Kenya to toughen poaching sentences

Poaching has recently risen in east Africa, with whole herds of elephants massacred for their ivory. Source: AAP

KENYA plans to bolster lenient sentences for convicted wildlife poachers or ivory smugglers in a bid to stamp out a spike in elephant killings, the government says.

Poaching has recently risen sharply in east Africa, with whole herds of elephants massacred for their ivory. Rhinos have also been targeted.

Last year poachers slaughtered 384 elephants in Kenya, up from 289 in 2011, according to official figures, from a total population of around 35,000. This year, poachers have already shot dead 74.

"We intend to fight poachers at all levels to save our elephants," government spokesman Muthui Kariuki said in a statement on Saturday.

A major obstacle to this is that Kenyan courts are limited in their powers to jail or fine those convicted of wildlife crimes, he said.

"One of the major setbacks are lenient penalties and sentencing for wildlife crime by the courts," he said.

"The government is concerned about this and has facilitated the process of reviewing the wildlife law and policy with a view to having more deterrent penalties and jail terms."

Passing tougher wildlife laws will be made a priority for Kenya's parliament, elected last month but which has yet to begin business.

"We look forward to... parliament giving priority to passing of a new wildlife law and policy," Kariuki added.

Kenya's wildlife act caps punishment for the most serious wildlife crimes at a maximum fine of 40,000 Kenyan shillings ($A450), and a possible jail term of up to 10 years.

Last month, a Chinese smuggler caught in Kenya with a haul of ivory was fined less than a dollar a piece.

The smuggler, who was arrested carrying 439 pieces of worked ivory while in transit in Nairobi as he travelled from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Hong Kong, was fined $US350 ($A337) and was then set free.

Such fines pose little if any deterrence, with experts suggesting a kilogram of ivory has an estimated black market value of some $A2406.

The illegal ivory trade is mostly fuelled by demand in Asia and the Middle East, where elephant tusks and rhinoceros horns are used to make ornaments and in traditional medicine.

Africa is now home to an estimated 472,000 elephants, whose survival is threatened by poaching as well as a rising human population that is encroaching on their habitat.

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UK warns of terror attack in Somalia

THE British government says it believes terrorists are in the final stages of planning attacks in Somalia and urged UK nationals to leave the country.

The Foreign Office already advises against all travel to Somalia, including Somaliland, where it says there is a specific threat to Westerners.

It said on Saturday it had revised its travel advice to reflect concerns that terrorists are in the final stages of plotting attacks in Mogadishu, the Somali capital.

Britain has no diplomatic representation in Somalia and is unable to provide consular assistance in the country.

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Italian police find tonne of hashish

ITALIAN police have uncovered a tonne of hashish worth 15 million euros ($A18.7 million) in a frozen foods truck carrying potatoes and arrested its Dutch driver.

The police said they became suspicious when they noticed the truck on the outskirts of Rome as part of an anti-drug investigation and found out that it was very far from its registered delivery point.

Behind the potato boxes being shipped from the Netherlands they found "various boxes containing hashish in bars weighing around 100 grams each and wrapped in cellophane", the statement said on Saturday.

"The total quantity of drugs found was around one tonne," it added.

Police spokesman Alessandro Langello said: "The investigation is ongoing. We are trying to uncover the criminal organisation behind this shipment."

Dutch authorities in 2011 busted a large-scale operation to export homegrown cannabis from the Netherlands to countries including Italy.

Although cannabis is technically illegal in the Netherlands, the country in 1976 decriminalised possession and sale of less than five grammes of the drug.

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Don't bank on Korea evacuation: DFAT

Tensions in North Korea could escalate quickly, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs says. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIANS in South Korea shouldn't assume the government will be able to evacuate them if the threat of war on the peninsular escalates, Canberra says.

North Korea has escalated its rhetoric in recent weeks, threatening to attack the United States and South Korea.

Most recently, it warned foreign embassies in Pyongyang it couldn't assure the safety of diplomats and suggested they should evacuate.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) says it has consular crisis contingency plans for South Korea, as it does for all countries in which Australia has official representation.

"It is important that Australians living and visiting South Korea make their own decisions regarding their safety based on their personal circumstances," a DFAT spokeswoman said.

"Such decisions should not assume that the Australian government will evacuate citizens if the situation deteriorates - this may not always be possible."

There are many thousands of Australians in South Korea but the DFAT spokeswoman said there were no immediate plans to get them out.

Current travel advice warns of tensions between the north and south but remains at the lowest level, advising travellers only to exercise normal safety precautions.

The spokeswoman said travel advice on the smartraveller.gov.au website remained the definitive source of information from the Australian government for Australians travelling and living overseas.

Advice on the website is updated as relevant and credible information is received.

"Australians should monitor developments closely, particularly through South Korean media, because of the risk that tensions on the Korean Peninsula could escalate quickly," she said.

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New PM vows to guard Lebanon from Syria

LEBANON'S newly named Prime Minister Tamam Salam pledged in his first speech to safeguard the country's security from the war raging in neighbouring Syria.

"There is a need to bring Lebanon out of its state of division and political fragmentation, as reflected on the security situation, and to ward off the risks brought by the tragic situation in the neighbouring (country) and by regional tensions," Salam said on Saturday.

Salam, 67, of the Western-backed opposition made the remarks in his inaugural speech shortly after being tasked by President Michel Sleiman with forming a new government.

His appointment comes two weeks after Najib Mikati resigned and effectively brought down his Hezbollah-dominated government.

Salam also pledged to work with all groups across Lebanon's political spectrum, which is split into pro- and anti-Damascus camps.

"I have accepted this nomination... out of conviction that it is my duty to work for my country's interest, in cooperation with all political parties," he said.

