Bushfires continue to threaten five states

THOUSANDS of firefighters continue to battle bushfires across five states and territories, with blazes threatening homes and scorching hundreds of thousands of hectares of bushland.

NSW is under the worst threat with more than 90 fires that have burned more than 350,000ha.

Seven of those fires continue to burn out of control.

A 9800ha blaze near Cooma threatened 15 homes on Saturday as more than 100 firefighters worked to contain the inferno.

Crews are battling two other major fires near Yass and Sussex Inlet that have threatened homes but eased thanks to cooler weather conditions.

Firefighting crews in Tasmania, Victoria, Queensland and the ACT also fought blazes on Saturday.

Authorities in Tasmania issued a watch and act alert as a bushfire between Forcett and the Tasman Peninsula strengthened.

The Tasmanian Fire Service (TFS) issued the alert on Saturday for communities near the blaze, noting increasing activity on the fire's boundary in the Kellevie, Bream Creek and Marion Bay areas.

TFS senior station officer Phil Douglas said the fire had expanded to cover 23,600 hectares, and fire crews were back-burning to contain the blaze.

Tasmanian emergency services have been fighting fires since January 4.

Several fires were burning across Victoria but they were under control, including a blaze at Kentbruck in the state's southwest, where 66 fire crews remained stationed.

A State Control Centre spokeswoman said the Kentbruck blaze had increased to 11,890 hectares, due to backburning as part of containment efforts.

A 13-hectare blaze at Kangaroo Ground on Melbourne's outskirts had been declared safe despite going close to a number of properties.

In Queensland, there were 34 bushfires across the state but none threatened homes.

Volunteer crews were using earth moving equipment to contain a fire in bush near Undullah south of Brisbane.

Firefighters continue to monitor three fires sparked by lightning strikes on Thursday, west of Gympie.

Two small grassfires were the only blazes in the ACT on an extreme fire danger day.

Both, one at Hall and the other at Kambah, were extinguished, the ACT Emergency Services Agency (ESA) said.

A milder weather forecast allowed ACT authorities to end the total fire ban across the territory on Saturday night.

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Obama won't support building 'Death Star'

A DEATH Star won't be a part of the US military's arsenal any time soon.

More than 34,000 people have signed an online petition calling on the Obama administration to build the Star Wars inspired super-weapon to spur job growth and bolster the country's defence.

But in a posting on Friday on the White House petitions website, Paul Shawcross, an administration adviser on science and space, says a Death Star would cost too much to build - an estimated $US850 quadrillion ($A805 quadrillion) - at a time the White House is working to reduce the federal budget.

Besides, Shawcross says, the Obama administration "does not support blowing up planets".

The US, Shawcross points out, is already involved in several out-of-this-world projects, including the International Space Station, which is currently orbiting Earth with a half-dozen astronauts.

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Beijing air pollution hazardous

AIR pollution levels in China's notoriously dirty capital have hit dangerous levels, with cloudy skies blocking out visibility and warnings issued for people to remain indoors.

Local authorities have warned the severe pollution is likely to continue until Monday.

The Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center has reported air-quality readings between 176 and 442 from its monitors throughout the greater Beijing area since Friday.

The monitors measure the level of air-borne PM 2.5 particulates, which are tiny particular matters considered the most harmful to health.

The air is considered good when the reading is at 50 or below but hazardous with a reading between 301 and 500, when people are warned to avoid outdoor physical activities.

Monitors in urban Beijing all reported readings above 300 on Friday, and the centre real-time readings showed Beijing remained heavily polluted on Saturday with readings as high as 478 at 3pm (local time).

At the same time, monitors at the city's US Embassy recorded an off-the-chart air-quality reading of 699.

Readings are often different in different parts of the city and because the instruments used to measure the pollution levels are different.

According to rules issued by the city government in December, all outdoor sports activities are to stop and factories have to reduce their production capacity if Beijing's official air-quality reading goes over 500.

Beijing authorities are blaming a lack of wind and foggy conditions.

Several other cities, including Tianjin on the coast east of Beijing and southern China's Wuhan city have also reported severe pollution over the last several days.

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NSW man dies during surf rescue

A MAN who tried to rescue four young people from the surf got into trouble himself and died.

Emergency crews rushed to Patonga, on the NSW Central Coast, about 2.30pm on Saturday.

The four young people, including children, were visiting from Asia and staying with the man, police say.

They were swimming in Patonga Creek when they were taken out by the tide.

The man, aged in his 60s, tried to rescue them before he also got into trouble.

Onlookers came to their aid using a boat and pulled all five from the water before racing them to the shore.

Members of the public performed CPR on the man until police and paramedics arrived but the man died at the scene.

A NSW Ambulance spokeswoman said one of the four young people, an 18-year-old woman, swallowed water before she was transported to Gosford Hospital in a stable condition.

The three others who were with the victims were also transported to hospital but only to receive language translation services.

A full investigation is underway into the circumstances surrounding the incident.

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Taliban welcome US 'zero option' on troops

THE Taliban have welcomed news from Washington that the US might withdraw all its troops from Afghanistan next year, saying the American public was pressing for an end to "this aimless war".

The comment came ahead of a crucial meeting between President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai at the White House on Friday that is expected to focus on how many American soldiers will remain in Afghanistan.

The US and its NATO allies have long planned to withdraw their combat troops by the end of 2014, although it has been widely expected that Washington will leave a force to train, advise and assist the Afghan army and police.

But Ben Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser, told reporters on Tuesday that Obama would not rule out any ideas, including the so-called zero option - pulling out all the remaining 66,000 US troops.

