Vatican readies to elect new Pope

The Vatican says Catholic cardinals will meet next Tuesday for a conclave to elect the next pope. Source: AAP

THE Vatican has installed a special chimney on the Sistine Chapel from which white smoke will signal the election of a new Pope as cardinals prepare for the historic vote next week after Benedict XVI's resignation.

The conclave of 115 "cardinal electors" will begin on Tuesday under Michelangelo's famous frescoes to choose the 266th Pope following the abrupt end to Benedict's eight-year papacy which was often overshadowed by scandals.

French cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois, the Archbishop of Paris, told AFP in an interview that there were around "half a dozen possible candidates."

Italian cardinal Angelo Scola, the Archbishop of Milan, is seen as one favourite, along with Canada's Marc Ouellet and Brazil's Odilo Scherer.

Other names mentioned on the rumour mill in recent days have been Hungary's Peter Erdo, Mexico's Jose Francisco Robles Ortega, Austria's Christoph Schoenborn and Sri Lanka's Albert Malcolm Ranjith.

"The problem with this conclave is that there is no early frontrunner like Joseph Ratzinger in 2005," said John Allen, a Vatican expert at the National Catholic Reporter, a US weekly.

Luis Antonio Tagle, the Archbishop of Manila, a youthful and popular cardinal, has also been mentioned as a possible.

"If there was a direct election among the 1.2 billion Catholics in the world he would win by a landslide but that is not how the Church works," Allen said.

The decision on the date of the conclave was taken on Friday at one of a series of closed-door meetings held by cardinals over the past week to discuss the many challenges facing the next Pope.

Cardinals, with no new Pope to defer to and no late Pope to grieve over, have seized on the rare chance to air grievances against the Vatican administration and call for greater transparency.

The 85-year-old Benedict last month admitted he was too weak in body and mind to keep up with the modern world and became only the second head of the Roman Catholic Church ever to resign by choice in its 2000-year history.

"Pope emeritus" Benedict has stayed out of pre-conclave debates and is living at the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo near Rome for the next couple of months, after which he will move to a former convent inside the Vatican.

Vatican workers meanwhile have put the final touches on preparations for the Sistine Chapel, blacking out windows to prevent any spying on the conclave and installing scrambling devices to prevent any communication with the outside world.

Under the rules of this centuries-old tradition, cardinals have to swear a solemn oath not to reveal any details of their deliberations on pain of excommunication and the Sistine Chapel will be swept for recording devices.

No one except the "cardinal electors" - cardinals below the threshold age of 80 - can be present during the two daily rounds of voting, which will kick off with a first vote late on Tuesday.

A two-thirds majority is required.

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Shots fired at Vic bikies' home

Five men with links to bikie gangs have been arrested in Melbourne over an alleged kidnapping plot. Source: AAP

UP to six shots have been fired at the Melbourne home of a bikie gang member accused of being part of a million-dollar stolen property racket.

Police responded to reports of gunshots at a street in the northern suburb of Epping around 2.15am (AEDT) on Saturday, they said.

No one was injured in the suspected drive-by shooting.

It's understood the house targeted by the shots is home to one of two Pegoraro brothers, who were this week arrested and charged with numerous counts of theft and handling stolen goods following police raids.

Ben and Daniel Pegoraro, aged 23 and 27, are members of the Red Devils bikie gang, which police have described as a breeding ground for the Hells Angels.

Both brothers have also been questioned in relation to the ambush and attempted assassination of Bandidos sergeant-at-arms Toby Mitchell, police have said.

Detectives believe Saturday morning's gunfire is linked to an ongoing feud between the Hells Angels and Bandidos, which they have fear will escalate after the ambush on Mitchell.

Police earlier played down reported bikie links to an alleged kidnapping conspiracy, which saw five men - including a major amphetamines dealer - arrested on Friday night.

Detective Inspector Richard Read said some of the men under arrest are linked to bikie gangs, but the drug trafficking operation had not been a motorcycle gang operation.

Earlier on Friday, a suspicious fire gutted the Bendigo headquarters of the Satan's Soldiers - another known feeder group to the Hells Angels.

Police are investigating if the blaze was retaliatory attack after the ambush on Mitchell.

Hundreds of interstate Finks bikies, who are aligned with the Bandidos, are meanwhile rolling into Melbourne for their national run and are set to party at into the night at Port Melbourne.

The new police Operation Resound taskforce has been set up to target the Hells Angels-Bandidos and their affiliates amid fears of all-out war spilling onto the streets.

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Three men drown at Victorian beaches

TWO fathers have drowned trying to rescue their sons, while a third man has also died while snorkelling with friends at separate unpatrolled beaches across Victoria.

Paramedics were first called to a beach at Lorne, on the Great Ocean Road, about 12.30pm (AEDT) on Saturday, where a man used a surfboard to help a boy, aged 12, safely to shore.

Surf life savers then arrived and used an inflatable rescue boat to haul the boy's father, aged his sixties, unconscious from the water.

Paramedics arrived, but the man could not be revived through CPR and was pronounced dead at the scene, Ambulance Victoria spokesman John Mullen said.

The boy - whose father had tried to rescue him from the rip - was taken to hospital in a stable condition, having swallowed water and suffered shock, Mr Mullen said.

The beach at St George River, southwest of Lorne's main beach, is not patrolled and features a permanent rip flowing out its narrow entrance, according to Life Saving Victoria (LSV).

At 2.30pm, paramedics also attended a beach in Rye, on the Mornington Peninsula, where a man in his 30s, who had been snorkelling with friends, was found unconscious in the water.

He also couldn't be revived and was pronounced dead on the beach, Ambulance Victoria's Ray Rowe said.

A third man, aged in his forties, died after being reported missing in waters at Golden Beach near Sale, in Victoria's Gippsland region.

He had reportedly swum out to try to save his 10-year-old son after he became caught in a rip.

Paramedics were called around 3.20pm, but at 6pm police confirmed his had been found at the beach.

LSV spokeswoman Jennifer Roberts said 57 beaches had been patrolled across the state on Saturday.

She urged people check signs and survey the risks at any beach before getting in the water, and never to swim alone.

"Every drowning death is a tragic occurrence," Ms Roberts said.

"Every beach is inherently dangerous."

Lorne Police Sergeant David Cooper had risked his life to save the 12-year-old boy, Victoria Police said.

Upon learning of the boy caught in a rip, Sgt Cooper rushed to the scene, commandeered a surfboard from a beach-goer, stripped to his boxer shorts and paddled out through heavy surf more than 100 metres from shore to rich the boy.

He and another swimmer secured the semi-conscious boy to the board and brought him safely ashore, only to then learn the 62-year-old Noble Park man had also been swept away in the rip, police said.

Paddling out again, Sgt Cooper reached the unconscious man floating face down in the water, as two other men on surfboards came to his assistance, followed by surf life savers in a rubber dingy.

The officer commenced CPR on the man in the dingy, and continued once ashore with the help of a paramedic.

Despite the pair performing CPR on the man for almost an hour, he could not be revived.

"I will sleep tonight knowing that I did all I could possibly do to save both of the swimmers," Sgt Cooper said in a statement.

