Iran hangs five drug smugglers: agency

IRAN has hanged five people in prison who were convicted of drug trafficking, the justice department in the southern province of Kerman said in a report by ILNA news agency.

The men sent to gallows at the prison in the city of Kerman on Wednesday had been convicted of trafficking more than a tonne of opium, ILNA said on Saturday, adding they were also found to be in possession of a number of military-grade weapons.

Kerman province lies on one of the major transit routes for narcotics smuggled into Iran from its eastern neighbours Afghanistan and Pakistan to Western countries.

Murder, rape, armed robbery, drug trafficking and adultery are punishable by death in the Islamic republic, which has one of the highest annual execution counts in the world, alongside China, Saudi Arabia and the United States.

Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has condemned the executions, but Tehran says the death penalty is essential to maintain law and order and that it is enforced only after exhaustive judicial proceedings.

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Bodies of Japanese financier, wife found

Two men have been arrested over the double murder of a wealthy Japanese financier and his wife. Source: AAP

TWO bodies unearthed in Japan have been identified as those of a Swiss-based Japanese financier and his wife who went missing from their swanky condominium in Tokyo in December, police said.

Makoto Shimomi, 51, who ran an investment fund, and his wife Mie, 48, disappeared after leaving their luxury apartment in Tokyo's upmarket Ginza district on December 7 during a home visit.

Police dug up the bodies in a vacant lot in Tokyo's northern suburbs on Monday after receiving a tip-off and have since arrested two men in connection with the suspected double murder.

One of the bodies has already been identified as that of Makoto Shimomi by fingerprints and other evidence, a police spokesman said on Saturday.

"We have confirmed the other body as that of the wife as its DNA matched that of her parent."

One of those arrested, 43-year-old fishery company executive Tsuyoshi Watanabe, reportedly admitted to the killing and told investigators he held a grudge against the fund manager because of investment losses.

"I strangled the couple because he was responsible for me losing hundreds of millions of yen (millions of dollars)," he was quoted as telling police.

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US killer mistakenly freed back in jail

A US murderer serving a 60-year sentence who was mistakenly released has been rearrested. Source: AAP

A CONVICTED murderer who was mistakenly released after a court appearance in Chicago was back in custody after US authorities tracked him down at a house about 100km away.

Steven L. Robbins, 44, was rearrested late Friday night without incident in the Illinois town of Kankakee, authorities said.

Although the details of his capture weren't immediately released, officials said they used various leads and interviews with friends and family members at police headquarters to locate him.

The reason Robbins was able to escape in the first place, Illinois officials acknowledged, was because they lost paperwork directing them to return him over the state border to Indiana, where he has been serving a 60-year sentence.

He was escorted by Cook County sheriff's deputies to Chicago this week for a court appearance in a separate case involving drug and armed violence charges - a case that had actually been dismissed in 2007.

After appearing before two Cook County Circuit Court judges, Robbins was taken to a jail on Chicago's South Side.

He was released hours later, instead of being sent back to Indiana to continue his murder sentence.

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Bushland body discovery not suspicious

THE death of a man whose body was found by a cyclist in bushland near Bendigo is not suspicious, police say.

The cyclist discovered the 29-year-old local man's body at Strathfieldsaye, northwest of Melbourne, at about 4pm (AEDT) on Saturday.

Police later said the death was not being treated as suspicious and will compile a report for the coroner.

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NSW premier given ultimatum on comments

The opposition is demanding the federal government not accept Craig Thomson's vote in parliament. Source: AAP

CRAIG Thomson's lawyer has given NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell 24 hours to apologise or face legal action for a "completely unacceptable" comment about the federal MP.

Mr O'Farrell says he has nothing to be sorry for after he defended a pair of corrective services officers who strip-searched Thomson on Thursday ahead of his appearance on fraud charges in a NSW central coast court.

Thomson's lawyer, Chris McArdle, described the officers as "goons" and "galoots" and the search as the "absolutely extraordinary intimidation of an innocent man".

But the premier said the search was "standard procedure" and that Thomson and his lawyer should calm down because "this whole situation arose because Mr Thomson allegedly was too keen to get his kit off in front of strangers".

The independent member for Dobell has consistently denied allegations he misused union funds to pay for prostitutes, air travel, entertainment and cash withdrawals when he was national secretary of the Health Services Union (HSU).

Mr O'Farrell's comments infuriated Mr McArdle, who threatened to sue unless the premier apologised.

"(The premier) has used his credibility to prejudge our client. This is utterly and completely unacceptable," he told Fairfax Radio.

