PM wins over voters at polite pub forum

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard has faced the people at a suburban Melbourne forum, more akin to a polite dinner party than a fiery debate.

Around 100 undecided voters filed into the Burvale Hotel, a Nunawading pub complete with pool tables and an $11 'Parma & Pot Deal' every Wednesday. The pub is in the nation's second most marginal seat of Deakin.

Marriage equality, education funding and superannuation featured prominently, but Ms Gillard was not heckled and voices weren't raised.

The prime minister believes marriage is between a man and a woman and last year voted against proposed changes to the marriage act in federal parliament that would have supported same-sex marriage.

"My view's pretty well known and I'm not seeking to impose my view on anybody," she said.

Federal parliament's response to a bill to change the marriage act was to vote it down 98-42, despite heavy lobbying by gay groups and some MPs.

Labor MPs were allowed a conscience vote on the issue, while Liberal MPs followed the party line and the majority opposed it outright.

Ms Gillard said for a future bill to pass, all MPs need to be allowed a conscience vote.

"So I hope the other side of politics gets there," she said.

University students questioned why the federal government had slashed higher education funding by $2.3 billion to bankroll the Gonski school education reforms.

"You are robbing Peter to pay Paul," student Kevin said.

Another student Michael said rather than cutting university funding to pay for the Gonski reforms the government should end the costly mandatory detention of asylum seekers.

"How does cutting education to fund education promote a smarter Australia?" he said.

"How does locking up desperate people who have committed no crimes for an indeterminate amount of time promote a fairer Australia?"

Ms Gillard said the government had boosted university funding by 50 per cent since winning office.

"Funding will still go up, it just won't go up as sharply," she said.

"I want more kids to go to university, I want more kids to have apprenticeships."

She said the government had not been able to fully implement its asylum-seeker policy due to parliamentary gridlock.

After the forum, Kellie Gardner, of Fairfield, said she was persuaded to vote Labor at the September election.

"I thought she answered the questions well - she seems very approachable," she said.

"I don't like (Opposition Leader) Tony Abbott; I don't find him appealing."

Debbie, from Northcote, said she was impressed with Ms Gillard's performance.

"She was honest," she said.

During the forum, the prime minister pledged to investigate the issue of superannuation for foster carers.

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Police hunt for NSW prison escapee

A PRISONER has escaped from a jail in NSW's Upper Hunter, police say.

Dean Wells, 29, was last seen at St Heliers Correctional Complex in Muswellbrook at 4pm (AEDT) on Monday.

Wells had been serving a sentence of six years and six months for a range of offences.

He's described as Caucasian with short brown hair and blue eyes, and was dressed in prison greens.

Police are urging anyone who has seen Wells not to approach him but to contact them immediately.

AAP

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Rio appeals court ban on expansion

Mining giant Rio has lodged an appeal against a decision blocking it from expanding a coal mine. Source: AAP

MINING giant Rio has lodged a Supreme Court appeal against a decision blocking it from expanding a coal mine.

Rio-owned subsidiary Coal & Allied is appealing against last week's NSW Land and Environment Court decision not to allow the Mt Thorley Warkworth mine to be expanded.

While announcing the NSW appeal, the company also said it had cut the jobs of 40 employees and contractors from the mine on Monday as part of a review that it announced after last week's decision.

Last week's events overturned the 2012 NSW government approval of the project.

Coal & Allied acting managing director Darren Yeates said the court's decision was without precedent, overturning a three-and-half-year approval process including state, independent and Commonwealth support.

It set an alarming precedent and brought into question the ability to successfully secure development consents for major projects in NSW, he said.

"Mount Thorley Warkworth mine has been operating for 30 years and this rejection threatens the jobs of the 1300 employees who rely on its future," Mr Yeates said in a statement.

The company had spent more than $600 million with close to 1000 suppliers in relation to the mine last year, he said.