US military officers privately said comments about a total withdrawal were primarily designed as a tactic in negotiations with Kabul over a security agreement, which includes immunity for American troops remaining behind.

Taliban insurgents, however, seized on Rhodes' comments as a sign that the administration was under pressure from the American people to pull out completely from the nation's longest war.

"We appreciate this step of the American public and all those societies who pressurise their government in the issue of Afghanistan as to bring this aimless war to an end and to evacuate all their troops," the Taliban said in a statement on their website.

Opinion polls for several years have shown that the US public is tired of the human and financial cost of the Afghanistan war, initially launched after the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.

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Road deaths cost South Africa 10th of GDP

FATAL road crashes cost South Africa's economy 309 billion rand ($A33.17 billion)) each year or the equivalent of 10 per cent of gross domestic product, the Transport Minister has revealed.

Accidents blamed mainly on drunk driving and excessive speeding, claimed nearly 1,500 lives in the five weeks from the start of December, according to South African police.

"Road traffic fatalities are amongst the main causes of death in South Africa," Transport Minister Ben Martins said in a report on festive season road accidents he unveiled on Thursday.

"The economic ramifications include the increase in the social development and health budgets spent. At least 306 billion rand is lost to the economy due to road fatalities each year."

About 40 per cent of the 1,462 road accident deaths recorded by the police in December and the first week of January, involved pedestrians most of whom jay-walked on the roads while drunk.

On average there are 11,000 deaths on the road each year.

The government in South Africa, which has the biggest economy in Africa, has launched a campaign to slash road crashes by half in the next seven years.

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Aust shares close lower

THE Australian share market closed lower amid profit taking on Friday and mixed messages about economic data out of Asia.

At the close on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 13.5 points, or 0.28 per cent lower at 4,709.5, while the broader All Ordinaries index was down 11.4 points, or 0.24 per cent, at 4,733.8.

On the ASX 24, the March share price index futures contract was 11 points lower at 4,681, with 25,099 contracts traded.

IG Markets market strategist Evan Lucas said sentiment had turned negative following Chinese data showing that inflation was at a relatively low 2.6 per cent for 2012, but had increased in December indicating no stimulation is likely soon.

However that was offset by Japan's premier Shinzo Abe unveiling a $US226.5 billion ($A214.68 billion) stimulus package.

"That helped our market move off its lows and it ramped up," Mr Lucas told AAP.

"But we had some profits locked in, weighing on the mining sector, despite the iron ore price still sitting at $US158 a tonne."

"It was a bit of a mixed market despite strong leads from the US ... a lot of people are watching what will happen with corporate earnings week there."

The mining giants continued to fall.

BHP Billiton led the falls, losing 73 cents, or 1.95 per cent, to $36.68, Fortescue fell 12 cents, or 2.47 per cent, to $4.73 and Rio Tinto tumbled $1.30, or 1.9 per cent, to $65.80.

The four major banks were mixed.

ANZ gained 10 cents to $25.25, National Australia Bank jumped 14 cents to $25.57, Westpac lost two cents to $26.58 and Commonwealth Bank dived 23 cents to $61.38.

The spot price of gold in Sydney closed at $US1,672.72 per fine ounce, up $US14.34 from Thursday's local close of $US1,658.38.

National turnover was 1.44 billion shares worth $3.14 billion, with 492 stocks up, 402 down and 373 unchanged.

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Tokyo surges on yen, Asian shares down

ASIAN shares fell on Friday after the previous day's gains but Tokyo hit a 23-month high as the yen sank further after Japan's new leaders unveiled a stimulus package worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

While the yen came under fresh selling pressure after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe outlined his economy-boosting plan, the euro was also lifted by unexpectedly positive comments about the eurozone by European Central Bank head Mario Draghi.

However, the latest inflation data out of China was unable to impress investors as much as the better-than-expected trade figures the previous day that indicate a pick-up in the world's number two economy.

Tokyo climbed 1.40 per cent, or 148.93 points, to 10,801.57 - its highest level since February 2011, but Sydney fell 0.28 per cent, or 13.5 points, to close at 4,709.5 and Seoul lost 0.50 per cent, or 10.13 points to 1,996.67.

Hong Kong fell 0.39 per cent, or 90.24 points, to 23,264.07 and Shanghai closed down 1.78 per cent, or 40.66 points, at 2,243.00.

Abe, whose Liberal Democratic Party swept to power last month, set out a $US226.5 billion stimulus to kick-start the limp economy with plans to rebuild tsunami-hit areas, beef up the military, boost employment and end deflation.

"With the measures, we will achieve real GDP growth of two per cent and 600,000 jobs created," he said in a briefing.

Also Friday, data showed that Japan logged a bigger-than-expected 222.4 billion yen deficit in November as exports to Europe and China dropped.

The events in Tokyo sent the yen tumbling.

The unit, which hit a record high of 75 against the dollar in late 2011, has been tumbling since Abe promised in his election campaign last year that he would unveil more stimulus and also urge the Bank of Japan for more aggressive monetary easing.

The dollar climbed to 89.34 yen at one point in Tokyo - its highest since June 2010 - before easing back to 89.01 yen, but still up from 88.64 in New York late Thursday.

The euro also surged to 118.56 yen in early Tokyo trade, breaking 118 yen for the first time since May 2011. It then retreated to 118.02 yen, from 117.53 yen in New York.

The single currency rose after the ECB decided not to cut interest rates, as some observers had expected, while Draghi said the eurozone was looking in better shape than last year.

Among a long list of positives, he pointed to lower bond yields, higher stock prices, record-low volatility, strong inflows into the eurozone, a halt of capital flight in peripheral countries and a reduction of the ECB's balance sheet.

