Livestock saved in Vic abattoir fire

FIREFIGHTERS have rescued hundreds of cattle and sheep from a fire at a Melbourne abattoir.

CFA Incident Controller Peter Lucas said more than 20 trucks and 100 firefighters were called in to fight the blaze at a Cranbourne abattoir in Melbourne's south-east.

Three workers alerted firefighters to the blaze caused by a possible electrical fault at about 3.30pm (AEDT).

"When the fire did erupt they saw fire take off and roll across ceiling," he told AAP.

"It was movie stuff."

Hundreds of sheep and cattle were herded into a local paddock, with a few dying from shock.

"We saved the bulk of them from a pretty terrible end," Mr Lucas said.

Mr Lucas said the fire threatened to engulf the whole abattoir and took over two hours to control.

While more than half of the building was damaged, firefighters were able to save the abattoir's storing fridges, Mr Lucas said.

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Boy critical after being hit by 4WD

A YOUNG boy is fighting for his life after being knocked off his pushbike by a 4WD while crossing a road in western Sydney.

The boy suffered life-threatening head injuries after he was hit by a silver Subaru Escape at traffic lights on Richmond Road, Marayong at about 7.30pm (AEDT) on Saturday, police said.

The boy is aged between eight and 12 and was with his brother at the time of the accident, police believe.

He has been taken to the Children's Hospital at Westmead in a critical condition.

The Subaru driver, a woman in her 30s, stopped immediately and is assisting police.

Witnesses are urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

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Vic man charged after ute crash kills two

A 19-YEAR-OLD Victorian man has been charged with culpable driving after a ute rolled killing two people.

Robert Saunders was the driver of a ute carrying six people when it left the road and rolled onto its roof ejecting several passengers, police said.

Saunders faced an out-of-session hearing at the Traralgon police station charged with two counts of culpable driving causing death.

A 22-year-old and 18-year-old man died at the scene of the crash at Glengarry in the state's east on Saturday.

One man was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition.

Saunders has been remanded in custody and will face the Latrobe Valley Magistrates Court on Monday.

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Assault weapons ban deserves vote: Obama

US President Barack Obama says each of his proposed steps to reduce gun violence should get a vote in Congress - even an assault weapons ban that both parties agree stands little chance at passing.

Senate Democrats dropped the ban from the bill they plan to debate next month out of concern it could sink the whole package. Still, Obama says he's pushing for it.

In his weekly radio and internet address released Saturday, Obama says the US has changed in the three months since the December school shooting in Newtown, Conn. He says Americans support the ban, plus limits on high-capacity ammunition magazines, school security funding and a crackdown on gun trafficking.

"Today there is still genuine disagreement among well-meaning people about what steps we should take to reduce the epidemic of gun violence in this country. But you, the American people, have spoken," Obama said.

The White House said on Saturday that Obama will make additional trips outside Washington to rally support for the measures, including the assault weapons ban. The White House also said that before Obama left for Israel earlier this week, his push for gun control was among the issues he raised with legislators from both parties as he embarked on a concerted effort to reach out to Congress.

In the Republican address, Senator Mike Lee of Utah says the Senate Democrats' budget raises taxes by $US1.5 trillion ($A1.44 trillion) without doing anything to save entitlements like Social Security and Medicare.

He says Republicans want a balanced budget that lives up to the nation's moral obligation to act in the best interest of future generations.

"Republicans recognise that keeping dollars, decisions, priorities and power in the hands of the people is what has made America the greatest civilisation the world has ever known," Lee says. "Now is the time to return to that model."

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One month delay in Berlusconi trial

A COURT in Milan has delayed by a month the next hearing in former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi's appeal trial against a conviction for tax fraud after a request by his lawyers.

Judges accepted Berlusconi's justification that he could not attend on Saturday, the day of the hearing, because he was meeting the leadership of his People of Freedom party.

The next hearing in the trial - linked to his business empire Mediaset- will be on April 20.

A verdict is not expected before the end of April at the earliest.

Berlusconi was sentenced to a year in prison and handed a five-year ban from holding public office, but the punishment has been suspended during the appeal process.

If the court upholds the conviction, he can still file a second appeal with Italy's highest court.

Berlusconi is also a defendant in another trial in Milan for having sex with an underage prostitute and abuse of office when he was prime minister.

He has denied all charges.

AFP a

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Consumers warned about funeral contracts

CONSUMERS are being warned to beware of "push advertising" for pre-paid funeral arrangements on daytime television.

In a statement, NSW Fair Trading commissioner Rod Stowe said daytime TV was experiencing a "renaissance" in marketing around the issue of death and dying that "could play on people's insecurities about such matters".

"People need to shop around and go for products without the pernicious aspects of escalating costs with age," Mr Stowe said on Friday.

The Fair Trading boss said consumers needed to be aware that with some products there was the potential to lose payments if a contract or a scheduled transfer was cancelled.

Mr Stowe stressed to consumers considering buying funeral products that refunds were "not generally provided if a payment is missed or the policy is cancelled".

Consumers should read the product disclosure statement (PDS) that outlines what happens if the policy is cancelled, he said.

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Tourists kidnapped in Egypt

ARMED Bedouin tribesmen in Egypt's Sinai abducted two tourists, an Israeli man and a Belgian woman, as they were travelling between two beach resorts.

Police officials said the gunmen intercepted the tourists' car and forced them into their truck.

The tourists had been travelling between the southern resort of Taba, on the border with Israel, and Dahab.

Such hostage takings, which usually last for no longer than 48 hours, began in the restive Sinai peninsula after an uprising in early 2011 forced out president Hosni Mubarak and battered his security services.

The kidnappers are Bedouin who want to trade the hostages for jailed tribesmen.

Israel has repeatedly warned its tourists of threats of attacks in the Sinai, where Islamist militants have waged a low level insurgency against the military and police and occasionally attacked neighbouring Israel.

