Sept 7 in doubt as Rudd has things to do

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Nauru signs up to Rudd's stop boats plan

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

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

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

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

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

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

"This is our core principal."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Mugabe claims victory in 'sham' poll

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Observers appeared divided over the conduct of the poll.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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UN warns of plight of children in Syria

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Six children die in Afghan attack

THREE suicide attackers killed at least nine civilians, most of them children, in a botched attack on the Indian consulate in an eastern Afghan city near the border with Pakistan, security officials say.

Authorities also reported that 22 police officers and over 70 Taliban fighters died in two days of fighting earlier in the week in the same province touched off by a feud between militants and villagers. Officials regularly announce high militant death tolls that are impossible to independently confirm.

Militants, mostly smaller groups based in Pakistan, have targeted Indian diplomatic interests multiple times in recent years.

In the latest attack, police fired on the militants as they approached a checkpoint outside the consulate in Jalalabad, prompting one of them to set off their explosives-laden car, said Masum Khan Hashimi, the deputy police chief of Nangarhar province.

The blast killed nine bystanders, and wounded another 24 people including a policeman. Six of the dead and three of the wounded were children, said Jalalabad hospital director Dr Humayun Zahir. He did not give their specific ages.

All three attackers also died, although it was not clear how many were killed by police fire and how many by the explosion.

In New Delhi, India's External Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said that all Indian officials in the consulate were safe.

Afghanistan's main insurgent group, the Taliban, denied in a text message that it had carried out the attack.

Militant groups known for attacking Indian interests include Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), blamed for the 2008 attack on the Indian city of Mumbai that killed 166 people. LeT has been active in Afghanistan in recent years, often teaming up with insurgent groups operating in the eastern part of the country near the frontier with Pakistan. Last year the US-led military coalition arrested a senior LeT leader in eastern Afghanistan.

India has been frustrated by Pakistan's failure to crack down on Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has strong historical links with Pakistani intelligence. Pakistan has always viewed India as a potential rival in Afghanistan, which it considers its strategic backyard.

"Such coward attacks will not deter India from providing reconstruction and developmental assistance to our true friend, Afghanistan," the Indian Embassy Tweeted in reaction to the consulate bombing.

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Clients pay $US180 for bird faeces facials

That's what goes into facials at a luxury spa where the traditional Japanese treatment using imported Asian nightingale excrement mixed with rice bran goes for $US180 ($A202) a pop.

About 100 women and men go into the Shizuka New York skin care salon, just off Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, each month to get the treatment, which is promoted as a way to keep the face soft and smooth using an enzyme in the poop to gently exfoliate the skin.

Spa owner Shizuka Bernstein, a Tokyo native married to an American, has been offering what she calls the Geisha Facial for about five years.

"I try to bring Japanese beauty secrets to the United States," says Bernstein, who learned the treatment from her mother.

The Geisha Facial faeces treatment, while relatively rare in the United States, is no secret in Japan, where it was first used in the 1600s by actors and geishas.

"That's why Japanese grandmothers have beautiful complexions," says Duke Klauck, owner of the Ten Thousand Waves health spa in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which offers a Nightingale Facial for $US129.

On a recent afternoon in Manhattan, Mari Miyoshi arrived at the sixth-floor Shizuka New York spa to try the treatment for the first time.

"I'm a stressed-out New Yorker," the 35-year-old occupational therapist announced as she reclined on a table, relaxing amid aromas of camellia, lavender and rose.

The treatment begins with steam to open the pores and soften the skin. Cream is applied. And then comes what Bernstein calls "the nightingale part."

She pours the cream-coloured faeces, dried and finely ground, into a bowl, mixing it with the rice bran using a small spatula. She applies the potion to Miyoshi's face with a brush, rubbing it in with her hands.

Does it smell?

"Yes, but like toasted rice," Miyoshi says.

After about five minutes, it comes off with a foaming cleanser and Miyoshi's face is draped in a warm, wet towel bathed in lavender and geranium essences. Finally, the grand finale - a green-tea collagen mask.

"Sooooo nice," Bernstein says softly, looking at Miyoshi's radiant face.

Dr Michele Green, a Manhattan cosmetic dermatologist, says that while the nightingale facial "definitely has some rejuvenating effect, I don't think it's any different than, say, an apricot scrub or a mask that you could buy in a local pharmacy."

A common misconception is that any old bird faeces, even from pigeons, is used. Bernstein says only droppings from birds of the nightingale species are used because they live on seeds, producing the natural enzyme that is the active ingredient.

"We don't do Central Park facials," she says, "because those birds eat garbage."

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European stocks steady before US jobs data

EUROPE'S main stock markets have mainly steadied as traders await monthly US jobs data and reacted to a batch of mixed company earnings.

London's FTSE 100 index of top blue-chip companies on Friday edged down 0.09 per cent to stand at 6,675.73 points around midday in the British capital.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 inched up 0.06 per cent to 8,415.98 points and the CAC 40 in Paris grew 0.15 per cent to 4,048.72 compared with Thursday's closing levels.

"European indices are trading slightly higher on Friday, while US futures are pointing to a flat open as caution returns to the markets ahead of the US jobs report for July," said Craig Erlam, market analyst at Alpari traders.

The euro rose to $US1.3212 from $US1.3208 late in New York on Thursday. The US dollar gained to Y99.62 from Y99.52.

