Obama renews call for efficient energy

US President Barack Obama has renewed his call for the development of new technologies to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and move American cars and trucks off petrol and diesel.

"The only way we're going to break this cycle of spiking gas (petrol) prices for good is to shift our cars and trucks off of oil for good," Obama said on Saturday in his weekly radio and internet address.

"That's why, in my State of the Union Address, I called on Congress to set up an Energy Security Trust to fund research into new technologies that will help us reach that goal."

On Friday, Obama visited the Argonne National Laboratory outside of Chicago, a research facility that is focusing on electric car engines and other ways of reducing US dependence on oil.

The president is proposing to take some of the oil and gas revenues from public lands and put it toward research on energy efficient engines, developing cheaper batteries and advancing biofuels and natural gas.

"Now, this idea isn't mine," Obama said. "It's actually built off a proposal put forward by a non-partisan coalition of CEOs and retired generals and admirals. So let's take their advice and free our families and our businesses from painful spikes in gas prices once and for all."

Obama last month called on Congress to do more to combat climate change and he plans to introduce further efficiency standards for cars and renew a push on the development of wind, solar and cleaner natural gas energy.

His proposed reforms face a tough ride in Congress, however, as Republicans have criticised government spending on green energy programs during Obama's first term, arguing that the outcomes did not justify the cost.

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Pope sets date to visit predecessor

Pope Francis has set a date to visit Benedict XVI at the papal summer residence, Castel Gandolfo. Source: AAP

THE Vatican has set the date for a historic meeting between Pope Francis and the first pope to resign in 600 years.

Pope Francis and Benedict XVI will meet privately over lunch at the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo next Saturday.

Other engagements include a session with the leader of the Argentina.

The Pope has sharply criticised President Christina Fernandez over her support for liberal measures such as gay marriage and free contraceptives.

But the most closely watched appointment will be the unprecedented meeting between a pope and a former pope in the hills south of Rome with Benedict XVI.

Benedict has promised to remain outside church affairs and dedicate himself to prayer and meditation. Pope Francis, however, has not been reluctant to invoke Benedict's legacy and memory in both an acknowledgment of the unusual dimensions of his papacy and also a message that he is comfortable and fully in charge.

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China completes transfer of power

CHINA'S new leaders have turned to veteran technocrats, many with strong international experience, to staff a cabinet charged with overhauling a slowing economy and pursuing a higher global profile for the country.

The ceremonial legislature on Saturday approved nearly three dozen trusted politicians, experienced officials and career diplomats who make up the State Council under Premier Li Keqiang, who was named on Friday.

The appointments largely complete a once-a-decade transfer of power to a new generation of communist leaders.

The new team takes charge at a time of difficult transitions. With the economic model that brought decades of high growth sputtering, the government is looking to transform the world's second-largest economy by nurturing self-sustaining growth based on domestic consumption and technology industries instead of labour-intensive exports and investment.

A more assertive foreign policy, cyber-hacking and years of scouring the world for resources have touched off nervousness among China's neighbours and the US and set off a small but potentially threatening backlash against Chinese investment in Africa and Latin America.

The officials installed on Saturday embarked on their careers as China was re-entering world trade and politics after decades of isolation. They are representative of how far China's reach extends, having more international exposure than their predecessors.

"They will have a more rational and objective view of China and the relationship between China and the rest of the world," said Zhu Feng, a professor of international relations at Peking University. "It means they are more cognisant of how the world reacts to China and that they will be more active in seeking changes. That's a good thing."

Trade envoy Gao Hucheng, who has a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Paris and has worked in Europe and Africa, was named commerce minister. Appointed finance minister was Lou Jiwei, chairman of China's multibillion-dollar sovereign wealth fund and a fixture in international financial circles. Their appointment is likely to reassure trading partners and financial markets about policy continuity.

Central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan, another prominent figure, was kept on.

Similarly, Wang Yi, a career diplomat with experience working on some of China's knottiest diplomatic issues, was named foreign minister. A former ambassador to Japan, Wang worked with the US in nuclear disarmament talks with North Korea and has charted Beijing's successful outreach to Taiwan, healing an estrangement from their separation in the Chinese civil war.

For defence minister, leaders chose General Chang Wanquan, a soldier from a poor farming family who has commanded the manned space program.

At home, the new leaders are expected to emphasise social spending and other measures to spread prosperity more evenly and narrow a politically volatile gap between China's wealthy elite and poor majority.

The economy is limping out of its deepest slump since the 2008 global crisis, but a dip in February consumer sales and factory output has spurred fears that the rebound might be faltering. Economic growth fell to 7.8 per cent last year, China's weakest performance since the 1990s.

Weaker consumer spending has set back rebalancing plans by forcing the government to support the recovery with spending on public works.

"We think China made some progress on rebalancing in 2012; the real work will fall to new Premier Li," Standard Chartered economist Stephen Green said in a report.

A test for the new government will be if, as reformers advocate, it curbs the dominance of state industry and encourages private companies that generate the new jobs and wealth needed to keep incomes rising.

That is likely to provoke resistance from politically powerful companies, some of which in energy, telecommunications and other industries are so large that their bosses rank higher in the government hierarchy than the regulators who oversee them.

The transfer of power to new leaders has been in the works for years and saw divisive bargaining among party power brokers and their factions. The sudden cashiering of a powerful and popular politician, Bo Xilai, over a seamy scandal of corruption and murder last year exposed fault lines that the party leadership prefers to keep hidden behind a mask of unity.

President Xi Jinping and the other party leaders installed in November must heal the rifts if they are to govern. The composition of the cabinet is more inclusive, reaching beyond the party's inner circle, which is dominated by officials and politicians with ties to Xi and one of his political mentors.

Named vice premier in charge of economic affairs was Wang Yang, an ally of now-retired President Hu Jintao. Wang earned a reputation as a liberal reformer by encouraging compromises over workers' strikes and a revolt by a fishing village when he ran the wealthy coastal province of Guangdong.

China has relied on technocratic managers also steeped in Communist Party politics to steer the country in recent decades, and many in the new cabinet were in line for promotions and had strong political backing.

Some are associated with support for state industry and extensive government involvement in the economy - elements that might complicate possible reforms. Miao Wei was reappointed to head the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, which plays a key role in industrial planning that has frustrated foreign and private sector companies.

Also on Saturday, in a sign of displeasure with severe pollution, the normally compliant National People's Congress deputies cast an unusually high number of "no" votes for members of its environmental protection committee: 1,969 in favour to 850 opposed, with another 140 who either abstained or did not vote.

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PM, Abbott brave rain for Greek festival

AUSTRALIA'S political leaders have braved a wet and chilly Melbourne evening for a celebration of all things Greek.

Under umbrellas and coats, Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott walked along the city's Greek precinct on Lonsdale Street on Saturday, the first night of the Antipodes Festival.

Ms Gillard said Greek Australians had changed Australian culture for the better.

"It is impossible to imagine Melbourne, it is impossible to imagine our country without the contribution of the Greek community," she told the crowd.

"It is a part of our fabric and what has enriched us."

Mr Abbott said Greece's greatest gift to the world was democracy.

"Every democratic right around the world is in a sense a child of Pericles," he said.

"Greek philosophy and Christian inspiration have given us Western civilisation."

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Pope turns on charm at press meeting

POPE Francis has shared intimate insights into the moments after his papal election, telling journalists he was immediately inspired to take the name of St Francis of Assisi because of his work for peace and the poor.

