Church bid to strip Savile's papal honour

THE Catholic Church of England says it has contacted the Holy See to ask if the papal knighthood awarded to late television star Jimmy Savile could be removed following sexual abuse allegations.

Police say some 300 potential victims have come forward with abuse allegations against Savile, a well-known BBC children's television host who died last year. Most of them say they were abused by Savile, but some say they were abused by other people, police said Friday.

The church said Saturday that Archbishop of Westminster Vincent Nichol wrote to Vatican officials last week, asking the Holy See to investigate the possibility of posthumously removing Savile's honour in recognition of the "deep distress" of the alleged victims.

He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II and the Vatican for his charitable work.

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Terror arrests in US embassy plot

INDONESIAN police arrested 11 suspected terrorists allegedly planning attacks on the US embassy in the capital Jakarta and other diplomatic missions, a spokesman said.

"The group's objectives were to attack the US embassy in Jakarta and consulate-general in the eastern Javanese city of Surabaya," national police spokesman Suhardi Alius told reporters.

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Egypt's Copts to vote for new Pope

EGYPT'S Coptic Christians will vote for a new spiritual leader on Monday after Pope Shenuda III died in March, leaving behind a community anxious about its status under an Islamist-led government.

The death of Shenuda, who headed the church for four decades, set in motion the process to elect a new patriarch to lead the community through the post-revolution era in Egypt, which is marked by increased sectarian tension.

Five candidates - two bishops and three monks - are vying to become the 118th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of all Africa on the Holy See of St. Mark the Apostle.

A council made up of senior clergy, current and former Coptic public officials, MPs, local councillors and journalists will cast ballots for a new pope on Monday.

The names of the top three candidates will then be written on separate pieces of paper and placed in a box on the altar of St. Mark's Cathedral in Cairo according to church bylaws for the selection of their leader.

On November 4, a child from the congregation will be blindfolded and asked to choose one of the three pieces of paper. The chosen name will become the new Coptic Pope who will be enthroned in a ceremony on November 18.

The five candidates are Bishop Rafael, 54, a medical doctor and the current Assistant Bishop for Central Cairo; Bishop Tawadros of Nile Delta province of Beheira, 60; Father Rafael Ava Mina, the oldest of the five candidates at 70; Father Seraphim al-Souriani, 53 and Father Pachomious al-Souriani, 49.

The five have been visiting churches and holding sermons across the country ahead of the voting.

Copts around the world were asked to fast for three days before the voting and a second period of fasting will begin on October 31, said Bishop Paul spokesperson for the papal nominations.

One bishop who did not make it to the list of finalists is the hardline Bishop Bishoy "because of his fierce attacks on other denominations and his previous statements to the press that could have sparked sectarian sedition in the country," said the state-owned Egyptian Gazette in a recent editorial.

Bishoy came under fire after he questioned the authenticity of some verses of the Koran. His exclusion suggests the church is trying to keep controversial figures out of the race.

Egypt's Christians, who officially make up six to 10 per cent of the 83 million population, have regularly complained of discrimination and marginalisation, even under the secular regime of president Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled last year.

The rise of Islamists since, and the election of the country's first Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi, have sparked fears of further persecution at home despite Mr Morsi's repeated promises to be a president "for all Egyptians."

"We reject the notion of a religious state that would prevent us from exercising our freedom as Copts," said Bishop Morcos, chair of the Coptic Church's influential media committee in an interview with the state owned Al-Ahram weekly.

"The state should be ruled by law and not religion," he said.

His comments highlight the current tussle between Islamists and other groups over the role of religion in post-Mubarak Egypt, with an Islamist-led committee drafting the country's new constitution.

Contentious topics include the role of religion, the status of women and the scope of freedom of expression and faith.

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Sri Lanka arrests deported asylum seekers

AUTHORITIES in Sri Lanka on Saturday arrested 14 asylum seekers accused of hijacking a fishing boat and throwing its crew into the sea to die, police said.

The 12 men, a woman and a girl were deported by Australian authorities and were immediately arrested after arriving in Sri Lanka on Saturday, police spokesman Prishantha Jayakody said.

Two of the abandoned fishermen were rescued by other ships hours after their boat was hijacked last week. Three other crew members have not been found.

The asylum seekers sailed the fishing boat to Australian waters, where it was seized by authorities.

The Sri Lankan navy has arrested hundreds of people trying to migrate to Australia in boats over the past months. They are mostly ethnic Tamils who survived a quarter-century civil war between government troops and and the now-defeated separatist Tamil Tiger rebels.

Australia is struggling to stop a surge of would-be refugees from poor or war-torn countries including Afghanistan, Iran and Sri Lanka. Hundreds have died while attempting the voyage over the past year.

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Nanny accused of stabbing kids in New York

A MOTHER has returned home to her luxury apartment building in New York City to find two of her small children stabbed to death in a bathtub and their nanny, with self-inflicted stab wounds, lying near them, police said.

The nanny, Yoselyn Ortega, was found near a knife. She was hospitalised in a critical condition on Thursday and was in police custody.

Authorities said she is suspected of killing the children, who were pronounced dead at a hospital.

