Fukushima kids getting fatter

CHILDREN in Fukushima are getting fatter as outdoor activities have been cut in the area due to radiation fears after last year's nuclear disaster, a Japanese government report said.

The education ministry said it had surveyed the heights and weights of about 700,000 children, aged between five and 17, at schools and kindergartens across the country this year.

It compared the number of obese children, defined as weighing at least 20 per cent more than the average for their age and height, among the 47 prefectures.

Fukushima registered the highest rates in seven of the 13 age groups, the ministry said. In 2010, the prefecture on the north of the main island Honshu topped the table only in the 10th year of school.

"The amount of exercise has declined in Fukushima, mainly among elementary school pupils, as outdoor activities in some locations have been restricted after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant accident," a ministry official told a news conference.

In Fukushima, 449 - or 56 per cent of public schools - curbed outdoor activities during school time as of June last year due to radiation concerns, Kyodo news agency said.

Such restrictions remained in place at 71 elementary and junior high schools as of September this year, Kyodo said.

In the accident of March last year, an earthquake-triggered tsunami smashed into the Fukushima nuclear plant, sparking meltdowns and explosions.

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Morocco busts Qaida recruitment cell

MOROCCAN authorities said they had broken up a recruitment cell for al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb in the central Fez region, after announcing the discovery of a jihadist network last month.

"The police, in coordination with the leadership of territorial surveillance, have dismantled a cell with six members, originating from the city of Fez," the interior ministry said in a statement.

The aim of the cell was to "enroll and recruit young Moroccans who have embraced jihadist ideas, in order to send them to camps of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQMI) in Algeria," it added.

Among those arrested was a "former prisoner detained under the anti-terrorism law," who had been "extradited from Algeria in 2005 after he attempted to join the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC)."

AQIM, the global terror network's north African branch, evolved from the GSPC, a breakaway group of militant Algerian Islamists who refused to lay down their weapons when Algeria's civil war ended.

Last month, the Moroccan authorities said they had dismantled several "terrorist" cells that were planning to attack strategic targets in the kingdom.

More than 2000 Islamists were arrested and sentenced after 2003 suicide bomb attacks in Morocco's second city of Casablanca that killed 45 people including the 12 attackers.

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Egypt court frees Mubarak-era Senate chief

AN Egyptian court has freed the former Senate leader under ousted president Hosni Mubarak on bail, after spending the maximum permitted 18 months in jail awaiting his corruption trial, the official MENA news agency reports.

Safwat al-Sherif, one of the top-ranking members of Mubarak's National Democrat Party, was allowed out on payment of the equivalent of $US8100 ($A7830).

He is one of several Mubarak-era officials facing charges of corruption and abuse of power.

In October he and other former regime officials were acquitted of charges of ordering horse- and camel-riders to attack protesters in Cairo during the country's uprising.

Mubarak himself is serving a life sentence for the deaths of some of the 850 protesters in the revolution. He is appealing the conviction, and a court will decide on January 13 whether or not to order a new trial.

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Iran begins naval war games

IRAN has launched naval manoeuvres in the Gulf, and announced plans for another exercise in the strategic Strait of Hormuz later this week, media reports said.

Revolutionary Guards naval units began a four-day exercise inside Iranian waters at South Pars, a joint gas field between Iran and Qatar, a Guards spokesman was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency.

The drill, dubbed "Fajr 91," is aimed at honing "capabilities in executing defensive and security scenarios," Admiral Alireza Nasseri said without elaborating.

The Guards are tasked with defending Iran's territorial waters in the Gulf.

The regular navy, meanwhile, on December 28 begins an exercise dubbed "Velayat 91," covering an area that includes the Strait of Hormuz, the Sea of Oman and parts of the Indian Ocean, navy chief Admiral Habibollah Sayari said in remarks reported by the ISNA news agency.

Warships, submarines and missile defence systems will be used and tested during the exercise, Admiral Sayari said.

"We will definitely respect the maritime border of our neighbours, and conduct the manoeuvres based on international law," Admiral Sayari said.

"Iran aims to demonstrate its defensive naval capabilities by conducting this exercise, and send a message of peace and friendship to regional countries."

Iran frequently conducts missile tests and manoeuvres to underline its military muscle and has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz to oil tanker traffic should it be attacked.

The strait is a narrow channel at the entrance of the Gulf through which a third of the world's traded oil passes.

The US has warned Iran that any attempt to close the strait would be viewed as a "red line" - grounds for US military action.

Iran's navy, with 17,000 servicemen, is tasked with defending Iranian interests in the Indian Ocean and beyond. Its offshore forces are limited to half a dozen small frigates and destroyers, and three Russian Kilo class submarines.

Iran regularly denounces the regional presence of foreign forces, including the US, particularly those stationed in the Gulf. It says the security of the region must be ensured "by regional countries."

Arab monarchies on the opposite side of the Gulf from Iran are worried by what they see as territorial ambitions by the Islamic republic, which frequently stresses Persia's historic dominance over the waterway.

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17 killed as Yemen army, tribesmen clash

YEMEN'S army has launched an offensive against tribesmen suspected of repeatedly sabotaging an oil pipeline in the country's east, sparking clashes that left 17 people dead, tribal sources say.

The dead included 10 tribesmen and seven soldiers, said the sources, who added the offensive in Marib province's Habab valley, 140 kilometres east of the capital Sanaa, was launched in the early hours of Tuesday and backed by air raids.

The sources said the army was "randomly shelling" the area where some al-Qaeda militants joined tribesmen battling Yemeni troops. Marib is a major al-Qaeda stronghold.

Tribesmen, of whom 18 were also wounded according to the same sources, fought back with rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, one source said.

According to official figures, lost production because of attacks on the oil pipeline in the east cost the government more than $US1 billion ($A965 million) in 2012, while oil exports fell by 4.5 per cent.

A tribal source told AFP the offensive was targeting prominent figure Salah bin Hussein al-Dammaj, who has allegedly blown up the pipeline several times to pressure the authorities to pay him 100 million riyals ($A465,000) in compensation for land he claims was taken from him in Sanaa.

The 320-kilometre pipeline carries oil from Safer oilfields in Marib to an export terminal on the Red Sea. It carries about 180,000 barrels per day.

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Military plane crashes, killing 27

KAZAKHSTAN'S acting border service chief was among 27 people killed in a military plane crash near a southern city, authorities said.

The An-72 crashed at 1255 GMT (11.55pm AEDT) about 20 kilometres away from the city of Shymkent near the border with Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan's Committee for National Security said in a statement.

