Germany mulls medical, logistic Mali aid

GERMANY is considering ways to help France in its mission in Mali such as providing logistical, medical or humanitarian aid.

"For the federal government and for Foreign Minister (Guido) Westerwelle it is clear that Germany will not leave France alone in this difficult situation," spokesman Andreas Peschke said at a regular government news conference on Monday.

Westerwelle and Defence Minister Thomas de Maiziere will now "quickly" consider "how Germany can offer concrete support, other than military action", he said.

Discussions will take place with Chancellor Angela Merkel and Paris to see how Germany can best come to France's assistance, he added.

However, the sending of combat troops "is not up for debate", the spokesman stressed, repeating Berlin's firm position on that issue.

France's mission in Mali is "correct in the view of the federal government", he added.

"It is a difficult but also important mission that we support politically."

Peschke also expressed condolences on behalf of Germany for French military personnel already killed during the mission.

Westerwelle is also in favour of a special meeting of EU foreign ministers to discuss the crisis in Mali, his spokesman told reporters.

France's intervention has been backed by the European Union and the United States, while Britain is providing logistical support in the form of transport planes.

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Japan boosts defence of disputed islands

JAPAN will deploy two more patrol ships to boost its defence of islands at the centre of a territorial row with China and has conducted its first drill simulating the recapture of an isle seized by enemy forces.

The vessels will be stationed at the regional coast guard headquarters which covers the Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, known as the Diaoyus in China, Japanese public broadcaster NHK said on Monday.

The 335-tonne Kurose and 3100-tonne Chikuzen, equipped with a helicopter, will be deployed in August and October respectively, NHK reported.

On Sunday, Japan's Ground Self-Defence Force carried out the nation's first military exercise designed to recapture "a remote island invaded by an enemy force", officials said.

Around 300 troops took part in the 40-minute drill with 20 warplanes and more than 30 military vehicles at the Narashino Garrison in Chiba, southeast of Tokyo.

Some 80 personnel from the SDF's First Airborne Brigade rappelled from helicopters with parachutes in front of about 11,000 spectators to demonstrate manoeuvres to counter an enemy invasion of a remote island.

Chinese government ships and planes have been seen off the disputed islands numerous times since Japan nationalised them in September, sometimes within the 12 nautical-mile territorial zone.

Tokyo's defence ministry has said F-15s were sent airborne to head off Chinese state-owned - but not military - planes four times in December, including an occasion when Japanese airspace was breached.

They were also mobilised in January.

Japan plans to spend an extra Y180.5 billion ($A1.93 billion) on missiles, fighter jets and helicopters, an official said last week, as it tries to strengthen defence capabilities with concerns growing over a rising China.

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Another Syria strike kills children

AN air strike on a rebel town near Damascus has killed 13 women and children, fuelling growing international calls for a war crimes probe into the 22-month Syrian conflict.

Reports of the civilian deaths came as Human Rights Watch accused President Bashar al-Assad's regime of expanding its deployment of banned cluster bombs.

Monday's air strike on several houses in the town of Moadamiyat al-Sham southwest of Damascus killed at least eight children and five women, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

"The children, all members of the same clan, were aged between six months and nine years old," said the head of the Britain-based Observatory, Rami Abdel Rahman.

The Observatory says more than 3500 children have been killed since the Syrian conflict erupted 22 months ago. The United Nations says overall more than 60,000 people have died.

On the diplomatic front, at least 55 countries prepared on Monday to demand the UN security council refer the Syria conflict to the International Criminal Court.

The demand was to be made in a letter organised by Switzerland, which has spent seven months collecting signatories.

Diplomatic sources said 55 countries had signed and others could still join even though the initiative has little immediate chance of success.

The Security Council is locked in a crippling impasse over the Syria conflict, with permanent members Russia and China having vetoed three resolutions threatening sanctions against Assad.

And with neither being members of The Hague-based ICC court, they would almost certainly reject any new resolution proposing war crimes charges.

On Sunday, Russia said Assad's removal from power was not a part of past international agreements on the crisis and hence impossible to implement.

"This is a precondition that is not contained in the Geneva communique (agreed by world powers in June) and which is impossible to implement because it does not depend on anyone," news agencies quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying.

The wrangling comes amid warnings the conflict, which according to the UN has sent more than 600,000 Syrians fleeing into neighbouring countries, is growing more dangerous for civilians due to the regime expanding its use of cluster bombs.

New York based Human Rights Watch said Damascus was increasingly resorting to firing rockets containing the sub-munitions, after previously using only aircraft to spread the weapons.