The couple's apartment building sits in one of the city's most idyllic neighbourhoods, a block from Central Park.

The neighbourhood is home to many affluent families, and seeing children accompanied by nannies is an everyday part of life.

Music therapist Rima Starr, who lives on the same floor as the Krim family, said she heard screams coming from the family's apartment at 5.30pm (8.30am AEDT, Friday).

"There was some kind of screaming about, 'You slit her throat!"' she said. "It was horrible."

The children's mother, Marina Krim, had entered the dark apartment with her three-year-old and initially thought her other two children were out with the 50-year-old nanny, police commissioner Raymond Kelly said. She went downstairs and asked the doorman at her building whether he'd seen them leave.

When he said no, she went back upstairs and discovered her two-year-old son, Leo, and her six-year-old daughter, Lucia, known as LuLu, in the bathroom, Kelly said.

It's unclear how many times the children had been stabbed.

The nanny was found on the bathroom floor with stab wounds to her neck, and a kitchen knife was close by, police said. There was no water in the bathtub, they said.

Kelly said it's unclear how long the nanny had worked for the family, and the police investigation was continuing.

No charges had been filed.

Starr, the family's neighbour, said she believed the nanny had been hired recently.

"I met her in the elevator, the day before yesterday, and was making small talk," she said.

After police arrived, she said, the mother remained in the building's lobby, screaming hysterically and clutching her surviving child.

On a webpage devoted to a recent family wedding, the eldest of the children, LuLu, is described as loving "art projects, ballet and all things princess".

The youngest, Leo, was said to be just learning how to walk.

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US returns 4000 archaeological relics

MORE than 4000 archaeological artifacts looted from Mexico and seized in the US have been returned to Mexican authorities in what experts say is one of the largest such repatriations between the countries.

The items returned mostly date from before European explorers landed in North America and include items from hunter-gatherers in pre-Columbian northern Mexico, such as stones used to grind corn, statues, figurines and copper hatchets, said Pedro Sanchez, president of the National Archaeological Council of Mexico.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents seized the relics in El Paso, Phoenix, Chicago, Denver, San Diego and San Antonio, though most of the artifacts - including items traced to a 2008 theft from a museum in Mexico - turned up in Fort Stockton, a Texas town about 370 kilometres southeast of El Paso.

More than two dozen pieces of pottery were seized in Kalispell, Montana, where Homeland Security agents discovered that a consignor had paid Mexican Indians to loot items from burial sites deep in the Mexican Copper Canyon in Chihuahua, Mexico, authorities said.

Although most of the items turned over are arrowheads, several are of "incalculable archaeological value," Mr Sanchez told The Associated Press. He said it was the biggest archaeological repatriation in terms of the number of items that the U.S has made to Mexico.

U.S. officials displayed the relics at the Mexican Consulate in El Paso before handing them over during a ceremony Thursday. The artifacts will eventually be taken to the National Institute of Anthropology and History in Mexico City, where they will be studied, cataloged and distributed to museums across Mexico.

Most of the items were uncovered during a string of seizures in West Texas in 2009, following a tip about relics illegally entering the U.S. at a border crossing in Presidio, Texas.

US Homeland Security special agent Dennis Ulrich said authorities executing a search warrant in Fort Stockton found the largest portion of the cache. Further investigation revealed that the two men behind the smuggling were also involved in drug trafficking from Mexico to the U.S., he said.

Mr Sanchez said some of the relics found in Fort Stockton were stolen from a private collection at the Cuatro Cienagas museum in the Mexican state of Coahuila.

The items also include arrows, hunting bows and even extremely well conserved textile items such as sandals and pieces of baskets.

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Germany approves GM-Peugeot tie-up

GERMAN competition authorities have approved a proposed alliance between French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen and its US rival General Motors, which owns Germany's Opel.

"Although the strategic alliance results in a certain amount of market concentration, it does not lead to a dominant position of General Motors and Peugeot," said the head of the Bundeskartellamt or federal cartel office, Andreas Mundt, on Friday.

"In most vehicle segments other manufacturers are selling more vehicles, both in Germany and in Europe.

"The competitors also often have stronger market positions vis a vis their suppliers."

The Bundeskartellamt announced in July it would probe the proposed tie-up and was particularly interested in what repercussions it would have for car parts suppliers.

In an alliance unveiled in February, the two auto giants said they would develop joint platforms and technologies and pool their purchasing activities to cut costs.

As part of the tie-up, GM agreed to transfer most of its logistics activities in Europe to Gefco, a wholly owned subsidiary of PSA Peugeot Citroen.

The agreement, which comes into effect in 2013, will cover most of the logistics activities in Europe, including Russia, of Opel/Vauxhall, Chevrolet and Cadillac.

It includes services such as material and component deliveries to manufacturing plants, delivery of finished vehicles to dealerships and the transport of after-sales spare parts to distribution centres.

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European stocks falter

EUROPEAN stock markets have fallen on weak US earnings, while the euro slid against the dollar as Spain said its unemployment rate had reached 25 per cent for the first time, traders say.