On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold dropped to $US1,288.16 an ounce from $US1,315 on Thursday.

European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi suggested on Thursday that eurozone interest rates could fall further from their current record low levels should the economic outlook deteriorate.

But Draghi was convinced that the 17-nation bloc's economy appeared to be stabilising. At its regular monthly policy meeting, the ECB's governing council voted to keep key rates unchanged at an all-time low of 0.5 per cent, as expected.

Asian stock markets meanwhile closed higher for a second straight session following another record close on Wall Street and a string of positive economic data from China, Europe and the United States, traders said.

Later on Friday, the US government releases non-farm payrolls data, which will give an idea about the strength of the world's number one economy.

On Thursday, the Institute for Supply Management's PMI index showed that US manufacturing activity surged to the highest level for more than two years in July, well above market estimates.

Meanwhile on Friday in London, shares in Royal Bank of Scotland slid 4.50 per cent to 318.50 pence despite the state-rescued lender returning to profit in the first half.

The bank itself admitted that much work remained before RBS can return to the private sector, while the lender announced also that it had promoted the head of its retail business, Ross McEwan, to the post of chief executive, beginning in October.

On the upside, shares in IAG jumped 5.0 per cent to 312 pence after the parent of British Airways and Spanish carrier Iberia said it had swung into profit in the second quarter.

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Hong Kong shares end 0.46% higher

HONG Kong shares have risen 0.46 per cent following a record-breaking close on Wall Street as dealers welcomed upbeat manufacturing data around the world.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index on Friday added 102.18 points to 22,190.97 on turnover of $HK49.09 billion ($A7.12 billion).

The rise came after the S&P 500 index breached the 1,700 level in New York and the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit its own record high.

"With the S&P trading through 1,700 for the first time ever, it has been one-way traffic for equities as the 'fear of missing out' sets in," Stan Shamu, market strategist at IG in Melbourne, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Investors readied for the release later on Friday of monthly US jobs figures, which will be scoured for any indication of when the Federal Reserve might begin to roll back its massive bond-buying program.

Two blue-chip earnings reports from tycoon Li Ka-shing's array of companies attracted strong attention.

Shares of telecom-to-property conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa closed up 4.5 per cent at $HK91.65, a two-year high, after reporting a better-than-expected 23 per cent increase in first-half earnings.

Nomura called the report "very solid", although it said an 8 per cent jump in the stock leading up to results meant upside was partially priced into the stock.

"That said, we expect further Street earnings upgrade given the positive growth momentum, and recommend buying on any share weakness," Nomura said.

HSBC was up 0.4 per cent at $HK88.80 while China Overseas Land & Investment rose 4.23 per cent to $HK23.40. Tencent fell 0.11 per cent to $HK360.20.

Chinese shares ended flat. The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index edged up 0.02 per cent, or 0.35 points, to 2,029.42 on turnover of 78.9 billion yuan ($A14.52 billion). The index rose 0.92 per cent for the week.

Losses in financial stocks offset gains in property developers, dealers said.

"Financial stocks fell on profit-taking and offset some earlier gains. But I remain optimistic on the market outlook as the domestic economy has shown signs of recovery," Zheshang Securities analyst Zhang Yanbing told AFP.

The government announced on Thursday that its purchasing managers index, a measure of manufacturing activity, rose to 50.3 in July from 50.1 in June.

Property developers led gains on hopes Beijing will ease their financing curbs as a way to boost the economy.

Xinhu Zhongbao surged by its 10 per cent daily limit to 3.65 yuan while Poly Real Estate jumped 3.70 per cent to 10.93 yuan.

Financial shares were lower.

New China Life Insurance lost 1.75 per cent to 22.46 yuan, Everbright Securities fell 1.33 per cent to 11.16 yuan and China Citic Bank shed 0.85 per cent to 3.49 yuan.

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Cyprus ex-minister gets 5 years for blast

Cyprus's ex-defence minister was sentenced to jail in connection to a blast that killed 13 people. Source: AAP

CYPRUS'S ex-defence minister, Costas Papacostas, has been sentenced to five years in jail in connection with a munitions dump blast at a naval base that killed 13 people.

The ailing 73-year-old was not in court for the sentencing on Friday, as he was taken ill after his conviction last month and has been in hospital since then.

He had been found guilty of manslaughter and the lesser charge of causing death through a reckless and dangerous act.

The July 2011 blast took out the island's biggest power plant 150 metres away and caused 3 billion euros ($A4.47 billion) in damage that forced roaming power cuts amid 40C temperatures.

Fire chief Andreas Nicolaou, his suspended deputy Charalambos Charalambous and disaster response unit chief Andreas Loizides were also convicted of causing death through a reckless and dangerous act.

They were sentenced to two years on Thursday.

Former Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou and ex-deputy National Guard Chief Savvas Argyrou were found not guilty in the case.

Prosecutors have appealed the decision, which sparked angry protests from relatives of the victims.

It is said to be the first time in the island's legal history that so many senior officials have faced such serious charges.

The incident sparked weeks of angry street protests calling for then president Demetris Christofias to step down.

A public inquiry laid most of the blame for the blast on Christofias, whose immunity shielded him from prosecution and who refused to resign.

The munitions were seized in 2009 when Cyprus intercepted a Cypriot-flagged freighter bound from Iran for Syria.