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NATO backs France in Mali, but says no aid

NATO says it supports French efforts to turn back the terrorist threat in Mali but that the alliance had received no request for assistance and had not discussed the conflict.

"We welcome the efforts of the international community in support of the implementation of the United Nations ... resolution 2085 (on Mali)," a NATO spokesman said on Monday.

"France has taken swift action to roll back the offensive of the terrorist groups in Mali.

"We are hopeful that such efforts will help to restore the rule of law in Mali and ... roll back the threat" of groups which threaten the "security and stability of the country, the region and beyond".

At the same time, NATO stressed this was a national operation, carried out by France, and there had been no request for assistance nor had there been a "discussion within NATO of this crisis".

"So far, the operation in Mali is a national operation in support of Mali. It was decided by the French government ... NATO is not involved in that."

On Monday, Islamist forces based in northern Mali vowed to avenge France's fierce military offensive against them after a series of French attacks inflicted heavy casualties.

On Sunday, French Rafale fighter planes struck bases used by al-Qaeda-linked fighters in Gao, the main city in northern Mali, and Kidal.

French warplanes also attacked rebel stockpiles of munitions and fuel further north at Afhabo, 50 kilometres from Kidal, a regional security source said.

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Dangerous fire damages top NSW observatory

A series of lightning storms in NSW has resulted in new bushfires, a NSW RFS spokesman says. Source: AAP

FIREFIGHTERS are battling two emergency level bushfires in northern NSW, one of which has destroyed at least two properties and damaged a world-leading observatory, as 30 uncontrolled blazes burn across the state.

The emergency at Wambelong Camping Area has seen Mt Woorut residents and staff from the Siding Spring Observatory in Warrumbungle National Park evacuated to nearby Coonabarabran.

Firefighters' efforts to contain the blaze were being hampered by strong south-westerly winds in the area, an RFS spokesman told AAP on Sunday night.

"The wind conditions that are being experienced there are creating erratic fire behaviour for crews on the ground," the spokesman said.

Fire crews will assess the two properties destroyed on Timor Rd and the observatory damage on Monday morning, he said.

There are hopes that telescopes in the Siding Spring Observatory - the nation's top optical and infrared observatory - will survive the inferno thanks to a range of precautions including the use of special paint.

Dr Amanda Bauer, who works at the observatory, said she was "hopeful" the telescopes would survive the bushfire.

"Tomorrow we will see how well those protections held," she wrote on her blog on Sunday evening.

However, Nobel Prize-winning Professor Brian Schmidt, who also works at the observatory, said initial reports indicated the fire had caused a lot of damage.

"Fires are worse than I had feared ... bad day tomorrow," he wrote on Twitter.

The other emergency fire burning out of control on Sunday evening was centred on Bundabarina, about 10 kilometres west of Collarenabri on the Walgett Road.

Collarenabri residents have been advised to seek shelter and follow their bushfire survival plans, the RFS said.

Firefighters have issued watch and act warnings for two other fires. These are at Nangar Road in Eugowra, in the state's central west, and Rocky Glen Road in Bendemeer, in the New England area.

Meanwhile, a cool change has brought relief to RFS officers fighting fires in other areas.

More than 190 firefighters were working to contain a blaze 12km west of Sussex Inlet, near Shoalhaven on the south coast.

The fire has burnt more than 8400 hectares but there is no immediate threat to properties.

At Yarrabin, near Cooma, in the Snowy Mountains, more than 100 firefighters continue to establish containment lines and extinguish spot fires, with no threat to properties.

The fire has burnt through more than 12,000 hectares of bushland and is moving away from Cooma to the east.

Residents returning to properties have been warned to be aware of falling trees and branches, particularly in the Mt Forest Road area.

In the southern tablelands, more than 70 firefighters are working on containment lines around a fire near Yass. The blaze has been contained.

In the state's north about 20 fires are burning uncontained after lightning storms on Saturday night ignited 45 new fires.

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Faulty boiler blamed for collapse at plaza

A FAULTY boiler has been blamed for the collapse of two people at a Canberra shopping centre.

A small area on Bradley Street, Woden, outside the McDonalds entrance to Woden Plaza, was cordoned off after the scare around 1pm (AEST) on Sunday.

The man and woman who collapsed were treated at the scene, before being taken to Canberra Hospital.

ACT Ambulance Service later transported a further four people to hospital for observation.

An initial investigation indicates a faulty boiler may have released carbon monoxide into the air conditioning system, ACT Fire and Rescue says.

A HAZMAT crew monitored the building's ventilation levels before declaring the area safe.