London's FTSE 100 index of top companies on Friday fell by 0.86 per cent to stand at 5,804.94 points in early afternoon deals.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 slipped 0.58 per cent to 7,158.49 points and in Paris the CAC 40 lost 0.50 per cent to 3,394.34.

Madrid's IBEX 35 tumbled 1.10 per cent to 7,693.50 points.

In foreign exchange trading, the euro dipped to $US1.2895 from $US1.2930 late in New York on Thursday.

On the London Bullion Market, gold prices dropped to $US1,703 an ounce from $US1,715.50 an ounce on Thursday.

"The markets in Europe are deep into red in Europe ... affected by very disappointing earnings data from the US," said Gekko Global Markets trader Anita Paluch.

"Although today's macro data from Spain and news out of Greece put the EU debt crisis back on the table, the investors will be looking at the US third-quarter GDP results due to be published later today."

Official data from Spain showed that its jobless rate broke the 25 per cent barrier for the first time as austerity cuts squeezed the recession-struck economy.

Tens of thousands of jobs were destroyed in the third quarter, even as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's government raised taxes, cut spending and pondered whether to snatch a eurozone rescue line.

The unemployment rate rose to 25.02 per cent in the third quarter from 24.63 per cent in the previous three months, a National Statistic Institute report showed.

Among workers aged 16-24 the jobless rate towered at 52.34 per cent in the third quarter, only slightly down from 53.27 per cent in the previous quarter, the institute said.

Greece, the eurozone country with the biggest debt problem, said on Thursday that it would stand by extra reform efforts thrashed out with international creditors.

Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said the government was "pressing on" and that the new measures would be introduced in parliament next week.

The deal is required for Greece to meet demands by its EU-IMF creditors and unlock a 31.2 billion-euro ($A39.35 billion) installment of rescue loans.

In Europe on Friday, shares in Anglo American jumped 1.99 per cent to 1,894.5 pence after the global miner said that its first female chief executive, Cynthia Carroll, would step down for personal reasons.

The announcement of her decision to stand aside comes a day after Anglo American slashed its forecast for annual platinum production amid deadly strikes at the group's troubled South African operations.

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Hong Kong exports grow 15.2% in September

HONG Kong's exports grew 15.2 per cent year-on-year in September, its government says, while warning of an economic outlook fraught with challenges.

The value of total exports rose to HK$313.2 billion ($A39.21 billion), with total exports to Asia up 20.1 per cent, the Census and Statistics Department said on Thursday.

August saw only a marginal 0.6 per cent increase in exports year-on-year.

Imports rose 14.9 per cent from a year earlier to HK$358.3 billion, compared to a 0.9 per cent increase in August year-on-year.

A trade deficit of HK$342.9 billion was recorded for the first nine months of 2012.

A "distinctly low base of comparison in the same month of last year" and "some improvements in such major markets as the mainland (China) and the US" contributed to the growth, a government spokesman said in a statement.

"The global economic environment is still fraught with downside risks stemming from the euro debt crisis and looming US fiscal cliff," he added.

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Call to ban practice of 'pig dogging'

THE practice of using dogs to hunt feral pigs in state forests is inhumane and should be banned, a community forum has been told.

The forum, held on Thursday night in Sydney, came after the Game Council NSW, which regulates hunting in the state, opened seven more forests for "pig dogging" in February.

"Dogging", as it is commonly known, is now permitted in 130 forests across the state.

Lynda Stoner from animal rights body Animal Liberation, told the forum the practice was cruel and should be outlawed.

"To call pig dogging conservation is a travesty," Ms Stoner told the crowd of about 50 people at NSW Parliament.

"Pig dogging is the cruellest and the most barbaric form of hunting in this country and has to be banned.

"There are people who go out and do love what they're doing - it's a blood sport."

Ruth Hatten, from Animal Protection Institute Voiceless, said dogging was a needlessly cruel way of killing a pig.

In many cases the practice also breached NSW animal protection laws, Ms Hatten said.

"The legislation is very clear, but these things happen because the legislation is not being enforced, and we need greater resources to make sure it is enforced" she said.

The NSW Greens, who organised the forum, said Game Council NSW and the Australian Pig Doggers and Hunters Association declined an invitation to speak at the event.

But Tristan Thompson, 22, who travelled from Bourke, in the northwest of the state, to attend the forum, wasn't afraid to defend the practice.

He said using dogs was a more humane way to control feral pigs than methods like baiting or shooting, which he said could leave the animal in pain for many days before it died.

Mr Thompson also said dogging was an effective form of conservation.

"In the place I hunt we've seen a reduction of about 50 per cent of pigs through the last three years of hunting," he said.

"It's not purely recreation ... I enjoy seeing the dogs work.

"It's humane, but I guess the thing is, if you grew up in the city you're not going to know a thing about the country."

A University of Technology Sydney conservation biologist, Daniel Ramp, said hunters had to "get away from this idea that we can eradicate feral pigs".

"Feral pigs in the future will be native pigs, they're there for our future," he said.

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20 dead in fresh Burma unrest

AT least 20 people have been killed in a fresh wave of communal violence sweeping western Burma, a Rakhine state spokesman says, adding the final toll could be more than double.

