Body found as Tibet mine disaster kills 83

Eighty-three workers have been buried after a large-scale landslide hit a mining area in Tibet. Source: AAP

RESCUE teams have found the first body almost 36 hours after a giant landslide in Tibet buried 83 mine workers.

Xinhua news agency said rescuers "found the first body at 5.35 pm (8.35pm AEDT)", after two million cubic metres of earth buried a copper mine workers' camp in Maizhokunggar county, east of the Tibetan capital Lhasa, at 6 am on Friday.

The report came after officials said at a press conference Saturday that no survivors or bodies had been found.

About 2,000 rescuers battled difficult terrain in the hunt for survivors after a vast three-kilometre-long section of land, with a volume of two million cubic metres, crashed down a slope, covering the miners' camp.

The rescuers braved bad weather as an emergency response team attempted to prevent a secondary disaster.

One rescue worker had earlier described the chance of survivors being found as "slim", Xinhua reported.

China's new president Xi Jinping and new premier Li Keqiang had ordered "top efforts" to rescue the victims, Xinhua said.

Mountainous regions of Tibet are prone to landslides, which can be exacerbated by heavy mining activity.

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Record boat arrivals in March: opposition

A RECORD 2200 asylum seekers have arrived in Australia on 34 boats so far this month, the federal opposition says.

It has also been a record first quarter for illegal boat arrivals with over 3600 people arriving - a 179 per cent increase on the first quarter of 2012, opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison said in a statement.

The federal government's policies on people smugglers have failed and have resulted in "cost, chaos and tragedy on our borders", he said.

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Burma unrest death toll reaches 43

THE death toll from recent communal violence in central Burma has risen to 43 with more than 1300 homes and other buildings destroyed.

Sixty-eight people have been arrested in connection with the Buddhist-Muslim unrest, which has left 11,376 people homeless, the New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported.

In total, 163 incidences of violence have been reported in 15 townships, it added.

Previously the official death toll stood at 40.

The situation appears to have calmed since President Thein Sein on Thursday vowed a tough response against those behind the violence, which he attributed to "political opportunists and religious extremists".

Security forces fired warning shots on Wednesday to disperse rioters. But Muslim leaders have criticised the security forces for failing to stop the attacks.

The clashes were apparently triggered by an argument in a gold shop that turned into a riot, but witnesses say the wave of violence since then appears to have been well organised.

It is the worst sectarian strife since violence between Buddhists and Muslims in the western state of Rakhine last year left at least 180 people dead.

Representatives from civil society, government, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party and religious groups issued a joint statement on Saturday calling for respect for the country's various religions.

"We oppose the violent attacks and threats on the lives and property of citizens and the racial and religious discrimination among citizens," according to the statement supported by 58 people who attended a seminar in Yangon organised by the Myanmar Peace Center.

"It is crucial to act to prevent the riots from spreading," it added.

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Attacks leave more than 50 dead in Nigeria

ATTACKS on villages surrounding a central Nigerian city at the heart of unrest between Christians and Muslims have killed more than 50 people this week.

Officials say an assault on Wednesday on a village in the Riyom local government area killed 28 people and an attack in the Bokkos local government area killed 18 civilians. On Friday, a military spokesman said at least nine people were killed in the Barkin Ladi local government area.

The fighting often pits Christian villagers against nomadic Muslim cattle herders.

The attacks around Jos, a city in Nigeria's fertile central belt, come as a string of unsolved killings continue to plague a region that has seen thousands killed in massacres in recent years.

Authorities have pleaded for calm over the Easter weekend.

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Napolitano bids to end impasse in Italy

ITALIAN President Giorgio Napolitano has asked two unidentified "groups" to come up with a program for government in a bid to end a deadlock between parties more than a month after elections that left no clear winner.

Napolitano stressed that outgoing Prime Minister Mario Monti's government would remain in charge until a new cabinet is formed and ruled out his own early resignation -- a scenario that had been mooted to help resolve the crisis.

The 87-year-old did not identify the "two restricted groups of different personalities" but officials said this would be clarified later on Saturday.

Analysts said the groups could be made up of party representatives as well as non-political "institutional" figures.

Napolitano said his latest round of talks with political forces on Friday had shown up "distinctly different positions" and called for "a greater sense of responsibility".

He also said Monti, a former European commissioner drafted in to drag Italy out of the eurozone debt crisis in 2011, represented "an element of certainty".

Pier Luigi Bersani's centre-left coalition, which secured the most votes in the elections but failed to win a majority, ruled out an alliance with Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right grouping which came a very close second.

Bersani was asked by Napolitano last Friday to try to form a government but admitted on Thursday that his efforts had come to nothing, after he failed to woo rival parties to support his cabinet.

Napolitano's announcement de facto withdrew the mandate from Bersani.

Berlusconi, a scandal-tainted billionaire tycoon who has been prime minister three times in a 20-year political career, has said a cross-party deal is the only viable solution.

The anti-establishment Five Star Movement party, which came in third, has ruled out support for a political cabinet but has left open the possibility of backing a technocratic government of non-political figures.

Developments in Italy are being closely watched by European capitals under similar pressures over budget cuts, as well as investors concerned that Italy could plunge back into the turmoil of the eurozone debt crisis.

Investors have been relatively calm so far and reactions on stock and bond markets have been muted -- mainly because of confidence in Monti.

Analysts say Italy has to find a government solution before markets re-open on Tuesday, however.

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Vic appeal raises $16.4m for kids hospital

VICTORIANS have dug deep for the Royal Children's Hospital, raising a record $16.4 million in the Good Friday Appeal.