"Let me tell you a story," Francis said in a break from his prepared text during a special gathering for thousands of journalists, media workers and guests on Saturday.

Francis then described how was comforted by his friend, Brazilian Cardinal Claudio Hummes, as it appeared the voting was going his way and it seemed "a bit dangerous" that he would be elected.

"He hugged me. He kissed me. He said don't forget about the poor," Pope Francis recalled. "And that's how in my heart came the name Francis of Assisi."

St Francis of Assisi, the Pope said, was "the man of the poor. The man of peace. The man who loved and cared for creation - and in this moment we don't have such a great relationship with the creator. The man who gives us this spirit of peace, the poor man who wanted a poor church."

He then joked that some other cardinals suggested other names: Hadrian VI, after a great church reformer - a reference to the need for the Pope to clean up the Vatican's messy bureaucracy.

Someone else suggested Clement XV, to counter Clement XIV who suppressed the Jesuit order.

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Planned burnings set to resume in Victoria

Tanya Plibersek says relations may be improving between the Victorian and Commonwealth government. Source: AAP

MELBOURNE March 15 AAP - Victorians can expect less hazardous fires because of controlled burns, set to resume in light of improving weather conditions, the state government says.

As the recent heatwave that gripped Melbourne eases, the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) and Parks Victoria will resume their fuel reduction program.

Environment and Climate Change Minister Ryan Smith said the state government was stepping up its efforts to protect Victorians from wild fire hazards.

"Planned burning is an important part of our work to reduce the threat of severe bushfires," he said.

DSE chief fire officer Alan Goodwin said the decision to restart planned burns had been made subject to suitable weather conditions.

"We know that seeing smoke when the weather is still warm, especially after experiencing bushfires like we've had, can cause concern for some people," he said.

"It's vital that we carry out these planned burns whenever the weather is right."

About 215,000 hectares of land is marked for burning.

Fuel reduction includes the controlled burning of grassland, branches and other materials that are highly flammable in extreme heat.

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Qantas owes workers $50,000: union

The Transport Workers Union of NSW says about 400 workers are owed $50,000 by Qantas. Source: AAP

A UNION says $50,000 in disability allowances owed by Qantas to 400 workers will be donated to a charity if the airline pays up.

The Transport Workers Union of NSW said on Friday the money was part of a disability allowance under the terms of their Workplace Agreement for exposure to construction work.

It says about 400 workers are owed the entitlement from the airline with amounts ranging from as little as $5 up to about $200 per person.

"This money has not been paid despite an agreement months ago that the airline would cough up the entitlements," the union's Sydney sub-branch secretary, Mick Pieri, said in a statement.

"The airline quibbled over the exact amounts owed to our members and argued that some members were entitled to very little, if anything at all.

"Rather than engage in a long legal battle over a few hundred dollars per person, our members decided that it would be better to donate the agreed combined total to charity."

A Qantas spokesman said the money would be paid straight to workers, who could then make their own decisions about where it should go.

"Qantas has made it clear that we will make these payments for the agreed amounts directly to our employees," he said.

"We have been awaiting confirmation from the Transport Workers Union on this before proceeding."

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Five face jail over fake UK movie

THE clue was in the title.

In some ways A Landscape of Lies was a typical indie film, with a tiny budget, a B-list cast and an award from an American film festival.

What made it special was that it was created solely to cover up a huge tax fraud.

Five people in Britain face jail sentences after being convicted this week of attempting to bilk the government of STG2.8 million ($A4.1 million) in a moviemaking scam reminiscent of Academy Award-winning hit Argo - without the heroic hostage rescue.

Prosecutors and tax authorities say the fraudsters claimed to be producing a made-in-Britain movie with unnamed A-list actors and a STG19 million budget supplied by a Jordanian firm.

In fact, officials say, the project was a sham, set up to claim almost STG1.5 million in goods and services tax for work that had not been done, as well as STG1.3 million under a government program that allows filmmakers to claim back up to 25 per cent of their expenditure as tax relief.

Britain's tax agency, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs, said that the filmmakers had submitted paperwork and already received STG1.7 million when checks revealed "that the work had not been done and most of the so-called suppliers and film studios had never heard of the gang."

The self-described movie producers were arrested on suspicion of tax fraud in April 2011 - and decided their best shot at avoiding criminal charges was to hastily make a film.

Paul Knight, a true-crime writer turned low-budget filmmaker, was hired to write and direct A Landscape of Lies, described in its internet movie database entry as a crime thriller about a Gulf War veteran out for justice for a murdered comrade.

The production was announced in film industry magazines. The casting of Andrea McLean, a host of talk show Loose Women,as a troubled, bisexual therapist was reported in the tabloid Sun. The producers also recruited a former soap actor - Marc Bannerman from the BBC's EastEnders"

Neither the stars nor Knight were accused of knowing about the fraud.

A Landscape of Lies was released straight to DVD in Britain in 2011. But it did garner some fans, winning a commendation called a Silver Ace award at last year's Las Vegas Film Festival.

That wasn't enough to deter the tax authorities. Five producers from various parts of Britain - Bashar Al-Issa, Aoife Madden, Tariq Hassan, Ian Sherwood and Osama Al Baghdady - were convicted Tuesday of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue at London's Southwark Crown Court. They will be sentenced March 25.

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Find new ways to spread faith, says Pope

Pope Francis has warned in his first mass that the Catholic Church risks becoming a charity. Source: AAP

POPE Francis has urged the troubled Catholic Church not to give in to "pessimism" and to find new ways of spreading the faith "to the ends of the earth".

"Let us not give in to pessimism, to that bitterness that the devil offers us every day," the 76-year-old Argentinian told an audience of the world's cardinals on Friday, his third day in office.

In a reference to the declining number of worshippers in many parts of the world, he urged the cardinals to find "the courage to persevere and also to find new ways to bring evangelisation to the ends of the earth".

Francis said he and they were "elderly", but old age brought wisdom.

"Let us give this wisdom to young people like good wine that gets better over the years," he said.

The first Latin American Pope in history hailed his predecessor Benedict XVI's historic resignation as a "courageous and humble act".

Benedict, who last month became the first Pope to stand down for 700 years, had "lit a flame in the depth of our hearts that will continue to burn", he said.

The new Pope wore white papal vestments but also plain black shoes, not the red shoes favoured by his German predecessor, for the address in the ornate 16th-century Clementine Hall in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio has signalled his will be a more simple papacy, stripped of the fineries enjoyed by his predecessors, and has called for a return to the Church's roots.

On Thursday, he gave a stark warning that the Church, wracked by scandal and Vatican infighting, risked becoming just another charitable organisation if it strayed from its true mission.

The speeches are part of a series of events leading to his inauguration mass on Tuesday - a significant date in the Catholic calendar because it is the Feast of St Joseph, the patron saint of the universal church.

The new pontiff is also due to meet his predecessor, who has withdrawn to the papal summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, in the coming days.

The surprise election of the son of an Italian emigrant railway worker, who was considered a rank outsider before the cardinals began their confidential deliberations, has sparked hope for change in the Catholic Church.

His elevation is also being seen as a nod to the Church's power in Latin America, home to 40 per cent of the world's Catholics. In Europe, its traditional power base, it is ageing and declining.

Projecting an image as a simple man of the people, the Pope chose to name himself after St Francis of Assisi, the 13th century saint who shunned the riches of his family to devote himself to God and the poor.

As archbishop of Buenos Aires, he lived in a modest apartment rather than the official residence, and took buses to work, and he has already made his mark in Rome with his informal style.