"The unfortunate reality is this decision has come at a time when the Australian coal industry is struggling to remain globally competitive in the face of high costs, a strong Australian dollar and low prices," Mr Yeates said.

Coal & Allied wants to expand the life of the mine by 12 years to 2033, producing 264 million tonnes of coal on current rates of 12 million tonnes a year.

Justice Brian Preston, chief judge of the NSW Land and Environment Court, cited adverse environmental and social concerns on the community as reasons for his decision.

The Bulga-Milbrodale Progress Association said the Hunter Valley community of Bulga would have been destroyed as it was subjected to noise, dust and other social impacts.

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Berlusconi sex trial suspended until May

The trial of Italy's ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi for allegedly paying for sex has been delayed. Source: AAP

AN Italian court has delayed the resumption of a trial against former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi for allegedly paying for sex with a then 17-year old prostitute.

The Milan court postponed the trial until at least May 13 while it waits for a decision by Italy's supreme court on whether to consider an appeal by Berlusconi's defence team to move the trial to another city.

The media magnate's lawyers have accused several Milan judges of "creating a hostile environment" around their client, and argue he will get a fairer trial in nearby Brescia.

The supreme court's decision is expected on May 6. Should it rule the case will stay in Milan, it will resume on May 13.

If it decides the trial should be moved, however, the hearings could be delayed further.

Berlusconi is accused of having sex for money when he was prime minister in 2010 with Karima El-Mahroug, an exotic dancer nicknamed Ruby the Heart Stealer.

He faces up to three years in prison on that charge and up to 12 years for allegedly putting pressure on police to have her released from custody when she was arrested for petty theft.

El-Mahroug is expected to testify in May in a separate trial against three Berlusconi allies - starlet turned politician Nicole Minetti, newsreader Emilio Fede and talent scout Lele Mora - for allegedly procuring dozens of young women for torrid parties at the billionaire's house.

In October, the three-time premier was sentenced to a year in prison and handed a five-year ban from holding public office for fraud linked to his business empire Mediaset, but the punishment has been suspended during the appeal process.

The 76-year-old media baron faces the next hearing of his appeal against that conviction on May 8.

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Drone raid kills two militants in Yemen

A SUSPECTED US drone strike in Yemen has killed two al-Qaeda militants and destroyed an arms cache.

The raid targeted a house in Wadi Abida, in the central province of Marib, where the two unnamed militants were killed, an official said.

He said an arms cache in the house also exploded.

Witnesses said an unmanned drone conducted the air raid, just like in most US air strikes that target al-Qaeda suspects in the Arabian Peninsula nation, which is home to al-Qaeda's most active branch.

Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is led by Nasser al-Wuhayshi.

In July 2011, he reaffirmed AQAP's allegiance to Ayman al-Zawahiri, head of the worldwide al-Qaeda network since the killing of its founder, Osama bin Laden, in May of the same year.

US drones strikes in Yemen nearly tripled in 2012 compared with 2011, from 18 to 53, according to the New America Foundation, a Washington-based think tank.

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S Korea vows to counter any North attacks

South Korea has noted new plans for a possible missile launch in North Korea, military sources say. Source: AAP

SOUTH Korea has monitored new preparations for a possible missile launch in North Korea, military sources say, as Washington and Seoul's top generals vowed to counter any attacks from Pyongyang.

US Army General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met his South Korean counterpart Army General Jung Seung Jo during a three-hour stop in Seoul on Sunday on his way to a four-day visit to China.

"The two allies have the capabilities and will to counter any North Korean provocative threats," they said in a joint statement after their meeting.

They added that "North Korea's recent torrent of provocative threats will have an unfavourable impact on the isolated communist regime," according to the Yonhap news agency.

Latest satellite imagery showed that Pyongyang has moved two more missile launchers to its east coast, Yonhap reported.

The two additional mobile launchers were spotted at the South Hamgyeong province after April 16, it quoted a defence source as saying.

