Kerry presses China over N Korea crisis

US Secretary of State John Kerry says North Korea's rhetoric is "unacceptable by any standards." Source: AAP

THE world is facing a "critical time", top US diplomat John Kerry has told China's President Xi Jinping, citing tensions on the Korean peninsula, Iran's nuclear program and the conflict in Syria.

"Mr President, this is obviously a critical time with some very challenging issues," Kerry told Xi in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Saturday.

"Issues on the Korean peninsula, the challenge of Iran and nuclear weapons, Syria and the Middle East, and economies around the world that are in need of a boost."

Kerry arrived from South Korea earlier to press Beijing to help defuse soaring nuclear tensions on the Korean peninsula ahead of an expected missile launch by the North, which conducted a nuclear test in February and a rocket test last December.

Beijing is Pyongyang's sole major ally and its key provider of aid and trade, and is seen as having unique leverage over the government of Kim Jong-Un, which has issued repeated threats of nuclear war.

But Xi did not refer to the Korean peninsula or other issues raised by Kerry in his opening remarks at the meeting, instead saying that the US-China relationship was "at a new historical stage and has got off to a good start".

China and the US are both members of the P5+1 nations - the five veto-wielding permanent UN Security Council members and Germany - pressing Iran to give up its what they see as its ambitions to develop nuclear weapons.

The world powers suspect Tehran of developing a covert program aimed at having the capacity to produce a nuclear bomb. Iran denies this and says its work is being conducted for energy and medical purposes.

China, however, is a key trade partner for the Middle Eastern country and has spoken out against US and European Union sanctions targeting its oil exports.

Washington and Beijing have also been at odds over the conflict in Syria.

China, along with Russia, has vetoed UN Security Council resolutions to introduce sanctions against Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria as a two-year conflict has ravaged the country.

As the world's two biggest economies the US and China are major trade partners, while China is the single biggest buyer of US Treasuries.

But the relationship is also characterised by trade disputes and other tensions, most recently regarding allegations of computer hacking.

A report in February from US security firm Mandiant said a unit of China's People's Liberation Army had stolen hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 companies, government agencies and other organisations, mostly based in the US.

Beijing has steadfastly denied the allegations and says it is itself a regular victim of cyberattacks.

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Pell appointed to Pope advisory group

VATICAN CITY/SYDNEY April 13 AP/AAP - Archbishop of Sydney George Pell has been appointed by Pope Francis to a permanent advisory group to help him run the Catholic Church and study a reform of the Vatican bureaucracy.

Cardinal Pell is one of eight cardinals and one monsignor - the others are from Europe, Africa, North and South America, and Asia - who have been appointed to the group.

The panel is a clear indication that Francis wants to reflect the universal nature of the church in its governance and core decision-making, particularly given the church is growing and counts most of the world's Catholics in the southern hemisphere.

In the run-up to the conclave that elected Francis pope one month ago, a reform of the Vatican bureaucracy was a constant drumbeat, as were calls to make the Vatican itself more responsive to the needs of bishops around the world.

Including representatives from each continent in a permanent advisory panel to the pope would seem to go a long way toward answering those calls.

In its bombshell announcement on Saturday, the Vatican said that Francis got the idea to form the advisory body from the pre-conclave meetings.

"He has formed a group of cardinals to advise him in the governing of the universal church and to study a revision of the apostolic constitution Pastor Bonus on the Roman Curia," the statement said.

Pope John Paul II issued Pastor Bonus in 1988, and it functions effectively as the blueprint for the administration of the Holy See and the Vatican City State, meting out the work and jurisdictions of the congregations, pontifical councils and other offices that make up the governance of the Catholic Church, known as the Roman Curia.

Pastor Bonus itself was a revision of the 1967 document that marked the last major reform of the Vatican bureaucracy undertaken by Pope Paul VI.

A reform of the Vatican bureaucracy has been demanded for decades, given both John Paul and Benedict XVI essentially neglected in-house administration of the Holy See in favour of other priorities.

But the calls for change grew deafening last year after the leaks of papal documents exposed petty turf battles within the Vatican bureaucracy, allegations of corruption in the running of the Vatican city state and even a purported plot by senior Vatican officials to out a prominent Catholic as gay.

Francis' advisory group will meet in its inaugural session October 1-3, the Vatican said in a statement.

Cardinal Pell, aged 71, is the eighth Archbishop of Sydney, serving since 2001.

The non-Vatican officials, apart from Cardinal Pell, include cardinals Francisco Javier Errzuriz Ossa, the retired archbishop of Santiago, Chile; Oswald Gracias, archbishop of Mumbai, India; Reinhard Marx, archbishop of Munich and Freising, Germany; Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, archbishop of Kinshasa, Congo; Sean Patrick O'Malley, the archbishop of Boston; and Oscar Andrs Rodrguez Maradiaga, archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras. Monsignor Marcello Semeraro, bishop of Albano, will be secretary.

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Snorkeller dies at Sydney beach

A snorkeller has died after getting into difficulty at Maroubra Beach, police say. Source: AAP

A SNORKELLER has died after getting into difficulty at Maroubra Beach.

The man was at snorkelling at the beach on Saturday afternoon and had to be pulled out of the water, say police.

He died shortly after arriving at hospital and is yet to be formally identified.

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Suu Kyi arrives in Japan after 27 years

MYANMAR'S (Burma's) democracy hero Aung San Suu Kyi has arrived in Japan, her first visit to the country where she spent time as a university researcher nearly three decades ago.

A group of well-wishers including Burmese gathered at Tokyo's Narita airport to greet Suu Kyi, now her country's opposition leader, but were denied the chance to meet her as she left through a backdoor.

"I respect her like my mother," one of Burmese women said in an interview with public broadcaster NHK.

"I want to tell her that I support her strongly."

During her six-day trip, the Nobel laureate is expected to have meetings with some of the approximately 10,000 Burmese who live in Japan, as well as with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida.

It is Suu Kyi's first visit to Japan since spending time as a researcher at Kyoto University in 1985-86.

But a leader of about 200 of Myanmar's Muslim minority Rohingya in Japan has expressed disappointment after being told his community was not wanted at events welcoming Suu Kyi.

The Rohingya have been described by the UN as one of the world's most persecuted minorities.

