Female suicide bomber kills 4 in Pakistan

A FEMALE suicide bomber has blown herself up outside a hospital in a lawless tribal area of northwest Pakistan, killing at least four people and wounding four others.

The attack took place on Saturday in Khar, the main town of Bajaur tribal district bordering Afghanistan where the military has carried out several offensives against al-Qaeda-linked Taliban militants.

"At least four people were killed and four others were wounded in the blast outside the main gate of the hospital," Mohammad Riaz, chief doctor at the government hospital said.

"It was a female suicide bomber, about 18-20 years old. We have found her legs and head," local administration official Abdul Haseebhe said.

The dead included a security personnel, a hospital worker and two civilians, he added.

Bajaur is one of seven districts that make up Pakistan's federally administered tribal areas (FATA).

The semi-autonomous region of mountains, valleys and caves is one of the most deprived in the country.

It has been a stronghold for Afghan Taliban, al-Qaeda and other Pakistani militant groups, and a battleground between the army and insurgents.

Pakistan has lost more than 3,000 soldiers in the fight against homegrown insurgents but has resisted US pressure to do more to eliminate the havens in remote areas where they hide.

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Dozens killed in battle near Damascus

AT least 69 people, many of them rebels, have been killed in a four-day battle pitting Syrian insurgents against government forces in Jdaidet al-Fadl near Damascus, a monitoring group says.

"Regime troops are trying to seize total control of the town of Jdaidet al-Fadl" southwest of Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday.

"Sixty-nine people were killed in violence raging there over the past four days," added the British-based watchdog, citing activists on the ground, who said many were killed in shelling and also in summary executions by the army.

Violence also raged in Sunni areas of the nearby majority Christian town of Jdaidet Artuz.

The two towns are near Daraya, the scene of fierce fighting for several months.

"Daraya was subjected to tank and rocket fire, and fresh clashes broke out in the morning on the southern and western fronts," the town's opposition local council said in a statement.

It added that regime troops had deployed reinforcements including "30 tanks and military vehicles" to the town.

Since last year the army has tried to root out rebels positioned southwest and east of Damascus, in a bid to secure the capital.

Elsewhere, a woman and three children were killed in an army shelling of Kharita town in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, the Observatory said.

In the central province of Homs, regime troops took control of Radwaniyeh village near the flashpoint rebel town of Qusayr, it said.

Fierce firefights between insurgents and regime troops, pro-regime militiamen and fighters loyal to Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah were also reported in several areas around Qusayr near the border with Lebanon, it added.

Saturday's violence comes a day after at least 157 people were killed across Syria, said the Observatory, breaking the toll down to 75 civilians, 44 rebels and 38 soldiers.

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Japan wins spot in mega trade pact

JAPAN has won its bid to enter talks on a massive Pacific trade pact that includes Australia.

The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) would account for more than 40 per cent of the global economy.

Japan had to win over Canada to be included in the US-driven partnership, which also includes Brunei, Chile, Canada, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam.

Canada had been the sole nation of the 11 in the proposed agreement that still opposed Tokyo's participation.

"These consultations have been informed by a robust and ongoing engagement with Canadian stakeholders, and it's that engagement that helped inform this process," Canadian Trade Minister Ed Fast said.

"We look forward to continuing to work together (with Japan) to deepen our trade and investment relationship in a manner that will generate significant benefits for hard-working people in both our countries."

Canada's approval came after bilateral talks on the sidelines of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation trade ministers' meeting in Surabaya.

Washington earlier this month gave Japan the thumbs-up for talks on the free-trade agreement despite opposition from Japanese farmers and some US labour groups and manufacturers.

President Barack Obama has championed the TPP as a way to boost the US economy through trade and to build a US-driven order in a fast-growing region where China - which is not part of the talks - is gaining clout.

To allay concerns of higher competition in the US automotive industry, Japan, the world's third-largest economy, agreed that US tariffs on its cars would be phased out at the latest possible time allowed by a future accord.

Japan's Ministry of Economy APEC office director Ken Sasaji said Japan's participation in the talks was a major step toward the TPP's aim to create a free-trade zone among nations on the Pacific rim.

"As APEC leaders agreed, our final destination is FTAAP - a free-trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific," Sasaji told reporters.

"Now Japan is promoting various efforts to promote economic integration and economic partnerships, especially the trans-Pacific partnership, which is one of the most important efforts."

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120 dead, thousands injured in China quake

Hundreds of people are dead or injured after a 6.6 magnitude earthquake in China's Sichuan province. Source: AAP

MORE than 120 people were killed and 3,000 injured when a strong earthquake hit a mountainous part of southwestern China destroying thousands of homes and triggering landslides.

The shallow earthquake struck Sichuan province on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau just after 8am (1000 AEST) on Saturday, prompting a major rescue operation in the same area where 87,000 people were reported dead or missing in a massive quake in 2008.

Ten hours after the quake hit Lushan county in the city of Ya'an, the death toll stood at 124, the state television station CCTV said on the Twitter-like Sina Weibo, citing the China Earthquake Administration.

At least 10,000 homes were destroyed, the Sichuan government said.

Local seismologists registered the quake at magnitude 7.0 while the US Geological Survey gave it as 6.6. More than 260 aftershocks followed, the People's Daily said on its website.

The shaking was felt in the provincial capital Chengdu, which lies to the east, and even in the megacity of Chongqing several hundred kilometres away.

Panicked residents fled into the streets, some of them still in their slippers and pyjamas.

"Members of my family were woken up. They were lying in bed when the strong shaking began and the wardrobes began shaking strongly. We grabbed our clothes and ran outside," said a 43-year-old man.

About 6,000 soldiers and police were heading to the area to help rescue work and five drones were sent to capture aerial images, the Xinhua news agency said.

Some teams had to contend with roads blocked by debris, CCTV reported, while one military vehicle carrying 17 troops plummeted over a cliff, killing one soldier and injuring seven others, Xinhua said.

"There are mountains on all sides; it is very easy to trigger mudslides and very dangerous," one user wrote on Sina Weibo.

The disaster evoked comparisons to the 2008 Sichuan quake, the country's worst in decades, and President Xi Jinping ordered all out efforts to minimise casualties, Xinhua said.

Premier Li Keqiang arrived in Sichuan in the afternoon and was taking a helicopter to the quake zone.

"The current most urgent issue is grasping the first 24 hours since the quake's occurrence, the golden time for saving lives," he was quoted as saying.

Amid the rescue efforts, 30-year-old pregnant woman was pulled out of the rubble along with a young child and sent to hospital for treatment, the People's Daily said on its Weibo account.

CCTV showed one survivor getting stitches for his head on the street, and another elderly man in a wheelbarrow padded with blankets being wheeled past a row of tents set up outside a Lushan hospital.