Lebanon was dominated politically and militarily by Syria until 2005, and the regime of President Bashar al-Assad still holds sway over Beirut through Hezbollah and other allies.

The March 14 opposition movement, meanwhile, is fiercely opposed to Damascus.

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Rocket attack in Syrian capital kills five

A BARRAGE of rockets has slammed into a contested district on the northeastern edge of Damascus, killing at least five people and trapping others under the rubble, while violence raged around suburbs of the capital, activists say.

The attack on Barzeh, where rebels aiming to topple President Bashar al-Assad are known to operate, follows days of heavy fighting between the rebels and the military in the area.

Rebels have established footholds in districts on the edge of Damascus and in suburbs in the northeast and south, from where they fire mortars into the heavily guarded city. Despite their efforts, they have been unable to break the Assad regime's tight hold in the capital.

The activists said several rockets exploded in a residential area in Barzeh district on Thursday night and Friday morning. The opposition Barzeh Media Center and a militant website claimed the Syrian military fired 14 rockets, leaving people, including children, buried under the rubble.

It said three children, a woman and an elderly man were killed.

"The impact of the rockets was huge," said a Barzeh-based activist on Friday. "Several houses collapsed and others were set on fire," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals.

Amateur videos posted online by activists showed what appeared to be destroyed and burning houses. Others showed men with a flashlight working to pull out a survivor from the rubble. The videos appeared consistent with AP reporting.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed a barrage of shells hit Barzeh and said at least one person was killed and several others wounded. It said the nature of the attack and exact number of casualties was not clear.

Barzeh is close to Esh el-Wirwar, a suburb of Damascus predominantly inhabited by Alawites and Syrian army volunteers. Rebels frequently target the area with mortar shells.

The Syrian revolt started with largely peaceful protests in March 2011 but has developed into a civil war with increasingly sectarian overtones.

Sunni Muslims dominate rebel ranks, while the Assad regime is composed mostly of Alawites, an offshoot Shi'ite group to which the president and his family belong. More than 70,000 people have died in the conflict, according to the UN

Activists also reported fighting in many parts of the country, including the southern province of Daraa near the border with Jordan, where rebels have been making significant advances.

A Jordanian security official said Thursday the kingdom has tightened security along its 370-kilometre border with Syria, doubling the number of soldiers in the last two days. He declined to disclose the size of the force.

The stepped up security reflects the kingdom's fears that the chaos from Syria's 2-year-old civil war could lead to a failed state on its doorstep where Islamic militants have a free hand.

President Bashar Assad's regime warned Thursday the kingdom is "playing with fire" by allowing the US and other countries to train and arm Syrian rebels on its territory.

The warnings followed statements from US and other Western and Arab officials that Jordan has been facilitating arms shipments and hosting training camps for Syrian rebels since last October.

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Fukushima fuel cooling system stops again

ONE of the cooling systems for spent atomic fuel at the Fukushima nuclear plant has temporarily failed, the second outage in a matter of weeks, underlining ongoing instability at the plant.

Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) said an alarm sounded at the facility at 2.27pm local time (0327 AEDT) on Friday, and technicians soon confirmed that the cooling system for the pool attached to Reactor 3 was not working.

Nuclear fuel, even after use, has to be kept cool to prevent it from overheating and beginning a self-sustaining atomic reaction that could lead to meltdown.

The problem, which was fixed in about three hours, occurred as work crew placed a metal mesh around a switchboard in a bid to prevent small animals from touching it, a TEPCO spokesman told a press conference.

The measures were taken after a rat got inside the switchboard last month, causing a short-circuit that knocked out power for sections of the crippled plant and stopped cooling systems for four storage pools.

That time, it took nearly 30 hours for TEPCO to fully fix the problem.

The TEPCO spokesman said a wire or the mesh might have touched the ground while crews put the mesh in place, unintentionally grounding the equipment and knocking it offline.

TEPCO apologised for the problem, but stressed that it had not posed any immediate danger.

However, the incident reveals the precarious state of the Fukushima plant, more than two years after it was hit by the giant tsunami of March 2011, and critics were quick to jump on the fault.

"Rather than TEPCO assuring us there is no safety threat, both the company and government officials must now follow up with robust and effective action," Greenpeace International energy campaign team leader Jan Beranek said.

"Japan needs to focus its efforts and capacities on maintaining the troubled reactors, instead of rushing to restart other risky nuclear plants," Beranek said.

TEPCO and the government said in December 2011 that the reactors were "in a state of cold shutdown" - a phrase carefully chosen, commentators said, to imply normality in units so broken that standard descriptions did not apply.

Authorities insist they are getting on top of the problem and the reactors are not leaking significant amounts of radiation.

But the plant, which TEPCO and the government plan to dismantle over the next four decades, is kept stable only with makeshift systems to supply power, cool reactors and clean radioactive materials from water used as coolant.

At 2pm on Friday, the time of the outage, the temperature inside the pool affected by the latest glitch stood at 15.1 degrees Celsius, well below the safety limit of 65 degrees Celsius, TEPCO said.

Equipment measuring radioactivity, placed in and around the plant, has shown no new abnormality related to the latest trouble, the company added.

Fukushima was the site of the worst nuclear crisis in a generation. Reactors went into meltdown and spewed radiation over a wide area, forcing tens of thousands of people from their homes and polluting farmland.

Although the natural disaster that spawned the emergency claimed around 19,000 lives, no one is officially recorded as having died as a direct result of the atomic catastrophe.

However, pressure groups like Greenpeace maintain the long-term health effects for people in the area are being vastly underestimated by a government they say is in hock to a powerful nuclear industry.

Although many voters now distrust the technology, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has openly said Japan must consider continued use of nuclear as a less-expensive energy source to power the world's third-largest economy.

