Bradley Manning back in court

AN Army private charged in the biggest security breach in US history is trying to avoid trial by claiming he's already been punished by confinement conditions that a United Nations torture investigator called cruel, inhuman and degrading.

Pfc. Bradley Manning is expected to testify about his treatment during a pretrial hearing starting Tuesday at Fort Meade. The young intelligence analyst has never spoken publicly about his nearly nine months in the Marine Corps brig in Quantico, Virginia, from July 2010 to April 2011. The hearing is scheduled to run through Sunday.

Manning was confined alone in a small cell for at least 23 hours a day, according to documents filed by the defence. For several days in January 2011, all his clothes were taken from him each night until he was issued a suicide-prevention smock, military officials have said.

The Defence Department has said Manning's treatment properly conformed to his classification as a maximum-custody detainee who posed a risk of injury to himself or others. He was moved in April 2011 to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he has a medium-security classification.

Publicity about Manning's treatment helped bring worldwide attention to his case. In March, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Juan E. Mendez presented a report to the UN's Human Rights Council in which he criticised the US government for refusing his repeated requests for a private visit with Manning.

Although they never spoke, "I am persuaded that Pfc. Manning was subjected to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment" in violation of the UN Convention Against Torture, Mendez said.

Mendez said he doesn't know if Manning's treatment amounted to torture, as Manning supporters claim.

Military judges can dismiss all charges if pretrial punishment is particularly egregious, but that rarely happens. The usual remedy is credit at sentencing for time served, said Lisa M. Windsor, a retired Army colonel and former Army judge advocate now in private practice in Washington.

"I think the likelihood of him getting any charges dropped is extremely remote," she said.

If the military judge refuses to dismiss the case, defence lawyer David Coombs has requested 10-for-1 credit for 258 days of supposedly punitive confinement. That would knock a little more than seven years off Manning's sentence if he is convicted. He faces the possibility of life imprisonment if convicted of the most serious charge, aiding the enemy, and 162 years on the 21 other counts. His trial is set to begin Feb. 4.

Jeff Paterson, a leader of the Bradley Manning Support Network, said the credit would be meaningless if Manning gets a lengthy sentence.

"If that credit is meaningless, then that signals that you can actually torture any personnel or detainee without any actual consequences," Paterson said.

Manning is accused of sending to the secret-spilling website WikiLeaks hundreds of thousands of classified Iraq and Afghanistan war logs and more than 250,000 diplomatic cables while working as an intelligence analyst in Baghdad in 2009 and 2010.

The 24-year-old allegedly told a confidant-turned-informant in an online chat in 2010 that he leaked the information because "I want people to see the truth."

Manning has offered to take responsibility for the leak by pleading guilty to reduced charges. The military judge hasn't yet ruled on the offer. It is not part of a plea deal, and it would not preclude prosecutors from pursuing the original charges.

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Ehud Barak: war hero, political stalwart

ISRAELI Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who has stunned the country by announcing his retirement from politics, is a stalwart of the Jewish state's politics and a former prime minister with a legendary military career.

A liberal leader who once headed Labour, Barak nonetheless agreed in March 2009 to lead his party into the hawkish rightwing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

His sudden decision on Monday to conclude his storied career at the age of 70 came after a week-long air campaign in Gaza that the Israeli media said Barak was keen to conclude by signing up to an Egyptian-brokered truce.

Some in the government opposed that truce, and Barak has come under increasing pressure from Netanyahu's Likud party, much of which opposed his continuing position as defence minister.

"I have decided to resign from political life and not participate in the upcoming Knesset elections," Barak told a press conference in Tel Aviv.

"I will finish my duties as defence minister with the formation of the next government in three months.

Barak told the press conference he wanted to spend more time with his family.

The shock announcement came amid speculation that Barak - anxious to break ties with the more rightwing leaders of the ruling coalition - would announce his decision to join another party ahead of the snap January 22 elections.

His retirement also coincides with Israeli attempts to push the international community to exert more pressure on Iran over its contested nuclear program.

Israel and much of the West believes the program is an attempt to build a nuclear weapon, and Netanyahu and Barak have been among the loudest voices in Israel warning that the state could take pre-emptive military action against Tehran.

First appointed defence minister in June 2007, Barak brought Labour into Netanyahu's government after his party was drubbed in 2009 elections.

In 2011, he quit the party where he had spent his entire political career, forming the tiny Independence faction to stay in the government and his post as defence minister.

It was the second major comeback for the former chief-of-staff, who withdrew from politics altogether after his 1999-2001 premiership, having tried and failed to make peace with then Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

He had offered unpopular concessions on east Jerusalem, wanted by the Palestinians as the capital of a future state, only to see Arafat spurn the offer and Israeli voters punish him with a resounding endorsement of veteran rightwing challenger Ariel Sharon.

