Philippine peacekeepers were still being treated well, an assurance echoed by the United Nations.

"The mission has been in touch with the peacekeepers by telephone and confirmed they have not been harmed," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

Meanwhile, Israel says it helped eight UN peacekeepers redeploy from an isolated post in the part of the Golan ceasefire zone.

The troops - all Filipinos, like the hostages - left their positions overnight and moved through Israeli-held territory to join up with comrades in the UN Disengagement Observer Force further north along the armistice line, an army spokeswoman said.

"Eight UNDOF soldiers were evacuated from a post located within the demilitarised zone in the Syrian Golan Heights," the spokeswoman said, adding that Israeli troops escorted them north to another UN base near the Quneitra border crossing.

Israeli officials warned that any further reduction in the strength of UNDOF risked creating a security vacuum in the no-man's land between the two sides on the strategic Golan Heights, which it seized in the 1967 Six-Day War.

"This kidnapping is likely to convince countries who participate in this force to bring their troops home, which would undoubtedly create a dangerous vacuum in no-man's land on the Golan," an Israeli official said.

Canada and Japan have already pulled out their small contingents, and Croatia said last week it was pulling out its 100 soldiers. If Manila pulls out it would leave just Austrian and Indian troops.

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Screaming crowds greet Kim on Korean front

NORTH Korean television broadcast emotional scenes of cheering soldiers and their young families greeting leader Kim Jong-Un as he visited a frontline unit that shelled the South in 2010.

With tensions surging on the Korean peninsula, Kim said the North's military was "fully ready to fight a Korean style all-out war", as he visited two islands close to the disputed maritime border on Thursday, state media said.

Footage of Friday's visit showed him being greeted by chanting troops who were held back as they surged towards him.

Their families brought their children to meet him, with one woman encouraging her daughter forward for a hug.

At the end of the trip, the soldiers ran down to the beach and waded chest deep into the freezing water clutching at Kim's motor launch as it moved away.

The tour coincided with an outpouring of vitriol from Pyongyang over UN sanctions imposed for its nuclear test last month, with the North threatening pre-emptive nuclear strikes on the US and its allies, and vowing to rip up peace pacts with South Korea.

Speaking to troops stationed on the islands, Kim said the slightest provocation would result in his immediate order for a "great advance" along the entire frontline with the South, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said.

On Mu island he inspected artillery units that shelled the nearby South Korean island of Yeonpyeong in November 2010, killing four people and triggering an exchange of fire that sparked fears of a full-blown conflict.

State television showed Kim inspecting the craters left by South artillery shells on the island in what he described as the "most gratifying" battle since the end of the Korean war in 1953.

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Japanese man drowns on Gold Coast beach

A JAPANESE man has drowned on a Gold Coast beach.

Police say the 34-year-old man was unconscious when he was rescued from the water at Northcliffe Beach in Surfers Paradise about 10.30am (AEST) on Friday.

He was taken to Gold Coast Hospital, but resuscitation attempts failed.

A report is being prepared for the coroner.

No further details were available.

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Japan clones 26 generations from a mouse

JAPANESE scientists have produced 26 generations of clones from a single mouse, the lead researcher said, possibly paving the way for the mass replication of valuable livestock.

The team have so far produced 598 mice that are genetic copies of one original creature in an experiment that has so far been going for seven years, said Teruhiko Wakayama of the Riken Center for Developmental Biology.

"This is by far the largest cloning project using a mammal," he said on Friday.

"By applying our study, mass reproduction of prized animals should become possible even after the original animals die," he said.

Reliable methods for cloning over an extended number of generations could be a boon to farmers who have, for example, a cow that produces a lot of milk, or an animal that is expected to produce particularly high-quality meat.

Natural breeding does not guarantee that an animal's offspring will have the same qualities, but a clone is an exact copy.

Wakayama has significantly improved on existing capabilities that had a low success rate and tended only to last for a few generations.

The team used a technique called somatic cell nuclear transfer, whereby a cell's nucleus, which contains the genetic information of the original animal, was inserted into a living egg that had its own nucleus removed.

The egg was then planted in a surrogate who delivered the clone. That cloned result then became a donor for another cell nucleus, which was implanted into a host cell, allowing the cycle to continue.

Overall, the cloned mice have normal biological features, including normal longevity and reproductive capability.

Detailed genetic analysis showed limited abnormalities in non-vital aspects, such as large placenta, but the clone-specific abnormalities neither increased nor decreased over generations of recloning, Wakayama said.

Wakayama's team has found that use of a certain chemical agent, called a histone deacetylase inhibitor, and other technical improvements allowed recloning to continue for many generations, he said.

"Our results show that repeated iterative recloning is possible," he said.

"I want to say we should be able to continue this forever. We will continue our study until we see the end of it," he said.

The study was published in the US-based journal Cell Stem Cell.

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UN agency to feed 2.5 million Syrians

THE World Food Program says it aims to feed 2.5 million Syrians next month, up from 1.7 million now, because of rising needs as more Syrians are displaced by the civil war.

The UN estimates that nearly 4 million of Syria's 22 million people have been driven from their homes by the fighting, including those who fled to neighbouring countries and some 2 million who are moving from shelter to shelter inside Syria.

Many of the internally displaced need food aid, along with those who remain in their homes but have trouble finding food as the Syrian economy is collapsing.

Spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs said on Friday that World Food Program fed 1.7 million Syrians in February.

She says that will rise to 2 million in March and 2.5 million in April.

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No Srebrenica charges for peacekeeper

DUTCH prosecutors say they won't prosecute the retired general who commanded Dutch peacekeepers in the Bosnian enclave of Srebrenica when Bosnian Serb fighters overran the town and massacred some 8,000 Muslim men and boys.

Relatives of three victims of the worst massacre in Europe since World War II wanted General Thom Karremans held criminally responsible for their deaths.

Prosecutors said in a statement on Thursday that Karremans and two other senior Dutch officers "cannot be held liable under criminal law for having been involved in the crimes committed by the Bosnian Serbian Army in July 1995 in Srebrenica".

In a separate civil suit brought by the relatives of the three victims, a Hague court ruled that the Dutch state is liable for the deaths.

That judgment is under appeal.