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Ben Ali's brother-in-law dies in custody

MONCEF Trabelsi, the brother-in-law of ousted Tunisian strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali who was jailed for fraud, has died in custody of a brain tumour, the country's prisons chief says.

"He died at the neurological hospital where he was taken (from jail) on March 18. He had been operated on for a brain tumour," the prisons chief, Habib Sboui, told AFP on Friday.

Sboui added that Trabelsi, 69, had been unconscious for the past "four or five days".

Trabelsi had been sentenced to prison for fraud soon after the January 2011 uprising that toppled Ben Ali.

His sister is Leila Trabelsi, the wife of Ben Ali, who was also accused of stealing state funds.

The couple fled to Saudi Arabia on January 14 of that year amid a massive popular uprising against his rule.

Other members of Moncef Trabelsi's extended family, including in-laws, were arrested in Tunisia where they faced trials in a military court.

But unlike some members of the Trabelsi clan, which wielded much sway during Ben Ali's rule, he himself held little influence in the country's affairs.

One of his brothers, Belhassen, fled Tunisia for Canada, where in May the immigration board rejected his residency appeal.

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UK woman 'killed family' in web of lies

A BRITISH social worker has been struck off after lying to bosses about the deaths of her father, mother, uncle, aunt, brother and ex-husband to get time off work.

Rachael Miles took 66 days off work with Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, where she was part of a 16-plus team working with vulnerable people.

After a two-day hearing concluding on March 28, the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) found she fraudulently claimed compassionate leave and carers' leave.

The panel heard evidence that Miles made up stories about the deaths of loved ones, including claims her ex-husband had hung himself and she needed to identify his body.

In her first claim in February 2010, less than two weeks after starting work for the council, she told bosses her father had been in a car crash, later reporting he had died.

The following month Miles claimed her mother had been sectioned under the Mental Health Act, and later that year that she had died during surgery.

In 2011, she told bosses her brother died, followed by her ex-husband.

In November that year, Miles asked for more time off after telling bosses her uncle and then her aunt died seven days apart.

The council launched an investigation and decided to redeploy her to another post in the authority but she resigned instead.

Miles did not attend the hearing in London and was not represented.

The HCPC struck her off its register and placed an interim suspension order on Miles, who can choose to appeal against the decision.

A spokesman for Solihull council said it did not comment on individual staff matters.

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Panicked Cypriots queue at banks

European Central Bank boss Mario Draghi says Cyprus' bailout was poorly managed and "not smart". Source: AAP

PANICKED Cypriots have queued outside banks on rumours that a new levy would be imposed on deposits as part of a bailout, but the authorities moved quickly to assure them this was not the case.

Cyprus wrapped up talks this week paving the way for the 10 billion-euro ($A12.49 billion) bailout from EU-led lenders, but fears swirled that it was still well short of the 5.8 billion euros to fund its end of the deal.

As the speculation spread on Friday morning, customers formed long queues outside some of the larger branches of the Co-op bank, prompting the government to issue a denial of the reports as "unjustified" and "groundless".

"Such an issue was never tabled or discussed, therefore we categorically state that no such issue exists, not even as an intention," said the finance ministry.

"The memorandum has been agreed with the troika and it does not include any additional measure that leads to the need to implement any new haircut on deposits," it said, referring to the EU, European Central Bank and IMF.

The ministry said the measures agreed by the Eurogroup on March 25 for restructuring the Cypriot banking sector were being implemented and the system was "on track towards stabilisation and consolidation".

The central bank also denied reports of any plans to introduce a "general" haircut of deposits to pay for the conversion of uninsured deposits above 100,000 euros into shares in the island's biggest lender, the Bank of Cyprus (BoC).

"We refute this because such an action is not provided for in the policy decisions taken by the Eurogroup," it said in a statement.

The supervisory authority for the Co-op societies also warned anxious customers to ignore "slanderous rumours" being spread by text messages that a haircut on deposits was imminent.

Under the deal to downsize the banking sector, large BoC depositors could lose all of the remaining 60 per cent of their balances over 100,000 euros depending on the costs of winding up and merging second-largest lender Laiki.

Savers in that bank will have to wait for years to see any of their cash over 100,000 euros.

Banks have been operating under stringent capital controls since they reopened last week, after a near two-week lockdown prompted by fears of a run on deposits.

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Saudi 'paralysis' sentence attacked

THE reported sentencing to paralysis for a Saudi man for a crime he committed as a 14-year-old has been condemned as "grotesque" by Britain's Foreign Office (FCO).

The punishment, which was reportedly handed down to 24-year-old Ali al-Khawahir for stabbing his friend in the back 10 years ago, should not be carried out, the FCO said on Thursday.

Al-Khawahir will be paralysed from the waist down unless he pays one million Saudi royals ($A257,900) in compensation to the victim, according to Amnesty International, who quoted reports in Saudi Arabian media.

An FCO spokesman said: "We are deeply concerned by reports that a Saudi Arabian court has sentenced a man to be paralysed in retribution for causing the paralysis of a friend when he was 14 years old.

"We urge the Saudi authorities to ensure that this grotesque punishment is not carried out.

"Such practices are prohibited under international law and have no place in any society."

Amnesty condemned the punishment as "utterly shocking".

A similar sentence of paralysis imposed in Saudi Arabia in 2010 is not known to have been carried out, the charity said.

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Revealing UK sales for men's underwear

MEN'S underwear is revealing itself to be a recession-busting item, with one major British retailer noticing a 28 per cent increase in sales since the start of the year.

Selfridges likened sales of men's "bodywear" - underwear, sleepwear and socks - to the lipstick effect, the term coined for women buying small but luxurious items in times of recession.

The category has emerged as one of the strongest performers at the store, to the extent that it is opening a 20 per cent larger bodywear department this week.