"At least 20 people - both Buddhist and Muslim - have been killed in clashes since October 21. The death toll can reach about 50," Myo Thant told Agence France-Presse on Thursday.

He said 80 Buddhist Rakhines have been wounded but there were as yet no equivalent figures for injured Muslims.

A security official, requesting anonymity, confirmed the potential toll from the resurgence of unrest could hit 50, adding government forces were struggling to reach remote areas.

Hundreds of homes have been burned in the outburst of unrest in Rakhine, where Buddhist-Muslim clashes have killed more than 100 people since June and displaced tens of thousands, according to the authorities.

The latest violence led the United Nations to express grave concern over reports of deaths and "thousands" of displaced in recent days.

"The UN is alarmed by reports of displacements and destruction," said UN chief in Rangoon, Ashok Nigam, adding that the resurgence of deadly unrest in Rakhine had "resulted in deaths and has forced thousands of people, including women and children, to flee their homes".

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Stones announce Paris warm-up gig

THE reuniting Rolling Stones have announced a surprise "warm-up gig" in Paris.

Within an hour of word being put around, the Champs Elysees was swarming with fans hoping to get satisfaction with one of the 350 tickets for the Thursday night show.

The 15 euro ($A19) tickets, announced on the Rolling Stones' Twitter account, came with strings attached - no more than two per person, names printed on them and IDs required at the door at the show intended as a prep for the band's 50th anniversary arena shows in London and Newark, New Jersey.

Guitarist Ronnie Wood said in an interview earlier this week the Stones could play several small clubs, possibly under the name the Cockroaches, an alias they've used before.

The group has not played together live in five years.

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Baillieu losing support in Victoria

THE Baillieu government would be thrown out of office and consigned to history as a one-term government if an election were held in Victoria now, according to Newspoll.

The poll, published in The Australian newspaper on Thursday, shows the Labor opposition has secured an election-winning lead for the first time since the 2010 election.

The survey of Victorian voting intentions shows Labor holds a commanding 55 per cent to 45 per cent two-party-preferred lead following a six-point surge in the party's primary vote.

Labor leads the coalition on the primary vote by 41 per cent to 37 per cent, according to the poll conducted over the past two months.

The number of voters dissatisfied with Mr Baillieu's leadership climbed three points from the July-August survey to 53 per cent, which is up 24 points in a year.

Mr Baillieu holds a nine point lead over Labor's Daniel Andrews, 39 per cent to 30 per cent, in the preferred premier stakes.

But the trend is not going with the premier. He has lost 17 points as better premier in the past year, while Mr Andrews has gained 11 points.

Mr Baillieu came to power in November 2010 with a two-party preferred vote of 51.6 per cent to Labor's 48.4 per cent and reached a high point of 55 per cent to 45 per cent a year ago.

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China rare earths giant halts output

CHINA'S largest rare earths producer, Baotou Steel Rare-Earth, says it has suspended production for a month to try to stem falling prices for the elements.

China produces more than 95 per cent of the world's rare earths, 17 elements crucial for making a range of hi-tech products.

The country's control over the sought-after resources - through production caps and export quotas - has sparked a dispute with major trading partners.

"The rare earth market has been sluggish in the second half of this year with prices trending lower in thin trade," Baotou said in a statement on Wednesday to the Shanghai Stock Exchange, where it is listed.

As a result, the company had from Tuesday suspended firing, smelting and separation of rare earths for a month to "promote steady and healthy development" of the domestic market, it said.

Domestic prices of rare earths have fallen this year as the global economic downturn hurt demand.

The price of praseodymium-neodymium oxide, a rare earths compound used for ceramics and magnetic materials, is now around 350,000 yuan ($US55,556) per tonne, half the level of last October, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Weak prices have taken a toll on Baotou, which said earlier this month that its third-quarter net profit slumped 89.6 per cent from the same period last year to 119.9 million yuan.

The company implemented a similar month-long production halt in October last year, but failed to reverse the downtrend in global and domestic prices of rare earths.

Baotou's shares closed down 2.96 per cent at 31.46 yuan on Wednesday after the announcement.

Australia's Lynas Corp is hoping a new plant in Malaysia will help it break Chinese dominance of the market, though legal procedures have delayed the start of operations.

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Renegade bishop expelled from fraternity

RENEGADE British bishop Richard Williamson, who has been accused of Holocaust denial, has been expelled from the breakaway ultra-conservative Catholic fraternity, the Society of Saint Pius X.

"Monseigneur Richard Williamson, having distanced himself from the leadership and the government of the Saint Pius X Society over a period of several years and refusing to show respect and obedience deserved by his legitimate superiors, has been declared excluded," the fraternity said in a statement on Wednesday.

The fraternity of traditionalists who broke away from the Vatican more than two decades ago over its reforms said the decision had been reached on October 4.

Williamson was one of four bishops who were consecrated by bishop Monseigneur Marcel Lefebvre in Econe, Switzerland, in 1988 against the orders of Pope John Paul II, who excommunicated them.

