Snowden's hopes rise on asylum offer

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has offered asylum to US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden. Source: AAP

US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden remained stranded in a Moscow airport for the 14th day amid rising hopes he may finally be able to leave Russia after being offered asylum by Venezuela.

The saga surrounding the fugitive former US National Security Agency (NSA) contractor took a new turn late on Friday when Venezuela's leftist President Nicolas Maduro offered to grant him "humanitarian asylum".

Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega had only moments earlier also said his Latin American country could offer a safe haven for one of Washington's most wanted men "if circumstances permit".

Snowden, 30, had earlier been denied asylum by many of the 21 countries to which he had applied last week.

The WikiLeaks anti-secrecy website, which has been supporting Snowden's cause, said he had recently applied to six additional countries it refused to name.

But it was far from clear how exactly Snowden could reach another nation from the transit zone of Russia's sprawling Sheremetyevo international airport.

He has been stripped of his passport by the US authorities and a refugee pass initially believed to have been offered to him by Ecuador has since been declared invalid.

Snowden could only take flights from Sheremetyevo and not another Moscow airport to which visiting foreign dignitaries such as Maduro have access because he cannot move beyond Russian passport control.

Maduro made his intentions clear in an address at an independence day event in Caracas.

"As head of state of the Bolivarian republic of Venezuela, I have decided to offer humanitarian asylum to the young Snowden ... to protect this young man from the persecution launched by the most powerful empire in the world," Maduro said.

Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega voiced a slightly more toned down message only minutes earlier.

"We are open, respectful of the right to asylum, and it is clear that if circumstances permit it, we would receive Snowden with pleasure and give him asylum here in Nicaragua," Ortega said at a public event.

Ecuador had been seen as the American's best hope when he arrived in Moscow from Hong Kong on June 23 after leaking secrets about the extent of the US data surveillance programme to the press.

But the leftist government in Quito has yet to consider his application.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has refused to extradite Snowden to the US while still stressing that he would like to see him gone as soon as possible.

"Russia is not happy that he is here. If it wanted to offer him asylum, this would have been done right away," said Carnegie Moscow Centre analyst Maria Lipman.

She noted that Putin himself was a former KGB spy who cares deeply about the safety of state secrets.

"Putin does not want to help someone who reveals secrets - Putin is very serious about this," said Lipman.

"He would like to get rid of Snowden, but this is getting more and more difficult," the analyst said.

Putin has denied ever questioning Snowden about the details of the US spy network and has even suggested that doing so was not worth the effort.

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'World's biggest cocaine dealer' deported

AN Italian mafia capo alleged to be the biggest cocaine trafficker in the world will be deported to Italy on Saturday, a day after being arrested in a Colombian shopping mall, prosecutors said.

Roberto Pannunzi was detained in Bogota with a fake Venezuelan identity card in a joint operation by Colombian police together with the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

"He is the biggest cocaine importer in the world," said Nicola Gratteri, deputy chief prosecutor in Reggio Calabria in southern Italy.

"He is the only one who can organise purchases and sales of cocaine shipments of 3000 kilos and up."

"Pannunzi is the only one who can sell both to the 'Ndrangheta and to Cosa Nostra. He is definitely the most powerful drug broker in the world," he said.

The 'Ndrangheta is based in Calabria and is a major player in international drug trafficking. The Sicilian mafia is known as Cosa Nostra.

Gratteri said Pannunzi was being deported since "an extradition order would have taken several months".

He is expected to land at Rome's Fiumicino airport later on Saturday.

In April, Colombia captured another suspected top mafioso, Domenico Trimboli, alleged to be a lynchpin between the Medellin drug cartel and the 'Ndrangheta.

Pannunzi had escaped from a Rome clinic where he was being held under house arrest in 2010 - repeating an earlier escape in the same way in 1999.

He was previously being detained in Colombia in 1994, when he reportedly offered the arresting officers a million dollars in cash to walk away.

Gratteri said that during Friday's arrest, Pannunzi had told the police he was ill but he said he hoped the alleged trafficker would not be granted house arrest in a hospital in Italy again.

"I hope that he is not given house arrest a third time because he could attempt a third escape.

"It's exhausting having to go around the world to find him every time he escapes," Gratteri said.

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Mubarak back in court amid Egypt unrest

LAWYERS for Egypt's ex-president Hosni Mubarak have entered a not guilty plea at his retrial for alleged complicity in the killings of protesters in 2011.

The hearing resumed on Saturday and comes coincidentally just three days after Mubarak's successor Mohamed Morsi was himself toppled amid turmoil on the streets pitting Islamists against anti-Morsi protesters.

Mubarak and seven top security chiefs are charged with incitement in the killings of protesters who rose up against him in early 2011. Along with his two sons, Mubarak is also charged with corruption.

The 85-year-old former strongman appeared in the dock behind bars on Saturday, wearing dark sunglasses and a white prison uniform.

During the televised hearing, Cairo's criminal court heard submissions by the defence before adjourning proceedings until August 17.

At the previous hearing, on June 10, cartons filled with police notebooks and videos of demonstrations on Cairo's Tahrir Square, epicentre of the 2011 revolt during which almost 850 people died, were submitted to the court.

The original trial last year on charges of complicity in killing demonstrators led to a life sentence for Mubarak and former interior minister Habib al-Adly, but an appeals court ordered a retrial, citing procedural errors.

Islamist Morsi, who was elected president after Mubarak's ouster, was deposed in a military coup on Wednesday.

Army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi announced Morsi's overthrow in a television broadcast, citing his inability to end a deepening political crisis.

