CCTV shows India blasts suspect: reports

INDIAN police are examining closed-circuit footage following twin explosions in the southern city of Hyderabad, amid reports that images of suspects had been recorded.

The bombs planted on bicycles exploded in the crowded market and residential area of Dilsukhnagar Thursday night killing, 16 people and injuring at least 117.

Investigators found images of a suspect reaching the scene on a bicycle with a bag hung to its carrier minutes before the blast, the IANS news agency quoted police sources as saying.

Broadcaster CNN-IBN reported that investigators were trying to verify the identities of five men moving in the area on bicycles.

Hyderabad and other major cities including New Delhi remained on high alert after intelligence suggested that militants could be planning more attacks.

No group has claimed responsibility for the blasts.

Indian media quoted intelligence sources as focusing on the Indian Mujahideen, an Islamic militant group believed to have links with the Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba.

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More N Korean sabre rattling over drills

NORTH Korea has warned the top US commander in South Korea to cancel upcoming drills aimed at deterring Pyongyang's military provocations.

Pyongyang's official media say the warning was sent to General James Thurman on Saturday.

The US and South Korea earlier notified the North of their plans to begin the annual Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises next month.

North Korea calls the joint drills a prominent example of US hostility against it.

Pyongyang says the hostility compelled North Korea to conduct its February 12 nuclear test.

US officials are negotiating in the UN Security Council for tougher sanctions against North Korea for the test, the country's third since 2006.

Washington stations more than 28,000 troops in South Korea in a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.

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Pakistan bus crash kills 17, police say

PAKISTANI officials say a bus carrying a wedding party has veered off a narrow road and plunged into a canal in the country's northwest, killing at least 17.

Police officer Asif Sharif said on Saturday 11 people were still missing since Friday's accident, near the city of Peshawar.

The dead included nine women and five children.

Sharif says all the victims were relatives of the bride, and were on way to the nearby city of Mardan when the bus ran off a road made slippery from rain.

He says rescuers were still trying to recover the bodies of 11 missing people.

Pakistan has one of the world's worst records for traffic accidents.

Roads and vehicles in the country are poorly maintained, and there is little respect for traffic rules.

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One dead after WA wheatbelt town fight

ONE man is dead and another has been charged with murder after a fight in Western Australia's central wheatbelt.

Police say two men had started fighting in a home in Koorda, a township about 240km northeast of Perth.

A 46-year-old man, identified by police as Gavin John McMaster, died at the scene at about 1.30am (WST) on Saturday.

Police arrested a 64-year-old man and later charged him with murder.

He will appear in the Northam Magistrates Court on Monday.

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Perth public nurses poised for mass strike

HEALTH bosses in Western Australia are treating a threatened nurses' strike as a looming disaster and say patients are already in peril from bed closures.

Nurses in WA's major hospitals have voted to go on strike for 24 hours unless they receive by Monday a fresh offer of a 20 per cent pay hike over three years.

The Australian Nurses Federation state secretary Mark Olson said relations with the Department of Health had turned "toxic" before nurses voted on Friday nurses voted to scrap their previous pay offer of 12.75 per cent and return to their original demand of 20 per cent over three years.

Almost 300 beds in hospitals around the state will stay closed over the weekend.

Kim Snowball, WA's director general of health, said patients' lives were already being put at risk and the health system as looking at a crisis.

"This is a crisis we have not faced before, and I have activated our disaster preparedness management unit to help us through this disaster - because that is what it is," Mr Snowball said.

Gary Geelhoed, WA's chief medical officer, said the situation was already a matter of life and death, saying an 80-year-old male patient had waited 80 hours for a hospital bed this week.

"This may lead to the death of patients," Mr Geelhoed said.

Mr Olson told the 1200 nurses at Friday's meeting that relations between the union and WA health were so bad that Mr Snowball had told him to 'f*** off' as Mr Olson left to address his members.

Mr Snowball has denied the claim, and Mr Olson later told media the remark was made by a "department of health official".

The nurses' threat to walk off the job in the middle of an election campaign has stepped up pressure on Premier Colin Barnett to intervene.

"Billions of dollars are going around in this election like confetti, and he expects the public to believe he can't make a promise to nurses," Mr Olson said.

"The premier needs to get someone here from his department into these negotiations."

The face-to-face meeting between Mr Snowball and Mr Olson on Friday morning followed a week of talks at the Industrial Relations Commission (IRC).

Mr Olson told the nurses he had been abused as he left by "bovver boys in the health department".

A spokeswoman for Mr Snowball said the health boss would not describe the encounter as heated and denied he had sworn.

Mr Barnett has said no agreement with the nurses could be signed during the caretaker period before the March 9 election, but health bureaucrats could agree to a deal in principle and recommend it to the government.

"We would be very pleased and we would sign up if an agreement is negotiated during this period," Mr Barnett said.

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20 killed as bomb blasts hit India

At least 20 people have been killed after bombs exploded in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad. Source: AAP

INDIAN police have revealed they had been warned of a possible attack by Islamist militants in a bustling shopping area of Hyderabad where twin bombings killed at least 14 people and wounded scores.

The near-simultaneous attacks on Thursday night outside a cinema and a bus stand in Dilsukh Nagar district were the first deadly bombings in India since 2011 and triggered international condemnation, including from rival Pakistan.

They also raised questions about whether Australia's cricket team would go ahead with a scheduled match against India in Hyderabad starting on March 2, although the sporting team said the Test was still on for now.