The 835 square metre area will stock nearly 25,000 pairs of underwear, of which 10,000 will be displayed on a curved wall "set to be the largest of its kind in the world".

Those immune to the recession can choose from underwear made by Versace or Dior, which has a range of briefs at STG55 ($A80.15) a piece, or a silk dressing gown by Savile Row tailor Derek Rose for STG915.

Those wanting to spend a little less will find pairs of Happy Socks for STG8.

The store said its best-selling styles were trunks, making up 46 per cent of sales, briefs (27 per cent) and boxers (13 per cent), with the most popular colours being black, white and red.

"Sales of men's underwear at Selfridges have been very healthy throughout 2012 and they have been even stronger since the start of the year," Selfridges menswear buying manager Richard Sanderson said.

"With our new men's bodywear space, we are forecasting weekly sales of nearly 3,000 pairs of underwear.

"Men have become much more fashion-conscious in their choice of underwear and are looking for details and distinctive features such as contrasting belts, mix of texture in the materials used, patterns and even devices to enhance their natural shape."

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NYC fast food workers plan job action

NEW York City fast food workers are rallying for higher wages.

Organisers say hundreds of workers plan to demonstrate on Thursday at dozens of fast food establishments, including McDonald's, Domino's, Wendy's and Pizza Hut.

They want fast food restaurants to pay them $US15 ($A14.41) per hour. Workers earn an average of $US8.25 per hour.

New York's minimum wage is $US7.25 but the legislature last month voted to raise it to $US9 by 2016.

The protest includes a march and rally on 125th Street in Harlem.

The walkout is organised by the Fast Food Forward labour-community coalition.

It coincides with the anniversary of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr's assassination in 1968 in Memphis where he was leading a peaceful march in support of striking low-paid sanitation workers.

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NSW woman dies after car rolls in crash

A YOUNG woman has died after her car rolled in an accident on the NSW mid-north coast.

The car was travelling along The Lakes Way at Rainbow Flat, south of Taree about 2.20pm (AEDT) on Thursday when it rolled down an embankment, police said.

The 21-year-old female driver died at the scene.

The male passenger was able to free himself from the wreckage before emergency services arrived.

He was taken to Manning Base Hospital, suffering shock.

Police said it's not known what caused the crash.

It follows the death of a man whose motorbike collided with a bus in Sydney's west on Wednesday.

Police say the 55-year-old motorcyclist was riding on Menangle Road at Campbelltown when he collided with the bus about 2pm.

He sustained extensive injuries and was taken to Liverpool Hospital but died a short time later.

No one else was injured in the crash, police said in a statement.

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NSW police nab boy over BMX bandit robbery

A 15-YEAR-OLD boy has been charged after a bottle shop in NSW's Southern Highlands was robbed by a knife-wielding youth who fled off on a BMX bike.

The youth was spotted stashing cigarettes and bottles of liquor into his backpack at the Mittagong bottle shop about 7.25pm (AEDT) on Wednesday, police allege.

A female shop assistant, 35, approached the boy, who threatened her with a large knife.

The teen then stole cash from the shop's till before fleeing on a BMX bike.

Police arrested the teenager on Thursday and charged him with several offences including robbery while armed.

He was refused bail to appear in Campbelltown Children's Court on Friday.

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66 Tibet landslide bodies recovered

CHINESE rescue crews have recovered 66 bodies in the aftermath of a huge landslide in Tibet that buried more than 80 mine workers.

State media said on Wednesday 83 people were buried on Friday when a vast volume of rock crashed down a mountainside east of the Tibetan capital Lhasa, burying a mineworkers' camp.

The latest number of recovered bodies, reported by China's official news agency Xinhua, would mean 17 are still missing.

Rescue operations resumed on Tuesday morning after being suspended a day before due to fears of more landslides in the area.

The chances of finding any survivors are regarded as slim, state media has reported.

Experts from the ministry of land and resources were investigating the cause of the landslide.

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Asian markets mostly lower, Tokyo jumps

TOKYO stocks have jumped with the yen weakening as the Bank of Japan starts a key two-day policy meeting, while shares in other major Asian markets have mostly fallen despite Wall Street's surging to a record high.

Tokyo jumped 2.99 per cent, or 358.77 points on Wednesday, to 12,362.20. Sydney ended 0.56 per cent or 27.8 points weaker at 4,957.7 and Seoul lost 0.15 per cent or 2.93 points to 1,983.22.

Shanghai slipped 0.11 per cent or 2.44 points to 2,225.30 and Hong Kong fell 0.14 per cent or 30.33 points to 22,337.49.

Investors eagerly await the outcome of the first Bank of Japan (BoJ) policy meeting under new leadership to see if fresh easing measures aimed at boosting the world's third biggest economy meet market expectations.

The new BoJ head Haruhiko Kuroda has vowed "bold" monetary easing, while the bank in January set a two per cent inflation target aimed at pulling the troubled economy out of its damaging deflationary spiral.

"Given near-constant chatter about the need for bold policy action to achieve their 2.0 per cent inflation target, any underwhelming policy response, something they're notorious for, will see the yen strengthen to the detriment of the Nikkei," David Scutt, Treasury dealer at Arab Bank, wrote in a note to clients.

"At the very least, markets will want to see unlimited easing involving a variety of asset classes with a focus of achieving the inflation target in the near-to-medium term," he said, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

US stocks reached fresh highs on Tuesday on solid manufacturing orders data and strong results from US automakers, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average closing at a record 14,662.01, up 89.16 or 0.61 per cent.

In afternoon Tokyo trading, the dollar strengthened to 93.54 yen against 93.39 yen in New York late on Tuesday.

The euro remained weak following the release on Tuesday of poor manufacturing and jobs data for the eurozone, buying $1.2817 and 119.66 yen against $1.2813 and 119.70 yen in US trade.