Morsi's supporters on Saturday vowed further protests against the coup, after a night of ferocious clashes that killed 30 people and injured more than 1100 nationwide.

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WA offers Noongar people $1.3b title deal

THE West Australian government has made an historic $1.3 billion offer to settle the Noongar people's native title claim over Perth and the state's southwest.

Premier Colin Barnett proposes to settle the Noongar claim with the transfer of 320,000 hectares of crown land and a massive injection of government funding.

Central to the offer is a pledge to spend $50 million a year on a perpetual trust fund for social and economic development, as well as the establishment of six regional Noongar corporations.

In announcing the offer on Saturday, Mr Barnett said if the offer was accepted it would represent the most comprehensive native title agreement in Australian history.

He said a deal could cause seismic change for the Noongar people.

"Nothing happens overnight, but we expect this arrangement will help lift outcomes in Aboriginal health, education and employment over time," Mr Barnett said on Saturday.

"It should also help produce a new generation of Noongar leaders to drive further change within their community."

The state would continue to hold mineral rights over the transferred land under the proposed deal.

Mr Barnett said the Noongar people would have six months to consider the agreement, which the government hopes to start enacting within a year.

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Search called off for American schooner

THE search has been called off for the American schooner Nina which went missing with seven people on board in the Tasman Sea.

The 21m sailing vessel was travelling from Opua in the Bay of Islands to Newcastle in Australia on May 29 with six Americans and one British man aboard.

It struck winds up to 110km/h and 8m swells and has not been heard from since June 4.

Extensive searching over the past 11 days of an area more than eight times the size of New Zealand has failed to find any trace of the schooner.

No more searching is planned unless new information comes to light, Rescue Co-ordination Centre New Zealand operations manager John Seward said on Friday.

But radio broadcasts will continue to be made in New Zealand and Australia in the search for new information, he said.

Those on the Nina are David Dyche III, 58, and wife, Rosemary, 60, their son David Dyche IV, 17, friend Evi Nemeth, 73, Kyle Jackson, 27, Danielle Wright, 18, and Briton Matthew Wootton, 35.

The vessel is equipped with a satellite phone, a tracking device and an emergency beacon that has not been activated.

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Popes have no faith in gay marriage

THE Vatican has issued an unprecedented religious text co-written by Pope Francis and his predecessor Benedict XVI in which the two popes said faith should serve the "common good" but restated their opposition to gay marriage.

Francis paid tribute to pope emeritus Benedict XVI in the encyclical, saying that the ex-pontiff had "almost completed" the text before stepping down in a historic resignation this year and that he himself had merely added "further contributions."

The 82-page text stresses that there is no contradiction between the Catholic faith and the modern world and calls for more dialogue with scientists, other religions and non-believers.

It also restates the Catholic Church's position on marriage saying it should be a "stable union of man and woman."

"This union is born of their love, as a sign and presence of God's own love, and of the acknowledgment and acceptance of the goodness of sexual differentiation," reads the text.

While some passages in the encyclical have a more academic and ponderous feel characteristic of Benedict XVI, others contain the simpler expressions and brighter outlook of his successor.

Examples of Francis's input could be references to the need to protect nature and to sustainable development, as well as his oft-repeated phrase: "Let us refuse to be robbed of hope".

Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, noted there were "differences of style, sensibility and accent" between the two popes in the text but said there was "substantial continuity of the message".

Francis and Benedict, who both live within the walls of the Vatican City and wear the white papal vestments, met publicly on Friday at a ceremony in the Vatican for the unveiling of a new statue.

Benedict became the first pope to resign of his own free will in 700 years in February and Francis was elected to succeed him in March as the first non-European pope in nearly 1,300 years.

The central message of the encyclical, entitled Lumen Fidei (Light of Faith) is that faith should be considered a "common good".

"Its light does not simply brighten the interior of the Church, nor does it serve solely to build an eternal city in the hereafter, it helps us build our societies," it says.

The text also calls for a "return to the true basis of brotherhood", saying that the ideal of equality without faith "cannot endure".

In another passage the encyclical says that believers should be humble and not "presumptuous".

"As a truth of love, it is not one that can be imposed by force... Faith is not intransigent, but grows in respectful coexistence with others."

Encyclicals are papal circular letters addressed to the clergy of the Roman Catholic Church that are intended to summarise a pontiff's thoughts on a particular aspect of Church life.

Some of them have gone down in history as significant landmarks in Church history.

Pope Leo XII in 1891 published Rerum Novarum in which he undertook to engage the Catholic Church in social issues, denouncing living conditions for the working class and encouraging workers to organise themselves into associations.

In 1914, Benedict XV denounced the horrors of World War I in Ad beatissimi apostolorum principis and Pius XI in Mit brennender Sorge in 1937 condemned Nazi racism.

In Paul VI's Humanae Vitae in 1968, Paul VI condemned all forms of contraception, while John Paul II in Evangelium Vitae in 1995 called for opposition to laws legalising abortion and euthanasia.

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Delhi gang-rape verdict due next week

A JUVENILES' court in New Delhi is set to hand down the first verdict next week over the gang-rape of a student in the capital which sparked mass protests, a lawyer says.

The court has been hearing the case of a teenager, aged 17 at the time of the crime, who was one of six suspects arrested after the brutal assault of the woman on a moving bus.

"Arguments will be held first and then the judgement will be out," said defence lawyer Rajesh Tiwari, saying the verdict would be delivered on July 11.

Protests erupted across India in December and January following the fatal gang-rape of a 23-year-old student on a bus on December 16.

The crime, though far from rare in India, brought simmering anger among women about endemic harassment and violence to the surface and led the government to toughen its rape laws.