A local TV journalist due to get married on Saturday turned up instead for work and a photograph of her holding a microphone in her wedding dress with bright makeup and a corsage was widely circulated online.

Meanwhile Ya'an residents were offering to donate badly needed blood, the People's Daily said.

But volunteers outside the city were discouraged from flocking to Ya'an to help with relief efforts, to avoid blocking already busy phone lines and worsening road congestion, Xinhua said.

"A fair amount of telecoms facilities have been damaged," it said.

Pandas at a reserve less than 50 kilometres from the epicentre were not harmed, Xinhua said.

A Sina Weibo user posted a photo purportedly showing a badly damaged kindergarten in Lushan, its dark red stone slabs lying on the ground beside a row of trees. The authenticity of the photo could not be verified.

"Hang in there Ya'an!" the user wrote.

Weibo users in other cities reported feeling tremors.

Residents ran onto the street to get away from high rises, made phone calls and cried, a Sichuan government website reported. A few had even packed bags in case they needed to take shelter elsewhere.

The 2008 Sichuan quake, which struck west-northwest of Chengdu, generated an outpouring of support, with volunteers rushing to the scene to offer aid and then-premier Wen Jiabao also visiting.

But there was public anger after the discovery that many schools fell while other buildings did not, creating suspicion of corruption and corner-cutting in construction.

The deaths of the children became a sensitive and taboo subject in the heavily controlled domestic media and social media websites.

Earthquakes frequently strike the country's southwest. In April 2010, a 6.9 magnitude quake killed about 2,700 people and injured 12,000 in a remote area of Qinghai province bordering the northwest of Sichuan.

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Baghdad bomb kills 27 as unrest spikes

A cafe bombing has killed 27 people ahead of the first elections since US troop withdrew from Iraq. Source: AAP

VIOLENCE spiked as Iraq readied for its first elections since US troops withdrew, with 27 people killed in a late-night bombing at a Baghdad billiards cafe frequented by young men.

The attack raises further questions about the credibility of Saturday's provincial elections, with 14 candidates already having been killed and a third of the country's provinces not even voting amid an ongoing political crisis.

The polls are seen as a key test of Iraq's stability and security, and will provide a gauge of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's popularity as he grapples with infighting in his national unity government and months of protests by Iraq's Sunni Arab minority.

The latest bombing struck at 10pm on Thursday in the west Baghdad suburb of Amriyah, leaving 27 dead and more than 50 others wounded, security and medical officials said.

Among the dead were at least three children and a woman.

It exploded at the Dubai cafe, which lies on the second floor of a small shopping mall in the predominantly Sunni neighbourhood that is filled with families as it contains restaurants and clothes shops.

The cafe itself, however, is mostly frequented by young men playing billiards and video games.

Security forces restricted movements in Amriyah on Friday in the wake of the blast.

The bombing is the latest in a wave of violence, with 50 people killed in nationwide attacks on Monday, and March having been the deadliest month in Iraq since last summer, according to an AFP tally.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but Sunni militants linked to Al-Qaeda frequently set off bombings in both Sunni and Shi'ite neighbourhoods across the capital, and the country, in a bid to undermine confidence in the government and security forces.

Officials and diplomats also complain that a long-running spat that has pitted Maliki against several of his erstwhile government partners has been exploited by insurgent groups who use the political differences to enhance their room for manoeuvre on the ground.

An estimated 13.8 million Iraqis are eligible to vote on Saturday for more than 8,000 candidates, with 378 seats being contested.

It is the first vote in Iraq since March 2010 parliamentary polls, and the first since US forces withdrew from the country in December 2011.

Diplomats have raised questions over the credibility of the vote, however, as attacks against candidates have left at least 14 dead and others withdrawing for fear of being targeted, while six of Iraq's 18 provinces will not be taking part, including two where authorities say security cannot be ensured.

Iraqi forces are solely responsible for polling day security, the first time they have been in charge without support from American or other international forces during elections since dictator Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003.

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Manhunt after first Boston suspect dies

POLICE killed one of the Boston marathon bombing suspects in a shootout early Friday and pursued a chaotic street-to-street manhunt for his accomplice, officials said.

The Boston bomb suspects are from a Russian region near Chechnya, and have lived in the United States for at least a year, US media report has said.

Several Boston suburbs were put under effective lockdown and public transport was suspended throughout the region.

In addition, thousands of heavily-armed police continue a house-to-house search in suburban Watertown for an "armed and dangerous... terrorist... who has come here to kill people."

The two men, dubbed "Suspect One" and "Suspect Two" by the FBI, led police special forces on a violent cavalcade that left inhabitants of towns around Boston cowering in their homes as gunfire and explosions erupted through the night.

One police officer was killed and another wounded in the operation, Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said.

Davis also confirmed that Suspect One had been killed.

The man, whose identity has not been released, died in the hospital after being hit with bullets and injured by an explosion, a doctor at Beth Israel hospital told reporters.

Police told inhabitants of Watertown and nearby towns to stay home as they hunted the second man believed to have planted the bombs that killed three people and injured about 180 at the Boston Marathon on Monday.

The governor also suspended all public transit services through the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

The surviving fugitive was "armed and dangerous," Davis said.

"We believe this to be a terrorist, we believe this to be a man who has come here to kill people," the police chief told reporters.

Police said the first suspect had explosives on his body, and there were fears the second suspect still at large was also strapped with bombs.

The suspects first tried to rob a convenience store in Cambridge, across the river from Boston, Davis said.

They then went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where one campus police officer was shot several times and died, the commissioner added. The pair then hijacked a Mercedes car and eventually let the driver out in Watertown, which is close to MIT, Davis added.

The chase went on through Watertown where the two were seen throwing explosives out of the car, local media said, citing police reports. Blasts and gunfire were heard in several districts.

During a shootout, one wanted man was hit and died later in hospital, Davis said. Another police officer was also wounded. The second suspect, who has been shown in pictures wearing a white baseball cap, escaped.

MIT students were kept in a lockdown for three hours after the shooting on campus. Police with rifles flooded the streets, and search helicopters patrolled the skies.

MIT, one of the world's top universities, is in Cambridge, just across the Charles River from Boston where the double bomb attack was staged on Monday in the worst militant attack on the United States since the September 11 atrocities in 2001. Authorities cancelled classes Friday, in the wake of the incident.

Hours before the manhunt, the FBI released pictures and video of the two suspects, appealing for help to identify the pair who were carrying large backpacks.

Both appeared to be young men, one dressed in a white baseball cap and the other in a black cap. The FBI gave no details of their identities or origin, naming them only as Suspect One and Suspect Two.