The total of $16,405,534 eclipsed last year's record total of $15.82 million.

Good Friday Appeal executive director Deborah Hallmark described the result was "truly overwhelming".

"This is an amazing amount of money for the kids, from a dedicated community," she said in a statement on Saturday.

"Victorians and Australians are rightly very proud of The Royal Children's Hospital and the amazing work it does and this is reflected in their continued generosity to the Good Friday Appeal."

She said many tens of thousands of people had come together on Good Friday to deliver the record result.

Fundraising events took place across the state, while more than 100,000 volunteers shook collection tins on street corners.

More than $3.5 million was raised by collectors in rural and regional areas.

Geelong raised the most money outside Melbourne with $430,000 in donations.

Victorian Premier Denis Napthine did his bit - managing to raise $27,000 in just 30 seconds after reading an advertisement for Chemist Warehouse on radio, while in the Murray River town of Swan Hill a fishing competition was held to raise funds.

On Friday, Dr Napthine urged Victorians to dig deep for the hospital that has supported Victoria's sick and injured kids for more than a century.

"It's a great institution and it needs our support," he said.

The appeal has received more than $245 million since it began in 1931.

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Bombings kill 23, wound dozens in Iraq

A STRING of bombings targeting Shi'ite mosques in Iraq have killed at least 23 people and wounded dozens, officials say.

Friday's attacks were the latest in spectacular assaults staged by insurgents seeking to undermine the Shi'ite-led government's efforts to achieve security across the country.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the bombings bore the hallmarks of al-Qaeda's Iraq branch. The group, known as the Islamic State of Iraq, frequently uses car bombs, suicide bombers and coordinated blasts in an effort to sow fear among Shi'ites and erode their trust in the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Four car bombs hit Shi'ite mosques in the Iraqi capital as worshippers were leaving after Friday prayers, killing 19 people and wounding 72.

First, a parked car exploded in Baghdad's western Jihad neighbourhood, killing seven worshippers and wounding 25, a police officer said. Another police officer said four people were killed and nearly 20 were wounded in a bombing in an eastern Qahira neighbourhood. Three people died and 15 were wounded in the eastern Zafaraniyah district while yet another car bomb killed five people and wounded 14 in the northeastern Binook neighbourhood.

Three health officials confirmed the causality figures.

And in the northern city of Kirkuk, 290km north of Baghdad, a suicide bomber drove his explosive-laden car into a group of worshippers as they were leaving a mosque after Friday prayers, killing three people and wounding up to 70, according to police colonel Najat Hassan. A senior provisional health official, Sidiq Omar Rasool, confirmed the casualty figures in Kirkuk.

Violence has ebbed sharply since the peak of Sunni-Shi'ite fighting that pushed the country to the brink of civil war in 2006 and 2007, but Sunni insurgents still occasionally carry out high-profile attacks against Shi'ites, considering them to be heretics.

Friday is a particularly popular day for militants to undertake such attacks because of the rush of mostly men and boys who flock to the mosques throughout the country to hear traditional Muslim sermons and take part in communal prayers.

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Govt to crackdown on dodgy compo claims

THE workers' compensation scheme for federal public servants will be overhauled in an attempt to cut down on dubious claims, Fairfax Media reports.

The government review of the billion dollar Comcare insurance scheme reportedly calls for a crackdown on suspect payouts, including on outright fraudulent claims.

The review urges that the legislation on Commonwealth public sector compensation claims be rewritten, and makes 147 recommendations, Fairfax reports.

The aim of the blitz is reportedly to get civil servants back to work faster and end a reliance on compensation.

The scheme reportedly lost $500 million in 2011/12 financial year as the number of claims, many related to bullying and harassment, increased.

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Portugal budget deficit leaps to 6.4%

PORTUGAL'S 2012 budget deficit leapt to 6.4 per cent of the nation's total output, from 4.4 per cent one year earlier as the heavily indebted eurozone member struggles to raise revenues and cut spending amid recession and soaring unemployment, national statistics institute Ine says.

The figure, calculated according to standards used by the EU's statistics office Eurostat, did not include revenue from the sale of a state holding in the Portuguese airport operator however, and therefore far exceeded the five per cent target set by the government and its international creditors, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund.

They granted a financial rescue package worth 78 billion euros ($A96 billion) in May 2011.

Portugal's public debt rose to 204.4 billion euros meanwhile, equivalent to 123.6 per cent of gross domestic product last year, from 108.3 per cent of GDP in 2011, the Ine data showed.

EU countries are not supposed to run deficits of more than three per cent of GDP, and are expected to keep debt to no more than 60 per cent of GDP.

Earlier this month, Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar said Eurostat had rejected a request to use proceeds from the sale of airport operator ANA-Aeroportos de Portugal to cut the deficit. Had that had been allowed, it would have met the 2012 target at 4.9 per cent of GDP, Gaspar said.

The country managed to reduce the number to 4.4 per cent in 2011 through an exceptional measure that consisted of transferring funds set aside by banks for their staff pension funds to public coffers.

Despite boosting taxes and cutting public wages since the EU-IMF bailout, Portugal has struggled to cut the deficit.

But in light of a deteriorating economic situation, climbing unemployment and widespread public protests against austerity measures, Lisbon has been granted an extra year to bring the deficit in line with EU regulations.

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US 4th quarter growth faster than thought

US economic growth in the fourth quarter was faster than originally thought at 0.4 per cent, the Department of Commerce says in its final revision of the estimate.

The previous estimate had the economy basically flat, expanding at a 0.1 per cent annual pace.

The new data said that non-residential fixed investment was higher than previously expected.

However, the department added, growth was still sluggish and "the revision to GDP has not changed the general picture of the economy".

