Three dead in Somalia bomb attack

AT least three people have been killed when a car bomb targeting a convoy of African Union troops exploded on a major street in the Somali capital, police say.

"So far three persons are confirmed dead, and three others injured," said police official Ahmed Muktar, who was near the scene of Friday's blast, the latest in a string of explosions in Mogadishu.

"It was a huge explosion, buildings all around were rocked by the blast," said Hussein Gure, a witness who was driving nearby when the car exploded.

"There were several people killed or wounded."

It was not immediately clear if the casualties reported were civilians or from the AU force.

Some reports said the car had been parked when it exploded, others said it was driven by a suicide bomber who rammed into the armoured AU convoy, part of regular patrols carried out by the 17,700-strong force in the country.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents have carried out a series of bombings, attacks and killings aimed to overthrow the internationally-backed government.

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Mandela's wife now 'less anxious'

South Africa has marked 50 years since the police raid that led to Nelson Mandela's life sentence. Source: AAP

GRACA Machel, the wife of ailing South African icon Nelson Mandela, says she is less anxious about his condition, five weeks after he was admitted to hospital.

"He continues to respond positively to treatment. I would say that today I'm less anxious than I was a week ago," she told state-backed SABC television.

It is the latest in a series of upbeat accounts, which seem to suggest that while the 94-year-old's condition remains "critical", it has improved somewhat.

After visiting Mandela late Thursday, President Jacob Zuma said he was "responding to treatment."

"He remains as much of a fighter now as he was 50 years ago," Zuma said, marking the anniversary of a police raid that led to Mandela's life sentence in prison.

Earlier in the week Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo, who is one of Mandela's nephews and king of his Thembu tribe, said the former statesman was "conscious".

"He could not talk, but he recognised me and made a few gestures of acknowledgment, like moving his eyes."

Two weeks ago the prognosis appeared much bleaker, with family massing at his Pretoria hospital as Zuma abruptly cancelled a trip to Mozambique.

Doctors are said to have ruled out switching off Mandela's life support machines unless there is serious organ failure.

Court documents filed on behalf of the family last month described Mandela's condition as "perilous", with one claiming he was in a "vegetative state".

Mandela, who turns 95 next week, was rushed to a Pretoria hospital on June 8 with a recurring lung infection.

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Popular roving UK broadcaster Whicker dies

ALAN Whicker, one of the most widely-travelled and popular UK broadcasters of his generation, has died aged 87.

The presenter and reporter died in the early hours of Friday at his home in Jersey after suffering from bronchial pneumonia, his spokeswoman said.

For more than 40 years he roamed the world for the BBC and independent TV networks, seeking out the eccentric, the ludicrous and the socially revealing aspects of everyday life from all over the globe.

He was probably best known for Whicker's World, his long-running documentary program which he presented from 1959 to 1990.

And he acquired over the years an enviable reputation of having no equal as a television commentator.

Alan Donald Whicker was born in Cairo, Egypt, on August 2 1925, but moved to England as a young child on the death of his father.

He attended Haberdashers' Aske's School and was commissioned as an officer in the Devonshire Regiment during the Second World War, serving as a captain.

He then joined the Army Film and Photo Unit in Italy in 1943, filming at Anzio.

Whicker was also responsible for taking into custody British traitor John Amery, who was subsequently executed.

In a 2004 TV series, called Whicker's War, he disclosed that he was one of the first of the Allied forces to enter Milan and that he took into custody an SS general and troopers who were looking after the SS money vault.

He also shot footage of the body of Mussolini.

After the war he became a journalist and broadcaster, acting as a newspaper correspondent in the Korean War, during which he was mistakenly reported as having been killed.

He joined the BBC in 1957 and was a reporter for the famous Tonight program.

Soon after that he began his Whicker's World series, which over the years consistently claimed a place in the top 10 ratings.

He was also instrumental in the launch of Yorkshire Television.

Whicker was noted for probing the private worlds of the rich and famous on cruise ships, the Orient Express, at cocktail parties, on world tours, in health spas and gentlemen's clubs.

He lured countless individuals into allowing him a privileged glimpse of sometimes extraordinary lives.

Among his "victims" were John Paul Getty and Haiti's feared dictator "Papa Doc" Duvalier.

On one occasion, while in the US, he heard about an Alan Whicker impersonation contest. He entered and came third.

He was also the man behind the popular advertising slogan Hello World for Travelocity.

Whicker was awarded a CBE in the 2005 New Year Honours list for services to broadcasting.

He had lived in Jersey and is survived by his long-standing partner Valerie Kleeman.

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Britain shelves plain cigarette pack plans

BRITAIN has announced it is postponing plans to introduce plain packaging on cigarettes, saying it's waiting to see the results of a similar move in Australia.

Prime Minister David Cameron faced criticism over the move, with opposition MPs asking whether the decision had been influenced by links between his chief party strategist and tobacco companies.

Health Minister Jeremy Hunt said the decision was delayed because the government wants more time to see how a similar system in Australia works before committing to such a policy.

In December 2012, Australia became the first country in the world to force tobacco firms to sell cigarettes in identical, olive-green packets bearing the same typeface and largely covered with graphic health warnings.

The British government is reported to be worried about the impact on jobs in the tobacco industry that any ban on branded packaging might have, especially at a time of austerity and economic stagnation.