On a positive note, Cyprus has been given two more years, until 2018, to meet the conditions of a 10 billion euro ($A12.36 billion) bailout under a final agreement with eurozone lenders which gives the island nation a little more breathing room.

Oil was down in Asia. New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate light sweet crude for delivery in May, shed 54 cents to $96.65 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for May delivery dropped 39 cents to $110.30 in afternoon trade.

Gold was at $1,570.09 an ounce at 1045 GMT (2145 AEDT) compared with $1,597.83 late on Tuesday.

In other markets:

- Taipei rose 0.37 per cent, or 29.17 points, to 7,942.35.

MediaTek gained 2.30 per cent to Tw$356.0. while SinoPac Financial Holding rose 2.80 per cent at Tw$14.70.

- Wellington rose 0.03 per cent, or 1.44 points, to 4,412.84.

Telecom Corp. was up 3.59 per cent at NZ$2.45 while Contact Energy was down 2.18 per cent at NZ$5.39.

- Manila rose 0.99 per cent, or 66.87 points, to 6,815.30.

SM Investments Corp. rose 0.79 per cent to 1,139 pesos while Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. gained 0.83 per cent to 2,910 pesos.

- Singapore rose 0.13 per cent, or 4.18 points, to close at 3,321.77.

Real estate company City Developments gained 0.90 per cent to Sg$11.26 while Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation dropped 0.19 per cent to Sg$10.67.

- Kuala Lumpur ended flat to close at 1,685.40.

Hong Leong Financial Group added 1.2 per cent to 15.18 ringgit, while CIMB Group Holdings rose 1.2 per cent to 7.74.

- Jakarta ended up 0.49 per cent, or 24.22 points, at 4,981.47.

Miner Aneka Tambang rose 3.60 per cent to 1,440 rupiah, while cigarette manufacturer Hanjaya Mandala Sampoerna slipped 0.12 per cent to 85,000 rupiah.

- Bangkok lost 1.94 per cent, or 30.02 points, to 1,520.52.

Telecoms company Advanced Info Service fell 3.77 per cent to 230.00 baht, while Siam Cement dropped 2.92 per cent to 466.00 baht.

- Mumbai fell 1.26 per cent, or 239.31 points, to 18,801.64 points.

Bharti Airtel fell 3.95 per cent to 280.65 rupees, while Tata Motors fell 3.45 per cent to 257.6 rupees.

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Now seven UK social classes

THE British public no longer fit in to just three social classes, a major new study has discovered.

Instead, the findings suggest people are divided into seven different classes based on economic, social and cultural measures.

More than 160,000 people took part in the Great British Class Survey, the largest of its kind in the UK, according to the BBC.

The results prompted researchers to dismiss the established upper class, middle class and working class system, traditionally defined by occupation, wealth and education, as "too simplistic".

The new classes range from the privileged 'elite' to the deprived 'precariat' and are based on assessments of income, savings, house value and social capital or the number and status of people that someone knows.

The research was carried out by Mike Savage from the London School of Economics and Fiona Devine from the University of Manchester with the help of BBC Lab UK.

Professor Devine said: "It shows us there is still a top and a bottom, at the top we still have an elite of very wealthy people and at the bottom the poor, with very little social and cultural engagement."

In the middle of the two extremes are the established middle class, the second wealthiest group, followed by the technical middle class, a small, prosperous new class group which scores low for social and cultural capital.

Next down the line are the new affluent workers, a young class group which is socially and culturally active, with middling levels of economic capital, and the traditional working class, who score low on capital but are not "completely deprived".

Ahead of the poorest in society are the emergent service workers, a new, young, urban group which is relatively poor but has high social and cultural capital.

Professor Divine added: "It's what's in the middle which is really interesting and exciting, there's a much more fuzzy area between the traditional working class and traditional middle class.

"There's the emergent workers and the new affluent workers who are different groups of people who won't necessarily see themselves as working or middle class."

The findings are to be published in the Sociology Journal and presented at a conference of the British Sociological Association.

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Thousands of shareholders sue RBS for $6b

ROYAL Bank of Scotland shareholders have filed a 4 billion pound ($A5.77 billion) lawsuit against the company, claiming they were misled into thinking the bank was healthy just before its collapse.

A group representing 12,000 investors said on Wednesday the bank didn't include vital information in the prospectus for a 12 billion-pound share sale that took place just a few months before RBS was bailed out by the government.

The bailout diluted the holdings of existing shareholders and the stock plunged, slashing the value of their holdings.

The bank is now 82 per cent owned by the British government.

The group said in a statement the lawsuit names former Chief Executive Officer Fred Goodwin and three other directors, as well as the bank itself, as defendants.

RBS declined to comment.

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African forces suspend hunt for Kony

UGANDA'S top military official says African Union troops have suspended the hunt for the fugitive warlord Joseph Kony in Central African Republic because the new government there is not co-operating with the mission.

General Aronda Nyakairima, the Ugandan army chief, said on Wednesday Uganda-led African forces in Central African Republic stopped operations against Kony until their status is clarified by the African Union.

About 3000 African troops under the AU's mandate are currently deployed against Kony's Lord's Resistance Army in CAR, where rebels deposed a president last month and announced a new government.

The African forces are supported by about 100 US military advisers.

Nyakairima said Ugandan troops would stay in the republic until the AU itself asks them to leave.

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Rodwell helps pursue Philippine kidnappers

FREED Australian hostage Warren Rodwell met with a Philippine prosecutor to help prepare charges against the Islamic extremists who held him in captivity for 15 months.

A gaunt, grim-looking Rodwell, who was in a wheelchair and escorted by Australian embassy personnel, filed a statement describing his ordeal before assistant prosecutor Aristotle Reyes at the Justice Department in Manila.