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BlackBerry back in profit, sells 1m Z10s

RESEARCH In Motion says it sold about one million of its critically important new BlackBerry 10 devices and surprised Wall Street by returning to profitability in the most recent quarter.

The earnings provide a first glimpse of how RIM's new touch-screen BlackBerry Z10 is selling internationally and in Canada since its debut on January 31.

The one million Z10 phones exceeded the 915,000 analysts had been expecting.

The BlackBerry, pioneered in 1999, had been the dominant smartphone for on-the-go business people and other consumers before the iPhone debuted in 2007 and showed that phones can handle much more than email and phone calls.

RIM faced numerous delays modernising its operating system with the BlackBerry 10. During that time, it had to cut more than 5000 jobs and saw shareholder wealth decline by more than $US70 billion ($A67 billion).

In the quarter that ended March 2, RIM earned $US98 million, or 19 US cents a share, compared with a loss of $US125 million, or 24 US cents a share, a year earlier. After adjusting for restructuring and other one-time items, RIM earned 22 US cents a share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had been expecting a loss of 31 US cents.

Revenue fell 36 per cent to $US2.7 billion, from $US4.2 billion. Analysts had expected $US2.82 billion.

Despite the BlackBerry 10 sales, RIM lost about three million subscribers to end the quarter with 76 million.

Bill Kreyer, a tech analyst for Edward Jones, called the decline "pretty alarming".

"This is going to take a couple of quarters to really see how they are doing," Kreyer said.

RIM, which is changing is formal name to BlackBerry, said it expects to break even in the current quarter.

"To say it was a very challenging environment to deliver improved financial results could well be the understatement of the year," chief executive Thorsten Heins said during a conference call with analysts on Thursday.

"I thought they were dead. This is a huge turnaround," Jefferies analyst Peter Misek said from New York.

Misek said the Canadian company "demolished" the numbers, especially its gross margins. RIM reported gross margins of 40 per cent, up from 34 per cent a year earlier. The company credited higher average selling prices and higher margins for devices.

The company also announced that co-founder Mike Lazaridis will retire as vice-chairman and director.

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US stocks higher as Cyprus reopens banks

US stocks have pushed higher in early trade after banks in Cyprus reopened without major incident and Europe's markets gained on buoyant German retail sales data.

Five minutes into trade on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 30.11 points, or 0.21 per cent, at 14,556.27.

The broad-based S&P 500 increased 1.83 points, or 0.12 per cent, to 1,564.68.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 2.51 points, or 0.08 per cent, to 3,259.03.

Cyprus's banks reopened with capital controls and long lines but no major turmoil, said Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare.

"It is a long way from business as usual, but the successful reopening combined with a better-than-expected retail sales report out of Germany has helped lift European equity markets," O'Hare said.

US economic data was mixed. The Commerce Department increased the fourth-quarter growth estimate to 0.4 per cent from 0.1 per cent previously.

But a report of weekly jobless claims rose 16,000 to 357,000.

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Man to face Sydney court over cocaine

A MAN will face court charged with drug offences after more than two kilograms of cocaine was found at a house on Sydney's northern beaches.

Police from the Middle Eastern Organised Crime Squad arrested the man, 51, on Thursday after searching a residence at Freshwater last Wednesday.

Inside the house police found 2.5kg of cocaine with an estimated street value of about $750,000, as well as $12,000 cash and drug paraphernalia.

The man, from Freshwater, was charged with supply prohibited drug greater than a large commercial quantity, and knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime.

Police said he was arrested after walking into Dee Why police station on Thursday afternoon.

He was refused bail and is due to face Parramatta Local Court on Friday.

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Prudential fined for non-disclosure

BRITISH insurance giant Prudential has been fined STG30 million ($A43.67 million) and its chief executive "censured" for failing to inform authorities about a planned takeover of the Asian arm of US insurer AIG, Britain's financial watchdog says.

The Financial Services Authority said the fine related "to Prudential's failure to inform the FSA at the appropriate time that it was seeking to acquire AIA, the Asian subsidiary of AIG, in early 2010 for $35.5 billion.

"The FSA has also censured (chief executive officer) Tidjane Thiam," the watchdog said in a statement.

FSA director of enforcement and financial crime, Tracey McDermott, added: "Prudential, led by Thiam as CEO, failed to give due consideration to its obligation to inform the FSA of this transaction, which would have had a huge impact on the group had it gone through.

"That was a serious error of judgement for which Prudential is paying the price. Firms should be in no doubt as to the importance of early communication with the regulator in respect of transformational transactions to avoid market and investor disruption."

Although it censured Thiam, the FSA said it had made "no finding of lack of fitness and propriety in relation to" the chief executive.

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UK to start giving food stamps to poor

LOCAL governments in Britain say they will be issuing "food stamps" - vouchers for food and other essentials - to the poor to replace cash loans as part of the country's welfare reforms.

Many Britons with low incomes who qualify for emergency help will no longer be able to obtain cash from authorities, who will instead dish out payment cards for food, gas and electricity. Some will offer one-time payments for furniture and household goods.

Britain now runs a national social fund that gives small emergency loans to poor people to tide them over short-term crises, but that fund will be abolished next week. Instead, local governments must come up with their own replacement plans.

The Conservative-led government said on Wednesday the changes will make the welfare system more efficient.

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63 Malian soldiers, 600 Islamists killed

THE Malian army says 63 soldiers and some 600 Islamists have been killed since the launch of the French-led military action to regain the country's north from Islamist groups linked to al-Qaeda.