A UN sanctions committee said the cargo contravened a ban on Iranian arms shipments.

Stored at the base for almost three years under searing heat in summer, they exploded despite repeated warnings that they were unsafe and the government's rejection of offers from abroad to neutralise them.

Some 98 burning containers with 400 tonnes of gunpowder triggered an estimated 1.5 megaton blast that also damaged 730 homes and businesses.

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12 jihadists killed in north Syria: NGO

At least 40 people have died in an ammunitions depot blast in a government-held area of Syria. Source: AAP

FRESH clashes between Kurdish fighters and jihadists have erupted in the majority Kurdish province of Hasakah in northern Syria, a monitoring group says.

At least 12 members of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) were killed early on Friday, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which added that 22 Kurdish fighters have been killed over the past few days.

Reports of the latest Kurdish-jihadist violence emerged a day after at least 31 civilians, among them five women and four children, were killed in army shelling and an assault in the northwestern province of Idlib.

Meanwhile, Kurdish activists said there was heavy fighting in villages between Cel Agha and Gerke Lage as radical Islamists shelled Ras al-Ain.

Kurds expelled jihadist groups from Ras al-Ain in mid-July.

The fate of some 200 Kurds taken hostage by jihadists on Wednesday remains unknown, the Observatory's Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Elsewhere on Friday, forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad again shelled the rebel-held area of Jouret al-Shiyah in the central city of Homs, said the Observatory.

The bombardment comes five days after the key rebel neighbourhood of Khaldiyeh fell out of rebel control and into army hands.

Assad's regime is pressing an offensive aimed at taking back remaining rebel areas in Homs, Syria's third city and dubbed by activists as "the capital of the revolution".

Meanwhile, the air force staged several air strikes on rebel areas across Syria, including two on Al-Harra in the southern province of Daraa, where rebels have made significant progress in recent weeks, said the Observatory.

Friday's violence comes a day after at least 185 people were killed across Syria, the Britain-based watchdog said.

More than 100,000 people have been killed in Syria's raging war, the United Nations says.

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Exiled Kazakh oligarch arrested in France

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Weak demand weighs on ArcelorMittal's Q2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Exiled Kazakh oligarch arrested in France

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Twitter bomb threat to UK women reporters

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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European stocks rise before ECB rate call

EUROPEAN stock markets have climbed but the euro has fallen against the US dollar as traders await monetary policy updates from the European Central Bank and Bank of England.

Markets were also analysing a batch of earnings from some of Europe's biggest companies, while digesting the outcome of the Federal Reserve's latest meeting.

"With both the UK and Europe having a few bright spots of economic data to point to, markets are fairly confident in expecting no policy change from either institution" on Thursday, said Capital Spreads trader Jonathan Sudaria.

In late morning deals, London's FTSE 100 index of top blue-chip companies was up 0.40 per cent at 6,6646.58 points.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 jumped 1.20 per cent to 8,374.71 points and in Paris the CAC 40 gained 0.48 per cent to 4,011.93.

Indices won some support from news that eurozone industry bounced back into growth mode in July, with the sector logging a two-year high and German manufacturers notably ending five months in the doldrums.

In foreign exchange activity, the euro fell to $US1.3240 from $US1.3301 in New York late on Wednesday. Sterling dipped to $US1.5199 from $US1.5205 but was higher versus the European single currency.

On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold grew to $US1,323.15 an ounce from $US1,314.50 on Wednesday.

Among individual share price movement, Societe Generale soared 8.54 per cent to 32.81 euros after the French banking giant said that it more than doubled its net profits in the second quarter.

But Sanofi slumped 6.25 per cent to 75.15 euros as the French pharmaceutical group reported a plunge in second-quarter profit and lowered its year-end forecast.

Energy giant GDF Suez reported a profits fall but held to its targets while saying it would pursue a rigorous review of its European assets, and the shares rose by 4.88 per cent to 16.54 euros.

In London, Lloyds Banking Group surged 7.65 per cent to 73.70 pence after Britain's state-rescued lender announced a return to first-half net profits, boosting government hopes of returning it to the private sector.

On the downside, Royal Dutch Shell 'A' shares shed 5.18 per cent to 2,121.5 pence as the Anglo-Dutch energy group reported plunging net profits.

Meanwhile in Frankfurt, BMW lost 1.98 per cent to 72.18 euros despite the German top-of-the-range carmaker posting a higher-than-expected increase in second-quarter net profit. The company added that its revenue gain came in slightly below forecasts.

Asian markets rose on Thursday as investors welcomed the US Federal Reserve's decision to keep its stimulus scheme in place, with its view the economy was growing modestly soothing fears over the program's future.

Figures showing the world's No.1 economy grew more than forecast in the second quarter also provided support, while a better than expected official reading on Chinese manufacturing helped Hong Kong and Shanghai, traders said.

"The potential problem areas of the US Federal Reserve and Chinese economic data have been negotiated with a degree of success, allowing (stock) markets to push higher this morning," said IG trader Yusuf Heusen.

While the Fed announcement was positive, it provided nothing new and Wall Street ended mixed on Wednesday.

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Philippine province hit by blackout

ABOUT a million people in the Philippines have endured an extraordinary blackout after a power provider cut electricity to an entire province over unpaid debts dating back 15 years.