"This is to process the investigation of the case. The statement can be used by the PNP (Philippine National Police) to pursue a complaint," said Reyes, without disclosing details of the statement.

Armed men posing as police abducted Rodwell, 54, from his home in a coastal town of the southern Philippines in December, 2011, and demanded $US2 million ($A1.92 million) for his safe release.

The militants freed a deeply emaciated Rodwell on March 23 after a payment, reportedly of four million pesos (about $A96,000), was made.

Authorities say the Abu Sayyaf, a small group of militants based in lawless islands of the southern Philippines and designated by the US government as a terrorist organisation, was responsible for the kidnapping.

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Police accused of helping people smugglers

People smugglers in Indonesia say they are not threatened by the Australian government's policies. Source: AAP

PEOPLE smugglers operating out of Indonesia say they are not threatened by the Australian government's border protection policies, amid allegations some are even enlisting the help of police to send boats to Australia.

As leaders from across the region, including Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr, assemble in Bali for talks on people smuggling, fresh evidence has emerged that efforts to stem the flow of boats to Christmas Island are being undermined by corrupt police in Jakarta.

A source close to one major operation, who cannot be identified because of concerns for his safety, told AAP he was recently involved in a venture in which uniformed police helped escort about 70 asylum seekers from an apartment in Jakarta to a waiting boat.

"We all had to pay the police $US300. But we already paid the smuggler," he said.

The money given to police was on top of $5000 to $6000 the asylum seekers had already paid to secure passage from Indonesia to Christmas Island.

The people smuggler behind the operation has been identified as an Afghan man named Nasir Ahmad, alias Haji Majeed.

It is believed Ahmad had worked as an agent for the alleged people-smuggling kingpin Sayed Abbas, who is being held at police headquarters in Jakarta while he awaits extradition to Australia.

Abbas has denied being involved in people smuggling, but confirmed that he had heard the name Haji Majeed.

"Haji Majeed has a good name as smuggler," Abbas told AAP during a recent interview.

Ahmad is believed to have sent at least five asylum-seeker boats to Australia in the past six weeks.

Other people smugglers have been successful in persuading asylum seekers not to worry about being sent to Nauru or Manus Island.

In a recorded telephone conversation provided to AAP, a long-time people smuggler identified as an Iranian man known as Abu Ali dismisses an asylum seeker's concerns that boats may be turned back to Indonesia.

Asylum seeker: "People say that the route is not safe and people say that the boat will be returned when it reaches Australian territory? Is it correct?"

Abu Ali: "No, it is wrong. These days the boat arriving there, they go directly into the camp."

Asylum seeker: "There is another country near to that and (Australia) send them there which made us worried. And they don't let into Australia."

Abu Ali: "No, that is wrong. Everyone go directly into the camp, God knows."

The details of the sales pitches employed by people smugglers came to light as officials from across the region began arriving in Bali on Monday for talks on combating people smuggling.

The two-day meeting will be co-chaired by Senator Carr and Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa.

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Afghan teenager fatally stabs US soldier

AN Afghan teenager has killed an American soldier in eastern Afghanistan by stabbing him in the neck while he played with a group of local children, officials say.

The killing comes as the monthly US death toll rose sharply in March to 14 with the start of the spring fighting season when the Taliban and other insurgents take advantage of improved weather to step up attacks.

Sergeant Michael Cable, 26, was guarding Afghan and US officials meeting in a province near the border with Pakistan when the stabbing occurred last Wednesday, two senior US officials said on Monday.

The attack occurred after the soldiers had secured the area for the meeting, but one of the US officials said the youth was not believed to have been a member of the Afghan security forces or in uniform so it was not being classified as an insider attack.

The official said the attacker was thought to be about 16 years old, but the age couldn't be verified.

The Afghan and American dignitaries were attending the swearing-in ceremony of Afghan Local Police in Shinwar district in Nangarhar province, senior district official Zalmai Khan said. Afghan Local Police, or ALP, recruits are drawn from villages and backed by the US military.

The soldier was playing with a group of children outside when the attacker came from behind and stabbed him in the neck with a large knife, Khan said, adding the young man had escaped to nearby Pakistan.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the young man was acting independently when he killed the soldier but had joined the Islamic militant movement since fleeing the scene.

At least 14 US soldiers died in March, compared with four in the previous two months, according to an Associated Press tally.

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Qld cops see double over drink drivers

QUEENSLAND police have pulled over the same car four times in one afternoon, resulting in drink driving charges for a man and woman who took turns in the driver's seat.

Officers first stopped the vehicle on North Stradbroke Island, southeast of Brisbane, at lunchtime on Monday, and breath tested a Redbank Plains woman behind the wheel.

The 27-year-old allegedly recorded a reading of 0.126 and was charged with drink driving.

A short time later, the woman's male passenger had taken the wheel when police pulled the vehicle over again.

The 34-year-old Redbank Plains man recorded a breath test reading of 0.110, and was also charged with drink driving.

The pair were released, but police say a short time later they saw the man back behind the wheel.

He recorded another positive breath test and was charged with drink driving for a second time as well as driving while suspended.

Not to be deterred, his partner allegedly got behind the wheel yet again.

She was again charged with drink driving, as well as driving while suspended.

Both are due to appear in the Cleveland Magistrates Court on May 14.

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Asian markets fall

ASIAN markets slipped in holiday-hit trade Monday, with investors unimpressed by a slight improvement in key economic indicators out of China and Tokyo.

The yen climbed against the dollar and euro ahead of a Bank of Japan (BoJ) policy meeting this week, while there are lingering concerns about political uncertainty in Italy as well as debt-ravaged Cyprus.

Tokyo slipped 2.12 per cent, or 262.89 points, to 12,135.02 on the back of the stronger yen and Seoul lost 0.44 per cent, or 8.90 points, to 1,995.99.