The fatalities included a crew of seven and 20 border guards, including the acting head of the ex-Soviet nation's border protection service, Col. Turganbek Stambekov, the statement said. Without specifying further details, authorities said an investigation was opened into the crash.

Stambekov was appointed acting head of the border service in June, after a mass killing of 14 frontier troops in a remote Kazakh outpost near China the month before. Vladislav Chelakh, a 20-year-old conscript, was sentenced earlier this month to life in prison after being found solely responsible for the killings.

The border service has come under close scrutiny in Kazakhstan since the killings, which many argued showed the lack of readiness and professionalism among serving troops. Legislation approved Thursday by the upper house of parliament and supported by Stambekov was designed to improve the process for selecting conscripts for the service.

The Kazakh-Uzbek border stretches 2200 kilometres of Central Asian steppes and deserts.

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Russia's Kalashnikov in intensive care

RUSSIA'S legendary rifle designer Mikhail Kalashnikov has been hospitalised in intensive care after complaining of general weakness, his assistant says.

The 93-year-old father of the AK-47 has been having heart problems and feeling poorly since March, when he stopped showing up for work, his aide told the RIA Novosti news agency on Tuesday.

"When I visited him at home last week, he told me that nothing seemed to hurt, but that he simply had no strength left," his assistant Nikolai Shklyayev was quoted as saying.

"It seems that this is just his age showing," Shklyayev said.

The assistant said Kalashnikov was sent to intensive care on Thursday after complaining of swelling.

"I last got in touch with (Kalashnikov's) driver. He said that everything was fine," Shklyayev told the Interfax news agency.

Kalashnikov designed his iconic rifles - staples of armies across the world for the past half century - at the Izhmash factory in the central city of Izhevsk.

Originally formed in 1807, Izhmash remains one of the main producers of Russian weapons.

But like several other specialised industrial firms, it has been hit by dwindling post-Soviet demand and its failure to make up for this with foreign orders.

Kalashnikov and 16 colleagues raised the alarm about the situation at Izhmash in an open letter to President Vladimir Putin last month, saying production had fallen to an all-time low and the factory needed to be saved.

According to popular legend, Kalashnikov began designing weapons after having trouble with the rifles the Soviet Red Army was using during World War II.

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Turnbull criticises Sydney Harbour helipad

MALCOLM Turnbull has criticised NSW government plans to allow a helicopter barge in Sydney Harbour, tweeting that he is concerned for people's safety.

In a series of tweets, the federal member for Wentworth said he was told the decision to approve the helicopter service from a barge in Sydney Harbour was made by the Roads and Maritime Services "without consulting the premier or cabinet or community.

"Frankly what troubles me most is safety, summer afternoon, harbour full of boats, most with kids, noreaster......"

"And don't forget every weekend there are hundreds if not thousands of kids in skiffs sailing on Sydney Harbour," he said.

Mr Turnbull said "democracy involves government with the consent of the governed", adding that the decision was taken administratively with no consultation.

According to Newcastle Helicopters website, the company will be operating a floating heliport on Sydney Harbour.

"The Floating heliport will offer swift transfers from Mascot airport ideal for the time poor businessperson and centrally located Sydney residents, and scenic flights over Sydney Harbour convenient to tourists staying close to the CBD, and those visiting with limited schedules on cruise ships," it says on its website.

It said the helipad is a flat-top powered barge that would be positioned each day from its overnight berth (in the Pyrmont area) to one of "several designated areas".

A spokesman for Mr O'Farrell reportedly told the Sydney Morning Herald that he would not be rescinding the heliport licence and he was satisfied with how it had been approved.

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Harder to provide food aid in Syria

THE UN's World Food Program (WFP) has warned that the spiralling violence in Syria is making it increasingly difficult to distribute food in the war-torn country.

"Food needs are growing in Syria," said WFP spokeswoman Elisabeth Byrs, whose organisation distributes most of its aid in Syria through the Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC).

Citing SARC figures, Byrs told reporters in Geneva that nearly 2.5 million people currently need emergency food assistance, up from the 1.5 million estimated two months ago.

Yet WFP is only able to reach 1.3 million people each month, she said, lamenting the "escalating violence", especially in the north of the country.

WFP said in a statement it had seen a sharp rise in the number of attacks on its aid trucks in recent weeks.

Since the beginning of October, the organisation said, armed groups have stolen or confiscated around 10 of its trucks.

"In many of these incidents, WFP was able to recover the food after negotiations through third parties, but truck drivers have become more reluctant to drive on some roads or deliver food assistance to risky areas," it explained.

Fuel shortages have also impacted WFP's ability to distribute aid, it said, adding that there were not enough humanitarian partners on the ground to help deliver the aid.

The WFP appeal came after UN aid chief Valerie Amos at the weekend asked the Syrian government to allow 10 additional aid organisations into the country to help the increasingly desperate population.

People on the ground are going hungry, Byrs added, saying there was a "bread crisis" because fuel shortages had forced bakeries to close.

The UN, which is set to issue an appeal for funds to finance all of its aid work in Syria in 2013, estimates that around four million Syrians are in need of humanitarian aid.

WFP meanwhile said it aimed to help 1.5 million people by the end of this month, but stressed that if it was going to continue providing food to so many people it would need another $US132 million ($A125.67 million).

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Gunmen kill 5 polio workers in Pakistan

GUNMEN have shot dead five women working on UN-backed polio vaccination efforts in two different Pakistani cities, officials say, a major setback for a campaign that international health officials consider vital to contain the crippling disease but which Taliban insurgents say is a cover for espionage.

Pakistan is one of only three countries where polio is endemic. Militants however accuse health workers of acting as spies for the US and claim the vaccine makes children sterile. Taliban commanders in the troubled northwest tribal region have also said vaccinations can't go forward until the US stops drone strikes in the country.

Insurgent opposition to the campaign grew last year after it was revealed that a Pakistani doctor ran a fake vaccination program to help the CIA track down al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who was hiding in the town of Abbottabad in the country's northwest.

The Taliban have targeted previous anti-polio campaigns, but this has been a particularly deadly week. The government is in the middle of a three-day vaccination drive targeting high risk areas of the country as part of an effort to immunise millions of children under the age of five.

The women who were killed on Tuesday - three of whom were teenagers - were all shot in the head at close range. Four of them were gunned down in the southern port city of Karachi, and the fifth in a village outside the northwest city of Peshawar. Two men who were working alongside the women were also critically wounded in Karachi.

The attacks in Karachi were well-coordinated and occurred within 15 minutes in three different areas of the city that are far apart, said police spokesman Imran Shoukat. In each case, the gunmen used nine millimetre pistols. Two of the women were teenagers, aged 18 and 19, and the other two were in their 40s, he said.