Diane Abbott, health spokeswoman for the opposition Labour party, told parliament the government had made a "disgraceful U-turn".

"We have to ask, what happened? We suspect Lynton Crosby happened," she said, referring to the election strategist for Cameron's centre-right Conservative party.

Cameron's opponents have pounced on reports that a public relations firm run by Crosby, an Australian, had previously acted for tobacco firms opposed to the Australian plain packaging move and alcohol companies which reject minimum pricing.

Cameron's official spokesman rejected any link.

"The prime minister has never been lobbied by Lynton Crosby on cigarette packaging. The important point to stress on this issue is that Lynton Crosby has had no involvement in the decision," the spokesman told reporters.

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JPMorgan Chase logs 31% Q2 profit rise

US banking giant JPMorgan Chase has logged a 31 per cent increase in quarterly profits, but gave a mixed report on the status of the economic recovery.

JPMorgan's second quarter profit came in at $US6.5 billion ($A7.12 billion) on revenues of $US25.2 billion, up from last year's income of $US5 billion on revenues of $US22.2 billion.

The results showed a healthy 19 per cent increase in profits from the corporate and investment bank unit to $US2.8 billion.

The year-over-year comparison also benefitted because the bank last year took a $US4.4 billion charge due to the so-called "London whale" debacle, a large trading loss in its chief investment office.

But results in other key divisions were mixed. Profits in the consumer and community division shrank six per cent compared with last year to $US3.1 billion, while income in commercial bank fell eight per cent to $US621 million.

Average business banking loans at $US18.7 billion were up four per cent from the prior year, but flat compared with the prior quarter.

Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said the pace of the economic recovery remains fairly slow.

"Loan growth across the industry continues to be soft, reflecting a cautious stance by consumers, many small businesses and corporations," Dimon said.

"However, we continue to see broad-based signs that the US economy is improving and we are hopeful that, as jobs are added and the confidence builds, the US economy will strengthen over time."

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Morsi supporters mass in Cairo

TENS of thousands of supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi have gathered in Cairo, vowing to keep fighting for his reinstatement.

The rallies come with Germany calling for the release of Morsi, who is being held in a "safe place, for his safety" and has not yet been charged, according to the foreign ministry.

"We call for an end to the restrictions on Mr Morsi's whereabouts," a German foreign ministry spokesman told reporters on Friday.

With an Egyptian flag in one hand and a Koran in the other, protesters gathered outside the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque in Cairo's Nasr City neighbourhood chanted against the military and pledged allegiance to Morsi.

"We will continue to resist. We will stay one or two months, or even one or two years. We won't leave here until our president, Mohamed Morsi, comes back," influential Islamist leader Safwat Hegazi told the crowd.

"We will stay in the square. We are free revolutionaries and we will continue our journey," he shouted.

Hegazi laid down their demands as the reinstatement of Egypt's first freely elected president, immediate parliamentary elections and a committee to oversee a plan for national reconciliation.

But despite the large turnout and defiant mood, the gathering has been increasingly out of step with political developments as interim authorities press ahead with formation of a new government and Gulf states stepping in to help support the faltering economy.

The Muslim Brotherhood, the influential Islamist group from which Morsi emerged, is now in tatters with much of its leadership detained, on the run or keeping a low profile following Morsi's July 3 overthrow by the military.

The holy month of Ramadan, usually a time of communal sharing and unity, has been marked instead by anxiety after deadly clashes and uncertainty about the future.

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N Korea shelves talks on family reunions

NORTH Korea has retracted its proposal to hold talks with South Korea on restarting a family reunion program, after separate discussions on reopening a joint industrial estate faltered.

The North's sudden move came a day after the two Koreas agreed in principle to hold talks on reunions for hundreds of thousands of families separated since the 1950-53 war.

"In a message sent today to our side, North Korea said it is retracting its proposal in an effort to focus" on discussions on restarting the Kaesong industrial estate, a unification ministry official told AFP.

Pyongyang had proposed that a Red Cross meeting on restarting a temporary family reunion program be held on July 19. It also suggested talks on July 17 about restarting tours by southerners to its Mount Kumgang resort.

The South said it was premature to discuss the Kumgang tours while the Kaesong talks are still going on.

Unification Minister Ryoo Kihl-Jae told a forum on Thursday that progress at talks on the estate could help resolve a standoff over the suspended tours.

The Mount Kumgang resort opened in 1998 and once earned the North tens of millions of dollars a year. But Seoul suspended tours by its citizens after a North Korean soldier shot dead a South Korean housewife there in 2008.

Pyongyang accused Seoul of insincerity on Wednesday after talks on the Kaesong estate, built as a symbol of reconciliation, failed to reach a firm agreement on a restart. But the two sides will meet again next Monday.

The industrial zone, just north of the border, opened in 2004 but shut down three months ago as relations approached crisis point.

At a rare weekend meeting the two sides agreed in principle to reopen the estate, where 53,000 North Koreans worked in 123 Seoul-owned factories producing textiles or light industrial goods.

The North in April withdrew its workers from Kaesong, an important source of hard currency for Pyongyang, citing military tensions and what it called the South's hostility.