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Bird flu hits nest farm in Vietnam

Thousands of swifts at a southern Vietnam farm have died of H5N1 bird flu virus, reports say. Source: AAP

NEARLY 5000 swifts, whose nests are collected for sale as a luxury health food, have died in southern Vietnam after contracting the H5N1 bird flu virus, say news reports.

The birds, half the population of a facility in Phan Rang Thap Cham City, died between March 28 and April 11, Tuoi Tre newspaper reported on Friday.

The city has many so-called bird houses, where the swifts are encouraged to build their nests, which are then collected for sale.

The nests, made largely of the birds' saliva, are a sought-after ingredient for soup and other delicacies.

Many bird house owners expressed concern about contagion.

"My experiences show if swifts contract H5N1, it would be very difficult to control because most of the birds fly all over the place and only come back to the house in the evening," owner Nguyen Van Khoi was quoted as saying.

"All our investments will go up in the air if the disease takes hold on a large scale."

Vietnam on Tuesday confirmed a four-year-old boy died of the bird flu strain H5N1 in the Mekong Delta, the country's first fatality from the virus this year.

In China, ten people have died from a new strain of the virus, H7N9, which has only been reported in and around Shanghai since it first appeared in March.

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European stocks drop before Cyprus talks

EUROPE'S main stock markets fell in cautious trading ahead of eurozone talks that will seek to finalise the Cyprus bailout, and before key US banking results, dealers said.

In late morning deals, London's FTSE 100 index of top companies dipped 0.52 per cent to 6,382.74 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 shed 1.22 per cent to 7,775.35 points and in Paris the CAC 40 lost 0.71 per cent to 3,747.80.

The euro meanwhile slid to $1.3060 from $1.3103 late in New York on Thursday, when it had spiked to $1.3138 - a level last seen on February 28. Gold prices eased to $1,552.10 per ounce on the London Bullion Market, from $1,565.

Eurozone finance ministers meet Friday in Dublin hoping to finish negotiations on the contentious Cyprus debt bailout.

Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades says he will appeal to EU chiefs for extra assistance for the island as it faces ever more crippling terms for a eurozone rescue deal.

However, he did not elaborate on what additional support he was seeking.

Under the preliminary bailout terms agreed last month, Cyprus was already drastically downsizing its once lucrative banking sector, raising taxes, reducing the public sector workforce and privatising state-owned utilities to raise 7.0 billion euros.

But the government acknowledged on Thursday that the costs have now soared to 23 billion euros ($30 billion) and that the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund are demanding that Cyprus fund the 6 billion euro shortfall too.

"Equity markets have a notably softer tone, edging lower to halt a four-day run as eurozone finance ministers meet to finalise the Cypriot bailout," said analyst Brenda Kelly at trading group IG.

"Reports that the cost of the bailout has risen to 23 billion euros from 17 billion euros raises the question of exactly how Cyprus will meet this additional contribution.

"Early reports suggest that the beleaguered country is going cap-in-hand to seek an additional 10 billion euros in aid from the EU."

However, a Cypriot official told AFP that Nicosia wants "no extra money" but was instead seeking help from a European Commission task force to lessen the burden of measures agreed in exchange for loans.

And Germany stressed that the amount of the bailout would not rise.

Aside from Cyprus, investors will also pore over the latest earnings in the United States on Friday.

"JP Morgan and Wells Fargo kick off the corporate earnings season ... for the major banks, with another strong quarter expected," said Alpari analyst Craig Erlam.

"US banks are expected to be one of the strongest performing sectors in the current earnings season, although they may not necessarily be quite as strong as the last few quarters. That being said, JP Morgan has a history of easily beating earnings forecasts."

Asian equities mostly fell on Friday at the end of a strong week, despite another record day for US stocks on Wall Street fuelled by upbeat jobs data.

Dealers are keeping tabs on the currency markets as the dollar approaches the 100-yen level, not seen for four years.

Tokyo stocks fell 0.45 per cent, with profit-takers moving in to reap the benefits of a rally of about 10 per cent since the Bank of Japan's huge stimulus plan was announced last week.

Seoul lost 1.31 per cent amid simmering tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Hong Kong stocks edged slightly lower but Sydney rose 0.13 per cent.

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Kerry hits out as N Korea threatens Japan

The United States has played down a report that North Korea has a nuclear-armed missile. Source: AAP

US Secretary of State John Kerry is demanding North Korea abandon an expected missile launch as the communist state threatens a nuclear strike on Japan amid a chilling new evaluation of its offensive capability.

Kerry, visiting Seoul to give strong US backing to military ally South Korea, joined President Barack Obama in decrying North Korea's incendiary rhetoric and urged China to step in.

The air of crisis that has engulfed the region for weeks, since North Korea staged a rocket launch and atomic test, was given even greater menace from a US intelligence report that said it may now have a nuclear warhead in its arsenal.

US and South Korean military officials downplayed the assessment by the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), but Pyongyang warned of dire results if Japan executes its threat to shoot down any North Korean missile.

The North's Korean Central News Agency said that such a "provocative" intervention would see Tokyo - an enormous conurbation of 30 million people - "consumed in nuclear flames".

"Japan is always in the cross-hairs of our revolutionary army and if Japan makes a slightest move, the spark of war will touch Japan first," KCNA said in a commentary.

Unbowed, an official at Japan's defence ministry told AFP that the country "will take every possible measure to respond to any scenario", while Kerry warned that a North Korean missile launch would be a "huge mistake".

"The rhetoric that we are hearing from North Korea is simply unacceptable by any standards," he told a news conference in Seoul alongside South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-Se.

"The United States, South Korea and the entire international community... are all united in the fact that North Korea will not be accepted as a nuclear power," Kerry added.

"If (North Korean leader) Kim Jong-un decides to launch a missile, whether it's across the Sea of Japan or any other direction, he will be choosing wilfully to ignore the entire international community.

"It will be a huge mistake for him to do that because it will further isolate his country," Kerry said, adding that North Koreans want food, not a leader "who wants to flex his muscles".

Kerry also that it was high time for China - whose trade and aid have propped up North Korea since the end of the Cold War - to intervene with its wayward ally if it truly wants to safeguard regional stability.

"China has an enormous capability to make a difference here," he said.

Intelligence officials in Seoul say the North, as a show of force, has two mid-range missiles ready for imminent launch from its east coast, and South Korea and Japan remained on heightened alert for any test.