The lawyer on Friday demanded the premier apologise within 24 hours and admit his remarks were "unwise and unwarranted".

Mr O'Farrell conceded his comment was "flippant" and "cheeky" but maintained he had nothing to apologise for.

"In fact Mr McArdle ought to take back some of the comments that he's made today about police and corrective services officials," the premier told Fairfax Radio.

"But I just hasten to explain to Mr McArdle, who is a lawyer, that I did use the word allegations ... forgive me for having listened to five hours worth of media reports of Mr McArdle attacking corrective services officers for doing their jobs."

The Prison Officers Vocational Branch of the Public Service Association of NSW said it took exception to the "disparaging remarks" made by Mr McArdle.

PSA General Secretary Anne Gardiner said the officers involved in the strip-search were at all times acting in accordance with the standard operating procedures of corrective services.

"It is a safety requirement that all new custodies are strip-searched. Officers involved in the search acted in a professional and respectful manner at all times," Ms Gardiner said.

Speaking outside his lawyer's office in Sydney on Friday, Thomson said he would vigorously defend himself against 149 fraud charges laid by Victorian police.

Thomson's case will come before Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a civil penalty case against Thomson has been adjourned and will probably be stayed until the completion of criminal charges.

Federal Court Justice Christopher Jessup on Friday adjourned that matter until March 1, after a barrister for Fair Work Australia, Stephen Donaghue SC, told the court the law stated a civil proceeding must be stayed if a criminal proceeding relating to the same matter was afoot.

The court heard lawyers and Justice Jessup needed to see details of the criminal charges before the matter could be stayed.

The federal opposition says the government should not accept the Labor-turned-independent MP's vote when parliament resumes next week.

"If Craig Thomson tries to vote with us we remove one of our members," Manager of Opposition Business Chris Pyne told ABC Radio on Friday.

"We think Julia Gillard should do the same thing."

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Somali police charge journalist

SOMALI police have charged five people including a journalist and a woman allegedly raped by government troops in a case dismissed by rights groups as "politically motivated".

Freelance journalist Abdiaziz Abdinuur, who works for several Somali radio stations as well as international media, was detained without charge on January 10 in the capital Mogadishu after researching rampant sexual violence in Somalia.

On Tuesday, he was charged with "offending the honour of a state institution and for filing a false report", the United Nations' political office for Somalia said in a statement.

The woman, "who reported having been the victim of a rape, has also been charged with false reporting and for offending the honour of a state institution," it added.

The reporter is facing up to six years in prison, while the woman faces up to nine years. The trial is due to start on Saturday.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) says three others have been charged - the woman's husband, and a man and woman who helped introduce her to the journalist.

The UN said it had raised concerns about the handling of the pre-trial phase, in particular about the prolonged detention and previous lack of access to legal counsel, and how that could negatively impact the trial.

Amnesty International, HRW and the Committee to Protect Journalists say the case is "linked to increasing media attention given to the high levels of rape... including attacks allegedly committed by security forces."

Somalia, which has been ravaged by relentless conflict since 1991, chose a new government in September in a United Nations-backed process, ending eight years of transitional rule by a corruption-riddled government.

Many hoped the new administration would give the country its first effective central government since the fall of president Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991.

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Brain waves could test for schizophrenia

Brain waves could provide the first objective test for schizophrenia, a study has shown. Source: AAP

BRAIN waves could provide the first objective test for schizophrenia, a study has shown.

Measuring the magnetic field produced by electrical currents in the brain can identify patients with the mental disorder, scientists found.

Currently, schizophrenia can only be diagnosed by assessing a patient's symptoms and looking at their medical history.

The psychotic illness usually starts in late adolescence and can cause hallucinations, delusions, paranoia and social withdrawal.

Doctors diagnose schizophrenia by ticking off a defined set of symptoms, but during lucid moments patients can appear quite normal, and might even try to cover up their condition.

The non-invasive magnetoencephalogram (MEG) technique was used by British and Spanish researchers to compare individuals with schizophrenia and healthy individuals.

They found two specific signals that were significantly different in the psychotic patients.

In addition, four brain wave signals from the schizophrenia patients were found to change with age in a way not seen in healthy volunteers.

The findings are published in the journal Physiological Measurement.

Lead researcher Dr Javier Escudero, from the University of Plymouth, said: "At present, there is no blood, cerebrospinal fluid, brain imaging or neurophysiological test for schizophrenia in routine clinical practice. The diagnosis relies on the interpretation of symptoms and clinical history according to consensus criteria.