Tiwari said he was prohibited by the court from commenting on the trial or its result.

"At this stage we are barred by it from speaking on the expected verdict but after July 11 I will express my opinion," Tiwari told AFP.

The suspect cannot be named under Indian laws.

The juveniles' court can award a maximum term of three years to the suspect if he is convicted as the crime was committed when he was under 18.

Five other men were initially put on trial for gang-rape, murder and robbery among other charges and they face a maximum death penalty if convicted.

One of them, the alleged gang leader and the regular driver of the bus, died in prison in March after a suspected suicide.

The remaining four suspects are being tried in a special court set up to fast-track the case. The judge is examining the last of several hundred witnesses and is expected to deliver a verdict in the next few months.

The victim's family has been among those calling for the juvenile to be tried alongside the four other accused, who face the possibility of being hanged if found guilty of rape and murder charges.

But the Delhi-based Juvenile Justice Board accepted the school records of the teenage suspect, which states that he was born on June 4, 1995, making him 17 at the time of the crime.

The woman, a physiotherapy student, suffered massive intestinal injuries during the assault in which she was raped and violated with an iron bar.

She died 13 days later after the government flew her to a Singapore hospital in a last-ditch bid to save her life.

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Mandela reflects on his death in video

NEARLY 15 years ago Nelson Mandela was unperturbed by his own death, telling a dying teenager that he had lived his life to the full.

The video dating from 1998, broadcast by American news channel CBS on Thursday as Mandela remained in critically ill in hospital, showed the towering South African statesman visiting a 15-year-old, also named Nelson.

"Understanding the fact that I'm near the end, I remain optimistic with my morale very high, because I'm saying I have lived my life," the statesman, then 80, told the teen, who was dying of brain cancer.

In the amateur video the boy, his head shaved, smiled shyly from his bed at the peace icon, who wore one of his colourful trademark shirts.

Posters of cars adorned the wall next to where the then-president sat holding a teacup.

"If your spirit is not optimistic, your morale is not high, medicine is not very effective," the then president said.

The boy died under three months after the visit.

Broadcast as the 94-year-old nears one month in hospital, the words carry added poignancy.

According to court documents from Mandela family lawyers, filed nine days ago, doctors believed Mandela was in a "permanent vegetative state" and they advised his family to turn off his life support machine.

South Africa's presidency has since said his condition has improved and on Thursday denied he is in a vegetative state.

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Portugal government battles for survival

PORTUGAL'S leaders are scrambling to save their coalition government after being torpedoed by top resignations over the austerity policies squeezing their bailed-out nation.

Financial markets rallied on Thursday after Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho assured his European partners that he could ride out the storm which erupted after his finance and foreign ministers said they were quitting.

"I am convinced that it will be possible to find the necessary conditions to ensure the stability of the government," he told reporters in Berlin at a top-level meeting Wednesday on youth unemployment.

The Portuguese stock market's PSI-20 index showed a gain of 3.04 per cent to 5,395.48 points in morning trade on Thursday, after plunging 5.31 per cent the previous day.

Pressure on the bond market eased, too, with the Portuguese benchmark 10-year government bond yield sliding to 7.216 per cent, having spiked to 8.106 per cent Wednesday.

Markets had plunged after Foreign Minister Paulo Portas, who is also leader of the junior partner in the governing coalition, the small conservative CDS-PP party, announced he was resigning on Tuesday.

The news came a day after the shock departure of finance minister Vitor Gaspar.

But the prime minister, desperate to hold together the coalition led by his Social Democratic Party, has so far refused to accept the resignation of his foreign minister and the two have since been in talks.

The prospect of a deal emerged when the CDS-PP leadership asked Portas to meet with the premier to find "a viable solution for the government of Portugal".

A first round of talks on Wednesday evening between the prime minister and his foreign minister were described as "very constructive" by the premier's office.

They were holding a second round on Thursday morning.

Passos Coelho was reportedly hoping to be able to present a solution for the government to President Anibal Cavaco Silva at a meeting scheduled for 1600 GMT (02:00 AEST)

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China supports people's 'choice' in Egypt

CHINA says it supports the "choice of the Egyptian people" and called for dialogue after the army toppled democratically-elected Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, detaining him and his top aides.

But foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying sidestepped questions on Thursday as to whether her comments offered "hope" to the Egyptian leader overthrown after only a year in office.

Western powers had earlier called for a swift return to democracy.

"China respects the choice of the Egyptian people," Hua told reporters at a regular press briefing in Beijing.

"We also hope that all parties concerned in Egypt can avoid using violence and properly solve their disputes through dialogue and consultation and realise reconciliation and social stability."

China is generally suspicious of intervention in the internal affairs of other nations.

Beijing was rattled by the wave of mass protests that swept the Arab world in 2011, eventually bringing Morsi to power.

Morsi's first official trip outside the Arab world was to Beijing last August, a fact highlighted by state media.

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Egypt seeks arrest of Brotherhood leaders

THE authorities in Egypt have issued an arrest warrant for the Muslim Brotherhood's supreme leader Mohammed Badie and his first deputy Khairat El-Shater, a judicial source says.

The two are wanted on charges of inciting the killing Sunday of protesters in front of the Muslim Brotherhood's headquarters in Cairo's southern neighbourhood of Mokattam, the source tolD AFP on condition of anonymity.

The warrants come a day after the military toppled president Mohamed Morsi, who hails from the Brotherhood, following bloodshed and mass protests calling for his ouster.

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Female Afghan police officer shot dead

GUNMEN have shot dead one of the most high-profile female police officers in Afghanistan, underlining the threat to women who take on public roles in the country.