The South now wants firm safeguards from the North against shutting Kaesong down unilaterally, to keep the zone insulated from changes in relations.

This would be a bitter pill for the North to swallow as it means it would accept responsibility for the April closure.

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US unemployment benefit applications rise

US unemployment benefit applications rose 16,000 last week to a seasonally adjusted 360,000, although the level remains consistent with steady hiring.

The Labor Department said the less volatile four-week average increased 6000 to 351,750.

The weekly applications data can be volatile in early July because some automakers briefly shut down their factories to prepare for new models and many schools close.

Those factors can create a temporary spike in layoffs.

The broader trend has been favourable.

Applications have declined steadily in the past year, as companies have laid off fewer workers and stepped up hiring.

In the past six months, employers have added an average of 202,000 jobs a month.

That's up from an average of 180,000 in the previous six months.

Employers added 195,000 jobs in June, and revisions showed that an additional 70,000 jobs were added in the previous two months.

The unemployment rate was 7.6 per cent, down from 8.2 per cent a year earlier.

Applications fell to their lowest level since the recession began in the April-June quarter, according to calculations by Joseph LaVorgna, chief US economist at Deutsche Bank.

They averaged 346,000 a week in the second quarter.

That is the lowest quarterly average since it was 338,000 in the final three months of 2007.

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Hundreds of Srebrenica victims buried

BOSNIA has buried 409 victims of the Srebrenica massacre, including a newborn baby, on the 18th anniversary of the worst slaughter in post-war Europe.

More than 15,000 people travelled to Potocari, near Srebrenica to attend the mass funeral of victims whose remains were found in mass graves and only identified almost two decades after the 1995 killing.

"This year we are going to bury the youngest victim of the genocide, the Muhic family's baby," Kenan Karavdic, a government official in charge of Thursday's burial ceremony told AFP.

The baby girl died shortly after birth in July 1995 at the UN base in Potocari.

She was buried next to the grave of her father Hajrudin, also a victim of the massacre in which 8000 men and boys were executed by Serb forces after they overran the UN-protected town.

Her tiny casket was covered with a modest green cloth with a white rose wreath on top and placed in a grave with a sign that read only: "The Muhic newborn."

The baby's mother, her head covered with a red veil, held the coffin as she murmured a Muslim prayer through sobs.

Many of those present lined up in front of the coffins praying, their hands turned towards the sky, amid drizzling rain.

Among the 409 victims laid to rest, 44 were aged between 14 and 18, officials said.

The sombre ceremony fell on the same day as the UN Yugoslav war crimes court was set to rule on an appeal to drop a charge of genocide against Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic, who is accused of masterminding the Srebrenica massacre.

Srebrenica was a UN-protected Muslim enclave until July 11, 1995, when it was overrun by Bosnian Serb forces.

Dutch peacekeepers in the so-called "safe area", where thousands of Muslims from surrounding villages had gathered for protection, helplessly looked on as the massacre unfolded.

The Serbs loaded thousands of men and boys on to trucks, executed them and then threw their bodies into mass graves.

The remains of 5657 victims, identified through DNA tests, have already been buried in the memorial centre in Potocari since the process started a decade ago.

Their remains - often only a handful of bones - were found in dozens of mass graves scattered in the area, said Amor Masovic, head of the Bosnia's Institute for Missing Persons.

But many victims remain unidentified and more are yet to be found.

The Srebrenica massacre has been judged an act of genocide by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Court of Justice.

After escaping justice for years, both Karadzic and Bosnian Serb army chief Ratko Mladic are now being tried by the ICTY for warcrimes and genocide.

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Electronic tag firms overcharged UK govt

THE British government is calling in fraud investigators after auditors found security giant G4S had overcharged by millions of pounds on contracts to monitor offenders using electronic tags.

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said he was asking the Serious Fraud Office to investigate after G4S refused to take part in a forensic audit of its contract.

He said an initial audit had found that G4S and another firm, Serco, had charged the government for people they were not actually monitoring - and in a small number of cases for offenders who had died.

Grayling said the overcharging was in the "low tens of millions," went at least as far back as the start of the current tagging contracts in 2005, and could have begun as long ago as 1999.

He said Serco had agreed to a forensic audit to determine whether dishonesty had been involved in the overcharging, but G4S had refused.

The detailed audit would include examining internal emails between company executives to determine what happened.

Grayling told MPs in the House of Commons he felt "astonishment that two of the government's biggest suppliers would seek to charge in this way".

"The billing practices in question were clearly unacceptable and the government will take all necessary steps to secure a refund for the taxpayer," he said.

He said the government was reviewing all its existing contracts with Serco and with G4S, one of the world's biggest private security firms.

The government paid G4S more than STG394 million ($A647.07 million) in the 2012-2013 financial year.

The fraud investigation is the latest bad news for G4S.

Last year, Britain had to call in thousands of troops to help with security at the London Olympics after G4S acknowledged it couldn't provide the 10,400 guards it had been contracted to deliver.

This week, prosecutors said they were considering criminal charges over an Angolan man who died after being restrained by G4S guards during deportation from Britain.

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Karadzic genocide charge reinstated

Sharknado - so very bad it's awesome

WHAT happens when thousands of man-eating sharks get caught up in a monster tornado? Sharknado, of course - surely the world's worst movie. WATCH THE TRAILER

Lesbian baby advert cleared

BILLBOARDS showing a pregnant woman "having a lesbian'' has been cleared by the advertising watchdog after complaints that it "sexualised children''.