"The advent of an objective marker for schizophrenia would significantly facilitate the diagnosis and offer a better understanding of the neurobiological basis of the disease."

Scientists studied the frequency spectrum of the MEG background activity in 15 schizophrenia patients with positive symptoms and 17 age-matched healthy volunteers.

MEG readings were divided into five different groups representing different parts of the brain.

Patients undergoing an MEG examination place their head into a sensitive machine that picks up magnetic fluctuations produced by electrical activity in the brain.

It differs from an electroencephalogram (ECG), which measures electrical current directly, in that no electrodes are attached to the scalp.

Using the MEG signals, the researchers were able to classify patients with 71 per cent accuracy.

"The long-term vision is to develop a low-cost, non-invasive and objective test to aid the diagnosis of this and other brain diseases," said Dr Escudero.

"The magnetoencephalogram is able to provide very detailed information about the brain activity; however, it is expensive. Therefore, we aim to transfer these developments to electroencephalogram recordings in the future, as this technique meets those requirements of reduced cost, high availability and non-invasiveness."

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Gusts and golf ball-sized hail hit NSW

TORRENTIAL rain and hailstones the size of golf balls fell on parts of NSW on Friday, with forecasters warning of possible flash-flooding to come.

A severe thunderstorm warning for the mid-north coast, Northern Tablelands and parts of the Hunter Valley and North West Slopes and Plains forecast districts was in place on Friday night.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said residents in these areas could expect large hailstones, damaging winds, heavy rainfall and possible flash flooding.

The State Emergency Service (SES) spent Friday evening mopping up after the storm system moved through metropolitan Sydney.

SES spokesman Phil Campbell said the service had received 180 calls for help across the state since Friday afternoon.

"The worst of that has been Sydney, with just over 100 calls for help," he said, adding that property damage had been limited.

But the wind did bring down trees and powerlines in south and southwest Sydney, while gusts of up to 70km/h at Sydney Airport kept planes on the ground.

Sydney CBD commuters were caught in the downpour on Friday afternoon and in Wyong on the central coast 53 millimetres of rain fell in 30 minutes.

At Mount Victoria, in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, a BOM storm-spotter reported golf ball-sized hailstones and torrential rain.

Emergency crews from Ausgrid were able to restore power to thousands of homes and businesses in Forestville and Loftus by Friday evening.

A fallen tree closed lanes of the Pacific Highway at Artarmon in the city's north and trains were suspended between Clarendon and Richmond in the city's west when power supply was affected.

Trains were also temporarily suspended between Thirroul and Waterfall on the South Coast Line as a result of heavy rain.

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300 hurt in train accident in South Africa

A PASSENGER train packed with schoolchildren and rush-hour commuters has rammed into another full train near the South African capital Pretoria, injuring up to 300 people, medics say.

The accident took place before 8.00am (1700 AEDT) on Thursday when a commuter train heading from the suburbs to the capital ploughed into the stationary train on the same track.

Medical workers said up to 300 people had been treated for various degrees of injury.

"We do have 20 seriously injured," said Johan Pieterse of Tshwane Emergency Services.

"Both of the trains were full of commuters and between them were lots of school children on the way to school," said Pieterse.

"We counted about 50 plus children," he added.

At least three people were said to be in a "critical" condition, according to Chris Botha, a spokesman for emergency services provider Netcare.

"The people who were critically injured suffered multiple injuries to the body," said Botha.

At least one person was airlifted to the nearby Milpark Hospital, others were taken by ambulance and many were treated at the scene.

Rescue workers struggled to cut away the tangled wreckage of the trains to free the passengers.

One of the train drivers was freed from the carriage after he was trapped for two hours.

"He's critical at this stage," said Pieterse.

The trains were operated by Metrorail, the country's rail system in cities.

The cause of the accident is unknown.

"At this stage we do not want to speculate," said Metrorail spokeswoman Lillian Mofokeng.

It is just the latest serious rail accident to hit South Africa's urban rail network.

In 2011, 857 commuters were injured in Johannesburg's Soweto township when a passenger train smashed into a stationary train during the peak rush hour period.

The Passenger Rail Agency of South, has itself described its passengers as "travelling like cattle".

More than 90 per cent of commuter trains in South Africa are more than 50 years old, the most recent dating from 1986.

The network is currently undergoing a major revamp to upgrade its fleet, spending 123 billion rand ($A13.52 billion) over 20 years.

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NSW homes still without power after floods

ABOUT 500 homes remain without power in the north of NSW following the extreme weather that lashed the state earlier this week.

In a statement, Essential Energy said its crews restored power to almost 3000 houses in northern NSW on Thursday, leaving about 500 residents still without electricity.