"It is sad that a family has lost a loved one but it could very easily been two deaths here today."

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Convincing win for WA Lib/Nats emerging

POLITICAL commentators from the ABC have called the West Australian election in favour of the Liberal/National coalition, just over an hour after counting began.

Mr Smith said Labor had potentially lost 10 to 12 seats.

Collie-Preston is one of the few seats looking good for Labor, held by the party's Mick Murray since 2001.

In Balcatta, held by retiring Labor MP John Kobelke, the swing is towards the Liberals.

Hannah Beazley, the daughter of former federal Labor leader Kim Beazley, looks highly unlikely to unseat sitting member for Riverton, Liberal member Mike Nahan.

The Swan Hills area, the focus of some of the key campaign issues including the Ellenbrook rail line and Perth-to-Darwin Highway, seems certain to remain firmly in the grip of Liberal Frank Alban.

Green said some of those seats were not certain, however, as preferences needed to be taken into account.

He said 29 seats would definitely go to the Liberal party, eight to the Nationals and 16 to Labor, bringing the coalition up to at least 37 seats.

"The Liberals are one short of the magic 30 seats they'd love to get," he said.

Former WA Labor leader Eric Ripper, who was succeeded by Mark McGowan and is retiring from the seat of Belmont, said it was going to be a very tough night for his party colleagues.

"Governments are usually re-elected for a second term," he said.

"Quite often, they're strengthened at that second term election."

Governments that presided over strong economies also were given a second chance, he said.

Echoing many others, Mr Ripper said Mr McGowan had run a strong campaign.

But the unpopularity of federal Labor in WA "must have played its part", he said.

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Bin Laden's son-in-law to face US court

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith will face charges that he conspired to kill Americans in his in al-Qaeda. Source: AAP

OSAMA bin Laden's son-in-law was due to appear in a New York court on Friday to face charges that he conspired to kill Americans in his role as al-Qaeda's top propagandist, as a landmark prosecution on US soil takes aim at one of the terror network's senior leaders.

Officials said Sulaiman Abu Ghaith was captured in Jordan over the last week.

The Kuwait-born al-Qaeda spokesman, part of bin Laden's inner circle, lauded the attacks of September 11, 2001 and warned there would be more.

The case marks a legal victory for the Obama administration, which has long sought to charge senior al-Qaeda suspects in US federal courts instead of holding them at the military detention centre at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Charging foreign terror suspects in American federal courts was a top pledge by President Barack Obama shortly after he took office in 2009 - aimed, in part, to close Guantanamo Bay.

Republicans, however, have fought the White House to keep Guantanamo open, and bringing Abu Ghaith to New York immediately sparked an outcry.

Abu Ghaith will appear on Friday in US federal court in New York, according to a Justice Department statement and indictment outlining the accusations against him.

US Attorney General Eric Holder defended holding Abu Ghaith in New York.

Holder reluctantly agreed in 2011 to try self-professed al-Qaeda mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in a Guantanamo Bay military court instead of a civilian court after a fierce Republican backlash.

"No amount of distance or time will weaken our resolve to bring America's enemies to justice," Holder said in a statement.

The Justice Department said Abu Ghaith was the spokesman for al-Qaeda, working alongside bin Laden and current leader Ayman al-Zawahri, since at least May 2001.

Abu Ghaith is a former mosque preacher and teacher and urged followers that month to swear allegiance to bin Laden, prosecutors said.

The day after the September 11 attacks, prosecutors say he appeared with bin Laden and al-Zawahri and called on the "nation of Islam" to battle against Jews, Christians and Americans.

A "great army is gathering against you," Abu Ghaith said on September 12, 2001, according to prosecutors.

Shortly afterward, Abu Ghaith warned in a speech that "the storms shall not stop - especially the airplanes storm" and advised Muslims, children and al-Qaeda allies to stay out of planes and high-rise buildings.

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SAfrican dragging death cops back in court

NINE South African policemen appeared in court accused of dragging a Mozambican immigrant behind their police van and then brutally beating him to death.

They are charged with killing Mido Macia, a 27-year-old Mozambican taxi driver who died in police custody on February 26, after parking his taxi on the wrong side of the road.

Bystanders filmed Macia being manhandled, handcuffed to the back of a police van and dragged hundreds of metres to the Daveyton police station, east of Johannesburg.

Just over two hours later he was found dead in his cell.

Footage of the incident spread quickly online and sent shock waves throughout the country, shining a spotlight yet again on the conduct of South Africa's much maligned police force.

The court was told on Friday that Macia suffered extensive injuries, culminating in hypoxia - a lack of oxygen supply to the body - causing his death.

According to a report by pathologist Reggie Perumal, Macia had extensive abrasions on his face, limbs and body, deep cuts on his forearms and wrists and "almost full thickness lacerations of the head."

He also had bruised ribs, back, left and right testes, lips and bite marks on his tongue as well as bleeding and water on the brain.

The nine huddled together on the accused's bench, some dressed in suits, others in casual clothes.

Aged between 25 and 57, some chewed gum, looked down while others occasionally shot a furtive smile.

The state has opposed bail.

Eight officers had been arrested in connection with the incident, which shocked South Africa and the world, and a constable who was on duty that day has since turned himself in.

"I brought him to the police station today," his advocate, Sam Leso, told AFP.

A magistrate had postponed the hearing Monday of the men arrested last week so that state witnesses could confirm the identities of the accused.

On Wednesday around 1,000 people attended a memorial for Macia at the sports stadium in Daveyton. He is due to be buried outside the Mozambican capital Maputo on Saturday.

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Hundreds march against 'police brutality'

Demonstrators are set to protest against alleged police brutality at the Mardi Gras in Sydney. Source: AAP

HUNDREDS of people have marched through central Sydney demanding an end to police brutality and an independent investigation into allegations of excessive force at the recent Mardi Gras.

Politicians and gay rights activists have been calling for an independent inquiry into the actions of police at Saturday's Mardi Gras after a video emerged showing a handcuffed 18-year-old, Jamie Jackson, being thrown to the ground by an officer at the festival.

Another video shows Mr Jackson lashing out at an officer before he was restrained.

Bryn Hutchinson, 32, a gay rights campaigner, has also alleged police used excessive force against him after he crossed a road despite being told not to.

Both Mr Hutchinson and Mr Jackson have been charged with assaulting police.

An internal inquiry has commenced into the incidents, but those at the rally on Friday night were critical of police.

"Police are constantly abusing people and taking advantage of their position of power and not being held accountable for it," Rami, 24, who didn't wish to give his last name, told AAP at the rally.

"It makes no sense to have police investigate police ... it needs to be independent and transparent."

Rami says he hopes police will learn that they "can't get away with everything they do".

"If you act outside of your power and if you take advantage of your position of power the community won't be quiet," he said.

Starting in Taylor Square near a pedestrian crossing painted in rainbow colours for the world-renowned gay street party, the protesters marched down Oxford Street chanting "no justice, no peace, stop violent police" before gathering in front of the Surry Hills police station.