Shanghai slipped 0.10 per cent, or 2.22 points, to 2,234.40.

Sydney, Hong Kong and Wellington were closed for the Easter break.

The BoJ's closely watched Tankan survey of large Japanese manufacturers for the past three months showed a slight improvement in optimism for the world's number three economy, the first uptick in three quarters.

The survey showed sentiment at minus 8 between January and March, up from minus 12 three months earlier. The figures represent the percentage of firms saying business conditions are good minus those saying they are bad.

However, the figures were unable to prevent a sell-off in shares and a jump in the yen.

Hideki Matsumura, senior economist at Japan Research Institute, told Dow Jones Newswires: "Sentiment is getting better broadly, but the improvement isn't as strong as expected."

And Tachibana Securities market analyst Kenichi Hirano said the negative reaction "may have resulted from the perception that with the Nikkei having performed so well (gaining 19 per cent so far in 2012), general business sentiment should have been at least a little better".

The dollar slipped to 93.55 yen early in Asia, against 94.20 yen in New York trade on Friday, when trade was limited by the Easter holiday.

The euro bought $1.2812 and 119.85 yen compared with $1.2818 and 120.78 yen.

Australian bank Westpac said in a note to clients that investor focus was on Thursday's BoJ announcement, the first under the stewardship of Haruhiko Kuroda. He has promised aggressive measures to kick-start the economy and end decades of deflation.

"Some disappointment around this meeting is likely and we have a downward bias for the dollar-yen in the week ahead," Westpac said.

In China data showed manufacturing activity expanded at its fastest pace in almost a year last month, indicating the world's number two economy was showing signs of improvement.

The official purchasing managers' index (PMI) hit 50.9 in March, the highest since April 2012 and up from 50.1 in February. However, it was below the 51.0 that had been forecast.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion while anything below points to contraction.

Separately, British bank HSBC -- with a survey that focuses more on smaller enterprises -- said its final PMI for March stood at 51.6, up from 50.4 in February. That figure was also slightly off the 51.7 in HSBC's preliminary PMI last week.

Oil prices fell, with New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate light sweet crude for delivery in May, down 50 cents to $96.73 a barrel. Brent North Sea crude for May was down 37 cents to $109.65.

Gold was at $1,597.90 an ounce at 1030 GMT compared with $1,598.45 late on Friday.

In other markets:

-- Singapore was almost unchanged, slipping 0.52 points to 3,307.58.

United Overseas Bank shed 1.37 per cent to Sg$20.10 while oil rig maker Keppel Corporation gained 1.25 per cent to Sg$11.34.

-- Taipei fell 0.24 per cent, or 19.37 points, to 7,899.24

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co was 0.50 per cent higher at Tw$101.0 while leading smartphone maker HTC shed 1.64 per cent to Tw$240.5.

-- Manila closed 0.12 per cent, or 7.88 points, down at 6,839.59.

-- Jakarta was flat, 0.07 per cent or 3.41 points to 4,937.58.

Palm oil firm Astra Agro Lestari slipped 0.81 per cent to 18,350 rupiah and mobile phone provider Indosat fell 1.54 per cent to 6,400 rupiah.

-- Kuala Lumpur lost 0.24 per cent, or 4.02 points, to close at 1,667.61.

-- Bangkok eased 0.74 per cent, or 11.51 points, to 1,549.55.

Supermarket operator Siam Makro added 6.39 points to 566.00 baht, while telecoms company Advanced Info Service fell 2.08 per cent to 235.00 baht.

-- Mumbai rose 0.15 per cent or 28.98 points at 18,864.75 points.

Indian drug maker Dr. Reddy's Laboratories rose 3.34 per cent to 1,825.3 rupees. Engineering giant Larsen and Toubro rose 2.18 per cent to 1,394.7 rupees.

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Sea 'too loud' for cruise passenger

COMPLAINTS by cruise ship passengers include one by a woman who moaned about the sea being "too loud", it has been revealed.

And a couple accused a captain of being "rude" for sailing off when they had left a note saying they needed more sightseeing time in port, according to cruise travel agency bonvoyage.co.uk.

One woman, having seen that Take That star Gary Barlow had been on her ship on an earlier trip, demanded an explanation as to why the singer was not on her voyage.

Then there was the man who complained about not getting "an impressive tan" and being unable to swim in the pool each day while on a trip around ... Alaska.

A woman travelling with the company called Celebrity Cruises asked for a refund as there were "no celebrities on board", while a Yorkshire couple wanted compensation after forking out "a lot more money than planned" on staff tips due to the excellent service.

The woman who complained about the loudness of the sea said she had not been able to sleep well on her Mediterranean cruise.

She demanded cabins be "better sound-proofed against the sounds of the sea".

Another female traveller, having booked an inside cabin, then complained about not having a view of the sea and asked for a window to be installed.

Bonvoyage.co.uk cruise development manager Steph Curtin said: "From time to time we come across a few quirky complaints that we can do little to help.

"I'm afraid we can't be held responsible for the sea being too loud or the lack of celebrities on board."

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Karzai to hold talks in Qatar on Taliban

AFGHAN President Hamid Karzai is set to hold discussions in Qatar about the opening of a Taliban office in the Gulf state as a prelude to possible talks on ending more than a decade of war.

Karzai previously opposed such a Qatar venue since he feared his government would be frozen out of any peace negotiations involving the Islamic extremists and the United States.

The militants refuse to have direct contact with the Afghan president, saying he is a puppet of the United States, which supported his rise to power after the military operation to oust the Taliban from Kabul in 2001.

But with US-led NATO combat troops due to withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of 2014, Karzai agreed to the proposed Taliban office in Doha and is expected to raise the plan in talks with the Emir of Qatar on Sunday.