It said about 23,000 people had lost their power supply during the worst of the recent flood emergency in NSW.

It said power would remain off on Thursday night in the Tweed hinterland at Numinbah, Round Mountain, Boat Harbour, Murwillumbah, Ocean Shores, Upper Wilsons Creek, Federal, Eureka, Booyong, and Goonengerry.

A spokesman for Essential Energy said the biggest problem for crews trying to reconnect power was gaining access to many of the areas hit by this week's floods.

More than 1000 NSW flood evacuees are expected to return to their homes in the north of the state over the next few days, while about 23,000 people remain isolated.

With weather conditions easing, the SES is focusing on resupplying food and medicine to isolated communities, like Yamba and Iluka at the mouth of the Clarence River.

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Revised Indian growth data show slowdown

INDIA has revised its economic growth figures for the previous two years, issuing new data that show a recent slowdown has been even more abrupt than previously thought.

The new figures show growth in the financial year to March 2011 was 9.3 per cent, instead of the previously issued 8.4 per cent, underlining how the economy had resisted the effects of the global financial crisis from 2008.

But since then, over a period of high inflation, rising interest rates and declining business confidence often blamed on the government's weak policy-making, growth has fallen dramatically.

In the financial year to March 2012, growth in gross domestic product fell to 6.2 per cent, the new figures from the Central Statistics Office showed on Thursday, less than the previously issued 6.5 per cent.

In the current financial year, the finance ministry forecasts expansion of 5.7 to 5.9 per cent, but the central bank sees it as 5.5 per cent and many private economists expect even less.

The weak figures come before national elections early next year, when the corruption-plagued government led by the centre-left Congress Party is expected to face a tough fight to stay in power.

A string of pro-market reforms starting at the end of last year and the first interest rate cut in nine months this week are expected to help boost the economy.

Finance Minister P. Chidambaram recently said the economy could expand 7.0 per cent in fiscal 2014.

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Ericsson reports profit halved

ERICSSON, a leading provider of telecom equipment to global markets, reported on Thursday that net profit plunged by half last year, hit by a charge for its joint venture ST-Ericsson, but was confident about prospects this year as operators boost capacity.

Ericsson said in December that it would book a charge of eight billion kronor ($A1.21 billion) after the announcement that French-Italian group STMicro was pulling out of ST-Ericsson.

The joint venture has not reported a single quarter of profits since being created at the beginning of 2009. In the fourth quarter of last year it reported a net loss of $US133 million ($A128.5 million).

In 2012, Ericsson made a net profit of 5.575 billion kronor on sales of 227.779 billion kronor, about the same as in 2011.

Chief executive Hans Vestberg said that the company should benefit in the second half of 2013 from projects by telecommunications operating companies to increase the capacity of their networks.

The results for the fourth quarter were hit hard by the outcome at ST-Ericsson which Ericsson is reportedly seeking to sell.

Ericsson reported a net loss for the quarter of 6.462 billion kronor.

Sales for the quarter rose by 4.0 per cent on a 12-month basis to 66.936 billion kronor. This was better than the average of estimates by analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires, who had expected 65.66 billion euros.

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Israel transfers frozen Palestine funds

ISRAEL says it has released $US100 million ($A96.05 million) of the tariffs and tax monies it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority, which were frozen last year as punishment for the UN bid.

But an Israeli official said on Wednesday it was a one-off measure to ease the financial crisis faced by the Palestinians and was not a sign that the transfers would be renewed.

"This decision was taken by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu because of the Palestinian Authority's very difficult financial situation," an official at the premier's office told AFP.

"But this transfer is temporary and affects only funds owed for one month," he added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

"The prime minister did not commit to continue these transfers."

Israel in early December announced it would not transfer tax and tariff funds it collects for the Palestinians in response to their successful bid for upgraded UN membership, a move the Jewish state had fiercely opposed.

Every month, Israel transfers tens of millions of dollars in customs duties which are levied on goods destined for Palestinian markets that transit through Israeli ports, and which constitute a large percentage of the Palestinian budget.

The transfers are governed by the 1994 Paris Protocols which governs economic agreements between Israel and the Palestinians.

But Israel often freezes the transfer of funds as a punitive measure in response to diplomatic or political developments viewed as harmful.

The measure has deepened an already dire financial crisis faced by the Palestinian Authority, which has frequently been unable to make payroll for its employees over the last year.

In response to Israel's freezing of the funds, the Palestinians have urged Arab nations to activate a promised "safety net" of $US100 million a month to make up the shortfall.