The vocal crowd of about 1000, flanked by 40 officers, carried placards with strong messages calling on police to stop violence and for charges to be laid against the officers accused of using excessive force.

Four protesters held up a banner reading "all cops are bastards" outside the police station, which disappointed local area commander Superintendent Tony Crandell.

"I don't think that really promoted a meaningful message," he told reporters outside the police station.

"Other than that, the behaviour of protesters was, as expected, peaceful."

Police tolerated the sign "in the interests of promoting peaceful protest", he added.

A 31-year-old man who yelled abuse at officers was charged after the rally for offensive language, offensive behaviour and failing to comply with police direction, Supt Crandell said.

He added it would be premature for police to issue an apology for the treatment of Mr Jackson and Mr Hutchinson until police "understand all of the circumstances and all of context of both of those incidents".

NSW Police Minister Mike Gallacher and Premier Barry O'Farrell have both repeatedly denied the need for the inquiry to be taken out of police hands, saying oversight from the ombudsman will ensure the investigation is independent.

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Syria rebels won't budge over hostages

The UN says it is still trying to negotiate the release of 21 peacekeepers abducted in Syria. Source: AAP

UN efforts to secure the release of 21 peacekeepers abducted in the Golan dragged on into a third day as Manila said rebels holding the Filipinos were sticking to their demand Syrian troops leave the area.

UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous was to brief the Security Council on the abduction later on Friday as concern mounted about its implications for the future of the four-decade-old UN force patrolling the sensitive armistice line between Israel and Syria.

The refusal by the Syrian rebels to compromise had dampened hopes of a swift release and forced Manila to step up its negotiation efforts, Philippine foreign affairs spokesman Raul Hernandez said.

The 21 Filipinos, members of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) monitoring the armistice between Syria and Israel that followed the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, were abducted by the rebels on Wednesday just one and a half kilometres to the Syrian side of the ceasefire line.

The rebels are demanding that Syrian troops move 20km back from Jamla, an area at the southern end of the armistice zone, Hernandez said.

"The demand of the rebels for the repositioning of Syrian forces in the area of Jamla is still outstanding so this is still being worked out," he said on ABS-CBN television.

"That is the main demand of the rebel group," he said, adding that he did not know of any other conditions.

The Philippine government had previously received information that raised hopes the 21 would be released on Friday morning, Philippine time, and the government now did not know if or when they would be freed, Hernandez said.

"We are trying to intensify our negotiations with the rebel groups."

However he said the Philippine peacekeepers were still being treated well, an assurance echoed by the United Nations.

"The mission has been in touch with the peacekeepers by telephone and confirmed they have not been harmed," UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said.

Meanwhile, Israel says it helped eight UN peacekeepers redeploy from an isolated post in the part of the Golan ceasefire zone.

The troops - all Filipinos, like the hostages - left their positions overnight and moved through Israeli-held territory to join up with comrades in the UN Disengagement Observer Force further north along the armistice line, an army spokeswoman said.

"Eight UNDOF soldiers were evacuated from a post located within the demilitarised zone in the Syrian Golan Heights," the spokeswoman said, adding that Israeli troops escorted them north to another UN base near the Quneitra border crossing.

Israeli officials warned that any further reduction in the strength of UNDOF risked creating a security vacuum in the no-man's land between the two sides on the strategic Golan Heights, which it seized in the 1967 Six-Day War.

"This kidnapping is likely to convince countries who participate in this force to bring their troops home, which would undoubtedly create a dangerous vacuum in no-man's land on the Golan," an Israeli official said.

Canada and Japan have already pulled out their small contingents, and Croatia said last week it was pulling out its 100 soldiers. If Manila pulls out it would leave just Austrian and Indian troops.

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Randy pandas get privacy at Tokyo zoo

Officials at Ueno Zoo are keeping visitors away in the hope a pair of pandas will mate. Source: AAP

A PAIR of pandas in the mood for mating are being given a bit of space with Japanese zookeepers hoping they would get it on if the public was kept away.

Female panda Shin Shin has begun to display the tell-tale behaviour of being ready for action, say officials at Ueno Zoo in the Japanese capital, who add they want her and her beau Ri Ri to have enough privacy to do the deed.

"We have seen Shin Shin showing signs that she is in heat, so we have suspended public viewing and are getting ready to put her and Ri Ri together," said Mikako Kaneko.

"As female pandas are able to conceive for just a few days during a year, we are now carefully watching them so that we won't let the chance slip away," she added.

Shin Shin's provocative panda behaviour has included walking more frequently than usual and making noises, the zoo said.

Shin Shin and Ri Ri had a baby last year - the first giant panda cub at the zoo in 24 years - but it died of pneumonia about a week later, with the news stopping regular television programming and bringing the zoo director to tears.

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Gay colonel condemns ADF abuse 'neglect'

THE Australian Defence Force is focused on covering up internal abuse cases rather than helping victims, a whistleblower says.

Senior army psychologist Lieutenant Colonel Paul Morgan has condemned what he says is the neglect of abuse victims.

"The way army deals with abuse is entirely consistent with how you would run a cover-up," Lt Col Morgan told ABC television on Thursday.

Despite cultural reviews and the establishment of an abuse tribunal, "nothing had changed", Lt Col Morgan said.

"My personal experience tells me that the Army's abuse management strategies that I've seen - delay, deter and deceive - are still in force now," he said.

Lt Col Morgan, who has served in Bougainville, East Timor, Solomon Islands, Iraq and the Middle East, says Defence mishandled his own bullying case.

In 2010, he was the victim of gay hate on Facebook and received an email death threat.

"Every officer in my chain of command, every colonel and general all the way through to the current Chief of Army ... systematically failed their duty in relation to the management of my complaint," he said.

He wants an outside body to step in immediately to help abuse victims.

Lt Col Morgan said he could lose his job by speaking out.

"There are hundreds of abuse victims currently serving in the Defence Force today, and somebody has to say something," he said.

Chief of the Defence Force General David Hurley implicitly admitted that support services for victims of abuse had been inadequate.

"From the very day that we received the reports in after the six cultural reviews were completed, and we started putting together our Pathways To Change reform program, I put up in headlights in the department that our approach to victim support in the ADF had to change," General Hurley told ABC television.

"I think the very first recommendation from the Broderick review that I put into place was to establish an office, a sexual misconduct protection and response office ... and tasked it with putting in place the mechanism to support our people who are victims of sexual or other abuse in the ADF."

Lt Col Morgan would not sacked or disciplined for speaking out, he said.

"Of course he won't be."

"His organisation is very supportive of him ... I know they have put in very flexible work arrangements for him to allow him to work through his issues."

"I sympathise where Colonel Morgan finds himself, but let me just say that actions speak louder than words," he said.

General Hurley said giving the nod to gay and lesbian defence personnel marching in uniform at the Sydney Mardi Gras parade had been one of the most difficult and "most complained about" decisions he had made in his role.

"I think we're making a clear statement about how we want the ADF to b seen as a diverse and inclusive organisation."

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Morocco eyes law on rape and child brides

DEFENDERS of women's rights in Morocco are inching closer to a long-awaited goal as the kingdom's parliament works to amend a law that allows a rapist to escape prison by marrying his victim.