Two bombs were placed around the marathon finish line on Monday, spraying nails, ball bearings and other metal fragments into massed spectators, many of whom suffered horrific injuries.

The men are seen in the video walking calmly, one a few paces behind the other, weaving between crowds on Boston's Boylston Street where the race finished.

President Barack Obama vowed to the people of Boston Thursday that the "evil" bombers would be brought to justice.

The surviving Boston bomb suspect identified as Dzhokhar A. Tsarnaev, 19, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, reports the Associated Press.

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Taliban attack kills 13 Afghan police

TALIBAN insurgents killed 13 local policemen while they were sleeping, in an attack on their checkpoint in southeast Afghanistan, officials said.

The policemen were shot dead early Friday in the Andar district of Ghazni province, said district governor Mohammad Qasim Desiwal.

"They were asleep when their checkpoint came under attack by the Taliban and were killed by AK-47 fire," Desiwal told AFP.

Provincial governor Mosa Khan Akbarzada confirmed the death toll and said a delegation had been sent to the district to investigate.

The victims were members of the 18,000-strong Afghan Local Police, a village-level force formed in 2010 to provide security in areas where the better-trained national police and army are scarce.

Afghan troops and police are increasingly on the front line against the insurgents, and suffering heavier casualties, as NATO combat troops prepare to withdraw by the end of next year.

The bodies of four Afghan regular soldiers were found Wednesday with their throats slit in Jawzjan, a day after they were kidnapped by the Taliban along the road to the northern province.

The Taliban have been waging an insurgency against the Afghan government since they were toppled from power by a US-led invasion in 2001.

Attacks traditionally intensify in spring after the harsh winter recedes.

A total of 23 people were killed Tuesday and Wednesday, including the four soldiers and two local employees of the Red Crescent medical charity.

Gherardo Pontrandolfi, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in Kabul, said those killings would make it even harder to reach people in need.

"In many areas people cannot reach hospitals or clinics safely. And the end of winter is likely to bring renewed fighting, making the problem worse," Pontrandolfi said in a statement Thursday.

Separately, the interior ministry in Kabul said Friday that police have arrested five Taliban insurgents who were planning suicide attacks on civilians in the capital and in another city later this month.

The four men and one woman were detained in the eastern city of Jalalabad Thursday and police seized four suicide bomb vests and C-4 explosives along with other weapons, the ministry said.

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Three dead on Vic roads in horror day

THREE people have died in two separate crashes in a horror day on Victorian roads.

In the latest crash, a 41-year-old woman veered off the road and hit a tree at Maffra at 4.40pm (AEST).

The woman died at the scene.

Earlier on Friday, two people were killed and a third suffered life-threatening injuries after their car also left the road and struck a tree in western Victoria.

The crash occurred on the Western Highway at Pimpinio about 8.30am (AEST).

The 19-year-old male driver and the female front-seat passenger, aged 46, both from Dimboola, died at the scene.

The rear passenger, a 49-year-old man, was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Victoria's road toll now stands at 78 compared to 88 at the same time last year.

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Abbott declares all bets off on surplus

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott has declared "all bets are off" on a timeframe for delivering a budget surplus.

Mr Abbott, answering questions from Geelong voters in the nation's most marginal seat of Corangamite, said he didn't know the starting point to achieve a surplus.

Asked by an elderly Geelong woman what his top priority would be as prime minister, Mr Abbott said it would be to get "the budgetary house in order."

"We were confident that we could deliver a surplus based on what the government was telling us until just before Christmas," Mr Abbott said.

"But all bets are off, given the government won't tell us what the deficit will be."

He reiterated that it was in the coalition's DNA to deliver surpluses and pay back debt.

Mr Abbott flagged industrial relations changes should the coalition win power.

But any change would be "careful, cautious, responsible", he said.

"We will have a lot more to say about this in the relatively near future," the opposition leader said.

He said the coalition's plans would address "flexibility, militancy and productivity problems emerging under the Fair Work Act".

"We will work within the framework of the existing act," Mr Abbott said.

Mr Abbott said the carbon tax would be scrapped by the middle of 2014 if he wins government.

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Govt must help carmakers innovate: Combet

THE federal government must help the carmaking industry to innovate so that the embattled sector remains viable in the years ahead, the federal government says.

Speaking in Sydney on Thursday night, Innovation and Industry Minister Greg Combet said he hadn't given up on the local auto industry.

"I believe we can have a viable automotive manufacturing sector," Mr Combet told the launch of the 2013 Australian Innovation Festival.

His comments come after former Ford boss Jacques Nasser recently warned that the local automotive industry could collapse entirely if Ford, Holden or Toyota pulled out of the country.

The federal government and opposition don't agree with Mr Nasser, but differ on the measures needed to help prop up the struggling sector.

Mr Combet conceded the sector was suffering "structural adjustment pressures" and had been hit "pretty hard" by the high Aussie dollar and a devaluation of the Japanese currency, the yen.

"That hits very hard at motor vehicle manufacturing and it's competitiveness against Japanese imports," he said.

He said the government needed to back innovation in the sector, which supports about 250,000 people nationwide.

"Many, many firms and supply chains depend on it and I think it's incumbent on governments to try to work with industry to support innovation within it," he said.

He said the government was working to build innovation "precincts" where industry and universities could collaborate on projects in the hope of boosting competitiveness.

He said such "industry led" precincts had already been set up in the food processing and manufacturing sectors.

NSW Finances and Services Minister Greg Pearce said the O'Farrell government was trying to cut the red tape that "kills innovation".

"What we can do as a government is try to get our own act together," he said.

However, he conceded the state had a "long way to go".

He said he couldn't guarantee that "good submissions" from firms with innovative ideas were reaching the relevant ministers.

"We're doing our best," Mr Pearce said.

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Nestle reports Q1 sales rise of 2.3%

Food and drinks giant Nestle has reported 2.3 per cent rise in first quarter sales. Source: AAP

SWISS food and drinks giant Nestle SA has reported first-quarter sales of 21.9 billion Swiss francs ($A22.87 billion), up 2.3 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

The maker of Nescafe, Haagen Dazs and Jenny Craig says sales in developed markets continue to be subdued by low consumer confidence amid global financial uncertainty both in the United States, which is Nestle's biggest market, and in Europe.

Paul Bulcke, chief executive of the Vevey, Switzerland-based company, said in a statement on Thursday the first three months of 2013 "reflects the caution" that it had anticipated for the entire year.

But he said the company expects to see stronger momentum in key emerging markets, where it reported 8.4 per cent growth in the first quarter, a reflection of contrasting trading conditions across different regions.

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Germany approves aid to Cyprus

The German parliament has approved an international bailout package for Cyprus. Source: AAP

THE German parliament has approved an international bailout package for stricken eurozone member Cyprus by a large majority.