"Since the start of the military offensive launched January 11, 2013 against the Islamists, the death toll is 63 Malian soldiers killed and our opponents have lost about 600 fighters," army spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Souleymane Maiga told AFP.

He said most Malian soldiers had been killed in the field, while the others had succumbed later to their injuries.

"The deaths among the Islamists is an estimate, because the Islamists generally take their dead away for burial," Maiga told AFP, adding that it was French and African forces who had killed "these terrorists".

He told AFP one Togolese and a Burkinabe soldier had also died. Five French soldiers have also been killed since the start of Operation Serval.

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Pistorius brother pleads not guilty

THE older brother of South African star sprinter Oscar Pistorius has pleaded not guilty at his trial over a deadly road crash five years ago.

Carl Pistorius, 28, has been charged with culpable homicide and reckless driving after a 2008 road accident in which a 36-year-old woman motorcyclist was killed.

"I plead not guilty," he told the court as the trial opened in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

The hearing came a day before his Paralympian hero brother makes a court challenge over the stringent bail conditions imposed on him after the Valentine's Day killing of his model girlfriend.

Among the conditions imposed on Oscar Pistorius, 26, last month was the surrender of his passport and mandatory drug and alcohol tests.

The athlete known as Blade Runner is also banned from returning to his upmarket gated home in Pretoria where he shot Reeva Steenkamp, claiming to have mistaken her for an intruder.

Pistorius, who became the first double amputee to compete against able-bodied athletes in last year's Olympic Games in London, is on bail of one million rand ($A103,500).

The Johannesburg court dismissed a bid by public broadcaster SABC to be allowed to run live broadcasts of the proceedings involving Carl Pistorius, saying the two brothers' cases were unrelated and should not be allowed to influence each other.

"This trial pertains to Mr Carl Pistorius not Mr Oscar Pistorius. This is what we are dealing with here," magistrate Buks du Plessis said.

"These proceedings must not be used or have an influence on any later proceeding against this accused's brother."

Lawyer Kenny Oldwage, a member of Oscar Pistorius's murder trial defence team, is also representing the brother.

Oldwage successfully defended a driver in a high-profile accident in 2010 that killed former president Nelson Mandela's great-granddaughter Zenani. The driver was acquitted.

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Spending on mental health increasing

SPENDING on mental health services has ballooned by almost half a billion dollars to about $309 for every Australian, according to the latest statistics.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) says figures for 2010/11 show a rise in spending of $450 million from the previous financial year, to $6.9 billion.

Of that more than $4.2 billion was spent on state and territory services, with $1.8 billion focused on public hospitals.

"This (total spending) equates to about $309 spent per Australian on mental health-related services in 2010/11, an increase from $248 per Australian in 2006/07," AIHW spokeswoman Pamela Kinnear said.

The AIHW said the federal government's spending on mental health services was also on the rise, with $852 million paid in Medicare benefits.

"Almost nine per cent of all prescription subsidies in 2010/11 were mental health-related, totalling $834 million, or $38 per Australian," Dr Kinnear said.

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S&P puts Deutsche Bank on negative rating

INTERNATIONAL ratings agency Standard and Poor's has put the biggest German bank's long-term credit rating on negative watch after Deutsche Bank's 2012 earnings were hit by writedowns and legal costs.

S&P said in a statement it has placed Deutsche Bank's A+ long-term rating on "CreditWatch with negative implications."

The move "follows Deutsche Bank's announcement that it has increased its provisions for litigation in 2012 by 600 million euros ($A741.24 million) compared with the preliminary results it released in January this year," the statement said.

The bigger-than-expected provisions forced the bank to restate its year-end net profit for 2012, which now stood at 291 million euros compared with 4.326 billion euros in 2011.

"We view the group's 2012 results as weak overall," S&P said.

"We believe ongoing economic, regulatory, and legal risks will continue to hurt the bank's performance."

Deutsche Bank's capitalisation was "still below peers' in our view, despite a significant improvement on the second half of 2012," the rating agency continued.

"The revised results lower the starting point for our projected risk-adjusted capital (RAC) ratio at year-end 2013. This ratio is our measure of a bank's capital cushion against unexpected losses."

Deutsche Bank is currently being investigated over allegations that some of its employees may have been involved in rigging the Libor and Euribor interest rates.

And one of its co-chief executives, Juergen Fitschen, is among a number of top managers suspected of involvement in a tax evasion scheme in the trading of carbon emissions certificates.

Deutsche Bank said its so-called Core Tier One capital ratio - a measure of a bank's ability to withstand unforeseen risks - slipped to 7.8 per cent in 2012 from 8.0 per cent announced at the end of January.

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US stocks higher on housing price survey

US stocks have opened higher after a leading index of housing prices showed a steep price increase.

Five minutes into trade, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 54.95 (0.38 per cent) to 14,502.70.

The broad-based S&P 500 jumped 6.12 (0.39 per cent) to 1557.81, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index increased 13.05 (0.40 per cent) to 3248.35.

The trading came after S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price index showed average home prices rose 8.1 per cent for 20 leading cities for the 12 months ending in January 2013.

The rise was the highest year-over-year increase since summer 2006, said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices.

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Saudi says busted spy cell Iran-linked

AN alleged spy cell dismantled last week in Saudi Arabia had "direct links" to Iran's intelligence services, the kingdom's interior ministry says.

"Preliminary investigations and physical evidence that has been collected as well as the defendants' statements on this case have all revealed direct links between this cell and Iranian intelligence services," a ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the official SPA news agency.

"These elements had regularly received sums of money in return for information and documents on important installations during the spy operation in the interest of these services," it said.