Hospitals, hotels and an airport in Albay province were forced to run on emergency generators after power was severed on Tuesday afternoon, while businesses closed and residents struggled amid steamy, tropical weather.

"We could not sleep last night, it was very hot. I opened the windows and a screen door to get some wind inside but that allowed the big mosquitoes in," Jun Marana, a coach driver in the provincial capital of Legazpi, told AFP by telephone on Wednesday.

Marana said all the food in his refrigerator had spoiled, while it was difficult to buy more for his four children because many shops had closed.

The country's electricity spot market operator cut off the power to Albay's electricity retailer because of about four billion pesos ($A103.09 million) in bills that had accumulated over 15 years, the national government said.

The retailer, Albay Electric Co-Operative, is collectively owned by all power consumers in the province.

Local and national government officials accused Albay Electric's board of gross mismanagement in accumulating the debts.

The president of the national power provider, Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMCI), said it had been forced to take the drastic action after years of unsuccessful negotiations with Albay Electric.

"How can we encourage investors if the distribution utilities like (Albay Electric) are consuming electricity without paying?" PEMCI president Melinda Ocampo told AFP.

"There is no free electricity."

Electricity supplies resumed to most residents in the province at 5:00 pm (0900 GMT) on Wednesday after negotiations between PEMCI and Albay Electric Co-Operative that were brokered by Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla.

But the 100 biggest consumers, including hotels, factories and department stores, were still cut off.

And Ocampo said power to the whole province would be turned off again in seven days unless Albay Electric began repaying its debt.

"If they cannot pay then we will cut them off," Ocampo said.

Ocampo rejected suggestions the company's actions could have put people's lives in danger, saying Albay Electric was at fault because it had agreed to have its debts restructured in 2010, then reneged.

Albay, one of the country's poorer provinces in the far east of the main island of Luzon, has 1.1 million residents.

Politicians and residents expressed deep anger that the debt crisis had led to such extreme action.

Legazpi mayor Noel Rosal said his city had lost more than 15 million pesos ($345,000) because of the blackout, largely due to businesses being forced to close.

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Feds grandstanding: NT govt

THE Northern Territory government is accusing the Commonwealth of grandstanding by demanding that it returns more than $18 million in allegedly misused funds.

Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek sent a letter to the media intended for NT Health Minister Robyn Lambley, which Ms Lambley has labelled a pre-election stunt.

Ms Plibersek's letter, sent on Monday, demands the NT return by the end of August more than $18 million of Commonwealth health funding which was provided to build a 100-bed "medi-hotel" at Royal Darwin Hospital for the accommodation of bush patients needing treatment.

Instead, the facility is being used to house patients of the Country Liberal Party-led NT government's controversial mandatory alcohol rehabilitation scheme.

Under the new law, if a person is picked up by police three times in a three-month period for drunk and disorderly behaviour, they can be forced into the treatment program for up to twelve weeks.

Ms Plibersek told reporters in Sydney on Monday that she gave the NT government "many months" to explain why the facility was being used to "lock up alcoholics" instead of caring for patients needing surgery.

"The Northern Territory government have refused to do that," she said.

Her letter stated that the NT government "has unilaterally decided to use the facility for a purpose other than the one for which it was funded and built".

But Ms Lambley has slammed the letter as a politically-motivated attack.

"Tanya Plibersek's grandstanding isn't about what's best for the Territory, it's about what's best for the federal Labor Party weeks out from an election," she said.

"The use of the medi-hotel as an alcohol rehabilitation facility is not inconsistent with the intended purpose of the building to provide medical treatment to sick Territorians."

Ms Lambley said the facility is being used for 18 months to hold alcoholics on the program, until alternative facilities are built.

She said the NT "has no intention of repaying the money" because the federal government would ultimately return it to the Territory in other health funding.

If forced to pay, the mandatory treatment centre would stay where it is because the NT government would not be able to afford another site, Ms Lambley said.

In previous discussions, Ms Plibersek had appeared open to the idea of using the medi-hotel for alcohol treatment, she said, "but as the election has drawn nearer she has adopted a more combative stance".

Ms Plibersek wants the money returned to the health and hospitals fund so it could be used for health priorities in Darwin and Palmerston.

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Egypt crisis remains in stalemate

EGYPT is mired in political stalemate despite the diplomatic efforts of a top EU official, with the threat that protests will be forcibly dispersed hanging overhead.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton flew out empty-handed on Tuesday, after three days of talks aimed at finding "common ground" between the army-installed interim government and supporters of ousted president Mohamed Morsi.

The rival camps appeared as entrenched as ever in their positions, despite her efforts which included Morsi's first visit since his detention hours after his July 3 ouster by the army.

The international community made clear it would continue to push for reconciliation, with the EU saying on Wednesday that its Middle East envoy would arrive later in the day to continue Ashton's efforts.

In Washington, two leading senators said the White House had asked them to head to Cairo to push for an "inclusive, democratic approach".

But on the ground, there seemed little sign of compromise.

Late on Tuesday, Morsi loyalists marched towards a military intelligence building in Cairo, in defiance of warnings from the army to avoid approaching its facilities.

The march passed off peacefully, with demonstrators stopping short of the building and returning to their main protest camp by the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque.

The interior ministry has warned that the camp will be cleared soon, and tensions remain high after the deaths of 82 people at a pro-Morsi rally on Saturday.