"If you look at the overall landscape taking, let's say, a medium-term perspective... you will see a significant improvement in financial market conditions," he said.

He added that the debt crisis was not yet over, but said while the overriding fear last year had been one of "contagion" and that the crisis would deepen and spread, there was also "positive contagion when things go well".

Against the dollar the euro bought $US1.3262, from $US1.3261 in New York.

In China official figures showed inflation came in at 2.6 per cent in 2012, down sharply from 5.4 per cent the year before and much lower than the 4.0 per cent target set by Beijing. And for December the rate hit 2.5 per cent, in line with expectations.

While the data gives policymakers more room to loosen monetary policy, dealers were not as excited by the news as Thursday's figures that showed a huge jump in the trade surplus.

On Wall Street the Dow rose 0.60 per cent, the S&P 500 advanced 0.76 per cent and the Nasdaq added 0.51 per cent.

Oil prices were mixed, with New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, gaining six cents to $US93.88 a barrel in the afternoon, while Brent North Sea crude for February dropped 33 cents to $US111.56.

Gold was at $US1,670.10 at 0840 GMT compared with $US1,662.87 late Thursday.

In other markets:

- Taipei added 0.10 per cent, or 7.51 points, to 7,819.15.

HTC rose 0.73 per cent to Tw$277.0 while Chunghwa Telecom fell 0.32 per cent to Tw$94.2.

- Manila closed 0.55 per cent higher, adding 33.18 points to 6,051.75.

BDO Unibank added 0.33 per cent to 75.15 pesos and Ayala Corp. rose 0.55 per cent to 550 pesos, while Philippine Long Distance Telephone increased 1.97 per cent to 2,688 pesos.

- Wellington ended 0.31 per cent higher, adding 12.67 points to 4,131.75.

Nuplex was up 1.6 per cent at NZ$3.21, Telecom advanced 0.43 per cent to NZ$2.31 and Fletcher Building added 0.6 per cent to NZ$8.72.

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New 'Karachi' probe opened against Sarkozy

France's ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy is to be investigated over accusations of a breach of secrecy. Source: AAP

FRENCH judges have authorised a fresh probe against ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy as part of the so-called "Karachi affair," a judicial source told AFP.

Three judges decided on Thursday to proceed with a probe to see whether Sarkozy violated a confidentiality law when the Elysee presidential palace published a press release on the affair in September 2011.

The press release said that Sarkozy's name did not figure in any of the files on the so-called Karachi affair, which stems from a 2002 bombing in the Pakistani city that killed 11 French engineers.

The engineers' families sued Sarkozy over the press release, charging that it violated laws that prohibit publication of information about ongoing investigations.

Although prosecution argued that Sarkozy cannot be investigated because he had presidential immunity at the time, the judges disagreed.

"The act of permitting the release of information concerning ongoing investigations does not enter into the functions of the president," the three investigating judges said in their ruling.

The Karachi bombing has spawned several other investigations implicating Sarkozy, a right-winger who was defeated in his re-election bid last year by Socialist Francois Hollande.

In one, two close aides to Sarkozy have been charged by judges investigating alleged kickbacks on a Pakistani arms deal concluded when Sarkozy was budget minister.

He allegedly authorised the creation of a shell company used to channel kickbacks to then prime minister Edouard Balladur's unsuccessful 1995 presidential bid.

In more serious but harder to prove allegations, magistrates are also probing whether the Karachi bombing was revenge for the cancellation of bribes secretly promised to Pakistani officials.

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Fed govt must act on Indon drinks: Barnett

Federal government must urge Indonesia to regulate its drinks market, says WA Premier Colin Barnett. Source: AAP

WEST Australian Premier Colin Barnett says the federal government must press Indonesia to regulate its drinks market, after the death of a teen who drank a methanol-laced cocktail while on holiday.

Liam Davies, 19, died from methanol poisoning after consuming a drink of vodka and lime mix at Rudy's Bar in Gili Trawangan off Lombok.

Mr Davies died last Sunday after his family decided to turn of his life support, with doctors saying his brain was too damaged to expect any recovery.

A coronial inquiry has been launched, with investigators expected to look into how the vodka - said to have been poured from labelled bottles - came to kill him.

Foreign Minister Bob Carr had promised Australia would make "serious representations" to Indonesia about regulating its drinks market in tourist areas.

Mr Barnett told reporters on Thursday that the only thing his government could do was support the federal government in a push to improve standards in Indonesia.

"It is a responsibility of the Australian government to pursue this diplomatically with the Indonesian authorities," he said.

"We do have a direct interest as a nation, given that Australia is probably the major source of international visitors to Bali."

Mr Barnett said his message to West Australians who loved to travel to Bali was to take care and only consume pre-bottled drinks.

"Any tourist travelling anywhere, but particularly to developing nations like Indonesia, need to take particular care," he said.

"Countries such as Indonesia, and Bali in particular, don't have the sort of rules and regulations and inspections of food and beverage outlets that we have in Australia."

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Tourists harass Qld rescue helicopter

HOLIDAY revellers drove along a Fraser Island beach towards a landing Queensland rescue chopper and shone headlights and a spotlight directly into the cockpit as the crew tried to land.

The AGL Action Rescue Helicopter was preparing to land on Orchid Beach to pick up a patient who had lacerations to his left arm after putting it through a plate glass window.

Revellers in four-wheel-drives roared up the beach and shone the lights which obscured the vision of the crew members, said pilot Peter Potroz.

He flashed the helicopter's spotlight at them in the hope the beach-goers would stop, but instead they persisted.