The Vatican revealed that following his election Francis had turned down a ride in the papal limousine and instead insisted on boarding a minibus with the cardinals.

But the new Pope's past in Argentina, and especially his actions during its 1976-83 military dictatorship, are coming under the microscope.

Bergoglio and other Catholic clergy were lambasted by leftist critics for failing to act against the regime during Argentina's "Dirty War" in which 30,000 people died or disappeared.

Under particular scrutiny is his role in the arrest of two young Jesuits, Orlando Yorio and Francisco Jalics, who were taken to a notorious torture centre by the junta.

Bergoglio was alleged to have betrayed the young missionaries to the regime because they had become opposition sympathisers and he wanted to preserve the Jesuits' political neutrality.

For his part, Bergoglio has always denied any implication in the case of the two missionaries, and even insists he intervened with the head of the junta, Jorge Videla, to beg for their freedom.

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Girl, 13, missing from Melbourne

A 13-YEAR-OLD girl has gone missing from Melbourne's outer suburbs.

Eliza Falua was last seen at a medical centre in Dandenong at around 4.30pm (AEDT) on Friday, police said.

She was due to be collected by family members at Dandenong railway station at 3pm.

Police have concerns for Eliza's welfare.

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Honda recalls vehicles for braking issue

Honda is recalling vehicles for brakes that can suddenly kick in when the driver isn't braking. Source: AAP

HONDA is recalling nearly 250,000 vehicles, including 1000 in Australia, for brakes that can suddenly kick in when the driver isn't braking.

No crashes have been reported related to the defect.

The affected vehicles were produced from March 2004 to June 2006.

The affected models include the Acura RL, Acura MDX, Pilot, Odyssey, Legend, StepWgn and Elysion.

The problem is caused by electronics and wiring in the vehicle-stability-assist system.

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Wild cyclonic weather to hit Lord Howe

A tropical cyclone is expected to cause extreme winds and surf on Lord Howe Island. Source: AAP

A TROPICAL cyclone is expected to pass close by Lord Howe Island on Friday morning, lashing the island with damaging winds and surf, the weather bureau says.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said on Thursday night that the category two cyclone was tracking south in the northern Tasman sea, and would pass to the east of the Pacific island on Friday morning.

On its website, BoM said the island off the NSW coast could expect "damaging surf, heavy swells and abnormally high tides" through the rest of Thursday and Friday.

This included wind gusts up to 150km/h until the early hours of Friday, it said.

BoM advised that the cyclone would weaken as it passed by the island.

It also said heavy rain caused by the cyclonic conditions would probably cause flash flooding overnight.

Residents and holidaymakers on Lord Howe Island were being warned to bunker down as the cyclone approaches.

Luke Hanson, the manager of the largest guest lodge on the island, said the conditions were "scary" as the cyclonic winds headed for the island.

"This cyclone's a direct hit, this will be the first time we've been whacked by a category two," Mr Hanson told AAP by phone.

"Everyone's a bit nervous, we've been getting all the guests settled, they've all had an early dinner and gone to bed, and they're just going to ride out the night.

"They don't come to Lord Howe Island in March thinking they're going to get hit by a cyclone."

He said residents had been strapping down outside furniture and sandbagging in preparation for the weather to worsen overnight.

Meanwhile, a high seas weather warning has been issued for Tropical Cyclone Tim, which is currently about 500km east northeast of Cairns.

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Man's body found near Broken Hill

THE body of an elderly man has been found near Broken Hill in outback NSW.

Police said two elderly men, aged 81 and 78, went missing on Wednesday near Broken Hill after leaving the isolated mining town in a four-wheel drive.

Police told AAP on Thursday night that a search for the men was launched on Thursday, and the vehicle was located on Thursday.

One of the elderly men was found deceased near the vehicle while the other man was found alive, they said.

The 4WD may have become bogged, police said.

The ABC reports that the men were on a prospecting trip in a remote part of the region.

It also reports that the man who was found alive has been taken to hospital and is in a stable condition.

In a statement, police said the 4WD was found in remote country known as Euriowie, about 70km north of Broken Hill, about 1.45pm (AEDT) on Thursday.

Police say a report will be prepared for the coroner.

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UK, France prepared to arm Syrian rebels

FRANCE and Britain are ready to arm rebels in Syria, even without full support from the European Union, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius says.

UK government sources said on Thursday that no decision had been taken to seek the lifting of the EU arms embargo on Syria, but "all options" remain on the table.

Prime Minister David Cameron hinted earlier this week that Britain could decide to ignore the arms ban and supply weapons to rebels fighting Bashar Assad's regime, telling MPs that he hoped the EU would act together if it became necessary, but "it's not out of the question we might have to do things in our own way".

Cameron is visiting Brussels for a summit with other EU leaders, but Downing Street said Syria was not expected to feature on the agenda.

It is understood that Britain wants to see what impact is achieved by the recent move to supply "non-lethal" assistance - including armoured cars, body armour and secure communications equipment - before further decisions are taken.

Fabius on Thursday suggested London and Paris could ask for an EU meeting planned for May to be brought forward, possibly to the end of March.

Speaking to France Info radio, Fabius said Britain and France were asking the Europeans to lift the arms embargo "so that the resistance fighters have the possibility of defending themselves".

If unanimous EU support for lifting the measure is lacking, the French and British governments would decide to deliver weapons, Fabius said, adding that France "is a sovereign nation".

"We must move quickly," he said.

Responding to Fabius's remarks, a UK foreign office spokesman said: "Our objective is clear - an end to the violence and a political transition to a more democratic Syria through a political solution.

"As it stands, the political track has little chance of gathering momentum unless the regime feels compelled to come to the negotiating table. They need to feel that the balance on the ground has shifted against them.

"The foreign secretary has been clear he hasn't ruled out any options for the future."

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Govt lets down defence victims: taskforce

THE head of a taskforce investigating alleged abuses in the defence force says he's disillusioned with the federal government's failure to act on claims - and thinks victims may be too.

DLA Piper taskforce leader Gary Rumble told a Senate Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade hearing on Thursday that he was disappointed none of the matters raised in a 2012 report had been acted on.

Law firm DLA Piper was commissioned to examine abuse allegations following the Skype scandal at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) in 2011 and uncovered 775 plausible abuse allegations across every decade since the 1950s. The earliest related to events in 1951.

"I am deeply concerned that the government's lack of action and decision last year may have distressed individuals who were hoping for some response to their specific issue (and) worn down the willingness of those who told their stories ... to continue to be involved," Dr Rumble said.

He said he was worried the lack of action would encourage perpetrators and potential witnesses to think they could escape punishment.

Dr Rumble said the taskforce had been directed to write a second report for the Chief of the Defence Force and Service Chiefs but only the defence minister, Stephen Smith, had seen it.

Mr Smith wrote to him saying it would not have been appropriate for anyone other than him to see the report.

Earlier on Thursday, Mr Smith told parliament new complaints to the taskforce's hotline had been building steadily since it opened last November.

At March 4, there had been 1041 complaints.

Just over 780 were made by personal phone call and in voicemail messages, while 260 were sent by email.

Taskforce chairman, retired judge Len Roberts-Smith, told Mr Smith there was no realistic prospect of its work being completed within the initial 12-month term, so the government has agreed to a six-month extension, with the taskforce now due to conclude its investigations by the end of May 2014.

As well, there will be an end-of-May 2013 deadline for new allegations to be made.