As investigators sifted through the wreckage in their hunt for the perpetrators, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said those responsible for the "dastardly act" would be punished.

No group has claimed responsibility but newspapers pointed the finger at Indian Mujahideen.

A senior detective said two of the group's militants had spoken of a possible attack in the area during interrogation last October.

"We interrogated two militants who said they had recced various spots in Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune for a possible attack," said SN Shrivastava, a Delhi police commissioner with responsibility for anti-terror operations.

"One of the places they mentioned was Dilsukh Nagar, which was hit last night," he said on Friday.

The main opposition Bhartiya Janata Party seized on the revelation as a sign of intelligence failure by the Congress party-led government.

"If they had specific information, what was the central government and the state government doing? Why was nothing done to prevent such an incident?" Sushma Swaraj, the BJP's leader in parliament, told MPs.

Indian Mujahideen has claimed responsibility for numerous bombings in recent years, and is often listed as a suspect in attacks across the country.

While Hindus form the majority of the population in Hyderabad, there is a sizeable community of Muslims living in the old quarter.

The attacks came at a time when India was on alert after the recent hanging of a separatist unleashed protests in the Muslim-majority region of Kashmir.

Questioned about Indian Mujahideen's possible involvement, Home Minister Shushil Kumar Shinde said it was too early to say.

While authorities had received intelligence of a possible threat of attack, "it was not specific", he added.

A report on India's NDTV network said the cables of closed circuit television cameras had been cut days before the blasts.

Shinde put the death toll at 14 and the number of injured at 119.

N Rao, a senior police official in Hyderabad, gave the toll as 16, with 80 wounded.

Police said three of the dead were college students while one of the most seriously injured was a pregnant woman.

Sambaraju Shylaja, a receptionist who was in the area at the time, told how the blasts triggered panic as people feared there could be yet more attacks.

"Everything was flying around, everything was so threatening and horrible, bodies were lying around everywhere. Everyone was rushing for their lives," she said.

Hyderabad is one of the main hubs of the country's computing industry and hosts local offices of Google and Microsoft.

Meanwhile, it's been confirmed Hyderabad will host the second cricket Test match between India and Australia beginning next weekend despite the twin bombings.

Rajeev Shukla, spokesman for the Board of Control for Cricket in India, said federal and government officials had given assurances about security in the wake of Thursday night's deadly attacks.

"So the Test match should not be shifted out of Hyderabad," he said in comments broadcast on Indian TV.

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said earlier he was taking advice from authorities.

"As far as I'm concerned we are playing the second Test in Hyderabad next week. That's where we are at," said Sutherland, who is with the team in Chennai for the opening Test which began on Friday.

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Spate of Syrian blasts kill at least 83

A spate of car bombings in Syria's capital has killed at least 83 people, activists say. Source: AAP

A SPATE of car bombings in Syria's capital has killed at least 83 people, including more than 60 in an attack near the headquarters of the ruling Baath party, activists say.

The most lethal attack, in central Damascus, was by a suicide bomber who detonated his explosives-laden car near the entrance of the Baath party's main offices, said the opposition British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The majority of the 61 people who died in the powerful blast were civilians, including many children from a nearby school, the Observatory said on Friday, adding 17 were members of the security forces.

The attack was the deadliest in Damascus since bombers first began targeting the city about a year ago.

Twin suicide bombings killed 55 people in the Syrian capital on May 10, 2012.

Another 22 people were killed in an apparently co-ordinated triple bombing targeting security headquarters in the northern Damascus district of Barzeh on Thursday, including 19 members of the forces, said the Observatory.

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Potential cylcone for far north Queensland

A CYCLONE could form off north Queensland as early as next week as a monsoonal trough hits the region, the weather bureau says.

Senior forecaster Pradeep Singh says low pressure systems are developing in the Indian Ocean and are expected to move across the Gulf Country to the Coral Sea.

He says there is a greater chance of a cyclone if these coincide with the return of a monsoon trough, which travels east to west across the tropics during the monsoon season.

Normally at this time of year the monsoon trough would be across central Australia but it has stayed in north Queensland.

"At this point it doesn't look very strong, although storm showers and the storm activity will start to increase in the north," he told AAP.

However, there is a possibility a cyclone could build in the Coral Sea area towards the end of next week.

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Vic hospitals wear scars of federal cuts

SOME casualties of funding cuts in Victoria's hospital system won't be brought back to life by the federal government's $107 million backflip.

Premier Ted Baillieu has urged the commonwealth to restore the remaining $368 million it cut from the state's health budget based on revised population figures.

Casey Hospital emergency department staff were delighted on Thursday by news that their unit could now continue to operate at night.

But the 50 jobs lost at the Royal Children's Hospital will not be saved, despite the reinstatement of $3.6 million in federal funding at the hospital.

Half the job losses came from not filling existing vacancies, and 12 people were told their positions no longer existed. Chief executive Christine Kilpatrick said on Thursday the positions wouldn't be renewed.

The federal government argues Victorian hospitals are under stress largely because the state government has ripped $616 million out of health.

But several Victorian hospital bosses have blamed the federal government for the elective surgery cuts and bed closures.

The federal government will now bypass the state and hand $107 million directly to the state's hospital administrators.

A beaming federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek told Casey Hospital doctors and nurses she understood the cutbacks had been stressful.