In the Bundestag lower house, 486 deputies on Thursday voted for the measure with 104 against and three abstentions.

MPs also overwhelmingly backed a deal by eurozone finance ministers giving Ireland and Portugal an extra seven years to repay aid they have received to allow them to consolidate progress.

Eurozone finance ministers formally approved on Friday new terms for the Cyprus debt rescue that will cost far more than first thought - 23 billion euros ($A29.29 billion) rather than 17 billion euros.

Eurozone partners and the International Monetary Fund are to provide 10 billion euros of this amount while the Cypriot government will have to find the rest.

Germany will kick in about one-third of the international assistance.

The debt rescue involves a radical restructuring of Cyprus's bloated banking sector, with an economy heavily dependent on financial services now expected to shrink by up to 12.5 per cent over the next two years.

Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble had urged MPs to back the Cyprus bailout, citing the gradual recovery of other stricken eurozone members as evidence the aid-for-reforms strategy worked.

Speaking to the Bundestag, he said that countries such as Portugal and Ireland had shown that tough budget cutting coupled with international assistance could save a debt-mired country.

"Both have undertaken enormous efforts, are fulfilling the requirements of their (rescue) programs and are on the right track," he said.

Schaeuble also noted substantial progress made in the past three years in taming the eurozone crisis, with economic progress such as a hike in exports from southern European countries as well as a sharp drop in public deficits.

Striking a conciliatory note, the usually tough-talking Schaeuble noted Germany's preaching of austerity in Europe sometimes lacked compassion for the sacrifices made by the people of crisis-battered countries.

"In our country in particular, where the euro crisis is not felt in everyday life, we must issue a reminder that the people in Greece, Portugal and Cyprus are going through tough times," he said.

But he stressed there was "no other way" than fiscal discipline to achieve sustainable long-term stability and growth.

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N. Korea refuses South access to Kaesong

North Korea will not be returning to the negotiating table with the US, media reports say. Source: AAP

NORTH Korea has barred a delivery of supplies to South Koreans in the closed Kaesong industrial zone, as the South's president said it was time to stop rewarding Pyongyang's provocations.

A delegation of 10 businessmen representing the 123 South Korean firms in Kaesong had applied to travel to the zone to bring food and other daily necessities to their staff and to inspect their facilities.

"North Korea informed us that the request for a visit ... had been turned down," said Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-seok on Wednesday.

"It is very regrettable that the North has rejected the request and disallowed a humanitarian measure," Kim said.

North Korea has blocked access to Kaesong - which lies 10 kilometres inside its border - since April 3 amid soaring military tensions on the Korean peninsula.

South Koreans in Kaesong at the time were told they could leave when they wanted, but as of Wednesday there were still 200 remaining.

The North withdrew all its 53,000 workers and suspended operations in the zone on April 8.

"Humanitarian problems are bound to only worsen as days go by," Kim said.

Three cars crossed back into South Korea from Kaesong on Wednesday, all laden down with bundles of products and personal belongings squeezed into every available seating space and tied onto the roof.

Oh Heung-Gi, a 50-year-old clothing company employee, said the situation was increasingly difficult for those holding out.

"It's tough, but everyone helps each other to cope with the problem of food shortages," Oh told Yonhap news agency.

Among the supplies the business delegation had wanted to take to Kaesong on Wednesday were boxes of rice, medicine and the Korean food staple, kimchi.

"It's not like anyone is starving, but the food is clearly running out and what's left isn't up to much," said a Unification Ministry spokeswoman.

Kaesong was established in 2004 as a shining symbol of inter-Korean cooperation.

On Tuesday, North Korea said the South was seeking to shift responsibility for Kaesong's closure, which Pyongyang insists was forced by Seoul's policy of "confrontation" and its "war-mongering" statements.

"The puppet regime can never escape from the criminal responsibility for putting Kaesong in this grave situation," the North's state body in charge of special economic zones said in a statement.

The South is "clinging to sanctions against the North, while bringing in massive volumes of new war machines and madly engaging in exercises for a war of aggression while prattling about dialogue," the statement said.

Neither of the Koreas has allowed previous crises to significantly affect the complex, which is seen as a bellwether of stability on the Korean peninsula.

Seoul's offers of talks to find a way out of the impasse have been dismissed by the North as a "crafty trick".

South Korean President Park Geun-hye, who was elected on a promise of greater engagement with Pyongyang, said Seoul would not be intimidated into a dialogue.

"We must break the vicious cycle of holding negotiations and providing assistance if (North Korea) makes threats and provocations," Park told a gathering of foreign ambassadors.

On Tuesday, North Korea had threatened the South with "sledge-hammer" retaliation unless Seoul apologised for anti-Pyongyang protesters burning effigies of its revered leaders.

Kaesong is a crucial hard currency source for the impoverished North, through taxes and revenues, and from its cut of the workers' wages.

Turnover in 2012 was reported at $A454.00 million, with accumulated turnover since 2004 standing at $A1.91b.

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Putin foe Navalny goes on trial in Russia

The trial of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny on embezzlement charges has been adjounred. Source: AAP

RUSSIAN opposition leader Alexei Navalny has gone on trial on charges he says were ordered by President Vladimir Putin to eliminate a top opponent, but the process was swiftly adjourned for a week to allow the defence more time to prepare.

Hundreds of journalists and Navalny supporters on Wednesday descended on the provincial northern city of Kirov 900 kilometres from Moscow for the trial of Navalny and a co-defendant on embezzlement charges related to a timber deal.

But the first act in what the opposition claims is the latest political show trial in Putin's Russia was over in less than 40 minutes after Judge Sergei Blinov agreed to give the defence more time, adjourning the trial for one week until April 24.

Navalny, who risks up to 10 years in prison in the embezzlement case, has predicted he will be convicted and possibly jailed. Even a suspended sentence would make it illegal for him to run for office.

The trial is a potential turning point in the standoff between the Kremlin and the opposition that erupted with mass opposition protests in the winter of 2011-12 ahead of Putin's return for a third Kremlin term last May.

Navalny - who emerged as by far the most eloquent of the protest leaders - had raised the stakes ahead of the trial by announcing earlier this month he wanted to stand for president.

The 36-year-old is a new breed of Russian protest leader who has yet to fully embrace party politics, but has built a huge internet following with sharply-written blogs and corruption exposes.

Dressed in a white shirt without a tie and jeans and looking relaxed, Navalny sat with his lawyers and co-defendant Pyotr Ofitserov. His right hand was bandaged after a minor injury.

Navalny flashed smiles and used a mobile phone emblazoned with Putin's face and the word "thief" to take a picture of the dozens of journalists pointing cameras at him.