But Friday's kidnapping did not appear politically motivated.

Bedouin sources in the area said the kidnappers wanted to exchange the hostages for jailed relatives.

Bedouin kidnapped two Britons on March 7, only to release them within hours following negotiations with security officials.

The British husband and wife had been kidnapped from a bank in a town as they headed towards the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

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WA prison escapee found

A PRISONER who escaped a Western Australian jail has been caught by police.

Nigel Ryder, 33, was wearing his prison greens when he escaped Wooroloo Prison at 3.15pm (AEDT) on Friday.

The escapee was found in Woodbridge in Perth's northeast on Friday night and is now in custody.

It is believed he abandoned a car in the area and was on foot.

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Musharraf set to return from exile

PAKISTAN'S former military ruler Pervez Musharraf was granted protective bail in a series of legal cases, paving the way for his return from exile without the risk of immediate arrest.

Musharraf, who seized power in 1999 and left the country after stepping down in 2008, has vowed to return Sunday to contest the May 11 general election, but is wanted in Pakistan for conspiracy to murder and illegally arresting judges.

To preclude the prospect of his arrest on arrival, his daughter, Ayla Raza, petitioned a court in Karachi on his behalf for protective bail in three cases, including the 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

"He has been given pre-arrival, protective bail in all three cases," Musharraf's lawyer Ahmad Raza Kasuri told AFP.

Judge Sajjad Ali Shah posted bail at 300,000 rupees ($2,950) over the 2007 sacking of judges, the 2006 death of Akbar Bugti, a Baluch rebel leader in the southwest, and the murder of Bhutto in a gun and suicide attack.

The decision prevents Musharraf being arrested for 10 days in connection with the judges' arrests and for 14 days in connection with the other two cases.

Technically, Pakistan's Supreme Court could intervene to reverse the order.

"He has full protection now and he cannot be arrested in these cases upon his arrival in Pakistan," Salman Safdar, another Musharraf lawyer, told AFP.

At the Sindh High Court, a handful of activists from Musharraf's All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) party flashed victory signs and chanted "Long Live Musharraf" and "Musharraf will come back, he will bring prosperity".

The outgoing government led by Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) always insisted that Musharraf would be arrested should be return to the country and last year he delayed a planned homecoming after being threatened with detention.

A parliamentary committee could later Friday agree on a candidate to head up an interim government which will rule during the election campaign.

Bhutto's son, Bilawal Bhutto, who is co-chairman of the PPP with his father, President Asif Ali Zardari, has accused Musharraf of murdering his mother.

She was killed after an election rally in Rawalpindi, the headquarters of the army, on December 27, 2007.

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Bodies in streets of riot-hit Myanmar town

Global pressure is mounting for an end to the Buddhist-Muslim unrest in Myanmar. Source: AAP

MYANMAR declared a state of emergency for a riot-hit town where 20 people have been killed in Buddhist-Muslim violence that has sparked fears of spreading unrest.

Swathes of Meiktila, located 130km north of the capital Naypyidaw, have been reduced to ashes as the authorities struggle to establish control after three days of clashes and arson.

"At least 20 people have been killed. We estimate that it could be higher but it is also difficult for us to gather all the figures," said a police officer who did not want to be named told AFP.

The president's office said the state of emergency would enable the military to help restore order.

The situation was extremely tense on Friday with groups of men - including Buddhist monks - armed with knives and sticks prowling the streets.

Many of the town's Muslim residents have fled their homes.

A journalist saw the incinerated remains of two victims on a roadside, just one of several reports of bodies in the town, as flames raged from torched mosques and houses while other buildings smouldered unattended.

"The situation is getting worse," a local resident said. "People are destroying buildings. Many people have been killed. We are scared and trying to stay safe at home."

A group of reporters were stopped at knife-point by a gang of young men and monks and forced to hand over their camera memory cards, according to one of the journalists.

It is the worst communal violence since a wave of clashes between Buddhists and Muslims in the western state of Rakhine last year that left at least 180 people dead and more than 110,000 displaced.

A local lawmaker said that about 25 people had been killed in Meiktila, where more than one-third of the population of about 80,000 people is Muslim, but it was not possible to verify his figures.

"The situation is not good... although the government has said everything is under control," parliamentarian Win Htein, of the opposition National League for Democracy party, told AFP.

He said hundreds of Muslims had taken shelter at a football ground and police compound while Buddhists had sought sanctuary in monasteries.

The violence comes as Myanmar struggles with worsening tensions between Muslims and Buddhists that have marred international optimism over dramatic political reforms since the end of military rule two years ago.

A local police officer said an order had been given on Thursday to shoot rioters below the waist if needed to quell the violence, which apparently began with a row in a Muslim-owned gold shop that turned into a mass street brawl.

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Universe 80m years older than thought

NEW results from a look into the split second after the Big Bang indicate the universe is 80 million years older than previously thought but the core concepts of the cosmos - how it began, what it's made of and where it's going - seem to be on the right track.

The findings released on Thursday bolster a key theory called inflation, which says the universe burst from subatomic size to its now-observable expanse in a fraction of a second.

The Big Bang is the most comprehensive theory of the universe's beginning.

According to it, the visible portion of the universe was smaller than an atom and in a split second it exploded, cooled and expanded rapidly, much faster than the speed of light.

The European Space Agency's Planck space probe looked back at the afterglow of the Big Bang, and those results have now added about 80 million years to the universe's age, putting it 13.81 billion years old.

The probe also found that the cosmos is expanding a bit slower than originally thought, has a little less of that mysterious dark energy than astronomers figured, and a tad more normal matter.

But scientists say those are small changes in calculations about the cosmos, nothing dramatic when dealing with numbers so massive.

"We've uncovered a fundamental truth of the universe," said George Esfthathiou, director of the Kavli Institute for Cosmology at the University of Cambridge who announced the Planck satellite mapping.

