Filipinos and Malaysia in standoff

THE Philippines has called for a peaceful resolution to a tense stand-off between Malaysian forces and a group of gunmen claiming to be followers of the heir of a former Borneo sultan.

The group, estimated at 200 with dozens believed to be armed, landed by boat near the Borneo town of Lahad Datu in Malaysia's Sabah state from the neighbouring Philippines on Tuesday.

Police say the group has declared itself followers of a former Philippine-based Islamic sultanate that once controlled parts of Borneo, including the standoff site, and is refusing to leave Malaysian territory.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino's spokeswoman Abigail Valte said on Saturday the safety of the Filipinos was the government's main concern. Malaysian armed forces and police have locked down the area.

"The primary concern now is their safety and to resolve the incident peacefully," Valte said in a radio interview in Manila.

She said the Philippines had received assurance from Malaysia the government would encourage the group, which Manila has yet to identify, to leave the area peacefully.

Sabah police chief Hamza Taib was quoted by local newspapers as saying police were in negotiations with the group and expected the stand-off to be resolved "very soon with the group returning to their home country".

Malaysian police have set up a series of road blocks along the route leading from Lahad Datu through palm oil plantations to the remote village where the gunmen are. Marine police are patrolling the sea.

The group has claimed to be adherents of the former Sulu sultanate, a regional power centre until its demise a century ago.

A Philippine military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP on Friday the group was demanding an increase in the nominal amount Malaysia pays, under a long-standing agreement, to the heirs of the sultanate for possession of Sabah.

Sabah has a history of incursions by armed Philippine groups, and the prickly situation could test ties between the neighbours, who are fellow members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

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Divers scour Russian lake for meteor bits

A meteor crashing to earth in Russia's Ural mountains has injured almost 1000 people, officials say. Source: AAP

DIVERS are searching the bottom of a Russian lake for fragments of a meteorite that plunged to Earth in a blinding fireball whose shockwaves injured 1,200 people and damaged thousands of homes.

The 10-tonne meteor streaked across the sky in the Urals region on Friday morning.

% The meteor brought traffic to a halt in the industrial city of Chelyabinsk as residents poured out on the streets to watch the light show before running for safety as a sonic boom shattered glass and set off car alarms. Most of the injured were cut by glass.

"We have a special team working... that is now assessing the seismic stability of buildings," Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov told residents as he inspected the damage in the central Russian city.

"We will be especially careful about switching the gas back on," he said on television.

A fragment of the meteor - called a meteorite once it hits the ground - was believed to have plunged into the Chelyabinsk region's frozen Lake Chebarkul.

"A group of six divers will inspect the waters for the presence of pieces of a meteorite," an emergencies ministry spokeswoman told Russian news agencies before the start of the operation on Saturday.

But Puchkov said no fragments had been discovered anywhere in the region so far despite some 20,000 rescuers and recovery workers being dispatched there.

The meteor explosion appears to be one of the most stunning cosmic events above Russia since the 1908 Tunguska Event in which a massive blast most scientists blame on an asteroid or a comet ripped through Siberia.

Scientists at the US space agency NASA estimated that the amount of energy released from impact with the atmosphere was about 30 times greater than the force of the nuclear bomb dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima during World War II.

"We would expect an event of this magnitude to occur once every 100 years on average," said Paul Chodas of NASA's near-earth object program office.

"When you have a fireball of this size we would expect a large number of meteorites to reach the surface, and in this case there were probably some large ones," he said in a statement on the NASA website.

The drama in Russia developed just hours before an asteroid - a space object similar to a tiny planet orbiting the sun - whizzed safely past Earth at the unprecedented distance of 27,000 kilometres.

That put it closer to the ground then some distant satellites and inspired calls in Russia for joint global action on the space safety.

"Instead of fighting on Earth, people should be creating a joint system of asteroid defence," the Russian parliament's foreign affairs committee chief, Alexei Pushkov, wrote on his Twitter account late on Friday.

NASA estimates that a smallish asteroid such as the 2012 DA 14 flies close to Earth every 40 years on average and hits the planet once every 1,200 years.

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SA bushfire tragedy commemorated

ON the 30th anniversary of Ash Wednesday, more than 100 people have paid tribute to the volunteer fire fighters who have died serving South Australian communities since 1976.

Country Fire Service regional commander Chris Martin said Saturday's memorial service was a "double barrel" anniversary.

"We are recognising the 30th anniversary of Ash Wednesday, when we lost three firefighters, but also recognising that since 1976 we have had another 10 firefighters killed in action," he told AAP on Saturday.

In 1976 the Emergency Fire Service was renamed the CFS and since 2000 annual memorial services have been held at the Mt Lofty summit.

The area was devastated by the Ash Wednesday bushfires which swept through the Adelaide Hills and the state's south-east three decades ago.

It remains the state's worst natural disaster, with 28 people killed, almost 400 homes destroyed and about 200,000 hectares blackened.

Mr Martin said the simple ceremony involved readings from volunteers, a homily from the chaplain, the presentation of floral tributes, the naming of the deceased and a lament from a piper.

"As South Australians we all have a responsibility to reflect on their sacrifice and the anniversary of Ash Wednesday is an appropriate time to do that."

Mr Martin did not know if any of the firefighters involved in the 1983 blazes were at the service, saying they were welcome to come along but not actively pressured into attending.