Lieutenant Islam Bibi was a well-known face of female advancement but admitted to receiving regular death threats from people who disapproved of her career - including from her own brother.

"She was shot by unknown assailants when she was being driven to work by her son in the morning," Helmand provincial government spokesman Omar Zwak told AFP.

"She was badly wounded and taken to hospital, and later died in emergency care. Her son was also injured."

Bibi, aged 37 and a mother of three, was seen as an example of how opportunities for women have improved in Afghanistan since the repressive Taliban regime was ousted in 2001.

She was the most senior female officer serving in Helmand, a hotbed of the Islamist insurgency that was launched against the US-backed Kabul government after the fall of the Taliban.

"My brother, father and sisters were all against me. In fact my brother tried to kill me three times," Bibi told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper earlier this year.

"He came to see me brandishing his pistol trying to order me not to do it (serve in the police), though he didn't actually open fire. The government eventually had to take his pistol away."

Bibi, a former refugee in Iran, returned to Afghanistan in 2001 and joined the police force nine years ago, saying she signed up for the salary and for the love of her country.

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Portuguese govt totters, markets reel

PORTUGUESE Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho's government is close to collapse after two top ministers quit, pounding financial markets in Lisbon and across Europe.

Markets reacted severely after Foreign Minister Paulo Portas resigned Tuesday evening, a day after the shock departure of Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar.

EU officials told Portugal to take its responsibilities and clarify the situation "as soon as possible".

The crisis in recession-wracked Portugal spread fears in world markets of a new wave of instability from the bailed-out nation on the eurozone's debt-laden periphery.

The yield on benchmark 10-year Portuguese government bonds spiked above eight percent for the first time since November 2012, hitting 8.023 percent before easing a little. It closed the previous day at 6.720 percent.

The sharp rise in the bond yield is a warning that the government may have to pay exorbitant rates if it wants to sell newly issued bonds to the financial markets.

The Lisbon stock exchange's key PSI-20 index plunged 6.55 percent to 5,168.20 points in morning trade.

As concern spread, Madrid's IBEX 35 index slumped 3.15 percent to 7,638.2, London's FTSE 100 fell 1.64 percent to 6,200.66 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 slid 1.93 percent to 7,757.78 points and in Paris the CAC 40 tumbled 1.70 percent to 3,679.03.

The euro fell to $1.2923 - hitting a low last recorded on May 29. That compared with $1.2978 late in New York on Tuesday.

Investors were unconvinced by the Portuguese premier's vow to stay on.

"Portugal, under severe economic pressure from a lack of growth, a bloated public sector and more than a decade on non-growth, most likely will see its government fall inside the next 48 hours, despite assurances from Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho that he will not resign," Saxo Bank chief economist Steen Jakobsen said.

"The coalition is falling, and falling soon," he said in a report.

Jakobsen said he expected a new election to be called with a huge drive against austerity measures.

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Rudd reckons Abbott lacks 'ticker'

PM Kevin Rudd (R) suspects Tony Abbott lacks the "ticker" to debate him on key policy areas. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd suspects Tony Abbott lacks the "ticker" to debate him on key policy areas.

Mr Abbott has been "lying" to the Australian people about the state of the economy, his ability to turn back asylum seeker boats and the impact of carbon pricing, Mr Rudd says in his first major television interview since retaking the leadership from Julia Gillard.

"So what I would say to Mr Abbott - you've been doing this for a long time, it's time we had a properly moderated debate ... on his chosen subjects," Mr Rudd said on the ABC's 730 program.

"Mr Abbott, I think it is time you demonstrated to the country you have a bit of ticker on this.

"He's the boxing blue. I'm the glasses-wearing kid in the library.

"Come on, let's have the Australian people form a view about whether his policies actually have substance, whether they actually work, or whether they are just slogans."

On his now-broken pledge never to return to the Labor leadership, Mr Rudd said Ms Gillard had vacated the spot and brought on the caucus ballot.

He said a second reason was the prospect of defeat at the 2013 election.

"The Australian Labor Party and the government was on track towards a catastrophic defeat and I wasn't about to stand idly by and see everything we worked for for the last five or six years go down the gurgler as Mr Abbott set about ripping it apart."

He said he was not motivated by revenge, but taking up the fight to Mr Abbott and coming up with a positive plan for the future.

Mr Rudd said he was working through policy changes but it would be an "orderly process".

He said he wanted to take the time to "think and take the best advice".

Asked whether Labor would be punished for its long leadership turmoil, Mr Rudd said he had faced four Liberal leaders over a period of four years after he took on the Labor leadership.

"In political parties these things happen from time to time," he said.

A spokesman for Mr Abbott told AAP the opposition leader would debate Mr Rudd once the prime minister "ends the uncertainty and names the election date".

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US home prices rise in May by most in 7yrs

US home prices jumped 12.2 per cent in May, suggesting the housing recovery is strengthening. Source: AAP

US home prices jumped 12.2 per cent in May from a year ago, the most in seven years. The increase suggests the housing recovery is strengthening.

Real estate data provider CoreLogic said on Tuesday that home prices rose from a year ago in 48 states. They fell only in Delaware and Alabama, while all but three of the 100 largest cities reported price gains.

Prices rose 26 per cent in Nevada to lead all states, followed by California (20.2 per cent), Arizona (16.9 per cent), Hawaii (16.1 per cent) and Oregon (15.5 per cent).

CoreLogic also said prices rose 2.6 per cent in May from April, the fifteenth straight month-over-month increase.