The worst English batsmen of all time

IN the wake of England's modest batting effort on the opening day of the Ashes series, we felt safe to have a pop at the Pommy batsmen of yesteryear.

Finding royalty in your own backyard

ROYAL fever is sweeping Australia as the world awaits the Duchess of Cambridge's labour pains but why wait when you could become a lord or lady yourself.

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US stocks jump one per cent

US stocks have surged higher, following global equity markets that greeted fresh comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.

He says monetary policy will remain accommodative until the economy improves.

Five minutes into trade on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 152.88 (1.00 per cent) to 15,444.54.

The broad-based S&P 500 rocketed 17.65 (1.07 per cent) higher to 1,670,27, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index rose 40.11 (1.14 per cent) to 3,560.87.

Bernanke, responding to questions following a speech in Boston, said "highly accommodative monetary policy for the foreseeable future" was needed given the weak labour market and low inflation.

Bernanke's comments made clear that while the Fed may taper its bond-buying program this year, such a move did not imply a rise in interest rates.

Leading Asian equity markets rose as did European exchanges, with Germany's DAX index up 1.1 per cent and France's CAC 40 index up 0.8 per cent.

The jump in stocks came despite a rise in initial US jobless claims to 360,000 in the week ending July 6, above the 345,000 expected by analysts.

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Accountants want more policy, less debate

AUSTRALIA'S accountants want the main political parties to detail how they will address the big economic challenges and not be distracted by day-to-day politics.

Ahead of Kevin Rudd's appearance at the National Press Club in Canberra on Thursday - his first since being reinstalled as prime minister - the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia has released its own election manifesto.

The institute's chief executive officer Lee White says Australia is facing serious long-term challenges, including an ageing population and slowing productivity growth, all against a backdrop of global economic uncertainty.

"These are the big issues the next government will have to tackle. What we need to know is how they plan to do this," Mr White said in a statement.

"We cannot afford to get distracted by the politics of the day."

The publication sets out ways to improve Australia's performance in four critical areas - fiscal sustainability, international best practice, boosting productivity and stability of financial markets.

Among its wish list, it says a reduction in the company tax rate should be an economic priority with the aim of reducing from 30 per cent to 25 per cent in the medium term, and to 20 per cent over the longer term.

It says the continuation of the Labor government's carbon pricing scheme provides certainty to business and investors.

But it believes that improvements to the design and operation of the minerals resource rent tax should be made over time to ensure greater economic efficiency for both the government and taxpayers.

Also, an expanded GST system will be an essential component of the tax mix over the long term, the institute says.

It also wants red tape streamlined, particularly for small business.

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No feral cat increase from Dingo baiting

FEARS that baiting dingoes and other wild dogs on pastoral land on mainland Australia will open the door for smaller predators are unfounded, research shows.

Baiting is the most common way of controlling wild dogs to prevent the estimated $48.3 million a year in damage they cause to agricultural productivity.

But some scientists have called for dingo baiting to be banned to protect wildlife, arguing dingoes would keep down the numbers of other predators.

New research from the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre (IA CRC) says current baiting programs in the rangelands do not simply result in more foxes and feral cats.

"It just doesn't happen," says Ben Allen, an IA CRC researcher at Biosecurity Queensland.

The numbers of foxes, feral cats and goannas are the same or even greater in areas where dingoes are left alone compared with areas where dingoes are controlled by lethal means, says a new study published in Frontiers in Zoology.

"Baiting of dingoes in the rangelands kills foxes too and the end result is that there are less mesopredators in places where you bait and baiting might even be beneficial for rangeland wildlife," says Allen, the lead researcher in the study.

In Australia, 1080-baiting is the most widely used method of wild dog and fox control for the protection of livestock and conservation of fauna threatened by predation.

NSW Department of Primary Industries researcher Peter Fleming said the study was reassuring about the ecological outcomes of predator control in pastoral ecosystems but the results don't really help understanding of the wetter, more complex and productive ecosystems nearer the coast.

Another IA CRC project team is investigating the responses of predators, prey and plants to canid control in those ecosystems.

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Capt Negative is easy politics: Rudd

WITH Opposition Leader Tony Abbott nowhere to be seen, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is preparing to paint him as a tired and lazy Captain Negative during a debate-turned-address.

Mr Rudd challenged his opposite number to debate the economy and other issues at the National Press Club in Canberra on Thursday but Mr Abbott will be in Melbourne instead.

Mr Abbott has repeatedly said he will take his corner but only if the prime minister calls the election or recalls parliament.

Mr Rudd will use his address to attack Mr Abbott for repeating "tired, old, negative politics".

"The easiest thing to do in our national political life is to craft a negative sound-bite rather than answering the core question of what would you actually do differently," he'll say during the lunchtime speech.

Mr Abbott is a formidable politician when it comes to negativity, Mr Rudd says.

"But a 100 per cent diet of negative politics is a lazy substitute for the hard work that is needed to develop, argue and implement policies that will change Australia for the better," Mr Rudd will say.

"Simply playing Captain Negative represents the easy politics of opposition."