Morocco was shocked in March 2012 by the suicide of Amina Filali, 16, who was forced to marry the man who had raped her.

He remained a free man under Article 475 of the kingdom's penal code.

A year later, the controversial article is to be amended after the Islamist government threw its weight behind a new bill now expected to be adopted by parliament at a spring session.

The justice ministry has said it supports altering the article, under which the rape of a minor is punishable by several years in prison unless the victim and aggressor wed.

"We have supported other amendments aimed at the better protection of minors," said Justice Minister Mustapha Ramid, referring to new tougher punishments for rape of up to 30 years behind bars.

Rachida Tahri, a Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS) member and former president of the Women's Democratic Association of Morocco, has already moved the fight to another level - banning child marriage itself.

The number of child marriages in the kingdom rose to more than 35,000 in 2010 from 30,000 two years before, official figures show.

Article 19 of the family code adopted in 2004 prohibits marriage for anyone below 18 years of age, considered the age of adulthood, but judges have often waived the rule.

"We have noticed, particularly in rural areas, violations among girls who are just 13 years old," said Zoubida Bouayad, a socialist MP, adding that more than 10 per cent of women marry before the stipulated age of 18.

A teenager from the central city of Meknes said she was married when she was just 13 years and half, with false papers.

"After I was drugged and tortured for a year, my husband repudiated me," she said on condition of anonymity.

The country's Islamist Justice and Development Party wants to make 16 the minimum age for marriage, while the defenders of women's rights have called for an outright ban on the marriage of minors.

"A teenager's place is in school," argued Khadija Rouissi, a member of the Party of Authenticity and Modernity.

"If one part of the law says there can be a marriage at 16 years, it sends a negative message to the people," said Tahri.

The campaigners are basing their case on the 2011 constitution, adopted during the Arab Spring, that calls for "equal rights" and urges the state to achieve gender parity.

They argue that reforms must go deep, and have the backing of local and international NGOs.

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Syrian troops clash near Golan Heights

The Philippines has urged for the release of 21 UN peacekeepers detained by rebels at Golan Heights. Source: AAP

CLASHES between Syrian troops and rebel fighters flared near an area where armed fighters linked to the opposition abducted 21 UN peacekeepers a day earlier.

The peacekeepers are part of a force that monitors a ceasefire between Israeli and Syrian troops in the Golan Heights.

Israel captured part of the territory in the 1967 Mideast war, and while the area has been peaceful for decades, Israeli officials have grown increasingly jittery as the Syrian civil war moves closer to its borders.

On Thursday, the Syrian army battled opposition fighters near the Golan Heights in the southern province of Daraa, said Rami Abdul-Rahman, the director of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

He said the fighting was concentrated on the outskirts of the Syrian village of Jamlah, where gunmen on Wednesday detained 21 UN peacekeepers from the Philippines.

In an online video, a man identified as a spokesman for the Martyrs of Yarmouk Brigades said his group will hold the peacekeepers until Assad's forces withdraw from Jamlah.

The Yarmouk Brigades said in a statement on its Facebook page on Thursday that Assad's troops are pounding the Jamlah, and warned that the army will be responsible if the peacekeepers in rebel custody are harmed.

Israel, which captured much of the Golan in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed it in 1981 in a move never recognised by the international community, said it feared any depletion of the UN force would pose a serious threat.

"This kidnapping is likely to convince countries who participate in this force to bring their troops home, which would undoubtedly create a dangerous vacuum in no-man's land on the Golan," an Israeli official said.

The top-selling Yediot Aharonot daily said Israeli officials feared that "al-Qaeda members will take control of the buffer zone."

In the Philippines, the government said Thursday that talks were under way for the release of the peacekeepers.

Foreign Affairs Department spokesman Raul Hernandez said the 21 were unharmed and were being treated as "visitors and guests".

The capture came a week after the announcement that a member of the peacekeeping force is missing.

The force, known as UNDOF, was established a year after the 1973 war. It monitors the disengagement of Israeli and Syrian forces and maintains a ceasefire.

Meanwhile, Syria's state-run news agency says Israeli spying devices have been found in the country's coastal region.

SANA's report says the devices are designed to photograph, register and transfer data. There were no further details on the objects or the location of the find.

State-run TV aired footage of an object consisting of what looked like a camera and a satellite dish, and other objects that resembled rocks.

Plastic boxes resembling batteries and cables were shown lined up in a room.

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Baillieu a man of integrity: Abbott

Former Victorian premier Ted Baillieu is a man of integrity, opposition leader Tony Abbott says. Source: AAP

FEDERAL Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has congratulated Denis Napthine for being elected Victorian premier and praised outgoing leader Ted Baillieu as a man of integrity and honour.

Mr Baillieu resigned as Victorian premier on Wednesday night.

Mr Abbott thanked Mr Baillieu for his service to the people of Victoria.

"Ted is a man of integrity and honour and I wish him well for the future," he said in a brief statement.

As premier, Mr Baillieu had put Victoria's finances on a sustainable footing and made significant investments in infrastructure, Mr Abbott said.

Mr Abbott also congratulated Mr Napthine on his election as leader.

"I look forward to working closely with him," he said.

Other politicians took to twitter to share their reactions to the news.

Australian Greens MP Adam Bandt suggested the spill raised issues for Mr Abbott.

"Vic Libs ditch elected leader & then run a minority gov't. Presume Tony Abbott will call them illegitimate and demand election immediately," Mr Bandt tweeted.

Labor backbencher Laura Smyth referenced Harry Potter.

"Congrats Denis Napthine, new head boy for Slytherin House," she tweeted.

"Let's hope Ted's education 'plan' walks out the door with him."

Foreign Minister Bob Carr was watching a Sydney University production of Julius Caesar and drew parallels in the play's storyline to that of the Victorian Liberal leadership drama.

"The faction gathers in home of Brutus. "We all stand against the spirit of Caesar" - of Baillieu, of Abbott?" he tweeted.

Liberal backbencher Dan Tehan congratulated Mr Napthine on becoming premier.

"Happy Birthday Denis, you will be an outstanding Premier," he tweeted.

Labor backbencher Darren Cheeseman described Dr Napthine as the "Steven Bradbury of Victorian politics".

His Labor colleague Mike Kelly asked on Twitter: "Don't you rub Napthine on wasp stings or is it for keeping moths out of your cupboard?"

Comment was being sought from the prime minister's office.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard wished Mr Baillieu all the best for the future.

"This decision must have been a very difficult one for Mr Baillieu and for his family," she said in a statement.

"I will seek to work in the interests of all Victorians with Mr Baillieu's successor, Denis Napthine."

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Syrian refugee figure hits one million: UN

THE number of Syrians who have fled their war-ravaged country and are seeking assistance has topped the one million mark, the UN refugee agency says.

The announcement on Wednesday came as troops and rebels fought street battles in Syria's strategic northern city of Raqqa, and regime forces sent reinforcements in an attempt to push out opposition gunmen who now control most of the city, activists said.