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Berlusconi sentenced over wiretaps

A MILAN court has convicted former Premier Silvio Berlusconi for the illegal publication of transcripts of wiretapped conversations in a newspaper owned by his media empire.

The court on Thursday sentenced him to one year in jail, although he is unlikely to be put behind bars during a possible appeal.

The verdict carries no impact on Berlusconi's eligibility to participate in a new government.

His centre-right coalition finished third in parliamentary elections that saw now clear winner.

Talks on forming a new government are expected to begin March 20.

The charge relates to the 2005 publication of a wiretapped call that was part of an investigation into a failed bid to take over a bank.

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60 dead in Borneo stand-off

CLASHES between Filipino militants and security forces in Borneo have left 60 people dead, including 52 of the armed intruders, according to Malaysian police.

Malaysia's police chief Ismail Omar told reporters on Thursday that since 3pm local time on Wednesday, 32 followers of a self-proclaimed Philippine sultan were killed in two confrontations.

Eight Malaysian policemen died in earlier skirmishes last week, during a three-week stand-off over the group's claim to the state of Sabah on the eastern coast of Borneo.

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More gang rapes reported in India

TWO women have been kidnapped and gang-raped near Delhi, in two separate incidents that highlight the persistent risk of sexual assault in India.

In one case, three men abducted and attacked a 19-year-old woman, who hailed an auto rickshaw carrying two male passengers near a popular shopping centre in Delhi's satellite city of Ghaziabad last weekend, a police official said.

"The driver drove the rickshaw to a remote forested area where he and the two other men repeatedly raped her before fleeing the area," said Nitin Tiwari, Ghaziabad's senior superintendent of police.

The teenager then made her way to a local police station where she filed a case against her attackers, two of whom confessed to their crimes earlier this week, Tiwari said.

Police are still in pursuit of the third man, he added.

The second incident involved a 25-year-old woman who met one of her alleged attackers in a park in east Delhi on Wednesday to discuss a possible job opportunity, said Delhi police press officer Satbir Singh.

"She said the man offered her a soft drink, which she drank before passing out due to some illicit substance in the drink. When she woke up, she found herself trapped in a car with a few other men inside," Singh said.

"The men raped her before dumping her near a dustbin, where police found her lying unconscious at two o'clock in the morning."

Police are hunting the alleged attackers.

A three-year-old child who was allegedly kidnapped and gang-raped had been admitted to a hospital in the southern state of Kerala, local media reported on Thursday.

The toddler went missing on Tuesday morning, before a group of school students found her lying unconscious outside and called the police, according to NDTV news channel.

The child sustained several injuries and has already been through two surgeries at a hospital in Kozhikode city, where she is under observation.

The crimes come amid debate in India over the status of women and girls and their safety in the country.

Rape incidents in Delhi alone have doubled this year, India's minister of state for home affairs Mullappally Ramachandran told the upper house of parliament on Wednesday.

The Indian capital has seen around four rape cases a day since January 1, compared to an average of two rape cases registered daily in 2012, though the increase could be attributed, in part, to more reporting by emboldened women.

Thousands took to the streets to protest against India's treatment of women following the fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in Delhi in December.

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Morrison stands by refugee comments

Scott Morrison has explained the behavioural protocol he thinks asylum seekers should live by. Source: AAP

OPPOSITION immigration spokesman Scott Morrison has explained the kind of behavioural protocol he thinks asylum seekers should live by when they are released into the community.

Mr Morrison was last week criticised for his comments after a Sri Lankan asylum seeker, released into the community on a bridging visa, was charged with the indecent assault of a female university student in Sydney.

He said communities must be notified when asylum seekers are released from detention and that behavioural protocols be applied.

Mr Morrison on Thursday said one "obvious" behavioural protocol would be about setting a limit on the number of people allowed in a room where asylum seekers are housed.

"If there were two people who are supposed to be in a room, then there should be two people in that room," he told Sky News.

Setting clear rules around behaviour would help asylum seekers understand how they're supposed to use the services and how to interact with the people providing those services, Mr Morrison said.

"When people go and work on resources projects, they're subject to behaviour protocols to be on site," he said.

"You go and play a game of golf, you're subject to behavioural protocols.

"You go and walk into a club or a pub, you're subject to behavioural protocols."

Meanwhile, the first man to be transferred to Australia's offshore processing centre on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island has abandoned his asylum claim and has returned to Iraq.

This takes the total number of voluntary returns of would-be refugees in 2013 so far to 44.

Immigration Minister Brendan O'Connor said it showed the government's no-advantage policy was working.

"The Gillard government is determined to deter people from risking their lives on perilous journeys to Australia on unseaworthy vessels by ensuring there is no advantage over people who seek to come to Australia through regular channels," he said in a statement.

Mr Morrison later said he came up with the idea of behaviour protocols himself.

"This is my proposal," he told ABC television.

But he wouldn't be drawn on whether he ran the idea past the shadow cabinet or Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.

"I'm not going to go into our internal processes," Mr Morrison said.

"I'm telling you I had the full authority to do it and I did and I would do it again."

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Backbencher criticises Victorian premier

VICTORIA'S new, unelected premier Denis Napthine will be furiously trying to lure MP Geoff Shaw back into the Liberal fold after he quit and threw the coalition's ability to govern into doubt.

Dr Napthine, who turned 61 on Wednesday, was gifted the premiership after Ted Baillieu went down in history as the state's half-and-a-bit term premier.

A tearful Mr Baillieu resigned less than an hour after Mr Shaw issued a statement saying the reason he quit was he had lost confidence in the Liberals' leadership.

The numbers on the floor of the parliament are now 44 to the coalition, and 42 to Labor, which will likely increase to 43 after the April 27 by-election for Lyndhurst, a safe Labor seat.

If Mr Shaw votes with the opposition that leaves the parliament deadlocked at 44-all.

Dr Napthine said he would have discussions with Mr Shaw.

The new Liberal leader refused to explain why his friend Mr Baillieu decided to step down.

"The people of Victoria will understand what has happened," Dr Napthine told reporters.

"I will lead the party to the next election."

Dr Napthine said he looked forward to progressing the coalition's law and order agenda as well as positively negotiating with the teachers' union over pay and working conditions.