Observers believe a launch is most likely in the build-up to Monday's anniversary of the birth of late founder Kim Il-sung, for which celebrations are already well under way in Pyongyang.

The mid-range missiles mobilised by the North are reported to be untested Musudan models with an estimated range of up to 4000 kilometres.

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Five die after asylum-seeker boat sinks

A GROUP of 14 asylum seekers has been rescued by fishermen in Indonesia after their boat sank in the Sunda Strait on its way to Australia, but at least five others are believed to have drowned.

There are also fresh details about the unfolding tragedy with one of the survivors revealing that boat actually sank on Wednesday, and not on Friday morning as initially reported by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).

Habibullah Hashimi, one of 14 men plucked from the water by fishermen off the coast of Sukabumi in West Java, said he was in the water for about 24 hours before help finally came.

The 29-year-old said there were 72 people aboard the vessel. All were ethnic Hazara from Afghanistan.

At least five asylum seekers had perished, Mr Hashimi said.

The death toll could rise further.

"The ship just broke," he told AAP.

"We saw about five people dead. They were in the water."

Mr Hashimi's group had linked arms as they struggled to survive.

"The sea kept moving us around," he said.

Mr Hashimi, who was on Friday afternoon recuperating in Bogor, also confirmed that the boat sank at about 8am on Wednesday.

The development came after a spokeswoman from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) initially reported that a boat may have sunk in the Sunda Strait at about midnight (3am AEST) on Friday.

"A people-smuggling vessel may have sunk in or near the Sunda Strait around 3am AEST today. Some passengers may have been rescued by a fishing vessel," the spokeswoman said earlier on Friday.

The information was in turn passed on to the Indonesian national search and rescue agency BASARNAS.

But BASARNAS was unable to locate the area where the incident was believed to have occurred, prompting a scramble for information.

Provincial search and rescue offices in Jakarta and Lampung on the island of Sumatra also had little idea of what had happened, or where to look for survivors.

"We don't have the co-ordinates for the area where we could search. Do you have that information? Please share it with us," an officer with the Jakarta search and rescue office said when contacted by AAP.

"We only received information from BASARNAS that it's in south of Sunda Strait and they've been rescued by local fishermen. But where is it? We're now contacting local ports and others if they have such information."

And Indonesia still hasn't launched a rescue mission because the location of the sunken vessel hasn't been found.

The search and rescue authorities were criticised last August when more than 100 asylum seekers drowned when their boat foundered in the Sunda Strait.

An aerial search was not launched until more than six hours after a distress call was received by the AMSA.

It was almost 24 hours before the first survivors were pulled from the water.

Hundreds of asylum seekers have perished in recent years while making the perilous crossing from Indonesia to Christmas Island.

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Woodside tipped to shelve Browse project

WOODSIDE Petroleum is remaining tight-lipped on rumours that it is about to shelve its controversial $40 billion Browse liquefied natural gas project.

The energy giant has reportedly told the federal and West Australian governments that its Browse joint venture partners have decided not to proceed with plans to build a LNG processing plant at James Price Point, near Broome.

Contractors doing preliminary work at the site have been told to demobilise and that no further progress payments will be made, The Australian Financial Review's website reported on Thursday.

A Woodside spokeswoman said she was unable to comment on market speculation.

Meanwhile, WA Premier Colin Barnett has denied he was told last week by Woodside and its joint venture partners that the James Price Point project would not proceed.

"I have not received advice to that effect from the joint venture partners at all," he told parliament.

However, he said he had been in continuous talks with Woodside.

"It's not for me to comment publicly, particularly to market sensitive information as to what the decisions might be."

Woodside received conditional state government planning approval last week to build a $120 million camp to house more than 850 fly-in, fly-out workers at the proposed gas hub.

The company recently said it was sticking to its June schedule for a final decision on building the onshore processing plant.

Analysts believe the proposal is not economically viable due to spiralling costs and challenges securing labour.

Joint venture partner Royal Dutch Shell prefers a floating liquefied natural gas facility.

Greens MP Robin Chapple called on the state government to rescind the Browse Land Agreement Act.

"If it doesn't, the sword of Damocles will hang over the Kimberley for the next 10 years," he said in a statement on Thursday.

"If these reports are accurate, it is a clear victory that Woodside and their partners have seen sense, but the state government continues to hold the Kimberley to ransom while this Act continues to operate."

Greens Senator Scott Ludlam said the project would affect the site's cultural heritage values and the local tourism sector.

He said the state government should focus on renewable energy as a long-term economic alternative to create jobs and secure energy security.

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China bird flu death toll hits 10

More than 2000 poultry birds have been culled in China in response to the new strain of bird flu. Source: AAP

THE death toll from H7N9 bird flu in China has reached 10 with another victim in Shanghai, as cities banned people from raising chickens at home to try to contain the outbreak.

China has confirmed 38 human cases of H7N9 avian influenza after announcing on March 31 that it had found the strain in people for the first time.

One person, a young boy in Shanghai, has been discharged from hospital after recovering but the city reported the death of a 74-year-old retired man on Thursday.

Chinese authorities say they do not know how the virus is spreading but it is believed to be crossing to humans from birds.

Experts fear the prospect of such viruses mutating into a form easily transmissible between humans has the potential to trigger a pandemic.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said earlier this week that there was no evidence of human-to-human transmission.

The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said on Thursday that H7N9 showed "affinity" to humans while being harder to detect in birds, which made finding the source of transmission more difficult.

"This new virus shows very strong affinity to humans and infects poultry but causes very mild or no disease," said Subhash Morzaria, Asia regional manager for the FAO's emergency centre for animal diseases.

"So from a perspective of understanding the transmission, we have a problem because these poultry are silent carriers of the virus," he told a news conference in Bangkok.

The prestigious Chinese Academy of Sciences said Wednesday H7N9 had probably originated from migratory birds from East Asia mixing with domestic fowl in China's Yangtze River delta region - the site of the current outbreak.

Five more markets across eastern China had found H7N9 in samples from chickens and ducks, the Ministry of Agriculture said on Wednesday.

Nanjing city had barred urban residents from raising poultry and livestock on their property, asking them to cull their own animals and fining them up to 50 yuan ($A7.63) for violations, the China Daily newspaper reported on Thursday.