Emergency Services Minister Michael O'Brien said CFS volunteers were committed to protecting communities not just from bushfires but other risks and emergencies, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

"This service is about reflecting on the sacrifice of all CFS volunteers who tragically lost their lives before, during and after the Ash Wednesday fires," he said in a statement.

"This includes volunteers who died on duty while attending other emergency incidents, including structure fires, which I believe recognises the diversity of the work undertaken by the CFS."

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Iran says it's not seeking nuclear weapons

IRAN'S Supreme Leader says Iran is not seeking nuclear weapons, but that no power could stop Tehran's access to an atomic bomb if it intended to build it.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has the final say on all state matters in Iran, told a group of Iranians at his residence in Tehran that Iran backs the elimination of nuclear weapons.

His comments were posted on Saturday on his website, khamenei.ir.

Iran has been highlighting a religious decree issued by Khamenei that bans nuclear weapons in an effort to back up its claim that Iran's nuclear program is only for peaceful purposes and medical research.

The US and its allies fear that Iran might ultimately be able to develop a nuclear weapon.

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Blair Comley to head resource dept

Blair Comley has been appointed as the department secretary of resources, energy and tourism. Source: AAP

THE head of the climate change department, Blair Comley, has been appointed as the department secretary of resources, energy and tourism.

Mr Comley, the secretary of the department of climate change and energy efficiency, will begin a five-year-term from March 11.

He replaces Drew Clarke, who was recently appointed as secretary of the department of broadband, communications and the digital economy.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said Mr Comley had been secretary of the climate change department since 2011 and had previous roles in the Treasury.

"Mr Comley's knowledge and experience mean that he is well placed to take on the role of the secretary of the department of resources, energy and tourism," she said in a statement on Friday.

Ms Gillard said she would appoint a new department head of climate change shortly.

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Divers search river for missing Qld woman

Police have called in divers to begin searching the Nerang River for the missing Gold Coast woman. Source: AAP

ADMITTING they now fear the worst, police have called in divers to begin searching the Nerang River for missing Gold Coast mother Novy Chardon.

An operation originally planned for the weekend has been moved forward to 3.30pm (AEST) on Friday.

The operation will begin at a boat ramp near a large skateboard park on the western side of the M1 motorway.

Detectives also released CCTV stills of Mrs Chardon and a female friend at a Coomera service station and soon after at the Upper Coomera McDonald's drive-through on February 6, the night she disappeared.

Superintendent David Hutchinson said magnetic signs advertising Mrs Chardon's beauty business, which were on her Volvo 4X4 that night, were missing when the car was later discovered near the Nerang railway station.

Supt Hutchinson told reporters police are unconcerned that Mrs Chardon's husband, John, has not returned from a business trip to Indonesia.

"We have access to him and we're comfortable with the situation as it stands at the moment with our ability to speak with him."

Mr Chardon's vehicle, which he drove to the airport, has been found, and is undergoing forensic examination, as is the family home, he said.

"We have grave concerns for her now.

"It's seven days now ... we still hope for the best, but the truth of the matter is we're dealing with it as if it's the worst."

Mr Chardon was expected to be interviewed by the Nine Network but pulled out on the advice of his lawyers.

No contract was signed, and no money was paid, the network said.

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Extraordinary attack by KAP candidate

BOB Katter's Australian Party (KAP) has decided not to expel a Senate candidate who tweeted that he didn't want homosexuals teaching his children.

However, soon after the decision late on Friday, Bernard Gaynor launched an extraordinary attack on those who decided not to throw him out, and fellow Senate candidate Steve Bailey.

Earlier in the day, the party confirmed it would not disendorse Mr Bailey, who has publicly said that he supports gay marriage despite one of KAP's core principles being that marriage is between a man and a woman.

The party's National Director Aidan McLindon said candidates were allowed to voice personal opinions, just not on behalf of the party.

"We have our core values and principles like every political party," he told reporters at party headquarters in Brisbane.

"People can champion their opinions, but they can't do it on behalf of the good party.

"Australians know what the party stands for and we're not going to be distracted by these side issues."

Mr McLindon had originally asked Mr Bailey to withdraw his candidacy but party leader Bob Katter overrode the decision.

On Friday evening Mr Gaynor welcomed the party's decision not to terminate his own membership, saying it confirmed his statements did not undermine KAP's core values.

"The backlash against me from radical progressives was driven from their desire to indoctrinate children, regardless of parents' wishes," he said in a statement.

"Teachers have no right to give the impression that a homosexual lifestyle is moral.

"Indeed, it would be a perverted country if homosexual teachers had more rights than parents to form a child's understanding of morality."

He said parents across Australia should be very uncomfortable about "this disgusting notion", adding that the decision not to terminate his membership was clear proof the management committee was embarrassed about its knee-jerk reaction in the face of criticism from "the flouncing blouse set on the left".

He thanked the party leadership for "belatedly growing a backbone" and deciding not to cave in, before attacking the decision to continue to back Mr Bailey as stupid.

"It is perpetually stupid to keep walking down the aisle with him towards an election," he concluded.

Another KAP candidate, Tess Corbett, withdrew her candidacy last month after telling a newspaper she didn't believe gay people should have the same rights as heterosexuals.

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Airbus decides against lithium batteries

Airbus has announced it wont use lithium batteries in the A350 long-range liner under development. Source: AAP

AIRBUS will not use lithium batteries in the A350 long-range liner under development, a company source says.