"One way or another I am sure that during the hearing my innocence will be completely proved. But what decision the judge makes or whoever makes the decision, we'll see," Navalny said after the adjournment.

"I won't go on about how the case is fabricated and falsified. I am completely innocent," he said. Noting that he had posted the case documents online, he added: "I think any person even without legal education can be sure of this."

Navalny is charged with organising the misappropriation in a timber deal of more than 16 million roubles ($A495,092.59)from the Kirov regional government that he advised in 2009.

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Trial begins over faulty breast implants

Four executives and the founder of PIP are in court over the sale of faulty breast implants. Source: AAP

FRANCE has launched one of its biggest-ever trials as five managers from company PIP faced charges of selling faulty breast implants that sparked a global health scare.

More than 5000 women registered as plaintiffs in the case, which sees the defendants including PIP founder Jean-Claude Mas charged with aggravated fraud for using industrial-grade silicone in implants.

An estimated 300,000 women in 65 countries are believed to have received the implants, which some health authorities say are twice as likely to rupture as other brands.

The trial, which began around 1930 AEST on Wednesday, has been moved to a congress centre in the southern city of Marseille to accommodate the hundreds of plaintiffs and lawyers attending.

The defendants face up to five years in prison and the trial is set to last until May 17.

As the trial began, Mas was booed when he took to the stand to state his name and profession.

He had earlier arrived, accompanied by his lawyer, Yves Haddad, who chided reporters for their treatment of his client, who will turn 74 next month.

"Whatever happened, what you are doing to a 74-year-old man is not dignified," he said.

Hundreds of women who were given the faulty implants are expected to attend the trial in the 700-seat congress centre hall or three other rooms where more than 800 people will be able to watch video transmissions.

Angela Mauro, a 47-year-old plaintiff, said she hoped the court would treat the women with the same respect accorded other victims of medical malpractice.

"I expect us to be considered as victims and not just as women who wanted implants," said Mauro, whose implants ruptured twice, requiring her to interrupt work for treatments.

News of the faulty implants in 2011 sparked fears worldwide, but health officials in various countries have said they are not toxic and do not increase the risk of breast cancer. A 10-year case study has been launched in France to determine the long-term effects.

More than 4000 women have reported ruptures and in France alone 15,000 have had the PIP implants replaced.

Mas, a former travelling salesman who got his start in the medical business by selling pharmaceuticals, founded PIP in 1991 to take advantage of the booming market for cosmetic implants.

He built the company into the third-largest global supplier but came under the spotlight when plastic surgeons began reporting an unusual number of ruptures in his products.

Health authorities later discovered he was saving millions of euros by allegedly using industrial-grade gel in 75 per cent of the implants. PIP's implants were banned and the company eventually liquidated.

The others on trial with Mas are PIP's former general manager, Claude Couty, quality control director Hannelore Font, technical director Loic Gossart and product director Thierry Brinon.

Some of the defendants, including Mas, have also been charged in separate and ongoing manslaughter and financial fraud investigations into the scandal.

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Rocket attack kills 12 in central Syria

A GOVERNMENT rocket attack has killed at least 12 people in a village in central Syria, while rebels battled regime forces over two key military bases in the northeast where government troops broke an opposition siege last week, activists said.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rockets struck the village of Eastern Buwaydah outside of Homs on Wednesday, and that two children and two women were among those killed.

Observatory director Rami Abdul-Rahman said rebels and government forces also engaged in heavy fighting nearby.

Eastern Buwaydah is located between Homs, Syria's third-largest city, and the Lebanese border.

The region is of strategic value to President Bashar Assad's regime because it links Damascus with the coastal enclave that is the heartland of Syria's Alawites - the Shi'ite sect to which Assad belongs - and also home to the country's two main seaports, Latakia and Tartus.

In the northwestern province of Idlib, rebels were attacking government troops on Wednesday as anti-Assad fighters tried to bottle up the military bases of Hamadiya and Wadi Deif near the city of Maaret al-Numan.

Regime forces killed more than 20 fighters in an ambush on Saturday, allowing them to break the rebel hold on the countryside around the bases and ferry supplies to forces in the camps.

For weeks, the military had had to drop supplies in by helicopter to the besieged troops.

"The rebels are trying to re-impose a siege on the camps," Observatory director Abdul-Rahman said.

"They want to close the highway ... to stop them from supporting Wadi Deif and Hamadiya."

The fight for the two bases fits into the broader struggle for control of northern Syria, much of which has fallen to the rebels in the past year.

Across the north, most of the countryside is in the hands of anti-Assad fighters, while the regime is holding out in isolated military bases and most urban centres.

Maaret al-Numan lies along the main north-south highway linking Damascus to the northern city of Aleppo, where rebels and government forces have been fighting for control since an opposition offensive on the city last summer.

If the regime were to regain control of the highway, it would open up a badly needed supply route to its forces in Aleppo - potentially paving the way for further government advances.

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European stocks fall further on gloom

EUROPEAN stock markets extended losses on Tuesday as investors dumped risky assets amid spreading economic gloom and after a deadly double bombing at the Boston Marathon, dealers said.

In late morning trade, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of top companies slid 0.47 per cent to 6,313.70 points and in Paris the CAC 40 dipped 0.55 per cent to 3,690.01.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 sank 0.45 per cent to 7,677.11 points as dealers also digested news that German investor sentiment fell by more than expected in April.

"Mounting concerns about the global economic outlook and events in Boston have triggered a flight to quality," said RIA Capital Markets analyst Nick Stamenkovic.

"The dollar has benefited from its safe-haven status, with commodity prices losing ground."

In foreign exchange activity, the US dollar rebounded to 97.80 yen from 96.72 yen late on Monday in New York. The euro meanwhile edged up to $1.3053, from $1.3036.

Two explosions struck one of America's top sporting events Monday, killing at least three and wounding more than 100 at the Boston Marathon.

As cities from New York to Los Angeles went on high alert, traders took fright.

The news sent Wall Street's Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbling by 2.30 per cent amid a plunge in commodities like oil and gold.

Markets had already dived on Monday after news that the powerful Chinese economy slowed unexpectedly in the first quarter of 2013, and amid lingering gloom over the US economic outlook.

"A lot of the negativity in the markets is still stemming from the Chinese data from yesterday," Alpari analyst Craig Erlam told AFP.

"The fact that we're seeing a slowdown in the two largest economies does not bode well for those countries that are still in/close to recession.

"The Boston marathon bombing is just adding to the lack of risk appetite in the markets. With so much still unknown in relation to the bombing, including who is responsible for it, traders are likely to sit on the sidelines a little more today."