Two of the women were killed while they were in a house giving children polio drops, said Shoukat. The other two were travelling between houses when they were attacked, he said.

On Monday another person working on the anti-polio campaign, a male volunteer, was gunned down in Karachi. Taliban militants also killed three soldiers in an ambush of an army convoy escorting a vaccination team in the northwest.

Officials in Karachi responded to the attacks by suspending the vaccination campaign in the city, said Sagheer Ahmed, the health minister for surrounding Sindh province. The campaign started on Monday and was supposed to run until Wednesday, he said.

Immunisation was suspended in Karachi in July as well after a local volunteer was shot to death and two UN staff were wounded.

Janbaz Afridi, a senior health official in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the fifth woman was killed, said the shootings would not stop the local government from continuing its vaccination program in the province and the neighbouring tribal region, the main sanctuary for Taliban militants in the country.

"These incidents are depressing and may cause difficulties in the anti-polio drive, but people should not lose heart," said Afridi. "The government is very serious, and we are determined to eliminate polio despite all odds and difficult conditions."

Also on Tuesday, two men on a motorcycle hurled hand grenades at the main gate of an army recruiting centre in the northwestern town of Risalpur, wounding 10 people, including civilians and security personnel, said senior police official Ghulam Mohammed.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest in a string of assaults in recent days that illustrate the continued challenge Pakistan faces from militants despite multiple military operations against the Pakistani Taliban and their supporters.

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Funerals continue; some return to school

MOST children in Newtown have returned to school for the first time as the toll of funerals for the 26 dead continues on a grey, wet day.

The national debate on gun control sharpened as a prominent investor said it would sell shares in the company that makes the rifle thought to be used in Friday's shooting.

At least one funeral was planned for one of the 20 young students - six-year-old Jessica Rekos - as well as several wakes, including one for teacher Victoria Soto, who has been praised as a hero for sacrificing herself to save several students in one of the worst mass shootings in US history.

Security remained high, and the small, affluent Connecticut community was still on edge.

Private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management announced it would sell its stake in major arms manufacturer Freedom Group, saying in a statement, "It is apparent that the Sandy Hook tragedy was a watershed event that has raised the national debate on gun control to an unprecedented level."

And the mystery of why a smart but severely withdrawn 20-year-old, Adam Lanza, shot his mother to death in bed before rampaging through Sandy Hook Elementary, killing 20 children ages six and seven, was as deep as ever.

The first two children, including the youngest victim, were buried on Monday, the first of a long, almost unbearable procession of funerals as the rest of the country prepared for the Christmas holidays.

Classes resumed on Tuesday for Newtown schools except those at Sandy Hook, where the school will remain closed indefinitely.

"It's the right thing to do. You have to send your kids back. But at the same time I'm worried," said Dan Capodicci, whose 10-year-old daughter attends another local school. "We need to get back to normal."

Investigators say Lanza had no ties to the school he attacked, and they have found no letters or diaries that could explain why he targeted it. He forced into the school shortly after its front door locked as part of a new security measure. He wore all black and is believed to have used a Bushmaster AR-15-style rifle, a civilian version of the military's M-16. Versions of the AR-15 were outlawed in the US under the 1994 assault weapons ban, but the law expired in 2004.

Debora Seifert, a spokeswoman for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said both Lanza and his mother fired at shooting ranges and visited ranges together.

At the White House on Monday, spokesman Jay Carney said curbing gun violence is a complex problem that will require a "comprehensive solution." He did not mention specific proposals to follow up on President Barack Obama's call for "meaningful action."

New York City's billionaire Mayor Michael Bloomberg, perhaps the most outspoken advocate for gun control in US politics, again pressed Obama and Congress to toughen gun laws and tighten enforcement.

"If this doesn't do it," he asked, "what is going to?"

At least one senator, Virginia Democrat Mark Warner, said on Monday that the attack has led him to rethink his opposition to the ban on assault weapons. And West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin, a Democrat who is an avid hunter and lifelong member of the powerful National Rifle Association, said it's time to move beyond the political rhetoric and begin an honest discussion about reasonable restrictions on guns.

In Newtown on Monday, minds were on mourning.

Two funeral homes filled for Jack Pinto and the youngest victim, Noah Pozner, who turned six just two weeks ago.

A rabbi presided at Noah's service, and in keeping with Jewish tradition, the boy was laid to rest in a simple brown wooden casket with a Star of David on it.

"I will miss your perpetual smile, the twinkle in your dark blue eyes, framed by eyelashes that would be the envy of any lady in this room," Noah's mother, Veronique Pozner, said at the service, according to remarks the family provided to The Associated Press. Both services were closed to the news media.

Noah's twin, Arielle, who was assigned to a different classroom, survived the killing frenzy.

At six-year-old Jack Pinto's Christian service, hymns rang out from inside the funeral home, where the boy lay in an open casket.

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Fresh protests in Egypt over constitution

EGYPT'S opposition has launched fresh protests in a last-minute bid to scuttle a draft constitution pushed by President Mohamed Morsi and his Islamist backers ahead of a second round of voting.

Hundreds of people had already begun gathering in Cairo by late afternoon ahead of the evening rallies, AFP correspondents reported.

The biggest were set for outside the presidential palace and in the capital's iconic protest hub Tahrir Square as the opposition sought to mobilise voters against the draft charter in Saturday's second leg.

They add to weeks of street unrest that have challenged Morsi's authority.

Early this month, clashes between pro and anti-Morsi supporters killed eight people and wounded hundreds, and prompted the army to deploy troops and tanks around the palace.

The head of the military, Defence Minister General Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, warned against the nation becoming so politically polarised.

"The divisions are affecting the economy and threaten social peace, requiring of us solidarity, renouncing differences and putting public interests first," Sissi was quoted as saying.

The opposition National Salvation Front coalition was urging Egyptians to protest against the draft constitution and denounce what it said was "rigging" in the first round of voting last weekend by Morsi's Muslim Brotherhood.

"We do not agree with this constitution. We don't recognise the referendum as valid," said one opposition protester near the palace, Ayyoub Laouindi.

"The constitution is void, the referendum is void. Egyptians' voices have been falsified and the ballot boxes been stuffed," said another, Suzanne Esmat, a tourist guide.

The justice ministry responded to the opposition's fraud allegations by saying it was appointing judges to investigate.

Unofficial tallies showed 57 per cent of ballots counted from first-round voting in Cairo and nine other regions backed the draft charter, suggesting the text would be adopted in the second round when the other half of the country votes.