"The first planes will be delivered with cadmium, not lithium batteries," the source told AFP on Friday, adding that the airliner's first test flights would take place with the lithium batteries.

The announcement comes as Boeing's 50 Dreamliners in service around the world have been grounded since January, after battery smoke forced an emergency landing of one plane and a battery fire was reported on a parked plane.

US air safety investigators have since zeroed in on how a battery fire occurred on the parked plane - a Japanese Airlines 787 at Boston's Logan airport - saying evidence pointed to a single cell on the eight-cell lithium-ion battery, which short circuited, leading to a rise in temperature.

Investigators do not yet know what specifically caused the short circuit.

The Airbus A350 is due to enter service in the second half of 2014, with the company hoping the liner will make it competitive in the long-haul market, where its planes have found it hard to challenge Boeing's 747s and 777s.

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Walsh says Rio made poor judgements

RIO Tinto chief executive Sam Walsh has taken a veiled swipe at his predecessor for the decisions that led to the major miner's first-ever financial loss.

Rio posted a $US2.99 billion ($A2.91 billion) full year net loss on Thursday, due to $US14.4 billion ($A14 billion) of recent writedowns on its aluminium assets and a coal project in Mozambique.

The company is leading the world in writedowns, with last month's labelled the largest in Australian corporate history, and impairments on the same aluminium assets a year ago, bringing the recent total to $US23 billion ($A22.36 billion).

The $US38 billion acquisition of aluminium company Alcan in 2007, $US4 billion ($A3.89 billion) spent on Mozambique-focused coal company, and recent problems with Mongolia's government about sharing the profits from the Oyu Tolgoi copper project are a bad look.

When it was pointed out to Mr Walsh in a media teleconference that the board should share the blame, he would only back the board's decision that former CEO Tom Albanese and the head of the Mozambique acquisition Doug Ritchie should depart.

"There were instances of poor judgement, some people have said it is an underlying issue, but I don't believe it actually is," Mr Walsh, formerly head of its most successful division, Iron Ore, told reporters.

"There has been poor judgement, both I and the board say it is simply unacceptable ... there has been a lot of soul searching.

"The board have made a decision that the executive who led responsibility for the Rio Tinto Coal Mozambique acquisition and the CEO, Tom Albanese, have ultimately responsibility and they've left."

The company increased its dividend by 15 per cent, he pointed out.

A post-acquisition review was underway to understand what had happened with Mozambique, he said, where the quality of coal was far below expected.

The company would learn from it and move on.

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Iran nuclear talks fail to reach deal: UN

THE chief UN atomic inspector says talks with Iran have failed to reach a deal on enhanced inspections of Tehran's nuclear program.

"We had discussions on the structured approach document but could not finalise the document," Herman Nackaerts of the International Atomic Energy Agency told reporters on Thursday.

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Ash Wednesday victims still suffering

THIRTY years after the Ash Wednesday bushfires in South Australia, some of the survivors are still suffering.

For many of the children in particular the disaster remains "imprinted" on them, trauma expert Sandy McFarlane says.

About a third still have quite enduring fears over what they went through.

Some have experienced a severe weather phobia and have been terrified at times of extreme winds.

The tragedy has also impacted their lives in more subtle ways. They have been more likely to marry early and have children young and less likely to complete tertiary education.

"It's almost like that sort of an event becomes a lens through which they look at the rest of their life," Professor McFarlane told AAP on Wednesday.

"This brush with catastrophe made them feel like they had to get on with their life."

Saturday marks the 30th anniversary of one of SA's darkest days when 28 people lost their lives in a series of fires across the Adelaide Hills and in the state's southeast.

Almost 400 homes were destroyed and more than 200,000 hectares blackened, the disaster made worse by poor communications between emergency services and the extreme weather conditions which left the fires raging out of control.

Prof McFarlane, now the director for the Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies at the University of Adelaide, was the first academic to consult with those affected by the tragedy.

Just one week after the fires, he began working with the first of 300 people who he continued to treat over the following seven years.

He has also tracked the progress of children caught up in the disaster over the past three decades.

His work and findings have aided in the diagnosis, treatment and understanding of many people suffering with post traumatic stress.

Prof McFarlane said studying the survivors of Ash Wednesday had raised the awareness of the complexities involved.

For many the highest levels of stress were often felt some time later and not immediately after the events as might be expected.

"Often the most difficult time is after these people have rebuilt," he said.

"It's when they've got through the practical stages and are trying to return to a normal life."

Following such a large group of people over such a length of time had also revealed how other tragedies, such as car crashes or family violence could impact on the lives of those who lived through Ash Wednesday or other major events.

Sometimes disaster-affected communities were even more badly affected by the subsequent adversity.

"Just think how many people get killed in motor vehicle accidents in a year," Prof McFarlane said.

"Many more than ever get killed in disasters but the victims never get the same attention."

For the wider community, Prof McFarlane said it was important for people to look back at what happened on Ash Wednesday and remember what mistakes were made to ensure they were not repeated.

He said the Black Saturday fires in Victoria in 2009, when 173 people died, were an example of how people did forget and what the cost of that could be.

"The real issue about events that occur infrequently in the community is how to maintain our preparedness and how to maintain our memory of the lessons," Prof McFarlane said.

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Downer EDI wins $94m contract

NBN Co has awarded a $94 million engineering contract to Downer EDI to provide additional construction capacity for the rollout of the national broadband network in northern NSW.