The British-born bishop became a household name when he told Swedish public television that Nazis never used gas chambers and that only up to 300,000 Jews died in the Holocaust.

The interview was conducted in November but broadcast on January 21, just three days before Pope Benedict XVI decided to lift Williamson's excommunication.

Benedict later said he would not have made such a move if he had known about Williamson's views on the Holocaust.

Williamson faced a drawn-out court case in Germany, where he was found guilty in two courts of Holocaust denial before the case was finally thrown out early this year for procedural reasons.

His words created an uproar around the world and especially within the Catholic Church, and just days after the interview aired, the Society of Saint Pius X announced he was no longer the head of the La Reja seminar, near Buenos Aires.

With its announcement on Wednesday, the fraternity took the final step in distancing itself from Williamson.

It said in its statement that it had given him a deadline for falling in line, but that when it was reached he had said he had published an "open letter" demanding that the fraternity Superior General resign.

"This is a painful decision," it said.

The fraternity was founded in 1970 by Lefebvre, who died in 1991, to distance itself from the reforms pushed through during the Second Vatican Council (1962-65), and broke free from the Vatican in 1988.

It had until now counted four bishops, around 500 priests, along with tens of thousands of other faithfuls.

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Third man charged after campus showdown

A THIRD person has been charged after a dramatic confrontation between police and alleged armed robbers at a Sydney university campus.

Police chased and then rammed an Audi car at the University of NSW's campus at Kensington, in Sydney's east, early on Monday morning.

It's alleged the Audi was stolen and its occupants were about to carry out an armed robbery - though the intended target remains unclear.

Two men, aged 29 and 36, were arrested at the scene, with one subsequently charged with conspiracy to commit armed robbery, firearms offences and the theft of luxury cars, including a rare $275,000 Porsche.

A second man was charged with conspiracy to commit armed robbery and appeared at Waverley Local Court on Tuesday.

Two men were also seen fleeing the university campus.

Police said on Wednesday that one of them, a 28-year-old from inner-city Pyrmont, had been arrested in Dubbo.

He was charged with conspiracy to commit armed robbery, armed with intent to commit serious indictable offence and other firearms offences.

The man was also charged with stealing a Mercedes AMG from Paddington in July, a Porsche from Hunters Hill in October and an Audi and a BMW from Haberfield in October.

He's due to appear at Dubbo Local Court on Thursday.

Police are hunting the fourth man seen running from the Kensington university campus.

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Spain's central bank says economy shrank

SPAIN'S central bank says the country's economy continued to shrink, contracting by 0.4 per cent during the third quarter compared with the previous three months, increasing pressure on Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to seek help from Europe.

This is the fifth quarter in a row that Spain's economic output has shrunk.

The country's economy also contracted by 0.4 per cent in the second quarter and 0.3 per cent in the first quarter and is forecast to show a 1.5 per cent fall this year and 0.5 per cent in 2013.

The central bank figure is an estimate.

Official figures are due to be released by the National Statistics Institute on October 30.

The bank said on Tuesday consumer demand fell by 1.2 per cent - although the decline eased a little in the third quarter due to increased spending ahead of a sales tax increase on September 1.

Spain is in its second recession in three years with near 25 per cent unemployment.

The country is one of the focal points in Europe's financial crisis - if Spain defaults on its debts or needs a full-blown bailout, the finances - and credibility- of the 17-country group that uses the euro could be stretched to breaking point.

In September the European Central Bank said it was prepared to buy unlimited amounts of bonds in countries struggling with their debts.

This has helped the country by pushing its borrowing costs lower.

But Rajoy has held off triggering the actual purchases.

The government has introduced austerity measures and financial and labour reforms in a bid to convince investors it is getting a grip on its accounts.

The measures have led to many strikes and protests and the country faces its second general strike in a year on November 14.

Several thousand people are expected to take part in a demonstration later on Tuesday outside parliament as deputies begin debating 2013 budget spending cuts.

Two similar protests are planned for Thursday and Saturday.

Also on Tuesday, the Treasury sold 3.53 billion euros ($A4.50 billion) in three- and six-month bills as investors continued to express their concern over Spain's ability to manage its finances.

The Treasury sold 967 million euros in three-month bills with the average interest rate at 1.42 per cent, up from 1.20 per cent in the last such auction on September 25.

It sold 2.56 billion euros in six-month bills on a yield of 2.02 per cent, down from 2.21 per cent on September 25.

Demand was more than four times the amount offered in the three-month category and almost double in the longer-term bills.

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Dozens arrested in anti-mafia sweeps

MORE than 60 people have been arrested and over 230 million euros ($A293.24 million) in cash has been seized in Italy in three nationwide anti-mafia sweeps.

In Palermo, police arrested 41 suspected members of the Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian branch of the Italian mafia, on Tuesday. They are accused of involvement in extorsion, drug trafficking, illegal possession of firearms and other crimes.

The producers of a television series filmed in Palermo were among the victims of the suspects, as well as businessmen and shopkeepers, police said, adding that several mafia-owned betting shops were raided in the same operation.