Syria's two-year crisis has killed tens of thousands, left many more wounded and also internally displaced more than 2 million people.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, said in a statement released in Geneva that the one million figure is based on reports from his agency's field offices in neighbouring countries that have provided refuge for Syrians escaping the civil war.

"With a million people in flight, millions more displaced internally, and thousands of people continuing to cross the border every day, Syria is spiralling towards full-scale disaster," Guterres said.

Syria's uprising began in March 2011 with protests against President Bashar Assad's authoritarian rule. When the government cracked down on demonstrators, the opposition took up arms and the conflict turned into a full-blown civil war. The United Nations estimates that more than 70,000 people have been killed.

The relentless violence also has devastated many cities and forced hundreds of thousands of Syrians to seek refuge abroad.

Guterres said the number of refugees has swelled dramatically this year, with most Syrians pouring into Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt. More than 400,000 people have become refugees since Jan. 1, and often arrive in neighbouring countries "traumatised, without possessions and having lost members of their families," he said.

Around half are children; the majority under age 11.

"We are doing everything we can to help, but the international humanitarian response capacity is dangerously stretched," he said. "This tragedy has to be stopped."

The UN in December estimated that 1.1 million Syrian refugees would arrive in neighbouring countries by the end of June this year. At the time, the agency's regional response plan was only 25 per cent funded, and it is now in the process of adjusting that in light of the new figures, Guterres said.

Also Wednesday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees said Syrian warplanes bombarded rebel-held areas in Raqqa as the fighting intensified around the Military Intelligence headquarters in the city.

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Illegal ivory trade triples, UN says

THE illegal trade in ivory has tripled over the past 15 years, trafficked primarily by "Asian-run, African-based" criminal networks, a UN agency says.

The UN Environmental Program used the amount of ivory seized to determine that the illicit trade had doubled since 2007 and tripled since 1998 in its latest report on African elephant poaching.

The statistics were released on Wednesday as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) was being held in Bangkok. The convention estimated about 25,000 African elephants were slain in 2011, with a similar death toll last year, fuelled primarily by growing demand for trinkets and tusks in increasingly affluent Asia.

The size of the seizures at Asian ports, some of which involved hundreds of tusks, points to the involvement of highly organised, well-financed criminal networks, the UN agency said.

"These largely Asian-run, African-based criminal networks operate with relative impunity as there is almost no evidence of successful arrests, prosecutions or convictions," it said.

Outside experts agreed. "Organised criminal networks are cashing in on the elephant-poaching crisis, trafficking ivory in unprecedented volumes and operating with relative impunity and with little fear of prosecution," said Tom Milliken, an ivory expert with the wildlife-trade-monitoring group TRAFFIC.

Steve Galster, executive director of FREELAND, an Asia-based anti-trafficking organisation, blamed the growth in the ivory trade and other illicit trafficking in wildlife in part on the convention, which provides many exemptions and loopholes for the trade in threatened species.

"This thing has never had any teeth," said

"As long as a rhino horn can get across borders with a certificate, organised crime is going to find a way to commercialise it and the poaching is going to keep going," Galster said.

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Govt raises the bar for teaching in NSW

TEACHERS won't get pay rises if they don't meet standards and it will be easier for those who underperform to get the boot under sweeping reforms to boost the quality of teaching in NSW.

Teaching students will also sit mandatory literacy and numeracy tests before being allowed into classrooms, while only school leavers who score above 80 in three subjects will make it into university courses.

Other measures include mentoring entry level teachers and ongoing professional development - moves critics say can't be implemented without funding.

"Quite clearly they can't do it and it can't run on an austerity budget," NSW Teachers Federation president Maurie Mulheron said.

"You can't do this on the cheap, nor should you. Either you're committed to raising the standards of the profession or you're not."

Announcing the blueprint for reform on Wednesday, NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli said the public, independent and Catholic sectors were working on their responses.

"In three months time when we get those implementation plans there may well be costs associated with it ... and it will then be a question for myself and cabinet," he said.

Mr Piccoli conceded some of the recommendations involving supporting first year teachers would have a significant financial impact.

"But the vast majority of the actions in here are not aspirational," he said.

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell said the reforms were "broad and deep" and could no longer be put off.

From 2015, all teachers in NSW will be required to meet national standards and undergo training every five years to meet accreditation processes.

To get a practical placement, teaching students will be required to pass a literacy and numeracy test that proves they are in the top 30 per cent of students across NSW.

School leavers wanting to study education at university will need HSC band 5 results in a minimum of three subjects, one of which must be English, in what Mr Piccoli said was "a significant raising of the bar".

About 70 per cent of students this year would not have met the new standard.

Mr Piccoli said he wasn't concerned about a drop in graduates because there weren't enough full-times places to meet the current demand.

New pay arrangements mean salaries will also be based on meeting standards, linked to career pathways.

"If you can't meet those standards, to a point, your pay won't increase. Currently it increases automatically," Mr Piccoli said.

Opposition education spokeswoman Carmel Tebbutt backed lifting university entrance marks but said good teaching also relied on training and support.

The government's plan includes reducing the load for beginner teachers, improving professional development and strengthening mentoring.

"Those are things that need funding and this government instead of increasing funding is in fact reducing funding for education," Ms Tebbutt told reporters.

She also said it would also be hard to attract "the best and brightest" when teachers had just copped the lowest pay increase in a decade.

Ms Mulheron called on the government to reverse its $1.7 billion in budget cuts.

"We lose too many young people in the first three to four years," she said.

"We need financial incentives and professional support to make sure they stay in teaching."

Greens MP John Kaye said the changes were a recipe for teacher shortages.

"There is no fat left in public schools. Any additional burden will cut into classroom teaching," he told AAP.

Sydney Catholic Schools executive director Dan White said he welcomed more mentoring and internship opportunities for young teachers but that a requirement for would-be teachers to achieve a band five in three HSC subjects was "too blunt an instrument".

"In fact, it could prove counterproductive by distorting the subject selection process and encouraging students to choose less demanding subjects," Dr White said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The idea of testing students in literacy and numeracy as they approach their final year of teacher formation has more merit.

"It is the standard of the graduates at the end of their course that is more important than the entry levels at the beginning of it."

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Indonesia president visits Germany

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is winding up an official visit to Germany. Source: AAP

INDONESIAN President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is visiting Germany for talks aimed at strengthening business ties between the two countries.

He meets Chancellor Angela Merkel on Tuesday, after which he will join her on a tour of the international travel fair.

Indonesia is the partner country for the world's largest tourism trade fair, which officially opens on Wednesday.

Yudhoyono's visit to Berlin follows Merkel's trip to Indonesia in July, when the two leaders signed the Jakarta Declaration.

The declaration is aimed at furthering co-operation in trade and investment, defence, research and technology, health and education.

The Indonesian leader is also set to meet Berlin Mayor Klaus Wowereit before walking through the German capital's historic Brandenburg Gate.

Yudhoyono is scheduled to continue his European trip later on Tuesday when he flies to Budapest for a three-day visit to Hungary aimed at what officials in Jakarta say will help reinvigorate Indonesia's relations with one of Central Europe's key states.