"I know that it has been a terrible time for you and that you have been concerned about your patients and concerned about your own jobs," she said.

Southern Health professor of emergency medicine George Braitberg said the reinstatement of $13.5 million at that health service meant elective surgery could resume.

"We want to get on with our job of just treating patients," he said.

Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association chief executive Prue Power said it would be time-consuming to reorganise cancelled elective surgeries and reopen beds.

"It's a major operation," she said.

Ms Plibersek said commonwealth funding for Victorian hospitals would increase by $900 million over the next four years.

She said she may again be forced to bypass the state government and let hospital administrators manage the money instead.

"It is to my mind an extraordinary circumstance here in Victoria, but if state governments are going to play politics with the health and safety of patients, then there will be times when I need to step in."

Victorian Health Minister David Davis said the commonwealth was stuck in the "twilight zone".

He said bypassing the states with hospital funding undermined the national health agreement.

"The federal government is now seeking to avoid paying money through the (national funding) pool," Mr Davis said.

"The idea that you would govern everything from Canberra ... that some bureaucrats in Canberra would be making decisions about our hospitals is something that I don't think Victorians would welcome."

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No navy ship to oversee whalers: Smith

DEFENCE Minister Stephen Smith has ruled out sending a navy ship to keep watch in Antarctic waters despite a dramatic high seas clash between Japanese whalers and protesters.

Anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd has accused the Nisshin Maru of ramming three of its vessels in an act of "road rage" as the protesters tried to prevent the whaler from refuelling.

Japan has now temporarily suspended its annual whale hunt, ABC television reports.

Former Australian Greens leader Bob Brown called it a "gross breach" of international law and called on the government to send navy vessels immediately to restore order.

But Mr Smith said the government had "never contemplated" sending navy assets to the Southern Ocean.

It had in the past sent a ship to collect video and photographic evidence of whaling hunts to build a case before the International Court of Justice.

That case was now running and the government would wait for the ruling, he said.

"Our argument is that whaling in the Great Southern Ocean is unlawful," he told ABC television on Thursday.

During the incident, the Sea Shepherd vessel Bob Barker completely lost power and started taking on water after the Nisshin Maru pinned it against a tanker.

Sea Shepherd Captain Paul Watson said the whaling ship "moved in very aggressively," almost turning over the Bob Barker and only backed off after the protest ship sent out a distress signal.

"It is a reckless situation," Captain Watson told ABC television.

"It's almost like the captain of the Nisshin Maru is doing a road rage out here."

He said there wasn't time for the Australian navy to help this time around but if the Japanese returned next year a ship should be sent to "keep the peace".

Environment Minister Tony Burke also ruled out naval intervention but said Japan's conduct in the Southern Ocean was "disgusting".

"It's not something that we try to settle in a carpark, we settle it in a court," he told Sky News on Thursday.

"That's why we've taken the legal action that we have."

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Ex-Qld premier Goss ready for brain op

Former Queensland Premier Wayne Goss will undergo brain surgery in Brisbane next week. Source: AAP

FORMER Queensland Premier Wayne Goss will undergo his third brain operation a day after his 62nd birthday.

Mr Goss underwent neurosurgery in 1997 and again in 2002 to remove a low-grade malignant brain tumour.

Family spokesman Russ Morgan says Mr Goss will undergo a similar procedure at Brisbane's Mater Hospital on Wednesday with the same doctors who had previously operated on him.

Mr Morgan says the former premier had recovered well from previous surgeries and is expecting the same outcome from the latest operation.

"I think you could describe him as very positive," he told AAP.

Mr Goss first underwent brain surgery in September 1997 after complaining of a severe headache when he returned from a bicycle ride.

He was operated on within days and made a full recovery, leaving politics and taking up a job as managing partner at accounting firm Deloittes.

Mr Goss was first elected to state parliament in 1983 and served as premier from 1989 to 1996.

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Worsfold backs stadium at Burswood

West Coast AFL coach John Worsfold backed plans for a new $1 billion football stadium at Burswood. Source: AAP

BURSWOOD is the best spot for Western Australia's new $1 billion football stadium, according to West Coast Eagles coach John Worsfold.

In a major blow to the WA Labor election gambit of scrapping the Burswood project in favour of a return to the current site of Subiaco, Perth's favourite footballing son has put his backing into the state Liberal's plan of a massive development next to James Packer's Crown Casino.

"It seems to be that the stadium we need has got the space and capacity at Burswood," Worsfold told ABC radio.

"From what I read, there is a lot of restrictions at Subiaco to what we can do, and in term of developing further in the future.

"This is such a massive investment for the state that we need to put it in the spot that means in 20 years down the track, we are not saying we want to do this but we can't because we are restricted."

In one of the opposition's deliberate points of difference during the election campaign, WA Labor leader Mark McGowan said he could save $300 million by building the new AFL stadium at Kitchener Park in the western suburb of Subiaco instead of at Burswood to the city's east.

The plan was part of Labor's attempt to find billions of dollars in saving to fund its ambitious Metronet rail project.

Mr McGowan said the Burswood option was significantly more expensive, hampered by limited public transport and parking options, and had no capacity to hold big weeknight and Friday night games.

"It also delivers thousands of men and women to the state's casino rather than the small businesses of Subiaco and Leederville," he said.

Premier Colin Barnett has been staunch in his belief in the Burswood site, saying it is capable for expansion up to 80,000 seats in the future.