"People from the neighbourhood committee came to my house, asking me to kill the chickens I have been raising, but I really didn't have the courage," a Nanjing resident using the name Niuye Buniuma said on a microblog.

Shanghai said it would enforce a longstanding ban against residents raising poultry and rabbits for meat, giving a telephone hotline for people to inform on their neighbours for violating the rules.

"Many citizens have expressed the reaction that raising chickens, ducks and pets in their neighbourhoods might bring danger to the surroundings," a Shanghai government statement said.

Shanghai last week suspended trading in live poultry and shut markets in a bid to curb the outbreak while Nanjing did the same, followed by other cities.

The Shanghai government said it would offer compensation for losses in the poultry industry, including payments of two or three yuan for chickens from smaller farms.

China's State Council, or cabinet, has urged "efficiency and transparency" in tackling the outbreak as the government tries to show openness after being accused of covering up Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003.

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NSW truckie arrested for dealing speed

Police have arrested a truckie who allegedly sold methylamphetamine to other drivers around NSW. Source: AAP

A TRUCKIE who allegedly supplied speed to other drivers in NSW is behind bars following a police investigation into the supply of methylamphetamine in the state's north.

The 47-year-old man, from Chilcotts Grass, near Lismore, sold methylamphetamine to other truckies at various locations along the Pacific and New England highways over the last three months, police allege.

On Wednesday, officers from the Gangs Squad arrested the driver and seized more than 60 grams of methylamphetamine at Eastern Creek, in Sydney's northwest.

He was charged with two counts of supplying an indictable quantity of a prohibited drug, as well as dealing with property suspected of being the proceeds of crime.

A 41-year-old man from Bligh Park, in Sydney's northwest, was also arrested and charged with supplying an indictable quantity of a prohibited drug and possession of steroids.

He and the 47-year-old truckie were refused bail to appear in Blacktown Local Court on Thursday,

Another Bligh Park man, 49, was charged with drug possession and granted bail to appear in Mount Druitt Local Court on May 2.

Wednesday's operation came after police launched an investigation in January into the supply of methylamphetamine in northern NSW.

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Aussie cars in global recall over airbags

Millions of Japanese cars are being recalled worldwide because of possible problems with airbags. Source: AAP

MORE than 10,000 cars sold in Australia are included in a global recall of more than three million vehicles produced by four major Japanese manufacturers amid concerns over airbags.

Honda appears the worst affected locally with 9980 cars across three models to be recalled.

Toyota will recall 1700 cars and Mazda 597.

Nissan Australia says the number of its vehicles affected is still being determined.

The recall involves vehicles built between 2000 and 2004 which could have a problem with passenger side airbags.

Toyota USA said the vehicles were equipped with front passenger airbag inflaters which could have been assembled with improperly manufactured propellant wafers.

This could cause the inflator to rupture and the front passenger airbag to deploy abnormally in the event of a crash.

The abnormal inflation cold also burn part of the vehicle's interior and cause a fire, a Toyota spokesman in Japan said.

However, there were no reports of such incidents.

In Japan the four car makers put the worldwide total at 3.39 million vehicles while Japan's transport ministry said the number of vehicles affected would reach 2.92 million. There was no explanation for the discrepancy.

Toyota expects to recall more than 1.7 million vehicles, Honda more than 1.1 million, Nissan about 480,000 and Mazda more than 45,000.

The car makers said the airbags were made by the Tokyo-based Takata Corporation.

Honda Australia said its three models affected were the Civic sedan built between 2001 and 2003, the CR-V built between 2002 and 2003 and the 2003 model Jazz.

Toyota said its recall would affect Corolla and Avensis Verso models built between 2000 and 2004.

It said the vehicles would be inspected and if needed the airbag inflater would be replaced at no cost.

Mazda Australia's recall all involved the first generation Mazda 6 built between 2002 and 2003.

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Polish woman kept three babies in freezer

PROSECUTORS in northern Poland are questioning a woman suspected of killing her three newborn boys whose bodies were found in the family's freezer.

Police spokesman Slawomir Nojman said that the woman, identified as 41-year-old Lucyna D from the northern town of Lubawa, has confessed to killing the infants. If convicted of homicide, the woman could face a life sentence.

The woman said she kept the bodies in the freezer because she "could not part from them," said police spokeswoman Anna Fic.

Forensic examinations are seeking to determine the cause of death, and whether the babies were born alive - both crucial elements for prosecutors to prove in a court case.

The woman's husband was also arrested and was being questioned.

The couple was arrested late Tuesday after a neighbour alerted police to her suspicions when she saw no baby resulting from Lucyna D's pregnancy. Police searched the home and found the bodies in the freezer.

The couple have four children aged between 6 and 22, who were being cared for by relatives following the arrest of the parents.

In November, another 41-year-old woman, identified as Beata Z, was arrested in northeastern Poland on suspicion of killing at least five of her newborn babies.

Bodies of two boys and two girls have been confirmed as her children. Investigators are still looking for another body and they suspect that a sixth newborn was also killed.

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Cruise giant fined for fatal crash

ITALY'S Costa Crociere, the biggest cruise operator in Europe, has accepted limited responsibility for the Costa Concordia disaster in which 32 people died.

A court ruled the company will have to pay a fine of one million euros ($A1.26 million) and will no longer be investigated for alleged responsibility in the disaster. Costa will instead aim to take part in the expected trial as an injured party.

"It is a balanced solution," the company's lawyer, Marco De Luca, told reporters in Grosseto in Tuscany where the court hearing was held and where preliminary hearings will begin on Monday to decide whether the accused should face trial.

Prosecutors have levied charges against six people including captain Francesco Schettino and the head of Costa Crociere's crisis unit Roberto Ferrarini for the January 2012 incident.

The charges have to be confirmed before any trial can go ahead.

The giant luxury liner crashed into the Italian island of Giglio with 4229 people on board just as many passengers were dining on the first night of their Mediterranean cruise, prompting a panicked and chaotic night-time evacuation.

Dozens of passengers are suing the company for damages, although most of those who were not injured or did not lose loved ones have accepted 11,000 euros in compensation from Costa, which belongs to US giant Carnival.

Wednesday's ruling bears only on the criminal investigation and not on civil proceedings.