ACT WorkCover will investigate.

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Greece 'past danger' but risks remain: PM

GREECE has overcome the danger of an ignominious euro exit but it must stay the course of tough reforms to avoid a "relapse", Prime Minister Antonis Samaras says.

"I believe the great danger has passed," Samaras said in an interview with the To Vima weekly on Sunday. "Drachmaphobia seems to have receded completely."

But Samaras, whose three-party government faces another reform hurdle in parliament next week, warned the nation: "There can be no letup in our effort because there is the risk of a relapse."

The government last week pushed through a tax bill introducing new annual income thresholds for salaried taxpayers and scrapping tax breaks for the self-employed, a category blamed for a large part of the tax evasion that has plagued state finances for decades.

On Monday, it will seek approval for another round of reforms tied to Greece's next slice of EU loans.

The opposition has condemned the measures as a new attack on the embattled middle class which is bearing the brunt of a fourth straight year of austerity.

Samaras' administration has been hit with several defections in the past few weeks in opposition to the continued austerity wave.

The coalition government has lost 16 deputies since coming to power in June but still retains a nominal majority of 163 in the 300-seat parliament.

The latest umbrella bill introduces closer state budget monitoring and gives greater flexibility to banks to raise fresh capital. It also regulates civil service pay cuts and layoffs and finalises a state debt buyback.

European Union leaders last month agreed to hand out 49.1 billion euros ($A61.90 billion) in aid in return for more austerity measures.

Athens has already received 34.3 billion euros of this package and is poised to get another 9.2 billion euros at the end of this month if key fiscal reforms are carried out, followed by two more slices of 2.8 billion euros in February and March.

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Opel losses to last until at least 2014

THE head of General Motors in Europe says losses at its struggling German arm Opel will continue for at least two more years and possibly longer depending on market trends.

"We will be in the red in 2013 and 2014," Steve Girsky told Focus magazine in an interview on Sunday.

"In 2014, hopefully a bit less. Balanced books will only be achieved in 2015 or 2016, depending on the market situation," he added.

GM's European operations have run up billions of dollars in losses over the past 10 years. It had planned to sell Opel at one stage but pulled back when it could not find a suitable buyer.

Battered by a declining European car market, Opel announced in December it would halt car production at its Bochum plant in 2016 but pledged to keep the site running as a parts distribution centre.

Opel employs 37,400 people in Europe, including 20,300 at four sites in Germany, in Ruesselsheim, Bochum, Eisenach and Kaiserslautern.

Opel boss Thomas Sedran told Focus: "We do not plan further site closures."

Last week, he insisted Opel was not for sale amid rumours of a tie-up between the German firm and struggling French group PSA Peugeot Citroen.

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Bahrain opens probe into labour camp fire

OFFICIALS have opened an investigation into the cause of fire that killed 13 people in a labour camp in Bahrain.

The official Bahrain News Agency says the public prosecutor's office is leading the probe into Friday's blaze in the capital Manama.

The report on Saturday said fire collapsed the roof of the three-story building used to house workers.

Special compounds for migrant labourers are common across the Gulf. For years, rights groups have pressed for better living conditions for the mostly South Asian workers.

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Turkey PM demands France clarify killings

Police are hunting down the assassins of three Kurdish activists shot dead in Paris. Source: AAP

TURKISH Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is calling on France to "immediately" clarify the killing of three Kurdish activists shot dead in Paris.

He also wants to know why French President Francois Hollande is meeting with members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).

"France must immediately clarify this incident," Erdogan said in televised remarks on Saturday.

"Also, the French head of state must explain immediately to the French, Turkish and world public why ... he is in communication with these terrorists," he added.

Hollande said earlier that the murder of Sakine Cansiz, Fidan Dogan and Leyla Soylemez was "terrible", adding that he knew one of the Kurdish women and that she "regularly met us".

The three were found dead on Thursday at the Kurdistan Information Centre in the French capital's 10th district, after last being seen alive at the centre at midday on Wednesday.

Cansiz was a founding member of the PKK, which took up arms in 1984 for Kurdish self-rule in southeastern Turkey and is branded a terrorist organisation by Ankara and much of the international community.

The separatist PKK warned that it would hold France responsible if the killers were not quickly found, as Ankara said the slayings bore the hallmarks of an internal feud, noting that the victims appeared to have given the killer or killers access to the centre.

The killings came days after Turkish media reported Turkey and the PKK leadership had agreed a roadmap to end the three-decade old Kurdish insurgency that has claimed more than 45,000 lives.

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