On Tuesday, Ashton said she had a "friendly, open and very frank discussion" with Morsi at the undisclosed location outside Cairo where he is being held.

"Morsi is well," she told reporters after the two-hour meeting.

"He has access to information in terms of TV, newspapers, so we were able to talk about the situation and we were able to talk about the need to move forward."

Ashton said her discussions with Morsi and his supporters, and interim government officials were intended to "facilitate the bringing together of ideas."

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

She met with army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, interim president Adly Mansour and vice president Mohamed ElBaradei, as well as a pro-Morsi coalition.

But in the wake of the talks, neither side appeared to have shifted their positions, with ElBaradei insisting Morsi would have no political role and his supporters continuing to demand his reinstatement.

"Mr Morsi failed but the Brotherhood continues very much to be part of the political process," ElBaradei said, adding that ending violence would be his first priority.

In Washington, Senator Lindsey Graham said he and fellow Republican John McCain would head to Cairo at the White House's request.

"The president asked Senator McCain and myself to go to Egypt next week, so we're trying to find a way to get there," Graham told CBS television.

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European shares rise ahead of Fed decision

EUROPE'S main stock markets have mostly risen in cautious deals before the outcome of the US Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting, dealers say.

In late morning deals on Wednesday, London's FTSE 100 index of top blue-chip companies added 0.55 per cent to 6,607 points and Frankfurt's DAX 30 edged 0.02 per cent higher to 8,272.80 points, while the Paris CAC 40 eased 0.03 per cent to 3,985.5 points.

Despite the gains in London, Barclays shares sank 1.13 per cent to 288 pence as investors continued to react to news of a vast STG12.8 billion ($A21.65 billion) hole in the British bank's balance sheet.

The stock had already plunged by 5.74 per cent on Tuesday.

In foreign exchange activity, the euro firmed to $US1.3282 from $US1.3261 in New York late on Tuesday.

On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold advanced to $US1,331.78 an ounce from $US1,324.15 on Tuesday.

"The two-day meeting of the policy arm of the Federal Reserve comes to a conclusion today which may lead to more subdued market conditions as traders leave any decision-making on both short- and medium-term direction until after the announcements," said CMC Markets analyst Nick Dale-Lace.

Asian markets mostly fell on Wednesday in the final hours before investors discover the Fed's plans for its massive stimulus program.

Traders have remained cautious ahead of the central bank meeting, although most economists are confident it will indicate that its $US85-billion-a-month bond-buying policy will remain in place for the time being.

All eyes will be on the accompanying statement from the Fed's rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC).

Ahead of the Fed announcement at 1800 GMT (0400 AEST Thursday), markets digested a raft of economic data in Europe.

Unemployment held at record highs in the 17-nation eurozone in June, but there was some hope of an improvement as the numbers of those out of work fell slightly, official data showed on Wednesday.

The overall eurozone jobless rate came in at 12.1 per cent, unchanged from May, the Eurostat data agency said.

On a more upbeat note, the number of unemployed people fell by 24,000 to 19.26 million, according to Eurostat.

"Encouraging unemployment data for the eurozone has got things off to a positive start on Wednesday," said analyst Craig Erlam at trading firm Alpari.

"However, investors are clearly focused on one thing today, the FOMC statement, with European indices and US futures only trading marginally higher in response to the figures."

Meanwhile, official data showed that the unemployment rate in European powerhouse Germany held steady at 6.8 per cent in July, but the number of jobless fell by 7,000.

"A busy day dawns for markets, with a bombardment of data that leaves little time for traders to rest," added IG analyst Chris Beauchamp.

"It started early this morning with weak German retail sales, but the picture got better as both German and Italian employment data showing welcome improvement."

In Paris, shares in PSA Peugeot Citroen surged by slightly more than 7.0 per cent on results showing an almost halving of losses in the first six months.

Aerospace group EADS reported strong overall figures for the first half and a name change to Airbus.

In Germany, the giant industrial conglomerate Siemens named a new chief executive to restore credibility with shareholders.

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Battle for town in chemical weapons row

SYRIAN troops have attacked rebel positions outside Khan al-Assal as they try to recapture the northern town at the centre of rival chemical weapons accusations, a watchdog says.

Fierce fighting erupted on the outskirts of the town, which the rebels seized on Monday of last week inflicting heavy losses on the army, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The army lost 150 soldiers over two days, 50 of them summarily executed after their capture in an act condemned by the mainstream opposition leadership.

The government has been keen to recapture the town, the last to fall out of its control in the western half of Aleppo province.

The town was the scene of what both the government and the opposition say was a chemical weapons attack that killed 30 people on March 19.

The Syrian government says the rebels carried out the attack and its ally Moscow says it has concrete proof.

The opposition says President Bashar al-Assad's regime was behind it and Washington has said it has seen no firm evidence of rebel responsibility.

The Damascus government has pressed for Khan al-Assal to be the primary focus of a planned UN inquiry into a total of 13 allegations of chemical weapons use during the 28-month conflict.

The rebels' capture of the town last week came as two UN envoys visited Damascus to thrash out the ground rules for UN weapons inspectors. They came away with an agreement but UN chief Ban Ki-moon has said he is still reviewing the details.

The army also bombarded several rebel-held neighbourhoods of Aleppo city before dawn on Wednesday, the Observatory said. Several children were wounded when a shell hit a field hospital in the Maysara neighbourhood.