The contract, to Downer subsidiary Downer EDI Engineering, is valued up to $94 million over two years, with two one-year options to renew, NBN Co chief operating officer, Ralph Steffens said in a statement on Thursday.

Mr Steffens said he expected the announcement to be the first in a series of contract awards over coming months as NBN Co ramped up construction activity.

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Main Europe markets diverge at open

EUROPE'S main stock markets have diverged at the open.

London's FTSE 100 index of top companies was down 0.24 per cent at 6,322.90 points in opening trade on Wednesday.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 index rose 0.24 per cent to 7,678.48 points.

In Paris, the CAC 40 added just 0.13 per cent to 3,691.52.

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Heineken profit rises on one-time gain

Beer maker Heineken says its profit doubled in 2012 following a reappraisal of its Asian business. Source: AAP

HEINEKEN says its profit doubled in 2012 following a re-appraisal of its Asian business.

However, the company's actual performance was mixed, with operating profit by one measure "broadly in line" with last year.

Despite weakness in Europe, it sold more beer at a higher price globally. But earnings were held back by higher investment and commodity costs, offset by lower tax and debt costs.

Reported net profit was 2.95 billion euros ($A3.88 billion), up from 1.43 billion euros. Almost all the increase was due to a 1.5 billion euros gain from revaluing its Asian businesses, notably Asia Pacific Breweries.

Reported revenue grew 7.6 per cent to 18.4 billion euros but on a like-for-like basis it grew only 3.9 per cent, with volumes up 1.5 per cent and prices up 2.4 per cent.

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Troops deployed in India after poll deaths

INDIA has deployed hundreds of troops and imposed a curfew as the death toll from electoral violence in the northeastern state of Assam reached 20.

Most of the deaths have been the result of firing by police, who have been trying to halt attacks by machete-wielding tribesmen opposed to local elections.

"Eight people were killed in overnight clashes, taking the total number of people who have died so far to 20," Bhupen Bora, an Assam state home ministry official, told AFP in the state's main city Guwahati on Wednesday.

Bora said a curfew had been declared in two violence-racked areas and about 500 soldiers had deployed to help police control the situation in Goalpara district, some 120 kilometres from Guwahati.

But despite the strict curfew orders, tribesmen armed with swords, machetes, spears and axes were seen marching through streets in their villages where several houses were set ablaze on Tuesday night.

The Rabha and Hasong tribal villagers, who have been demanding local autonomy and reject government rule in the area, are protesting at the polls for "panchayat" or village councils that were held Tuesday.

They say the elections undermine the authority of their own Rabha Hasong Autonomous Council.

"We want the right to rule, we believe in self-governance. The government has no right to impose elections on us," said Anil Rabha, a tribal leader.

With tensions high, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has announced plans to pay compensation of 500,000 rupees ($A8,780) for the families of those killed in the police firing.

On Tuesday, security forces opened fire when the tribesmen began setting fire to houses and attacking government officials with bows and arrows.

Northeast India has seen decades of friction among ethnic and separatist groups, although some rebels have recently started peace talks with the government.

More than 10,000 people have lost their lives to unrest in the the tea and oil-rich state of Assam over the past two decades.

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Hilton bombing victims remembered

Dozens of people gathered in Sydney's CBD to commemorate the 35th anniversary of the Hilton Bombing. Source: AAP

COUNCIL workers and police officers have laid wreaths and flowers outside the Hilton Hotel in Sydney as they remembered three men killed in Australia's first terrorist attack.

Garbage collectors Alex Carter and William Favell were killed on February 13, 1978, when a bomb concealed in a rubbish bin exploded outside the hotel.

Police officer Paul Birmistriw was guarding the entrance of the hotel, where a Commonwealth Heads of Government regional meeting was to be held.

He was fatally wounded in the explosion and died nine days later.

Members of the United Services Union (USU), NSW police, and family and friends gathered on George Street in Sydney's CBD to place flowers in front of the memorial plaque and observe a minute's silence.

USU spokesman Graeme Kelly said Mr Carter and Mr Favell were known to be "larrikins" and "dedicated family men".

A council worker who had worked with the men described them as "good blokes".

NSW Police Association president Scott Weber said Mr Birmistriw had been a "first-class constable".

Though two men were convicted over the bombing, the crime remains something of a mystery.

In 1989, Evan Pederick - a former adherent of Ananda Marga, the obscure Hindu sect suspected of being behind the bombing - confessed to planting the bomb.

He accused fellow sect member Tim Anderson, who had been jailed in 1979 over the bombing but pardoned in 1985, of putting him up to it.

Pederick was convicted and walked free in 1997, after serving eight years in a NSW jail.

Mr Anderson, now a university lecturer, was reconvicted, but cleared on appeal in 1991, with Pederick's evidence discredited.

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ACC defends going public on drugs in sport

THE head of Australia's peak crime-fighting body went public with headline grabbing allegations of widespread use of drugs in sport to fix the problem, but says it is unfortunate some people felt they had been tarnished.

Australian Crime Commission (ACC) chief executive John Lawler believes ACC revelations in a report last week of widespread use of drugs and organised crime involvement in professional sport sent a message that needed to be heard.

"What we have here is a serious public safety issue, particularly around professional athletes but (also) others," he told a Senate estimates committee on Tuesday.