Many of Egypt's 21,000 judges also kept up their pressure on Morsi, charging that he was trying to undermine their independence.

On Monday, the State Council Judges Club grouping nearly 1000 top judges announced it would boycott supervision of the second round of voting. It joined an estimated 12,000 judges who already boycotted the first round.

And a protest by hundreds of prosecutors the same day forced the resignation of the prosecutor general, Talaat Ibrahim Abdallah, appointed less than a month ago by Morsi.

"This is undoubtedly a new crisis for Mohammed Morsi, showing that his decisions are not accepted by large sectors of the state system," a political science professor at Cairo University, Mustafa Kamel al-Sayyed, told AFP.

"They might have let the president get away with it, if he had made a good choice, but the person he chose (Abdallah) acted in a way giving the impression he was breaking laws and at the beck and call of the president's party," the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party, Sayyed said.

Morsi's camp argues the new charter is needed to bring stability to Egypt after months of turmoil following the early 2011 revolution that toppled veteran leader Hosni Mubarak.

But the opposition is scathing of the document, which was written largely by Islamists, believing it weakens human rights protections, particularly for women, and sets the stage for a creeping advance towards Islamic sharia law.

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UK judge rules cancer boy operation

A JUDGE has ruled that a seven-year-old British boy with cancer could undergo more surgery despite his mother's opposition, which had led her to run away with her son earlier this month.

High Court judge David Bodey ruled that Neon Roberts, who has already had surgery on a brain tumour, should have another operation after hearing from doctors that he would very likely die soon without treatment.

The boy's mother Sally Roberts, 37, had refused to give her consent, telling the court: "I feel I need more expert opinion on it before proceeding."

But a doctor treating Neon said a scan showed more surgery needed to be carried out "urgently", saying there was a residual tumour left behind from the first operation. He said a second doctor agreed with his analysis.

The judge had been due to decide whether Neon should undergo radiotherapy treatment following surgery, which his mother had also opposed, but that issue was put on hold pending a ruling on the operation.

Sally Roberts has been locked in a legal dispute with her estranged husband Ben over the boy's condition and treatment, and earlier this month she went on the run with Neon in what she later said was a panicked move to protect him.

The New Zealander says she fears radiotherapy would cause her son long-term harm.

The pair were found safe after a judge ordered a search and Roberts apologised for her actions.

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Thousands of students wake up to HSC marks

UP to 73,000 students are set to go online, send a text or make a phone call, in order to find out their HSC results on Wednesday.

Students in NSW will receive their HSC results from 6am (AEDT) on Wednesday, followed by their Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) on Thursday.

The NSW Board of Studies said most are expected to check their results online, while others will receive them via text or by phoning in.

It comes after more than 100 NSW high achievers celebrated taking out first place in their courses at a ceremony in Sydney on Tuesday.

NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli said two-thirds of the award recipients were young women, with females also dominating the first course results for mathematics.

Meanwhile, parents who are having trouble coping with their kids' disappointing HSC marks can talk about it on a new telephone hotline.

The NSW government-funded line is a 24/7 telephone counselling service for parents confronted with a disappointing HSC score, or who need guidance on helping their kids deal with poor results.

"Parents and students often feel that if they haven't reached a certain benchmark, then they've failed," the service's manager, Tarja Malone said earlier this week.

"It's important that students, and parents, realise it's not the end of the world."

Parent Line can be reached 24 hours, seven days a week on 1300 1300 52.

The HSC Results Inquiry Centre (13 11 12) opens on 19 December.

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Egypt seeks to delay loan request: IMF

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) says Egypt has asked to delay its request for a $US4.8 billion ($A4.60 billion) loan agreed in November as violent protests mount in Cairo ahead of a referendum on the constitution.

"In light of the unfolding developments on the ground, the Egyptian authorities have asked to postpone their request for a Stand-By Arrangement with the IMF," a Fund spokeswoman said in a statement.

"The Fund remains in close contact with the authorities, and stands ready to continue supporting Egypt during the ongoing transition and to consult with the authorities on the resumption of discussions regarding the Stand-By Arrangement," the spokeswoman said.

The IMF announcement followed violent protests in Egypt over a deeply disputed constitutional referendum proposed by the Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi.

The IMF and Egyptian authorities provisionally agreed on the loan on November 20. The IMF executive board had been expected to review the deal in this month.

The planned IMF loan is aimed at helping the government bridge financing shortfalls through fiscal 2013-2014 as the country rebuilds an economy left battered by the 2011 overthrow of the Hosni Mubarak regime.

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US stocks gain in opening trade

US stocks have headed solidly higher in opening trade following gains in Europe's markets, which came on the back of a surge in German investor sentiment to a seven-month high.

Ten minutes into trade the Dow Jones Industrial Average had gained 62.16 points (0.47 per cent) to 13,232.04.

The broad-market S&P 500 added 7.57 (0.53 per cent) at 1426.12, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite rose 24.62 points (0.82 per cent) to 3011.58.

Insurer AIG was up 2.7 per cent to $34.25 after the US Treasury announced the successful sale of its final 234 million shares at an average of $32.50 a share.

The Nasdaq was boosted as volatile Apple gained 2.0 per cent to $540.39.

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Fallen police officer to be honoured

THOUSANDS of Sydneysiders are expected to join dignitaries and the state's top brass as they farewell fallen Detective Inspector Bryson Anderson.

The 45-year-old father of three will be mourned at a ceremony with full police honours at St Patrick's Cathedral in Parramatta on Wednesday.

Mourners will hear eulogies from his Bryson's wife Donna Anderson, his brother Warwick, a retired police officer, and another brother Damian.

The detective was stabbed after responding to a neighbour dispute at Oakville, in Sydney's northwest, on Thursday.

Tributes have flooded in from colleagues who worked alongside the "police officer's police officer", and the state's top police have remembered a skilled detective and a great mate.

"He was larger than life," Commissioner Andrew Scipione told the Fairfax Radio Network on Tuesday.

"He was well-respected. There were people that looked up to him. He always brought a laugh to any conversation. On top of that he was compassionate and caring."

He worked as a duty officer at Hawkesbury local area command and recently turned down a promotion in order to remain on the front line.

VIPs including Premier Barry O'Farrell, Governor Marie Bashir, Parramatta Lord Mayor John Chedid and Mr Scipione will attend the service.

Bishop Anthony Fisher will preside over the church proceedings that are expected to last two hours.

Mr Scipione invited the public to attend and said overflow arrangements will be in place for those to listen to the proceedings from outside the cathedral.