Pro-government newspaper Al-Watan quoted a senior official it did not identify as saying that troop reinforcements would arrive in Aleppo soon to boost the army's hand against the rebels.

"Aleppo is still the number one priority for Syrian leaders," the paper cited the official as saying.

"The resistance being put up by the city will disappoint those who are counting on it falling into the clutches of international terrorism."

The Syrian government consistently refers to all rebel forces as "terrorists" and makes no distinction between jihadists groups blacklisted by Washington and mainstream groups that have Western and Arab backing.

"The strategic successes of the army in Homs and in the eastern suburbs (of the capital) mean it is more determined than ever to carry out its duties in Aleppo," Al-Watan said.

On Monday, the army recaptured the Khaldiyeh neighbourhood of Homs in its biggest gain so far in a month-old offensive against the remaining rebel-held districts of the strategic central city.

The city's oil refinery came under fire on Wednesday for the second time in a week, the Observatory said.

Several of the refinery's staff were wounded by "terrorist rocket fire," the state SANA news agency said.

As UN efforts to convene a Russian- and US-backed peace conference have faltered, government forces have launched counter-offensives in the centre and north, as well as around the capital.

The opposition has vowed to step up efforts to capture the remaining government-held districts of the second city Aleppo.

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Taliban storm Pakistan prison, free 250

DOZENS of heavily armed Taliban fighters freed nearly 250 prisoners, including hardcore militants, during a sophisticated overnight attack on a Pakistani jail that killed 13 people.

Armed with guns, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and bombs, the Taliban bombarded the prison in the town of Dera Ismail Khan before escaping with scores of inmates after a three-hour shootout.

The attack by well-trained gunmen, disguised in police uniforms, will heighten concerns about the ability of the Taliban to operate with impunity in parts of the nuclear-armed state.

It took place just hours before the country began electing a new head of state to replace outgoing President Asif Ali Zardari, who is ending a five-year term.

Zardari's party lost general elections in May and has boycotted Tuesday's presidential vote, leading to the certain victory of Mamnoon Hussain, a close ally of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

At least 248 prisoners escaped, of whom six were later re-arrested, senior government official Mushtaq Jadoon told ARY television on Tuesday, describing about 30 of them as "hardcore militants".

Malik Qasim, prisons adviser to the chief minister of northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, confirmed that 248 inmates had escaped.

He said the militants had also taken away six women, including a female constable and five female inmates.

The Central Prison in Dera Ismail Khan can hold up to 5000 inmates and around 300 were being held in connection with attacks on security forces and sectarian killings.

But it was not clear how many were present during the assault, which began late on Monday and ended early on Tuesday.

The city in northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province is close to Pakistan's semi-autonomous tribal belt bordering Afghanistan where Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked insurgents are most active.

The chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pervez Khattak, a member of cricket star Imran Khan's party that advocates peace talks with the Taliban, branded the latest attack a failure of intelligence agencies.

The Pakistani Taliban, which has led a domestic insurgency since 2007 killing thousands of people, claimed responsibility.

"Some 150 Taliban, including 60 suicide bombers, attacked the central prison and managed to free about 300 prisoners," Taliban spokesman Shahidullah Shahid told AFP by telephone.

A security official in the city told AFP the militants arrived in more than a dozen vehicles and that two Taliban commanders were among those who escaped.

"Militants also torched jail records and an office," he said on condition of anonymity.

Jadoon said the fighters planted dozens of explosive devices in the jail which were later defused by bomb disposal experts.

A curfew was imposed in the city after the attack.

"We appeal on people to stay at home. It is to avoid any damage if army, police and paramilitary take any action," Jadoon said.

The siege began with rocket fire, killing two policemen and providing cover for 50 to 60 militants to storm inside, Jadoon said.

"First they destroyed a police armoured vehicle parked at the front gate," he said.

"Police killed one militant who was trying to flee and who opened fire on police near the jail," he said.

Provincial prisons chief Khalid Abbas said the gunfight raged for three hours. Militants wearing police uniforms stormed the prison after bombing its outer wall and throwing hand grenades at guards.

The prison was plunged into darkness by an electricity outage and after the battle, security forces searched the prison to count inmates by flashlight to determine how many had escaped, he said.

"At least 13 people have been killed and eight injured," Abbas told AFP.

Among the dead were six police officers, one civilian, two attackers and four prisoners, he said.

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Switzerland looks into deadly train crash

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Morsi 'well', says EU policy chief

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"The solutions are for the Egyptian people."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Italy court to decide Berlusconi's fate

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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British female MP threatened on Twitter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Co-founder of 'Russian Google' dies at 48

TRIBUTES have poured in for the visionary co-founder of the Russian search engine Yandex, Ilya Segalovich, who died over the weekend of cancer aged 48.

Along with his former classmate Arkady Volozh, Segalovich turned Yandex into Russia's most popular search engine and a company valued at $US10 billion ($A10.84 billion) on the New York stock exchange.

"I do not know how his encyclopedic knowledge of technologies and his pure vision for the product can be replaced," said Volozh on Monday as he confirmed his co-founder's death.

"He leaves behind him a new generation and new school of IT experts," Volozh added.

Segalovich, who died in hospital in London, transformed the company from an internet pioneer into a household name in Russia where it has 60 per cent of the market and earns comparisons with Google.