"There's less stuff that we don't understand by a tiny amount."

The $US900 million ($A800 million) Planck space telescope was launched in 2009.

It has spent 15 1/2 months mapping the sky, examining light fossils and sound echoes from the Big Bang by looking at the background radiation in the cosmos.

The device is expected to keep transmitting data until late 2013, when it runs out of cooling fluid.

Outside scientists said this result confirms on a universal scale what the announcement earlier this month by a different European group confirmed on a subatomic scale - that they had found the Higgs boson particle which explains mass in the universe.

"What a wonderful triumph of the mathematical approach to describing nature," said Brian Greene, a Columbia University physicist who was not part of the new research.

"It's an amazing story of discovery."

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Run on Cyprus ATMs

ANXIOUS Cypriots queued outside Popular Bank ATM machines to withdraw their cash as fears rose that the country's banking meltdown will mean its second largest bank closes for ever.

"It's all about cash now. Only a gambler will take cheques in this situation," said retired government official Phaedon Vassiliades as he withdrew money from the bank's ATM at Ledra Street, a tourist hotspot in the capital.

Behind the wheelchair-bound Vassiliades, a queue of anxious men and women waited for their turn to claw back as much money as they can.

"There are rumours that Laiki Bank (the Greek name for the Popular Bank) will never open again. I want to take out as much as I can," Vassiliades, who lost both his legs in a car accident a few years ago, told AFP.

"I have nearly 60,000 euros as savings in this bank and some credit societies. I don't know if I will ever get it back now. This is what I had and now it seems it is all gone."

AFP reporters saw similar queues of worried Popular Bank depositors across central Nicosia amid reports that the government, struggling to halt a banking meltdown since an EU bailout package was first announced, was considering merging it with the Bank of Cyprus, the island's largest.

On Thursday, Nicosia was fine-tuning a "Plan B" aimed at securing a eurozone bailout that the European Central Bank warned should be adopted by the weekend to avoid a banking meltdown on the debt-hit island.

But Popular Bank savers expressed total distrust in the government efforts.

"Cyprus is sinking. They (the EU and the international community) are prepared to let Cyprus sink," said Gautam Kapoor, a Briton working for a Greek metals company, as he waited outside the Popular Bank ATM in central Nicosia.

"The markets have already factored in the Cyprus debacle. Nobody is going to have trust in Cyprus again. I just want to withdraw cash as much as possible as even fuel stations and departmental stores are now accepting only cash."

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'Autism risk rise over generations'

OLDER fathers are more likely than younger men to have grandchildren with autism, researchers say.

A new study suggests genetic risk factors for the condition accumulate over generations.

Scientists have analysed family and psychiatric records on almost 6000 individuals with autism born in Sweden from 1932.

Their data was then compared with that from 31,000 unaffected members of the population.

The study found autism risk in a grandchild increased the older the grandfather was when his son or daughter was born.

Men who had a daughter at the age of 50 were 1.79 times more likely to have a grandchild with autism than those aged 20 to 24.

Having a son at 50 or older increased a man's chance of having an autistic grandchild 1.67 times.

The findings have been published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

Co-author Dr Avi Reichenberg, from King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry, said: "We tend to think in terms of the here and now when we talk about the effect of the environment on our genome.

"For the first time in psychiatry, we show that your father's and grandfather's lifestyle choices can affect you.

"This doesn't mean that you shouldn't have children if your father was old when he had you, because whilst the risk is increased, it is still small.

"However, the findings are important in understanding the complex way in which autism develops."

Lead researcher Emma Frans, from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, says it's known from previous studies that older paternal age is a risk factor for autism.

"This study goes beyond that and suggests that older grandpaternal age is also a risk factor for autism, suggesting that risk factors for autism can build up through generations," she said.

A developmental disorder, autism affects the ability to communicate and socialise, and varies from a minor problem to one that requires a lifetime of specialist support.

It is known to be caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors.

Previous studies have shown that fathers aged 50 and older are more than twice as likely to have a child diagnosed with autism than younger fathers.

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Kurdish rebel leader calls for ceasefire

JAILED Kurdish rebel chief Abdullah Ocalan has called for a ceasefire, telling militants to lay down their arms and withdraw from Turkish soil, raising hopes for an end to a three-decade conflict with Turkey that has cost tens of thousands of lives.

"We are at a stage where guns should be silenced," Ocalan said in a letter written from his isolated island prison cell and read out to a vast crowd in the mainly Kurdish southern city of Diyarbakir by a Kurdish lawmaker.

"We are at a stage where our armed elements should withdraw from Turkey," said the leader of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), adding that it was "time for politics to prevail".

The ceasefire call caps months of clandestine peace talks between Turkey's spy agency and the state's former nemesis Ocalan, who has been serving a life sentence for treason on Imrali island off Istanbul since 1999.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Ocalan, branded a "baby killer" by many Turks, both appear to have staked their political futures on the renewed push to end the 29-year armed campaign for self-rule that has killed some 45,000 people, mostly Kurds.

Erdogan has said he was putting his faith in the peace process "even if it costs me my political career", in the face of charges by the nationalist opposition that he was guilty of "treason".

The peace talks were launched last year after a dramatic upsurge in attacks by Kurdish militants against Turkish security forces.

Ocalan's announcement was timed to coincide with Kurdish New Year, or Newroz, and hundreds of thousands of people gathered for celebrations in the Kurdish-majority city of Diyarbakir in southeastern Turkey.

"We will wake up to an actual New Day, the Newroz of the new era tomorrow," prominent Kurdish lawmaker Selehattin Demirtas said on Twitter on Wednesday.

From the early hours, people from across Turkey had poured into the main square in Diyarbakir, adorned with red, yellow and green Kurdish flags, to hear Kurdish lawmakers read Ocalan's letter both in Kurdish and Turkish.