He said Nationals leader Peter Ryan would remain deputy premier.

Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said Victorians deserve a leader they elected, not a birthday present to a Liberal stalwart after the undoing of the Baillieu premiership.

"This is a birthday gift to the birthday boy. It is not an honour. It is not an entitlement won through an election," he said.

"It is always preferable for the community to choose the leader of this state."

Mr Andrews said he had no doubt Dr Napthine would try to convince Mr Shaw to return to the coalition fold and shore-up the government.

"One might suggest that the Liberal Party have effectively franchised out to Geoff Shaw the choice about who leads the government," Mr Andrews said.

"That's very strange and very odd to think that a colourful character like Mr Shaw might well have been the person who chose the premier of this state rather than the people of this state."

The government has had a horror week with further political fallout from the Office of Police Integrity's investigation into the circumstances behind former police chief commissioner Simon Overland's resignation.

Mr Andrews said Mr Ryan cannot be believed when he says he was unaware of a plot being hatched in his own office to tear down Mr Overland.

Mr Ryan told parliament this week he has told the absolute truth about his knowledge of the Overland affair.

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PM wishes Baillieu well after resignation

Former Victorian premier Ted Baillieu is a man of integrity, opposition leader Tony Abbott says. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has wished former Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu well and pledged to work with his replacement Denis Napthine.

Dr Napthine was sworn in as leader on Wednesday night after Mr Baillieu's resignation.

"This decision must have been a very difficult one for Mr Baillieu and for his family," Ms Gillard said in a statement.

"I wish Mr Baillieu all the best for the future."

Ms Gillard said she would work with Dr Napthine in the interests of all Victorians.

Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott earlier praised Mr Baillieu as a man of integrity and honour.

"For the last two years Ted has worked hard to address the problems left behind after 11 years of Labor neglect," Mr Abbott said.

Mr Abbott also congratulated Dr Napthine on his election as leader.

"I look forward to working closely with him," he said.

Other federal politicians took to twitter to share their reactions to the news.

Australian Greens MP Adam Bandt suggested the spill raised issues for Mr Abbott.

"Vic Libs ditch elected leader & then run a minority gov't. Presume Tony Abbott will call them illegitimate and demand election immediately," Mr Bandt tweeted.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr, who was watching a Sydney University production of Julius Caesar, drew parallels in the play's storyline to that of the Victorian Liberal leadership drama.

"The faction gathers in home of Brutus. 'We all stand against the spirit of Caesar' - of Baillieu, of Abbott?" Senator Carr tweeted.

Liberal backbencher Dan Tehan congratulated Dr Napthine on becoming premier.

"Happy Birthday Denis, you will be an outstanding Premier," he tweeted.

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Police face Philippines murder charges

PHILIPPINE investigators will file a murder case against 35 police officers and soldiers for allegedly executing 13 people at a checkpoint, the justice secretary says.

An investigation ordered by President Benigno Aquino III into the killings concluded that the victims were summarily executed and there was no shootout as claimed by the security personnel.

Presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said Aquino directed Justice Secretary Leila de Lima to file a criminal and administrative complaint after reading the report by the National Bureau of Investigation.

"The conclusion is that no shootout occurred," de Lima said on Wednesday. "The victims were summarily executed."

She said prosecutors would decide whether there was enough evidence against the 21 police and 14 soldiers before filing the case in court.

The investigation found that the killings were a plan by the police colonel who led the security force at the checkpoint, Hansel Marantan, to eliminate his rival in the illegal gambling operation. Local newspapers have reported that Marantan was a protector of an illegal numbers game called "jueteng".

Marantan has denied any wrongdoing.

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Eurozone ended 2012 deeper in recession

THE 17-nation eurozone sank further into recession in the last three months of 2012 as the debt crisis continued to exact a heavy price, official data shows.

The eurozone economy shrank 0.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared with the third quarter when it contracted 0.1 per cent, the Eurostat data agency said on Wednesday, confirming initial estimates given in February.

For the full 27-member European Union, the economy was 0.5 per cent smaller in the fourth quarter after a marginal gain of 0.1 per cent in the third, Eurostat said.

A recession is counted as two consecutive quarterly economic contractions.

Compared with fourth quarter 2011, the eurozone economy was down 0.9 per cent and the EU 27 off 0.6 per cent.

Among the major economies, European powerhouse Germany shrank 0.6 per cent in the fourth quarter after a gain of 0.2 per cent in the third and France slipped 0.3 per cent after growth of 0.1 per cent.

Non-euro Britain lost 0.3 per cent after sharp growth of 1.0 per cent in the third quarter, boosted by the London Olympics.

Among the fourth quarter best performers were Estonia, which grew 0.9 per cent and Lithuania, up 0.7 per cent, while bailed-out Portugal was the weakest, with its economy shrinking 1.8 per cent.

Eurostat said that for 2012 as a whole, the eurozone economy contracted 0.6 per cent and the EU 0.3 per cent.

Data so far for 2013 suggests the European economy is stabilising after a bad 2012, but the outlook remains weak and uncertain.

Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight said the eurozone recession may have deepened in the fourth quarter, but it should mark the bottom of the slump.

"The good news is that the fourth quarter of 2012 almost certainly marked the low point for eurozone economic activity as a significant easing of eurozone sovereign debt tensions underpinned by the European Central Bank's policy actions" has boosted confidence and the markets, Archer said in a statement.

"The bad news is that real economic activity is yet to show major improvement in many countries and it looks highly likely that growth will remain a major struggle for the eurozone for some time to come."

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WA Labor's promises 'would increase debt'

ELECTION commitments by the West Australian opposition would increase state debt by $1.7 billion, an independent analysis by Treasury shows.

The report on Labor's aggregated net expenditure - not dissecting its individual commitments - released late on Wednesday showed the promises would push state debt to $25.3 billion in 2015/16.

WA's net debt, which is expected to hit $18 billion at the end of the current financial year, is already projected to nudge $25 billion in 2015/16, eclipsing the government's previously hallowed $20 billion debt ceiling.

The report also said the commitments substantially reduced general government sector operating balance projections over the forward estimates.

Treasury also warned of volatile royalty streams amid wavering commodity prices, particularly for iron ore, which could eliminate very small surplus projections.