After the proceedings, a roadside guard and marching escort will proceed along Victoria Road between Marist Place and O'Connell Street.

Motorists are advised Victoria Road will be closed between Church and O'Connell Streets from 3pm until 6pm.

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Yemeni offensive on al-Qaeda kills 24

A MAJOR offensive launched by the Yemeni army against al-Qaeda following the assassination of a top officer has killed at least 24 people, including 17 soldiers, a military official says.

"Troops backed by air forces launched a wide operation in the region of Wadi Abida," targeting al-Qaeda hideouts, a military official said on condition of anonymity.

General Nasser Naji bin Farid, who commanded military forces in central Yemen, was killed on Saturday in an ambush near the city of Marib, blamed by military and tribal sources on al-Qaeda.

Four other officers and six soldiers were also killed in the ambush, Yemeni authorities said, giving the latest death toll from the ambush.

Following the assassination of Farid, considered close to President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, the army launched an offensive, in which 17 soldiers and seven tribesmen suspected of supporting al-Qaeda were killed, the military official said. Operations continued on Tuesday, he said.

The jihadist network has increased its attacks on army and security officers, especially in the south and the east of the country, where militants are active.

Gunmen suspected of being al-Qaeda militants shot dead on Tuesday the deputy chief of intelligence in the southeastern city of Mukalla.

In Daleh, also in the south, unknown gunmen on a motorbike shot dead a soldier and wounded another as they opened fire at a checkpoint, a security official told AFP.

Earlier this month, General Mahmud al-Sobaihi, a top army commander in the south, escaped an assassination bid when gunmen opened fire on his vehicle in Huta, the capital of Lahj province.

Sobaihi's troops played a major role in an anti-Qaeda offensive that ended the control in June of jihadist militants in a string of towns and cities which they had held across the south for a year.

Although weakened, the network's militants continue to launch hit-and-run attacks on members of the security forces across Yemen.

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Ghana opposition to challenge vote results

GHANA'S main opposition party says it plans to challenge presidential election results in court after it alleged a "pattern of fraud" in incumbent John Dramani Mahama's victory.

"We are going to court," New Patriotic Party chairman Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey told reporters after a meeting of party officials, including its candidate Nana Akufo-Addo, who declined to comment.

The decision comes with the country under pressure to maintain its reputation as a stable democracy in turbulent West Africa. Local election observers, citing their own findings, have said they support the results showing Mahama won.

According to the electoral commission, Mahama won the election held over Friday and Saturday with 50.70 per cent of the votes cast, compared with Akufo-Addo's 47.74 per cent.

The NPP alleged a "pattern of fraud" even before the official results were announced.

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Egypt protesters breach president's palace

SEVERAL hundred Egyptian protesters have breached a concrete and metal barricade outside the presidential palace in Cairo on Tuesday, forcing back the soldiers manning it, AFP correspondents report.

There was no violent confrontation despite the tensions surrounding the determination of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi to press ahead with a Saturday referendum on a controversial new constitution drafted by a panel dominated by his Islamist allies.

The protesters pulled apart a high metal gate bar by bar and toppled concrete blocks with chains.

Hundreds of soldiers who had erected the barrier at the weekend, to block access roads following deadly clashes in the area last week, fell back closer to the palace. Six tanks were stationed close to the walled compound.

A counter-demonstration by Morsi supporters was taking place a few kilometres away, raising fears of further clashes.

On Wednesday last week, pro and anti-Morsi demonstrators fought each other with metal bars, petrol bombs and handguns, leaving seven people dead and more than 600 injured.

Morsi on Monday ordered the army to use temporary police powers to protect the palace and other "vital state institutions".

The military, which is trying to remain neutral in Egypt's three-week-old political crisis, has vowed to carry out its duty to maintain stability within democratic rules.

The opposition, made up of secular, leftwing and liberal groups, sees the draft text as weakening human rights, the rights of women and religious minorities.

Egyptian human rights groups issued a statement saying the draft constitution "opens the door to the establishment of a theocratic system similar to the Iranian Velayat-e Faqih model, or rule by a clerical supreme leader.

The UN human rights chief and international watchdogs have criticised the draft charter and the way it was drawn up.

Morsi's supporters, however, argue that it is now up to Egypt's voters to decide in the referendum.

Michael Wahid Hanna, a political analyst at US thinktank The Century Foundation told AFP that, as things stood, there was a good chance of the referendum passing.

On Monday, after a meeting with Morsi, Egypt's defence minister and commander of the armed forces, General Abel-Fattah al-Sisi, called on army officers to exercise the "highest levels of self-restraint".

He said the armed forces were determined to "carry out their role in protecting the nation and its stability regardless of pressures and challenges".

But Emad Gad, an Egyptian political analyst, said: "In the event there are violent clashes or especially if blood is spilt in the street, the army will certainly intervene."

He said there was even a potential the army might have to seize political control again, to maintain order and security.

The prolonged crisis has intensified uncertainty over Egypt's economy triggered by the revolution early last year that overthrew autocratic president Hosni Mubarak.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday said a proposed $US4.8 billion ($A4.60 billion) loan is on hold at the request of Egyptian authorities in view of the volatile situation.

The IMF and Egyptian authorities provisionally agreed the loan last month and the IMF's executive board had been expected to review the deal this month.

The loan is aimed at helping the government to bridge financing shortfalls through fiscal 2013-2014 as the country rebuilds a battered post-revolution economy.

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US blacklists key Syria rebel group

WASHINGTON has put a key Syrian rebel group on its terror blacklist, citing al-Qaeda links, a day after the jihadist faction showed its power in the battlefield by capturing a key army base.

The US move came amid growing Western concern that al-Qaeda loyalists have been hijacking the 21-month revolt against President Bashar al-Assad's rule and could turn any weaponry supplied to the rebels against Western targets.

Washington balanced its move with the announcement of fresh sanctions against pro-Assad militias.

But the blacklist of the Al-Nusra Front marked a major shift in US policy towards the rebels which had previously been tolerant of the large Islamist element within their ranks.

The US State Department said that despite its efforts to portray itself as part of the legitimate Syrian opposition, Al-Nusra was a front for the al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) organisation that mounted a deadly insurgency against US troops in Syria's eastern neighbour which peaked in 2006-7.

"It is, in fact, an attempt by AQI to hijack the struggles of the Syrian people for its own malign purposes," it said.

The Al-Nusra Front's fighters, many of them jihadist volunteers from around the Islamic world, were instrumental in the fall of the army's massive Sheikh Suleiman base in northern Syria on Monday after a months-long siege.