"I believe in peace," said Ahmet Kaplan, an elderly farmer from a village near Diyarbakir. "I have a son in the mountains and one in the army. It has got to stop, we need an end to mothers' tears."

A giant placard above the stage in Diyarbakir read "Democratic solution, freedom for our leader Ocalan" as thousands waved banners chanting "In peace as in war, we are with you, chief!"

"The light of Newroz burning for peace," declared the headline in the mainstream Sabah newspaper, referring to a celebratory ritual where young men jump over flames in a sign of courage and fertility.

The ceasefire call is likely to be in return for wider constitutional rights for the up to 15 million Kurds in Turkey, as well as the release of thousands detained over links to the PKK, which is regarded as terrorist group by Ankara and its Western allies.

The ceasefire will also test Ocalan's influence over the PKK after years of being cut off from the outside world since his jailing in 1999.

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Vic man charged with murder

A 23-YEAR-OLD man has been charged over the murder of a man in Victoria's southwest.

Matthew Drayton was charged with the murder of a 57-year-old man found dead at a house in Winchelsea.

Police found the dead man at about 4.15pm (AEDT) on Wednesday after being called to conduct a welfare check.

The 23-year-old Winchelsea man faced an out-of-sessions court hearing at the Geelong police station on Thursday.

He has been remanded in custody and will face the Geelong Magistrates Court on Friday.

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Aust could fuel India 'nuclear accident'

ANTI-NUCLEAR campaigners have raised concerns Australian uranium could fuel a nuclear accident in India similar to the Fukushima and Chernobyl disasters.

Negotiations are under way in New Delhi to establish nuclear safeguards before Australia begins selling uranium to India.

Last year India's auditor-general warned that lax safety standards could lead to a nuclear disaster.

It is a concern backed up by the Indian-based Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP).

"A major catastrophic accident like Fukushima could happen in any of our 20 reactors," CNDP spokesman Praful Bidwai told ABC television.

Workers in the reactors said they could not be relied upon to raise the alarm on an impending disaster because they were not kept informed by management.

"We can be out there all day in the reactor and we wouldn't know if we've been exposed to danger or not," said Gulab Singh who works in a Rajasthan reactor.

Anti-nuclear activist Imran Khan said workers were bullied into working in the dangerous conditions.

"They know that if they don't do the job they won't have work, so they accept all levels of radiation and keep on working," he said.

However, a former Indian prime ministerial adviser said the country's nuclear safety record was impeccable.

G. Parthasarathy said Australian uranium would not be funnelled off for nuclear weapons.

"Let me assure you that we have enough fissile material," he said.

In December 2011 Labor overturned its longstanding policy of blocking uranium sales to India.

India has not signed up to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

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Over 100 missing from Nigeria boat sinking

A BOAT that capsized off southern Nigeria in recent days was carrying an estimated 128 passengers and only two survivors have been found so far, an emergency official said.

"One hundred twenty-eight people were suspected to be aboard the boat, but only nine bodies have been recovered, while there were two survivors so far," Yushau Shuaib, spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency, told AFP.

"The incident happened about two or three days ago, but there is still some confusion as to the origin of the boat."

Shuaib said the accident occurred more than 60 kilometres off the coast of the southern Nigerian city of Calabar.

There were indications that the boat had originated from the Congo, but that has not been confirmed, he said.

He did not have further details.

A rescue source speaking on condition of anonymity said initial indications were that the two survivors were Togolese.

Such accidents occur regularly in parts of Africa, with rickety boats often overloaded with passengers and few reliable records of who was aboard.

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Asian markets mixed after Cyprus vote

ASIAN markets were mixed on Wednesday after Cypriot lawmakers comprehensively rejected a plan to tax savings as part of a crucial bailout deal.

The euro rebounded from morning losses to climb against the yen and dollar as European leaders sought to sooth investor concerns, saying they were willing to work with Nicosia to help it avoid bankruptcy.

Sydney fell 0.40 per cent, or 20.1 points, to 4,967.3 while Seoul lost 0.97 per cent, or 19.15 points, to 1,959.41.

Bargain hunters moved in to send Hong Kong up 0.97 per cent, or 214.58 points, to 22,256.44, while Shanghai surged 2.66 per cent, or 59.94 points, to 2,317.37.

Tokyo was closed for a public holiday.

Cypriot MPs on Tuesday rejected a proposal to impose a levy on savings as part of a deal agreed with international creditors for a 10-billion-euro ($13 billion) rescue.

The plan had been to charge 6.75 per cent for deposits of 20,000-100,000 euros and a 9.9 per cent tax on anything above that, with savings of up to 20,000 euros exempt.

The 5.8 billion euros the proposal would have raised was crucial to Nicosia getting the full rescue, and with that now in doubt Cyprus must find other ways to raise cash to repay its debts.

However while Tuesday's events raised fears the country could exit the eurozone, analysts said they soothed fears such levies could be introduced in other troubled eurozone countries, which could have hammered confidence in the region.

Stephen Wood, chief market strategist at Russell Investments, told Dow Jones Newswires: "We're watching very closely, but at present we don't think Cyprus is a game-changer in Europe.

"We're looking at financial-system indicators in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and also bank data to see if there's a run or even a jog on banks in those countries. We don't see that just yet."

The European Central Bank also said it would continue to provide financial support for troubled Cypriot banks, a key step to allow all sides a little more time to try to find a way out of the impasse.

But Stan Shamu, market strategist at IG Markets in Melbourne, offered a word of warning, saying: "The Cyprus issue is far from over.

"I don't think it will be a situation where the ECB has stepped in and we don't have to worry about it."

On currency markets the euro climbed on hopes that the crisis can be overcome.

In afternoon trade the single currency bought $1.2898, down from $1.2881 in New York late Tuesday, while it sat at 122.93 yen from 122.59 yen.

The dollar fetched 95.29 yen from 95.23 yen.