The department said the threat of ratings agencies Moody's and Standard & Poor's to downgrade the state's AAA credit rating in the next two years highlighted the need to constrain spending.

It also highlighted the need for a surplus buffer against commodity price volatility and keeping a lid on debt, Treasury said.

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Cigarettes worth $200,000 seized in Vic

Police have seized illegally imported cigarettes from a truck in Victoria's northeast. Source: AAP

MORE than 1000 cartons of cigarettes worth $200,000 have been seized from a truck in Victoria's northeast.

The cigarettes, believed to be illegally imported, were discovered when police searched the truck at Benalla on Saturday morning.

Police said the haul would be worth around $200,000.

The truck's 22-year-old driver from Sydney, was charged with two counts of possessing and conveying imported tobacco, possessing a prohibited weapon and exceeding the speed limit.

He was bailed to appear at Benalla Magistrates Court on April 4.

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Premier set to add to PM's problems

UNBACKABLE: Premier Colin Barnett, a firm favourite to win the state election, will give the federal Labor leadership another headache. Source: The Sunday Times

AS if the polls, the carbon tax, the mining tax, the lack of a budget surplus and Kevin Rudd weren't enough for Julia Gillard, the prime minister looks set to be handed another problem this weekend.

It can be summed up in a name: Colin Barnett.

The incumbent Liberal West Australian premier has been one of the most vocal and strident political critics of the prime minister's style and substance since her ascension in 2010.

And with the member for Cottesloe an unbackable $1.02 favourite to lead the Liberals to a state election win this weekend, Ms Gillard can expect a newly-mandated Mr Barnett to renew his attacks with even more vigour if WA votes the way the polls and bookmakers have long predicted.

She may have been out of sight during the build-up but Ms Gillard has never been far from the mind of the Liberal party since it began officially campaigning in early February.

After it became clear Ms Gillard would keep her distance until polling day, Mr Barnett has consistently used her absence from the side of WA Labor leader Mark McGowan to link the party's federal woes to its local team.

Kelly O'Dwyer, Liberal federal MP for Higgins, said the lack of election support from a sitting prime minister for a state election candidate was "unprecedented".

"The reason they don't want the prime minister in WA is because they know it will lose them votes," Ms O'Dwyer said.

Mr McGowan has staunchly deflected such commentary, saying the March 9 poll was a state election fought on state issues and the prime minister was free to travel where and when she wanted.

He also vowed to be firm but fair if given the chance to work with his Canberra colleagues.

"It is possible to be tough with Canberra and get results and that's what I'll do," Mr McGowan said.

But the fact no federal minister has been seen with Mr McGowan over the entire campaign - and only three set foot briefly in the state in that time - gave some weight to the Liberal argument of a state and federal party that were not talking, let alone able to work together.

In contrast, federal opposition leader Tony Abbott was effusive in lauding Mr Barnett - and buttering up the locals - at the Liberals' official election launch.

"How much I respect the premier of this state, how much I have learnt from him, how much I wish to model myself on him, should I get the opportunity to lead our country," Mr Abbott said.

"The Barnett government has become a model for all the governments that we run or hope to run. That's the kind of government that I wish to run in Canberra.

"Every Australian owes a debt to Western Australia and in an important sense, West Australians are the best Australians."

Mr Barnett has continued to play on WA's ingrained and parochial mistrust of much that emanates from Australia's east coast with his mantra to "stand up to Canberra", pointing to the mining tax and the state's GST share as examples of how the state was being diddled by Labor.

And so, if Mr Barnett proves victorious on Saturday night, Ms Gillard can expect no favours from WA, which had an economy valued at $239 billion in 2011/12 and accounted for 46 per cent of Australia's exports last year.

First on Mr Barnett's hit list is likely to be Ms Gillard's Gonski education reforms, set to be discussed at the Council of Australian Governments' meeting on April 19.

"We have never indicated we would sign up to Gonski, and we are not going to sit back and suddenly let the commonwealth take over the running of our schools," Mr Barnett said.

"They come out and denigrate our hospitals, denigrate our schools, and then pretend to have a solution. That is not good government."

And not a good sign Ms Gillard is going to get any peace from Mr Barnett as she approaches her date with the nation on September 14.

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Asian rebounds, Shanghai leads gains

ASIAN markets have climbed following a big sell-off, with Shanghai leading the rebound as China's annual parliamentary gathering kicked off.

Traders also took heart from a rally on Wall Street that saw the Dow close within sight of a record high.

Tokyo added 0.27 per cent, or 31.16 points, to 11,683.45 on Tuesday and Seoul advanced 0.17 per cent, or 3.46 points, to 2,016.61, while Sydney jumped 1.29 per cent, or 64.9 points, to close at 5,075.4.

Hong Kong rose 0.1 per cent, or 22.69 points, to 22,560.50.

Shanghai jumped 2.33 per cent, or 52.91 points, to 2,326.31, reversing some of the 3.65 per cent dive on Monday when property and construction stocks were hit after the government set out rules aimed at capping house prices.

The focus was on China's National People's Congress (NPC), which opened on Tuesday with outgoing Premier Wen Jiabao saying the government would target growth of 7.5 per cent for the world's number two economy in 2013 and 3.5 per cent inflation.

"We should energetically change the growth model," Wen said in his final major act after a decade amid demands that China revamp its investment and export-led growth in favour of domestic spending.

A separate government document laid down a 10.7 per cent rise in defence spending to 720.2 billion yuan ($A114.20 billion) in 2013.

The NPC is meeting for nearly two weeks in Beijing and will seal a power transfer to Li Keqiang as Wen's successor, and Communist Party supremo Xi Jinping as state president.

Regional investors cheered a positive lead from New York, where the Dow rose 0.27 per cent to 14,127.82, within 40 points of an all-time high seen in October 2007.

Remarks from the Federal Reserve's number two official reaffirming its aggressive stimulus policy provided support to US shares.

Janet Yellen, vice chairwoman of the Fed board of governors, said in a speech that the central bank intended to "keep monetary policy highly accommodative until well into the recovery".

The S&P 500 gained 0.46 per cent and the Nasdaq was up 0.39 per cent.