David White, analyst at trading group Spreadex, said that the bombings would have an overall muted impact on financial markets if it remained an isolated event.

"While a tragedy, the financial impact of the event, so long as it remains isolated, is negligible," he said.

Gold prices meanwhile recovered slightly after tumbling to a two-year low on the weak Chinese data and reports Cyprus was planning to sell part of its reserves.

In Tuesday deals on the London Bullion Market, gold stood at $1,376.82 per ounce, one day after plunging to $1,321.95 - the lowest level since January 2011.

The weak China outlook meanwhile continued to hit other commodities, with Brent oil sinking as low as $98 in Asian trading hours.

In company news on Tuesday, French luxury goods group LVMH, which owns brands such as Louis Vuitton, Givenchy and Guerlain, posted disappointing quarterly results.

The news sent LVMH's share price sliding 3.3 per cent in value to 126.95 euros in Paris deals.

Traders will later digest a barrage of results from key US companies including Goldman Sachs, Coca Cola and Johnson & Johnson.

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One Nation co-founder suing Tony Abbott

A LAWSUIT by One Nation Party co-founder David Ettridge against federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will head to court next month.

Mr Ettridge is suing federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott for damages of more than $1.5 million.

He has accused Mr Abbott of acting unlawfully in 1998 by assisting and encouraging litigation against One Nation in the Queensland courts.

Mr Ettridge alleges the court action was false and malicious and the resulting damage affected him greatly.

He also accuses Mr Abbott of attempting to pervert the course of justice by providing lawyers "to propel those false claims through the courts".

Mr Ettridge's lawyers served legal papers on Mr Abbott for damages on the weekend.

A spokesman for Mr Abbott told AAP the papers had been received, but declined to comment further.

A directions hearing is set for the Brisbane Supreme Court on May 9 and Mr Abbott has received a summons to attend.

"Before Tony Abbott can become prime minister of Australia he needs to be judged on his suitability to hold the highest office in Australia," Mr Ettridge told AAP in a statement.

"For his role in this disgraceful period of Australian political history, Tony Abbott has never been brought to account."

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Australia rich market for crims: UN study

AUSTRALIA is a lucrative market for international crime syndicates which earn about $US90 billion ($A87.7 billion) a year in the Asia-Pacific region, a new report has found.

The first Transnational Organised Crime in East Asia and the Pacific threat assessment, released in Sydney on Tuesday, says drugs - primarily heroin and methamphetamine - account for more than a third of organised crime gangs' profits.

Methamphetamine trade in the region brings in about $US15 billion, and heroin trafficking is worth roughly $US16.3 billion, the report compiled by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says.

The study put Australia's heroin use at 602 kilograms in 2011, worth about $US645 million.

While this pales in comparison to China - where 47,316kg worth about $US1.05 billion was consumed - the price per gram was almost five times higher in Australia.

Similar price gaps were identified in the methamphetamine market.

The report estimates about 269,000 Australians a year use methamphetamine.

In China, where about 2,000,000 people use the drug, it sells for $US80 per gram.

Methamphetamine users in Australia and Japan, labelled by the report as the "expensive markets", pay five times as much, about $US400 per gram.

Most of these drugs are manufactured in Myanmar, Laos, Afghanistan and China, the report said.

"The evolving markets of meth ... should be of great concern," the Australian Strategic Policy Unit's Dr Toby Feakin told reporters at the launch of the report.

"There's an ease of construction of this particular drug, distribution and low unit costs, high levels of addictiveness, which are really an appalling recipe which Australia has to be hugely aware of."

International organised crime syndicates make $US24.4 billion a year selling counterfeit goods in Europe and the US, the report says.

Between 2008 and 2010, 75 per cent of counterfeit products were manufactured in East Asia, with 67 per cent coming from China alone.

The report also examined the profits organised crime gangs made from human trafficking and migrant smuggling, illegal harvesting and trade of timber and wildlife, and illicit trading in ozone-depleting substances and electronic waste and counterfeit medication.

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Iran hit by 7.5-magnitude earthquake

A 7.5-MAGNITUDE earthquake has hit southeastern Iran, the country's Seismological Centre reports on its website.

The epicentre of the quake, which struck at a depth of 18 kilometres, was located about 81 kilometres north of Saravan in the southeastern province of Sistan Baluchistan, it said on Tuesday.

The area is close to the Iran-Pakistan border, the US Geological Survey reports.

The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the tremors were felt as far as New Delhi and the Gulf cities of Dubai and Bahrain.

Across the Gulf, high-rise buildings swayed and officials ordered evacuations. Dubai has the world's tallest tower, the 828-metre Burj Khalifa.

The quake hit at 2044 AEST at a depth of 15 kilometres, and about 86 kilometres east-southeast of Khash in Iran, the USGS said.

The quake struck a slightly populated region.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Pakistani news channels showed buildings shaking in the southern city of Karachi, where people in panic came out from offices and homes. There was no immediate word on any damage and people were seen standing outside their homes and offices even minutes after the quack rattled various parts of the country.

Iranian state-run TV said at least 40 people had been killed in the earthquake.

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Tight security for Thatcher funeral

Margaret Thatcher's funeral will have tight security as police fear protesters could disrupt it. Source: AAP

MARGARET Thatcher's funeral will be surrounded by tight security as police fear protesters opposed to her political legacy and anarchists could try to disrupt the ceremonial occasion.

The British former prime minister has been as divisive in death as she was in life and police are taking no chances that Wednesday's funeral procession through central London to St Paul's Cathedral will be targeted by the same protesters who staged celebrations of her death.

A major security operation has been planned, amid fears it could be disrupted by far-left groups, Irish republicans or individuals obsessed with the Iron Lady.

The high-profile guest list, headed by Queen Elizabeth II and set to include a host of international political figures and celebrities, has also increased the pressure on Scotland Yard.

Hundreds of people joined a "party" in London's Trafalgar Square on Saturday, and several said they would return to demonstrate when her flag-draped coffin is carried through the streets of the capital with full military honours.

"I plan to go there and turn my back when she comes," said Sigrid Holmwood, a 34-year-old artist, saying she objected to the estimated STG10 million ($A14.7 million) cost of the send-off.

Police are scanning social networking sites for information about possible protests, after the events last week were advertised on Twitter and Facebook.

They have also urged people planning to disrupt the funeral to contact them so that lawful protests can be organised, a pro-active tactic used successfully during last year's Olympic Games in London.

"The right to protest is one that must be upheld. However, we will work to do that while balancing the rights of those who wish to pay their respects," said Commander Christine Jones, who is leading the security operation.

Jones was also in charge of security at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton in April 2011, which passed off peacefully.

"We are hugely experienced in safely delivering high-profile and ceremonial events in the capital," Jones said.