The taskforce is examining individual allegations, which if sufficiently substantiated could allow victims to claim up to $50,000 in compensation.

It is also considering whether a full royal commission is needed to address outstanding allegations at ADFA in the 1990s and allegations of sexual and other abuse of naval cadets at the former navy training centre, HMAS Leeuwin, which operated from 1960-84.

The taskforce said it appeared the abuse at Leeuwin occurred in the 1960s and 1970s.

"Much of the alleged bullying and violence appears to have been unreported," Mr Smith said.

Shadow Defence Minister David Johnston slammed the federal government's "snail pace" response and the way in which Mr Smith has handled the issue as if it were an "afterthought".

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Gillard stands by sports doping probe

PM and AFL fan Julia Gillard says politicians shouldn't play politics with doping investigations. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard says she doesn't want to play politics with the doping crisis that has engulfed Australian sport.

Ms Gillard, who is the number one ticket holder at AFL club Western Bulldogs, says understands what it's like to care passionately about a club.

"For fans of some clubs that have been out there publicly dealing with this issue, it's been very difficult days indeed," she told parliament on Wednesday.

The opposition asked Ms Gillard if she still stood by statements from Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare that doping was widespread in sport.

She replied that there was nothing before her to suggest that the statements from the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) weren't correct.

"I actually don't think that Australians want to see us playing politics about sport in this parliament and particularly not at this time," Ms Gillard said.

The ACC in February said it uncovered a doping scandal across numerous sports, chiefly in the nation's two most popular football codes.

Police, the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA), the AFL and NRL have launched their own investigations amid the ACC findings.

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Europe disrupted as snow turns to ice

Heavy snow has caused havoc in Britain and Western Europe, cutting off power and disrupting travel.

Hundreds of flights have been cancelled as a late-winter snowstorm batters northwestern Europe. Source: AAP

ICY roads are disrupting transport as north-western Europe remains in the grip of unseasonable weather.

The snowstorm on Monday and Tuesday, a few days before the official start of spring on March 20, caused widespread travel chaos with the cancellation of hundreds of flights and the suspension of train services including cross-Channel Eurostar trains.

The Eurostar link between London and Paris, the Thalys line between Paris and Brussels and other high-speed connections in northern France resumed running early on Wednesday, though there were delays.

After being forced to close briefly, Frankfurt Airport, Europe's third-busiest, said it expected services to progressively return to normal after 812 flights were cancelled on Tuesday.

France was the worst affected by the snowstorm but Belgium, Britain, Germany and the Netherlands also reported major disruptions.

Services were returning to normal in France, with the Paris Metro and suburban train services running, though buses were cancelled because of icy road conditions.

The sun was shining in Paris, where buildings were covered in a picturesque blanket of snow and a lone cross-country skier was seen on the Champ de Mars near the Eiffel Tower. The temperature was -5 degrees Celsius, well below seasonal averages.

The icy conditions were causing road closures and slowdowns, in particular in the north of France, but highways were gradually opening as snowdrifts were cleared and vehicles stranded during the snowstorm were recovered.

Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault warned disruptions could continue for another 48 hours.

"I think that things should be better by Friday, at least on the weather front," he said.

"The situation is under control, the organisation is at the necessary level."

About 69,000 homes were without power in France on Wednesday, including about 30,000 that lost electricity after the snowstorm moved south into the Alps.

Temperatures hovered close to freezing in Britain, with snow expected in parts of Scotland and eastern England. Motorways in the south of the country were blocked as lorries were backed up following delays to freight and passenger services through the Channel Tunnel.

Belgium was also seeing a return to normal with train and public transport services improving, though icy roads were causing some disruptions.

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Both sides use child soldiers in Syria

CHILDREN are being increasingly used on the frontline in Syria's war, with both sides utilising boys as soldiers and even human shields, a British charity says.

Save the Children says girls are being forced into early marriage in an effort to protect them from the perceived threat of sexual violence.

"Children are increasingly being put directly in harm's way as they are being recruited by armed groups and forces," said Save the Children on Wednesday.

"There is a growing pattern of armed groups on both sides of the conflict recruiting children under 18 as porters, guards, informers or fighters.

"For many children and their families, this is seen as a source of pride. But some children are forcibly recruited into military activities, and in some cases children as young as eight have been used as human shields."

One in three children reported having been hit, kicked or shot at, said the report entitled Children Under Fire, citing research carried out among refugee children by Turkey's Bahcesehir University.

Thousands of children in Syria faced malnutrition, and millions were forced from their homes and live in parks, barns and in some cases caves, it said.

"For millions of Syrian children, the innocence of childhood has been replaced by the cruel realities of trying to survive this vicious war," said Carolyn Miles, the head of Save the Children.

"Many are now living out in the open, struggling to find enough to eat, without the right medicine if they become sick or injured.

"As society has broken down, in the worst cases, hunger, homelessness and terror have replaced school for some of these young people. We cannot allow this to continue unchecked; the lives of too many children are at stake."

The British charity called for all parties to the conflict to allow access to conflict zones and for governments to deliver on pledges to fund a $US1.5 billion ($A1.46 billion) humanitarian appeal for Syria.

The uprising was sparked in March 2011 by the arrest and torture of children and adolescents accused of painting anti-regime graffiti in the southern city of Daraa, which became a flashpoint of deadly protests.

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Chilean poet Neruda may have been poisoned

THE remains of Chilean Nobel prize winning poet Pablo Neruda will be exhumed to determine if he died of cancer or was poisoned.

The leftist, who died 12 days after the 1973 military coup that ousted socialist president Salvador Allende and brought General Augusto Pinochet to power, was long believed to have died of prostate cancer.

But officials in 2011 started examining the possibility he was poisoned by agents of the Pinochet regime, as claimed by Neruda's driver.

"Neruda's remains will be exhumed on April 8," a judicial source told AFP.

The exhumation was ordered last month by Judge Mario Carroza but no specific date had been made public.

Neruda is buried next to his wife, Matilde Urrutia, in Isla Negra, 120km west of the capital Santiago.

He won the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature and is best known for his love poems as well as his "Canto General" - an epic poem about South America's history and its people.

The Chilean justice system gave the go-ahead for a probe in June 2011 after a complaint was filed by the Chilean Communist Party.

The complaint came after Neruda's driver, Manuel Araya, declared publicly that Pinochet agents poisoned Neruda while he was hospitalised with cancer.

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Traders on sidelines as Asian markets slip

MOST Asian markets have closed lower, with few catalysts to drive buying after recent gains.

At the close on Wednesday, Tokyo fell 0.61 per cent, or 75.15 points to 12,239.66, Sydney slipped 0.5 per cent, or 25.5 points, to 5,092.4, while Seoul rose 0.32 per cent, or 6.39 points, to 1,999.73.

The yen edged up slightly as investors weighed reports that Japan's main opposition party would vote against one of the government's nominations for deputy governor of the country's central bank.

Hong Kong shed 1.46 per cent, or 333.95 points, to end at 22,556.65, while Shanghai fell 0.99 per cent, or 22.64 points, to 2,263.97.

Traders took a breather as they awaited fresh buying impetus, with the Dow extending its record-breaking run to six sessions but only by squeezing out a marginal gain of 0.02 per cent.

However, the broad-market S&P 500 fell 0.24 per cent, snapping a seven-session winning streak that had taken it to within a whisker of its all-time high. The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.32 per cent.

In Tokyo the Nikkei rolled back slightly as the US dollar struggled to advance any further against the yen, having shot up by about 20 per cent since November.