Traders also appeared to shrug off the lack of action in Washington on dealing with the "sequester" of US federal spending cuts that came into effect on Friday and which could shave around 0.5 percentage points off growth.

Analysts said the effect of the $US85 billion ($A83.9 billion) in cuts would not be seen yet, giving politicians a little time to agree on a less stringent budget that would help slash the country's deficit.

On currency markets the dollar bought Y93.14 in afternoon trade against Y93.46 in New York late on Monday.

The euro fetched Y121.56 and $US1.3053 compared with Y121.74 and $US1.3024.

The yen saw slight gains despite promises of further monetary easing from the men tapped by the government to take the helm at the Bank of Japan.

Sydney shares showed little reaction to widely expected news that the Reserve Bank of Australia had kept interest rates on hold at three per cent, saying the downside risks to the world economy appeared to have eased slightly.

Oil prices rebounded from big losses late on Monday.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) light sweet crude for delivery in April, added 20 cents to $US90.32 a barrel in the afternoon and Brent North Sea crude for April delivery increased 46 cents to $US110.55.

Gold was at $US1,583.02 at 1125 GMT (2225 AEDT) compared with $US1,577.65 late on Monday.

In other markets:

- Taipei rose 0.83 per cent, or 65.37 points, to 7,932.71.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co added 1.96 per cent to Tw$104.0 while chip design house MediaTek was 1.76 per cent higher at Tw$347.5.

- Manila rose 1.12 per cent, or 74.16 points, to 6,711.72.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone rose 2.26 per cent to 2,986 pesos, BDO Unibank added 1.05 per cent to 96 pesos, while Energy Development Corp jumped 2.05 per cent to 6.48 pesos.

- Wellington rose 0.37 per cent, or 15.56 points, to 4,269.16.

Fletcher Building was up 1.33 per cent at NZ$9.17, Contact Energy gained 0.38 per cent to NZ$5.35 and Telecom was off 1.08 per cent at NZ$2.30.

- Singapore rose 0.26 per cent, or 8.31 points, to close 3,248.26.

Singapore Telecom increased 0.58 per cent to Sg$3.46 and DBS Bank gained 1.27 per cent to Sg$15.17.

- Jakarta slipped 0.20 per cent, or 9.76 points, to 4,751.70.

Palm oil producer Astra Agro Lestari lost 1.06 per cent to 18,600 rupiah, telecommunications provider Indosat fell 0.76 per cent to 6,550 rupiah, and Hero Supermarket lost 0.99 per cent to 5,000 rupiah.

- Bangkok added 0.56 per cent, or 8.59 points, to 1,549.31.

Supermarket operator Siam Makro jumped 3.72 per cent to 502.00 baht, while Bangkok Life Assurance rose 3.60 per cent to 72.00 baht.

- Kuala Lumpur shares gained 0.37 per cent, or 6.10 points, to 1,642.08.

UEM Land Holdings added 3.6 per cent to 2.59 ringgit, while Axiata Group increased 0.2 per cent to 6.39. CIMB Group Holdings fell 0.1 per cent to 7.19 ringgit.

- Mumbai rose 1.40 per cent, or 265.21 points, to 19,143.17 points.

Sterlite, the Indian arm of global resources Vedenta group, rose 4.47 per cent to 94.65 rupees. Private explorer Essar Oil rose 20.96 per cent to 88.0 rupees.

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North Korea vows to cancel ceasefire

NORTH Korea has vowed to cancel the 1953 ceasefire that ended the Korean War, citing a US-led push for UN sanctions over its recent nuclear test and ongoing US-South Korean military drills.

North Korea's Korean People's Army Supreme Command warned on Tuesday of stronger additional countermeasures to a new push for UN sanctions over its nuclear program.

North Korea says its program is a response to US hostility that dates back to the 1950-53 Korean War, which ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the Korean Peninsula still technically in a state of war.

North Korea warned it would cancel the ceasefire agreement on March 11, citing US-South Korean military drills that began on March 1.

North Korea said Washington and others were going beyond economic sanctions and expanding into blunt aggression and military acts.

North Korea also warned it would block a communications line between it and the United States at the border village separating the two Koreas.

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Australian health shines, UK's slumps

BRITONS are among the unhealthiest people in Western Europe, says a UK study which has ranked Australia as the highest performer in two health categories.

Using data collected for the Global Burden of Diseases project, international researchers analysed rates of sickness and death from 1990 to 2010.

Australia ranked No. 1 for mortality rate and No. 1 for life expectancy compared with the US, Canada, the UK and the European Union.

However, experts described the UK's results as "startling" and said Britain was failing to address underlying health risks in its population, including rising rates of high blood pressure, obesity and drug and alcohol abuse.

"It's incredibly surprising," said Dr Christopher Murray, who studies health metrics at the University of Washington in Seattle and is the lead author of the latest report.

"We all think of the UK as having a great health system and as one of the most sophisticated medical research communities in the world."

"Nobody would have really expected that the UK would be toward the bottom."

Murray and colleagues said there was virtually no change in the rate of premature deaths among British adults aged 20 to 54 but found a spike in deaths caused by drug and alcohol abuse for that age group.

Cirrhosis, or liver disease often linked to alcohol consumption, has jumped by more than 65 per cent in Britain in the last two decades, prompting a recent government proposal to crack down on cheap drinks by setting minimum prices.

As in most Western nations, heart disease, stroke and cancer were the leading killers.

Heart disease remains Australia's biggest killer but it led to 32 per cent fewer deaths in 2010 than it did in 1990, the research found.

Alzheimers, however, has rocketed up the rankings, jumping from 26th place as a cause of premature death in Australians in 1990 to ninth in 2010.

Lung cancer has replaced stroke as Australia's second biggest killer, while road injury deaths have dropped 40 per cent.

The research was paid for by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and published online on Tuesday in the UK journal Lancet.

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US, Saudi united on Syria, Iran

THE United States and Saudi Arabia have warned Syrian President Bashar Assad they will boost support to rebels fighting to oust him unless he steps down.

The two are also putting Iran's leadership on notice that time is running out for a diplomatic resolution to concerns about its nuclear program.

After a series of meetings in the Riyadh on Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told reporters Assad must understand recent scud missile attacks on regime foes in the city of Aleppo would not be tolerated by the international community and that he had lost all claim to be Syria's legitimate leader.