In Turin, a judge ordered the arrest of 22 suspected members of the Ndrangheta, the branch of the mafia rooted in the southern region of Calabria but also present in the north of Italy, and the seizure of assets worth several million euros.

The judge, Giuseppe Salerno, said that the Ndrangheta had managed to influence the result of last year's local elections in Chivasso, a town on the outskirts of Turin.

According to investigators, the Ndrangheta controlled the votes of the third-placed candidate in the contest, and offered them to the centre-right and centre-left rivals who faced each other in a second round run-off.

In return, the winning side allegedly had to assign public contracts to mafia-linked businesses and include a mafia associate in the local government.

But elected mayor Gianni De Mori from the centre-left Democratic Party did not stick to the bargain, investigators said.

In Reggio Calabria, the regional capital of the Ndrangheta's heartland, Italian tax police seized 230 million euros worth of assets, including controlling stakes in two well-known hotels and the local basketball team.

The assets belonged to two businessmen who were arrested last year for alleged mafia links. They are suspected of money laundering on behalf of Domenico Condello, a Ndrangheta boss who was arrested this month after nearly 20 years on the run.

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South Kordofan capital shelled in Sudan

A BARRAGE of shells has struck the capital of Sudan's South Kordofan state, witnesses say, after unprecedented rebel firing on the town early this month sparked UN condemnation.

"At 9am (1700 AEDT) on Tuesday shells started to come from outside the town, concentrating on the town centre" in Kadugli, one witness said.

"My uncle's house was hit by a shell and burned," said the witness, who had no details of the damage because he was fleeing the area in his car.

"I saw four people injured," he added, asking not to be named.

"I heard about 20 explosions and I saw one shell hit a road-building company," another Kadugli resident said, also without giving his name.

"Now most of the residents are fleeing the town centre."

It was not immediately clear who was firing but on October 8 a surprise artillery barrage by rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) targeted Kadugli.

Seven people were killed in that attack, according to official media, and shelling of the area continued over the following two days.

The United Nations condemned that firing, calling it an indiscriminate and reprehensible act, particularly after a rebel shell landed in the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) compound but failed to explode.

The shelling came after Sudan's Islamist regime and South Sudan in late September signed deals on security and cooperation that they hailed as ending their countries' conflict, which led to a border war in March and April.

Among the deals reached under African Union mediation in Addis Ababa was an agreement on a demilitarised border buffer zone designed to cut support for the SPLM-N.

Sudan accused South Sudan of supporting the SPLM-N, a charge which many analysts believe despite denials by the government in Juba.

A Sudan analyst described the earlier shelling as "a show of strength ... a big bang" to get international attention, with more high-profile attacks likely before Wednesday's meeting of the African Union's Peace and Security Council.

The meeting is set to review an AU peace "roadmap" and implementation of a UN Security Council resolution that ordered a ceasefire between Sudan and South Sudan, and settlement of crucial unresolved issues.

Ethnic minority insurgents of the SPLM-N were allies of southern rebels during Sudan's 22-year civil war, which ended with a 2005 peace deal that led to South Sudan's independence in July last year.

After its attack on Kadugli two weeks ago, the ethnic and religious-minority SPLM-N said it regretted any civilian casualties that may have been caused but said its artillery fire was self-defence in the face of government shelling and aerial bombardment of rebel positions.

Fighting in oil-producing South Kordofan started in June last year, followed by a similar conflict in Sudan's Blue Nile state in September 2011.

The war has affected an estimated 900,000 people, but more than a year of talks have failed to clinch agreement on food aid reaching rebel zones where "serious food shortages" are reported, the UN said last Friday.

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Indo police fire rubber bullets on rally

INDONESIAN police fired rubber bullets on students at a pro-independence rally in the restive region of Papua, in clashes that injured at least eight protesters, witnesses said.

Hundreds of police were deployed as around 300 people gathered outside the University of Papua in Manokwari, and a clash broke out with students hurling stones at the officers, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.

Police then fired rubber bullets on the crowd and four demonstrators were hurt, the AFP reporter said, while another four were injured in clashes with officers.

The eight were taken to the local hospital but a doctor there indicated none of their injuries were serious.

Rally organisers, the youth secessionist West Papua National Committee (KNPB), also said four people were shot at the protest and taken to hospital.

Local reporter and activist Oktovianus Pogau said he was beaten badly by five policemen as he pulled out his wallet to present his press card.

"They punched me twice in the face and tried to strangle me. They hit other journalists and I saw at least two people get shot," Pogau said.

Manokwari police chief Agustinus Supriyanto declined to comment on the violence and would only say that the incident was being evaluated.

Police had rejected the students' request to demonstrate outside the university and ordered the demonstration be shut down.

The demonstration was one of several in Papua on Tuesday which were organised by the KNPB ahead of a meeting later in the day in London of international lawyers who are backing a Papuan independence referendum.

International watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) condemned the police action, saying the students had a right to protest.

"Police should stop the excessive use of violence in Papua. It should investigate officers who ordered the violence," Jakarta-based HRW researcher Andreas Harsono said.

The protests were the first major pro-independence rallies since Indonesian police shot dead KNPB's deputy chairman Mako Tabuni in June, which sparked a wave of anger that saw cars and homes set ablaze.