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WTO cuts 2013 global trade growth forecast

GLOBAL commerce is set to grow by 3.3 per cent this year, the World Trade Organisation says, as persistent gloom in Europe saw it cut a previous forecast of 4.5 per cent.

It's the second time the WTO has reined in its figures for 2013, after initially estimating that world trade would expand by 5.6 per cent.

"Improved economic prospects for the United States in 2013 should only partly offset the continued weakness in the European Union, whose economy is expected to remain flat or even contract slightly this year according to consensus estimates," the WTO said.

"China's growth should continue to outpace other leading economies, cushioning the slowdown, but exports will still be constrained by weak demand in Europe," it added.

As a result, this year looks set to be a "near repeat" of 2012, with both trade and output expanding slowly.

Last year, the WTO said, global commerce expanded by 2.0 per cent from the level in 2011, compared with growth of 5.2 per cent that year.

That reflected the gloomy economic picture in developed nations, as the WTO's first estimation for 2012 had been for growth of 3.7 per cent.

"The abrupt deceleration of trade in 2012 was attributed to slow growth in developed economies and recurring bouts of uncertainty over the future of the euro," the WTO said Wednesday.

"Flagging output and high unemployment in developed countries reduced imports and fed through to a lower pace of export growth in both developed and developing economies," it added.

In 2012, the dollar value of world merchandise exports only increased by 0.2 per cent to $US18.3 trillion ($A17.53 trillion), it underlined.

That trend was driven by falling prices for traded goods, with commodities such as coffee, cotton, iron ore and coal seeing major drops, while oil remained relatively stable.

Meanwhile, the value of world commercial services exports rose by 2 per cent to $US4.3 trillion.

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China targets bird flu rumours

CHINA has detained at least a dozen people for spreading false rumours about bird flu, police statements have shown, with authorities seeking to control "panic" as the number of cases rose to 33.

There have been nine deaths since China announced over a week ago that the H7N9 strain of avian influenza had been found in humans for the first time.

Local governments announced five new cases on Wednesday, but state media also reported a four-year-old boy in Shanghai had been released from hospital, the first person to be cured of H7N9.

Police across the country had held people for spreading "false information" over the internet about outbreaks of H7N9 where they lived, statements over recent days collated by AFP showed.

The latest such announcement came Wednesday from the southwest city of Guiyang where three people have been detained, for up to 10 days.

Their actions "caused panic among netizens and citizens", local police said.

The boy in Shanghai, whose full name was not given, was diagnosed with H7N9 infection on April 4, three days after he developed a fever.

Chinese health experts said his recovery showed the benefit of early detection. Doctors said in order to minimise side-effects they did not give him large doses of antiviral drugs, state media reported.

Chinese authorities say they do not know how the virus is spreading though it is believed to be jumping to humans from birds, possibly chickens, pigeons or quail.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) said this week that there is no evidence H7N9 was passing from person to person - a development that has the potential to trigger a pandemic.

Chinese scientists have stepped up monitoring of migratory birds to prevent the virus from spreading that way, state media said.

Another city, Zhenjiang, had banned live poultry sales, following Shanghai and others in Jiangsu province, the official Xinhua news agency said.

Shanghai last week suspended trading in live poultry and shut markets in a bid to curb the outbreak, while Hangzhou city culled poultry after finding infected quail.

A Chinese newspaper on Wednesday again raised questions on the delay of more than three weeks between the first victim's death and the announcement by the central government.

The Southern Metropolis Daily claimed testing by Shanghai confirmed H7N9 a week after the man's death and linked the delay to the annual session of China's legislature, when the government seeks to avoid negative news.

"Would not infections and deaths be less (if there had been an earlier announcement)?" asked the newspaper, part of the Nanfang Daily Press Group, which is known for investigative journalism.

Chinese officials say time was needed to confirm the virus in people for the first time.

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Moly Mines & Hanlong talk board numbers

Moly Mines independent directors understood to be target of Hanlong-engineered board spill. Source: AAP

MOLY Mines says its directors are in discussions with majority shareholder Hanlong Mining regarding the future composition and structure of the board of the gold, copper and molybdenum miner.

In a short statement issued after the close of share market trading, Moly Mines said Hanlong also confirmed that China EXIM Bank had not repossessed its shareholding in the miner, contrary to a media report on Tuesday.

The statement also referred to a report in Tuesday's West Australian newspaper that said Hanlong, with a 54 per cent shareholding, was seeking to remove Moly Mines' independent directors from the board.

The three independent directors - chairman Michael Braham, David Craig, and David Nixon - are understood to be the targets of a spill, which is likely to coincide with the company's annual meeting next month.

The statement comes a day after Africa-focused iron ore hopeful Sundance Resources terminated its $1.3 billion takeover proposal with Hanlong.

In December 2012 Moly Mines conducted a review of its merger and acquisition strategy in consultation with Hanlong.

Hanlong advised the Perth-based miner at the time that it maintained its support for Moly Mine's acquisition strategy and would be in a position to financially support an acquisition or project development from the second half of 2013.

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Woman denied abortion in Ireland

Ireland has opened an inquest into the death of an Indian woman allegedly denied a termination. Source: AAP

A SENIOR midwife told an Indian woman her baby could not be terminated as she miscarried in an Irish hospital because "it's a Catholic thing", an inquest has heard.

Mrudula Vasealli said her friend Savita Halappanavar pleaded for her baby's heartbeat to be stopped when medics at Galway University Hospital said the fetus could not be saved.

"She said, the midwife, 'We do not do that here dear. It's a Catholic thing'", Vasealli told Galway Coroners Court in Ireland.

"The nurses were lovely, They took good care of her. It's the system that was wrong."

Halappanavar, 31, died from septicaemia on October 28 last year, a week after she was admitted suffering from a miscarriage 17 weeks into her pregnancy.

Vasealli and friends were at the hospital when Halappanavar's husband Praveen was told she was suffering multi-organ failure and died from a heart attack.

"Somebody said Praveen collapsed," she said.

"He was brought to the lobby. He was vomiting there. He couldn't walk. After about half an hour we all went home."

Praveen Halappanavar previously told an inquest that his Hindu wife asked for a termination three times before she finally delivered her dead baby daughter four days earlier.

Consultant obstetrician Katherine Astbury has denied his claims that she refused a termination on the grounds that it is "a Catholic country".