"We knew the patient we were airlifting had lost a significant amount of blood and needed urgent medical treatment from our flight paramedic," Mr Potroz said in a statement.

"It made the landing difficult and more timely than usual, but we remained calm and concentrated on the task at hand.

"Fortunately we got to him in time."

The incident has been reported to police.

Since Christmas the AGL Action Rescue Helicopter has flown to Fraser Island 16 times to help more than a dozen people, including children suffering burns, stings and serious medical conditions.

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Two Swiss trains collide, 30 injured

TWO passenger trains have collided at a train station in northern Switzerland as media report at least 30 people injured.

"There are injuries. We are not commenting on the number or severity of the injuries," a local police spokeswoman in the canton of Schaffhouse told AFP.

One train had rammed into the side of another one at the Neuhausen-am-Rheinfall train station near the German border at 1730 (AEDT), the SBB rail company said.

"We are in the process of evacuating," SBB spokesman Jean Philippe Schmidt told AFP, saying the company would leave it up to police to comment on any injuries.

Swiss media, meanwhile, reported that at least 30 people had been injured and that four ambulances were on site.

The locomotive of one of the trains, a double-decker that had been heading for Winterthour in the canton of Zurich, had derailed when it was hit by a regional train.

A rescue train had been sent in to help put it back on the track, and was also carrying rescue personnel to help with any injuries, Schmidt said.

"The train hit the emergency breaks and everyone was thrown out of their seats," one of the passengers told the 20minutes.ch website.

"One person was bleeding heavily from the head."

Another passenger told the online paper that he had seen "an old lady lying unconscious on the ground who was bleeding a lot."

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Tas fire authorities defend preparation

TASMANIAN fire authorities have defended the amount of backburning done around the worst hit bushfire town of Dunalley.

Deputy Chief Officer of the Tasmania Fire Service Gavin Freeman has rejected a suggestion less fuel reduction than normal had occurred in the area.

"I don't believe there has been less done," Mr Freeman told reporters in Hobart.

"You can always look back with the benefit of hindsight and say, 'yes we can do more, perhaps'.

"Until we get these fires under control and are able to look back and do a proper analysis ... we don't really know whether fuel reduction burning would have been of benefit or not."

Around 90 properties were razed in and around the small fishing town in a blaze that started at Forcett southeast of Hobart and burned 23,000 hectares.

Emergency services minister David O'Byrne said 80 per cent of the land affected in the state had been private, and landholders shared a responsibility with government to ensure fire breaks were adequate.

"It's a bit early to be jumping to conclusions," he said.

"We will do the research but ultimately fuel reduction ... is a joint responsibility between government but also in the private land that is around Tasmania.

"It's important we have a community conversation around this. Now is not the time for that conversation."

Mr Freeman said backburning was not the only way to prevent bushfires.

"It's not without its problems," he said.

"There are small windows of opportunity to do fuel reduction burning."

While the damage has been extensive, the Tasmanian fires have so far been fatality free.

Mr Freeman said much had been learned from the Royal Commission into the Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria.

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Pakistan denies killing Indian soldiers

The Pakistan Army denies that its soldiers killed two Indian troops after crossing Kashmir's border. Source: AAP

INDIA has lodged a protest with Pakistan against the alleged intrusion of Pakistani troopers into India-administered Kashmir, the killing of two Indian soldiers and the mutilation of one of their bodies.

The Pakistani military on Wednesday denied the allegations.

Pakistan's High Commissioner to India Salman Bashir was summoned to the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi, Indian Foreign Minister Salman Khurshid said.

A group of Pakistan Army soldiers intruded across the 740km Line of Control (LOC) that divides India and Pakistan administered Kashmir on Tuesday, the Indian Army said.

Two Indian troopers died in an exchange of gunfire, and one of their bodies was found decapitated, NDTV news channel reported citing army sources.

"We have conveyed it is unacceptable," Khurshid said.

"Our intent, our anxiety has been conveyed very clearly and we now expect an appropriate response from the other side.

"We must not and cannot allow an escalation of what was a very unwholesome event that has taken place and we hope that message has gone home."

The minister said violations of the ceasefire could derail efforts to improve bilateral relations.

"Pakistan Army's action is highly provocative," Indian Defence Minister AK Antony said.

"The way they treated the dead body of the soldiers, the Indian soldiers, is inhuman."

A Pakistani military official denied that its troops had violated the ceasefire.

"It looks like Indian propaganda to divert attention from Sunday's raid on a Pakistani post by Indian troops in which a Pakistani soldier was killed," the official said.

Pakistan accused Indian troops of attacking one of its outposts on Sunday in the Haji Pir sector and injuring two soldiers, one of whom later died.

The Foreign Ministry summoned India's Deputy High Commissioner Gopal Bagley in Islamabad on Monday to complain that Indian soldiers had attacked a Pakistani checkpoint on Sunday.

"The Indian government was strongly urged to take appropriate measures to avoid recurrence of such incidents in future," the ministry said.

India denied that its troops had crossed the LOC or violated the ceasefire.

Periodic skirmishes have been reported along the LOC since the two South Asian rivals signed a ceasefire in Kashmir in late 2003. The latest incidents occurred after a recent improvement in relations.

They have fought over the Kashmir region since their independence in 1947 from British rule. Both countries claim the region, and each controls parts of it.

The two sides have been engaged in a dialogue to resolve differences, including the border. They have adopted several measures to improve relations over the past year, including easing trade and visa restrictions and a recent series of cricket matches.

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Palmer Qld refinery at tipping point: WWF

Tailing ponds at Clive Palmer's nickel refinery in Queensland may collapse during the wet season. Source: AAP

CONSERVATIONISTS are concerned tailing ponds at a north Queensland nickel refinery owned by mining magnate Clive Palmer will burst during the upcoming wet season.