Mr Rudd intends to talk up Australia's future calling himself "an unapologetic optimist" about what's ahead.

But the economic challenges ahead meant politicians needed "a credible, positive direction" instead of just talking the country down.

"Of course there are things we need to improve and the process of reform is never ending," Mr Rudd will say.

"That is different to a daily diatribe of negative politics who's single objective is to cause the Australian people to feel that our country is on the verge of falling apart - if not now, then certainly by next Thursday afternoon."

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60 dead or missing in Canada train tragedy

LAC-MEGANTIC, July 10 AFP - The number of dead or missing after the runaway oil tanker train disaster in a small Canadian town has risen to 60, police have announced, as the railway chairman heads to the scene.

The confirmed death toll remained at 15, Quebec provincial police inspector Michel Forget told a press conference. The coroner said remains were still being identified.

Ten more people were, however, added to a growing list of missing or presumed dead in Lac-Megantic, scene of the worst train accident in recent Canadian history.

Part of Lac-Megantic was flattened in an inferno caused by the crash Saturday, as a wall of fire tore through homes and businesses in the town, located east of Montreal near the US border.

The blaze forced about 2,000 residents to flee their homes in the town, which is home to 6,000 people. Most of them started returning on Tuesday.

The freight train operated by Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway had been stopped for a crew change in the nearby town of Nantes when it began to roll downhill without a conductor towards Lac-Megantic.

It derailed at a curve in the tracks and several cars exploded.

MMA chairman Edward Burkhardt has blamed firefighters in Nantes for the disaster, saying they unwittingly unlocked the train's brakes when they shut down the locomotive's engines to douse a small fire.

Burkhardt is likely to face angry residents and questions from police probing for criminal negligence when he arrives in Lac-Megantic to survey the devastation.

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Bomb kills Pakistan president aide, others

A BOMB attack has killed a senior aide to Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and at least two other people in the country's business capital Karachi.

The bomb exploded in a middle-class neighbourhood in central Karachi, close to an office for Zardari's Pakistan People's Party (PPP), which rules southern Sindh province.

Zardari was at his official residence around 10 kilometres away when the attack happened, officials said.

"It was a bomb blast and at least three people were killed and 10 others were wounded," police official Tahir Naveed told AFP.

Another police official, Usman Bajwa, said Bilal Sheikh, Zardari's top personal security officer in Karachi, was among those killed.

"I can confirm that Bilal Sheikh has expired," Bajwa told AFP.

Bajwa told reporters that pieces of human flesh at the scene indicate it "might" have been a suicide attack but said "it's just an assumption so far".

Naveed said the bomb was so powerful it shattered the bullet-proof vehicle in which Sheikh had been travelling.

Sheikh, his driver and a passer-by were killed, he added.

Both Zardari and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the leader of the PPP's biggest rival, the Pakistan Muslim League-N party, strongly condemned the attack, state media said.

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Tenor Domingo expects to feel better soon

SPANISH opera star Placido Domingo says he expects to feel "much better soon" after treatment for a blockage in his lung which forced him to cancel a string of concerts in Madrid.

"I will be feeling much better soon. Thank you all from the bottom of my heart," he told his fans in a message on the social network Facebook.

The 72-year-old, popularly known for his "Three Tenors" performances with Jose Carreras and the late Luciano Pavarotti, was admitted to hospital in the Spanish capital on Monday.

"He is being successfully treated for a pulmonary embolism," a blockage of an artery of the lungs, and is expected to make a full recovery, his US-based agent Nancy Seltzer said in a statement.

She said the embolism was caused by deep vein thrombosis -- a condition in which a clot forms in a deep vein, often in a leg.

"He will be forced to rest for three to four weeks. His exact return to his performing engagements remains subject to how fast he can heal and regain his characteristic strength."

The Grammy-winning singer had to cancel five performances in Daniel Catan's opera "Il Postino", due to begin at the Teatro Real in Madrid on July 17.

He also bowed out of a concert he was due to conduct on Madrid's Plaza Mayor square on July 21, the agent said.

"The saddest part of it all is being in my own city and unable to perform for Madrid's public," Domingo said in his statement on Wednesday.

Born in Madrid, Domingo moved to Mexico as a child with his parents, who ran a company that performed zarzuela, the traditional Spanish operetta form.

His repertoire encompasses 140 stage roles -- a number unmatched by any other celebrated tenor in history.

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French court acquits Total in Iraq case

A FRENCH court has acquitted energy giant Total, its chief executive, a former minister and more than a dozen other defendants of corruption charges in connection with Iraq's oil-for-food program.

The court ruled on Monday there had been no corruption, influence-peddling or misuse of assets linked with the 50 billion euros ($A71.35 billion) UN program that allowed Iraq, then under crippling international sanctions, to sell limited quantities of oil to buy humanitarian supplies between 1996 and 2003.

The company, along with Total CEO Christophe de Margerie, former interior minister Charles Pasqua and more than a dozen former managers and retired diplomats, had faced graft charges.

Total and the other defendants rejected the accusations, with the company saying it acted in strict accordance with the rules of the UN program, which was suspended following the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Prosecutors had called for Total to pay the maximum fine of 750,000 euros.