Its role in the seizure of the garrison, the government's last between second city Aleppo and the Turkish border, undercut the military influence of the mainstream rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) which the West has been counting on to rein in the jihadists.

An AFP journalist who witnessed the clashes around Sheikh Suleiman said many fighters were from other Arab countries and Central Asia.

The US Treasury Department designated two of the Al-Nusra Front's senior leaders, Maysar Ali Musa Abdallah al-Juburi and Anas Hasan Khattab, for sanctions.

It also imposed sanctions on two armed militias supporting the Assad regime - Jaysh al-Sha'bi and Shabiha - as well as two Shabiha commanders.

"These militias have been instrumental in the Assad regime's campaign of terror and violence against the citizens of Syria," the Treasury Department said.

The United States "will target the pro-Assad militias just as we will the terrorists who falsely cloak themselves in the flag of the legitimate opposition," said David Cohen, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

At the same time Washington said that it had reason to ease the urgent concerns it had expressed in recent weeks about the dangers of Damascus resorting to use of its chemical weapons stockpiles against the rebels.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said Syria had not taken any new steps in recent days that signal a readiness to use its arsenal.

"At this point the intelligence has really kind of levelled off. We haven't seen anything new indicating any aggressive steps to move forward in that way," Panetta told reporters aboard his plane before landing in Kuwait.

"But we continue to monitor it very closely and we continue to make clear to them that they should not under any means make use of these chemical weapons against their own population."

Inside Syria, Islamist rebels loyal to Muslim Brotherhood-backed Liwa al-Tawhid assaulted a military school in battlefield Aleppo province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"The school is very important for its size and location," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP, adding that it schooled some 3000 cadets.

In footage posted on the internet with the group's logo, five gunmen were seen firing automatic weapons from behind a hill toward a building in a wooded area, as explosions are heard in the background. The video's authenticity could not be verified.

With the death toll now topping 42,000, according to the Observatory's figures, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said the number of Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries and the wider Arab world had now passed half a million.

"And these numbers are currently climbing by more than 3000 a day," UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told reporters in Geneva.

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Egypt seeks to delay loan request: IMF

THE International Monetary Fund (IMF) says Egypt has asked to delay its request for a $US4.8 billion ($A4.60 billion) loan agreed in November as violent protests mount in Cairo ahead of a referendum on the constitution.

"In light of the unfolding developments on the ground, the Egyptian authorities have asked to postpone their request for a Stand-By Arrangement with the IMF," a Fund spokeswoman said in a statement.

"The Fund remains in close contact with the authorities, and stands ready to continue supporting Egypt during the ongoing transition and to consult with the authorities on the resumption of discussions regarding the Stand-By Arrangement," the spokeswoman said.

The IMF announcement followed violent protests in Egypt over a deeply disputed constitutional referendum proposed by the Islamist president, Mohamed Morsi.

The IMF and Egyptian authorities provisionally agreed on the loan on November 20. The IMF executive board had been expected to review the deal in this month.

The planned IMF loan is aimed at helping the government bridge financing shortfalls through fiscal 2013-2014 as the country rebuilds an economy left battered by the 2011 overthrow of the Hosni Mubarak regime.

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US stocks gain in opening trade

US stocks have headed solidly higher in opening trade following gains in Europe's markets, which came on the back of a surge in German investor sentiment to a seven-month high.

Ten minutes into trade the Dow Jones Industrial Average had gained 62.16 points (0.47 per cent) to 13,232.04.

The broad-market S&P 500 added 7.57 (0.53 per cent) at 1426.12, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite rose 24.62 points (0.82 per cent) to 3011.58.

Insurer AIG was up 2.7 per cent to $34.25 after the US Treasury announced the successful sale of its final 234 million shares at an average of $32.50 a share.

The Nasdaq was boosted as volatile Apple gained 2.0 per cent to $540.39.

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Fallen police officer to be honoured

THOUSANDS of Sydneysiders are expected to join dignitaries and the state's top brass as they farewell fallen Detective Inspector Bryson Anderson.

The 45-year-old father of three will be mourned at a ceremony with full police honours at St Patrick's Cathedral in Parramatta on Wednesday.

Mourners will hear eulogies from his Bryson's wife Donna Anderson, his brother Warwick, a retired police officer, and another brother Damian.

The detective was stabbed after responding to a neighbour dispute at Oakville, in Sydney's northwest, on Thursday.

Tributes have flooded in from colleagues who worked alongside the "police officer's police officer", and the state's top police have remembered a skilled detective and a great mate.

"He was larger than life," Commissioner Andrew Scipione told the Fairfax Radio Network on Tuesday.

"He was well-respected. There were people that looked up to him. He always brought a laugh to any conversation. On top of that he was compassionate and caring."

He worked as a duty officer at Hawkesbury local area command and recently turned down a promotion in order to remain on the front line.

VIPs including Premier Barry O'Farrell, Governor Marie Bashir, Parramatta Lord Mayor John Chedid and Mr Scipione will attend the service.

Bishop Anthony Fisher will preside over the church proceedings that are expected to last two hours.

Mr Scipione invited the public to attend and said overflow arrangements will be in place for those to listen to the proceedings from outside the cathedral.

After the proceedings, a roadside guard and marching escort will proceed along Victoria Road between Marist Place and O'Connell Street.

Motorists are advised Victoria Road will be closed between Church and O'Connell Streets from 3pm until 6pm.

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Yemeni offensive on al-Qaeda kills 24

A MAJOR offensive launched by the Yemeni army against al-Qaeda following the assassination of a top officer has killed at least 24 people, including 17 soldiers, a military official says.

"Troops backed by air forces launched a wide operation in the region of Wadi Abida," targeting al-Qaeda hideouts, a military official said on condition of anonymity.

General Nasser Naji bin Farid, who commanded military forces in central Yemen, was killed on Saturday in an ambush near the city of Marib, blamed by military and tribal sources on al-Qaeda.

Four other officers and six soldiers were also killed in the ambush, Yemeni authorities said, giving the latest death toll from the ambush.

Following the assassination of Farid, considered close to President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, the army launched an offensive, in which 17 soldiers and seven tribesmen suspected of supporting al-Qaeda were killed, the military official said. Operations continued on Tuesday, he said.

The jihadist network has increased its attacks on army and security officers, especially in the south and the east of the country, where militants are active.

Gunmen suspected of being al-Qaeda militants shot dead on Tuesday the deputy chief of intelligence in the southeastern city of Mukalla.

In Daleh, also in the south, unknown gunmen on a motorbike shot dead a soldier and wounded another as they opened fire at a checkpoint, a security official told AFP.