Papua - a vast, mineral-rich region in the east of Indonesia that shares an island with Papua New Guinea - has a mostly Melanesian population, ethnically different from most Indonesians.

Jakarta annexed the former Dutch colony in 1969 and has since faced a low-level insurgency.

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LA Times endorses Obama for second term

A MAJOR US newspaper, The Los Angeles Times, has endorsed President Barack Obama for a second term in the White House, saying he has brought "steady leadership" to the office.

"The nation has been well served by President Obama's steady leadership. He deserves a second term," stated an LA Times editorial on Monday.

It added that while his opponents assailed him as a socialist, "he showed himself to be an adult, less an ideologue than a pragmatist, more cautious than cocky".

The paper also warned that Republican challenger Mitt Romney would exacerbate the economic situation in the country "by spending extravagantly on defence even as the last of the Bush-era wars ends".

It was referring to the wars that President George W. Bush launched in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"The alternative offered by Romney would neglect the country's infrastructure and human resources for the sake of yet another tax cut and a larger defence budget than even the Pentagon is seeking," the LA Times went on the argue.

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Web shifts to accommodate tablets

SURFACE is Microsoft's answer to the iPad, and goes on sale this week.

Announced with a fast-paced promo video (which you can see on YouTube at www.youtube/8mSckyoAMHg), the Surface (www.microsoft.com/surface) is supposed to offer people a real alternative to the iDomination of Apple's system.

But either way you look at it, the tablet computer is fast becoming the best value computing device for the majority of people. Tablets - not just iPads, but tablets of all kinds - are selling in huge numbers.

Starting with the first iPad, tablets have been sold cheap. That's only been possible because advances in hardware technology have finally made tablets a viable, profit-making venture for computer companies.

Most tablets are mostly battery: that's the bulk of the volume and weight. Then comes the screen, and finally the electronics, which are shrinking almost by the minute.

The computer industry is focusing all its efforts on tablets at the moment. They are what people want to buy. They are where there's money to be made.

This matters because it has a direct effect on the way software and websites are designed and built.

Web developers who build websites for pointing and clicking with a mouse are having to rapidly re-think. The concept of a web link itself is changing: links used to be sections of highlighted text, but on tablets they work better if they're shown much larger, large enough for a fingertip to tap on.

Web pages need to be adaptable, depending on the device that's being used to view them. They need to re-shape themselves for small screens.

Some might argue that's looking at it the wrong way. Tablets are so huge now, and will be so popular in the future, that most digital content will be designed for them first - and will only have to adapt when people look at them using old, out-of-date computers with mice.

Take a fond look at your mouse now. Its days are numbered.

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Two Gaza militants killed in Israeli raids

ISRAELI air strikes have killed two Gaza militants as they clashed with troops from the Jewish state who crossed the border on the eve of a landmark visit to the Palestinian territory by the Qatari emir, medical sources say.

The flareup on Monday provoked threats of revenge from the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the ruling Hamas movement, and a pledge from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that there would be no immunity for those firing on the Jewish state.

Two air strikes took place around the northern town of Beit Hanun where militants were firing mortar shells at an Israeli tank and several military vehicles which had crossed the border into Gaza territory, witnesses and security sources said.

The first strike hit north of Beit Hanun, critically wounding four Qassam Brigades militants, one of whom later died of his injuries, medics and the militant group said.

As the clashes continued, Israel launched a second air strike east of Beit Hanun, killing a militant from the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC) and critically wounding another man, the same sources said.

The Qassam Brigades confirmed that the first strike had killed one of its militants and critically wounded another three, naming the dead man as Abderahman Abu Jalaleh, 25, and describing him as a local commander.

The second strike killed a PRC militant whom the group named as Yasser al-Tarabin. The identity of the injured man was not immediately clear.

The Israeli military said both strikes had targeted "a rocket launching squad".

"The squad was targeted in response to mortar shell fire at a routine IDF (army) patrol in the area, near the Israeli kibbutz of Nir Am," a statement said of the first strike. An identical statement was issued following the second.

The flareup comes on the eve of a high-profile visit by the emir of Qatar to the Gaza Strip, the first such trip by an Arab head of state since Hamas took over the territory in 2007.

The military refused to say whether troops were operating on the Gaza side of the frontier, saying only "they were near the security fence on a routine patrol".

Hamas militants usually observe a de facto truce on rocket fire targeting Israel, but the rare show of force appeared to be a direct response to the incursion.

"The Zionist enemy continues its crimes and arrogance against our land and people ... because of its desire to blow up the situation," the Qassam Brigades said.

"The enemy will not be able to tie our hands and his crime will not go unanswered."

Netanyahu also issued a warning of his own.

"The real thing we have is rockets. We've got Hamas, supported by Iran, firing rockets at us. We're not going to let anyone arm themselves and fire rockets on us and think that they can do this with impunity. They're not going to get away with it," he said on meeting with the Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair.

"We're going to prevent them from arming themselves. This is our policy. This is a very different policy that I put in. You don't let them get away with it. And they know that's what we're doing."