Steady hiring and low mortgage rates have encouraged more Americans to buy homes.

Greater demand, a limited number of homes for sale and fewer foreclosures have pushed prices higher, but prices are still 20 per cent below the peak reached in April 2006, it said.

Sales of previously occupied homes topped the five million mark in May for the first time in three and a half years. And the proportion of those sales that were "distressed" was at the lowest level in more than four years for the second straight month.

Distressed home sales include foreclosures and short sales - when a home sells for less than what is owed on the mortgage.

Home sales are expected to increase in the coming months. That's because the number of people who signed contracts to buy homes rose in June to the highest level since December 2006. There's generally a one- to two-month lag between a signed contract and a completed sale.

One worry is that higher mortgage rates could slow the housing recovery.

Still, rates remain low by historical standards and increases in rates could boost home sales because many Americans may act to lock in the lower rates before they rise further.

A survey by the University of Michigan released last week found more Americans believe it is a good time to buy a home because both rates and prices are just starting to rise.

Rates have been trending higher for two months.

The average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage leapt to 4.46 per cent last week, according to mortgage buyer Freddie Mac., the highest in two years and a point more than a month ago.

Mortgage rates surged after Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke said last month that the Fed could scale back its bond buying later this year and end it next year if the economy continued to strengthen. The bond purchases have kept long-term rates down.

Economists say higher mortgage rates are unlikely to stifle the housing recovery.

A more critical issue is whether potential buyers can get loans. There are signs that banks have become more willing to extend mortgages.

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S African court orders exhumation

Nelson Mandela's family are seeking to have grandson Mandla (pic) charged with grave tampering. Source: AAP

A SOUTH African court has ordered that the remains of three of Nelson Mandela's children be returned to his ancestral village, rejecting a bid by his oldest grandson to stop the exhumation following a bitter family feud.

A judge in the southern city of Mthatha upheld an earlier interim order for the grandson Mandla to transfer the remains to Qunu on Wednesday afternoon.

Mandela's grandson Mandla allegedly had the graves moved to Mvezo, about 30 kilometres away, in 2011 without the rest of the family's consent.

Mandela, who remains critically ill in what is now his fourth week in hospital, has expressed his wish to be buried in his childhood village of Qunu, and his daughters want to have the children's remains returned so they can be buried together.

A judge in the southern city of Mthatha upheld an earlier interim order for Mandla to return the remains to Qunu by Wednesday afternoon and instructed him to pay all legal costs.

The order was issued in response to a request by more than a dozen relatives of the revered leader, who led the struggle against white-minority rule in South Africa and won election as the country's first black president in 1994 after spending 27 years in apartheid prisons.

The relatives who brought the case included two of Mandela's daughters and several grandchildren.

After the decision, family members stood up and hugged each other.

Mandela's eldest daughter Makaziwe refused to comment on the ruling, saying "a private matter will remain private".

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1 dead in Aceh earthquake

A STRONG earthquake has hit Indonesia's Aceh province, killing at least one person and leaving two others missing.

The magnitude-6.1 quake struck at a depth of just 10 kilometres and its epicentre was located 55 kilometres west of the town of Bireun on the western tip of Sumatra island, the US Geological Survey said.

The worst-hit area was the district of Bener Meriah, where the quake caused a landslide that killed a man and left his wife and a young boy missing, said Fauzi, an official of the local disaster agency.

"Dozens of people were injured and are being treated at three hospitals," said Fauzi, who like many Indonesians uses a single name.

He said at least 22 houses were badly damaged in the district.

At least five people were reportedly injured and 10 houses were damaged in Takengon, the capital of Central Aceh district, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency.

"I see many houses were damaged and their roofs fell onto some people," said Bensu Elianita, a 22-year-old resident in Bukit Sama village in Central Aceh district. "Many people were injured, but it is difficult to evacuate them due to traffic jams."

She said people in the village ran out from their houses in panic and screamed for help. At least two homes were totally flattened, she said, adding that the quake also caused a blackout in the village.

The quake also caused panic among officials attending a meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation in Medan, the capital of neighbouring North Sumatra province. The officials were escorted from the second-floor meeting room by security officers.

In 2004, a huge earthquake off Aceh triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people across Asia.

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US sanctions against Iran come into force

RIGID new US sanctions against Iran have come into force, including bans on the exchange of gold to the Islamic republic, as Washington ratchets up efforts to isolate the country over its nuclear program.

Iran's foreign ministry denounced the sanctions as "the wrong step at the wrong time," warning the move would only complicate efforts to resolve the standoff through dialogue.

Turkey is believed to conduct extensive business with Iran using gold, and the US suspects it of importing Iranian natural gas and paying for the energy with the metal to circumvent existing restrictions on financial transactions with Tehran.

For years, the US and the international community have imposed an arsenal of sanctions against Iran, accusing it of using its civilian nuclear energy program as a cover for attempts to build atomic weapons - charges Tehran denies.

US President Barack Obama last July targeted Iran's oil export sector, vowing punishment against firms that circumvented restrictions on the financial dealings.

"Definitely, the more they add to the sanctions, the more difficult and complicated but not impossible the path of negotiation becomes," said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Abbas Araqchi on Monday ahead of the implementation of the new sanctions.

He was referring to years of ongoing but fruitless talks between Iran and world powers aimed at forcing Tehran to cut back on its sensitive part of its nuclear drive in exchange for incentives, including the lifting of sanctions.

Iran's economy is struggling to cope with the sanctions, which have cost billions in vital oil revenues, leaving Tehran struggling with raging inflation, high unemployment and a depreciated currency.