During the trial, which took place in January and February, Total was accused of using intermediaries between 2000 and 2002 to pay surcharges for oil that ended up in the hands of Iraqi officials.

French prosecutors had opposed bringing the case to trial, but the investigating judge had decided to press charges anyway.

In France, an investigating magistrate conducts a probe and can overrule prosecutors, who must still argue a case in court.

A UN inquiry led by former US Federal Reserve chairman Paul Volcker alleged in 2005 that the 2,200 companies involved in the program had paid a total of $US1.8 billion in kickbacks to win supply deals. Of those, 180 were French.

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Prince Andrew launches Twitter account

THE Duke of York has become the first member of the Royal Family to join Twitter under their own name.

Andrew's Twitter membership was launched today with the simple tweet "Welcome to my Twitter account - AY".

Tweets signed AY, for Andrew York, are personally written by the Duke while others will be posted by his office.

But already his account - @TheDukeOfYork - has attracted unfavourable comments.

One person tweeted "yo how's Jeffrey Epstein?", referring to the Duke's relationship with an American billionaire who was sentenced to 18 months in prison in 2008 for soliciting a minor for prostitution.

Another posed the question "Has your account been hacked by Ali G?", but Andrew also received messages of welcome from the online community.

The Queen and members of her family are represented on Twitter by the account @BritishMonarchy, while @ClarenceHouse covers the Prince of Wales, Duchess of Cornwall, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry.

A spokesman for Andrew said: "The Duke has long been an early and enthusiastic adopter of new technology.

"He was in fact the first member of the British Royal Family to tweet on the British Monarchy (account) when he visited Tech City. The logical next step was to tweet individually."

Asked about the derogatory tweets Andrew has received, the spokesman added: "The Duke is a champion of free speech, for him it's about telling people what he's doing."

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US stocks up on jobs data, Europe outlook

US stocks have continued their upward trajectory following a strong US jobs report and improving sentiment over Europe's prospects.

Five minutes into trade on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 70.65 (0.47 per cent) to 15,206.49.

The broad-based S&P 500 added 7.62 (0.47 per cent) to 1,639.51, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index increased 13.94 (0.40 per cent) to 3,493.32.

Monday's gains came on the heels of Friday's surge in US equity markets after the Labor Department reported that the US added 195,000 jobs in June, well above the 166,000 forecast.

Wall Street was also cheered by Monday's gains in European markets such as France's CAC 40 (up. 1.9 per cent), Germany's DAX (up 2.3 per cent) and Britain's FTSE 100 (up 0.5 per cent).

Greece's bailout lenders the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund announced on Monday that an audit showed that Greece's reform efforts were "broadly in line" with expectations.

European investors were also relieved that some high-level resignations in Portugal appear to have passed without bringing down the governing coalition.

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Labor, coalition tied at 50%: Newspoll

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has widened his lead over Tony Abbott as the country's preferred leader, according to a new poll.

The latest Newspoll, published in The Australian on Tuesday, shows the ALP and the coalition tied at 50 per cent each on a two-party preferred basis.

Labor's primary vote is up nine percentage points since Mr Rudd was restored as prime minister two weeks ago, giving the ALP 38 per cent, equal to its level at the August 2010 election.

The coalition's primary vote stands at 42 per cent, down six points since the change in Labor leadership.

The poll says voter satisfaction with Mr Rudd is up seven points to 43 per cent from 36 per cent the previous weekend.

A four-point rise as preferred prime minister to 53 per cent gives him a 22-point lead over Mr Abbott, who fell four points to 31 points.

The poll, taken over the weekend, shows 24 per cent of voters want an election before September 14, 25 per cent want it on the nominated date and only nine per cent want it later, with 41 per cent not expressing a preference.

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Rudd can debate himself, Turnbull says

IF Opposition Leader Tony Abbott doesn't turn up to debate Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Thursday, Mr Rudd could always use the occasion to debate himself, Malcolm Turnbull says.

Mr Turnbull said Mr Abbott wasn't refusing to have a debate.

He said there was a place to hold a debate and that was on the floor of the House of Representatives and Mr Rudd should recall parliament.

"If on the other hand Mr Rudd wants to have an early election and we certainly agree that's a very good idea... then of course Mr Abbott will debate him in the National Press Club or anywhere else," he told the ABC Q and A program.

Mr Rudd has booked the National press Club on Thursday for a debate with Mr Abbott who hasn't said he'll turn up, insisting the government either recall parliament or call the election.

Mr Turnbull said Mr Abbott really didn't need to turn up.

"Kevin can debate himself," he said.

"Take immigration - Kevin 07 can say 'stop the boats' and then he can duck around to the other side of the platform and Kevin 13 can say 'you can't stop the boats, you can't tow the boats back'," he said.

Mr Turnbull said Mr Rudd had so many positions on economics, he could form the whole panel.

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Indonesia 'could do more' to stop boats

INDONESIA could do much more to stem the flow of asylum seeker through their territory and could easily shut down people smuggling operations, a former senior army officer says.

Retired Major General Jim Molan, who served as Australian defence adviser in Jakarta, said Indonesian domestic law was sufficient to disrupt the people smugglers and there was a raft of new laws on the way.

"You could in my view in a very short period of time close down the people smugglers," he told ABC television.

But the problem was that Indonesia didn't see this as a big problem.