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Govt must reject reef coal port: greenies

THE government must reject a proposal to expand a Queensland coal port or it'll jeopardise the Great Barrier Reef's World Heritage status, environmentalists say.

Indian group Adani Mining want to expand a coal port at Abbot Point near Bowen in central Queensland.

The port is in the reef's World Heritage area.

This week the firm released a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the project for the public and government to consider.

The project will not significantly impact the environment, the report says.

If the expansion went ahead an extra 70 million tonnes of coal each year - worth $1.4 billion to $2.8 billion - would go through the port.

Environmentalists say the expansion of the port would have a significant impact on the reef.

As well, dredge spoil would be dumped on Whitsunday Island.

Last year UNESCO released a scathing report on the state of the reef, saying if positive changes weren't made then it would be listed as "in danger".

The report recommended Australia not allow port developments other than those already established.

In response the federal government said no projects with "unacceptable impacts" on the reef would be given the go-ahead, Greenpeace spokeswoman Georgina Woods says.

"Australians are deeply upset at the prospect that the Great Barrier Reef coastline being sacrificed to further coal development," she said.

Great Barrier Reef Campaign Director Felicity Wishart says Abbot Point would become the world's largest coal port if the plan proceeds.

"No one is going to want to come halfway around the world to see the world's biggest coal port," she said.

* The EIS for the Abbot Point expansion can be viewed by visiting the Adani website. Submissions close on April 3.

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Tas, WA leaders battle over GST

THE West Australian and Tasmanian premiers have traded harsh words, with Lara Giddings saying the mining-rich state's push for a greater share of the GST goes against the spirit of Federation.

The GST is currently distributed using the "horizontal fiscal equalisation" system, which aims to ensure states and territories have enough money to provide services such as education and health of the same standard.

But WA Premier Colin Barnett has been pushing for the GST to be distributed on a per capita basis, saying the state is being ripped off.

Tasmania's Labor Premier says the Liberal leader is crying poor "despite rolling in the massive royalties of the mining boom".

"It's often forgotten that as recently as 2007, Western Australia was in the same position as Tasmania - a net beneficiary of GST, propped up by NSW, Victoria and Queensland," Ms Giddings told the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday.

"If you shift resources to Western Australia, it has to come from somewhere and it will come from Tasmanians, the state that can least afford to give money to the richest state.

"That a Tasmanian living in Launceston or Hobart or Burnie or Devonport should have a different level of service when it comes to education, police, health than someone in Subiaco or Fremantle or indeed Kalgoorlie, it's just wrong to think that there should be two streams of Australians in this nation.

"It's just not Australian. That's not what Federation is about."

Mr Barnett fired back, saying: "she should look at the Tasmanian economy".

"They should be doing a lot, lot better," he said.

"You know when I leave this job maybe I'll go down and hire myself out for a year to run Tasmania.

"It wouldn't take much to get the Tasmanian economy moving."

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Vic hospital dispute a disaster: Abbott

Tony Abbott says he'd like to fix Victorian hospital funding problems but can't make a commitment. Source: AAP

OPPOSITION Leader Tony Abbott says a coalition government would like to reverse funding cuts to Victoria's health system but can't make a commitment until it knows what fiscal position it will inherit.

The Victorian and federal governments have been involved in a funding stoush that has forced hospital bed closures and elective surgery cancellations around the state.

Mr Abbott said the stoush was a disaster for Victoria's public health system.

"It's a disaster that will tragically be in place before there can be a change of government," he told Fairfax Radio on Wednesday.

Mr Abbott said the coalition would like to reverse the cuts if it was elected but that would depend on fiscal circumstances.

"Until we've seen the final budget figures it's difficult to give a commitment," he said.

"My firm intention, whenever we are looking for savings, is to look for savings in the bureaucracy rather than to inflict savings on frontline services.

"I'd be surprised if we couldn't do just as good a job with fewer public servants in Canberra."

Victorian Health Minister David Davis has accused the federal government of using an incorrect estimate of Victorian population figures to cut $475 million from the state's health budget over four years.

But Federal Health Minister Tanya Plibersek says commonwealth funding to Victoria is increasing by $900 million over the next four years and Victoria has taken more than $600 million out of its health system.

Mr Davis has maintained the federal government should have used Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) population growth estimates of 1.4 per cent for 2010-11.

Instead, it used flawed figures of just 0.3 per cent over the same period, he said.

Australian Greens health spokesman Richard Di Natale said he was not surprised by the backflip, which came on the eve of a Senate inquiry into the funding disputes with Victoria and Queensland.

Senator De Natale successfully pushed for the inquiry earlier this month. It will hold its first hearing in Melbourne on Thursday.

"Instead of standing up to the mining companies and raising money through a decent mining tax, the federal government tried to get away with ripping money out of the hospital system by blaming it on the states," Senator Di Natale said in a statement.

"I expected the government was set to be embarrassed by some damaging testimony tomorrow.

"While I am pleased that the funding has been restored, it is a real shame that it took this kind of pressure for the government to take responsibility."

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Horsemeat fears spread to Hong Kong

FEARS over a Europe-wide food fraud scandal concerning horsemeat sold as beef have spread to Hong Kong with an imported brand of lasagne pulled from shelves.

Hong Kong authorities revealed on Wednesday they last week ordered a top local supermarket chain to remove the lasagne made by frozen food giant Findus, one of the firms at the centre of the scandal.

The product was imported from Britain and made by French firm Comigel.