But despite pledging to deliver the money, funds have yet to materialise, leaving the PA unable to pay its thousands of government employees, who are still owed half their salaries from November and all their salaries from December.

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Man drowns on NSW south coast

A 46-YEAR-OLD man has drowned after being swamped by large waves at a beach on NSW's south coast.

Police said the man and a woman, 36, were trying to cross a beach channel at Lake Tabourie when they were hit by large waves and knocked off their feet, about 1pm (AEDT) on Wednesday.

Another man, walking nearby on the beach, ran into the water and managed to pull the woman out of the surf to safety but could not locate the man.

He was found 20 minutes later about 300 metres from where he fell into the water.

The man could not be resuscitated, police said in a statement.

The rescued woman was taken to Milton Hospital suffering from shock.

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Julian Assange to run for Senate

JULIAN Assange will run for a Senate seat in the 2013 federal election and his mum reckons he'll be awesome.

Christine Assange confirmed her son's candidacy on Wednesday after WikiLeaks tweeted the news.

"He will be awesome," she told AAP.

"In the House of Representatives we get to choose between US lackey party number one and US lackey party number two - between the major parties.

"So it will be great to 'Assange" the Senate for some Aussie oversight."

Queensland-born Assange, who founded the secret-leaking website WikiLeaks, announced his Senate ambition last December from Ecuador's London embassy.

He sought refuge there last June in a bid to avoid extradition to Sweden.

Mr Assange fears if he goes to Sweden to be questioned over rape allegations, authorities will allow him to be extradited to the US to be questioned over WikiLeaks' release of thousands of US diplomatic cables.

He said last year he would run as a Senate candidate under a yet-to-be-formed WikiLeaks party banner and was recruiting others to stand with him.

The election will be held on September 14.

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Russia pulls out of US drugs agreement

RUSSIA says it is pulling out of a decade-old drug control agreement with the United States in the latest sign of a deterioration in ties since President Vladimir Putin's return to the Kremlin last year.

The Russian government website on Wednesday published a decree from Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev saying Moscow had informed Washington it was withdrawing because the deal "does not address today's realities and has exhausted its potential".

Moscow said it lacked the money to fight drugs effectively on its own when it struck the deal in September 2002 at a time of warming relations that followed the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

It added that Washington had "regularly provided ... financial assistance for the implementation of anti-criminal projects" during this time.

The statement implied that Russia - whose economy grew in the past 10 years on the back of high global energy prices - was now sufficiently rich to tackle the fight against drugs on its own.

But the decision's timing suggested that Moscow intended for the move to be interpreted as reprisal for recent US actions against Russia aimed at punishing those responsible for rights abuses.

The announcement came just days after the United States informed Moscow it was quitting a joint commission on civil society in protest at Putin's record since his return for a third term as president in May.

US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Melia said at the time that Putin's restrictions "called into serious question whether maintaining that mechanism (the civil society working group) was either useful or appropriate".

Putin returned to the Kremlin in May after serving four years as premier in the face of the first concerted swell of protests in the past two decades.

The former KGB spy then quickly enacted legislation making it more difficult for the protest movement to organise and limiting its ties with the West.

But the strongest action came after US President Barack Obama signed legislation freezing the assets and barring the entry of officials implicated in the death in a Moscow prison of the whistle-blowing corporate lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.

Russia responded by banning all US adoption of Russian children - a highly contentious decision that partially prompted Washington to pull out of the civil society group.

Russia remains an important conduit for the heroin grown in Afghanistan heading for consumers in Europe. It has also suffered through its own drug epidemics in the years since the Soviet Union's collapse.

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Metronet plan is fantasy, says Barnett

Premier Colin Barnett says parts of the ambitious $3.8b Perth rail plan by WA Labor are "fantasy." Source: AAP

THE ambitious $3.8 billion Perth rail plan that's a centrepiece of Western Australia Labor's election campaign has been dismissed as fantasy by Premier Colin Barnett.

The campaign ahead of the March 9 poll moved up a gear on Tuesday, with Labor leader Mark McGowan unveiling a proposal to build a $731.5 million rail line to Perth Airport as part of the party's Metronet plan to ease Perth's growing congestion crisis.

But making his own announcement about free public transport for carers, Mr Barnett said parts of Labor's grand rail plan were unrealistic.

"Labor has released a transport plan with rail lines going everywhere, so it is up to Labor if they are to have credibility to come out and commit to which projects are real and which ones are fantasy and to provide accurate costings," Mr Barnett told reporters.