WWF Australia spokesman Nick Heath says three ponds containing toxic industrial waste at Queensland Nickel's Yabulu refinery near Townsville were already at capacity and could collapse when seasonal storms hit, creating a major environmental disaster.

"Heavy rains from the wet season could hit this area any day now, we have a ticking time bomb on our hands," Mr Heath said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The government needs to urgently reveal how it plans to fix this."

The state government says its Environment and Heritage Protection department is talking with Queensland Nickel to address water management issues.

Ingrid Fomiatti Minnesma, the department's acting executive director, says the refinery has submitted a corrective action plan.

She said the plan includes proposals to divert stormwater away from the tailings dams and to construct additional contaminated water storage capacity on the site.

"The department is reviewing the TEP (Transitional Environmental Program) as a matter of priority," Ms Minnesma said in a statement.

Queensland Nickel requires a permit from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (GBRMPA) to release tailings into the ocean.

Mr Heath said dumping millions of litres of contaminated water into the Great Barrier Reef was not the answer.

"The tailings dam water contains metals, nutrients and nitrogen," he said.

"Not only could a release damage parts of the reef but the chemicals could enter the food chain, potentially affecting the fish we eat."

GBRMPA says it's concerned about any proposal to discharge hazardous waste from the refinery's dams into the marine park or nearby coastal wetlands.

"The refinery has known since at least May 2012 that the tailing storage facility was reaching capacity but has failed to act effectively to deal with the situation," GBRMPA written statement says.

Queensland Nickel applied for a permit to discharge into the marine park on May 30 last year.

GBRMPA said it requested more information but the refinery failed to meet the deadline and the application was considered "withdrawn".

Queensland Nickel has been contacted but is yet to respond.

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Bob Brown to lead anti-whaling fight

Sea Shepherd says its four ships will be in the Southern Ocean sanctuary ahead of Japanese whalers. Source: AAP

FORMER Australian Greens leader Bob Brown will direct the coming campaign against Japanese whaling in the Southern Ocean, taking over from the group's founder Paul Watson.

Dr Brown joined the activist group's board as a director on January 1 following his retirement from the Greens leadership and the Australian Senate last year.

He is a long-time friend of Mr Watson, a Canadian who has until now captained Sea Shepherd's flagship Steve Irwin in the group's war against Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean.

The group has been engaged in heated confrontations with the whaling fleet and was ordered by a US court in December not to approach the Japanese ships, overturning an earlier decision in favour of Sea Shepherd.

Mr Watson on Tuesday resigned as president of Sea Shepherd's US chapter and the Australian president as a result of legal proceedings against him and the US court's injunction ordering protesters to stay at least 450 metres from the whaling fleet.

Dr Brown was appointed as a director in January and will spearhead the anti-whaling campaign Operation Zero Tolerance in the Southern Ocean this season alongside Australian director Jeff Hansen.

Current board member and adviser to Mr Watson, Marnie Gaede, will assume the role of president of Sea Shepherd in the US.

Dr Brown's new role will involve directing Sea Shepherd's ninth campaign in the Southern Ocean.

"I am honoured to serve the great whales of the Southern Ocean and Sea Shepherd in this way," Dr Brown said.

"My admiration for Paul Watson is inversely proportional to the Japanese government's anger at Sea Shepherd's success at preventing the slaughter of almost 4000 whales in recent years."

Former Liberal politician Ian Campbell joined Dr Brown in Hobart on Tuesday in support of Sea Shepherd.

"The Japanese have armed their vessels with harpoons that maim and kill whales and guns that can maim and kill humans," the former federal environment minister said.

"Sea Shepherd Australia is there to protect whales and if its vessels have to get within 450 metres of a killer ship to save a whale, then that is what will be done."

If the Japanese said they wouldn't go within 450 metres of a whale, Sea Shepherd Australia would do the same, Mr Campbell said.

Mr Watson is set to defy the US court order and is in the Southern Ocean waiting to tail the fleet from the Japanese Institute of Cetacean Research (ICR), which conducts the so-called scientific whaling program and initiated the US court action.

He is the subject of two Interpol "red notices", seeking to extradite him to Costa Rica and Japan to be put on trial for his actions in anti-whaling campaigns.

The Steve Irwin will be captained by Siddharth Chakravarty, but Mr Watson will remain on board to document this year's campaign.

The Japanese fleet reportedly left for Antarctica in late December.

Sea Shepherd claims the ICR lawsuit against it is funded by a Japanese government subsidy of some US$30 million in relief funds donated to help Japan's tsunami victims, not to hunt whales.

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Hagel draws fire as Obama's Pentagon pick

President Obama has named Chuck Hagel (L) to head the Pentagon and John Brennan (R) to lead the CIA. Source: AAP

US President Barack Obama has named Chuck Hagel to lead the Pentagon, setting up an ugly confirmation battle as Republican opponents said he was too hard on Israel and too soft on Iran.

Obama's choice of John Brennan to replace scandal-tainted David Petraeus as CIA chief was seen as more straightforward despite the counter-terrorism czar's defence of "enhanced interrogation techniques" and the US drone war.

The second term revamp of the president's national security team was expected to eventually win approval but several leading Republicans signalled they would make it tough for Hagel even though he is one of their own.

Obama paid particular tribute to retiring Pentagon chief Leon Panetta before giving ringing endorsements to the "outstanding" Hagel and Brennan and urging the Senate not to dally in confirming the important appointments.