On March 19, the interior ministry in Riyadh said authorities had arrested 16 Saudis, an Iranian and a Lebanese citizen in four regions, including Eastern Province, where the Sunni-ruled kingdom's Shi'ite minority is concentrated.

But Iranian media reported on Sunday that the Shi'ite-dominated Islamic republic has denied any link to the suspected spy cell.

"Investigations are still ongoing with members of this cell and legal procedures will be taken against them," said the Saudi statement.

Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have strained ties with Iran which they suspect of supporting Shi'ite opposition protests in GCC member Bahrain, which like its partners is Sunni-ruled.

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Russian teen 'flees US adopters'

A RUSSIAN-BORN youth has run away from his adoptive parents in the United States and returned to his grandmother in provincial Russia, state television says, adding fuel to a furious row with Washington over adoption.

State television made huge play of the story on its main bulletins, after the Russian parliament in December passed a controversial bill banning adoptions by US parents.

Alexander Abnosov, 18, also known as Joshua Salotti, told state broadcasters that a family in Pennsylvania adopted him at 12, but threw him out at 18, and he lived rough before flying back to Russia and going to live with his grandmother in the provincial town of Cheboksary.

Russia has been outraged by the deaths of some children adopted by US citizens in recent years. Earlier this month, Moscow expressed concern over a high-profile decision by US officials not to prosecute the Texas parents of an adopted Russian boy after his death was deemed accidental.

After the US passed legislation to ban travel and freeze assets of officials implicated in the prison death of a whistleblowing lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, Russia's parliament passed the ban on US adoptions.

Channel One said Abnosov had not wanted to be adopted and said "he wants to forget the five years he spent in America as soon as possible".

Rossiya television added that the teenager "now plans to start a new life, to get a job, finish studying and in spring pass the medical commission to serve in the army."

National service is compulsory in Russia for men aged over 18.

Abnosov told Channel One he argued with his adoptive family after they refused to take in a friend who had been thrown out of his home.

Komsomolskaya Pravda tabloid contacted Abnosov's adoptive mother, named as Jackie Salotti, who said the family did not throw him out but that he had refused to return after running away.

Russian television said his grandmother had not been allowed to adopt him after his mother died and his father was deprived of parental rights because of alcoholism.

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Portugal economy to contract: bank

THE Portuguese economy is set to contract by 2.3 per cent this year due to a sharp fall in domestic demand and disappointing export growth, the Bank of Portugal says.

With the new forecast, which predicts a deeper contraction than an earlier estimate of 1.9 per cent, Portugal is now in line with estimations made by Lisbon's creditors, the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The central bank outlook expected Portugal's economy to grow by 1.1 per cent in 2014 despite headwinds caused by new austerity measures necessary to stay in line with the country's 78 billion euros ($A96.53 billion) bailout program, negotiated in May 2011.

With recession deepening, Portugal this month won an extra year from creditors to bring its public deficit into line with EU limits, as it faces record unemployment and mounting social discontent.

Portugal, suffering its worst recession in 40 years, now has until 2015 to bring the deficit below 3.0 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).

Eurozone countries are obliged to run public deficits of no more than 3.0 per cent of output, and are supposed to work towards a balanced budget, and even a surplus in times of economic growth.

Portugal's troika of public creditors, the EU, IMF and the European Central Bank, gave the extra leeway as they approved an eighth payment of emergency aid to the country as part of the program.

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Cold lambs feast on chocolate eggs

TWO lambs have caused mayhem at a popular UK tourist attraction after trying to scoff a pile of a quarter of a million chocolate Easter eggs.

A ewe and the two lambs were found in the egg store at Wookey Hole Caves in Somerset where staff believe they went to try to escape the unseasonably cold weather.

Thousands of chocolate eggs will have to be destroyed but the tourist attraction say their suppliers have agreed to deliver more before the weekend Bank Holiday fun.

General manager Daniel Medley said: "The eggs were delivered at the weekend and somehow this ewe and her lambs got out of their usual accommodation and made their way in there.

"We think it was a bit warmer in there or maybe the smell of the chocolate attracted them.

"It was pretty clear from the chocolate stuck to their wool who was responsible.

"There were pallets with 250,000 eggs on them and we believe a few thousand will have to be destroyed.

"Thankfully, our suppliers just laughed and have agreed to deliver some more before Good Friday.

"The baby lambs are usually very popular with the children at Easter but so are the chocolate eggs.

"They are so cute that we couldn't be too angry with them. We may get them to stand in the naughty corner over the weekend as a punishment.

The eggs had been purchased for an Easter egg competition.

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Native title boss to step down

THE boss of the body that oversees native title claims in Australia is stepping down after almost two decades of involvement with Aboriginal land rights.

National Native Title Tribunal president Graeme Neate announced on Tuesday he would leave the role at the end of March, after 17 years with the organisation.

In a statement, Mr Neate said it had been rewarding to be part of helping reconciliation among all Australians.

"There are now 222 registered determinations of native title, including 174 that native title exists," Mr Neate said.

"These determinations cover approximately 20 per cent of the land mass of Australia as well as large areas of sea, particularly in northern Australia.

"Most of the determinations that native title exist have been made by the consent of the parties, without long, expensive and unpredictable litigation."

Native title was these days "a generally accepted part of the legal and social landscape of Australia", Mr Neate said.

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US stocks rise on Cyprus deal

US stocks have opened higher after a last-minute deal to resolve the Cyprus banking crisis bolstered markets in Europe and Asia.

Five minutes into trade on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 15.37 points, or 0.11 per cent, to 14,527.40.

The broad-based S&P 500 increased 3.81 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 1,560.70.

The tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 7.66 points, or 0.24 per cent, to 3,252.66.

Briefing.com analyst Patrick O'Hare described the market reaction as "somewhat subdued", perhaps in anticipation of political or social opposition that could surface in response to the Cyprus agreement.

"Then again, markets didn't necessarily overreact on the downside when the Cyprus situation presented itself last week," O'Hare said.

Markets were also fixating on an emerging bidding war over computer manufacturer Dell.

The company's founder and chief executive, Michael Dell, proposed taking the company private in a $US24.4 billion ($A23.5 billion) deal. But two other proposals surfaced over the weekend, one from long-time Wall Street activist Carl Icahn, and another from the private equity firm Blackstone Group.

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Syria rebel commander loses leg in blast

RIAD al-Asaad, commander of the rebel Free Syrian Army, has been wounded in a blast that hit his car in eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights watchdog says.

A government official in Ankara confirmed Asaad had been hurt, saying he had lost a leg in the attack but that he was in "good condition" after being rushed across the Syrian border into Turkey for treatment.

"An explosive device exploded last night near the car carrying Free Syrian Army commander Riad Asaad, who was conducting a tour of the town of Mayadeen in Deir Ezzor province," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Abdel Rahman said Asaad had been wounded in the leg, and a relative of the commander told AFP that he had been transferred to Turkey for treatment after the blast.

A Turkish foreign ministry official confirmed Asaad was taken to Turkey on Monday morning via the Akcakale border crossing and was being treated at a hospital in Sanliurfa province near the border.

"He lost one leg but in general his condition is good," the official told AFP.

Asaad was one of the first officers to defect from the Syrian state military to the rebel forces, joining their ranks in 2011, not long after the uprising began.

He served as commander of the rebel forces but has seen his official role diminished by the creation of a rebel military command headed by Brigadier General Salim Idriss.

Asaad has remained a prominent figure though, regularly appearing with rebel fighters on the ground.

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Labor's lousy week continues with Newspoll

THIS September's federal election is getting more lopsided with 30 Labor MPs likely to lose their seats, according to the latest Newspoll.

With Prime Minister Julia Gillard admonishing her own party for an "appalling" two weeks of self-indulgence, which culminated in an abortive leadership challenge, her personal standing has crashed to a 19-month low.

The government lost four experienced ministers in Chris Bowen, Martin Ferguson and Kim Carr, who all resigned, and Simon Crean, who was sacked after instigating the spill.

The Newspoll, taken over the weekend and published in The Australian on Tuesday, shows Labor's primary vote has crashed five points to a disastrous 30 per cent while the coalition has jumped six points to 50 per cent.

The Australian says that after taking into account preference flows, the government's support is eight percentage points below its level at the 2010 election - at 42 per cent - compared to the coalition's 12-month high of 58 per cent - a six-point rise.

If that sort of swing was repeated at the election 30 Labor MPs, including at least five ministers, would lose their seats.

In the preferred prime minister stakes, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is streets ahead, 43 per cent (up five points) to 35 per cent (down seven) - the second time in three Newspoll surveys since February that he has been in front.

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NSW Labor isn't winning over voters: poll

THE Labor brand in NSW continues to suffer with a new poll revealing less than a quarter of voters are behind the opposition party.

The Nielsen poll, published by Fairfax Media, revealed only 23 per cent of those surveyed would give NSW Labor their primary vote.

The coalition's primary vote sat at 52 per cent, with the Greens at 10 per cent, independents at nine per cent and others on five per cent.

On a two-party preferred basis, the coalition maintains the advantage it secured over Labor at the March 26, 2011 state election, leading by 63 per cent to 37 per cent.

This a swing of just one per cent to Labor in two years.

The poll reveals that Premier Barry O'Farrell has an approval rating of 54 per cent and a disapproval rating of 35 per cent for a net approval rating of 19 per cent.

This was the highest for a NSW premier since Morris Iemma's net approval rating of 27 per cent in 2007, it reported.

Opposition Leader John Robertson recorded a net approval rating of minus 11 per cent, with a disapproval rating of 43 per cent and approval rating of 32 per cent - the worst result for an opposition leader since the Liberals' Peter Debnam, whose rating was minus 21 per cent in March 2007.

Mr O'Farrell also retains a strong lead over Mr Robertson as preferred premier, 62 per cent to 25 per cent.

The statewide poll of 1000 voters was taken last weekend, days after the latest federal Labor leadership wrangling.

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Man facing Facebook threats charges

A BRITISH man who allegedly posted on Facebook threats to kill 200 people in America will face extra charges, a court has heard.

Reece Elliott, 24, from South Shields, South Tyneside, appeared before magistrates in the town, where his case was committed to the crown court.

He was originally charged with making threats to kill and malicious communication after posts were made last month on a tribute page for a Tennessee girl who died in a car accident.

The day after the comments were made, 3000 children did not attend classes in Warren County and security was beefed up at local schools.

Sarah Guest, prosecuting, said Elliott will now face five separate charges of making threats to kill and nine charges under the Communications Act.

They were effectively specimen charges stemming from the same alleged incident, she said.

There was no application for bail for Elliott, who has been in custody since his arrest and first court appearance on February 9.

The defendant, with long curly hair, stubble and wearing a red Russell Athletic T-shirt, was remanded in custody to appear before Newcastle Crown Court on April 19.

Magistrates declined jurisdiction in the case.

No pleas have been entered yet.

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Bidding war for Dell as new offers emerge

A BIDDING war has broken out for US computer maker Dell as two new acquisition offers emerged in competition with the private buyout led by founder Michael Dell.

The company said the offers were from billionaire corporate raider Carl Icahn and investment fund Blackstone Group.