"Congress is going to definitely hold the administration's feet to the fire on enforcement," Mark Dubowitz, executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told AFP.

In practice, gold sales by any person or group to an Iranian government entity or private citizen can now trigger sanctions against the seller.

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Drugs, guns, cash found in Gold Coast raid

GUNS, ammunition, cash and a large stash of drugs have been seized by police during a raid on a Gold Coast motel.

Two men, 21 and 35, have been charged with a raft of drug and firearm offences following the search of the Burleigh Heads motel on Tuesday afternoon, police say.

Officers allege a 45 calibre semi-automatic pistol, a modified .22 calibre semi-automatic rifle, 40 rounds of ammunition, a significant amount of cannabis, about 100 grams of amphetamines and 1000 ecstasy tablets were found along with $11,330 cash.

A vehicle, clothing, masks and wigs were also seized.

Both men are due before Southport Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

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China probes baby formula makers on prices

CHINA has launched an investigation into alleged price-fixing by several mainly foreign baby formula makers, state media said.

China's top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), had launched the "anti-monopoly" inquiry, the People's Daily newspaper said.

The probe appears to mainly target foreign companies with state media only naming a single domestic firm, Biostime.

China is by far the world's largest market for formula, according to consumer research group Euromonitor.

But a 2008 food safety scandal involving tainted formula has prompted domestic consumers to shun local brands and created huge demand for the foreign product, including expensive informal imports.

The People's Daily said foreign brands under scrutiny included French firm Danone's Dumex, Mead Johnson, Wyeth, Abbott and Friso, while other state media also named Swiss-based global food giant Nestle, which confirmed an investigation.

"The company has been actively cooperating with the investigation," a spokeswoman for Nestle China told AFP, but declined further comment.

The NDRC, which helps regulate prices in China, declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

The People's Daily alleged the firms had hiked prices on formula by 30 per cent since 2008 to "relatively high" levels.

Domestic firm Biostime said last week that a subsidiary was under investigation by the government for fixing retail prices for its distributors in violation of China's anti-monopoly law.

In 2008, baby formula tainted with the industrial chemical melamine killed six children and sickened more than 300,000.

The government has vowed to crack down on safety violators and called for strict monitoring of milk powder production, in an attempt to restore public trust.

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Economy needs more diversity: Rudd

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says the economy must broaden and not have all its eggs in one basket. Source: AAP

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd believes he has put together a strong economics team to tackle the threats of the global economy, particularly the end of the resources boom.

Mr Rudd's new ministry confirms Chris Bowen as treasurer, as well as his expanded portfolio of financial services and superannuation and retains Senator Penny Wong as finance minister.

"We must continue to diversify our economy, not to have all our eggs in one basket," Mr Rudd told reporters in Newcastle where he announced the ministry on Monday.

The government would do whatever it can to boost manufacturing, services and agribusinesses to generate new jobs rather than simply relying on just one - mining, he said.

However, business is unhappy with a swathe of new outgoings and regulations to mark the start of a new financial year, including a 2.6 per cent increase in the minimum wage and the rise from nine per cent to 9.25 per cent in the compulsory superannuation guarantee.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry estimates small businesses face a collective $2 billion increase to their payrolls.

"While government politicians have spent months arguing about leadership, an unprecedented wave of anti-business decisions have been made," the chamber's chief executive Peter Anderson said in a statement.

Yasser El-Ansary from the Institute of Chartered Accountants Australia urged Mr Bowen in his expanded portfolio to continue with the government's super and financial services reform agenda to provide the public with confidence in the sector.

Meanwhile, Moody's Investors Service gave the government a timely slap on the back, affirming the nation's triple-A rating based on its very high economic resiliency, very high government financial strength and very low susceptibility to event risk.

Mr Bowen said that was testament to the strength of the Australian economy and the government's fiscal management.

"Australian economy remains the standout performer of the developed world, with solid growth, low unemployment, contained inflation and strong public finances," he said in a statement.

However, the government is unlikely to gain a further boost from another reduction in the cash rate when the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) holds its month board meeting on Tuesday.

Economists believe the recent steep drop in the Australian dollar provides the central bank scope to wait until at least quarterly official inflation figures are released later this month.

"While financial markets are volatile, and domestic politics takes centre stage, we believe it is prudent for the board to remain on the sidelines for now," TD Securities head of Asia-Pacific research Annette Beacher said in a note to clients.

The TD Securities-Melbourne Institute monthly gauge of inflation shows price pressures remain well within the RBA's two to three target band.

Inflation in June was unchanged from the previous month, to be 2.4 per cent higher over the year.

Other data also showed an improvement in manufacturing in June, supported by low interest rates and a drop in the exchange rate.

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Husic becomes first Muslim frontbencher

Labor MP Ed Husic (L) has become the first Muslim sworn into a federal government frontbench. Source: AAP

AMONG the oaths, photographs and backslapping at Labor's latest ministerial swearing-in ceremony, a cultural milestone was passed for Australia's parliament.

Ed Husic, named parliament secretary to the prime minister and for broadband on Monday, became the first Muslim sworn into a federal government frontbench.

A key supporter of Kevin Rudd, Mr Husic was elevated to the senior role at the expense of Andrew Leigh, who lost the role in the ministry reshuffle.

The milestone was acknowledged by Governor-General Quentin Bryce as she swore in Mr Husic and 24 of his Labor colleagues at a ceremony in Canberra.

"This is a wonderful day for multiculturalism, and everything it stands for in our country," Ms Bryce told Mr Husic, to roars of "Hear Hear!" from his Labor colleagues.

"I wish you all the best as you serve our country as parliamentary secretary."