"Chuck Hagel is the leader that our troops deserve. He is an American patriot," the president said, heaping praise on a war hero whose wounds earned him two Purple Heart medals as a soldier in Vietnam.

"When Chuck was hit by shrapnel, his brother saved him. When his brother was injured by a mine, Chuck risked his life to pull him to safety. To this day, Chuck bears the scars - and the shrapnel - from the battles he fought in our name."

Hagel was also awarded the Army Commendation medal and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry, the latter from the former South Vietnamese government, for his bravery while serving in the war.

Some Republicans have never forgiven him for his outspoken criticism of ex-president George W Bush's handling of the Iraq war, and his closeness to the Democratic president has seen him branded as a traitor by others.

But Obama, who wants to be remembered as a leader who ended wars abroad to set about the tricky task of building at home following a crippling recession, described Hagel as someone perfectly fitted to that mold.

"Maybe most importantly, Chuck knows that war is not an abstraction. He understands that sending young Americans to fight and bleed in the dirt and mud, that's something we only do when it's absolutely necessary," he said.

Administration appointments are often tense affairs in the US as confirmation hearings provide senators with opportunities to turn away unwanted candidates or score cheap political points, or both.

Hagel, 66, known for a fiercely independent streak and a tendency to speak bluntly, is expected to get particularly rough treatment due to his criticism of America's "Jewish lobby" and opposition to some Iran sanctions.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Hagel would be "the most antagonistic defence secretary towards the state of Israel in our nation's history."

Another Republican senator, John Cornyn of Texas, said he would oppose the nomination, charging it would be the "worst possible message we could send to our friend Israel and the rest of our allies in the Middle East."

But in an interview with The Lincoln Journal Star, a newspaper in his home state of Nebraska, Hagel hit back at his critics.

There is "not one shred of evidence that I'm anti-Israeli, not one vote (of mine) that matters that hurt Israel," he said.

If confirmed by the Senate, Hagel will have to manage major cuts to military spending while wrapping up the US war effort in Afghanistan and preparing for worst-case scenarios in Iran or Syria.

Serving as an enlisted man who never joined the officer ranks, Hagel carries a particular empathy for the unheralded infantry "grunts" in the field.

As he grapples with budget pressures, the former sergeant will likely try to shield frontline troops from the effect of spending cuts.

In his typical straight-shooting fashion, Hagel has called the Defence Department "bloated" and said that "the Pentagon needs to be pared down."

Brennan, 57, may get an easier ride but is sure to face questions over his support for the use of certain "enhanced interrogation techniques" under the Bush administration and for his staunch defence of the US drone program.

The 25-year Central Intelligence Agency veteran, an Arabic-speaking Middle East expert, replaces Petraeus, who resigned in November after confessing to an extramarital affair with his biographer Paula Broadwell.

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Hume Hwy reopens at southern NSW township

The Hume Highway has reopened in Tarcutta, east of Wagga Wagga, after being closed due to bushfires. Source: AAP

RESIDENTS of a township in southern NSW are returning to their homes after seeking shelter, but emergency services are urging them to remain vigilant.

The Hume Highway reopened in both directions in Tarcutta, east of Wagga Wagga, just after 6pm (AEDT) on Tuesday, after being closed earlier due to a bushfire.

All diversions have been lifted but motorists are still being advised to exercise caution through the area.

The NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) said the immediate threat to Tarcutta village has eased as weather conditions improve.

However, the blaze, which has burnt through 500 hectares, is still impacting isolated properties to the northwest of Talcutta along Mates Gully Road.

Residents in this area have been told to seek shelter as it is too late to leave the area.

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European stocks slip at open

EUROPEAN stock markets weakened in opening deals on Tuesday, with London's FTSE 100 index of top companies down 0.12 per cent at 6057.17 points.

Elsewhere, Frankfurt's DAX 30 index dropped 0.28 per cent to 7710.70 points and in Paris the CAC 40 also shed 0.28 per cent to stand at 3694.15.

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Campfires under scutiny after Tas disaster

THE use of campfires could come under scrutiny in outdoor mecca Tasmania after one allegedly caused a massive bushfire in the state's Derwent Valley.

Police charged a 31-year-old man after he allegedly didn't completely extinguish a campfire near Lake Repulse.

The fire, in the farming and forested area northwest of Hobart, has burnt out nearly 11,000 hectares with several properties destroyed.

Eighty firefighters in 27 trucks and three aircraft continue to fight the blaze.

The accused man will face a magistrates court in coming months after allegedly committing what is known as a simple offence, similar in magnitude to a traffic infringement or public drunkenness.

Tasmanian Premier Lara Giddings said ways to avoid carelessness or accidents would be considered when the horrific fire situation is reviewed.

"The reality is some of the fires that have started in Tasmania have started because of lightning strikes," Ms Giddings told reporters in Hobart.

"There's nothing we can do about that.

"At least one has been accidentally lit, and we will go back and look at how you can avoid those accidents in the future.

"But that time to do those inquiries, to ask those questions is not now."

Tasmania Police confirmed on Tuesday the biggest fire, on the Tasman Peninsula, had begun accidentally at Forcett.

A tree stump burn had continued to smoulder through the root system and ignited when the south of the state hit record temperatures on Friday.

The fire has burnt 23,000 hectares, destroyed more than 120 buildings and left 100 people unaccounted for.

Lightning is thought to have started an east coast bushfire that razed up to 15 properties.

Tasmania Fire Service Chief Officer Mike Brown said campfires needed to be attended to at all times.

He said they needed to be completely extinguished the moment people walked away from them and cleared of flammable material for three metres around.

"We make it very clear about how people can use campfires and how people can use cooking appliances," he said.