As prime minister, Barak oversaw Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000 after a two-decade occupation.

In 2007, he won back Labour's leadership from Amir Peretz after the latter resigned as defence minister following Israel's disastrous war with Lebanon's Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah the previous year.

Barak, who is of European extraction and whose family name at birth was Brog, was born in a kibbutz that his parents helped to found.

He holds degrees in physics, mathematics and systems analysis and is known to be keen on literature, poetry and music.

His military career was legendary.

In one episode he disguised himself as a woman on a commando raid in Lebanon to assassinate three senior Palestinian militants.

He also took part in a commando assault in Tel Aviv in 1972 on a Belgian passenger plane hijacked by Palestinian guerrillas.

And he participated in the 1976 raid to free Israeli hostages in Entebbe, Uganda, that saw the death of Yonatan Netanyahu, a brother of Israel's current prime minister.

Critics say Barak never really hung up his uniform for the civilian clothes of a politician. As prime minister, he infuriated Labour colleagues by making decisions without consulting them.

Before his split with Labour, party members publicly expressed their anger over his decision to remain in the government despite the failure of peace talks.

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Asian markets mixed

ASIAN markets were mixed on Monday as investors awaited the outcome of a meeting later in the day aimed at finalising a bailout deal for Greece, amid a simmering budgetary impasse in Washington.

Tokyo rose 0.24 percent, or 22.14 points, to 9,388.94, Sydney gained 0.25 percent, or 11.2 points, to close at 4,424.2 but Seoul ended 0.15 percent, or 2.82 points, lower at 1,908.51.

Hong Kong closed down 0.24 percent, or 52.17 points, at 21,861.81 while Shanghai slid 0.49 percent, or 9.92 points, to finish at 2,017.46.

Eurozone finance ministers were to meet later Monday for their third effort to agree on unlocking a 31.2-billion-euro ($40.5-billion) slice of aid for Greece as it teeters on the verge of bankruptcy as nervous investors hope for positive news.

French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici on Sunday offered some hope in the long-running saga to reach a deal for Athens, saying that ministers were "very close to a solution".

"I don't know if there will be an agreement tomorrow. I know it is possible and I want one," he said.

Europe's main stock markets fell at the start of trading Monday ahead of the meeting on Greece, with London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of top companies down 0.26 percent at 5,803.98 points.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 shed 0.31 percent to 7,286.69 points and in Paris the CAC 40 dropped 0.40 percent to 3,514.86.

The mixed Asian trade came after US stocks rallied Friday on signs that holiday retail sales were off to a good start, with Walmart calling it the "best ever" Black Friday, the traditional discount sales day that kicks off the holiday shopping season.

That helped boost the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 1.35 percent to 13,009.68.

Investors were also looking out for news of a compromise in Washington that will avert the so-called fiscal cliff of spending cuts and tax hikes, which will likely send the economy into recession if it comes into effect.

Finding a new spending deal to replace the package, scheduled to come into effect on January 1, has been elusive in the bitterly-divided US Congress.

"Certainly from our perspective, we are sceptical about whether there has really been any progress in discussions regarding the US fiscal cliff," Angus Gluskie, managing director of White Funds Management in Sydney, told Dow Jones Newswires.

On currency markets the euro lost ground after hitting a seven-month high on the yen.

The single currency bought $1.2965 and 106.38 yen from $1.2973 and 106.90 yen in New York on Friday.

The euro had climbed above 107 yen in earlier Asian trade Monday but the unit quickly fell.

The dollar was also weaker at 82.01 yen against 82.40 yen in US trade.

However, the yen has been under pressure recently on expectations the country's central bank will unveil a new round of monetary easing next month.

Oil markets were also affected by Greek debt fears and the US fiscal cliff, analysts said.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery, was down four cents to $88.24 a barrel in the afternoon, and Brent North Sea crude also for January eased 26 cents to $111.12.

"Having just enjoyed an unexpectedly strong week, global markets remain on a knife edge with uncertainty over Greece and the US taking centre stage again," said Jason Hughes, head of premium client management at IG Markets Singapore.

Gold was at $1,747.01 at 1030 GMT compared with $1,734.47 late Friday.

In other markets:

-- Wellington rose 3.69 points, or 0.09 percent, to 4,012.03, its highest close since January 2008.

Contact Energy gained 1.38 percent to NZ$5.15 and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 1.63 percent to NZ$2.50.

-- Taipei was up 81.36 points, or 1.11 percent, at 7,407.37.

Leading smartphone maker HTC added 4.58 percent to Tw$251.0 while Hon Hai Precision was 0.87 percent higher at Tw$92.8.

-- Manila rose 0.49 percent, or 27.08 points, to close at a record high of 5,579.42.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone added 0.4 percent to 2,510 pesos and Philippine National Bank increased 1.9 percent to 85.90 pesos.