The greenback saw some selling pressure on Tuesday in New York after reports that Japan's largest opposition party said it would not back the nomination of Kikuo Iwata to serve as the Bank of Japan's deputy governor.

Iwata, along with the nominee for governor, Haruhiko Kuroda, is a strong supporter of giving more control of the BoJ to the government and an advocate of further aggressive monetary easing.

His failure to win approval could raise questions about Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's clout, analysts said.

The Democratic Party of Japan, however, did say it would support the nominations of Kuroda and Hiroshi Nakaso, in line for the second available post as deputy governor.

Sean Callow, senior currency strategist at Westpac in Sydney, told Dow Jones Newswires: "The local press is confident that all three nominees will eventually be accepted."

On currency markets the US dollar slipped to Y95.56 from Y96.05 in New York late on Tuesday. It had been at Y96.40 earlier on Tuesday in Asia.

The euro bought Y124.80 and $US1.3057, compared with Y125.19 and $US1.3035.

And the pound bought $US1.4953 from $US1.4903 late on Tuesday, with the British unit recovering slightly after a sell on weak industrial production numbers that fuelled fears the economy could slip into recession again.

Oil prices were mixed, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, gaining 31 cents to $US92.85 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for April delivery losing 29 cents to $US109.36.

Gold was at $US1,592.78 an ounce at 1050 GMT (2150 AEDT) compared with $US1,582.70 late on Tuesday.

In other markets:

- Wellington fell 0.86 per cent, or 37.62 points, to 4,341.15.

Telecom eased 6.0 per cent to NZ$2.30 while Auckland Airport was down 4.2 per cent at NZ$2.76 and Fletcher Building lost 1.76 per cent to NZ$8.94.

- Manila closed 0.15 per cent lower, giving up 9.86 points to 6,776.56.

SM Investments fell 0.54 per cent to 1,098 pesos and Ayala Land dropped 0.64 per cent to 31.20 pesos, while Alliance Global Group slipped 1.79 per cent to 22 pesos.

- Taipei ended flat, edging up 0.80 points to 7,995.51.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. rose 1.95 per cent to Tw$104.5 while smartphone maker HTC fell 3.98 per cent to Tw$241.0.

- Kuala Lumpur lost 0.62 per cent, or 10.32 points, to 1,646.22.

CIMB Group shed 1.9 per cent to 7.11 ringgit, RHB Capital lost 3.5 per cent to 8.15 while Petronas Gas gained 1.9 per cent to 18.96.

- Bangkok added 0.13 per cent, or 2.02 points, to 1,578.70.

Oil company Bangchak Petroleum rose 4.26 per cent to 36.75 baht, while Kiatnakin Bank jumped 4.00 per cent to 65.00 baht.

- Jakarta was down 0.39 per cent, or 18.87 points, at 4,835.44.

Cement producer Semen Indonesia lost 1.91 per cent to 18,000 rupiah, auto manufacturer Astra International dropped 1.24 per cent to 7,950 rupiah, while paper maker Pabrik Kertas Tjiwi Kimia gained 2.35 per cent to 2,175 rupiah.

- Singapore dropped 0.44 per cent, or 14.50 points, to 3,288.52.

Singapore Airlines gained 0.18 per cent to Sg$10.89 while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation shed 1.16 per cent to Sg$10.25.

- Mumbai fell 1.03 per cent, or 202.37 points, to 19,362.55 points.

Infosys was down 1.89 per cent at 2,862.45 rupees and Tata Motors shed 1.15 per cent to 300.80 rupees.

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At least 21 killed in Afghanistan

AT least 21 people, including seven foreign troops, have been killed in a single day in Afghanistan.

In separate incidents on Monday, five NATO soldiers were killed in a helicopter crash, a landmine and mortar round killed at least six civilians and 10 people died in a shootout at a joint Afghan-US military base.

The melee at the base in Jalrez district of Wardak province occurred when a policeman opened fire at Afghan and US troops.

Naqibullah Haidari, the district governor, said on Tuesday that at least 10 people were killed in the skirmishes.

He said the attacker, Nasir Ahmad, had been working at the district police headquarters for more than a year.

"He stood on top of a police ranger and took control of the PK machine gun attached to the vehicle," Haidari said.

Two US special forces members, three Afghan policemen and three Afghan army commandos were killed.

Haidari said helicopters flying over the base killed two civilians and injured four others.

The district police chief had also been injured, along with an officer and two Afghan interpreters for the foreign soldiers.

The incident in Wardak was the latest in a series of attacks on coalition troops by members of the Afghan forces.

Last week, three Afghan soldiers opened fire on foreign troops outside a US base in Kapisa, killing a civilian NATO contractor.

Elsewhere, five soldiers killed late on Monday in a helicopter crash in the southern province of Kandahar were believed to be US troops, provincial police chief Abdul Raziq said.

Bad weather and technical problems were likely the cause of the crash, Raziq said, noting the absence of insurgent activity in the area.

NATO also said initial reports indicated no enemy activity.

In neighbouring Helmand province, a landmine detonated late on Monday under a tractor, killing four civilians, the Interior Ministry said.

A mortar round also hit a house on Monday in Helmand, killing two civilians, it said.

The ministry blamed "enemies of Afghanistan," a term it uses for Taliban militants, and said five women were among the civilians killed.

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Labor plans to push through media reforms

LABOR hopes to ram through its proposed media reforms, including a public interest test and stronger industry self-regulation, within the next two sitting weeks.

Communications Minister Stephen Conroy announced on Tuesday the federal government's long awaited response to the reports of two long-run independent media inquiries handed to it in early 2012.

But opposition communications spokesman Malcolm Turnbull says its reply was a "chaotic, half-baked" plan and took issue with the public interest test proposal.

Overall, the government's response avoided many of the wide-ranging recommendations that came out of the convergence review and the Finkelstein inquiry into press regulation.

Among the key reforms are changes to broadcast ownership rules, beefed-up oversight of print and online news media and cuts to television network licence fees.

"These reforms will ensure for the Australian public a media sector that is fair, diverse and able to tackle the challenges of the future," Senator Conroy told reporters in Canberra.

The minister said the government was addressing community concerns about media quality and how press complaints were handled.

A separate bill deals with a previously announced 50 per cent licence fee rebate for television stations, in return for increased local content.

The package of legislation is due to be introduced to parliament this week, with Senator Conroy warning it must go through or be dropped.

He said Labor won't be "held hostage" or barter on the content.

"The parliament either wants this bill or it does not," Senator Conroy said.

The bills require the support of crossbench MPs and the Australian Greens, and already appear to have the backing of most of the independents.

Meanwhile, a joint parliamentary committee would be set up to consider abolishing the "75 per cent reach rule" governing allowable audience share, on-air reporting of watchdog findings on broadcasting breaches and program supply agreements for news and current affairs.

If the one-day inquiry into the reach rule is resolved quickly it could be incorporated into the overall legislation.

Senator Conroy said the rule, which can stop any of the three major commercial networks from buying regional affiliates, wasn't relevant in today's media landscape.

And the public interest test, to be overseen by a public interest media advocate, would ensure diversity was not reduced by nationally significant media mergers and acquisitions.

The new advocate would also ensure the Australian Press Council and media outlets dealt properly with standards issues and complaints.

"Individual complaints are still dealt with in the same way (as now), but if there is a breakdown in the process the advocate is the judge of that," Senator Conroy said.

Mr Turnbull said a coalition government would repeal any public interest test on takeovers.

"I don't see why a bureaucrat should oversee the Australian news media," he said.

The Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA), representing journalists, said the government's plan also raised the prospect of bureaucratic interference in the self-regulation regime.

"The government has adopted a package that threatens a heavy hand without improving the handling of complaints," MEAA federal secretary Christopher Warren said in a statement.

The government will hold the spectrum for a sixth free-to-air channel to support community television.

Seven West Media, which has interests in three TV stations, Yahoo!7, Australia's second largest magazine group Pacific Magazines, The West Australian newspaper and 21 regional titles, welcomed the move to reduce licence fees for commercial TV operators.

But it added it was "extremely disappointed" by the possible introduction of a public interest test for media company mergers.

"The government says it is in favour of media diversity, but putting these kind of arbitrary, uncertain and subjective rules in place will only make it more difficult to attract new investment," the company said in a statement.

"A public interest test works against diversity, not for it."

Seven West also said it strongly opposed further regulation of the print media.

"This is an unprecedented restriction that is wholly inconsistent with the notion of a free press," it said on Tuesday.

News Limited chief Kim Williams said the regulations were an attempt to gag the media.

"This government will go down in history as the first Australian government outside of wartime to attack freedom of speech by seeking to introduce a regime which effectively institutes government-sanctioned journalism," Mr Williams said in a statement.

"The whole approach today constitutes a travesty of public policy and parliamentary process."

Speaking later to Sky News, Senate leader Anthony Albanese said Mr Conroy would not drag the issue out if the government was unable to secure the support needed.

"We're not going to go through months of further consideration and further committees," he said.

Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce leapt on the statement.

"We've heard Anthony Albanese on the TV just then, he took about five minutes to start saying, 'well if it doesn't go through, it doesn't go through'," Mr Joyce told Sky News.

"They only announced it this morning and they're trying to back out of it by tonight."

Senator Joyce said the proposed changes would be a disaster.

"We're going to have the Labor party regulating the media because they're not getting on with the media," he said.

Mr Albanese said deciding who to appoint as the new Public Interest Media Advocate would be a bipartisan job.

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1.7 million apply for 1500 Indian jobs

India's largest state-run bank has received 1.7 million applications for 1500 clerk jobs. Source: AAP

INDIA'S largest state-run bank has received 1.7 million applications for 1500 entry-level clerk jobs - and has promised to examine all of them.

State Bank of India chairman Pratip Chaudhuri attributed the huge interest to good marketing and attractive employment terms, with the number of applications underlining the appeal of "jobs for life" in the Indian public sector.

For positions in Mumbai, the bank offered a starting package of 69,000 rupees ($A1,245) a month.

Job opportunities in the Indian private sector have fallen in the past 18 months as economic growth has dropped to its lowest level in a decade.

The government forecasts that India's once-booming economy will grow by five per cent in the financial year to March 31.

Last year, it grew by 6.2 per cent but even that rate is insufficient to create the jobs India needs for its fast-growing young population.

India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a former economist, believes the country needs at least eight per cent growth to create enough jobs.

Chaudhuri said all 1.7 million applicants - more than 1,100 per position available - would be assessed.

"We have conducted such examinations in the past by hiring schools across the country. This time, we may have to do two shifts," he told the newspaper.

Nine out of ten Indians are employed in the "informal" sector in jobs that offer no security, few perks and often illegal working conditions, government data shows.

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Unusual snow hits UK and Europe

HEAVY snow has caused havoc in Britain and Western Europe, cutting off power and disrupting road, air and train travel.

In Britain, drivers including former Eurovision song contest winner Cheryl Baker were trapped for more than 10 hours as ice, snow and freezing winds descended on southeastern England on Monday and Tuesday.

Police, rescue services, snow ploughs and gritting lorries battled to help the stricken motorists in temperatures as low as -3C.

The counties of Sussex and Kent bordering London were worst affected with roads including stretches of the M23 motorway near Gatwick Airport under 10 centimetres of snow.

Singer Cheryl Baker, formerly of the band Bucks Fizz, was among those caught up in the chaos as she tried to reach Brighton to pick up her children.

"We took 10 hours to do a one-hour journey," she told ITV.

Eurostar said services of the train that runs under the English channel were suspended "due to extreme weather conditions".

Commuters in Paris were advised to stay at home on Tuesday morning and French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault activated an emergency response plan.

Germany's biggest airport in Frankfurt was temporarily closed because of heavy snow.

Some 200 to 300 flights were cancelled as bad weather hampered efforts by snow sweepers to clear runways and prevented airline crews from reaching work on time.

Airport operator Fraport AG said it expected flights to resume at 1.30pm (2330 AEDT).

Major disruptions were also reported in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Weather service Meteo France described the snowfall - coming only eight days before the official start of spring - as "remarkable for the season".

More than 2000 people were stranded in their cars overnight as heavy snow paralysed roads in Normandy and Brittany, with many spending the night in emergency shelters.

"There are cars in front, there are cars behind. We're in a film, it's like the end of the world," trapped driver Michel told France Bleu radio from the Manche region.

At least 66,000 homes in Normandy and Brittany were without power, following snowfalls of 20 to 60 centimetres.

The city's two main airports, Charles de Gaulle and Orly, said they had cancelled up to a quarter of flights.

A homeless man was found dead in the north-western town of Saint-Brieuc early on Tuesday.

The 58-year-old man was believed to have died of exposure.

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Coal use falls to record low

COAL use in energy production has fallen below 75 per cent for the first time in Australian history, lowering carbon emissions and suggesting a trend towards alternative energy.

Carbon emission index monitors pitt&sherry say summer peak energy demands from National Electricity Market (NEM) suppliers have fallen over the past four years in Victoria, the past three years in Queensland and the previous two in NSW and South Australia.

More recently, demand also fell at an increasing rate through February, pitt&sherry consultant Dr Hugh Saddler says.

"The lower peaks have important implications for future spending on network capacity upgrades which, as everyone now knows, have been the main driver of electricity price rises over the past four or five years," he said in a statement on Tuesday.

Since December 2010, electricity produced by coal fired generators fell about 16 per cent, he added.

Coal now produces 74.8 per cent of the electricity supplied to the NEM, renewable sources wind and hydro 12.5 per cent and gas 12.7 per cent.

But Mr Saddler is not sure whether electricity price increases caused the change.

Similar trends have been witnessed in the US, the UK and New Zealand, and as these countries have not "experienced the large price rises seen in Australia ... it is unlikely that price is the main explanation for the changes".

"More fundamental processes beyond price effects appear to be at work," he said.

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Greek economy shrinks 5.7% in 4th quarter

GREECE'S ailing economy contracted by 5.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2012 in an annual comparison, provisional data from the state statistics agency shows.

The agency said on Monday the contraction was slightly lower than the previous estimate of 6.0 per cent for the fourth quarter announced a month ago.

Combined with contraction data given for the first, second and third quarters, Greece's economy shrank by 6.4 per cent in 2012.

This is slightly better than the 6.5 per cent estimate contained in Greece's current budget.

The 2013 budget forecasts another contraction of 4.5 per cent this year before the economy limps back into growth in 2014.

In 2011, Greece's economy shrank by 7.1 per cent. Overall, it has contracted by more than a fifth since 2008.

The coalition government of conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has made achieving growth its top priority as the nation struggles to meet its commitments to international creditors.

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Insider attack kills 2 US, 2 Afghan forces

A POLICE officer has opened fire on US and Afghan forces inside a police headquarters in eastern Afghanistan, sparking a firefight that killed two US troops and two other Afghan policemen.