Vasealli spent the day with Halappanavar on the Tuesday before her death.

Vasealli said in her statement which was read in the court: "Savita was very upset again because the fetal heartbeat was still there. She cried, saying 'What kind of mother am I waiting for my own baby to stop its heartbeat? I'm losing it, I'm losing it terribly'."

She told coroner Ciaran MacLoughlin that her friend cried continuously as a midwife checked again for a heartbeat between 11.30am and noon.

"We both, Savita and I, asked if there was a possibility of saving the baby because there was still a heartbeat after three days," she said.

"Savita said 'Can you please save it. If you can't do something to stop the fetal heartbeat, I can't take this waiting for the baby to die'."

The court was adjourned while barristers for the hospital attempted to identify the staff member by her description and the roster.

Declan Buckley, senior counsel, said the "best guess" the hospital can make is that the woman was clinical midwife manager Ann Maria Burke whose statement makes no reference to the allegation.

The coroner ordered that Burke be added to the list of witnesses to be called.

Halappanavar carried the baby until the Wednesday but by that night she was in critical condition in intensive care, where she died the following Sunday from septicaemia.

Earlier family friend Rupanjali Kundu, a senior house officer in obstetrics at the hospital, said she visited Halappanavar on the Monday and Wednesday when she noticed a significant change in her health.

"She was lying on the bed and she was unable to speak that much," she said.

"She looked really ill. It was a significant change."

The inquest continues.

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Queen and Thatcher businesslike

THE Queen will honour Baroness Thatcher, her longest serving prime minister, and attend the funeral of the woman who changed the face of modern British politics.

She will take her seat in St Paul's Cathedral with the Duke of Edinburgh by her side as the nation pays tribute to the major political figure next Wednesday.

It will be the first time the Queen has attended the funeral service of a former prime minister since Sir Winston Churchill's state ceremony in 1965.

Baroness Thatcher and the Queen had a working relationship that lasted more than 10 years, but it was a partnership described as "more businesslike than warm".

Mrs Thatcher was the eighth prime minister and first woman the Queen summoned to take up office during her reign.

As Britain's leader for 11 years, she was granted weekly audiences with the head of state, when Parliament was sitting, when the two women could speak frankly about the issues of the day.

Some commentators have raised questions about the relationship between the Queen and Mrs Thatcher.

Author and journalist Anthony Sampson wrote in 1982: "The relationship is the more difficult because their roles seem confused. The Queen's style is more matter-of-fact and domestic while it is Mrs Thatcher (who is taller) who bears herself like a queen."

Ben Pimlott in his biography of the monarch, called The Queen, quotes an unnamed source as describing the relationship as "more businesslike than warm".

The biographer also quoted an un-named ex-minister who was close to Thatcher in her early years: "She was affected by the aura, the trappings but she was slightly nervous. I think she was in awe of the position."

Mrs Thatcher also reportedly found her annual September trip to the Queen's private Balmoral estate in Scotland a painful experience at the start of her premiership.

One observer wrote: "A weekend in the country with aristocrats who enjoy riding, shooting, sports and games is Thatcher's idea of torture. But her dread of the weekend receded as the two women became somewhat more comfortable with one another."

Mrs Thatcher was not a fan of the game of charades she was expected to play after dinner at Balmoral, and once during a gathering of six of her Premiers, the Queen joked about "the party games which some of you have so nobly endured at Balmoral".

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Asian mostly markets up on China data

ASIAN markets have mostly risen, boosted by positive inflation data from China, but Tokyo's winning streak ended on profit-taking as the yen edged up after hitting multi-year lows.

Wall Street also provided a strong lead ahead of the January-March corporate earnings season.

Tokyo ended flat, edging down 0.24 points to 13,192.35 following an almost 10 per cent rally since Wednesday fuelled by the Bank of Japan's (BoJ) stimulus measures.

But Sydney added 1.45 per cent or 71.3 points to 4,976.8, while Seoul was 0.11 per cent higher, adding 2.05 points to 1,920.74.

Shanghai was 0.64 per cent higher, adding 14.19 points to 2,225.78, while Hong Kong added 0.70 per cent, or 152.29 points, to 21,870.34.

Beijing unveiled data on Tuesday showing inflation at 2.1 per cent in March, well down from the 10-month-high 3.2 per cent seen the month before and below forecasts for 2.4 per cent.

The news eased investor concerns that another high figure would prompt authorities to tighten monetary policy further.

Chinese shares have suffered in recent months on concerns about the world's number two economy, while the recent spike in inflation fuelled expectations the government would tighten monetary policy.

Inflation is a key issue for the ruling Communist Party as it brings with it the risk of popular discontent and the threat of social unrest.

Tokyo investors have gone on a buying spree since the BoJ last week unveiled a huge stimulus package aimed at reversing decades of deflation.

The yen has lost almost eight per cent since the bank announced its shift in monetary policy that will see a flood of cash hit financial markets.

In early European trade the dollar bought 99.00 yen from 99.36 yen in New York late on Monday - around levels not seen since May 2009.

The European unit was at $1.3033 compared with $1.3005.

New York trading ended on a positive note, providing more lift to Asia in anticipation of positive earnings reports.

The Dow rose 0.33 per cent and the S&P 500 put on 0.63 per cent, while the Nasdaq added 0.57 per cent.

Oil prices rose, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in May, adding 24 cents to $93.60 a barrel and Brent North Sea crude for May up 43 cents to $105.09.

Gold was at $1,571.97 an ounce at 1045 GMT compared with $1,577.10 late on Monday.

In other markets:

-- Singapore climbed 0.36 per cent, or 11.96 points, to 3,296.57.

-- Taipei ended 0.31 per cent lower, shedding 24.25 points to 7,728.54.

-- Wellington was flat, edging down 2.00 points to 4,395.21.

Fletcher Building ended off 1.73 per cent at NZ$8.50, Chorus was flat on NZ$2.69 and Telecom Corp closed up 1.67 per cent at NZ$2.44.

-- Jakarta closed flat, edging up 0.04 per cent or 2.07 points to 4,899.59.

-- Kuala Lumpur added 0.14 per cent, or 2.28 points, to 1,690.27.

-- Bangkok lost 1.26 per cent or 18.81 points to 1,470.72.