-- Singapore closed 0.51 percent, or 15.22 points, higher at 3,004.50.

Singapore Telecom rose 0.64 percent to finish at Sg$3.16 and property developer CapitaLand ended 0.59 percent higher at Sg$3.43.

-- Jakarta ended up 0.61 percent, or 26.361 points, at 4,375.169.

Retailer Ramayana Lestari Sentosa jumped 11.63 percent to 1,440 rupiah and tin firm Timah rose 2.94 percent to 1,400 rupiah.

-- Kuala Lumpur fell 0.40 percent, or 6.44 points, to end at 1,607.88.

Axiata Group shed 2.0 percent to 5.75 ringgit, while CIMB Group Holdings dropped 1.2 percent to 7.58.

-- Bangkok gained 0.71 percent, or 9.15 points, to 1,290.85.

Coal producer Banpu jumped 5.35 percent to 394.00 baht, while Siam Cement lost 0.77 percent to 387.00 baht.

-- Mumbai rose 0.16 percent, or 30.44 points, to 18,537.01.

GSK Consumer Healthcare, the local arm of GlaxoSmithKline, jumped 20 percent to 3,651.8 rupees on news that the parent firm planned to increase its stake in the local firm to 75 percent.

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Opposition again slams carbon tax

OPPOSITION senators are railing against the carbon tax and rising electricity prices in debate on legislation that dumps a $15 floor price.

The upper house is considering a package of bills tying Australia's carbon pricing mechanism to the European Union emissions trading scheme.

As well as linking the schemes, the legislation dumps a $15 floor price that would have applied once the carbon price moved to a floating market-based mechanism in 2015.

Nationals senator Ron Boswell said renewable energy targets and the carbon price were driving up electricity prices.

"Australia is in an expensive energy hole right now because ... of the carbon tax, and it is time we stop digging," Senator Boswell told the Senate.

Labor senator Lisa Singh said carbon pricing was one of the most significant changes to the Australian economy.

"It will have an important and enduring effect on the way business calculate the environmental cost of their activities," she said.

Senator Singh said Australia wasn't going alone and, from next year, 850 million people would live in places where emitters paid.

"Emissions trading is the preferred method of carbon reduction across most of the world because it is easiest for business and the most efficient and effective policy lever," she said.

Independent senator Nick Xenophon said he would not support the bills because they "make a bad situation worse".

"I believe it's a bad policy. I believe what the government is doing is building on an already shaky foundation," he said, adding that he had supported an alternative pricing scheme.

NSW Nationals senator John Williams said the electorate had not voted for a carbon tax.

Senator Williams said four out of 150 MPs did not have a mandate to introduce such a tax.

"They were just complicit in this government betraying the Australian people," he told the chamber on Monday.

"The Greens, Mr Wilkie, of course Mr Windsor and Mr Oakeshott.

"People will be able to square the ledger at the next election in those seats."

The NSW senator said the carbon tax would go under an elected coalition government.

"It is a $1 trillion tax, a huge amount of money, there is a $1 trillion tax on our economy while the rest of the world are doing very, very little," Senator Williams said.

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12 dead as Somalia Shebab attack town

AT least 12 people are dead after a battle in which Somalia's al-Qaeda-linked Shebab fighters briefly took control of a small town on the Kenyan border, military officials say.

Heavy fighting broke out late on Saturday afternoon in Bulohawo and lasted into the evening, with residents confirming the Shebab took full control of the town for a few hours before Somali troops were able to reinforce their positions.

"The violent elements attacked Bulohawo in late afternoon and after heavy fighting our forces defeated them and inflicted heavy losses on them," Diyad Abdi Kalil, a Somali military commander in the area, told AFP by phone on Sunday.

Casualty estimates varied but most sources agreed at least a dozen people, most of them fighters for the two sides, had been killed.

"The Shebab attacked the town from three directions and penetrated the barracks of the Somali troops after heavy fighting. They briefly took control of the town but were later forced back. Twelve people, most of them the fighters from the two sides, died," said resident Sadik Mohamed.

Another, Hussein Mahat Abdulle, confirmed he had seen bodies in government uniform as well as bodies of what looked like Shebab fighters.

Kalil said his men had killed "nearly 20" Shebab but a spokesman for the Islamists dismissed the claim and said his men had killed 15 Somali government troops.

"Today was a victorious day for the mujahedeen fighters who carried out several military operations, the main attack was against the apostate militants helping the infidels at Bulohawo," said Shebab spokesman Sheik Abdiasis Abu Mus'ab.

"The Mujahedeen fighters penetrated their defences and took control of the city for many hours. Around 15 of the apostate militia were killed," he said, referring to the Somali government troops fighting alongside regional armies to overcome the Shebab.