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BBC editor steps aside over Savile probe

A TOP BBC editor has stepped aside while the broadcaster reviews its editorial decision to pull the plug on a segment about sexual abuse allegations against a prominent British children's television star, the late Jimmy Savile.

The BBC said on Monday the editor of the Newsnight program that opted not to broadcast the allegations, Peter Rippon, is "stepping aside with immediate effect".

The BBC said Rippon's explanation of his decision in a blog post earlier was "inaccurate or incomplete in some respects".

He is the first BBC figure directly blamed for the broadcaster's failure to properly report on abuse claims against Savile, who died last year at the age of 84 after a long career in children's television.

The BBC is facing criticism for providing different explanations for pulling the December segment that would have lifted the veil on Savile's abusive history, which had been rumoured but not reported on at the time.

Savile hosted the music program Top of the Pops and Jim'll Fix It. He was also active in numerous charities.

The BBC is set to air its own investigation of its failure to report on Savile's sexual abuses on Monday night on the Panorama show.

On the show set for broadcast on Monday, BBC correspondents claim the Savile segment was pulled because of pressure from senior management.

The fallout and allegations of a cover-up have damaged the BBC's reputation, and Savile's actions are also being investigated by police and other agencies.

Police say there may be more than 200 potential victims of the entertainer, known for his garish track suits and platinum hair.

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Six dead in attack on Guinea-Bissau army

GUNMEN have raided a Guinea-Bissau army barracks housing an elite unit near the capital's airport, sparking a gun battle that left at least six dead.

Sunday's pre-dawn attack is certain to add to tensions in the deeply troubled west African country, where a junta seized power in a coup in April.

Unidentified armed men launched the assault about 4am (local time) but soldiers fought off the attack after about an hour of fighting, forcing the assailants to flee, witnesses said.

An AFP journalist at the scene said he saw the bodies of five attackers while a guard at the barracks was also killed, a surviving comrade said.

A military source confirmed the attack but would not say whether there had been any casualties among the elite "red beret" ground force unit targeted in the raid.

Army vehicles were criss-crossing the capital in the hours after the raid, although the situation remained was calm.

There was no information immediately available about who carried out the attack but observers said there was some anger in the military about a recent round of promotions.

Since independence from Portugal in 1974, the army and state in the chronically unstable nation of 1.6 million people have remained in constant conflict, and no president has ever completed a full term in office.

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Former US senator George McGovern dies

FORMER US senator and Democratic presidential nominee George McGovern, who lost to Republican Richard Nixon in 1972, has died aged 90.

McGovern's family said in a statement the liberal standard-bearer died about 5.15am (local time) on Sunday at the Dougherty Hospice House in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, surrounded by loved ones and life-long friends.

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France sees Syria's hand in Beirut blast

FRANCE'S foreign minister reportedly says it's likely Syrian President Bashar Assad's government had a hand in the assassination of Lebanon's intelligence chief in a Beirut bombing.

Laurent Fabius told Europe-1 radio on Sunday that while it wasn't fully clear who was behind the attack that killed Wissam al-Hassan and seven others, it was "probable" that Syria played a role in the blast.

He said that "everything suggests that it's an extension of the Syrian tragedy." He did not provide evidence to back up his assertion.

Fabius also accused Assad of seeking to spread "contagion" in the region in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.

France has been a major critic of Assad during 19 months of bloodshed in Syria and has called on him to step down.

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Brits like empire over Assange: Ecuador

BRITAIN behaved like it was still an empire in its threat to raid Ecuador's embassy and arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, the Ecuadorian ambassador to London says.

Ana Alban told BBC radio on Sunday the threat, made in August just before Ecuador granted asylum to Australian-born Assange, was "the biggest mistake" committed by Britain since she became ambassador.

"They were trying to show this little country that the British are still an empire and we should learn to be good boys during our stay here," said Alban.

Former computer hacker Assange, 41, walked into the London embassy on June 19 claiming asylum in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden, where he faces questioning over alleged rape and sexual assault.

British officials angered Ecuador in August by suggesting in a letter that they could ultimately withdraw diplomatic status from the embassy and enter it to arrest Assange, though they have not done so.

Ecuador granted Assange asylum on August 16 but Britain refuses to grant him safe passage out of the country, and he remains holed up in the embassy with the two countries in a diplomatic stalemate.

Assange denies the alleged sex crimes and claims he could eventually be passed from Sweden to the United States for prosecution over the WikiLeaks website's publication of hundreds of thousands of classified US documents.

WikiLeaks enraged Washington in 2010 by publishing a flood of secret military files on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as a huge cache of diplomatic cables from US embassies across the world.

Embassy officials told the BBC that the presence of British police - who have remained outside the embassy since June 19, poised to arrest Assange if he tries to escape - was "intimidating".

Alban even found one policeman right outside her toilet window and had to use a different one, she laughingly told the BBC.

The ambassador said she was taken completely by surprise by Assange's asylum request, and her immediate worries had been over practical issues such as where to find bed linen for the WikiLeaks founder.

The embassy still does not have a washing machine to handle their guest's laundry, she added.

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