Mr Husic became the first Muslim elected to federal parliament when he won the western Sydney seat of Chifley in 2010.

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O'Farrell accused of misleading NSW nurses

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell has been accused of misleading nurses over an ongoing wages dispute. Source: AAP

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell has been accused of misleading the state's nurses by covering up the government's true position on an ongoing wages dispute.

The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association (NSWNMA) says Mr O'Farrell sent a letter to its members on June 19 stating that discussions had "begun" over a new award.

The letter was in response to calls for safer nurse-to-patient ratios and for a new award wage.

However, NSWNMA general secretary Brett Holmes says the letter was sent almost three weeks after the O'Farrell government made a court application on May 30 to secure a new award that does not include nursing hours system improvements.

Mr O'Farrell's letter also failed to mention plans to reduce already-capped annual pay rises by 0.25 per cent to absorb increases in compulsory superannuation, he said.

Mr Holmes told AAP on Monday that Mr O'Farrell needs to "correct the misleading information he provided" to nurses and midwives.

He has written to Mr O'Farrell accusing the government of trying to create an impression that it is considering the members' claims.

"The inaccurate correspondence...amounts to a campaign to conceal the Government's true position," Mr Holmes wrote.

The letter also urges Mr O'Farrell to "reach an Award agreement which guarantees adequate nurses and midwives to provide safe patient care in all NSW public hospitals".

Some NSW nurses and midwives have worn red garments to work on Monday in protest against what they say is the government's failure to accept the NSWNMA's claims.

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Cameron inks $1bn deal in Kazakhstan

BRITISH Prime Minister David Cameron signed a strategic cooperation agreement as well as $US1.0 billion ($A1.10 billion) in deals with Kazakhstan on Monday during his first visit to the energy-rich ex-Soviet state.

Cameron and Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev also unveiled an oil and gas processing plant on the shores of the Caspian Sea which is intended to provide a new reliable source of energy for European countries.

The British PM played up the importance of Kazakhstan to regional security as he wound down a swing through the region that included visits to Pakistan and Afghanistan.

"Kazakhstan is on the rise ... a country that wants to play a bigger role in the region and in the world. Not just an emerging market, but an emerging power," Cameron said on Monday.

He also noted that the Kazakh government had recently ratified an air route agreement that offered Britain "a new northern route to bring our kit home from Afghanistan."

Cameron added that the two countries "have opened a new chapter in our relationship" by signing a strategic partnership agreement that underscored the importance of their growing ties.

Plans to construct a European- and US-backed natural gas pipeline called Nabucco have already fallen through and Western powers are now seeking to hammer out a new strategy to establish closer contacts with nations such as Kazakhstan.

Officials said the deals besides energy also covered infrastructure projects as well as those in the IT field.

"Our country is interested in having close relations with Britain," Nazarbayev said at a joint press appearance with Cameron.

"I am confident that the documents that we have prepared, as well as our negotiations, will give a new impulse to economic and political cooperation between our countries."

Kazakhstan is seen as one of the more neutral Central Asian countries that enjoys equally good relations with Russia and China as well as the West -- despite periodic criticism by Washington and Brussels of its human rights record.

Nazarbayev has also hired former British prime minister Tony Blair as the nation's image consultant who has been tasked with improving Kazakhstan's attraction to investors.

The British PM and Nazarbayev jointly unveiled the Bolashak on-shore oil and gas processing facility that operates with involvement from the Anglo-Dutch giant.

The plant is stationed on the Kashagan oil and gas field -- one of the largest deposits found in Central Asia.

It is due to process 450,000 barrels of oil and 8.8 million cubic metres of gas daily by the time it becomes fully operational.

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Pakistan backing Afghan peace efforts

British Prime Minister David Cameron has arrived in Pakistan for talks on the Afghan peace process. Source: AAP

PAKISTAN has assured visiting British Prime Minister David Cameron that it will promote efforts to reach a peace deal in neighbouring Afghanistan before NATO's planned withdrawal.

Cameron is the first foreign government leader to visit Islamabad since Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif took office in June after winning landmark elections in May.

Relations between Kabul and Islamabad are traditionally mired in distrust. The apparent headway made at a summit hosted by Cameron in February has since unravelled in a series of public rows.

Cameron flew to Pakistan from Afghanistan, where he joined an international push to revive peace efforts that recently collapsed in ignominy after the Taliban opened an office in the Qatari capital Doha.

"We hope that the UK will continue these efforts to seek sustainable peace and stability in Afghanistan," Sharif told reporters after Sunday's talks with Cameron.

He supported Afghan President Hamid Karzai's position that any peace process should be "Afghan-owned and Afghan-led".

"I have assured Prime Minister Cameron of our firm resolve to promote the shared objective of a peaceful and stable Afghanistan, to which the three million Afghan refugees currently living in Pakistan can return with honour and dignity," said Sharif.

Cameron welcomed Sharif's remarks about the "vital importance of the relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan".

"I profoundly believe that a stable, prosperous, peaceful, democratic Afghanistan is in Pakistan's interest, just as a strong, stable, peaceful, prosperous, democratic Afghanistan is in Pakistan's interest, and I know that you and President Karzai will work together towards those ends," Cameron said.

The search for a peace deal is an urgent priority as 100,000 US-led NATO combat troops prepare to withdraw next year and Afghan forces take on the fight against insurgents that has lasted more than a decade.

The Taliban office in Qatar that opened on June 18 was meant to foster talks but instead enraged Karzai, who saw it as being styled as an embassy for a government-in-exile.

He broke off bilateral security talks with the Americans and threatened to boycott any peace process altogether.