On Wall Street markets were mixed, with the Dow nudging up 0.03 per cent, the S&P 500 falling 0.24 per cent and the Nasdaq off 0.26 per cent.

US traders took heart from expectations the Federal Reserve could on Wednesday deliver an improved view of the world's biggest economy.

The Fed's policy committee "may sound more upbeat this time around amid the more broad-based recovery", said David Song of DailyFX in the United States.

Oil prices rose, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in April, gained 73 cents to $92.89 a barrel in the afternoon and Brent North Sea crude for May was up 62 cents at $108.07.

Gold was at $1,610.87 an ounce at 1050 GMT compared with $1,602.20 late Tuesday.

In other markets:

-- Taipei fell 0.52 per cent, or 40.44 points, to 7,798.03.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. fell 1.2 per cent to Tw$98.8 while smartphone maker HTC was 1.0 per cent lower at Tw$246.5.

-- Manila closed 0.10 per cent lower, shedding 6.63 points to 6,419.62.

Metropolitan Bank eased 1.40 per cent to 113 pesos and Alliance Global fell 3.73 per cent to 19.88 pesos, while SM Investments added 1.19 per cent.

-- Wellington closed 0.10 per cent higher, adding 4.39 points to 4,349.43.

Air New Zealand was up 2.75 per cent at NZ$1.50, Sky Television rose 1.48 per cent to N$5.49 and Telecom was down 1.1 per cent at NZ$2.26.

-- Singapore shed 0.63 per cent, or 20.73 points, to close at 3,248.40.

Singtel was down 2.25 per cent to Sg$3.48 while real estate developer Capitaland gained 0.57 per cent to Sg$3.53.

-- Kuala Lumpur shares gained 6.08 points, or 0.37 per cent, to close at 1,632.54.

UEM Land Holdings surged 6 per cent to 2.64 ringgit while Tenaga Nasional was up 2 per cent to end at 7.14. IOI Corp lost 1.7 to close at 4.62.

Jakarta closed higher 8.87 points, or 0.18 per cent, at 4,831.50.

-- Cement producer Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa rose 3.35 per cent to 23,150.00 rupiah, telecoms firm Telekomunikasi Indonesia gained 1.42 per cent to 10,700 rupiah, while Timah lost two per cent to 1,470 rupiah.

Bangkok fell 1.57 per cent or 24.58 points to 1,543.67.

-- Bangchak Petroleum dropped 6.99 per cent to 33.25 baht, while power giant Electricity Generating Public Co. added 1.61 per cent to 158.00 baht.

-- Mumbai fell 0.65 per cent, or 123.91 points, to at 18,884.19.

Bharti Airtel fell 4.18 per cent to 281.15 rupees, while State Bank of India fell 3.87 per cent to 2,117.35 rupees.

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Tiny implant conducts blood tests

A TINY implant that conducts blood tests under the skin could greatly improve the tracking and treatment of cancer and other diseases, researchers claim.

The 14 millimetre-long device is packed with miniaturised electronics including five sensors and a WiFi transmitter.

Power is delivered through the skin by a battery patch which also relays test data via Bluetooth.

Results can be displayed on a doctor's mobile phone or laptop.

The sensors target proteins, sugar and organic acids in the blood that provide vital health information.

For patients with chronic illnesses, such as cancer or diabetes, the device could provide continuous monitoring and sound an alert before symptoms emerge.

Scientists believe the implant will be especially useful as a chemotherapy aid.

Currently doctors rely on occasional blood tests to assess a cancer patient's tolerance of a particular treatment dosage. However, it is difficult to tailor the ideal dose for an individual patient.

The implant opens up the possibility of much more finely tuned and effective treatment, according to Professor Giovanni de Micheli, one of the chip's designers from the EPFL polytechnic in Lausanne, Switzerland.

"It will allow direct and continuous monitoring based on a patient's individual tolerance, and not on age and weight charts, or weekly blood tests," said Prof de Micheli.

"In a general sense, our system has enormous potential in cases where the evolution of a pathology needs to be monitored or the tolerance to a treatment tested."

A prototype has already been tested for five different substances and found to be as reliable as conventional analysis methods.

The results were presented today at DATE (Design Automation & Test in Europe), Europe's largest electronics meeting taking place in Grenoble, France.

Prof de Micheli's team hopes the device will be on the market within four years.

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Three-parent IVF to move closer?

THE UK could move a step closer today to allowing IVF babies with DNA from three different people.

Techniques that give a baby DNA from a father, a mother and a woman donor to prevent inherited disorders are currently outlawed.

But today the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) will announce what advice it plans to give the Government on the issue.

Some groups have raised ethical and safety concerns about three-people IVF.

The purpose of the procedure is to stop the transmission of defective mitochondrial DNA from mothers to their babies.

Children born after the procedures would possess nuclear DNA inherited from their parents plus mitochondrial DNA from a woman donor.

Mitochondria are rod-shaped power plants in the bodies of cells that supply energy. They contain their own DNA, which is only passed down the maternal line.

Faulty mitochondrial genes can lead to a wide range of serious disorders including heart malfunction, kidney and liver disease, stroke, dementia, and blindness, as well as premature death.

Around 6,000 adults in the UK are believed to be affected by mitochondrial diseases.

Controversy surrounds attempts to prevent such diseases through hi-tech variations of In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF) treatment.

One technique, pronuclear transfer, involves transferring nuclear DNA out of a day-old embryonic cell containing defective mitochondria. The DNA is planted into another single-cell embryo whose mitochondria function normally.

The donor embryo's own nuclear DNA is discarded, but it still contains the normal mitochondria of the woman whose egg was fertilised to create it.

As it grows, the embryo produces a baby with DNA from three sources - nuclear DNA from the original parents, plus a tiny amount of mitochondrial DNA from the woman egg donor.

Another technique, maternal spindle transfer (MST), is similar but involves transferring nuclear DNA from an unfertilised egg to a donor egg. The egg is then fertilised using the father's sperm.