"Labor has vague ideas and maps that look like the London Underground when the rails are not going to look anything like that, and (Mark McGowan) is making promises that will connect every suburb in Perth.

"That is not reality - what you have now is a government that what it says it will do, it does, and it does it on time and on budget."

WA Labor on Tuesday revealed its Metronet plan would cost $3.8 billion over eight years but this figure did not include costings for rail cars.

Mr McGowan said the party had a track record of delivering rail projects in the state, referring to the Perth-to-Mandurah line, which was completed in 2007 under Alan Carpenter's leadership.

State treasurer Troy Buswell has previously claimed Labor's rail plan would cost $6.4 billion, a figure Mr Barnett said he was confident was more accurate than the Labor Party's costing.

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Twenty die in Kazakhstan plane crash

ALL 20 people on board a domestic flight of Kazakhstan's SCAT airline have been killed in a crash.

The airline said there were "20 people were on board - five crew members and 15 passengers" when the plane crashed on Tuesday.

It was coming in to land at Almaty airport in bad weather.

"According to preliminary information there are no survivors," said the airline

The plane was flying to Almaty from the northern city of Kokshetau.

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Machete attacker gets three-year jail term

A 23-YEAR-OLD man who struck a Mercedes-owner in the head with a machete in a bid to steal the vehicle has been sentenced to three years in prison.

The District Court of Western Australia was told Lawrence John Cashin attempted to carjack the 24-year-old victim while he sat with his girlfriend parked on a street in the northern Perth suburb of Girrawheen on May 13 last year.

During the attack, Cashin threatened to kill the male victim and struck him with a machete on the top of his head and near his ear.

Throughout the ordeal, the victim's girlfriend was cowering on the floor of the car.

"The victim was screaming, the girlfriend wouldn't get out of the car, and ultimately you ran off," Judge Gillian Braddock said during the sentencing.

"Not only did the victim suffer the deep lacerations to the top of the head and the ear, to need to go to hospital and be treated there, it must have been a totally terrifying experience for them."

Judge Braddock said Cashin was at high risk of violent reoffending, given he had a traumatic early life and addictions.

He was beginning to realise the need to address his problems and was attempting to parent his girlfriend's daughter, so there was hope for reform but it wouldn't be easy, Judge Braddock said.

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Philips returns to profit, sells division

Philips has reported 2012 net profits of $A300 million and will sell its entertainment business. Source: AAP

PHILIPS has reported 2012 net profits of 231 million euros ($A300 million), after losses of 1.29 billion euros in 2011.

The company also announced the sale of its entertainment business to focus on health products.

Company profits were hit by a loss of 355 million euros in the fourth quarter because of a one-off 509-million euro European Commission fine for cathode ray price fixing, Philips said in a statement on Tuesday.

Under the entertainment deal, Philips long-term partner Funai will pay 150 million euros plus an unspecified licence fee to use the Philips brand in audio, multimedia and accessories for an initial period of five and a half years, with an option to renew for five years.

That deal will be closed by the end of 2013, while the video business will be transferred in 2017 because of Philips' existing licence arrangements.

"With this transaction we are taking another step in reshaping the consumer lifestyle portfolio and transforming Philips into the leading technology company in health and well-being," Philips chief executive officer Frans van Houten said in a statement.

"I am confident that today's agreement with Funai, our partner for over 25 years, will create a promising future for Philips audio, video and entertainment, and continuity for our customers.

Funai CEO Tomonori Hayashi said: "This is truly an exciting time for us at Funai."

"We will benefit from Philips' legendary know-how and innovation, as well as the excellent talent they have in place around the world."

In April last year Philips sold its troubled television division to TPV Technology.

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Teenage girl assaulted on NSW beach

A teenage girl has been indecently assaulted on a beach north of Sydney, police say. Source: AAP

A TEENAGE girl has been indecently assaulted while walking along a beach on the NSW Central Coast.

The 18-year-old was approached by a man near a surf club on Terrigal Esplanade at Terrigal about 1.30am (AEDT) on Sunday.

He tried to talk to the teenager but when she ignored him he followed her to the water's edge and indecently assaulted her, police said.

The offender is described as being of caucasian appearance, aged in his mid to late 20s, about 183cm tall with a large build, dark short hair and dark bushy eyebrows.

He was wearing a white T-shirt with a motif on the front and blue jeans at the time of the attack.

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15 rescued from sunken Russian ship

RUSSIAN emergency officials say five more sailors have been rescued from a fishing vessel that capsized in the Sea of Japan, but 15 are still missing.