"Ilya was a magician, a perfectionist," said top Yandex executive Anton Zabannykh.

Segalovich was in charge of the group's technological development and presided over launches that have allowed Yandex's continual growth, including popular mobile applications launched in 2012.

In May 2012, Yandex enjoyed a successful IPO on the Nasdaq exchange in New York.

Russian protest leader and popular blogger Alexei Navalny also paid tribute to a man sympathetic to the opposition who he said would remain "an example of ethics" in business.

"He was an ideal capitalist. He earned money with his head and hard work, was personally involved in charitable work and was not scared of supporting political projects," said Navalny, one of the first political figures in Russia to understand the power of the internet.

Colleagues and rivals from the IT Russian world also paid tribute to Segalovich, who dreamt up his firm's catchy name from the English phrase "Yet another index".

Segalovich was a "unique engineer and a creator of world-class technology which is an outstanding example in the history of modern Russia," said the fonder of mail provider mail.ru, Yuri Milner, quoted by Vedomosti.

The founder of Russian social network VKontakte, Pavel Durov, said Segalovich's death was a "great loss", saying he was "one of the brightest people in Russian IT".

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Vic police seek blond man in Samba case

VICTORIAN police investigating the murder of racing identity Les Samba say they are searching for a man with long blond hair.

A police identikit image of a man described by witnesses was broadcast on Network Ten on Monday night.

Detective Sergeant Mark Butterworth said most of the people who were present the night of the 2011 shooting had identified the killer as having long blond hair.

"There were a number of people in the area at that time," Det Sgt Butterworth told the Network's Wanted program.

"The offender is described as general height, general build, the most significant thing that most witnesses have described is the offender had long blond hair."

Police also released an image of two men who reportedly met with Mr Samba the night he was gunned down in the hope they will come forward with information.

The CCTV still, also broadcast on Ten, was taken inside Melbourne's Crown Casino complex the night the 60-year-old former racehorse trainer was killed .

"We don't think there's anything sinister in that," Det Sgt Butterworth said.

"We haven't been able to identify those two individuals, so if we could get them identified so that we could speak to them that would be good."

Last year, police announced a $1 million reward in a bid to persuade someone to come forward with information about the killer.

Mr Samba, a Sydney resident, was staying at Melbourne's Crown Metropol Hotel the night of the murder.

He drove about five kilometres south to Beaconsfield Parade in the bayside suburb of Middle Park and at 9.35pm he was shot on the footpath, tried to flee, and was shot again.

While examining the case, police uncovered a race-fixing allegation.

Det Sgt Butterworth said there was no evidence Mr Samba was involved in any sort of corrupt activity within the racing industry.

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European shares lifted by M&A deals

EUROPEAN stock markets have risen as investor sentiment was boosted by vast merger and acquisition deals in the advertising and pharmaceutical sectors, dealers say.

In late morning deals on Monday, London's FTSE 100 index of leading shares added 0.25 per cent to 6,571.02 points and Frankfurt's DAX 30 advanced 0.26 per cent to 8,267.29 points.

In Paris, the CAC 40 climbed 0.30 per cent to 3,980.74 points compared with Friday's close.

The euro edged higher to $US1.3288 from $US1.3278 in New York late on Friday and the US dollar rose to Y97.95 from Y98.20.

On the London Bullion Market, the price of gold rose to $US1,330.70 an ounce from $US1,331 on Friday.

French group Publicis and its US rival Omnicom announced on Sunday the merger of the two advertising giants in a blockbuster deal to form a global leader in the sector.

The new group, in which the capital will be split 50-50 between the shareholders of the two companies, will be called the Publicis Omnicom Group, combining the current second- and third-largest advertising firms, worth about $US35.1 billion ($A38.06 billion).

Shares in Publicis, which is listed on the CAC 40, are suspended until 2330 AEST when the US stock market opens.

"The tie up between Omnicom and Publicis creates the world's largest ad agency with combined revenues of $US23 billion, but perhaps equally importantly demonstrates that in some quarters at least, the M&A space is still alive and well - even entering into the traditionally quieter summer months," said Matt Basi, head of UK sales trading at CMC Markets.

"Any sign that deals of this nature are back on the table might give bulls the required impetus to push equity markets to new highs."

The huge deal will bring together such top ad agency brands as Saatchi & Saatchi, Leo Burnett, Razorfish, BBDO and Ketchum, to name a few. Their clients include such major producers as Nike, LVMH and Nestle from Publicis, and Volkswagen, Unilever and ExxonMobile from New York-listed Omnicom.

"We are talking about industry where mergers seem to be natural occurrence, but this one is a giant one," added analyst Anita Paluch at Gekko Markets.

"It relies primarily, as all major mergers do, on the premise that synergies will be achieved and costs will be cut.

"This in turn should help them to be more active in Asian and Latin American markets to counterbalance the weak growth in Europe."

The new entity, which is subject to anti-trust approvals, will leapfrog the WPP group as market leader. However, WPP shares were showing a gain of 1.62 per cent to 1,194 pence.

In Paris, shares in French advertising group Havas rose by 5.84 per cent to 5.72 euros, with analysts saying that the scale of the deal would trigger reviews and negotiations of contracts which would raise opportunities for other big ad groups to gain business.

Markets won a further M&A boost on Monday after US drugs company Perrigo agreed to buy Irish biotech firm Elan for about $US8.6 billion in cash and shares.