The issue has been the subject of a public consultation by the HFEA - the UK's fertility watchdog.

The HFEA will pass on the findings of the consultation and agree on its advice to ministers.

Although such techniques are banned, they could be voted in by Parliament under existing legislation.

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Dead pigs in China river exceed 13,000

The number of dead pigs found in a river running through Shanghai has reached more than 13,000. Source: AAP

THE number of dead pigs found in a river running through China's commercial hub Shanghai has reached more than 13,000, as mystery deepened over the hogs' precise origin.

Shanghai had pulled 9,460 pigs out of the Huangpu river, which supplies 22 per cent of the city's drinking water, since the infestation began earlier this month, the Shanghai Daily reported.

Shanghai has blamed farmers in Jiaxing in neighbouring Zhejiang province for dumping pigs which died of disease into the river upstream, where the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday another 3,601 dead animals had been recovered.

The Jiaxing government has said the area is not the sole source of the carcasses, adding it had found only one producer that could be held responsible.

Shanghai said it had checked farms in its southwestern district of Songjiang, where the pigs were first detected, but found they were not to blame, the Shanghai Daily said.

The scandal has spotlighted China's troubles with food safety, adding the country's most popular meat to a growing list of food items rocked by controversy.

Samples of the dead pigs have tested positive for porcine circovirus, a common swine disease that does not affect humans.

"Due to some farming households having a weak recognition of the law, bad habits, and lack of increased supervision and capability for treatment have led to the situation," the national agriculture ministry's chief veterinarian Yu Kangzhen said.

Yu attributed a higher mortality rate among pigs to colder weather this spring, though he ruled out an epidemic, the ministry said in statement posted on its website over the weekend.

The thousands of dead pigs have drawn attention to China's poorly regulated farm production. Animals that die from disease can end up in the country's food supply chain or improperly disposed of, despite laws against the practice.

In Wenling, also in Zhejiang, authorities announced last week that 46 people had been jailed for up to six-and-a-half years for processing and selling pork from more than 1,000 diseased pigs.

China faced one its biggest food-safety scandals in 2008 when the industrial chemical melamine was found to have been illegally added to dairy products, killing at least six babies and making 300,000 people ill.

In another recent incident, the American fast-food giant KFC faced controversy after revealing that some Chinese suppliers provided chicken with high levels of antibiotics, in what appeared to be an industry-wide practice.

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US backs Aust and NZ's Antarctic plans

The US is backing a proposal by Australia and NZ to set up marine sanctuaries in Antarctica. Source: AAP

HAILING the waters of Antarctica as a living laboratory, the United States has joined Australia and New Zealand in appealing for the creation of marine sanctuaries in the most remote and pristine part of the world.

The United States and New Zealand have drawn up a proposal for a marine sanctuary covering 1.6 million square kilometres of the Ross Sea, which would be the world's largest reserve.

Nations led by Australia, France and the European Union also want to protect 1.9 million square kilometres of critical coastal area in the East Antarctic.

But the proposals were blocked when talks in November at the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) - comprising 24 countries and the European Union - ended without resolution amid concerns from Russia and China.

Now the nations in favour are boosting their efforts to get the two sanctuaries approved at a special meeting of the group in Germany in July.

"Antarctica is a collection of superlatives. It's the highest, coldest, the windiest, the driest, the most pristine and the most remote place on Earth," US Secretary of State John Kerry told a gathering organised by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

"And it has beguiled humankind for centuries as people have sought to understand it," he added, arguing that the waters of the Southern Ocean, home to 16,000 species, are a "living laboratory."

Kerry told the gathering at the National Geographic Society he believed the world can "work together to ensure that Antarctica remains a place devoted to peace and devoted to expanding human understanding of this fragile planet."

"This is one of the last places we could do this, and I think we owe it to ourselves to make it happen."

But conservationists argue the proposals do not go far enough to protect marine life - notably the Antarctic toothfish, which is fished in huge quantities and served as Chilean sea bass on restaurant tables around the world.

The Ross Sea proposal, while creating a reserve to protect Adelie and emperor penguins, as well as killer whales and Weddell seals, would still allow some 3,000 tonnes of toothfish to be commercially caught each year.

"We wanted New Zealand to come up with a much stronger proposal, and they just didn't, and they dug their heels in, and basically the US had to go for New Zealand's proposal," documentary film-maker Peter Young said.

"It doesn't matter how sustainable this quota is, we shouldn't be in the last place. We don't take buffalo from Yellowstone. We don't take kiwi from the forests in New Zealand. We should not fish from the Ross Sea."

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Xstrata cuts 100 jobs

GLOBAL miner Xstrata says it will axe about 100 jobs as part of a decision to close its Brisbane office.

The weak global coal market including poor prices and a high Australian dollar, as well as high costs, have been blamed for the decision.

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Qld MP Driscoll still facing allegations

A ROOKIE Queensland MP has been unable to shake off allegations of misusing taxpayer funds despite an attempt to explain himself in parliament.

Redcliffe MP Scott Driscoll has faced a raft of allegations in recent weeks, including claims of sexual harassment, financial mismanagement and improper business dealings.

Mr Driscoll defended himself in parliament on Tuesday, saying he had done nothing wrong other than failing to declare that his wife received more than $500 in income from a private company she runs.

Premier Campbell Newman has stood by his first-term MP, saying there's nothing to suggest he's unfit for public office.

The premier said investigations so far by the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC), and ongoing departmental probes, had all turned up nothing.

But Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk repeatedly attacked the government in parliament on Tuesday, saying Mr Driscoll had not done enough to explain himself.

"We have heard today a very brief explanation from the member for Redcliffe ... and it does not go to the root of all the questions that need to be answered."

Ms Palaszczuk said Mr Driscoll had other irregularities in his pecuniary interests register and listed 13 specific questions the opposition felt he still needed to answer.