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Home builders need another rate cut: HIA

Improved economic data suggests the Reserve Bank of Australia may not need to cut the cash rate. Source: AAP

THE housing industry believes the central bank has missed an opportunity to provide a boost to the struggling residential building sector.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kept the cash rate at three per cent at its monthly board meeting on Tuesday.

RBA governor Glenn Stevens said with inflation likely to be within its two to three per cent target band, and with growth likely to be a little below trend over the coming year, an accommodative stance of monetary policy was appropriate.

"The inflation outlook, as assessed at present, would afford scope to ease policy further, should that be necessary to support demand," Mr Stevens said in a statement.

But Housing Industry Association senior economist Shane Garrett said the RBA should have cut rates now, with Monday's unexpectedly weak building approvals data for January indicating a sustained residential construction recovery is some way off.

"What's good for the residential construction market is good for the wider economy. International factors have squeezed many sectors of the Australian economy and this calls for further action from the RBA," Mr Garrett said in a statement.

Retailers were equally unimpressed, despite new data showing spending jumped by 0.9 per cent in January, more than double the growth expected by economists.

Australian National Retailers Association chief executive Margy Osmond, while welcoming the apparent lift in consumer spending, said this came after another poor Christmas period.

"Without continued cuts to the cash rate, we may lose the momentum of the return to spending at the start of the year," Ms Osmond said.

However, one mortgage broker believes retail banks could go it alone and cut their lending rates independently of the RBA.

"The banks have no issues at the moment with cost of funds and we can see them cutting their rates as they aggressively compete for home finance business," 1300HomeLoan managing director John Kolenda said in a statement.

"As the competition intensifies among lenders we could see rates reduced slightly by five to 10 basis points over the coming months."

One bookie agrees, saying homeowners could be in for a treat.

Sportsbet.com.au has odds of $2.50 that the National Australia Bank will independently cut first, despite the RBA's inaction, followed by Commonwealth Bank at $3.

Westpac and the ANZ are also in the market at $4 and $5 respectively

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Cigarettes worth $200,000 seized in Vic

Police have seized illegally imported cigarettes from a truck in Victoria's northeast. Source: AAP

MORE than 1000 cartons of cigarettes worth $200,000 have been seized from a truck in Victoria's northeast.

The cigarettes, believed to be illegally imported, were discovered when police searched the truck at Benalla on Saturday morning.

Police said the haul would be worth around $200,000.

The truck's 22-year-old driver from Sydney, was charged with two counts of possessing and conveying imported tobacco, possessing a prohibited weapon and exceeding the speed limit.

He was bailed to appear at Benalla Magistrates Court on April 4.

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Premier set to add to PM's problems

UNBACKABLE: Premier Colin Barnett, a firm favourite to win the state election, will give the federal Labor leadership another headache. Source: The Sunday Times

AS if the polls, the carbon tax, the mining tax, the lack of a budget surplus and Kevin Rudd weren't enough for Julia Gillard, the prime minister looks set to be handed another problem this weekend.

It can be summed up in a name: Colin Barnett.

The incumbent Liberal West Australian premier has been one of the most vocal and strident political critics of the prime minister's style and substance since her ascension in 2010.

And with the member for Cottesloe an unbackable $1.02 favourite to lead the Liberals to a state election win this weekend, Ms Gillard can expect a newly-mandated Mr Barnett to renew his attacks with even more vigour if WA votes the way the polls and bookmakers have long predicted.

She may have been out of sight during the build-up but Ms Gillard has never been far from the mind of the Liberal party since it began officially campaigning in early February.

After it became clear Ms Gillard would keep her distance until polling day, Mr Barnett has consistently used her absence from the side of WA Labor leader Mark McGowan to link the party's federal woes to its local team.

Kelly O'Dwyer, Liberal federal MP for Higgins, said the lack of election support from a sitting prime minister for a state election candidate was "unprecedented".

"The reason they don't want the prime minister in WA is because they know it will lose them votes," Ms O'Dwyer said.

Mr McGowan has staunchly deflected such commentary, saying the March 9 poll was a state election fought on state issues and the prime minister was free to travel where and when she wanted.

He also vowed to be firm but fair if given the chance to work with his Canberra colleagues.

"It is possible to be tough with Canberra and get results and that's what I'll do," Mr McGowan said.

But the fact no federal minister has been seen with Mr McGowan over the entire campaign - and only three set foot briefly in the state in that time - gave some weight to the Liberal argument of a state and federal party that were not talking, let alone able to work together.

In contrast, federal opposition leader Tony Abbott was effusive in lauding Mr Barnett - and buttering up the locals - at the Liberals' official election launch.

"How much I respect the premier of this state, how much I have learnt from him, how much I wish to model myself on him, should I get the opportunity to lead our country," Mr Abbott said.

"The Barnett government has become a model for all the governments that we run or hope to run. That's the kind of government that I wish to run in Canberra.

"Every Australian owes a debt to Western Australia and in an important sense, West Australians are the best Australians."

Mr Barnett has continued to play on WA's ingrained and parochial mistrust of much that emanates from Australia's east coast with his mantra to "stand up to Canberra", pointing to the mining tax and the state's GST share as examples of how the state was being diddled by Labor.

And so, if Mr Barnett proves victorious on Saturday night, Ms Gillard can expect no favours from WA, which had an economy valued at $239 billion in 2011/12 and accounted for 46 per cent of Australia's exports last year.

First on Mr Barnett's hit list is likely to be Ms Gillard's Gonski education reforms, set to be discussed at the Council of Australian Governments' meeting on April 19.

"We have never indicated we would sign up to Gonski, and we are not going to sit back and suddenly let the commonwealth take over the running of our schools," Mr Barnett said.

"They come out and denigrate our hospitals, denigrate our schools, and then pretend to have a solution. That is not good government."

And not a good sign Ms Gillard is going to get any peace from Mr Barnett as she approaches her date with the nation on September 14.

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US, Saudi united on Syria, Iran

THE United States and Saudi Arabia have warned Syrian President Bashar Assad they will boost support to rebels fighting to oust him unless he steps down.

The two are also putting Iran's leadership on notice that time is running out for a diplomatic resolution to concerns about its nuclear program.

After a series of meetings in the Riyadh on Monday, US Secretary of State John Kerry and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told reporters Assad must understand recent scud missile attacks on regime foes in the city of Aleppo would not be tolerated by the international community and that he had lost all claim to be Syria's legitimate leader.

Saud, whose country along with other Gulf states is widely believed to be supplying weapons to the Syrian rebels, said Saudi Arabia could not ignore the brutality Assad is inflicting on his people, even after two years of escalating violence that has claimed 70,000 lives.

He said history had never seen a government use strategic missiles against its own people.

"This cannot go on," he said.

"He has lost all authority."

In his discussions with Kerry, Saud said he had "stressed the importance of enabling the Syrian people to exercise its legitimate right to defend itself against the regime's killing machine."

Saud also decried the fact Assad continued to get weapons from "third parties," a veiled reference to Russia and Iran, which have backed the regime through the conflict.

"Saudi Arabia will do everything within its capacity, and we do believe that what is happening in Syria is a slaughter, a slaughter of innocents" he said.