Earlier this month, General Mahmud al-Sobaihi, a top army commander in the south, escaped an assassination bid when gunmen opened fire on his vehicle in Huta, the capital of Lahj province.

Sobaihi's troops played a major role in an anti-Qaeda offensive that ended the control in June of jihadist militants in a string of towns and cities which they had held across the south for a year.

Although weakened, the network's militants continue to launch hit-and-run attacks on members of the security forces across Yemen.

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Ghana opposition to challenge vote results

GHANA'S main opposition party says it plans to challenge presidential election results in court after it alleged a "pattern of fraud" in incumbent John Dramani Mahama's victory.

"We are going to court," New Patriotic Party chairman Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey told reporters after a meeting of party officials, including its candidate Nana Akufo-Addo, who declined to comment.

The decision comes with the country under pressure to maintain its reputation as a stable democracy in turbulent West Africa. Local election observers, citing their own findings, have said they support the results showing Mahama won.

According to the electoral commission, Mahama won the election held over Friday and Saturday with 50.70 per cent of the votes cast, compared with Akufo-Addo's 47.74 per cent.

The NPP alleged a "pattern of fraud" even before the official results were announced.

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Egypt protesters breach president's palace

SEVERAL hundred Egyptian protesters have breached a concrete and metal barricade outside the presidential palace in Cairo on Tuesday, forcing back the soldiers manning it, AFP correspondents report.

There was no violent confrontation despite the tensions surrounding the determination of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi to press ahead with a Saturday referendum on a controversial new constitution drafted by a panel dominated by his Islamist allies.

The protesters pulled apart a high metal gate bar by bar and toppled concrete blocks with chains.

Hundreds of soldiers who had erected the barrier at the weekend, to block access roads following deadly clashes in the area last week, fell back closer to the palace. Six tanks were stationed close to the walled compound.

A counter-demonstration by Morsi supporters was taking place a few kilometres away, raising fears of further clashes.

On Wednesday last week, pro and anti-Morsi demonstrators fought each other with metal bars, petrol bombs and handguns, leaving seven people dead and more than 600 injured.

Morsi on Monday ordered the army to use temporary police powers to protect the palace and other "vital state institutions".

The military, which is trying to remain neutral in Egypt's three-week-old political crisis, has vowed to carry out its duty to maintain stability within democratic rules.

The opposition, made up of secular, leftwing and liberal groups, sees the draft text as weakening human rights, the rights of women and religious minorities.

Egyptian human rights groups issued a statement saying the draft constitution "opens the door to the establishment of a theocratic system similar to the Iranian Velayat-e Faqih model, or rule by a clerical supreme leader.

The UN human rights chief and international watchdogs have criticised the draft charter and the way it was drawn up.

Morsi's supporters, however, argue that it is now up to Egypt's voters to decide in the referendum.

Michael Wahid Hanna, a political analyst at US thinktank The Century Foundation told AFP that, as things stood, there was a good chance of the referendum passing.

On Monday, after a meeting with Morsi, Egypt's defence minister and commander of the armed forces, General Abel-Fattah al-Sisi, called on army officers to exercise the "highest levels of self-restraint".

He said the armed forces were determined to "carry out their role in protecting the nation and its stability regardless of pressures and challenges".

But Emad Gad, an Egyptian political analyst, said: "In the event there are violent clashes or especially if blood is spilt in the street, the army will certainly intervene."

He said there was even a potential the army might have to seize political control again, to maintain order and security.

The prolonged crisis has intensified uncertainty over Egypt's economy triggered by the revolution early last year that overthrew autocratic president Hosni Mubarak.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Tuesday said a proposed $US4.8 billion ($A4.60 billion) loan is on hold at the request of Egyptian authorities in view of the volatile situation.

The IMF and Egyptian authorities provisionally agreed the loan last month and the IMF's executive board had been expected to review the deal this month.

The loan is aimed at helping the government to bridge financing shortfalls through fiscal 2013-2014 as the country rebuilds a battered post-revolution economy.

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US blacklists key Syria rebel group

WASHINGTON has put a key Syrian rebel group on its terror blacklist, citing al-Qaeda links, a day after the jihadist faction showed its power in the battlefield by capturing a key army base.

The US move came amid growing Western concern that al-Qaeda loyalists have been hijacking the 21-month revolt against President Bashar al-Assad's rule and could turn any weaponry supplied to the rebels against Western targets.

Washington balanced its move with the announcement of fresh sanctions against pro-Assad militias.

But the blacklist of the Al-Nusra Front marked a major shift in US policy towards the rebels which had previously been tolerant of the large Islamist element within their ranks.

The US State Department said that despite its efforts to portray itself as part of the legitimate Syrian opposition, Al-Nusra was a front for the al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) organisation that mounted a deadly insurgency against US troops in Syria's eastern neighbour which peaked in 2006-7.

"It is, in fact, an attempt by AQI to hijack the struggles of the Syrian people for its own malign purposes," it said.

The Al-Nusra Front's fighters, many of them jihadist volunteers from around the Islamic world, were instrumental in the fall of the army's massive Sheikh Suleiman base in northern Syria on Monday after a months-long siege.

Its role in the seizure of the garrison, the government's last between second city Aleppo and the Turkish border, undercut the military influence of the mainstream rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) which the West has been counting on to rein in the jihadists.

An AFP journalist who witnessed the clashes around Sheikh Suleiman said many fighters were from other Arab countries and Central Asia.

The US Treasury Department designated two of the Al-Nusra Front's senior leaders, Maysar Ali Musa Abdallah al-Juburi and Anas Hasan Khattab, for sanctions.

It also imposed sanctions on two armed militias supporting the Assad regime - Jaysh al-Sha'bi and Shabiha - as well as two Shabiha commanders.

"These militias have been instrumental in the Assad regime's campaign of terror and violence against the citizens of Syria," the Treasury Department said.

The United States "will target the pro-Assad militias just as we will the terrorists who falsely cloak themselves in the flag of the legitimate opposition," said David Cohen, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

At the same time Washington said that it had reason to ease the urgent concerns it had expressed in recent weeks about the dangers of Damascus resorting to use of its chemical weapons stockpiles against the rebels.

US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said Syria had not taken any new steps in recent days that signal a readiness to use its arsenal.

"At this point the intelligence has really kind of levelled off. We haven't seen anything new indicating any aggressive steps to move forward in that way," Panetta told reporters aboard his plane before landing in Kuwait.

"But we continue to monitor it very closely and we continue to make clear to them that they should not under any means make use of these chemical weapons against their own population."