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Fewer gun-buyers in mass shooting states

BACKGROUND checks for gun sales and permits to carry guns surged in the US at the end of 2012.

But an Associated Press analysis found that people in Connecticut and Colorado, scenes of the deadliest US mass shootings in 2012, were less enthusiastic about buying new guns than people in most other states. The biggest surges in occurred in the South and West.

The latest FBI figures reflect huge increases across the US in the number of background checks following President Barack Obama's re-election, the school shooting in Connecticut and Obama's promise to support new laws aimed at curbing gun violence.

Nationally, there were nearly twice as many background checks for firearms between November and December than during the same time period in 2011.

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Businesses expect to cut prices

THE first few months of 2013 will be a bargain-hunter's paradise, with more businesses cutting prices than at any point in the last 24 years.

A survey of 1,200 business owners and senior managers in the retail, wholesale and manufacturing sectors, shows a larger-than-usual number expect to have to offer price discounts to overcome the post-Christmas sales slump.

Dun and Bradstreet's selling price expectation index has fallen to a record low - indicating more businesses are planning to offer discounts during the March quarter than at any point since the survey began in 1988.

The lower prices are expected to be accompanied by weaker activity, with sales falling and businesses reducing their inventory levels, the survey showed.

Dun and Bradstreet's director of corporate affairs, Danielle Woods said the survey suggested businesses were cutting prices to stimulate spending during the difficult post-Christmas months.

"We know that there is traditionally a drop off in spending following the Christmas period as consumers play catch-up with their household budgets and debts following an often expensive holiday period," she said.

"These findings suggest that businesses are planning to negotiate the spending slump by extending discounting through the New Year and by managing their stock carefully."

Ms Woods said business' selling price expectations have been below their ten-year average since 2009.

"Although the most recent data has taken selling price expectations to a new low, it is part of a long downward trend that suggests ongoing discounting has become the new normal," she said.

D&B's economic adviser Stephen Koukoulas said the expected price cuts would help keep inflation low and added to the case for the Reserve Bank of Australia to cut interest rates again in early 2013.

"It remains likely that the inflation rate will remain near the bottom of the RBA target band (of annual inflation of two to three per cent), which will be a critical issue for the RBA when it decides future interest rate settings."

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Vic bushfire spreads to farming community

A MASSIVE bushfire could potentially double in size and hit small farming communities in Victoria's southwest, as the north of the state faces severe conditions.

There is a threat to lives and property with the southwest Victorian settlement of Drik Drik under direct attack from fire and embers, authorities said on Monday night.

An afternoon wind change swung the 4000-hectare Kentbruck fire on a path to Drik Drik, an agricultural farming area of about 30 houses.

Authorities warned the out-of-control bushfire had the potential to double in size to 8000 hectares in an afternoon with westerly to south-westerly winds of up to 40km/h on Tuesday capable of pushing the fire a significant distance.

Fire services commissioner Craig Lapsley said the immediate concern on Monday night was the Drik Drik area but the key issue would be on Tuesday.

"It will be a fire that will be pushed with winds and we believe that it's got the potential to move significant distance tomorrow, potentially block the Princes Highway and have further impacts on the rural community around Drik Drik and Dartmoor," Mr Lapsley told ABC TV.

Nearly 500 firefighters and a dozen aircraft are battling the blaze, which started on Friday and has mainly burnt through pine plantation.

The Country Fire Authority (CFA) said there had been no reports of property damage or loss of life by early Monday night, dismissing earlier rumours that at least one home had been impacted by the fire.

A spokeswoman said there was still a risk to lives and property.

A number of roads have been closed and most of the 250 residents of nearby Dartmoor have already left the town.

Mr Lapsley warned the next 24 hours would be critical, but he said the Victorian towns of Portland, Nelson, Heywood and Mt Gambier in South Australia were unlikely to be directly impacted by the fire.

"We are doing significant planning on the potential of how large it could get, that is not a scenario that we would see at this stage, where those major centres would be impacted by this fire," he told reporters at the State Control Centre in Melbourne.

"It would need a significant run of fire that is not predicted, however in this general area it could increase from 4000 to 8000 hectares in size in an afternoon so it has potential to move, but not to move to impact on major centres."

Mr Lapsley said the main concern on Tuesday was for northern Victoria, which faces yet another day of hot conditions, with total fire bans declared in the Mallee, Wimmera, Northern Country and North East fire districts.

He said there was a severe fire danger stretching along the South Australian border, the Murray River and the NSW border.

Lightning strikes have already sparked blazes in north-eastern Victoria and there are also fears that fires across the Murray River in NSW may reach Victoria if they take hold.

Northern parts of the state have experienced several days in a row above 40C.

Mr Lapsley said lightning strikes could take a day to become a fire.

The hot conditions have kept ambulance crews busy, with paramedics attending 450 heat-related incidents in the past four days including between four and seven children being left in cars each day.

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Delhi gang-rape suspects appear in court

The father of the gang-rape victim has revealed his daughter's identity to a British newspaper. Source: AAP

THE magistrate hearing the case of five men accused of gang-raping and murdering a 23-year-old medical student in New Delhi has ordered that their first appearance in court take place behind closed doors.

"The court has become jam-packed," magistrate Namrita Aggarwal told the court on Monday amid noisy protests from lawyers and a media scrum.

"It has become impossible for this court to conduct proceedings in this case."

Police have charged the men with murder, rape and other crimes that could bring them the death penalty.

The crime caused nationwide outrage, leading to massive protests.

The adult defendants have been named as Ram Singh, Mukesh Singh, Vijay Sharma, Akshay Thakur and Pawan Gupta. They are all from New Delhi.