Mr Newman said Mr Driscoll had become subject to "trial by media", a scenario he had encountered himself during last year's state election.

"I, myself, and my wife know only too well about ... trial by media, but particularly the tactics of the Australian Labor Party to use the CMC as a political weapon to attack people," he told parliament.

The latest claims against Mr Driscoll, published in The Courier-Mail on Tuesday, accuse him of using his electorate office and staff to run a retail lobby group he used to head.

He's also faced sexual harassment claims from former employees of the Queensland Retail Traders and Shopkeepers Association and calls to produce the association's books amid claims that about $700,000 was spent inappropriately.

Mr Driscoll's wife has also been accused of inappropriately receiving taxpayer funds from another organisation with which Mr Driscoll was involved, the Regional Community Association of Moreton Bay.

But the MP says he's the target of a campaign of "falsehoods" and the attacks on his wife have been particularly upsetting.

The CMC confirmed on Tuesday that it received a referral from the Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services on November 27, 2012.

It alleged official misconduct against Mr Driscoll.

The CMC says it found at the assessment phase of the complaint, that the matter did not involve official misconduct and therefore fell outside its jurisdiction.

The commission pointed out in its statement on Tuesday that the assessment process is separate to an investigation.

The CMC said it's assessing all new relevant information on the matter to decide whether or not it needs to take any further action.

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Half a million new homes for Sydney

NSW Planning Minister Brad Hazzard has unveiled a 20-year blueprint for Sydney's growth. Source: AAP

A 20-YEAR blueprint for Sydney's growth has identified a need for more than half a million new homes by 2031 but lobby groups want clarity about where they will be built.

Unveiling the strategy on Tuesday, Planning Minister Brad Hazzard said 545,000 new homes would be needed to cater for a population of 5.6 million Sydneysiders in 20 years - a 17 per cent increase on the number forecast in 2010.

Seventy per cent of the additional 1.3 million people who will set up homes in Sydney will be the children of current residents.

"We're trying to be less constrictive and restrictive and what we are saying is the market place should have far more of a say in what the mix of housing is and where it will be," Mr Hazzard said.

"We can make forecasts on where we believe it should be, but we are not going to do what Labor did ... they allowed the planners to be the sole determinant."

Urban Taskforce CEO Chris Johnson said the obvious location for higher density housing was around transport nodes and town centres.

But a range of housing types was needed, including new houses on the city's fringe and apartments in existing suburban areas.

"We need more detail on the type of housing densities planned, particularly for existing urban areas," he said.

Patricia Forsythe, executive director of the Sydney Business Chamber, said the strategy needed to address the density of housing along transport corridors.

"We need to increase housing density along existing transport corridors as a matter of common sense to continue to maintain a working city.

"Many existing transport corridors, especially along railway lines, have old three-storey walk-up apartment buildings that are reaching their use-by date.

"Reforming the planning and strata systems could see a flurry of building activity to redevelop these buildings into higher density, modern apartments."

Housing Industry Association executive director NSW, David Bare, said "urgent action is required".

As part of the plan, the government also wants to create 625,000 extra jobs over the next two decades, with 50 per cent of them in western Sydney.

The draft metropolitan strategy divides Sydney into nine key areas, known as "city shapers". These include growth corridors along Parramatta Road, Anzac Parade and the North West Rail Link, and an enhanced role for Parramatta as Sydney's second CBD.

A western Sydney employment area would be developed south of Mt Druitt.

"We need to make sure in whatever we plan, the jobs are near houses, the houses near jobs and infrastructure is there to connect them," Mr Hazzard told parliament.

He said western Sydney was at the heart of the government's economic strategy.

"Sydney is in effect the Aladdin's Cave, but the part of the Aladdin's Cave that is the critical part is the west," he said.

"The west is where the treasure lies for people to tap."

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UK dad and son found dead on Mont Blanc

A BRITISH man and his 12-year-old son have been found dead in the French Alps after apparently falling while hiking.

Their bodies were found a day after contact was last made with the 48-year-old father, who had called an emergency centre in Chamonix to inform them his son had fallen into a crevasse near Mont Blanc.

A helicopter spotted them at 1700 (AEDT) on Sunday at an altitude of 1600 metres.

Emergency services had attempted to trace the man's mobile phone call after launching a rescue operation, Captain Patrice Ribes told Sky News.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are urgently looking into reports that two British nationals have been found dead in the French Alps."

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UAE opens world's largest solar plant

OIL-RICH Abu Dhabi has officially opened the world's largest Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) plant, which cost $US600 million ($A580.80 million) to build and will provide electricity to 20,000 homes.

The 100-megawatt Shams 1 is "the world's largest concentrated solar power plant in operation" said Sultan Ahmed al-Jaber, the head of Abu Dhabi's Masdar, which oversees the emirate's plan to generate seven percent of its energy needs by 2020 from renewable sources.

"Today, Shams 1 is the largest CSP plant in all terms," said Santiago Seage, chief executive officer of Abengoa Solar, one of the partners in the project.

Masdar now produces 10 percent of the world's concentrated solar power, he said during the official inauguration.

The solar park features long lines of parabolic mirrors spread over an area equivalent to 285 football pitches in the desert of the Western Region, some 120 kilometres (75 miles) southwest of Abu Dhabi.

Masdar owns 60 percent of the project, while France's Total and Spain's Abengoa Solar own 20 percent each.

Abu Dhabi is the wealthiest of the seven sheikdoms that make up the federation of the United Arab Emirates.

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PM facing landslide loss in new poll

THE latest Fairfax Media/Nielsen poll offers no glimmer of hope for Prime Minister Julia Gillard and her government which shows the Labor Party seemingly entrenched at a 31 per cent primary vote.

With the Tony Abbott-led coalition unchanged on 47 per cent, it represents electoral oblivion for the government at the September 14 election.

The two-party-preferred split has the government on 44 per cent and the opposition at 56 per cent - a six per cent swing to the coalition from the 50/50 result in 2010 and a landslide victory if carried through to the election.