-- Mumbai's Sensex index fell 1.15 per cent or 211.30 points to 18,226.48.

-- Manila was closed for a public holiday.

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Qld cosmetic doctors under spotlight

QUEENSLAND'S independent health watchdog has ordered 14 cosmetic surgical and medical practitioners to lift their game in the interest of patient safety.

A Health Quality and Complaints Commissions (HQCC) report released on Monday says there were four or more complaints about each of the 14 practitioners among 245 complaints received between July 1, 2006 and June 30, 2012.

The report titled Great expectations: A Spotlight Report on Complaints about Cosmetic Surgical and Medical Procedures, said all 14 had been required to prepare and implement a quality improvement action plan.

HQCC will monitor how these practitioners perform against their improvement plan.

The report said the community often perceived cosmetic procedures to be low risk when they were often complex, required a high degree of skill and posed a number of potential risks.

It found there was less regulation and fewer patient safeguards in this field than in other areas of medicine.

The report said 82 per cent of the 245 complains were about cosmetic procedures and 16 per cent were about cosmetic medical procedures.

Most complaints were about breast lifts and breast implants followed by facelifts, eye surgery abdominoplasty (tummy tucks) and breast reduction.

Cosmetic injections and laser treatment were the most frequently complained about cosmetic medical procedures, followed by chemical peels.

The number of complaints about cosmetic medical procedures more than doubled between 2006 and 2012.

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UN inspectors ready to go to Syria

A UN inspection team is in Cyprus and ready to deploy to nearby Syria to probe the alleged use of chemical weapons in the conflict, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said.

"I can announce today that an advance team is now in Cyprus for the final stage" before the mission heads to Syria, Ban said in The Hague.

"We are ready."

Ban said at the opening of the third review of the Chemical Weapons Convention at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) that they still needed the Syrian regime's go-ahead.

"The UN is now in the position to deploy in Syria - in less than 24 hours all logistical arrangements will in place," Ban said after President Bashar al-Assad called on the UN to probe allegations rebels had used chemical weapons.

"All we are waiting for is the go-ahead of the Syrian government to determine if any chemical weapons have been deployed," Ban said.

"We are still in the process of discussing it with the Syrian government."

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Holden wrong to axe SA jobs: Weatherill

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill is in "serious talks" with Holden on a breach of agreement. Source: AAP

SOUTH Australian Premier Jay Weatherill will have "serious talks" with Holden about a breach of agreement and says it's wrong the car maker didn't warn of trouble ahead of launching its Cruze model last month.

Holden boss Mike Devereux announced on Monday it will cut 400 jobs at its factory in Adelaide and 100 at its plant in Melbourne.

Mr Weatherill says the government and the car maker celebrated the launch of the company's Cruze model in March.

"There was no mention of such a dramatic decision that was about to be announced," he told ABC television on Monday.

"That is wrong."

The premier said Holden's decision to axe jobs was in breach of a 2012 agreement to provide Holden with $50 million from his state to develop two new cars and guarantee the future of local operations until 2022.

He said the state had not paid the $50 million to Holden and they would have to discuss the future.

South Australia deserved better, Mr Weatherill said.

"There are a range of important undertakings in that agreement that I want to ensure that are delivered to South Australians," he said.

"We need to have some serious discussions with the company."

The government had been working with Holden to use Australian component suppliers in a global supply chain.

They also wanted Holden at the Elizabeth plant to be part of the global supply chain, not just a part of the domestic supply chain.

Mr Weatherill said Holden gave him little notice about the decision and Mr Devereux had only told him on Monday morning.

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Buy local car policy is needed: Vic oppn

GOVERNMENTS across Australia should buy their car fleets locally to support an industry that benefits the broader national economy, the Victorian opposition says.

Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews was responding to news Holden would shed 100 jobs in Melbourne and a further 400 in South Australia.

A year ago Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced a $275 million rescue deal for the car maker, including $215 million from the federal government, $50 million from the South Australian Labor government and $10 million from the Victorian coalition.

Mr Andrews defended government support for the embattled industry and argued governments should all agree to buy cars locally.

"The thing that should be considered nationally is not a withdrawal from the automotive sector but in fact a national procurement and purchasing, (a) national buy-local campaign, so that every car that can be purchased in any government fleet across Australia is in fact an Australian-made vehicle," he said.

"That would be a step forward, that's the sort of thing that we should be putting on the COAG table and if we have to have an argument, then so be it."

Describing Holden's job cuts as distressing for workers and their families, Victorian Minister for Manufacturing David Hodgett says the federal government's carbon tax has only made things harder for Australia's automotive industry.

"A range of factors are affecting the industry including the high Australian dollar, higher energy costs under Labor's carbon tax and tough global competition," he said in a statement.

Mr Andrews said the car industry produced economic and skill benefits for every state, not just those that built cars.

Mr Hodgett said the state government is committed to working with the automotive industry to secure and strengthen its future, and that Holden had reaffirmed its commitment to an $800 million joint state and commonwealth investment to keep making cars in Australia at least until 2022.

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Emigration from crisis-hit Italy rises

EMIGRATION from Italy has risen by nearly a third last year to 79,000, with a growing number of young people choosing to leave the crisis-hit country, Italian media reports, citing official data.

The number of Italian citizens registering as foreign residents rose from 61,000 in 2011. Most of the emigrants came from wealthier regions of northern Italy and their favoured destinations were Germany, Switzerland and Britain.

"Young people want to be valued and the Italian context does not allow this. That is why they try going abroad," Alessandro Rosina, demographics lecturer at Milan's Cattolica university was quoted by La Repubblica daily as saying.

"It would be wrong to stop the brain drain but there should be measures to allow circulation. Young people leave from every country but, unlike in the rest of Europe, Italy does not guarantee conditions for their return," he said.

The data showed a sharp rise in emigrants from northern Italy compared to southern Italy - the source of waves of emigration during the 20th century - which accounted for just 27 per cent of the total from 61 per cent in 2011.

The highest number of emigrants last year - 13,156 people - came from the Lombardy region, which includes Italy's business hub, Milan.

The figures showed that emigrants were becoming younger too, with those aged 20 to 40 making up 44.8 per cent of the total, from 28.3 per cent in 2011.

The data on Italian residents abroad are collated by the interior ministry.