Both proposals "could reasonably be expected to result in superior proposals", but further study is needed, Dell said in a statement on Monday.

Dell said its special committee, which had set a Friday deadline, would continue negotiations on both offers.

"We are gratified by the success of our go-shop process that has yielded two alternative proposals with the potential to create additional value for Dell shareholders," said special committee chairman Alex Mandl.

"We intend to work diligently with all three potential acquirers to ensure the best possible outcome for Dell shareholders."

The new offers suggest Dell could bring a higher value that the $US24.4 billion ($A23.5 billion) proposed in the initial buyout offer, analysts said.

The initial offer amounted to $US13.65 per share, but Brian White at Topeka Capital Management said bids could go considerably higher.

"With three forces at work, we believe a higher buyout bid is in the cards and we continue to believe that an $US18 (per share) buyout price for Dell makes sense; however, it is unlikely that this price level will occur in the first round of bidding," White said in a note to clients.

In February, the company unveiled plans to go private in a private equity buyout led by founder Dell, backed by equity investment firm Silver Lake and a loan from Microsoft.

According to the details released Monday, Blackstone proposed a "leveraged recapitalisation" which would offer existing shareholders $US14.25 per share but allow those who want to hold onto the shares to be able to do so.

Under the deal, shares would remain publicly traded on the Nasdaq.

The Icahn offer would inject an additional $US5 billion into Dell, paying $US15 per share, allowing the company to remain publicly traded but under new control.

The existing shareholders would have their shares rolled over into a new company, with Icahn controlling 24.1 per cent, Southeastern Asset Management 16.6 per cent and T Rowe Price 9.3 per cent. The two investment firms had opposed the initial buyout offer.

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Selfless, brave Australians honoured

SURROUNDED by rising floodwaters, the mother of six-month-old Grace had two choices - risk death or hand her child to a stranger to be winched up to a helicopter.

That stranger was Queensland fireman Brad Hindmarsh.

"I called the mother aside and I explained to her that I'm going to have to ask you to let go of your baby," he told AAP.

"I told her that this is the only way I'm going to be able get you and your baby out.

"I said, 'You need to trust me.'"

For his act of courage, Mr Hindmarsh is one of 70 people and 15 groups chosen to receive an Australian Bravery Award on Monday.

On the morning of January 11, 2011, Mr Hindmarsh joined a crew on board a Black Hawk chopper to search flood-devastated Grantham, west of Brisbane, during one of the worst disasters to hit the state.

He was exhausted after spending the night fighting torrents and wading through mud, helping dozens of people from their inundated homes.

As the helicopter flew across the mass of water that covered the landscape, the crew spotted a man waving desperately from his back porch.

Despite having no training, Mr Hindmarsh volunteered to be lowered from the helicopter as it hovered above the man's home.

Inside he found a family of five - six-month-old Grace, her parents and her maternal grandparents.

They were scared and up to their knees in water.

Mr Hindmarsh gave each of the adults a life jacket in case he wasn't able to save them in time.

He then made an improvised harness for Grace using tape and attached it to himself.

"The last thing I wanted to happen was to lose the baby in an attempt to rescue her," the father of two said.

"Then I said to the mother, 'Okay, you need to let go now.'

"The look in her eyes as she looked into my eyes was 'you look after my baby'."

Mr Hindmarsh delivered Grace, screaming but unhurt, to the helicopter, before being lowered four more times to save the rest of her family.

"The look in her mother's eyes [when she was reunited with Grace] was heartwarming," he said.

"I love my job, but that told me why I was put here."

"I don't think I'm anything special, every firefighter has done exactly what I've done and they risk their lives every day."

Mr Hindmarsh says he has drawn on the experience to give him a boost when faced with devastating situations in his job.

Governor-General Quentin Bryce says recipients of the Australian Bravery Decorations demonstrated the most noble human trait - to put another life ahead of their own.

She says many of the awards went to those who demonstrated courage and determination during the Queensland floods in December 2010 and 2011.

"The strength of human nature shone through the chaos and tragedy," she told AAP.

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ADF should plan for climate change: report

EDS: Not for use before 0001 AEDT Monday, March 25

CANBERRA, March 25 AAP - The Australian Defence Force needs to plan now to deal with the impacts of climate change on security in the region, a report from a think-tank says.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute released a paper, Heavy Weather: Climate and the Australia Defence Force (ADF) on Monday, in which it recommended that the ADF should work with the department of the prime minister and the department of climate change and energy efficiency to establish a working group on climate change security.

The group should include aid agency AusAID, the defence science and technology organisation, the bureau of meteorology and the CSIRO, the report said.

Also, defence should appoint a climate-change adviser to the the ADF chief, whose role would be to plan how to manage the effects of climate change on operations and infrastructure.

"As the world becomes more networked, the impacts of climate change in one country or region will affect the prosperity and security of others around the world," the report said.

It pointed out that regional defence forces would have more opportunities to unite in dealing with climate change.

The report also recommended that Australia should become more linked in the Multinational Planning Augmentation Team operated by US Pacific Command (PACOM), which plans for natural disasters and humanitarian risks across the Asia-Pacific program.

The ADF's role in regional humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions was likely to increase, the report said.

Neither the ADF nor the department had shown much interest around climate change, by contrast with the UK's ministry of defence, which had developed a climate-change strategy.

The UK military had also appointed a star-ranked climate change and energy security envoy, while the United States navy had initiated a similar position.

The report said an increased focus on climate change in the military wasn't about a 'green' view of the world.

"It's about the ADF being well placed to deal with the potential disruptive forces of climate change."