"We can't bring ourselves to remain quiet. Morally we have a duty."

The Obama administration has resisted appeals from the Syrian opposition to provide it with weapons and ammunitions over fears they could fall into the hands of Islamist extremists who have gained support among Assad opponents.

But Kerry sidestepped a question about whether the arms reportedly being supplied to the rebels by Saudi Arabia and others were a concern.

Instead, he criticised Iran, Hezbollah and Russia by name for giving weaponry to the Assad regime.

Kerry did announce last week the US would for the first time provide rebel fighters in the Free Syrian Army with non-lethal assistance - rations and medical assistance.

European nations like Britain and France are expected to soon send the rebels defensive military equipment and Kerry has said the totality of the aid could be enough to change the situation on the ground.

"The United States will continue to work with our friends to empower the Syrian opposition to hopefully be able to bring about a peaceful resolution, but if not, to increase pressure on Assad," Kerry said.

He added that Assad "is destroying his country - and his people in the process - to hold onto power that is not his anymore."

Kerry is in Saudi Arabia on the seventh leg of a marathon nine-nation dash through Europe and the Middle East on his first overseas trip as secretary of state.

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Malik Obama campaigns for change in Kenya

MALIK Obama, who is running for office in western Kenya, on Monday said his half-brother, US President Barack Obama, had promised to visit if elections were free and fair.

The 54-year-old accountant said the theme for his campaign in the race for governor of Siaya county was "change". That echoes the slogan of "hope and change" with which his brother was swept into the US presidency in 2008.

For Malik Obama, change means "the eradication of poverty, the development of infrastructure and job creation."

He told dpa by telephone: "I bring honesty, sincerity, and putting the welfare of my people first.

"Also, there are connections I can use."

Malik Obama runs a community centre in the hamlet of Kogelo, surrounded by cornfields and forests. The area saw a minor tourist boom and was fitted with power lines and a paved road after his famous relative became president in 2008.

He said he and Barack Obama, 51, last spoke after the US elections, when the latter promised to visit Kenya if the elections were fair and transparent.

Many Kenyans were disappointed that Barack Obama did not visit during his first term. In 2009, Obama's first trip to sub-Saharan Africa was to Ghana.

Malik Obama told dpa he draws inspiration from his younger sibling's accomplishments.

He is running as an independent against a major party candidate, but he said he offers something different and his background as an accountant makes him suited for government work.

"We need somebody who understands economics because we have the resources here but we just don't have the managers," he said.

"It behooves me also to make a contribution as the first born and to do that here in Kenya, in Africa."

Malik and Barack Obama have the same father - once a goat-herder in Kenya, who became an academic.

Barack Obama last visited Kenya in 2006, when he was a US senator.

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Hostage families urge France to negotiate

THE families of four hostages being held by al-Qaeda's north African branch have urged the French government to seek negotiations with the militant group in the hope of securing their relatives' release.

The call was issued on Monday against a background of fears for the lives of the hostages following the reported killing of two al-Qaeda-linked leaders by French-backed Chadian troops in Mali over the weekend.

"France must give AQIM (al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb) clear signals of a willingness to negotiate, in liaison with (the hostages' employers) Areva and Vinci," said a statement issued on behalf of the families of four hostages seized at a uranium mine in Niger in 2010.

According to Chadian officials, Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the mastermind of an assault on an Algerian gas plant that left 37 foreign hostages dead in January, and AQIM leader Abdelhamid Abou Zeid were killed last week in an assault on rebel bases in the Ifoghas mountains of northern Mali.

France has been extremely guarded about the reports, amid concerns the hostages may have been used as human shields or could be subject to reprisal executions.

The hostages' families have repeatedly expressed concern about the possible consequences of France's military intervention in its former colony but Monday's statement was the first time they have publicly challenged the government's approach.

"Today we consider that military operations and the use of force will not result in the hostages being saved," said Rene Robert, the grandfather of Pierre Legrand, one of four hostages seized by AQIM in Niger in September 2010.

"We want a strong signal to be sent to AQIM to demonstrate a willingness to negotiate," he told AFP.

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Dad dies sheltering girl in Japan blizzard

Eight people have been killed on Hokkaido island after heavy snow fell in northern Japan. Source: AAP

A FATHER has frozen to death while sheltering his nine-year-old daughter during severe blizzards which swept northern Japan at the weekend.

Mikio Okada died as he tried to protect his only child Natsune against winds of up to 109 kilometres per hour, as temperatures plunged to minus 6 C.

Okada was one of at least nine people killed in a spate of snow-related incidents as blizzards swept across Hokkaido island, police said on Monday.

The latest confirmed victim was Kuniko Jingi, 76, who was found lying on the street late on Saturday.

As with many others, she appeared to have perished after leaving her stranded car, a local police officer said.

Okada's body was uncovered by rescuers looking for the pair after relatives raised the alarm.

Natsune was wearing her father's jacket and was wrapped in his arms, newspapers and broadcasters said.

The pair had last been heard from at 4pm on Saturday, after fisherman Okada picked his daughter up from a school where she was being looked after while he was at work.

Okada called his relatives to say his truck had become stranded in the driving snow, which was several metres deep in places.

He told them he and Natsune would walk the remaining kilometre, the Yomiuri Shimbun said.

The two were found just 300 metres from the truck at 7 am on Sunday.

Okada was hunched over his daughter, cradling her in his arms and apparently using his body and a warehouse wall to provide shelter, the Yomiuri said.

He had taken his jacket off to give to the child, a broadcaster said.

Rescuers said she was weeping weakly in his arms, the paper said.

The young girl was taken to hospital where she was found to have no serious injuries.

Her father was officially pronounced dead by doctors at the same institution near their home at Yubetsu on Hokkaido.

The Yomiuri said Natsune's mother had died two years earlier from an unspecified illness.

The paper quoted neighbours as saying Okada had been a doting father who would often delay the start of his working day to enjoy breakfast with his daughter.

His death came as families all over Japan celebrated Girls' Day, a festival in which they gather at home and decorate houses with dolls.

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UN urges end to illegal wildlife trade

Thailand has been forced onto the defensive over the rampant smuggling of ivory. Source: AAP

THE world must clamp down hard on the illegal global wildlife trade, the head of the United Nations environment agency has warned, calling it a multibillion-dollar criminal business that is threatening to wipe out some of the planet's most iconic species.

Achim Steiner, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, made the call during the Sunday opening meeting of the 178-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, or CITES, in Bangkok.

He cited the massive upsurge in poaching of Africa's endangered elephants and rhinos, whose slaughter - the worst in two decades - is being driven by rising demand in Asia for their tusks and horns.

"The backdrop against which this meeting takes place should be a very serious wakeup call for all of us," Steiner told some 2,000 delegates assembled at a convention centre in the Thai capital.

Wildlife trafficking "in a terrible way has become a trade and a business of enormous proportions - a billion-dollar trade in wildlife species that is analogous to that of the trade in drugs and arms," Steiner said.

"This is not a small matter. It is driven by a conglomerate of crime syndicates across borders."

Slowing the slaughter of African elephants and curbing the trade in "blood ivory" will be at the top of the agenda during the global biodiversity conference, which lasts two weeks.

