'Syria collapse threatens region'

THE UN envoy for the Syria crisis is warning that further deterioration of conditions in the country could send an unbearable stream of refugees into neighbouring countries.

Speaking Saturday after meeting in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, peace envoy Lakhdar Braihmi said "if you have a panic in Damascus and if you have 1 million people leaving Damascus in a panic, they can go to only two places - Lebanon and Jordan. Neither Lebanon or Jordan can support without breaking 500,000 refugees."

Mr Brahimi said that "If the only alternative is really hell or a political process, then we have got all of us to work ceaselessly for a political process."

Neither official gave indication of significant progress toward resolving the 21-month-old conflict in which an estimated 40,000 people have died.

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Plane on fire after running off runway

A PASSENGER airliner is on fire after running off the runway while landing at Moscow's Vnukovo airport.

There was no immediate confirmed word on whether there were any casualties in the crash of the Tu-204 belonging to Red Wing Airlines.

Russia's state news channel Vesti said the plane was not carrying passengers, and it had only a crew of 12 aboard.

The cause of the accident was not immediately known. Light snow was falling in Moscow at the time.

The Tu-204 is a twin-engine medium-range jest with a capacity of 210 passengers.

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Karachi bus explosion kills five

AN EXPLOSION on a bus in Pakistan's largest city Karachi left at least five people dead and wounded 35 others, police said.

It was not immediately clear what had caused the blast in Sadar, a congested shopping area of Karachi, officials said, adding that a bomb disposal team was trying to determine whether it was caused by a bomb or an exploding compressed natural gas cylinder.

"At least five people were killed and 35 others were wounded," said police surgeon Jalil Qadir.

Karachi is in the grip of a long-running wave of militancy, political and sectarian violence.

Pakistan says 35,000 people have been killed as a result of terrorism since the 9/11 attacks and the 2001 US-led invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan.

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Iran hangs drug traffickers, rapists

IRAN has hanged an Afghan drug trafficker and four Iranians, three of them convicted of rape, local media reported.

The 27-year-old Afghan from Herat, identified only by his initials MM, was sent to the gallows in the northern city of Damghan after being convicted of selling around two kilos (four pounds) of crack cocaine.

Three Iranian men convicted of rape and another of smuggling heroin and opium, were hanged in the central city of Yazd.

The Islamic republic, where murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and adultery are punishable by death, has one of the highest annual execution counts in the world, alongside China, Saudi Arabia and the US.

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has condemned the executions, but Tehran says the death penalty is essential to maintain law and order and that it is enforced only after exhaustive judicial proceedings.

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Iran to relocate airport after oil found

IRAN plans to relocate an airport in the southwest of the country after discovering oil deposits under its runway, media reported.

The National Iranian Oil Company "intends to buy Ahvaz airport due to the existence of oil deposits under the airport's tarmac," the state broadcaster's website quoted Mohammad Rasoulinejad, managing director of the Iranian Airports Company, as saying.

"The government has approved the relocation of the airport," mR Rasoulinejad said, adding that the new airport will be built 15 kilometres from the city.

He did not give any details about the oil deposits.

Mr Rasoulinejad said that the airport is among "the country's busiest" with some 30 flights per day, adding that relocating it would also enable its much-needed expansion.

The NIOC did not comment on the government's decision.

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Indian president's son in rape demo gaffe

THE Indian president's son has landed himself in hot water with his own family for denigrating women who took part in mass protests over a gang-rape as being middle-aged and caked in makeup.

Abhijit Mukherjee, who is also a member of parliament, came in for widespread condemnation after he said that many of those who have taken part in the nationwide protests were "dented and painted" women rather than students.

"These pretty women, dented and painted ... have no contact with ground reality," Mukherjee told a regional news channel.

The phrase "dented and painted" is used by mechanics who mask the bruised bodywork and rust on second-hand vehicles with liberal coatings of paint.

Among the most vocal critics was his own sister Sharmishtha who described his comments as "a bit of a shocker" and said her father, President Pranab Mukherjee, also disapproved.

"It is definitely something that we as a family definitely don't agree with," she told the NDTV network.

"It's not just one protest, it's accumulated rage over the way women are being treated, raped, molested ... my father is absolutely with me on this."

The main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party said Mukherjee junior's remarks were particularly ill-timed as the 23-year-old victim of the December 16 attack fights for her life in hospital in Singapore.

"I think this is exactly the kind of mindset that the youth is fighting against," said Smriti Irani, head of the BJP's women's wing.

Mukherjee later issued an apology.

"My intention was not to hurt anyone," he told NDTV. "I apologise to all those people whose sentiment got hurt by these sentences and these sentences are withdrawn."

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Iran president sacks cabinet's sole woman

IRANIAN President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has sacked Health Minister Marzieh Vahid Dastjerdi, the sole woman in his cabinet, state television reports.

The minister had proposed price hikes for a number of medicines due to the plunge of the Iranian rial against the US dollar and Western sanctions imposed on the country over its disputed nuclear program.

But Ahmadinejad was opposed to the price rises and dismissed the minister.

Although the sanctions do not directly target medicines, they limit their importation because of restrictions on financial transactions.

Iran produces 97 per cent of the drugs on its market, but their ingredients are imported.

In October, an Iranian official acknowledged the price of locally produced medicines had increased by 15-20 per cent in the past three months, and 20-80 per cent for imported products.

Fatemeh Hashemi, head of the Foundation for Special Diseases, sent a letter to UN chief Ban Ki-moon in August asking him to make a case to the West for easing sanctions that are detrimental to patients.

Tehran is under different rounds of sanctions designed by the United States, European Union and the UN Security Council to pressure it to curb its nuclear program.