Ten members of the 30-man Russian-Indonesian crew had already been found in one lifeboat and rescued by a passing freighter.

The fishing vessel Shans-101 capsized on Sunday off of Russia's Pacific coast. The ITAR-Tass news agency cited a representative of the ship's owner as saying the vessel was hit by two waves just as it had changed direction. Ten minutes later, the crew was ordered into the life boats.

The state news agency reported on Monday that eight of the 15 missing crew members had died and their bodies were put into the sea. The search is continuing.

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Five rescued from overturned boat

Five people have been rescued after their boat overturned off Rottnest Island. Source: AAP

A MAN has been plucked from the sea and four others picked up by a rescue vessel after their craft overturned seven kilometres off the western tip of Rottnest Island.

RAC Rescue joined with Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) to locate the boat following an EPIRB activation on Monday.

RAC Rescue winched one man from the water while four others were picked up by the Rottnest Island Ranger's vessel.

The winched man was taken to Rottnest Island where he received treatment at the local nursing post.

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Philippine extremists hold onto hostages

AL-QAEDA-LINKED Abu Sayyaf gunmen in the Philippines are refusing to free foreign hostages but the militants have no immediate plans to harm them, a spokesman for another Muslim rebel group says.

Hundreds of rebels of the Moro National Liberation Front, which signed an autonomy deal with the government in 1996, are near Patikul on southern Jolo island to negotiate the release of hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf in its jungle lairs.

Abu Sayyaf militants are believed to be holding two European birdwatchers, a Japanese treasure hunter, a Jordanian journalist, a Malaysian man and at least two Filipinos hostage.

The Moro rebels are mainly found in rural villages on Jolo, where the smaller but more violent Abu Sayyaf also has a presence.

Moro rebel commander Khabir Malik says his group is seeking freedom for the hostages to help the government clean up the image of Jolo, a poor Muslim region where the Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for bombings, high-profile kidnappings for ransom and beheadings, mainly about a decade ago.

US-backed military offensives have crippled the Abu Sayyaf in recent years but it remains a national security threat. Washington has blacklisted the Abu Sayyaf as a terrorist organisation.

Malik said he met an Abu Sayyaf militant, Jul-Asman Sawadjaan, to seek the release initially of a Jordanian journalist and two Filipinos, believed to be held in Patikul's jungles since June last year.

However, the extremists showed no sign they would free their captives soon, Malik said.

Other Abu Sayyaf commanders are believed to be separately holding two European birdwatchers, a Malaysian man and a Japanese treasure hunter in Jolo's jungles.

Malik said the Moro forces could consider other options - including a rescue operation and armed confrontation with the hostage-takers - to secure the captives' freedom."

Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan said the Moro rebels were acting on their own but added he recently convened a meeting of a provincial crisis committee to be prepared for any possible clashes between the two rebel movements.

The Moro commanders, he said, would not be permitted to take any step that would compromise the safety of the hostages.

"There is no crisis now but we have to be ready if one erupts," Tan said.

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31 dead after Egypt football riot verdict

A Cairo court has handed down death sentences over the deaths of 74 people in a stadium riot. Source: AAP

CLASHES killed at least 31 people in the Egyptian city of Port Said as violence raged into the early hours of Sunday in several cities including the capital following death sentences passed on 21 football fans after a riot.

The unrest came after a day of deadly protests against Islamist President Mohamed Morsi, highlighting deep political divisions in the country and long-standing tensions between police and protesters.

Trouble flared just minutes after a court on Saturday handed down the death sentences against fans of Port Said club Al-Masry after 74 people were killed in post-match violence last February following a match with Cairo side Al-Ahly.

Health ministry spokesman Ahmed Omar said 31 people died in the canal city.

In Cairo, police clashed with protesters on the outskirts of Tahrir Square - the symbolic heart of the revolt that ousted president Hosni Mubarak in 2011 - firing volleys of tear gas, witnesses said.

Demonstrators blocked the 6 October bridge, a vital flyover linking east and west Cairo, as police and masked protesters clashed on the Nile corniche.

Many Egyptians believe last year's deadly stadium riots in Port Said were orchestrated either by the police or by Mubarak supporters, and any verdict was likely to trigger a highly charged response.

Diehard Cairo football fans known as Ultras had threatened widespread chaos if justice was not served, but Port Said residents said the ruling was politically motivated.

Ultras were among the most vocal and active members of the opposition in the anti-Mubarak revolution.

"The government delivered a political ruling that sacrificed our children to avoid chaos," Ashraf Sayyed, who lives in Port Said, told AFP.

"Our children are the scapegoats used to restore calm in the rest of the country."