Police officers will be deployed at strategic points along the route that the funeral cortege will take from parliament to the cathedral and a mobile team will be on hand to deploy to trouble spots.

Fears of violent protests were sparked by impromptu parties by left-wing activists celebrating Thatcher's death on May 8, which flared up in London, Bristol, Liverpool and Glasgow.

Scotland Yard is also bracing for potential threats from individuals fixated with Britain's first female prime minister, who was in office for 11 years from 1979 to 1990.

Dai Davies, a former head of royal protection at the London police force, told The Times newspaper that police chiefs were most likely to be concerned "about a fixated person with a psychological hatred of Margaret Thatcher".

Another potential threat could come from Irish republican dissidents who have never forgiven Thatcher for her hardline approach to hunger strikers during the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland.

The Irish Republican Army (IRA), the main paramilitary group fighting British rule in the province, tried to kill her by bombing the hotel where she and her cabinet were staying for the 1984 Conservative Party conference.

The IRA gave up its armed struggle a decade ago, but dissident groups are still active in Northern Ireland.

"Baroness Thatcher's funeral is bound to excite dissident MP ambitions. It is something I know the security services are taking very seriously," Conservative MP and security expert Patrick Mercer told The Guardian newspaper.

A large section of central London will be closed off for the funeral, including roads around Buckingham Palace and Parliament Square, home to parliament and Westminster Abbey.

Several London Underground stations will also be closed along the route as part of the lock-down.

A full military rehearsal of the procession took place in the early hours of Monday.

Some police leave has been cancelled. In the worst case scenario, the police will be able to call on the armed forces, 700 of whom are taking part in the funeral procession.

Army Major Andrew Chatburn, the man in charge of choreographing the parade, said protests were a matter for the police.

But he added: "Many of these (military personnel) have served in Afghanistan and if there is anything that they have to adapt to, they will adapt to it within the confines of their responsibility."

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Gold price rout could continue

The gold price could fall further after the commodity and miners of the precious metal were routed. Source: AAP

THE rout of the gold price is expected to continue after holders of the precious metal and gold mining stocks were punished on Monday.

The speed of the fall has surprised market watchers, with gold trading below $US1,450 ($A1,387.10) an ounce on Monday and 24 per cent below its record highs of 2011, putting it in bear territory.

The trigger for Monday's pain was a fall in value of $US63 an ounce, or 4.1 per cent, on Friday night to cap off a 6.1 per cent fall for the week.

The explanations and rumours for why the price of gold is falling ranged from positive views about the US economy sparking an end to monetary stimulus; to consortiums of bullion or central banks artificially pushing the price down and selling in large volumes to China.

CMC Markets chief market strategist Michael McCarthy predicts the price will fall by at least one third to $US1,000 an ounce and as low as $US880.

During a 12-year run of gains until this year, gold had been an investment for all seasons: when there was economic growth it was a hedge against inflation, when growth was going backwards it was a safe haven, Mr McCarthy told AAP.

What was different now was that it appeared the loose monetary policy of central banks around the globe and low interest rates and a weak US currency was coming to an end.

"Whenever you see that sort of dynamic in an investment, when it reverses it can get very, very ugly," he said.

"Companies with sustainable earnings paying nice dividends are attracting investors at the moment .. whereas something like gold produces no income, if it's a capital loss, its just a capital loss."

Head of research at ForexCT Steven Dooley criticised traders and investors who saw the gold price as a commodity that would only go up, expecting it to hit $US2,000.

Eagle Research Advisory managing director Keith Goode said he thought the gold price could bounce back up just as quickly as it fell.

"There are comments about why banks want the gold price to go down without waving a conspiracy," he told AAP.

"It's not impossible for the banks to act as a consortium to get the gold price down so China can buy at lower levels."

Shares in Australia's largest goldminer Newcrest Mining plunged by $1.61, or 8.24 per cent, to $17.92 and is at four-and-a-half year lows.

Smaller goldminers were harder hit, such as St Barbara, who dropped 13.5 per cent to 90 cents, and Regis Resources, who fell 12 per cent to $3.60.

Mr McCarthy said most goldminers would still be profitable until prices dropped to well below $US1,000 an ounce, but could not be complacent.

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Abbott quizzed on gay marriage stance

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has repeatedly been questioned about his stance against gay marriage. Source: AAP

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott has repeatedly been questioned about his stance against gay marriage at a community forum in Sydney.

About 500 people attended the question and answer session with the opposition leader on Monday night in the beachside suburb of Manly, part of Mr Abbott's local electorate of Warringah.

In what was a wide ranging question and answer session, Mr Abbott fielded questions on topics including immigration, tax, education, climate change and superannuation.

He was also repeatedly urged to allow coalition MPs a conscience vote on gay marriage.

"I'd like to know when you're going to allow a conscience vote on marriage equality," Mr Abbott was asked by a member of the crowd.

"My position on this is fairly well known. I'm fairly traditional. I support the standard definition of marriage as between a man and a woman," replied Mr Abbott, who opposes changing the Marriage Act.

"That is our party's position," he later added.

He said coalition policy on the issue would not change in the lead up to September's federal election.

He said coalition policy on marriage equality after the election was "a matter for the post election party room".

Mr Abbott also used the forum to criticise the Gillard government's proposed multibillion dollar reforms to the education sector.

"We need better schools, we need better universities, but I just don't know if we can trust the current government to deliver it," he said.

He also defended the current skilled migration scheme and the use of 457 visas.

"Where you genuinely can't find someone, you should be able to bring someone in," he said.

"They are invariably more expensive than a local worker."

At one point, Mr Abbott rebuked a member of the audience for labelling the prime minister a "horrible woman".

"It's important that everyone in this audience and everyone in our polity generally be given a polite hearing," he said.

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Indian court convicts man over 2010 blast

AN Indian court has convicted a cyber cafe worker of murder over a bomb blast which ripped through a packed restaurant in the western city of Pune three years ago, killing 17 people.

A lower court in Pune on Monday found Mirza Himayat Baig guilty of criminal conspiracy and murder for the attack on the popular German Bakery restaurant where five foreigners were among those killed by a bomb in a rucksack left under a table.

"Baig has been found guilty of all the key charges. He was a co-conspirator," special public prosecutor Raja Thakare told AFP.

Baig's sentence will be handed down on Thursday and he could face the death penalty for the bombing that also injured more than 60 people. Five co-accused were still at large, Thakare said.

The blast on February 13, 2010 in the restaurant located in an upscale area of Pune in Maharashtra state was the first major attack in India after the 2008 assault on Mumbai by Islamist gunmen that left 166 dead.

The bomb exploded while the bakery and restaurant was jammed with mainly young Indians and tourists.