"We knew organised crime was manipulating this in a way that exacerbated those risks."

Shadow attorney-general George Brandis questioned whether the revelations were premature, given the highly tentative nature of some of the allegations.

He suggested the ACC could have waited until its investigation was further advanced, rather than releasing a report which seemed to tar almost everyone in professional sport with the same brush.

Mr Lawler said public health implications justified going public now rather than waiting another six months.

"It was my judgement that action needed to be taken to alert the public, to alert those criminals who are involved in the supply of these substances and to put them on notice and indeed to alert the codes in a classified briefing so that they could take the preventative measures to harden the environment," he said.

Mr Lawler said it was unfortunate that some people felt they had been unduly tarnished and their sports damaged.

But he said cheats and dopers were interacting with those in professional sports with integrity and who were playing fair.

The ACC last week released findings of a 12-month investigation into the integrity of Australian sport and the relationship between professional sporting bodies, prohibited substances and organised crime.

The report identified widespread use of prohibited substances including peptides, hormones and illicit drugs in professional sport.

It said the links with crime groups might have resulted in match-fixing and fraudulent manipulation of betting markets.

Mr Lawler said the ACC had identified multiple instances of drug misuse by a significant number of individuals.

He said there had been hearings where the ACC had used its coercive powers to conduct questioning, but he would not say whether any players had been questioned using those powers.

Mr Lawler said none of the sporting codes who were provided a classified briefing had denied they had a problem.

"They have all said we have serious problems here and we are going to actually fix them," he said.

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Prioritise welfare for singles: ACOSS

THE federal government can afford to increase welfare payments to singles, the Australian Council of Social Services says.

Federal Finance Department estimates show welfare payment increases suggested by the Australian Greens would cost $13 billion over four years.

But ACOSS chief executive Cassandra Goldie says the government could save $5 billion over that time, if it just lifted the payment to singles by $50 a week and indexed the payment.

"It's about priorities," she said.

"The department's figure is misleading as it includes other costings for things that are not being called for."

Those things included increases to payments for couples.

A spokesman for ACOSS said singles were the most in need of a pay increase.

"The rate for singles has not increased in 20 years," he said.

Greens leader Christine Milne released the estimates on Monday night.

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Missing woman's car yields no clues

Police have found the car of missing Gold Coast woman Novy Chardon. Source: AAP

DETECTIVES trying to solve the mystery of a missing Gold Coast woman have found her car but say they have little to work with.

Police discovered Novy Chardon's dark-coloured Volvo XC90 four-wheel drive 20km from her Upper Coomera home where she was last seen on Wednesday of last week.

Mrs Chardon's car was found on Monday evening in Bowden Court, near the Nerang railway station car park.

But the vehicle yielded no obvious clues.

"We need to narrow down the time the vehicle was left there," Detective Superintendent David Hutchinson told reporters on Tuesday.

No CCTV footage has yet been found of Mrs Chardon at the Nerang railway station.

Supt Hutchinson said her husband, who flew to Jakarta with the couple's two children on Friday, was not a suspect at this stage.

"We haven't spoken to him again today, but we have access to him and he is available to speak to us whenever we wish."

On Monday night, Mr Chardon sent his wife a blunt message when he spoke on Network Ten.

"Tell her to get your stupid bloody arse home, mate," he said.

"Ha ha, no just tell her she's gotta come home."

He said he was not concerned about police declaring their home a crime scene.

"All I'm worried about is the f**ing mess they're going to make."

Supt Hutchinson said forensic examination of the home and car was likely to continue for a number of days.

Despite reports of an Asian woman hitch-hiking at Mudgeeraba and Coomera, there have been no confirmed sightings of Mrs Chardon.

Police are not discounting the possibility of murder, suicide or Mrs Chardon still being alive.

But Supt Hutchinson said, "I think it's fair to say the longer this lasts, the more concerned we become."

Mr Chardon said although the couple had agreed to divorce, he still loved his wife.

"I loved her very much. I still love her actually," he told Fairfax Media.

"Even though she can be difficult at times I still love her."

He said her disappearance has been stressful for him and for their son and daughter, aged seven and nine.

"We are very, very concerned for her," he said.

He told Fairfax he had been forced to take the children with him on a business trip to Jakarta.

"I had to bring the kids too because I couldn't find her. I couldn't leave them home alone," he said.

"They just want to see their mother.

"My kids know the full story, because I don't hide things from them, right?"

Mr Chardon said he would speak to police when he returned to Australia.

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Barclays to axe at least 3700 jobs

British banking giant Barclays plans to axe at least 3700 jobs under a strategic overhaul. Source: AAP

SCANDAL-HIT banking giant Barclays is to axe at least 3700 jobs under a strategic overhaul.

Chief executive Antony Jenkins is shutting the bank's controversial Structured Capital Markets tax advisory division and said 1800 jobs would go in corporate and investment banking and another 1900 across its European retail and business arm as part of a plan to slash costs by STG1.7 billion ($A2.61 billion).

Nearly STG2.5 billion of cash set aside to cover mis-selling compensation claims contributed to a plunge in pre-tax profits to STG246 million in 2012 from STG5.9 billion the previous year.

The bank's bonus pot will mean each employee gets STG13,300 on average, with an average of STG54,100 for investment banking staff, although the pool is lower than the STG2.2 billion paid out last year.

Barclays said 1600 jobs have already been cut in the investment banking business since the start of the year.