Bulohawo, which lies just across the border from the town of Mandera in the extreme northeast of Kenya, has been calm since, residents said.

Officials said two civilians in Mandera town had been hit by gunfire during the fighting.

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Officer's arm broken in alleged assault

A MAN is under hospital guard after allegedly assaulting a woman and injuring four police officers during a domestic violence incident at Mosman.

About 9.30am (AEDT) on Sunday police were called to a unit in Muston Street after a 31-year-old woman reported a possible broken elbow in a domestic assault.

Officers who went to the unit where the 33-year-old male suspect smashed a window.

Police say he bit, punched and spat at them.

A leading senior constable suffered a broken arm, a female officer suffered soft tissue damage to her knee and a probationary constable was bitten.

The man was charged with assault occasioning grievous bodily harm, three counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, assault, two counts of malicious damage and intimidation and resist arrest.

He was refused bail and will appear at Central Local Court on Monday.

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Scientists create melt-free chocolate

British scientists have developed a new melt-proof recipe for the desirable cocoa treat, ideal to withstand a warm Aussie summer.

The heat-tolerant chocolate, developed by Cadbury engineers at a plant near Birmingham, remains solid even when exposed to temperatures in excess of 40 degrees Celsius for more than three hours, reports British newspaper The Mail on Sunday.

The secret to keeping a solid block is in the production process, specifically a step called conching, when metal beads grind together ingredients.

Scientists have developed a way of breaking down sugar which reduces the amount of fat which attaches to the sweet particles.

"We have found that it is possible to instil temperature-tolerant properties by refining the conched chocolate after the conching step," Cadbury wrote in its patent application for the new product.

"Production of temperature-tolerant chocolate would allow production of chocolate-containing products more suitable for hot climates, particularly in less economically-developed countries where the supply chain is ill-equipped to handle temperature fluctuations."

Critics of the new melt-proof chocolate have already emerged, with some claiming the changes would not be possible without altering the flavour.

"The melting point is what makes the bar so attractive, as that is what releases the flavour. If it melts at a higher temperature, it will take longer for it to melt in the mouth," came an admission from Cadbury management firm Kraft Foods spokesman Tony Bilsborough.

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Two Gold Coast homes on fire

TWO homes are on fire on the Gold Coast.

The blaze started about 8.30pm on Sunday in a home on Eucalyptus Avenue, Varsity Lakes, and quickly spread to a neighbouring house.

Fire crews are on the scene and three people are being treated for smoke inhalation.

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Convicted Russian spy Danilov released

A RUSSIAN physicist convicted of spying for China has been released on parole and is continuing to protest his innocence.

Valentin Danilov was arrested in 2001 on charges of passing classified information on space technology to China. He claimed the information was already publicly available.

He was acquitted in a 2003 trial, but retried the next year and convicted and sentenced to 14 years.

After his release on Saturday, Danilov told a news conference in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk that he would pursue his case with the European Court of Human Rights.

Before his arrest, Danilov was a professor at Krasnoyarsk Technical University.

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French police fire tear gas on protest

NOTRE-DAME-DES-LANDES, France, Nov 24 AFP - French police have fired tear gas for a second day running as they seek to evict protesting squatters from protected swampland where Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault wants to build a new airport.

Clashes between police and protesters resumed at Notre-Dame-des-Landes, outside the western city of Nantes, as officers fired tear gas and squatters threw stones and glass bottles at them in return.

The squatters had called for a new rally against the airport for Saturday and were expecting to draw thousands of people to the protest.

The crackdown at the 1,650-hectare site began on Friday, when police detained three people amid clashes that wounded two officers, a demonstrator and two television journalists as angry protesters hurled petrol bombs, bottles, stones and firecrackers at police.

Officials said two of those detained were later released.

On Saturday, some 40 police trucks were parked in four columns in the middle of the proposed airport site, where about 500 squatters have set up camp.

Police were clearing the road to the area after protesters blocked it to barricade an impromptu village they set up on November 17 during an initial rally.

Interior Minister Manuel Valls took a tough tone on Friday, saying: "It is out of the question to let a cyst grow" and vowing to do "all we can to ensure the law is respected and construction can start".

The airport north of Nantes, which is scheduled to replace the city's current airport in 2017, is a pet project of Socialist Prime Minister Ayrault, who was the city's mayor from 1989 until this year.

It has been opposed by the Greens and various politicians on environmental grounds, and eco-warrior protesters have set up numerous camps around the area.

The movement has pitted the Socialist government against its environmentalist allies, who have called for President Francois Hollande to name a team of mediators to hold talks on the standoff.

The 580-million-euro ($A722.9 million) project was approved in 2008, with construction expected to start in 2014.

The airport is set to have an initial annual capacity of four million passengers, and supporters say it will provide a major boost to tourism in western France.

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