Thakare said Baig, in his early 30s, was linked to the Indian Mujahideen, a home-grown Islamist group with links to militants in Pakistan, which the government had suspected of involvement in the blast.

Prosecutors had told the court the conspirators planned the attack at a meeting in Colombo, Sri Lanka, where Baig was trained to make a bomb, but the defence team denied this and said he was not in Pune at the time of the blast.

"We will file an appeal to the high court," Baig's counsel A. Rehman told reporters after the verdict was delivered in Pune, a university city which lies 150 kilometres from India's financial capital Mumbai.

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14th Iraqi local polls candidate killed

A ROADSIDE bomb has killed an Iraqi provincial elections candidate and three other people north of Baghdad, bringing the number of candidates killed in attacks to 14.

Najm al-Harbi was travelling to Baquba on a highway in Diyala province in his personal vehicle on Sunday when the bomb exploded, killing him, two of his brothers and a bodyguard, a police lieutenant colonel and a doctor said.

An official from Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlak's office confirmed Harbi's death, and said he was the head of the deputy premier's list in Diyala province.

Harbi's killing comes a day after Hatim Mohammed al-Dulaimi, a candidate for Salaheddin provincial council, was shot dead by gunmen near his home in Baiji, north of the Iraqi capital.

Soldiers and policemen cast their ballots for the provincial elections on Saturday, a week ahead of the main vote, the country's first since March 2010 parliamentary polls.

The election comes amid an uptick in violence and a long-running political crisis between Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and several of his erstwhile government partners.

The credibility of the elections has been drawn into question following deadly attacks on candidates and a government decision to partly postpone voting that means only 12 of Iraq's 18 provinces will take part.

More than 8000 candidates are standing in the elections, with 378 seats on provincial councils up for grabs.

An estimated 16.2 million Iraqis are eligible to vote, among them about 650,000 members of the security forces.

Although security has markedly improved since the height of Iraq's sectarian conflict, 271 people were killed in March, making it the deadliest month since August, according to Agence France-Presse figures.

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Brits opposed to paying for funeral: poll

SIXTY per cent of Britons are opposed to taxpayers contributing millions of pounds to Margaret Thatcher's funeral, a new poll suggests.

Baroness Thatcher's ceremonial send-off on Wednesday is to cost the country STG10 million ($A14.7 million).

It will stop traffic in central London and thousands of police will be on hand to deal with expected protests.

A Sunday Mirror poll of 2000 people has found six out of 10 believe Baroness Thatcher was Britain's "most divisive" prime minister ever.

That's the same percentage opposed to the government paying the funeral costs.

Some 41 per cent of voters disagree with current Prime Minister David Cameron's suggestion last week that Lady Thatcher was the country's greatest peacetime leader.

Hundreds of people gathered in the rain at Trafalgar Square on Saturday to protest against Lady Thatcher's legacy and mark her death with a party.

Union members from across the UK who had fierce battles with Lady Thatcher in the 1980s rubbed shoulders with those demonstrating against present-day welfare cuts.

The Iron Lady's funeral will be the largest Britain has seen since the Queen Mother's 11 years ago.

The 20-minute military procession from Westminster to St Paul's Cathedral will feature more than 700 serving armed forces personnel from units particularly associated with the Falklands War.

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Syria troops 'break siege of army camps'

SYRIAN troops have broken a months-long rebel siege on two key military bases in the northwestern province of Idlib, killing at least 21 opposition fighters, activists say.

"Regime forces managed to lift the siege on the Wadi Deif and Hamdiya military camps after the army went around the rebel fighters and attacked them from behind," the opposition British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Sunday.

At least 21 rebels were killed in the attack, which focused on the village of Babulin, the group said.

Troops "now control two hilltops on either side of the Damascus-Aleppo international highway" reopening a supply route for the army, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.

Rahman said two military trucks carrying materiel and soldiers have since been spotted passing through the area for the first time in months.

The area is in the countryside near the strategic town of Maaret al-Numan, which fell to rebel forces last October.

Rebels began blocking military supply routes north and to the nearby Wadi Deif and Hamdiya army bases after they seized Maaret al-Numan, which lies on the Damascus-Aleppo highway.

Elsewhere in the country, the Observatory reported air raids on the al-Hajar al-Aswad suburb of southern Damascus, as well as continued shelling of the Daraya suburb, where regime forces have been struggling to oust rebels.

Violence throughout Syria killed 138 people on Saturday, according to a tally from the Observatory, which says it relies on a network of doctors and activists on the ground for its figures.

Syrian opposition activists meanwhile say President Bashar al-Assad's forces destroyed the minaret of the historic Omari mosque in Daraa, where Syria's uprising erupted two years ago.

In amateur video footage the activists uploaded to YouTube, the mosque can be seen at the end of a street, its towering minaret toppling over after apparent shelling and crumbling into rubble and dust.

Other videos posted online show the mosque, which is thought to date back to the 7th century, had been targeted in shelling for several days.

"This regime of unrestrained barbarism targeted with tanks the minaret of the Omari mosque, a place full of symbols of civilisation and spirituality and humanity," said the opposition Syrian National Council.

"The minaret of this mosque, which was build by Caliph Omar bin al-Khattab, is the first in the whole of the Levant, and has been destroyed by the soldiers of the tyrant," it added, referring to President Assad.

As Syria's conflict continues into a third year, an increasing number of the country's key heritage sites, both religious and cultural, are being damaged in the fighting.

Syria has six sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list.

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Five dead in Somalia courthouse attack

MILITANTS have launched a serious and sustained assault on Mogadishu's main court complex, detonating at least two blasts, taking an unknown number of hostages and exchanging extended volleys of gunfire with government security forces, witnesses say.

The attack on the country's Supreme Court complex began at around 12.30pm on Sunday and running battles with police and army forces lasted at least 90 minutes.

Two bomb blasts were heard and gunmen were seen on a court building roof firing shots, an Associated Press reporter at the scene said.

A confirmed death toll wasn't immediately available but Hassan Abdulahi, a police officer, said he saw five dead bodies lying at the entrance to the court.

The gunmen took hostages in the main courtroom and forced their way into other rooms in the complex, said another police officer, Abdinasir Nor.

The number of hostages wasn't immediately known.

The armed men forced their way inside the complex and immediately set off an explosion, said Yusuf Abdi, who was near the court when the attack happened on Sunday.

A government spokesman, Mohamed Yusuf, confirmed the attack and said security forces had responded and were battling the militants.

Mogadishu's main government centre is heavily guarded with multiple security checks.

However, the security at the court complex is not nearly as strong.

Most militant attacks in Mogadishu are blamed on fighters for the Islamic extremist rebel group al-Shabab.

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