Firefighters battle for control

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mr Lapsley urged people to dob in arsonists.

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

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

Emergency crews quickly extinguished the blaze.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Depardieu gets Russian passport

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Kuwait jails opposition tweeter

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Suicide attack hits Afghan tribal meeting

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Delhi gang-rape case in court

THE case of five men accused of the gang-rape and murder of a student on a New Delhi bus was set to be transferred to a fast-track trial court, as her boyfriend recounted for the first time his efforts to save her.

The horrifying crime has appalled India and brought simmering anger over widespread crime against women to the boil amid demands for safer streets, more sensitive policing and a change in social attitudes.

Police arrested six suspects soon after the attack and formally charged five of them in court on Thursday with murder, rape and kidnap. One of them claims to be a juvenile aged 17, who is undergoing a bone test to check his age.

A district court was due to hold its second hearing on Saturday and is expected to transfer the case of the five men to a special "fast-track" court set up amid a public outcry and demands for the culprits to be hanged.

Adding to the anger and soul-searching underway in India was the first description of events from the boyfriend of the 23-year-old physiotherapy student, who was with her when they were attacked.

"The cruelty I saw should not be seen ever," the 28-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told AFP of the savagery of the assault, which left the woman with such serious internal injuries that she died last weekend.

"I tried to fight against the men but later I begged them again and again to leave her," he said from his family's home in rural northern India where he is taking time out from his job at a software firm in the capital.

The 28-year-old recounted bitterly how passers-by had failed to come to their rescue after they were thrown out of the moving vehicle without clothes after their ordeal.

He also criticised police for failing to be sensitive to their mental condition after the attack, and raised questions about the emergency care given in the public hospital which admitted his girlfriend.

"A passerby found us (after the attack), but he did not even give my friend his jacket. We waited for the police to come and save us," he told AFP.

Later Friday, he appeared for the first time in public since the attack, giving an anguished interview to Hindi-language Indian cable channel Zee News, in which he again criticised police and onlookers for failing to help.

"They could have taken us to hospital, given us clothes in that crucial one and half hours. For a dying person every minute is important," he told the channel, adding that police had taken 45 minutes to reach the scene.

Police told AFP on Saturday they had filed a case against the channel because the interview - which showed the boyfriend in full view - had illegally disclosed the identity of a rape victim.

The Committee for the Protection of Journalists criticised the move in a statement.

The man, who said he was "in love" with the victim but declined to comment on statements from friends that they were to marry, told AFP how events had quickly spiralled out of control on the bus.

The couple had been to see the film Life of Pi at an upmarket shopping mall and were finding it difficult to flag down a rickshaw afterwards.

"I was not very confident about getting into the bus but my friend was running late, so we got into it. This was the biggest mistake I made and after that everything went out of control," he said.

The boyfriend told how the driver and his accomplices allegedly made lewd remarks before stopping the vehicle and locking the doors.

"They hit me with a small stick and dragged my friend to a seat near the driver's cabin," he said.

After that the "driver and the other men raped my friend and hit her in the worst possible ways in the most private parts of her body".

"I cannot tell you what I feel when I think of it. I shiver in pain," he said, adding that police had eventually arrived but were dismissive of their mental condition.

"I was treated like an object by the police... They wanted all the help to solve the case even before getting me the right treatment," he said.

He added that he was "not satisfied" at the treatment his girlfriend was given at the government-run Safdarjung Hospital.

"Anywhere in the world the prognosis was not very good to start with," Yatin Mehta, a highly experienced critical care specialist at the private Medanta hospital, who helped with her treatment, told AFP.

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Vic fire fighters set for Tassie

A CONTINGENT of 65 Victorians is preparing to head to Tasmania to help battle the bushfires.

Victorian Fire Services Commissioner Craig Lapsley said planning is under way to send the crews to assist as parts of Tasmania's east coast have been cut off by bushfires.

"We will send crews that will leave Sunday evening to work Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday," Mr Lapsley told AAP.

"They'll be crews that are both incident management teams, aircraft positions, so those that will manage and fly, and crews on the trucks."

The blaze on the Tasman Peninsula, east of Hobart, continues to burn out of control.

It has claimed least 80 properties and left thousands of people isolated on Friday night, spurred on by record high temperatures.

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Tas alert on Forcett fire downgraded

THE major fire at Bicheno in Tasmania's east has been downgraded and the Tasman Highway has been reopened.

The Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) has issued an "advice" alert level for the fire, which was earlier classified at an emergency warning level.

The TFS says the fire danger rating in the area is low to moderate, and there is no immediate threat to communities.