"We have got to impress on the Indonesians that this is a real problem for us and as friends they should assist us," he said.

"We have assisted them as friends quite often over many many years."

Mr Molan said Indonesia's lack of concern was demonstrated by the fact that not a single one of their navy's 150 ships, including patrol boats donated by Australia, was stationed in their southern search and rescue zone.

Mr Molan said the joint communique signed by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last week rejected unilateral action of the sort proposed by the coalition with their boat turnback policy.

"Indonesia has for years been taking unilateral action in allowing people to pass through, particularly Java, breaking their domestic laws as they pass through, corrupting their officials. Indonesia has been allowing them to get onto unsafe fishing boats," he said.

Mr Molan said asylum seeker boats could be turned back but the actual techniques for doing that should not be publicly revealed.

"Because those techniques telegraph what they can do and what they can't do, I'm not prepared to talk about it," he said.

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Pupils' Weight Concerns Highlighted

CHILDREN as young as 10 are unhappy with their weight and believe they need to shed some pounds, research suggests.

It indicates that young people become increasingly concerned about their weight as they grow up, with nearly two-thirds of 14 and 15-year-old girls saying they would like to be slimmer.

The study also suggests young people are increasingly likely to skip breakfast or lunch as they get older.

The findings come from a report by the UK Schools Health Education Unit (SHEU) which questioned more than 93,600 young people, of which more than 68,000 were 10- to 15-year-olds, in 2012, on a variety of topics.

It found that nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) of girls aged 14 and 15 say they would like to lose weight, along with more than half (54 per cent) of those aged 12 and 13.

And more than a third (37 per cent) of 10 and 11-year-old girls - those in the final year of primary school - say they would like to lose weight, the survey found.

It suggests that boys are less concerned about how much they weigh, with just under three in 10 (29 per cent) of those aged 14 and 15 saying they want to drop a few pounds and 14 per cent saying they would like to put some weight on.

Around one in six (17 per cent) 14 and 15-year-old girls, and more than one in 10 (11 per cent) boys of the same age did not eat breakfast, the survey found - around double the numbers of Year 6 pupils who skipped this meal.

Laura Sharp, a nutritionist for the Children's Food Trust, said: "These are very worrying findings - all pupils, whatever their age, need to start the day with breakfast if they're going to be able to focus in class, and research shows a clear link between eating breakfast and children's attainment at school.

"What's particularly worrying is that girls and boys are skipping meals at a time when their bodies are changing fast and they're particularly in need of good nourishment.

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Syrian city almost flattened: monitors

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says Homs looks like it has been hit by a "world war". Source: AAP

INTENSE fighting in the central Syrian city of Homs has left up to 70 per cent of a besieged rebel-held district damaged, destroyed or uninhabitable, a monitoring group says.

The estimate from the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights on Sunday came nine days into an all-out army assault on the rebel-held Khaldiyeh and Old City neighbourhoods, which have been under siege for more than a year.

On Sunday, regime forces subjected insurgent areas of the city to fierce shelling, said the Observatory.

"60 to 70 per cent of buildings in Khaldiyeh are either totally destroyed, partially destroyed, or unsuitable for habitation," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

Homs is Syria's third-largest city, and tens of thousands of its residents have fled the fighting.

"Of all Syria's cities, Homs has suffered the highest levels of destruction ... Images of Homs make it look like a world war has hit the city. Much of it has been flattened," he added.

Amateur video posted online by activists on Sunday showed flames and thick black smoke rising from several empty burnt-out buildings already riddled with holes.

Some structures shown in the video are barely standing.

"Even if the regime takes the neighbourhoods back, there's barely a house left standing to return to," said Abdel Rahman.

"It would even be dangerous to return. People from Homs are constantly under regime surveillance wherever they are in Syria, because their city has served as a rebel bastion since early in the revolt."

On Sunday, government troops used mortars, rocket fire and heavy artillery to target rebel areas in the city, the Britain-based Observatory said.

On the edges of Khaldiyeh, fresh clashes broke out between rebels and troops and pro-regime militiamen, it added.

According to the United Nations, some 2500 to 4000 people are trapped in the besieged areas.

In Damascus, regime warplanes targeted Jubar in the east of the capital, while tanks hit Qaboon in the northeast, said the Observatory.

Several mortar rounds hit Yarmuk Palestinian refugee camp in southern Damascus, it added, as rebels and troops clashed nearby.

In northern Damascus, the army tried to storm Barzeh, where rebels are still holed up, the watchdog said.

Syria's 27-month war has killed more than 100,000 people, the Observatory estimates.

On Saturday alone, at least 69 people were killed nationwide, it said.

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Canada 'Ghost train' toll still unknown

At least 80 people are missing after an oil train derailment in Quebec, Canadian police say. Source: AAP

SOME residents warily eyed the driverless "ghost train" as it rushed through the countryside before derailing and crashing into a small Quebec town.

The downtown area of Lac-Megantic was engulfed in flames and now scores of people, perhaps as many as 80, are missing, while around 2000 have been forced from their homes.

Rescuers cautiously entered the charred debris on Sunday, more than 24 hours after the spectacular crash that saw flames shoot into the sky and burn into the night.

Witnesses reported up to six explosions after the train derailed at about 1.20am on Saturday in Lac-Megantic.