Saud, whose country along with other Gulf states is widely believed to be supplying weapons to the Syrian rebels, said Saudi Arabia could not ignore the brutality Assad is inflicting on his people, even after two years of escalating violence that has claimed 70,000 lives.

He said history had never seen a government use strategic missiles against its own people.

"This cannot go on," he said.

"He has lost all authority."

In his discussions with Kerry, Saud said he had "stressed the importance of enabling the Syrian people to exercise its legitimate right to defend itself against the regime's killing machine."

Saud also decried the fact Assad continued to get weapons from "third parties," a veiled reference to Russia and Iran, which have backed the regime through the conflict.

"Saudi Arabia will do everything within its capacity, and we do believe that what is happening in Syria is a slaughter, a slaughter of innocents" he said.

"We can't bring ourselves to remain quiet. Morally we have a duty."

The Obama administration has resisted appeals from the Syrian opposition to provide it with weapons and ammunitions over fears they could fall into the hands of Islamist extremists who have gained support among Assad opponents.

But Kerry sidestepped a question about whether the arms reportedly being supplied to the rebels by Saudi Arabia and others were a concern.

Instead, he criticised Iran, Hezbollah and Russia by name for giving weaponry to the Assad regime.

Kerry did announce last week the US would for the first time provide rebel fighters in the Free Syrian Army with non-lethal assistance - rations and medical assistance.

European nations like Britain and France are expected to soon send the rebels defensive military equipment and Kerry has said the totality of the aid could be enough to change the situation on the ground.

"The United States will continue to work with our friends to empower the Syrian opposition to hopefully be able to bring about a peaceful resolution, but if not, to increase pressure on Assad," Kerry said.

He added that Assad "is destroying his country - and his people in the process - to hold onto power that is not his anymore."

Kerry is in Saudi Arabia on the seventh leg of a marathon nine-nation dash through Europe and the Middle East on his first overseas trip as secretary of state.

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Malik Obama campaigns for change in Kenya

MALIK Obama, who is running for office in western Kenya, on Monday said his half-brother, US President Barack Obama, had promised to visit if elections were free and fair.

The 54-year-old accountant said the theme for his campaign in the race for governor of Siaya county was "change". That echoes the slogan of "hope and change" with which his brother was swept into the US presidency in 2008.

For Malik Obama, change means "the eradication of poverty, the development of infrastructure and job creation."

He told dpa by telephone: "I bring honesty, sincerity, and putting the welfare of my people first.

"Also, there are connections I can use."

Malik Obama runs a community centre in the hamlet of Kogelo, surrounded by cornfields and forests. The area saw a minor tourist boom and was fitted with power lines and a paved road after his famous relative became president in 2008.

He said he and Barack Obama, 51, last spoke after the US elections, when the latter promised to visit Kenya if the elections were fair and transparent.

Many Kenyans were disappointed that Barack Obama did not visit during his first term. In 2009, Obama's first trip to sub-Saharan Africa was to Ghana.

Malik Obama told dpa he draws inspiration from his younger sibling's accomplishments.

He is running as an independent against a major party candidate, but he said he offers something different and his background as an accountant makes him suited for government work.

"We need somebody who understands economics because we have the resources here but we just don't have the managers," he said.

"It behooves me also to make a contribution as the first born and to do that here in Kenya, in Africa."

Malik and Barack Obama have the same father - once a goat-herder in Kenya, who became an academic.

Barack Obama last visited Kenya in 2006, when he was a US senator.

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Hostage families urge France to negotiate

THE families of four hostages being held by al-Qaeda's north African branch have urged the French government to seek negotiations with the militant group in the hope of securing their relatives' release.

The call was issued on Monday against a background of fears for the lives of the hostages following the reported killing of two al-Qaeda-linked leaders by French-backed Chadian troops in Mali over the weekend.

"France must give AQIM (al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) clear signals of a willingness to negotiate, in liaison with (the hostages' employers) Areva and Vinci," said a statement issued on behalf of the families of four hostages seized at a uranium mine in Niger in 2010.

According to Chadian officials, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the mastermind of an assault on an Algerian gas plant that left 37 foreign hostages dead in January, and AQIM leader Abdelhamid Abou Zeid were killed last week in an assault on rebel bases in the Ifoghas mountains of northern Mali.

France has been extremely guarded about the reports, amid concerns the hostages may have been used as human shields or could be subject to reprisal executions.

The hostages' families have repeatedly expressed concern about the possible consequences of France's military intervention in its former colony but Monday's statement was the first time they have publicly challenged the government's approach.

"Today we consider that military operations and the use of force will not result in the hostages being saved," said Rene Robert, the grandfather of Pierre Legrand, one of four hostages seized by AQIM in Niger in September 2010.

"We want a strong signal to be sent to AQIM to demonstrate a willingness to negotiate," he told AFP.

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Dad dies sheltering girl in Japan blizzard

Eight people have been killed on Hokkaido island after heavy snow fell in northern Japan. Source: AAP

A FATHER has frozen to death while sheltering his nine-year-old daughter during severe blizzards which swept northern Japan at the weekend.

Mikio Okada died as he tried to protect his only child Natsune against winds of up to 109 kilometres per hour, as temperatures plunged to minus 6 C.

Okada was one of at least nine people killed in a spate of snow-related incidents as blizzards swept across Hokkaido island, police said on Monday.

The latest confirmed victim was Kuniko Jingi, 76, who was found lying on the street late on Saturday.

As with many others, she appeared to have perished after leaving her stranded car, a local police officer said.

Okada's body was uncovered by rescuers looking for the pair after relatives raised the alarm.

Natsune was wearing her father's jacket and was wrapped in his arms, newspapers and broadcasters said.

The pair had last been heard from at 4pm on Saturday, after fisherman Okada picked his daughter up from a school where she was being looked after while he was at work.

Okada called his relatives to say his truck had become stranded in the driving snow, which was several metres deep in places.

He told them he and Natsune would walk the remaining kilometre, the Yomiuri Shimbun said.

The two were found just 300 metres from the truck at 7 am on Sunday.