Western food is popular in the Asian financial centre, which has a large population of expatriates.

Hong Kong's Centre for Food Safety urged locals not to consume the item, which it said "might be adulterated with horsemeat which has not undergone tests for veterinary drugs".

The product had been sold at supermarkets run by ParknShop, one of the biggest supermarket chains in the southern Chinese city and owned by tycoon Li Ka-shing.

"The product was removed from our stores last week following the government's instructions," a ParknShop spokeswoman told AFP on Wednesday.

The chain has about 280 stores in Hong Kong and the neighbouring gaming hub of Macau.

A spokeswoman at the government's food and environmental hygiene department said authorities would monitor the food fraud scandal closely but only one contaminated product had so far been sold in Hong Kong.

Neither the supermarket nor the government could give the number of the Findus frozen beef lasagnes that were recalled in the city.

It is understood no similar action regarding suspect food has so far been taken in Indonesia, the Philippines or Malaysia.

Concerns about horsemeat first emerged in mid-January when Irish authorities found traces of horse in beefburgers made by firms in Ireland and Britain and sold in supermarket chains including Tesco and Aldi.

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We've cleared the air on Labor deal: Milne

AUSTRALIAN Greens leader Christine Milne says she's "cleared the air" by attacking the federal Labor government for walking away from its agreement with the minor party.

Senator Milne has accused Labor of choosing to support big miners and no longer honouring the agreement to work together to promote transparent and accountable government in the national interest.

At the National Press Club on Tuesday, she said it had been very obvious for a while that Labor had walked away from the deal.

Among the examples she cited were the government's refusal to fix the mining tax, its decision to allow mining in the Tarkine in Tasmania, to expand coal seam gas mining and to cut single parent welfare.

"All of these actions undermine that fundamental agreement," Senator Milne told Sky News.

"I thought it was time we just cleared the air, said they've walked away and frankly the response from some of them shows they have walked away."

Asked if the agreement was still in place, Senator Milne said it was "on paper".

"But you can see from the Labor party's point of view it is not, and in a parliamentary scenario it is important to be very clear about the relationships," she said.

Senator Milne the Greens would still support supply bills and oppose no-confidence motions.

But it was dishonest of the government to pretend it was working in the public interest with the Greens, she said.

"The policies they are coming out with are the antithesis of that," she said.

Senator Milne later told ABC TV the Greens' 2010 deal to support a Labor minority government was with Ms Gillard and Treasurer Wayne Swan.

If Labor was to change leaders and potentially return to Kevin Rudd, Senator Milne said it would be "new territory".

"If they are not there, then there is no agreement," she said.

"Whoever Labor were to elect to the leadership, it would be up to them if they wanted to negotiate a new agreement or not."

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Armenian president wins second term

ARMENIAN President Serzh Sarkisian has celebrated a crushing victory in elections for a second five-year mandate but his rival alleges violations and observers say the polls lacked competition.

Sarkisian, a shrewd former military officer in power since 2008, won Monday's polls in the small ex-Soviet state nestled in the Caucasus mountains between Turkey and Iran with 58.64 per cent of the votes.

His nearest rival, former foreign minister Raffi Hovannisian trailed in a distant second place with 36.75 per cent of votes, the central election commission said after counting results from all precincts.

"These elections have again shown that the Armenian people can unite and take the right decision at the most important moments," Sarkisian told supporters at his campaign headquarters on Tuesday.

"I am proud and hope that all who did not vote for me understand the choice of the majority and we develop the country under a stable situation," he said.

Hovannisian's camp alleged a range of sometimes bizarre electoral violations, including the use of "disappearing ink" to allow multiple voting.

"These were shameful elections with a huge number of violations," said Hovannisian's spokesman Hovsep Khurshudian.

Hovannisian said Sarkisian should acknowledge the elections were a victory not for him but for the Armenian people.

"The people were victorious by making clear their will in the elections," he told reporters during the count.

Observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly said the elections were an improvement on past polls but lacked genuine competition.

"Competition is critical if Armenia is going to live up to the aspirations of its people for a vibrant and engaging democracy," said Tonino Picula, the head of the mission."

The observers said the voting process was well organised but confirmed the inking of passports "did not provide the intended safeguard against multiple voting as the ink could easily be wiped off."

The authorities had been hoping for a peaceful and internationally-praised process that would improve the country's chances of European integration.

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AWU official attacks Newman

A top Queensland AWU official has used unsavoury language to attack premier Campbell Newman. Source: AAP

A UNION official has called Campbell Newman an "arrogant and indifferent turd" over comments the Queensland premier made last year about public service job cuts.

The Australian Workers' Union's (AWU) newly-elected Queensland branch secretary Ben Swan made the remark while speaking to a resolution condemning the cuts at the AWU national conference on the Gold Coast on Tuesday.

Mr Swan was alluding to comments Mr Newman made last year in describing the process of cutting 14,000 public service jobs as getting "the poopa scoopa out" to clean up after Labor's excessive hiring.

Mr Newman had made the analogy while apologising for the anxiety caused by the cuts.

Mr Swan told union delegates: "I would return the favour to Newman on behalf of all public sector workers in this state by calling him for what he is, an arrogant and indifferent turd.

"He disgraced the position of premier."

Mr Swan also accused Mr Newman of lying to the public in the lead-up to last year's state election, which the Liberal National Party won in a landslide.