The Tasman Highway has been re-opened and motorists are being urged to be cautious due to possible smoke and emergency services vehicles in the area.

The fire is still not under control and authorities say people may experience embers, smoke and ash falling on Coles Bay Road, south of Apsley River, and the Tasman Highway, south of Bicheno.

Back burning off the Cole Bay Road will continue through the night and residents are advised that they should not be alarmed if there is more smoke in this area.

Earlier, the fire at Forcett, east of Hobart, was downgraded to a watch and act level as cooler weather spread across the island state.

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Pet Perth pooch leads cops to drugs, gun

A frightened pet dog has led concerned police officers to a drug stash and an illegal shotgun. Source: AAP

THE owners of a timid dog may be wondering if the canine is their best friend after it led police to their drug stash.

Officers noticed the fierce-looking, but scared, mastiff cross in their car park on Friday.

When they approached the dog, it ran into traffic.

Concerned, the police followed the mutt down a laneway opposite the station.

The dog went to a unit in Hinderwell Street, where police say they found drugs and cash on a table.

An unlicensed shotgun and ammunition were allegedly found in a car on the premises and other drugs were found in the house.

A 31-year-old man from Queens Park will appear in Perth Magistrates Court on January 10 charged with possessing an unlicensed firearm and ammunition.

A 45-year-old Beverley woman is expected to be charged with possession of amphetamines and possession of a smoking implement.

A 32-year-old Scarborough man is expected to be charged with allowing the home to be used for drug taking and for possessing a prohibited drug.

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Hong Kong stocks end 0.29% lower

HONG Kong shares have ended 0.29 per cent lower after a rally in the previous two sessions was capped by concerns the US Federal Reserve will end its monetary easing scheme earlier than expected.

The benchmark Hang Seng Index shed 67.51 points to 23,331.09 at Friday's close on turnover of HK$77.49 billion ($10.0 billion).

However, the slight dip after rising 3.3 per cent over Wednesday and Thursday was just "a healthy technical correction", said KGI Asia chief operating officer Ben Kwong.

"The two drivers for the Hong Kong market's uptrend - the China recovery story and abundant liquidity - remain intact," he told Dow Jones Newswires.

While fiscal cliff woes have been put off, minutes from the Fed's December meeting show a growing bias towards some policy tightening this year, with some members looking to end its asset purchases during 2013 and others by the end of the year.

The Fed in September unveiled its third bond-buying scheme - called quantitative easing (QE3) - to boost growth, saying it would not stop until the economy was up on its feet. And in December it added to that scheme.

Banking giant HSBC fell 1.56 per cent to HK$82.00, China Mobile slipped 0.87 per cent to HK$90.65 and Haitong Securities fell 3.3 per cent to HK$12.96.

Mainland developer Hopson rose 10.5 per cent to HK$16.06 and bourse operator Hongkong Exchanges also outperformed, closing 2.0 per cent higher at HK$142.60.

Chinese shares closed up 0.35 per cent on their first day of trade for the year, following a near three per cent rise in the previous two sessions.

The benchmark Shanghai Composite Index added 7.86 points to 2,276.99 on turnover of 114.6 billion yuan $US18.4 billion ($A17.66 billion).

The index gained 1.96 per cent in this week's two trading sessions - the market was closed from Tuesday for a three-day New Year holiday.

Analysts said sentiment was boosted by hopes for a rebound in the domestic economy after an improvement in manufacturing activity, but investors also expect Beijing to unveil pro-growth policies next month.

Steel makers gained after an industry group said manufacturing activity and new orders in the sector recovered in December.

Luyin Investment Group surged by its 10 per cent daily limit to 5.70 yuan while Fangda Special Steel Technology jumped 7.71 per cent to 4.19 yuan.

Construction companies ended higher. China Railway Construction gained 8.69 per cent to 6.38 yuan while China Railway Group rose 5.92 per cent to 3.22 yuan.

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China fines LG, Samsung, 4 others

CHINESE regulators have fined South Korean companies LG and Samsung and four Taiwanese companies on charges they fixed prices of flat panel screens sold to Chinese manufacturers.

The government announced on Friday that LG, Samsung and the Taiwanese companies were ordered to repay a total of 172 million yuan ($A25.91 million) to Chinese customers.

In addition, the companies were fined a total of 144 million yuan.

The Chinese Cabinet's economic planning agency said investigators found representatives of the six companies met dozens of times in 2001-06 to agree on prices to charge for flat-panel screens.

It said that improperly raised costs for Chinese manufacturers.

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