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Shark attack hero wins bravery award

That was the only thought Trevor Ronald Burns had when he saw a woman being attacked by a Great White Shark.

He never expected to be awarded for his bravery.

The Brisbane man was holidaying in Perth with his family in October 2010 when they took part in a dolphin encounter at Rockingham with about 40 other people.

Many had gone back to the boat, but about 12 people remained in the water with a guide, looking for a baby dolphin that kept ducking around with its mother.

"They were obviously aware of the shark, and we weren't," he told AAP.

Mr Burns said when the guide was attacked by the 3.5m shark, it took a "double bite" at her legs.

He thought it was a dolphin when it brushed past his hand, until he saw the blood in the water.

"I just thought, 'Get it off her,' because she was only about a metre away from me," he said.

Mr Burns grabbed the shark's tail but it thrashed around before finally releasing its grip and swimming away.

Other tourists swam back to the boat when the alarm went off, but Mr Burns dived back into the water to find the injured woman.

"I couldn't see anything, but I knew there was no way she was coming back without help," he said.

The woman survived the attack but suffered significant leg injuries which required more than 200 stitches and several operations.

Mr Burns was also hurt, before he entered the water, slipping on the boat and injuring his ribs.

The pain was quickly forgotten as the drama unfolded.

"Adrenaline is a great pain relief," he quipped, although he felt the pain for weeks later.

Mr Burns will receive the Star of Courage as part of the 38th annual Australian Bravery Awards and said he was "really proud" to accept it.

"This really got to me," he said.

"To be recognised in this way is special."

Mr Burns remains in contact with the attack victim.

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Storms black out 50,000 Qld properties

A SERIES of severe storms, accompanied by 90km/h winds and lightning strikes, have swept through southeast Queensland, cutting off power to thousands of homes and businesses.

The State Emergency Service responded to up to 100 calls for help, mostly for damaged and leaking roofs and fallen trees as some streets were turned into rivers.

By 10pm (AEST) on Sunday, Energex crews had restored power to 15,000 homes and businesses across the region but there were still 43,000 homes without power including 6500 in the Brisbane City Council, 2000 in Ipswich and 25,500 in Logan.

Energex said all its available field staff are working and will continue until electricity is restored to all customers.

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Zygier gave up names of informants: report

THE man known as Prisoner X - Melbourne-born former Mossad agent Ben Zygier - was outfoxed trying to turn a Hezbollah representative into a double agent and unwittingly became one himself, handing over the names of two valuable informants in Lebanon, Fairfax Media says.

That is the reason why he became a top-secret inmate in an Israeli jail where he took his own life.

Fairfax says Mr Zygier, recruited in 2004, was disconsolate that his career as a Mossad agent had become bogged down at a desk job and he took it upon himself to turn the Hezbollah link into a double agent.

But in an effort to prove he was a Mossad agent, he handed over the names of two informants in Lebanon who were subsequently arrested and given hefty jail sentences.

Fairfax says that unable to bear the shame of his downfall, and facing a minimum 10-year jail sentence with no prospect of a return to the Mossad, Mr Zygier apparently took his own life on December 15, 2010.

Fairfax said that he learned that east European man was known to be close to the militant Lebanese Shi'ite movement Hezbollah, and set up a meeting towards the end of 2008 with the intention of turning him into a double agent.

But the reverse happened, and Mr Zygier became the conduit for information flowing from Tel Aviv to Hezbollah.

In an effort to prove his Mossad bona fides he gave up the names of Israel's two top Lebanese informants, Ziad al-Homsi and Mustafa Ali Awadeh.

Both men were subsequently arrested in 2009 and sentenced to 15 years jail with hard labour.

* Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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Cyprus in last-ditch bailout talks

CYPRUS President Nicos Anastasiades has entered emergency talks with the island's international creditors seeking to avert bankruptcy in a crisis that is again threatening the stability of the wider eurozone.

The clock is ticking for the tiny country after the European Central Bank threatened to halt life-support funding if there is no deal by Monday, a day before Cyprus's banks are due to reopen after a 10-day shutdown.

Cyprus and its creditors are trying to nail a deal that will restructure the island's banks and deliver up to six billion euros ($A7.5 billion) from large bank deposits in order to resurrect an agreement for a bailout worth up to 10 billion euros.

European Union economics head Olli Rehn acknowledged Cypriot leaders faced hard choices to try to limit the damage from the blow to its bloated banking sector, after a firestorm of protest over the EU plans to impose a special levy on bank customer deposits.

Anastasiades's cortege entered EU headquarters in Brussels shortly after 2pm on Sunday (0001 AEDT Monday), an AFP correspondent said.

Anastasiades was to meet with ECB head Mario Draghi, IMF managing director Christine Lagarde, EU president Herman Van Rompuy, European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso, Eurogroup chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem and Rehn, sources told AFP.

Dijsselbloem will also bring in the finance ministers from all 17 currency partners from 1700 GMT (0400 AEDT) for what is likely to prove yet another sleepless night in snow-covered Brussels.

Cypriot reports suggested officials had made progress with EU and IMF representatives, having agreed a 20 per cent haircut on Bank of Cyprus and a 4.0 per cent levy on other banks.

A radical restructuring of the island's second largest lender Laiki (Popular Bank) will see all deposits over 100,000 euros put into a "bad bank" where they will be tied up for years and may never be fully recovered.

But negotiations stumbled on EU-IMF demands for a substantial levy on deposits above the same threshold in the Bank of Cyprus to avoid it facing similar restructuring. It holds more than a third of all deposits.

The haircut would take the form of a bond or share swap in a bid to get the measure through parliament.

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