Any future peace talks still face numerous hurdles before they begin, including confusion over who would represent the Taliban and Karzai's insistence that his appointees should be at the centre of negotiations.

"We will discuss the peace process, of course, and the opening of an office for the Taliban in Qatar," presidential spokesman Aimal Faizi told AFP before Karzai left Kabul on Saturday.

"If we want to have talks to bring peace to Afghanistan, the main side must be the Afghan government's representatives - the High Peace Council, which has members from all the country's ethnic and political backgrounds."

Negotiating with the hardline Taliban regime that harboured al-Qaeda before the 9/11 attacks was for many years an anathema to countries in the UN-backed coalition against the militants.

But the search for a political settlement became a priority as the insurgency raged on, with Taliban leaders able to fuel violence from safe havens across the border in Pakistan.

Kabul has repeatedly stressed it will only start talks if the militants break all links with al-Qaeda and give up violence, and Faizi said any Taliban office in Qatar must be subject to strict conditions.

"It can only be an address where the armed opposition sit and talk to the Afghanistan government," he said.

"This office cannot be used for any other purposes."

Karzai met with Qatari investors on Saturday evening and encouraged them to invest in the country as it works to secure stability before NATO-led combat forces withdraw next year.

"The future of Afghanistan is guaranteed because our relations have expanded with America and other countries such as China, India and Russia," he said according to an emailed statement.

"Afghanistan has good opportunities and resources that we can share with you."

The United Nations this week welcomed news Karzai would visit Qatar, and issued another call for the Taliban to come to the negotiating table.

But a Qatar office could mean little if the Taliban continue to refuse to negotiate with Karzai or the government-appointed High Peace Council.

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Alarm over child solidier killings in CAR

SOUTH African soldiers who survived last week's rebel takeover of the Central African Republic are traumatised after discovering later that some of the rebels killed were child soldiers, local Sunday newspapers reported.

In what has turned out to be South Africa's heaviest military loss since apartheid, 13 soldiers were killed last weekend in Bangui in clashes with Seleka rebels who toppled president Francois Bozize.

Around 200 South African troops fought against some 3,000 rebels during the battle for the Central African capital that lasted several hours.

Some of survivors who have returned home recounted to local newspapers that they only discovered after the battle that they had been fighting against some teenage rebel soldiers.

"It was only after the firing had stopped that we saw we had killed kids. We did not come here for this... to kill kids. It makes you sick. They were crying calling for help... calling for (their) moms," a paratrooper told the Sunday Times.

South African President Jacob Zuma in January had approved the deployment of 400 soldiers to the Central African Republic to help local troops\ as part of a bilateral pact with the administration of now deposed Bozize.

In the end about 200 soldiers were sent.

Some of the Central African rebels were "teenagers who should be in school," the soldier told the paper.

In the City Press a soldier was quoted as saying many of the rebels were "only children".

The two papers also quoted the soldiers saying the South African troops were running out of ammunition.

South Africa's government now faces increasing calls at home for a probe into why troops were sent to the Central African Republic.

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N Korea vows to strengthen nuclear weapons

NORTH Korea has vowed to strengthen its nuclear weapons, a day after announcing it is in a "state of war" with South Korea, and says it will never trade its atomic deterrent for aid.

Tensions have risen sharply on the peninsula since the United Nations tightened sanctions in response to the North's nuclear and missile tests, and the United States and South Korea launched military drills south of the border.

On Saturday the North declared it was in a "state of war" with the South and warned Seoul and Washington that any provocation would swiftly escalate into an all-out nuclear conflict.

A meeting on Sunday of the central committee of the ruling Workers' Party, guided by leader Kim Jong-Un, decided the country's possession of nuclear weapons "should be fixed by law", the official KCNA news agency reported without elaborating.

The nuclear armed forces "should be expanded and beefed up qualitatively and quantitatively until the denuclearisation of the world is realised", it added.

Members also decided to develop a light water reactor as part of a civilian nuclear power industry to ease electricity shortages, KCNA said.

The North in 2010 disclosed the existence of a uranium enrichment facility and light water reactor, purportedly to generate power. Experts said it could easily be reconfigured to make fuel for nuclear weapons.

The North in April 2009 formally abandoned six-party talks offering it economic and security benefits in return for denuclearisation.

On Sunday it reiterated its atomic weapons are not a bargaining chip.

"They are a treasure of a reunified country which can never be traded with billions of dollars," KCNA quoted the central committee members as saying.

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Clashes erupt in Mali's Timbuktu

MALIAN troops backed by French forces have clashed with Islamist fighters who infiltrated the northern city of Timbuktu, leaving two jihadists dead and four Malian soldiers wounded.

"Jihadists have infiltrated the centre of Timbuktu ... Our men are currently fighting them with the support of a unit of our French partner," a Malian officer told AFP by telephone.

"Two jihadists have been killed and four Malian soldiers have been injured. That's the provisional toll," the officer said, adding the fighting "is not yet over".

The Islamist fighters who had controlled the fabled Saharan city before French and Malian soldiers recaptured it in January have been able to blend into the population to launch attacks, infiltrating it by foot or bicycle.

The officer said the fighting began when the Islamist rebels opened fire on two sides of the centre of the city, targeting a hotel and a military base.

On Saturday, a suicide bomber blew himself up when he tried to force his way through a military barricade at the western entrance to Timbuktu, wounding a soldier manning the checkpoint.

Mali has been the target of a series of attacks claimed by Islamist insurgents since France launched on January 11 a military intervention against al-Qaeda-linked groups that had seized the north of the country.

The French-led operation has forced the extremists from the cities they had seized for 10 months in the chaotic aftermath of Mali's military coup in March 2012.

But French and African forces have faced continuing suicide blasts and guerrilla attacks in reclaimed territory.

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