Jenkins, who was appointed in August after Bob Diamond quit in the wake of the bank's STG290 million Libor rigging settlement, insisted bonuses had been reduced after last year's string of reputational blows.

He said the bank's compensation ratio - pay as a proportion of revenues - had fallen to 38 per cent from 42 per cent in 2011.

Jenkins announced he was waiving his bonus for 2012 earlier this month, but the overall staff bonus pot for 2012 is likely to stoke further controversy given the recent series of scandals to rock the group.

Barclays said profits rose 26 per cent to STG7.05 billion on an underlying basis, with mis-selling provisions stripped out and not including movements in the value of its own debt.

Bottom line profits were heavily impacted by mis-selling provisions, with STG1.6 billion put by to cover claims relating to payment protection insurance (PPI) and STG850 million for interest rate swaps sold to small businesses.

It said the average PPI claim stood at STG2750, while it added the group sold around 4000 interest rate swaps to small businesses of which around 3000 were liable to potential mis-selling claims.

Barclays said its investment banking business delivered a 37 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to STG4.1 billion in 2012.

The bank's UK retail and business banking division saw profits tumble 71 per cent to STG292 million after PPI provisions, although it said profits rose four per cent to STG1.5 billion on an underlying basis.

Unite national officer Dominic Hook said: "The chief executive's promise of a culture shift at the bank is to be welcomed but we need to see more progress to address the gap between the highest paid and the lowest paid staff at Barclays, which is huge.

"It's shocking but true that the starting salary at Barclays is just STG13,500 a year, making some workers at the bank eligible to claim tax credits.

"With pay negotiations due to start soon, Unite will be expecting the bank to reward its staff fairly for their contribution to the success of the bank."

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Rock guitarist trial dumped due to illness

FRAUD charges against a former rock guitarist have been dropped due to his ailing health.

Kevin James Peek, a guitarist in the 1970s group Sky, was charged in 2011 with more than 200 offences of gaining benefit by fraud.

He was alleged to have been involved in activities that related to the collapse of a West Australian company.

Peek was due to stand trial in the Perth District Court in April, but is being treated for cancer.

Chief Judge Peter Martino agreed with lawyers on Monday that Peek was not fit to stand trial and vacated the matter.

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Whitehaven keen to produce soon at Maules

WHITEHAVEN Coal has been given permission to develop a controversial coal mine in northeastern NSW that green groups warn will "carve the heart" out of the region's native woodlands.

Environment Minister Tony Burke on Monday granted strict conditional approval to Whitehaven's Maules Creek open-cut mine proposal and the nearby Boggabri project, controlled by Japanese company Idemitsu.

More work must be done before the projects can actually proceed but Mr Burke said he was satisfied the conditions would prevent unacceptable impacts on the environment.

"As the conditions make clear where more work, new plans or further modelling needs to take place, then this must be carried out to my satisfaction," Mr Burke said in a statement.

Last week, Mr Burke extended his department's timeframe for considering the Maules Creek project until April 30, much to the disappointment of Whitehaven and its investors.

But he was forced to act on Monday after the leaking of a commercially sensitive letter at the weekend that indicated he had the intention of approving the mine back in December.

Mr Burke has accused the NSW government of leaking the letter, and has ruled it out of any future dealings with the coal company over its flagship development.

Maules Creek made headlines when activist Jonathan Moylan admitted sending a press release to media outlets in early January falsely claiming the ANZ Bank had pulled its $1.2 billion loan to the miner.

Community and environment activists fear the project threatens koala habitats and thousands of hectares of old-growth forests and will force farmers off their land through soil damage.

The Nature Conservation Council of NSW accused Mr Burke of making the "unconscionable" decision to destroy thousands of hectares of state forest for short-term mining profits.

"This decision sounds the death knell for this extraordinary area, and will leave a permanent scar on the landscape," NCC chief executive officer Pepe Clarke said in a statement.

The Australian Greens said it was just the latest "crime" committed by Mr Burke against the government.

The Gillard government was just one of the "arms of the mining industry" and voters wouldn't forget in September, Greens leader Christine Milne said.

Mr Burke said the companies must minimise their impacts on the Leard State Forest and provide "enduring protection" for more than 15,000 hectares of offset projects in the surrounding areas.

These proposed offset areas aim to build wildlife corridors between the Maules Creek and Boggabri mine to protect native species including koalas and swift parrots.

Mr Burke also granted conditional approval for a coal seam methane gas project at Gloucester owned by AGL Energy, but warned it wouldn't go ahead if tests showed there could be an impact on groundwater.

The approvals were welcomed by the NSW Minerals Council, which said the mines would be subjected to some of the strictest conditions in the world and would deliver jobs and economic growth for regional NSW.

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Suicide bomber kills four in Somalia

AT least four people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up in his car in an attack aimed at a senior police officer in Somalia's central Galkayo region, police say.

"There are at least five people dead, including the bomber," said Mohamed Abdullahi, a police officer in the town, which straddles the border between the northern breakaway state of Puntland and the self-proclaimed region of Galmudug.

Security sources said that a senior Puntland police official was wounded in the blast, but the reports could not be independently confirmed.

The violence is the latest in a string of attacks in the region, where tensions are high between rival political and clan groups.

Somalia's Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents also operate in the wider area, and have carried out a series of guerrilla style attacks, but have tended to target mainly the capital Mogadishu.