Western powers suspect Iran is using the program to develop atomic weapons capability. The Islamic republic denies that and says its nuclear activities are purely peaceful.

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One Pound Fish singer returns to Pakistan

INTERNET sensation One Pound Fish Man has returned to a hero's welcome in Pakistan, vowing to take his signature tune in honour of cut-price produce to France and the United States.

Hundreds showed up at Lahore airport in eastern Pakistan to honour Muhammad Shahid Nazir, who scaled the British music charts with One Pound Fish, which he originally composed to entice shoppers at the east London market where he worked.

The song became a YouTube hit after someone filmed Nazir singing it at the market and Warner Music signed him up for a record deal in the hope of getting the coveted Christmas number one spot in the charts.

Nazir said he spent no time writing the song - it came to him in a flash after his boss urged him to do something to encourage customers to cough up a pound ($A1.55) for a fish.

"This song is gift of God to me, I just sang it on the spot," the father-of-four told reporters at the airport on Thursday.

"The owner of my fish stall asked me to sing to attract the customers and I started singing. On the first day I started slowly and on the second day more loudly."

About 250 people including local politicians met him at the airport, showering him with rose petals and chanting Long live One Pound Fish, while TV networks interrupted coverage of the fifth anniversary of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's assassination to show his return live.

The song's lyrics are deceptively simple: "Come on ladies, come on ladies, one pound fish. Very very good, one pound fish, very very cheap, one pound fish."

The original video has been viewed more than 6.5 million times on YouTube and the o-fish-al Warner video featuring Nazir shimmying and strutting Bollywood-style in a natty suit has recorded more than eight million hits.

The Christmas number one was not to be, with a single released in tribute to the victims of the Hillsborough football disaster claimed the top spot, but One Pound Fish managed a respectable 29 in the chart.

Nazir, from the small Punjab town of Pattoki, said he was confident of a bright future in the music industry.

"I will go to France in two weeks to release this song and then will go back to London," he said, adding that he also planned to release the track in the United States.

British media reports suggested Nazir was deported from Britain for overstaying or breaching the terms of his visa, but he insisted he had returned to Pakistan simply to apply for a French visa.

And he promised not to abandon the unlikely source of his stardom.

"I will adopt music as a profession now, but I can never forget my fish stall," he said.

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US jobless applications fall to 5-year low

THE average number of people seeking unemployment benefits over the past month fell to the lowest level since March 2008, a sign that the job market is healing.

The Labour Department said that weekly applications dropped 12,000 to a seasonally adjusted 350,000 in the week ended Dec. 22. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, fell to a nearly five-year low of 356,750.

Still, the figures were affected by the Christmas holiday. A department spokesman said many state unemployment offices were closed Monday and Tuesday and unable to compile complete data. Fourteen states provided estimates and the department estimated the numbers for five additional states.

The government might estimate one or two states in a typical week, but 19 state estimates are unusually high.

Weekly applications are a proxy for layoffs. They have mostly fluctuated this year between 360,000 and 390,000. At the same time, employers have added an average of 151,000 jobs a month in the first 11 months of 2012. That's just enough to slowly reduce the unemployment rate.

The recent decline in unemployment benefit applications suggests companies are not yet slashing jobs because of concerns over the "fiscal cliff." That's the name for sharp tax increases and spending cuts that are scheduled to take effect next week unless the Obama administration and Congress can reach a deal before then.

Still, unemployment remains high and companies are reluctant to ramp up hiring. The unemployment rate fell to 7.7 per cent in November from 7.9 per cent in October mostly because many of the unemployed stopped looking for jobs. The government counts people as unemployed only if they are actively searching for work.

Negotiations between US President Barack Obama and House Republican leaders on a package to avoid the fiscal cliff stalemated last week. Mr Obama and congressional lawmakers return to Washington today with just days to go before the deadline.

There are signs the economy is improving. The once-battered housing market is recovering, which should lead to more construction jobs in the coming months. Companies ordered more long-lasting manufactured goods in November, a sign they are investing more in equipment and software. And Americans spent more in November. Consumer spending drives nearly 70 per cent of economic growth.

While a short fall over the cliff won't push the economy into recession, most economists expect some tax increases to take effect next year. That could slow growth.

Consumers are starting to worry about higher taxes. A measure of consumer confidence fell to a five-month low this month, a survey released Friday found. And reports show the holiday shopping season was the weakest since 2008, when the country was in a deep recession.

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India to name and shame rapists

THE Indian government said it will post the photos, names and addresses of convicted rapists on official websites to publicly shame them, in a new measure to combat growing crime against women.

Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh, India's junior home minister, said the campaign would begin first in New Delhi, where the brutal gang-rape of a student on December 16 by six drunken men has sparked nationwide protests.

"We are planning to start it (the campaign) in Delhi," Mr Singh told reporters, hours after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said women were being treated unfairly in India.

"Photographs, names and addresses of the rapists will be uploaded on the Delhi Police website (http://www.delhipolice.nic.in)," he said.

"We are very serious about dealing with the problem and taking all possible action as early as possible."

The minister said the government-run National Crime Records Bureau had been told to prepare a directory of convicted rapists and upload their photographs and personal details to its official website (http://ncrb.nic.in) as well.

The announcement came a day after India said it had launched a judicial probe into the attack on the 23-year-old student who was dramatically airlifted to Singapore from a hospital in New Delhi late on Wednesday.

Doctors in Singapore were battling to save her life following the horrific injuries she sustained.

Her drunken attackers, joyriding in a bus, raped the student and then assaulted her with an iron bar. The savage gang rape sparked some of New Delhi's largest mass protests in decades.

India has also promised to toughen laws against rape, which currently carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

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