Okada was hunched over his daughter, cradling her in his arms and apparently using his body and a warehouse wall to provide shelter, the Yomiuri said.

He had taken his jacket off to give to the child, a broadcaster said.

Rescuers said she was weeping weakly in his arms, the paper said.

The young girl was taken to hospital where she was found to have no serious injuries.

Her father was officially pronounced dead by doctors at the same institution near their home at Yubetsu on Hokkaido.

The Yomiuri said Natsune's mother had died two years earlier from an unspecified illness.

The paper quoted neighbours as saying Okada had been a doting father who would often delay the start of his working day to enjoy breakfast with his daughter.

His death came as families all over Japan celebrated Girls' Day, a festival in which they gather at home and decorate houses with dolls.

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Papal tailors prepare for all sizes

NOBODY knows what the measurements of the next pope will be so Gammarelli - tailors to the papacy since the 18th century - have produced vestments in small, medium and large just in case.

"We have prepared three vestments in white wool, a stole, red loafers, a skullcap, as well as a red velvet cape with a white fur border since it's winter," Lorenzo Gammarelli told AFP at the store in Rome on Monday.

The job presents some very particular challenges.

"We can always adapt the vestments and the skullcap doesn't change but it's tricky with the loafers. The next pope cannot wear shoes that are not his size so we will offer all sizes," he said.

It's a delicate mission that Gammarelli's expert tailors have been long accustomed to - as shown by the framed images of all the popes they have worked for on the walls of the old-worldy shop.

Proudly displayed in the store on a side street near the Pantheon in central Rome are also certificates that say the tailor is an official supplier to the Vatican.

"The fabric for the cassocks is pure wool. There is no special wool for the Holy Father. It's the usual fabric that we use for all our clients who want to wear white," Gammarelli said.

The shop appears like it has been unchanged for decades - from the old wooden counter to the stacks of rolls of fabric accessed by shopkeepers on wooden ladders.

A little spiral staircase leads up to the shop's holy of holies - a workshop on the first floor where ordinary mortals are not allowed.

Gammarelli explained that between three and five tailors have worked on the papal vestments this time around - working in record time after Benedict XVI made the shock announcement on February 11 that he would step down.

"The conclave is an exceptional time," he said.

"This time around it is even more so since we were not expecting at all. The resignation of the Holy Father really took us by surprise," he said.

Benedict XVI, who now goes under the title of "pope emeritus", stepped down as leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics last Thursday.

"To be honest, when I first heard it, I couldn't believe it. It seemed absurd," Gammarelli said.

But the tailor did not add more on his views - a certain discretion is part and parcel of the job.

Asked how the delivery to the Vatican is made or who will put the finishing touches to the papal robes, Gammarelli offered only an enigmatic smile.

The conclave to elect popes is held in strictest secrecy in the Sistine Chapel. No date has been set but it is expected in the first half of March.

There is just one certainty: when the next pope emerges in front of the crowds in St Peter's and with millions around the world watching, he will be dressed head to toe in Gammarelli.

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Sydney woman abducted and gang raped

A YOUNG woman has been abducted and sexually assaulted by a gang of men after leaving a house party in Sydney's northwest.

Police say the 18-year-old woman left the party on Merindah Road at Baulkham Hills at 1am (AEDT) on Sunday when a green coloured sedan stopped next to her near St Michaels Place.

The car, with five men inside, asked for directions to a nearby shopping centre.

The woman gave directions and continued walking.

But she was grabbed from behind by one of the men and forced into the car.

The woman was driven to an unknown location nearby and sexually assaulted by a number of men.

Following the assault, the woman was driven to Waterloo Road at Castle Hill and freed.

The victim reported the matter when she got home and was later taken to Westmead Hospital.

Detectives and State Crime Command's Sex Crimes Squad are investigating.

The man seated in the front passenger seat who asked for directions has been described as being aged about 25, of Caucasian appearance, with a chubby build and a beard.

He was wearing a red and white flannelette shirt at the time.

Descriptions of the other four males are limited at this stage, police say.

Investigators have been told the car and males were seen outside the house party on Merindah Street earlier in the night.

Police want anyone who saw the car in the area on Saturday night or Sunday morning or who has information about the identities or whereabouts of the five men to contact them immediately.

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UN urges end to illegal wildlife trade

Thailand has been forced onto the defensive over the rampant smuggling of ivory. Source: AAP

THE world must clamp down hard on the illegal global wildlife trade, the head of the United Nations environment agency has warned, calling it a multibillion-dollar criminal business that is threatening to wipe out some of the planet's most iconic species.

Achim Steiner, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, made the call during the Sunday opening meeting of the 178-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, in Bangkok.

He cited the massive upsurge in poaching of Africa's endangered elephants and rhinos, whose slaughter - the worst in two decades - is being driven by rising demand in Asia for their tusks and horns.

"The backdrop against which this meeting takes place should be a very serious wakeup call for all of us," Steiner told some 2,000 delegates assembled at a convention centre in the Thai capital.

Wildlife trafficking "in a terrible way has become a trade and a business of enormous proportions - a billion-dollar trade in wildlife species that is analogous to that of the trade in drugs and arms," Steiner said.

"This is not a small matter. It is driven by a conglomerate of crime syndicates across borders."

Slowing the slaughter of African elephants and curbing the trade in "blood ivory" will be at the top of the agenda during the global biodiversity conference, which lasts two weeks.

Around 70 proposals are on the table, most of which will decide whether member nations increase or lower the level of protection on various species.

These include polar bears, rays and sharks that are heavily fished for shark fin soup.

There are proposals, too, to regulate 200 commercially valuable timber species - half from Madagascar - and ban their trade unless it can be shown they were harvested legally and sustainably.

Steiner said up to 90 per cent of the world's timber trade is illegal, a business worth at least $US30 billion ($A29.53 billion) per year.

Prior to the establishment of CITES in 1973, there was no international regulation of the cross-border trade in wildlife.

Most of the agreements regulating the 35,000 animals under CITES' purview aim not to outlaw trade, but to ensure it remains sustainable.

One of the convention's success stories since then has been the African rhino, which numbered just 2,000 four decades ago. The population swelled to 25,000, but over the last five years poaching has skyrocketed again.