The Shebab have claimed responsibility for most of the suicide attacks that have taken place in the past year.

Newly elected President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who took office in September after being chosen by the country's new parliament, faces multiple challenges in efforts to restore peace to the war-torn Horn of Africa nation.

Large parts of the country has been carved up by rival militia forces who have developed autonomous regions that pay little if any heed to the weak central government in Mogadishu.

But Shebab fighters are on the back foot, having fled a string of key towns ahead of a 17,000-strong African Union force, which is fighting alongside Somali government troops to wrest territory from the Islamists.

Ethiopian troops are also battling the Shebab in the southwest of Somalia.

The Shebab remain a potent threat, still controlling rural areas as well as carrying out guerrilla attacks in areas apparently under government control.

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European stocks mixed at open

EUROPE'S main stock markets opened mixed on Monday, with London virtually flat, Frankfurt sliding and Paris posting gains.

London's FTSE 100 index of top companies dipped 0.04 per cent to 6,261.31 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 shed 0.32 per cent to 7,627.72 points and in Paris the CAC 40 grew by 0.27 per cent to stand at 3,659.30.

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Iranians march to mark revolution

HUNDREDS of thousands of people have marched in Tehran and other cities chanting "Death to America" as Iran marked the 34th anniversary of the Islamic revolution that ousted the US-backed shah.

In the capital on Sunday, crowds waving Iranian flags and portraits of revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini walked towards the landmark Azadi (Freedom) Square, in a government-sponsored rally which is now a cornerstone of the regime.

Marchers also chanted "Death to Israel" and "Death to America" as they headed for the square, some waving posters of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, where President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was expected to speak.

Iran is holding similar rallies nationwide, especially in large provincial capitals such as Mashhad, Isfahan, Shiraz and Kerman.

At the Tehran rally, foreign media were being closely monitored and allowed to cover the event from officially designated areas only.

The rally marks February 11 when the army declared solidarity with the people, turning its back on shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. Ten days beforehand, Khomeini returned in triumph from exile in France to lead the revolutionaries to power.

Tehran is currently under a series of international sanctions aimed at curbing its controversial nuclear program of uranium enrichment.

World powers and Iran's arch regional foe Israel suspect that Tehran is trying to develop atomic weapons under the cover of its civilian program, a charge repeatedly and vehemently denied by the Islamic republic.

The sanctions have led to a severe economic crisis, choking Iran's banking system and limiting its oil exports, the country's main foreign revenue earner.

According to a recent survey by the US polling firm Gallup, Iran's nuclear program is supported by a large majority of its population.

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Indian Kashmiris chafe under curfew

RESIDENTS of India's Kashmir valley are upset over a curfew imposed following the hanging of a local separatist which has sparked a fresh debate on capital punishment.

Mohammed Afzal Guru, a Kashmiri Muslim convicted of helping plot the 2001 attack on the Indian parliament which killed 10 people, was executed on Saturday in New Delhi's Tihar jail.

Fearing a backlash over his death, Indian authorities imposed a tight curfew on Saturday in major populated areas of Kashmir.

Internet services were shut down and they also blocked local newspapers in a bid to prevent protests.

At least four people were injured on Saturday during protests, including two who received bullet wounds when government forces fired on a crowd in a village 40km from the biggest city of Srinagar.

Abdul Hafeez, a resident of Srinagar, said his two-month-old granddaughter needed milk but they were unable to go shopping because of the strict orders restricting people to their homes which have been imposed indefinitely.

"We have seen so much violence in the past. We just hope that things return to normal as quickly as possible," he told AFP.

Guru was convicted of waging war against India and conspiring with the Islamist militants who attacked the parliament - an event that brought nuclear-armed India and Pakistan to the brink of another conflict.

The one-time fruit merchant and medical college dropout always insisted he was innocent and claimed he was denied a proper legal defence, while some protesters in Kashmir accused the police of framing him.

India, the world' biggest democracy uses capital punishment for the "rarest of rare" crimes.

There had not been an execution since 2004 until the hanging in November last year of Mohammed Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai.

The two executions - both approved under new President Pranab Mukherjee - worried human rights activists who had hoped India was phasing out the practice following its informal eight-year moratorium.

"India should end this distressing use of executions as a way to satisfy some public opinion," said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

Amnesty International was also quick to condemn Guru's hanging as a "disturbing and regressive trend" towards executions in India.

Some of India's press speculated on who could be the next to face the gallows, while respect left-of-centre newspaper The Hindu slammed the execution.

"Guru was walked to the gallows... at the end of the macabre rite governments enact from time to time to propitiate that most angry of gods, a vengeful public," it said.

"There is no principle underpinning the death penalty in India today except vengeance. And vengeance is no principle at all," the daily wrote.

In Kashmir, where a bloody separatist conflict has killed an estimated 100,000 people in two decades, some feared the execution could feed local anti-India feeling and spur more violence.

Police also prevented local newspapers from publishing on Sunday and seized copies of four dailies who managed to go to press in defiance of the restrictions.

"Police seized our newspaper from the press without any prior information to our management," Haji Hayat, editor-in-chief of the English language newspaper Kashmir Reader, told AFP.

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Curry plays cricket like John Howard

AUSSIE actor Stephen Curry says when it comes to cricket, he's like former prime minister John Howard.