On Saturday however, Karzai told Cameron that a subsequent Taliban attack on the presidential palace "will not deter us from seeking peace".

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EU alarmed over alleged US bugging

A top EU official says ties with the US could suffer over a report that America bugged EU offices. Source: AAP

A "SHOCKED" European Union is angrily awaiting explanations from Washington following allegations of US spying on EU offices, which could have a "severe impact" on relations.

Martin Schulz, the president of the European Parliament, said in a statement: "I am deeply worried and shocked about the allegations of US authorities spying on EU offices", both in Brussels and the United States.

"If the allegations prove to be true, it would be an extremely serious matter which will have a severe impact on EU-US relations."

Schulz demanded full and speedy clarification from the US authorities.

The German weekly Der Spiegel on Sunday published a report it claimed was based on confidential documents, some of which it had been able to consult via the fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden.

One document, dated September 2010 and classed as "strictly confidential", describes how the NSA kept tabs on the European Union's diplomatic mission in Washington, Der Spiegel said.

Microphones were installed in the building and the computer network infiltrated, giving the agency access to emails and internal documents.

The EU delegation at the United Nations was subject to similar surveillance, the newspaper said: the leaked documents referred to the Europeans as "targets".

The spying also extended to the 27-member bloc's Brussels headquarters.

Der Spiegel referred to an incident "more than five years ago" when EU security experts discovered telephone and online bugging devices at the Justus Lipsius building.

In 2003, the EU announced it had found phone taps in the building targeting the offices of several countries, including Britain, France and Germany. It was not immediately clear if Der Spiegel was referring to this case.

US spying was "out of control", said Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn.

"The US would do better to monitor its intelligence services instead of its allies," he added.

Even before the latest allegations, the EU's Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding wrote to US attorney general Eric Holder earlier this month calling for answers about its internet spy program.

"Fundamentally, this is a question of trust," Reding said in a June 14 speech. "Trust of citizens towards their governments and to the governments of partner nations."

The top-secret PRISM program collects and analyses information from internet and phone users around the world, with access to data from Google, Yahoo! and other internet firms.

US officials say the information gathered is vital in the fight against global terrorism.

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Crowds gather for anti-Morsi rallies

Egypt is bracing for mass protests as President Mohamed Morsi's opponents determine to oust him. Source: AAP

EGYPT is bracing for mass rallies with President Mohamed Morsi's opponents determined to oust him and his Islamist supporters vowing to defend his legitimacy, stoking fears of a violent first anniversary of his taking office.

Thousands of jubilant protesters gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square ahead of Sunday's scheduled marches, waving Egyptian flags as patriotic songs boomed from speakers.

"The people want the ouster of the regime," the protesters chanted, the signature slogan of the 2011 revolt that ousted Hosni Mubarak and brought Morsi to power.

Some protesters held up red cards, others wore black headbands with 'Leave, Morsi!' written on them.

"This is the second revolution and Tahrir is the symbol of the revolution," said carpenter Ibrahim Hammouda, who travelled from the northern city of Damietta to join the protest.

Marchers were scheduled to set off at 5pm local time (0200 AEDT Monday) for the Ittihadiya presidential palace, close to a neighbourhood where thousands of Morsi supporters vowed to pursue a counter-demonstration in defence of the president.

Anti-Morsi demonstrations were also expected in provincial cities.

Police and troops have deployed to protect key buildings around the country, security officials said. The health ministry said hospitals have been placed on high alert.

A senior security official said the Suez Canal, the vital waterway that connects the Mediterranean with the Red Sea, has been placed under "maximum security."

The streets of Cairo were unusually quiet for the first day of the working week in Egypt, with banks and most offices closed.

The grassroots movement Tamarod - Arabic for rebellion - is behind a campaign that claims to have collected millions of signatures to a petition demanding Morsi's resignation and new elections.

The week leading up to the showdown has already seen eight people killed, including an American, and scores more injured as protesters from both sides took to the streets.

Morsi, previously a senior Muslim Brotherhood leader, is Egypt's first freely elected president, catapulted to power by the 2011 uprising that ended three decades of authoritarian rule by Mubarak.

His opponents accuse him of betraying the revolution by concentrating power in Islamist hands and of sending the economy into free fall.

But his supporters say that many of the challenges he faces he inherited from a corrupt regime, and that he should be allowed to serve out his term which ends in 2016.

Any attempt to remove him from office, they say, is a coup against democracy.

Leading opposition figure, Nobel peace laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, urged the president "to listen to the people" and step aside.

The fervent displays of emotion from both camps highlight the deep divisions in the Arab world's most populous country.

The army, which led a tumultuous transition after the revolt that ousted Mubarak, has warned it will intervene if there is major unrest.

Since taking office, Morsi has battled with the judiciary, the media and the police. The economy has taken a tumble, investment has dried up, inflation soared and the vital tourism industry has been battered.

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Facebook cuts ads from controversial pages

Facebook is pulling ads from pages that contain violence or sexual content. Source: AAP

FACEBOOK is pulling ads from pages that contain violence or sexual content.

The social network says that on Monday it will expand its definition of pages and groups that are too controversial to carry advertisements.

Facebook has sought to strike a balance between giving its 1.1 billion monthly users the freedom to post what they want and providing advertisers with space to sell their products.

In May, Facebook Inc lost more than a dozen advertisers, at least temporarily, after the activist group Women, Action and the Media urged an advertising boycott to protest hate speech on the Facebook site.

The controversial content included grisly photos and mottos that encouraged rape, abuse and other violence against women.

The company said then that it would review its guidelines.

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