"When Newman said that the public sector had nothing to fear from him, he lied," Mr Swan said.

"When he said he was not a right-wing ideologue, he lied."

AWU delegates passed the resolution.

Mr Newman said the attack mirrors the deplorable standards of Labor and the unions.

"Sadly, Mr Swan's comments reflect everything that is wrong with the union movement and the Australian Labor Party today," the premier told AAP.

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Pistorius charged with murder

Olympian Oscar Pistorius (R) has been charged with the murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. Source: AAP

A SOUTH Africa prosecutor has charged Olympian Oscar Pistorius with the murder of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.

The 26-year-old appeared in the dock at the Pretoria court in a black suit, blue shirt and grey tie and stared straight ahead anxiously.

Oscar Pistorius' father Henke Pistorius and siblings, Aimee and Carl, were in court at the start of his bail hearing on Tuesday, seated behind the defence in the Pretoria Magistrate's Court.

The prosecutor argued Pistorius committed premeditated murder.

The double-amputee Olympian and Paralympian "Blade Runner" is seeking bail

at the hearing.

State prosecutor Gerrie Nel said that Pistorius killed an "innocent and unarmed woman" in a premeditated murder.

"There is no possible explanation to support his report that it was a burglar," Nel told the court.

The prosecutor said that Pistorius shot Steenkamp four times through the bathroom door of his home in a guarded and gated complex in the South African capital.

Nel told the court the door had been broken open.

Nel said Pistorius put on his prosthesis, walked seven metres and fired three shots through a locked bathroom door at Steenkamp.

Nel said the victim arrived at the house between 5pm and 6pm the night before she was killed at 3am.

The prosecutor also said the athlete, who broke down in tears during the hearing, had not provided investigators with his own version of what happened.

Defence lawyer Barry Roux said Steenkamp was not murdered, and there were a number of cases where men have shot members of their own family through doors after mistaking them for burglars.

"There's no agreement there, not even concession that this is

murder."

He also suggested that Pistorius broke the bathroom door down to help Ms Steenkamp after the shooting.

After the shooting Pistorius informed his sister that he thought Steenkamp was an intruder, the court heard.

Nel said the killing was premeditated because the defendant planned to say that he thought he was shooting an intruder.

He added: "It was all part of the pre-planning. Why would a burglar lock himself inside the bathroom?"

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Pope begins week-long spiritual retreat

The Pope has blessed the faithful at St Peter's Square for the first time since his resignation.

Thousands have gathered at St Peter's Square as Pope Benedict XVI gave his second-last blessing. Source: AAP

POPE Benedict XVI began a week-long spiritual retreat out of the public eye on Monday ahead of his resignation, with the cardinal leading the prayers saying he hoped they would be an "oasis".

The pope will remain in the Vatican with some of his closest aides for the traditional pre-Easter retreat and will only take a short break each day to meet with his secretary Georg Gaenswein to deal with urgent Church matters.

He will be praying together with the Roman Curia - effectively the government of the Catholic Church - in a private chapel in his residence.

The Vatican's culture minister, Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi - seen as a possible long-shot candidate for the papacy - has been selected to lead the retreat this year and has written 17 spiritual "meditations" for the week.

"After the storm, my task will be to create a moment of oasis," Ravasi said in an interview with Vatican radio before the beginning of the retreat.

"The pope wanted it himself and he did not cancel. This moment of silence, this white space, really has the sense of passing to the new horizon towards which the pope is moving and in which we too will have to live."

After the retreat, the outgoing pope will receive Italian President Giorgio Napolitano on February 23, celebrate his final Sunday prayer on February 24, and hold a last audience before tens of thousands of faithful on February 27.

Benedict will formally step down as pope on February 28 at 1900 GMT.

Vatican radio has said it will be making available one of Ravasi's prayers per day as a podcast so that Catholic faithful can pray along with the pope.

In the first prayer late on Sunday, extracts of which were broadcast by the Vatican, Ravasi compared the pope to the Biblical figure of Moses who prayed for the Israelites on a mountain while battles raged in the valley below.

"This image represents the main function, your function, for the Church, that is of intercession," Ravasi said.

"We will remain in the valley... where there is dust, where there is fear, terror, nightmares but also hope, where you have been for these past eight years with us," he said.

The Vatican hasn't announced the date of the start of the conclave, but said on Saturday it might start sooner than March 15, the earliest date it can be launched.

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Ad market expected to drag on Fairfax

Fairfax Media is expected to report a fall in revenue of up to 10% in its first half results. Source: AAP

ANALYSTS expect Fairfax Media to report a fall in revenue of up to 10 per cent in its first half results on Thursday, with declining print advertising income continuing to take a toll.

Fairfax will reveal its first half figures ahead of major changes including a resizing of its flagship broadsheet newspapers to tabloid format next month, and the introduction of a metered online content model, scheduled to start before April.

The embattled media group is in the middle of a four-year, $235 million cost-cutting program and analysts will be watching to see if costs are under control as the tight advertising market challenges sales revenue.

A survey of four analysts by AAP shows an average expected revenue fall of 9.3 per cent to $1.138 billion for the first half of 2012/13, from $1.23 billion for the first half of 2011/12.

Fairfax reported a net profit of $96.7 million in the first half of 2011/12, a 41 per cent decline on the prior corresponding period.