On Saturday, protesters in Port Said attacked police stations and relatives of those sentenced to death clashed with security forces as they tried to storm the Port Said jail holding the defendants.

Some attackers used automatic weapons against police who responded with tear gas, witnesses said.

Medics told AFP all the fatalities were from gunfire.

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Indonesia landslides kill 11, 19 missing

TWO landslides triggered by heavy rains killed at least 11 people and left 19 others missing on Indonesia's Sumatra island, officials said on Sunday.

The National Disaster Management Agency said seven people were killed and three people were injured in a landslide in Agam district in West Sumatra province early on Sunday.

"At this point, seven people were found dead and three others were injured... and 18 were missing," agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a text message.

Fifteen houses were also buried by the landslide, he added.

Separately, a landslide caused by heavy rains late on Saturday killed four workers at a drilling site belonging to PT Pertamina Geothermal Energy in Kerinci district in Jambi province, the company said in a press release.

"The landslide killed four people, injured five people, and left one person missing. All victims were workers who were drilling," it said.

Floods and landslides are common in Indonesia, which is prone to frequent bursts of heavy rain.

Heavy rain in the capital Jakarta this month caused 32 deaths and at its peak forced nearly 46,000 people to flee their inundated homes, Nugroho told AFP earlier.

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Brisbane and Ipswich brace for floods

PARTS of Brisbane and Ipswich will flood but the levels will not be as devastating as they were in 2011, authorities say.

If current projections play out, 3600 residential properties will be affected in Brisbane and of those, 2100 are unit dwellings where only ground floor flooding is expected.

About 1250 business properties are also expected to be affected in Brisbane while about 50 homes are projected to be inundated in the Ipswich suburb of Goodna.

Queensland Premier Campbell Newman says flood peaks would be much less than what was experienced in 2011.

Brisbane is expecting a 2.6 metre flood peak, nearly half of the 4.46m peak in 2011.

The Ipswich peak is expected to be five metres less than the 19.4m level in 2011.

"There will be flooding but the flooding is much much lower than what we saw in 2011," he said.

Mr Newman said the projections were based on the best scientific modelling by forecasters.

There would be minor floods in the Brisbane River, and in the Bremer River that flows through the city of Ipswich to the west of Brisbane.

"The peak of any flood will occur in Ipswich we believe around midnight (AEST) tomorrow (Monday) night," Mr Newman said.

"Similarly the peak at the western side of the Brisbane City Council boundary will be about midnight on Monday night."

Moggill is projected to be the first Brisbane suburb to be flood-affected on Monday afternoon.

Mr Newman said flood maps would shortly be released by the Brisbane and Ipswich councils, showing lists of affected suburbs.

The worst of the projected flooding would be seen further downstream around noon on Tuesday, with another peak expected at noon on Wednesday.

"If it doesn't occur, then I'm sorry in advance," the premier said.

"We want to give the communities in Brisbane and Ipswich, on the Brisbane and Bremer rivers, the best possible information as soon as it is available."

He urged people not to panic, but to check the flood maps and to prepare if they were in an area that may flood.

Mr Newman said there was flooding in the Lockyer Creek and the Bremer River which fed into the Brisbane River downstream from the Wivenhoe dam.

However rainfalls are easing in the Brisbane and Stanley river catchments, which flow into Wivenhoe and Somerset dams.

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French raids on Islamist bases in Mali

FRENCH fighter jets bombed Mali's far northern Islamist stronghold of Kidal and destroyed the home of the head of an al-Qaeda-linked group, a security source and local official said.

"There were air raids on Islamist bases in Kidal," 1,500 kilometres north of the capital Bamako, a Malian security source said, adding that the home of Ansar Dine (Defenders of the Faith) chief Iyad Ag Ghaly was destroyed.

A local official gave a similar account.

"The French planes fired on a military camp at Kidal and destroyed Iyad Ghaly's home. There were also strikes by French warplanes to the west of Kidal, not far from the village where Iyad Ag Ghaly was born," the official said.

Kidal has been a bastion of Ansar Dine, whose leader Iyad Ag Ghaly is a former soldier and a Tuareg ex-rebel, who formed the group last year.

In April last year after a coup in Bamako, an alliance of Tuareg rebels seeking an independent homeland in the north joined forces with several Islamist groups, seizing Kidal first and then the northern towns of Gao and Timbuktu.

The Islamists quickly sidelined the Tuaregs, imposing a harsh version of Islamic sharia law in the region. Transgressors were flogged, stoned and executed, they banned music and television and forced women to wear veils.

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