The attacker was also killed in the shootout, officials said.

The incident in Wardak province on Monday was the latest in a series of insider attacks against coalition and Afghan forces that have threatened to undermine their alliance at a time when they need to work increasingly close together in order to hand over responsibility as planned next year.

The attack also comes a day after the expiration of the Afghan president's deadline for US special forces to withdraw from the province following accusations of abuse by those under their command.

US officials have said that they are working with Afghan counterparts on coming up with a solution that will answer President Hamid Karzai's concerns and maintain security in Wardak.

The majority of US troops in Wardak are special operations forces.

In Monday's attack, an Afghan police officer stood up in the back of a police pickup truck, grabbed hold of a machine gun and started firing at the US special operations forces and Afghan police in the police compound in Jalrez district, said the province's Deputy Police Chief Abdul Razaq Koraishi.

The assailant killed two Afghan policemen and wounded four, including the district police chief, before he was gunned down, Koraishi said.

He did not have a death toll for the US troops.

A coalition military official said two US troops were killed.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose information ahead of a formal statement.

A spokesman for US forces in Afghanistan, Jamie Graybeal, confirmed that a man in an Afghan police uniform turned his weapon on coalition and Afghan forces and that there were injuries, but declined to give further details or confirm any deaths.

Five Afghan police officers were being held for questioning by the Americans, Koraishi said.

Karzai had ordered US special operations forces to leave Wardak province, which lies just outside the capital, Kabul, because of allegations that Afghans working with the commandos were involved in abusive behaviour.

He gave them two weeks to leave, and the deadline expired at midnight on Saturday.

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Sick Queen misses Commonwealth Day service

QUEEN Elizabeth II will miss the Commonwealth Day service in London as she is still recovering from the symptoms of gastroenteritis, Buckingham Palace says.

The 86-year-old was admitted to hospital for the first time in 10 years last week due to the illness.

She was discharged last Monday after an overnight stay in a private London hospital.

The monarch, who is the head of the 54-member Commonwealth of Nations, will not attend the service at Westminster Abbey on Monday, the palace says.

The Queen's 91-year-old husband Prince Philip will now be the only senior British royal at the service, which will be attended by Commonwealth ambassadors, or high commissioners, from around the world and will feature an address from Virgin tycoon Richard Branson.

The BBC, Britain's publicly-funded national broadcaster, reported that doctors had recommended it would be best for the queen not to sit through an hour-long church service.

The monarch will still attend an evening reception where she will sign the new Commonwealth charter, a document that includes commitments to gay rights among other issues, the palace said.

All of the Commonwealth nations adopted the charter in December.

The 16-point charter aims to protect democracy, the rule of law, international security and free speech.

"We are implacably opposed to all forms of discrimination, whether rooted in gender, race, colour, creed, political belief or other grounds," the document reads.

Queen Elizabeth is head of state of 16 Commonwealth realms including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Her titles also include head of the Commonwealth, which mainly groups territories of the former British empire.

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Deliberate fire ended Tas tree sit: tweet

POLICE have reportedly confirmed that a deliberately-lit fire was behind a record-breaking Tasmanian anti-logging activist being forced from the tree that was her home for 15 months.

Tree-sitter Miranda Gibson had until Thursday lived on a 60-metre high platform atop a eucalypt in the Tyenna Valley northwest of Hobart since December 2011.

The 31-year-old was forced from her perch after 449 days by a nearby bushfire.

Tasmania police were unavailable for direct comment, however, ABC Radio Hobart host Damien Brown tweeted late on Monday night that officers had confirmed to him that the fire was deliberate.

"@TasmaniaPolice have confirmed fires that forced @observertree1 from her 457 day tree-top protest were deliberately lit," he said.

Ms Gibson's group Still Wild Still Threatened claims her tree-sit was Australia's longest, beating the 208 days Manfred Stephens set in north Queensland in 1995.

Former Greens leader Bob Brown last week questioned if the fire that put an end to Ms Gibson's protest had been deliberately lit and called for a swift investigation.

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Portugal in worst recession in 37 years

PORTUGAL'S statistics agency says the economy contracted 3.2 per cent last year - its sharpest annual downturn since 1975.

Portugal is enacting broad debt-reduction measures, including tax hikes and pay and pension cuts, in return for a 78 billion euro ($A100 billion) international financial lifeline it received in May 2011.

Those austerity policies are widely blamed for the deepening recession and growing hardship.

The National Statistics Institute said on Monday that a drop in private consumption and slower export growth were the main factors behind the slump, with the economy shrinking 3.8 per cent in the fourth quarter.

Unemployment stands at 17.6 per cent, the third-highest rate in the 27-nation bloc after Greece and Spain.

The economy contracted 1.6 per cent in 2011. The government predicts a 2.0 per cent contraction this year.

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Syrian refugees may double or triple: UN

THE number of Syrian refugees, which just passed the million mark, could double or triple by the end of the year if no solution is found to the conflict, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres says.

"Now if this escalation goes on and nothing happens to solve the problem we might have in the end of the year a much larger number of refugees: twice or three times the present level," he told reporters in Ankara on Sunday.

His warning came days after the UN announced that the number of Syrian refugees hit one million since the revolt erupted in their homeland two years ago.

A year ago, the UN agency had only registered 33,000 refugees, but the numbers escalated as the war intensified, sending waves of refugees into neighbouring countries.

Guterres is in Turkey to meet officials and discuss the situation of the more than 180,000 refugees who have taken shelter in several camps set up along Turkey-Syria border.

Ankara says the real number is much higher as at least 70,000 others live in houses they have rented elsewhere in Turkey.

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Obama pokes fun at US peers and politics

Barack Obama has cracked jokes a week after budget cuts, known as the sequester, came into force. Source: AAP

US President Barack Obama has taken a satirical swipe at the political drama over an $US85 billion ($A83.23 billion) austerity drive clutching at the US economy, at a cozy dinner for the Washington DC establishment.

Obama attended the 128th Gridiron Club banquet on Saturday, a week after the cuts, known as the sequester, came into force when he and Republicans failed to agree a deficit cutting deal as political acrimony haunts the US capital.

"My joke writers have been placed on furlough," Obama joked to the exclusive off-camera, white tie gathering of top Washington DC journalists, cabinet members, politicians and military brass.

"There is one thing in Washington that didn't get cut: the length of this dinner," Obama said.

"Yet more proof that the sequester makes no sense."

The president also took a good natured jab at the country's new secretary of state John Kerry, who is seeking to get out from the shadow of the former top US diplomat Hillary Clinton.

"Let's face it, Hillary is a tough act to follow - frankly, though, I think it's time for him to stop showing up at work in pant suits. It's a disturbing image. I don't know where he buys them. He's a tall guy."

Obama also ribbed rising star Senator Marco Rubio, now famous for taking an undignified gulp of water as he delivered the Republican response to the president's State of the Union address.

"Of course, as I begin my second term, our country is still facing enormous challenges," Obama said, before taking a long draw on a glass of water.

"That, Marco Rubio, is how you take a sip of water," Obama said.

Obama also skewered Vice President Joe Biden, as rumours swirl that despite hitting 70, the veteran politician is considering a run at the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016.

"It's no secret that my vice president is still ambitious. But let's face it, his age is an issue. Just the other day I had to take Joe aside and say, 'Joe, you are way too young to be the pope'."

The dinner, which features comic skits and songs, seems more suited to the Music Hall era than the Twitter age, but provides a chance for politicians and journalists, normally at each other's throats, to poke fun at one another.