Goldman Sachs analysts Christian Guerra and Jacqueline Thai said the revenue decline was likely to have worsened since Fairfax chief executive Greg Hywood told shareholders at the company's annual general meeting there had been a "slight improvement" in revenues in the first weeks of October 2012.

"FXJ's (Fairfax's) divestments of Fairfax Community Newspapers (transaction completion July 2012), the US agricultural business (November 2012) and Trade Me (December 2012) should result in FXJ's reported 1H13 revenue decline being worse than the underlying decline," a note from Goldman Sachs said.

Goldman Sachs has forecast revenue of $1.112 billion, down 9.4 per cent on the previous corresponding period, and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $239.1 million, down 17.3 per cent.

Citi media analyst Justin Diddams expects revenue of $1.165 billion, down 5.5 per cent, EBITDA of $228 million and net profit of $92 million.

Mr Diddams said recent circulation figures showed Fairfax was entering a year-on-year managed decline in circulation while advertising revenue had fallen only in line with the broader market.

"Greg Hywood is making the best of a tough situation," Mr Diddams said.

"We know what they are doing on the cost base - the key is going to be revenue."

Commonwealth Bank analyst Alice Bennett expects revenue of $1.104 billion and a 5.7 per cent drop in operating costs, with the company reducing uneconomic newspaper circulation.

Ms Bennett estimates EBITDA at $220 million and net profit at $82.8 million.

Morningstar's Tim Montague-Jones puts expected revenue at $1.17 billion and EBITDA at $277.1 million.

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Melbourne grassfire destroys one home

A LARGE grassfire has destroyed one home and damaged another in Melbourne's northern suburbs.

The out-of-control fire has burnt almost 2000 hectares on both sides of the busy Hume Freeway around Epping and Campbellfield.

One home in the Epping North area has been destroyed, incident controller John Deering said.

Another home has been damaged and several outbuildings or sheds have been lost.

An emergency warning is still in place on Monday night for the Epping and Campbellfield area.

The fire spread quickly on Monday afternoon but crews believe they have managed to slow or stop its spread.

Some parts of the 31km of fire edge are still active, Mr Deering said.

"The fire is not advancing or spreading any further at this stage," he told ABC Radio.

"However there may be still active fire within that fire edge."

Victoria's Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said firefighters hoped to contain the Donnybrook-Kalkallo fire on Monday night.

"The forward spread of that fire has been significant but has now slowed," Mr Lapsley said.

The fire closed the Hume Freeway and created traffic gridlock on nearby major roads. Smoke was also affecting the area.

Crews in about 70 fire trucks and six helicopters are fighting the blaze, about 20km north of the CBD, and any spot fires.

Residents in other parts of Epping, Lalor and Thomastown are also on alert.

Some residents who have left their homes have been advised to stay where they are for the time being.

Mr Deering said authorities hoped to be able to downgrade the fire alerts to allow people to return home later on Monday night but only when it is safe to do so.

Crews would remain on scene all night, he said.

Meanwhile, two large bushfires in the Grampians in Victoria's southwest have merged to form one out-of-control bushfire about 3260 hectares in size.

The Grampians fire has moved from bushland into private land, Mr Lapsley said.

A wind change due on Monday night would have an impact on the fire, he said.

"We have a lot of resources in place but certainly it is a very dry area and certainly we will see significant fire move through Victoria Valley," he told ABC TV.

Farming communities in the area have been on alert with emergency warnings issued on Sunday and Monday.

The latest, for the Victoria Valley area, has been downgraded to a Watch and Act alert.

The fire, started by lightning on Thursday, has been creating spot fires 1km ahead of it.

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Carr condemns barbaric Pakistan bomb blast

The federal government condemned a bomb attack that claimed 81 lives in southwestern Pakistan. Source: AAP

AUSTRALIANS are appalled by a bomb blast that killed 81 people in southwestern Pakistan, Foreign Minister Bob Carr says.

The attack against the minority Shi'ite community also wounded close to 200 people. The bomb was hidden in a water tanker in a crowded market in Hazara town, a Shi'ite-dominated area on the edge of Quetta.

Senator Carr condemned the attack as an act of terrorism.

"All Australians would be appalled at the barbarism involved in bombing innocent civilians going about their lives," Senator Carr said in a statement on Monday.

"I welcome the condemnation of these attacks by the government of Pakistan and urge swift action to bring the perpetrators to justice."

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Afghan president moves to prevent torture

AFGHAN President Hamid Karzai says all interrogation facilities need to be equipped with video cameras to prevent torture after a recent UN report said detainees were being abused.

The decree follows a government investigation into the UN report about prisoner abuse, which found detainees were tortured at the time of arrest and during interrogations.

"Relevant authorities are required to equip the intelligence and investigating agencies... with modern equipment (and) devices... and videotape the interrogation process," Karzai said in a statement released by his office late on Saturday.

He said the move will also help "eliminate any chance or place for complaints from other parties" about prisoner abuse.

The United Nations, which has run an assistance operation in Afghanistan since the 2001 fall of the Taliban, said in January that prisoners were frequently abused and tortured in the Afghan jail system.

The UN report revealed that 326 of 635 prisoners interviewed across the country said they had been abused, including 80 minors.

Fourteen types of torture were described in the UN report, including beatings with cables and pipes, attacks on the genitals, threats of execution or rape, electric shocks and forced stress positions.

In the decree, Karzai also ordered the attorney-general to "prosecute the perpetrators of torture, so to avoid any suspect, convict or prisoner tortured in the future".