Last year, 668 rhinos were killed in South Africa alone. As with the elephant crisis, the culprit is largely demand from Asia, where their horns are highly desired because they are believed to have medicinal properties.

CITES director-general John Scanlon said the slaughter of African elephants and rhinos was at its worst in decades, a level that "could threaten the survival of the species themselves."

He blamed poachers, rebel militias and mafia-like crime syndicates that smuggle animal parts across borders.

"This criminal activity poses a serious threat to the stability and economies of these countries. It also robs these countries of their natural heritage, their cultural heritage, and it undermines good governance and the rule of law," Scanlon said.

Earlier, Thailand's prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra promised to end her nation's trade in ivory, delighting conservationists who have long urged the kingdom to tackle the rampant smuggling of tusks through its territory.

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Attacks in Iraq kill four

THREE separate attacks in Shi'ite-dominated areas on Sunday in central Iraq have killed at least four people and injured 14, officials said.

The deadliest was in the Husseiniya area northeast of Baghdad, where three roadside bombs went off simultaneously, killing three civilians, a police officer said.

He said 11 others, including three policemen, were wounded.

Another police officer said a soldier was killed when a bomb attached to his car exploded in the northern Utaifiya neighbourhood of Baghdad.

Two health officials confirmed the casualty figures.

In Karbala, 90km south of Baghdad, a suicide bomber set off his explosives-laden belt near the two revered Shi'ite shrines and wounded three people, Governor Amal-Din al-Hir said.

Violence has ebbed across Iraq in recent years, but insurgents frequently attack security forces and civilians in an attempt to undermine the country's Shi'ite-led government.

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Karzai condemns NATO killing of boys

Two children, have been accidentally killed by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan, authorities say. Source: AAP

AFGHAN President Hamid Karzai has condemned a NATO helicopter strike in which two brothers, both under seven years old, were shot dead after being mistaken for Taliban insurgents.

The two boys were tending livestock and collecting firewood in the southern province of Uruzgan when they were killed on Thursday in an incident that drew an abject apology from the NATO-led coalition.

Civilian deaths caused by international forces have often triggered outrage in Afghanistan since the Taliban were ousted in 2001, and Karzai said that the latest incident highlighted errors in how the insurgents are being tackled.

"The government has repeatedly stressed that the war on terrorism cannot succeed in Afghan villages and homes, but rather in its sanctuaries and safe havens outside our borders," Karzai said in a clear reference to Pakistan.

The president said he was deeply grieved over the deaths and offered his condolences to the boys' family.

Uruzgan governor Amir Mohammad Akhundzada had blamed Australian soldiers for the incident but on Sunday his spokesman said it was unclear who was responsible.

"We have sent a delegation to investigate and find out what exactly had happened," said Abdullah Hemat.

"The troops called in air support after spotting people they thought were planting roadside bombs.

"They were kids herding their animals and collecting firewood. It is not clear whether they were killed by Australians or Americans."

Australian military chief General David Hurley said he deeply regretted the deaths but added it was too early to say who was responsible.

Hurley said Australian special operations soldiers were on the ground conducting a routine liaison patrol when the shooting occurred on February 28.

"Australian personnel immediately reported the incident to Afghan government officials and military leaders in Uruzgan," he said in a statement on Sunday.

"We deeply regret that the International Security Assistance Forces were responsible for the unintended death of two young Afghan boys during the operation," Hurley said.

"It is premature to make any determination about how the incident occurred or who was responsible," he added.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who has been briefed on the incident, declined to comment on Sunday, saying she would leave any commentary to General Hurley.

The NATO-led coalition, to which Australia contributes close to 1,100 soldiers, has apologised over the children's deaths, saying its troops had opened fire at what they believed were insurgent forces.

"We take full responsibility for this tragedy," General Joseph Dunford, commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said on Saturday.

Civilian casualties caused by NATO forces have been one of the most contentious issues in the campaign against Taliban insurgents, provoking harsh criticism from Karzai and angry public protests.

The bulk of Australia's troops are based in Uruzgan, and are focused on training and mentoring Afghan soldiers ahead of the withdrawal of NATO combat troops by the end of next year.

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Gabriel wants to talk with animals online

Musician Peter Gabriel believes an interspecies internet could help animals communicate with humans. Source: AAP

PETER Gabriel has joined one of the internet's founding fathers in launching an "interspecies internet" for animals to communicate with us and each other.

"Perhaps the most amazing tool man has created is the internet," the famous British singer says.

"What would happen if we could somehow find new interfaces - visual, audio - to allow us to communicate with the remarkable beings we share the planet with?"

His allies in the effort include Vint Cerf, one of the internet's founders, along with a cognitive psychologist and a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor.

Gabriel showed a video of a jamming session he had with a bonobo - formerly known as a pygmy chimpanzee - playing the keyboard.

The bonobo used one finger to improvise a tune that the singer overlaid with his distinctive voice.

"She did good," Gabriel said with a smile.

He told of growing up on a farm and often looking into the eyes of animals and wondering what they were thinking.

"What was amazing to me was that they seemed a lot more adept at getting a handle on our language than we were at getting a handle on theirs," Gabriel said.

"I work with a lot of musicians from around the world... Often we don't have any common language at all. We sit behind our instruments and it's a way to connect."

His curiosity led him to Diana Reiss, a psychologist known for dolphin intelligence research.

"Animals are conscious. They have emotions. They are aware," Reiss said.

"One of my biggest dreams is that we give them the respect and attention they deserve."

MIT professor Neil Gershenfeld joined the effort after seeing a video of Gabriel's jam session and concluding that it's a mistake to leave the rest of the planet out of the internet.

"What is important about what these people are doing is they are beginning to learn how to communicate with species who are not us but share a sensory environment," said Cerf.

Cerf, now chief internet evangelist at Google, spoke of an inter-species internet as a test run for communicating with life encountered while exploring space.

"These interactions with other animals will teach us, ultimately, how we might interact with an alien from another world," he added.

"I can hardly wait."

Seed money for the project will be used to develop a touchscreen device that dolphins can use to connect to the internet.

"We want to engage people here to make smart interfaces to make this possible," Gabriel to a TED audience known for brilliant scientists and exceptional entrepreneurs.

"We are almost ready to turn it on."

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