"The military is closely watching the North's latest preparations for a missile launch," the source said.

The North was monitored earlier in the month to have positioned two mid-range Musudan missiles in Wonson and at least five mobile launchers in Wonson and South Hamgyeong Province.

The movements led South Korean authorities to believe that Pyongyang was preparing for a test launch to coincide with the 101st birth anniversary of its late founder Kim Il Sung on April 15.

No missile launch was conducted then, as the US government warned North Korea that it would be a "huge mistake."

South Korea's military has been on high alert since the North ordered its armed forces on March 26 to be combat-ready, Yonhap said.

"As long as this order remains in place, there are possibilities that the North could fire off a missile," a defence source said.

North Korea has been issuing almost daily threats since the UN imposed tougher sanctions against the communist state after it conducted a third nuclear test in February.

The US and South Korea have called on Pyongyang to resume the six-party talks over its nuclear programs to ease tensions on the peninsula.

The negotiations involving both Koreas, the US, Japan, Russia and China, stalled in 2009.

But Pyongyang said on Saturday it would never agree to talks on denuclearisation, but would be open to negotiations for arms reduction. It added it will not give up its nuclear program until the entire world is denuclearised.

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6.1 earthquake hits off Japan's coast: USG

A 6.1-MAGNITUDE earthquake has struck off the south coast of Japan's main Honshu island, but no tsunami warning was issued.

The quake hit 644km south of Tokyo, at a depth of 424km, the United States Geological Survey said.

Japan's Meteorological Agency said there was no risk of a tsunami.

Tokyo and its suburban Kanto region were rocked by minor tremors but there were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, the agency said.

"We have received no reports of damage to properties nor reports of injuries so far," a spokesman for the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department said.

The area is prone to earthquakes.

Another, weaker 4.2-magnitude quake struck in Fukushima prefecture in the northeast at a shallow depth of 10km and was felt throughout the region, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

It had no impact on the tsunami-ravaged Fukushima Daiichi plant, its operator Tokyo Electric Power Company said.

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Musharraf in house arrest 'isolation'

Pakistan's former military ruler Pervez Musharraf is being held in "isolation" a spokesman says. Source: AAP

PAKISTAN'S former military ruler Pervez Musharraf is reportedly being held in "isolation" in his luxury farmhouse, confined to two rooms and stripped of personal staff.

A court remanded Musharraf, who ruled Pakistan from 1999 to 2008, in custody on Saturday after his arrest over his decision to sack judges when he imposed emergency rule in November 2007.

Authorities declared the retired general's plush home on the edge of Islamabad a "sub-jail", saving him the indignity and risk - his life has been threatened by Taliban militants - of going to prison.

But Mohammad Amjad, spokesman for Musharraf's All Pakistan Muslim League party, complained on Sunday that his lawyers and staff were being denied access to him.

"General Musharraf is being kept in isolation," Amjad told reporters outside the former army chief's heavily guarded residence in Islamabad.

"I was not allowed to have a meeting with him. His family members are not allowed to see him. He has been allocated two rooms in the farmhouse and his movements are confined in those rooms. His personal staff have been removed."

Musharraf's arrest on Friday was an unprecedented move against a former army chief in Pakistan, which has seen three periods of military rule and where the armed forces still wield enormous power.

The 69-year-old returned from four years of self-imposed exile last month promising to "save" the nuclear-armed country from economic ruin and militancy, but his homecoming has turned sour.

On Tuesday he was disqualified from running in the May 11 general election, which should mark the first democratic transition of power after a civilian government completes a full-term in office.

He also faces a litany of serious criminal allegations: lawyers have petitioned Pakistan's top court to try him for treason for imposing emergency law and he also faces charges of conspiracy to murder opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in 2007 and over the death of a rebel leader during 2006.

The next hearing in the Supreme Court treason petition comes on Monday.

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Female suicide bomber kills 4 in Pakistan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Dozens killed in battle near Damascus

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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