Officially, as of late Saturday, only one person was killed and one wounded.

The train, 72 tanker cars loaded with crude oil pulled and pushed by five locomotives, left Montreal, 250km to the west, and was heading to the port of St John on Canada's Atlantic coast.

Instead, its final destination was this picturesque resort town of 6000 residents in a corner of the Appalachian mountains near the border with the US state of Maine.

The town's fire chief, Denis Lauzon, said his department wanted information on what was being moved by rail through his town.

"But we had yet to present a formal request," he said.

Shocked by the force of the accident, residents pressed against police barricades seeking even the smallest detail that could help them cope with the disaster.

Rumours of the runaway "ghost train" quickly spread.

"It had no driver, it was a unmanned train," a young man tells his friends gathered in front of a small grocery store.

Antoinette Paree, 78, remembers seeing "a glimmer, a sort of fire" on the train as it made its way through the night.

Paree arrived home and was looking out from her window, which overlooks the track, when she said she heard "a loud bang - it lit up the whole house," she said.

Paree ran out to save her life, forgetting her dentures and her pyjamas.

The cause of the crash was still unknown but a spokesman for the Montreal Maine & Atlantic company, Christophe Journet, told AFP the train had been stopped in the neighbouring town of Nantes, around 13km west of Lac-Megantic, for a crew changeover.

For an unknown reason, Journet said, the train "started to advance, to move down the slope leading to Lac-Megantic," even though the brakes were engaged.

As a result, "there was no conductor on board" when the train crashed, he said.

Residents gathered on the far shore of Lake Megantic around a large illuminated cross that dominates the view. There, overnight Saturday into Sunday, they watched much of their town go up in flames.

Linda Rodriguez followed the movement of the flames with her binoculars.

"That's the pharmacy, our home is 50 metres away on the other side of the road," she said.

Another resident, Mariette Savoie, feared the death toll from the "wall of fire" that engulfed her town will be high.

"Above all the Main Street shops were homes," she said.

"All those people who were there were unable to get out."

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Three known dead after Canada train crash

LAC-MEGANTIC, Canada, July 7 Agencies - Police sifting through the site of a horrific cargo train crash in Quebec say they have discovered two more bodies, and anticipate "many more" fatalities.

The crash of an oil-laden train and subsequent explosions that shook the village of Lac-Megantic on Saturday have so far claimed three lives, said police spokesman Michel Brunet, who added at a press conference that "we know that there will be many more" deaths.

Fires are preventing rescuers from reaching part of the 73-car train, and billowing black smoke could still be seen long after it derailed.

The eruptions early on Saturday morning sent residents of Lac-Megantic scrambling through the streets under the intense heat of towering fireballs and a red glow that illuminated the night sky.

A fire chief likened the charred scene to a war zone.

The multiple blasts came over a span of several hours in the town of 6000, which is about 250 kilometres east of Montreal and about 16km west of the US border.

About 30 buildings were destroyed after tanker cars laden with oil caught fire.

The derailment caused several tanker rail cars to explode in the downtown district, a popular area packed with bars that often bustles on northern summer weekend nights.

Police said the first explosion tore through the town shortly after 1am local time.

The fire then spread to several homes.

Brunet said he couldn't say where the bodies were found exactly because the families have not been notified.

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Abbott to reveal red tape reduction plan

EDS: Not for use until 0001, Monday, July 8.

SYDNEY, July 8 AAP - Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will flesh out the coalition's plans to cut $1 billion worth of red and green tape from the Australian economy.

Mr Abbott and Senator Arthur Sinodinos will unveil the coalition's policy to boost productivity and reduce regulation at a function in Sydney on Monday.

The coalition says the plan will reduce Australia's regulatory burden by $1 billion a year.

Central to the policy are promises to repeal the carbon price and mining tax and streamline environmental regulation.

The coalition will also establish an overall deregulation unit within the Department of Finance and link senior public servants' bonuses to cuts to red tape.

Mr Abbott said the changes would create a more productive government and more efficient businesses.

"The Coalition will cut the regulatory burden by $1 billion a year and curtail the growth of regulation that is impeding the capacity of Australia to grow and succeed," he said.

"This policy will lower business costs and strengthen the economy."

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Israeli cabinet OKs army draft rejig bill

ISRAEL'S cabinet has approved a plan that would gradually end a contentious system that has granted automatic draft exemptions to Jewish ultra-Orthodox seminary students.

Under a longstanding system, thousands of young men are allowed to skip compulsory military service to pursue religious studies.

This has caused widespread resentment among secular Jewish Israelis.

The new system, which needs parliamentary approval, would reduce the number of exemptions and require ultra-Orthodox men to register for service.

It would go into effect in three years.

In cabinet fourteen ministers voted in favour of the legislation, four ministers abstained and none voted against.

The draft was a central issue in January elections and propelled Yesh Atid, the secular rights party behind the new regulations, into the government.

Finance Minister and Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid called it "a historic day".

"After 65 years, we finally end this distortion. We are all very excited," he told reporters.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday the law will be implemented "gradually".

Ultra-Orthodox religious leaders and MPs spoke of a "sad day" for Judaism.

Many strictly religious Jews believe that by studying the Torah and serving God they are defending Israelis.

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