Fairfax says a telephone survey of 1400 people taken last week also showed Ms Gillard's satisfaction rating continuing to slide and Mr Abbott's continuing to improve.

The Opposition Leader is now preferred prime minister by 49 per cent of voters against Ms Gillard on 43 per cent - down two points.

To make matters worse for the prime minister, voters prefer a Kevin Rudd-led Labor Party by two to one with 62 per cent against opting for Mr Rudd as opposed to Ms Gillard's 31 per cent.

But if Mr Rudd is not in charge there is less appetite for a change that would bring three other Labor leadership possibilities - cabinet ministers Bill Shorten, Greg Combet and Bob Carr.

Fairfax says that of the three, Foreign Minister Senator Carr had the most support with 41 per cent to Ms Gillard on 50 per cent.

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'Pray for me', new Pope Francis urges

POPE Francis has appeared before some 150,000 pilgrims massed in St Peter's Square for his first Angelus prayer and asked the faithful to pray for him.

"Thank you for your welcome, and for your prayers," the first Pope from Latin America said from a window of the papal apartment high above the square on Sunday. "Pray for me."

Dozens of flags from Francis' native Argentina were waving in the square, along with the Vatican's yellow and white standard, as the former cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio recited the traditional Sunday Angelus prayer, the first of his papacy.

Flags from other Latin American nations including Colombia, Peru, Paraguay and Mexico, could also be seen in the crowd.

One banner read: "Francis, You Are the Springtime of the Church", reflecting a groundswell of hope that the choice of a humble outsider has inspired in many Catholics weary of Vatican scandal and dysfunction.

Gabriel Solis, 33, an Argentine pilgrim, spoke of his "indescribable emotion".

"He will bring much peace because he seems more humble, more spontaneous," he said. "He seems closer to the people. We didn't feel that with the pope we had before."

The Angelus has traditionally been a moment to comment on international issues, but Francis instead used the occasion to emphasise his Italian roots.

The former Buenos Aires archbishop, whose parents hailed from Italy, said he chose to name himself after St Francis of Assisi because of his "spiritual ties with this land".

Earlier the Pope grabbed an opportunity to shake hands with well-wishers, plunging into crowds pushing against barricades outside a Vatican gate as security men and Swiss Guards stood nervously by.

Chanting "Viva Il Papa" and calling his name, the well-wishers jostled to greet the new pontiff, who has projected a common touch by breaking with many formal traditions since his surprise election to lead the world's 1.2 billion Catholics on Wednesday.

The 76-year-old Pope's informal style is markedly different from that of his more austere 85-year-old predecessor Benedict XVI, who stunned the world last month by announcing his resignation citing his advanced age.

A million people may attend the Pope's inauguration mass on Tuesday, including world leaders who are set to begin flying into Rome on Sunday.

Among them is Argentine President Cristina Kirchner who had tense relations with Bergoglio, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires, before his elevation to Pope.

US Vice President Joe Biden was also due to arrive later on Sunday.

Francis, whose Italian father was a railway worker, has already spoken to Catholic leaders about the need for spiritual renewal and evangelisation and cautioned them against worldly glories, as well as calling for a "poor Church" that should be closer to ordinary people.

Francis is a moderate conservative who is unlikely to change key doctrine but experts say that he could push for more social justice and a friendlier faith.

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Count under way after Zimbabwe referendum

ZIMBABWE is tallying the ballots from a constitutional referendum that looked set to curb President Robert Mugabe's powers and tee up crucial elections in the violence-plagued nation.

The first incomplete trickle of results pointed to landslide backing for the text, which would introduce presidential term limits, beef up parliament's powers and set polls to decide whether the 89-year-old Mugabe stays in power.

Mugabe has ruled uninterrupted since the country's independence in 1980, despite a series of disputed and violent polls and a severe economic crash propelled by hyper-inflation.

The draft constitution is part of an internationally backed plan to get the country on track. Zimbabweans' verdict on the draft is expected to be known within five days of the voting.

According to the Movement of Democratic Change, the party of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, of the nearly 90,000 votes initially counted in the second city of Bulawayo only 6250 were against the draft.

Mugabe has backed the proposed constitution, which enshrines his drive to put land in the hands of black Zimbabweans. Also, the clauses are not retroactive so he could if re-elected remain president for another 10 years.

His political rival Tsvangirai has also lent his support to the text, although turnout is expected to be low.

But that has not prevented the threat of violence from looming over the vote, as party militants keep one eye on the general election.

A vote is expected to take place in July, but doubts remain about whether it can take place as planned.

Shortly before polls opened on Saturday, gunmen later identified as plain clothes police detectives, seized a member of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) from his home northeast of Harare.

Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba told AFP Samson Magumura had been arrested on charges of attempted murder in connection with a recent firebomb attack that injured a Mugabe ally.

While casting his vote on Saturday, Mugabe, whom many blame for past unrest, urged Zimbabweans to ensure the referendum proceeded peacefully.

"You can't go about beating people on the streets, that's not allowed, we want peace in the country, peace, peace," he said.

Mugabe, the target of 11 years of Western sanctions over political violence and rights abuses, also used the opportunity to vow the United States and European countries would not be allowed to monitor the upcoming general election.

"The Europeans and the Americans have imposed sanctions on us and we keep them out in the same way they keep us out," he said.

Tsvangirai on Saturday expressed hope that a positive outcome would help catapult the country out of a crisis marked by bloodshed and economic meltdown.

Zimbabwe police detained three senior aides to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in the wake of a key referendum, the premier's office said.

They "were arrested in Harare (on Sunday) morning," a source in Tsvangirai's office told AFP, adding that the charges were not specified.

The three were detained by plain clothes police officers at their homes.

They were named as Thabani Mpofu, Anna Muzvidziwa and Felix Matsinde.

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