The case is expected to be transferred to a fast-track court set up last week for their trial.

A sixth suspect who is 17 years old was expected to be tried in a juvenile court, where the maximum sentence would be three years in a reform facility.

Prosecutor Rajiv Mohan said last week that a DNA test confirmed that the blood of the victim matched bloodstains found on the clothes of all the accused.

It normally takes months for the prosecution to assemble such a case but the legal proceedings are getting under way barely a week after the student died of her injuries in a Singapore hospital.

Police have pledged "maximum security" during the hearing at the magistrates' court amid fears for the defendants' safety. A man was arrested last week as he allegedly tried to plant a crude bomb near the home of one of the men.

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Firefighters battle for control

A woman has been charged with deliberately starting a bushfire in Melbourne's southeast. Source: AAP

A MAJOR blaze burning in Victoria's southwest remains out of control with firefighters battling to bring it under control before more hot weather arrives this week.

While temperatures remained hot in the north of the state on Sunday, cooler temperatures in the south have helped authorities contain blazes.

Firefighters are working to bring the fire at Kentbruck, in the state's southwest, under control by midnight on Sunday.

The fire, which began in a pine plantation, has burned over 2700 hectares and the smoke haze is visible throughout western Victoria.

Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said crews and aircraft worked on the Kentbruck fire on Sunday, aiming to have it under control before the weather worsens.

"Tuesday is the day that has the northerly strong winds and again Friday. They are the two critical days, but we could still have fires on other days that could still do damage," he told reporters in Melbourne.

"It is a week that people need to stay vigilant about fires in Victoria."

On Sunday evening, the water bombing helicopter Elvis was being used to fight a grass fire in Little River, near Geelong.

The fire was spreading in a northwest direction towards Balliang, authorities said.

Mr Lapsley urged people to dob in arsonists.

His comments came as an 18-year-old woman was charged with deliberately starting a fire in Melbourne on Saturday.

She was arrested at the scene of the fire, which was burning on an embankment near Warrigal Road at Ashwood about 9.45pm (AEDT) on Saturday.

Emergency crews quickly extinguished the blaze.

The woman has been charged with intentionally causing a bushfire and recklessly endangering life and was bailed to appear in Dandenong Magistrates Court on April 29.

Mr Lapsley said the Country Fire Authority (CFA) will continue to monitor the Fireready app and CFA website on Monday to ensure people have access to information they need.

Many people had trouble accessing the site during hot weather on Friday.

The site will again be tested with temperatures set to be above 40c in the north of the state on Monday, while Melbourne is expecting 32C.

North-eastern parts of the state are already sweltering, with the towns of Wangaratta, Yarrawonga and Rutherglen reaching 42C on Sunday.

A fire burning near Ensay, in east Gippsland, was brought under control on Saturday afternoon.

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Depardieu gets Russian passport

French actor Gerard Depardieu has received a Russian passport and met with President Vladimir Putin. Source: AAP

FRENCH actor Gerard Depardieu has received a Russian passport and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Putin's spokesman says.

Putin earlier granted citizenship to Depardieu after the French movie star said he was quitting his homeland to avoid paying a new millionaires' tax.

Depardieu "was handed his passport," the Russian leader's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told AFP on Sunday.

But Putin did not personally hand over the document to the actor when the two met briefly on Saturday at Putin's residence in the Black Sea resort town of Sochi, Peskov said.

"There was a short meeting," he said, declining to give further details.

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Kuwait jails opposition tweeter

A KUWAITI court has sentenced an opposition youth to two years in jail for writing tweets deemed offensive to the ruler of the oil-rich Gulf state, a rights activist says.

Rashed al-Enezi, who was in the courtroom to hear the sentence, was immediately arrested by police and taken to jail, the head of the independent Kuwait Society for Human Rights, Mohammad al-Humaidi, told AFP on Sunday.

Enezi is the first to be sentenced among dozens of tweeters, activists and former opposition lawmakers who face similar charges since the government began a clampdown on the opposition in the lead-up to elections held on December 1 last year.

The opposition has been staging regular demonstrations in protest at an amendment of the electoral law and the holding of the the parliamentary vote on the basis of the amended legislation.

It has announced plans to stage a demonstration later on Sunday to demand that parliament be dissolved and the amendment to the electoral law scrapped.

Humaidi said that more than 200 opposition activists, including former lawmakers, face trial on a variety of charges, mainly criticising the emir who is protected against criticism in the constitution.

Among those are around 25 young tweeters who were arrested, interrogated and then freed on bail on charges of insulting the emir.

"The charges were not based on solid accusations but on wrong interpretation of the tweets by authorities. Most of the charges are fabricated," said Humaidi.

The same court is slated to issue verdicts on Monday on another youth tweeter and a member of the scrapped parliament on similar charges.

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Suicide attack hits Afghan tribal meeting

TWO suicide bombers have struck inside a meeting of community leaders in the southern Afghan town of Spin Boldak, causing an unknown number of casualties, local officials say.

"There has been a twin suicide bombing in the Spin Boldak council building. The blasts were inside the hall during a meeting of tribal elders," Jawed Faisal, spokesman for the governor of Kandahar province, told AFP.

"There are casualties but we don't have the numbers at this time."

Witnesses said that two explosions were heard, followed by small arms fire in Spin Boldak, a town in the restive Kandahar province close to the border with Pakistan.

The council building was badly damaged and some people were feared trapped in the rubble.

"Every Sunday the local shura (council) meet at the administrative building, that is where the attack happened," said Mohammad Ali, the border police chief in Spin Boldak, 100 kilometres south of Kandahar city.

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