Youth unemployment is at around 37 per cent as Italy endures its longest post-war recession, while the overall jobless rate was at 11.6 per cent in February - just lower than the record high of 11.7 per cent reached in January.

"The paradox is that people used to leave a poor country of farmers but today they are leaving... a technological and advanced country," commentator Paolo Di Stefano wrote in the Italy's best-selling Corriere della Sera daily.

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UK fire death house to be demolished

THE house where Mick Philpott killed his six children by torching the property as they slept will be demolished, British councillors have promised.

The charred shell of 18 Victory Road, in Derby, has been standing boarded-up and empty since the fire which claimed the lives of Jade Philpott, 10, and her brothers John, nine, Jack, eight, Jesse, six, Jayden, five, and Duwayne, 13.

Last week, Philpott was jailed for life for the manslaughter of his children and ordered to serve a minimum of 15 years before he is considered for release.

His wife, Mairead, and their friend, Paul Mosley, were each jailed for 17 years.

Now Derby City Council leader Paul Bayliss has confirmed the council's intention is to knock down the property and the adjoining semi.

The plan will be to consult the local community on what should replace the buildings.

An online petition has already been launched urging the local authority to install a memorial garden.

Council leader Paul Bayliss told the Derby Telegraph: "Who would want to live in a house where six children have died and why would you want to live next door to a house where six children have died?

"It is the council's intention to bulldoze the properties, but we need to go through a number of legal loopholes first."

In order to flatten the two houses, the local authority will have to take legal possession of number 18 from the Philpott's, who are still the official tenants.

It also needs to buy the house next door from the estate of an elderly couple who lived there but have since died.

It is understood the family has agreed in principle to sell.

The house, which was focus of tributes to the six children again last week, has stood as a sombre reminder of the terrible events of the early hours of May 11 last year.

The jury at Nottingham Crown Court found that Philpott, 56, his 32-year-old wife, and Mosley, 46, started the fire in a bid to frame Lisa Willis, Philpott's former girlfriend.

Willis and her children used to live with the Philpotts but had moved out weeks earlier.

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China's president wants trip to Tassie

CHINA'S new president Xi Jinping has told Prime Minister Julia Gillard that a visit to Tasmania would be a priority for his next trip to Australia.

Ms Gillard held her first official meeting with President Xi on Sunday, on the sidelines of the Boao Forum for Asia on the Chinese resort island of Hainan.

She told reporters after the meeting that President Xi had lamented the fact that he had visited, in his former political roles, every Australian state except Tasmania.

Ms Gillard, who invited President Xi to visit Australia during the talks, said she would try to include Tasmania on the itinerary.

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US delays missile test over Korean crisis

THE US has delayed an intercontinental ballistic missile test to avoid stoking tensions with North Korea, as fears escalated that weeks of angry rhetoric could erupt into conflict on the Korean peninsula.

The Pentagon's disclosure it would reschedule the test due in California next week comes as the international community grows increasingly nervous the situation could spiral out of control.

A US defence official said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel postponed the Minuteman 3 test at Vandenberg Air Force Base until next month due to concerns it "might be misconstrued by some as suggesting that we were intending to exacerbate the current crisis with North Korea".

"We wanted to avoid that misperception or manipulation," the US official told AFP. "We are committed to testing our ICBMs to ensure a safe, secure, effective nuclear arsenal."

North Korea, incensed by UN sanctions following its nuclear and missile tests and by South Korean-US military drills, has issued a series of apocalyptic threats of nuclear war in recent weeks.

It has also reportedly loaded two intermediate-range missiles on mobile launchers and hidden them in underground facilities near its east coast, raising speculation it is preparing for a provocative launch.

Foreign diplomats in Pyongyang huddled at the weekend to discuss a warning from the North's authorities that their safety could not be guaranteed after April 10 if a conflict broke out.

Most of their governments have made it clear they have no immediate plans to withdraw personnel, and some suggested the advisory was a ruse to fuel growing global anxiety over the crisis.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Sunday he saw no immediate need to withdraw his country's diplomats. Hague also told the BBC the North is showing no sign of gearing up for "all-out conflict" by repositioning its armed forces, and called for calm.

The top national security adviser to South Korea's President Park Geun-Hye said on Sunday the warning was another ploy to force the South and the United States to reach out with face-saving concessions.

"We believe the North is trying to turn the situation around by making the US send a special envoy, the South to offer dialogue and China or Russia to act as a mediator," Kim Jang-Soo said.

China is the North's sole major ally, but its patience with Pyongyang shows signs of wearing thin.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi said China opposed "provocative words and actions" from any party in the region and would "not allow troublemaking on China's doorstep", in sharply worded comments Saturday to UN chief Ban Ki-moon.

South Korea's Kim, a former defence minister, warned a missile launch by the North was possible around the April 10 date given to foreign embassies, but said there was no sign it was preparing for a ruinous full-scale conflict.

The North's mobilised missiles are reported to be untested Musudan models which are believed to have a range of about 3000 kilometres that could theoretically be pushed to 4000km with a light payload.

That would cover any target in South Korea and Japan, and possibly even reach US military bases on the Pacific island of Guam.

The North has no proven inter-continental ballistic missile capability that would enable it to strike more distant US targets, and many experts say it is unlikely it can even mount a nuclear warhead on a mid-range missile.

After non-stop escalation including the public deployment of US warships and planes to the region, the Pentagon move was a welcome measure to cool tensions, said Yang Moo-Jin from Seoul's University of North Korean Studies.

"The US military may have felt that now was the time to pace itself after weeks of hectic military confrontation," he told AFP.

"If the North really launches intermediate-range missiles as widely feared, the US may be partially blamed for having pushed it to take such drastic action by deploying extremely threatening weaponry near the Korean peninsula."

Western tourists returning from organised tours in Pyongyang - which have continued despite the tensions - said the situation there appeared calm.

"We're glad to be back, but we didn't feel frightened when we were there," said Tina Krabbe, from Denmark.

North Korea on Wednesday put in place a ban on South Koreans accessing their companies in the Seoul-funded Kaesong industrial zone on the North side of the border. There are no cross-trips on Sundays.

The estate is the only surviving example of inter-Korean co-operation and seen as a bellwether for stability.

But Seoul said on Sunday that 13 South Korean firms there had so far been forced to suspend production because of a shortage of materials or personnel.

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