For the first time, at the traditionally off-the-record event, the club permitted a White House pool reporter to pass on the jokes to his peers.

The decision appeared to be a recognition that journalists can hardly complain at the White House limiting access to Obama if it maintains an exclusive tag on its own clubby night with Washington DC's political elite.

Gridiron president Charles Lewis ensured that Obama did not have the evening all his own way, poking fun at the White House's penchant for bypassing traditional media with its own high powered multimedia message machine.

"As we were walking in, I thought I heard (Obama) say ... 'so many newspaper reporters, so many interviews to turn down,'" Lewis said.

Active membership of the organisation is limited to 65 Washington DC journalists.

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WA's McGowan takes blame for loss

West Australian Labor leader Mark McGowan refuses to link his election defeat to the federal party. Source: AAP

WEST Australian Labor leader Mark McGowan refuses to link his election defeat to the federal party yet hopes his diminishing pool of parliamentary colleagues will give him another shot.

"I take responsibility for the outcome and I'm not going to blame anyone else," Mr McGowan said.

He said Saturday had been a brutal night for state Labor, which would spend coming days reflecting on its caning at the polls, but he couldn't yet pinpoint what had gone wrong.

It was always difficult to defeat a first-term government, he said, and wouldn't be drawn on the many comments from both sides of politics - including defence minister Stephen Smith - that the party's federal woes had dented WA Labor's chances.

"I'm not going to blame any other level of government," Mr McGowan said.

"I know over the coming week, people will try to make me do it.

"I'm the leader - I said it was a state campaign, I was repetitive in saying that."

When pressed on the role the federal party may have played, he said: "I'm not going to get into all of those issues today".

Prime minister Julia Gillard issued a brief, terse statement congratulating Mr Barnett and saying she acknowledged Mr McGowan's hard-fought campaign.

After licking its wounds, WA Labor will hold a caucus meeting later this week, when Mr McGowan will stand for the leadership again.

But he said it was up to his colleagues.

"I've tried to do the best I can and make sure that we're a positive alternative," he said.

"I hope my colleagues agree with me."

His second in charge, opposition treasury spokesman Ben Wyatt, said Mr McGowan was the right man to rebuild the party in the state.

Mr Wyatt said he hoped and expected the former Navy lieutenant and lawyer - who only took over from Eric Ripper just over a year ago - would stay on as leader and contest the 2017 election.

Meanwhile, Mr McGowan said the interim was an opportunity for rebuilding and he hoped the party would win more than 20 seats when counting was finalised.

"If we obtain that, that makes us into a significant opposition," he said.

He said he was very sad about his colleagues who lost, but no-one could deny the party had run a good campaign.

"I'm proud of the campaign we ran, it was hard work, but we went out there with so many policies and so many ideas," he said.

Mr McGowan was surprisingly non-committal as to whether WA Labor's main election promise, the Metronet rail network, would remain part of its policy in its current form.

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Greens battered in WA election

The Greens suffered even more than the Labor Party in the WA election. Source: AAP

IF Labor's performance in the West Australian election was bad, the Greens was worse - and the party's federal leader Christine Milne says it's a clear warning that Tony Abbott and last century conservatism looms large.

As Colin Barnett's minority Liberal government was returned with a huge majority, the four per cent swing away from the Greens was even more violent than those that turned away from Labor.

The Greens only hope of representation in WA's lower house is in the Kimberley, where local candidate Chris Maher and his opposition to the James Price Point gas project mobilised support.

But across the rest of the state, the Greens vote plummeted, with the party predicted to hold just two seats in the Upper House as counting concludes.

Ms Milne said rather than take her party's savaging in WA as a sign of decline, she said voters should see it as a warning as what could happen at the federal polling booths in September.

"I think the message out of WA is that is essential that we keep the Greens holding the balance of power in the federal parliament," Ms Milne said.

"Because what is very clear is that(Opposition Leader) Tony Abbott and the conservatives are coming and you are going to need people that have policies and will stand up and defend them.

"It is absolutely critical people see the march of the conservatives across the country and see it for what it is - a retreat to the past, to the last century.

"We need to stand up against everything that Tony Abbott would tear down."

With counting in WA suspended until Monday, the Greens held just eight per cent of the vote in the Upper House.

Former Greens turned independent MP Adele Carles only attracted five per cent of the popular vote in Fremantle after her issues with former lover and state treasurer Troy Buswell.

Ms Milne claimed the campaign run by the Liberals and Colin Barnett had been influenced by the state's major mining and resources interests.

"Colin Barnett has run an aggressive campaign on behalf of the big mining industry," Ms Milne said.

"In WA you have got strong voices like Gina Rinehart and Twiggy Forrest and so on all arguing that they should not have to pay the mining tax.

"That has been resonating through WA and that is a tragedy for the rest of the country."

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India's Kumbh Mela festival draws 120m

THE world's biggest religious festival has concluded with nearly two million pilgrims taking a dip in an Indian holy river that washed away the sins of 120 million people in the last 60 days.

The Kumbh Mela, celebrated every 12 years at the conjunction of two sacred rivers on the outskirts of the northern Indian city of Allahabad, drew massive crowds of devotees, ascetics and foreign tourists.

The two-month-long Kumbh Mela ended on the occasion of Mahashivratri, a major Hindu festival celebrated across India and Nepal.

Authorities at the festival on Sunday said the last batch of holy men marked the end of the Kumbh by plunging into the river Ganges and other pilgrims filled the Ganga Jal (holy water) in plastic bottles for religious ceremonies at home.

Many naked holy men smeared their bodies with ashes and sand, chanted final prayers and departed from the venue.

"Over 60 million people attended the festival in 2001 and this time we believe 120 million people have participated," festival chief Mani Prasad Mishra told AFP late on Saturday.

The festival involves crowd management on a jaw-dropping scale and despite all the precautions in place was hit by tragedy last month when a stampede at a train station in Allahabad killed 36 pilgrims who were returning home.

Assorted dreadlocked, naked holy men, priests and self-proclaimed saints from all over the country assembled for the spectacle that offers a rare glimpse of the dizzying range of Indian spiritualism.

Despite the hardships of waking early, plunging into the polluted river water and the relentless crush of the crowds, pilgrims from all over the world described feeling spiritually uplifted and amazed by the scale of the event.

"There is a sense of relief because the festival finally is coming to an end. Most of the pilgrims have returned back home," said Mishra.

He said the job of dismantling the infrastructure that sprawled over 2,000 hectares to house the pilgrims had already begun.

"We built a tent city to celebrate the Kumbh Mela and now we are tearing it down," he said.

Mishra said five electrical sub-stations and tens of thousands of streetlights that gave the improvised city its yellow glow between dusk and dawn would be removed by Sunday night.

All police stations, mobile field hospitals, fire stations, shops, and cafes were now shut and more than 35,000 makeshift toilets had been removed, he said.

The Kumbh Mela has its origins in Hindu mythology, which describes how a few drops of the nectar of immortality fell on the four places that host the festival - Allahabad, Nasik, Ujjain and Haridwar.

The 'Mother Ganges' is worshipped as a god and is seen as the giver and taker of life. In many cases, pilgrims used up all their money to come to the Kumbh Mela, hoping that their prayers could come true.

"People from all walks of life participate in the festival but there is one thing common among all of them - they have a desire to lead a pure life," said Chandra Bala, a temple priest in Allahabad city.

"The power of the Kumbh Mela is the power of humanity."

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