It strictly orders law-enforcement bodies, police and the intelligence agencies to avoid torturing detainees.

Karzai also orders his justice minister and the court systems to provide defence lawyers to prisoners.

Afghanistan has been in near-continuous war since the late 1970s, the last 11 years a Taliban-led Islamist insurgency being fought by a US-led NATO force that currently numbers more than 100,000 troops.

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Abbott insisted on Nestor reference

TONY Abbott insisted on providing a character reference for a Catholic priest later struck off the clergy list by the Vatican following a child abuse case, the former priest says.

John Gerard Nestor, who attended Sydney's St Patrick's Seminary with Mr Abbott in the 1980s, was a priest in the Wollongong diocese in NSW when he was charged with the indecent assault of a 15-year-old altar boy in 1991.

Mr Abbott, who in 1997 was a parliamentary secretary in the Howard government, later provided a character reference in court for then Father Nestor, describing him as "a beacon of humanity".

While a Wollongong magistrate found Fr Nestor guilty and sentenced him to jail, he won an appeal against the conviction in October 1997.

But the Catholic church never allowed him to return to ministry and about five years ago he was struck off the clergy list, or "laicised", by the Vatican after lengthy inquiries.

In a letter sent to the Wollongong diocese in 2009, the Vatican said it made the decision on "grave reasons".

Mr Nestor told AAP at his home in rural NSW that Mr Abbott agreed to provide the character reference in 1997 after being approached by his barrister.

"When the lawyer approached Tony Abbott, he said look, 'I know you're a parliamentary secretary and you may feel that because of your position you don't want to get involved in this case'.

"Tony said, 'no, I'm coming down,'. He insisted on coming down and giving the reference, because he's a man of integrity."

Mr Nestor said while he was "grateful" for Mr Abbott's reference, he did not believe it pulled any weight in having his conviction quashed.

"The magistrate took no notice of it at all, or the other three (references).

"I think he would do the same thing if I was Joe Blogs, because he's a man of great integrity."

Mr Nestor said he wasn't "great friends" with Mr Abbott at the time of the case.

"He knew me well enough to make that statement, but that doesn't imply that he was my closest friend or anything like that.

"His entire character reference related to 1984. He didn't say anything about my character at the time (of the case).

"He said 'this was the way he was at the seminary'.

"It was entirely what he knew of me then, and his insistence once he found out about (the case) ... says something about his character."

The two had become friends at the Manly seminary studying to become priests in the 80s, but their life paths diverged sharply not long after their days at St Patrick's ended.

While Mr Abbott decided the priesthood wasn't for him, Mr Nestor started work as assistant vicar for education at the Catholic Education Office in Wollongong.

The pair have kept in "vague contact" since the court case, Mr Nestor said.

"I haven't seen him for many, many years," he said.

"I'm in a very different area of life to him.

"But I must say, I think he feels good about me, and I feel good about him.

"He has shown himself as a good friend to me."

Mr Abbott has previously said he had provided a character reference for Mr Nestor.

"In 1997, Mr Abbott provided a reference for Mr Nestor in an open court. He was subsequently acquitted by a District Court Judge," a spokesperson for Mr Abbott said.

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Bushfire threatens two Vic towns

A LARGE, fast moving and out of control bushfire is now 30 kilometres north of Dunkeld in Victoria's southwest and an emergency warning remains in place for residents as hot, dry conditions continue to fuel blazes across the state.

The blaze, which has now expanded to cover four hundred hectares of land and is burning in the Grampians National Park, is also expected to impact the township of Mirranatwa on Sunday evening.

The blaze, which was started by lightning on Thursday night, is one of 387 new bush and grassfires that ignited between 3pm on Thursday and 11.30am (AEDT) on Sunday, many sparked by lightning, the Country Fire Authority says.

"It has been a very active fire period in many areas of the state and the emergency services have been kept very busy," Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said.

"This activity has been driven by four days of hot, dry weather and tomorrow (Monday) is expected to be the worst day of the past week."

Mr Lapsley said it was important for Victorians to remain vigilant as the hot weather was expected to continue for some while.

He said up to 1075 firefighters, 240 vehicles and 64 aircraft had been active each shift over the past four days.

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Two die, 18 injured in Thailand blasts

A SERIES of blasts in a town in Thailand's restive south has killed two people and wounded up to 18, authorities say.

The latest incidents, which began with two fire bombings of shops in Pattani on Saturday night, came just days after a major attack on a Thai military base in the insurgency-plagued region.

In total, three bombs have exploded in the provincial town since late Saturday, while police said four more devices had been defused, in the latest attacks to rock the Thai south, where thousands have died in nine years of deadly unrest.

A blast around noon on Sunday in the centre of Pattani killed a local security volunteer instantly, police said.

Hospital staff said another defence volunteer later died of his wounds, while about 18 people, including civilians, were wounded.

Thailand's southern provinces near the Malaysian border suffer almost daily gun and bomb attacks by shadowy groups fighting for greater autonomy.

More than 5500 people, both Buddhist and Muslim, have been killed in the bloody conflict since early 2004.

On Wednesday, scores of heavily-armed gunmen stormed an army base in the neighbouring province of Narathiwat but the Thai military repelled the assault, killing 16 militants in one of the most deadly incidents of the insurgency.

Members of Thailand's security forces and civilians accused of collaboration with the authorities are frequently targeted with ambushes and roadside bombs.

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