Around 70 proposals are on the table, most of which will decide whether member nations increase or lower the level of protection on various species.

These include polar bears, rays and sharks that are heavily fished for shark fin soup.

There are proposals, too, to regulate 200 commercially valuable timber species - half from Madagascar - and ban their trade unless it can be shown they were harvested legally and sustainably.

Steiner said up to 90 per cent of the world's timber trade is illegal, a business worth at least $US30 billion ($A29.53 billion) per year.

Prior to the establishment of CITES in 1973, there was no international regulation of the cross-border trade in wildlife.

Most of the agreements regulating the 35,000 animals under CITES' purview aim not to outlaw trade, but to ensure it remains sustainable.

One of the convention's success stories since then has been the African rhino, which numbered just 2,000 four decades ago. The population swelled to 25,000, but over the last five years poaching has skyrocketed again.

Last year, 668 rhinos were killed in South Africa alone. As with the elephant crisis, the culprit is largely demand from Asia, where their horns are highly desired because they are believed to have medicinal properties.

CITES director-general John Scanlon said the slaughter of African elephants and rhinos was at its worst in decades, a level that "could threaten the survival of the species themselves."

He blamed poachers, rebel militias and mafia-like crime syndicates that smuggle animal parts across borders.

"This criminal activity poses a serious threat to the stability and economies of these countries. It also robs these countries of their natural heritage, their cultural heritage, and it undermines good governance and the rule of law," Scanlon said.

Earlier, Thailand's prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra promised to end her nation's trade in ivory, delighting conservationists who have long urged the kingdom to tackle the rampant smuggling of tusks through its territory.

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Attacks in Iraq kill four

THREE separate attacks in Shi'ite-dominated areas on Sunday in central Iraq have killed at least four people and injured 14, officials said.

The deadliest was in the Husseiniya area northeast of Baghdad, where three roadside bombs went off simultaneously, killing three civilians, a police officer said.

He said 11 others, including three policemen, were wounded.

Another police officer said a soldier was killed when a bomb attached to his car exploded in the northern Utaifiya neighbourhood of Baghdad.

Two health officials confirmed the casualty figures.

In Karbala, 90km south of Baghdad, a suicide bomber set off his explosives-laden belt near the two revered Shi'ite shrines and wounded three people, Governor Amal-Din al-Hir said.

Violence has ebbed across Iraq in recent years, but insurgents frequently attack security forces and civilians in an attempt to undermine the country's Shi'ite-led government.

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Karzai condemns NATO killing of boys

Two children, have been accidentally killed by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan, authorities say. Source: AAP

AFGHAN President Hamid Karzai has condemned a NATO helicopter strike in which two brothers, both under seven years old, were shot dead after being mistaken for Taliban insurgents.

The two boys were tending livestock and collecting firewood in the southern province of Uruzgan when they were killed on Thursday in an incident that drew an abject apology from the NATO-led coalition.

Civilian deaths caused by international forces have often triggered outrage in Afghanistan since the Taliban were ousted in 2001, and Karzai said that the latest incident highlighted errors in how the insurgents are being tackled.

"The government has repeatedly stressed that the war on terrorism cannot succeed in Afghan villages and homes, but rather in its sanctuaries and safe havens outside our borders," Karzai said in a clear reference to Pakistan.

The president said he was deeply grieved over the deaths and offered his condolences to the boys' family.

Uruzgan governor Amir Mohammad Akhundzada had blamed Australian soldiers for the incident but on Sunday his spokesman said it was unclear who was responsible.

"We have sent a delegation to investigate and find out what exactly had happened," said Abdullah Hemat.

"The troops called in air support after spotting people they thought were planting roadside bombs.

"They were kids herding their animals and collecting firewood. It is not clear whether they were killed by Australians or Americans."

Australian military chief General David Hurley said he deeply regretted the deaths but added it was too early to say who was responsible.

Hurley said Australian special operations soldiers were on the ground conducting a routine liaison patrol when the shooting occurred on February 28.

"Australian personnel immediately reported the incident to Afghan government officials and military leaders in Uruzgan," he said in a statement on Sunday.

"We deeply regret that the International Security Assistance Forces were responsible for the unintended death of two young Afghan boys during the operation," Hurley said.

"It is premature to make any determination about how the incident occurred or who was responsible," he added.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who has been briefed on the incident, declined to comment on Sunday, saying she would leave any commentary to General Hurley.

The NATO-led coalition, to which Australia contributes close to 1,100 soldiers, has apologised over the children's deaths, saying its troops had opened fire at what they believed were insurgent forces.

"We take full responsibility for this tragedy," General Joseph Dunford, commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said on Saturday.

Civilian casualties caused by NATO forces have been one of the most contentious issues in the campaign against Taliban insurgents, provoking harsh criticism from Karzai and angry public protests.

The bulk of Australia's troops are based in Uruzgan, and are focused on training and mentoring Afghan soldiers ahead of the withdrawal of NATO combat troops by the end of next year.

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Gabriel wants to talk with animals online

Musician Peter Gabriel believes an interspecies internet could help animals communicate with humans. Source: AAP

PETER Gabriel has joined one of the internet's founding fathers in launching an "interspecies internet" for animals to communicate with us and each other.

"Perhaps the most amazing tool man has created is the internet," the famous British singer says.

"What would happen if we could somehow find new interfaces - visual, audio - to allow us to communicate with the remarkable beings we share the planet with?"

His allies in the effort include Vint Cerf, one of the internet's founders, along with a cognitive psychologist and a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor.

Gabriel showed a video of a jamming session he had with a bonobo - formerly known as a pygmy chimpanzee - playing the keyboard.

The bonobo used one finger to improvise a tune that the singer overlaid with his distinctive voice.

"She did good," Gabriel said with a smile.

He told of growing up on a farm and often looking into the eyes of animals and wondering what they were thinking.

"What was amazing to me was that they seemed a lot more adept at getting a handle on our language than we were at getting a handle on theirs," Gabriel said.

"I work with a lot of musicians from around the world... Often we don't have any common language at all. We sit behind our instruments and it's a way to connect."

His curiosity led him to Diana Reiss, a psychologist known for dolphin intelligence research.

"Animals are conscious. They have emotions. They are aware," Reiss said.

"One of my biggest dreams is that we give them the respect and attention they deserve."

MIT professor Neil Gershenfeld joined the effort after seeing a video of Gabriel's jam session and concluding that it's a mistake to leave the rest of the planet out of the internet.

"What is important about what these people are doing is they are beginning to learn how to communicate with species who are not us but share a sensory environment," said Cerf.

Cerf, now chief internet evangelist at Google, spoke of an inter-species internet as a test run for communicating with life encountered while exploring space.

"These interactions with other animals will teach us, ultimately, how we might interact with an alien from another world," he added.

"I can hardly wait."

Seed money for the project will be used to develop a touchscreen device that dolphins can use to connect to the internet.

"We want to engage people here to make smart interfaces to make this possible," Gabriel to a TED audience known for brilliant scientists and exceptional entrepreneurs.

"We are almost ready to turn it on."

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