The purchase is aimed at creating a global group with the strength to pursue expansion, and a new holding company will be based in Ireland.

Basi added: "Perrigo's $US8.6-billion acquisition of Irish pharmaceutical group Elan, coupled with news of the Omicom/Publicis tie-up, lends support to the argument that the M&A space may yet grind back into life.

"If CEOs continue to see value in equity markets at these levels, we may yet see traders pushing stocks to new high in anticipation of more deals on the horizon."

On the downside in London, British bank Barclays topped the FTSE 100 fallers board after revealing that it would update the market on its capital position on Tuesday.

The Sunday Times newspaper had reported that Barclays was exploring a STG4.0 billion ($A6.69 billion) rights issue to meet regulators' concerns over its financial strength.

In reaction, however, Barclays shares slumped 3.58 per cent to 308.7 pence.

In Paris, shares in nickel mining group Eramet plunged 7.65 per cent after the company reported a net loss for the first quarter.

Shares in spectacle lens leader Essilor rose by 3.97 per cent because the firm has done a deal to buy all of US firm Transitions Optical and sunglass lens-maker Intercast.

Shares in German industrial conglomerate Siemens were up by 0.14 per cent at mid-day to 79.82 euros. Over the weekend the company said that it would replace chief executive Peter Loescher who has been criticised for missing targets.

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Bloggers cast doubt on Putin's fishy tale

PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin's opponents have gleefully sought to prove the Russian strongman had massively exaggerated the weight of a pike he caught on a recent fishing expedition to Siberia.

The Kremlin on Friday had announced that Putin managed to catch a 21kg pike while on a trip to the region of Tuva, providing television footage and pictures of the president stripped to the waist as he cast his line.

The images were clearly aimed at proving that Putin at the age of 60 has the physical energy to catch a huge fish and lead his nation in changing times.

But the catch immediately sent the opposition - whose scrutiny on the internet of Putin's stunts becomes ever more thorough each year - scurrying to their fishing manuals to prove the Kremlin wrong.

And prominent opposition bloggers claimed on Monday that Putin had fallen into the classic amateur fisherman's trap of exaggerating the size of his catch.

Blogger and author Alfred Kokh calculated the length, diameter and volume of the fish and said it could only have weighed "10-11 kilograms" and not the 21 kilograms as claimed by the Kremlin.

Pro-opposition journalist Oleg Kashin added that a fish weighing 21 kilograms and the size of the one caught by Putin would be so dense that it would simply have sunk to the bottom of the lake.

"A pike that heavy just could not swim," Kashin wrote on Twitter. "She would sink to the bottom! In fact this pike was made from granite."

Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov rubbished the claims, which he blamed on "it being summer, there's nothing to do, people need to talk".

"I personally saw the scales and was present at the weighing. The pike really weighed more than 20 kilograms," he told the Russian News Service.

The opposition Novaya Gazeta newspaper meanwhile asked why it had taken the Kremlin until Friday to release the images from a trip that appeared to have taken place over the July 20-21 weekend.

"Maybe they had to agree the weight of the pike themselves? Maybe they also had to weigh up the possible propagandistic effect, a plus or a minus?" the paper wrote.

The standoff between pro-Kremlin media and bloggers recalls a similar controversy last year when Putin took to a hang-glider to fly with endangered cranes on their migration.

It later emerged that the cranes had failed to migrate and had ended up being transported by plane to fenced enclosures in nature reserves.

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Lawsuit over Mandela companies postponed

A SOUTH African judge has postponed a court battle over control of Nelson Mandela's companies after a lawyer for his daughters withdrew from the case.

Daughters Makaziwe and Zenani Mandela are attempting to remove three of Mandela's long-time friends as directors of two investment firms.

Lawyers for the three men, who were appointed by Mandela - human rights lawyer George Bizos, Tokyo Sexwale, a former cabinet minister, and his ex-lawyer Bally Chuene - said the case had been delayed.

"Once they've appointed new legal representation ... they must inform the judge and he will put it on the roll again," a spokeswoman for Norton Rose Fulbright said on Monday.

It was not immediately clear why lawyer Ismail Ayob - who has a chequered past with the anti-apartheid icon - withdrew.

Ayob was himself removed from Mandela's trust after selling fake artwork and pocketing millions of dollars. He paid back nearly $100,000 in a court settlement in 2007.

Mandela's daughters have argued the three remaining trustees were not properly appointed to Harmonieux Investment Holdings and Magnifique Investment Holdings, companies set up to channel proceeds from the sale of Mandela's iconic handprints, for his family's benefit.

The sale reportedly fetched over $US1.7 million when celebrities snapped up the prized prints, which were produced between 2003 and 2005.

Chuene, one of the trustees, has said in court documents Mandela had not wanted his family to run the trust.

Amid a public family spat, Mandela's grandson Mandla has accused his aunts of trying to gain control over the Mandela millions.

"I consider the action by my relatives as a blatant abuse of the elderly," Mandla in a statement on Monday, as his critically-ill grandfather remained in hospital for an eighth week.

"I consider this court action as nothing more than an attempt to loot (Mandela's) monies."

In a separate case, several of Mandela's daughters, grandchildren and his wife won a court order against Mandla to force the reburial of Mandela's three deceased children.

He had moved the remains without their consent.

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