At the cricket-themed premiere of the Save Your Legs! in Sydney on Sunday night, Curry said he would have a bit of a game on the green carpet if he wasn't so hopeless.

"I'm no good with the bat, so I don't really want to show off my skills here," Curry, who's best known for his roles in The Castle and The Cup, said.

"(I'm) more of a cricket tragic in the way that John Howard, our former Prime Minister was a cricket tragic - loved the game, armchair expert, couldn't play to save himself.

"And I'm a redhead in this so I'm very similar to Julia Gillard."

Directed by Boyd Hicklin, in Save Your Legs! Curry plays Teddy, the president of D-grade cricket team the Abbotsford Anglers, who find themselves on a cricket tour of India.

Wearing his blue and yellow Anglers jacket, Curry said in light of the recent cheating scandals in Aussie sports he came to the Sydney premiere prepared.

"Look, tonight I am full of peptides," he said.

"I had them injected into my stomach and I was forced to sign a waiver, so I feel like it's basically going to make my green carpet performance as good as it possibly could be, and I'll probably recover very nicely in the morning."

Based on a true story, Save Your Legs! was written by and stars Brendan Cowell, who is a self confessed "cricket nut", having played since he was five and been a member of the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) since he was 14.

Walking the green carpet with Curry and co-star Damon Gameau, he joked that he was OK missing Australia's match against the West Indies for the premiere, because "this is where the real fixture is".

"The Abbotsford Anglers, they're the team everyone's talking about, so we're here and this film's been to London, it's been to Mumbai, so now we're at our home ground at the SCG, ready to play some strokes," he said.

For Cowell and Curry, an Aussie cricket movie has been a long time coming.

Cowell joked that with the success of 1984 Australian miniseries Bodyline, "I think people have been waiting for a great cricket movie, so it's timely".

Curry thinks it's interesting Aussies haven't tried to propel cricket onto the big screen before.

"It's fascinating that in this rich history of filmmaking in this country and our great affiliation with cricket that there actually hasn't been a feature film about cricket," Curry said.

"So I think it's about time and hopefully we've done it justice."

* Save Your Legs! releases in Australian cinemas on February 28.

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Hunt for fugitive LA cop continues

THE hunt for a former Los Angeles police officer suspected in three killings is continuing for a fourth day in snow-covered mountains.

Meanwhile, officials will re-examine the allegations in 2007 by Christopher Dorner, 33, that his law enforcement career was undone by racist colleagues, Los Angeles police chief Charlie Beck announced on Saturday.

"I do this not to appease a murderer. I do it to reassure the public that their police department is transparent and fair in all the things we do," the chief said in a statement.

Authorities suspect Dorner in a series of attacks in Southern California over the past week that left three people dead.

They say Dorner had vowed revenge against several former LAPD colleagues whom he blames for ending his career.

The killings and threats that Dorner allegedly made in an online rant have led police to provide protection to 50 families, Beck said.

A captain, named as a target in the manifesto posted on Facebook, told the Orange County Register he has not stepped outside his house since he learned of the threat.

"From what I've seen of (Dorner's) actions, he feels he can make allegations for injustice and justify killing people and that's not reasonable," said Captain Phil Tingirides, who chaired a board that stripped Dorner of his badge.

"The end never justifies the means."

On Saturday, a smaller search party took advantage of a break in stormy weather to look for Dorner in the San Bernardino mountains, about 130 kilometres northeast of downtown Los Angeles, where his burned-out pickup truck was discovered Thursday.

A law enforcement officer told The Associated Press that authorities found weapons in the truck.

Also, newly-released surveillance video showed Dorner tossing several items into a dumpster behind an auto parts store in National City on Monday.

The store's manager told FOX5 in San Diego an employee found a magazine full of bullets, a military belt and a military helmet.

On Friday night, authorities searched a Buena Park storage unit and collected evidence as part of their investigation but did not provide further details.

Earlier on Friday, another warrant was served at a La Palma house belonging to Dorner's mother. Officers collected 10 bags of evidence, including five electronic items.

In his online manifesto, Dorner vowed to use "every bit of small arms training, demolition, ordnance and survival training I've been given" to bring "warfare" to the LAPD and its families.

Dorner served in the US navy, earning a rifle marksman ribbon and a pistol expert medal.

He was assigned to a naval undersea warfare unit and various aviation training units, according to military records. Dorner took leave from the LAPD for a six-month deployment to Bahrain in 2006 and 2007.

The flight training he received in the navy prompted the transportation security administration to issue an alert, warning the general aviation community to be on the lookout for Dorner.

February 1 was Dorner's last day with the navy and also the day CNN's Anderson Cooper received a package that contained a note that read, in part, "I never lied."

A coin riddled with bullet holes that former Chief William Bratton gave out as a souvenir was also in the package.

Police said it was a sign of planning by Dorner before the killing began.

On February 3, police say Dorner shot and killed a couple in a parking garage at their condominium in Irvine. The woman was the daughter of a retired police captain who had represented Dorner in the disciplinary proceedings that led to his sacking.

Dorner wrote in his manifesto that he believed the retired captain had represented the interests of the department over his.

Hours after authorities identified Dorner as a suspect in the double murder, police believe Dorner shot and grazed an LAPD officer in Corona and then used a rifle to ambush two Riverside police officers early Thursday, killing one and seriously wounding the other.

The crime spree spanned across a wide area of Southern California, prompting several police agencies, including the FBI, to form a task force.

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