Inside Syria, Islamist rebels loyal to Muslim Brotherhood-backed Liwa al-Tawhid assaulted a military school in battlefield Aleppo province, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

"The school is very important for its size and location," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP, adding that it schooled some 3000 cadets.

In footage posted on the internet with the group's logo, five gunmen were seen firing automatic weapons from behind a hill toward a building in a wooded area, as explosions are heard in the background. The video's authenticity could not be verified.

With the death toll now topping 42,000, according to the Observatory's figures, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said the number of Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries and the wider Arab world had now passed half a million.

"And these numbers are currently climbing by more than 3000 a day," UNHCR spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told reporters in Geneva.

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Police arrest 2 linked to Toulouse gunman

FRENCH police have arrested two people in connection with the attacks by extremist gunman Mohamed Merah, whose shooting spree in and around the southern city of Toulouse left seven people dead.

A man described by police as a 38-year-old member of the traveller community who converted to Islam was detained on suspicion of having provided aid to Merah in carrying out the March attacks that shocked France.

He was arrested without incident at his home in the town of Albi, about 70 kilometres from Toulouse, where he was to be taken for questioning, police sources said.

His ex-girlfriend, also 38, was arrested separately at her home in Toulouse, in the same neighbourhood where Merah lived.

She was questioned shortly after her arrest. Police said she may have been aware of her ex-boyfriend's alleged involvement with Merah and failed to inform authorities.

The nature of his alleged involvement was unclear, but investigators have been searching for a suspected "third man" believed to have been with Merah and his brother Abdelkader during the theft of a scooter used in the attacks.

The detained man was known to police, a source said.

Merah shot a rabbi, three Jewish schoolchildren and three French paratroopers in March before being shot dead in a police siege in Toulouse.

Abdelkader was arrested after the attacks and remains in custody.

Sources close to the investigation warned against concluding that the suspect arrested on Tuesday was the "third man". He can be held for questioning for up to 96 hours without charge.

Merah's elder brother Abdelghani previously told French media that someone from the traveller community may have been involved in stealing the scooter.

Investigators are also probing whether any possible accomplices may have provided funds or weapons used by Merah.

A petty criminal who was lured into Islamic extremist circles in Toulouse, Merah visited Afghanistan and Pakistan before his attacks.

Since his shooting spree, it has become clear that Merah had been on the radar of France's security services for years and that authorities under-estimated the extent of his radicalisation following his trips abroad.

French intelligence services have been heavily criticised for failing to realise the threat posed by Merah.

His attacks prompted a rethink of French security policies, with legislation being considered that will allow authorities to prosecute citizens who attend militant Islamist training camps abroad and to boost monitoring of extremist sites on the internet.

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One dead in violent clashes in Bangladesh

PROTESTERS from Bangladesh's largest Islamic party have clashed with security forces in cities across the country in violence that has left one dead, police say.

Jamaat-e-Islami called a strike on Tuesday to protest against the arrest and trial of its leaders, who face charges of war crimes during the country's 1971 liberation struggle.

An 18-year-old youth was shot dead on Monday night during clashes in the northern town of Chirirbandar, 300 kilometres from the capital Dhaka, and unrest spread to other cities on Tuesday.

Jamaat supporters torched and damaged about 20 vehicles including a car belonging to the US Embassy in Dhaka on Tuesday and 69 people were detained on charges of violence, police said.

"Jamaat activists hurled bricks at a US embassy car which was coming from the airport after dropping a foreigner. They also tried to torch the car," police sub-inspector Abu Saleh told AFP.

In a statement posted in the party's website, Jamaat's acting secretary general Shafiqur Rahman said "sorry" for the incident saying they were ready to pay compensation for the damaged car and to the injured driver.

Violence was also reported in the eastern town of Brahmanbaria and in the cities of Sylhet, Rajshahi and Narayanganj.

The dead 18-year-old was admitted to hospital on Monday with a gun shot wound to the head after a demonstration at which police admitted firing live ammunition to control the crowd, hospital and police sources said.

"We fired seven rounds of live bullets, rubber bullets and tear gas shells," local police chief Tariqul Islam told AFP, saying that the cause of the activist's death was unclear.

Shihidul Islam, a nurse at Rangpur Medical College Hospital, said the activist died as he was brought to the clinic. "He has a bullet shot in his head," he told AFP.

The government blames Jamaat for much of the killing in the bloody nine-month war against Pakistan, in which it says about three million people died.

But the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), created in 2010 to try war crimes suspects, has been widely criticised as being a political tool for the ruling Awami League government to target its opponents.

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Exports, spending cuts to hurt GDP growth

WEAKER exports and government spending cuts are likely to have slowed the pace of economic growth in the September quarter.

The median market forecast is for the Australian economy to have grown by 0.6 per cent in the September quarter, according to an AAP survey of 13 economists last week.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics is expected to report on Wednesday that over the year to September, the economy is to have grown by 3.1 per cent.

This will be a considerable slowdown compared to the 3.7 per cent growth recorded in the 12 months to June.

TD Securities Asia-Pacific macro strategist Alvin Pontoh said weaker exports and spending cuts from state and federal governments were expected to weigh on economic growth.

"It's lower than the first half of the year but it is not a bad rate of growth," he said.

"In the first half of the year, you had strong consumption but that is partly because of a number of temporary factors, including retailers' discounting and carbon tax compensation, but those effects are going to fade."

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West warns Damascus on chemical weapons

WESTERN powers have warned Damascus there will be an immediate reaction to any use of chemical weapons as NATO prepares to approve a Turkish request for missiles to protect its border with Syria.

"The possible use of chemical weapons would be completely unacceptable to the whole international community and I would expect an immediate reaction from the international community," NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.

Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles were "a matter of great concern," Rasmussen said, adding: "This is also the reason why it is a matter of urgency to ensure effective defence and protection of our ally Turkey."

Turkey's request for US-made surface-to-air Patriot missiles on its border is worrying Russia, but both NATO and Ankara insist they would be purely defensive.

US President Barack Obama on Monday issued a new warning to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad not to use chemical weapons against his own people, as the conflict approaches the 21-month mark with more than 41,000 people killed.

"I want to make it absolutely clear to Assad and those under his command, the world is watching, the use of chemical weapons is and would be totally unacceptable," Obama said.

"If you make the tragic mistake of using these weapons, there will be consequences and you will be held accountable."

France, with traditional interests in the region, made a similar point.

"The leaders in Damascus must know the international community is watching them and will react" if chemical weapons are used, French foreign ministry spokesman Vincent Floreani said.

The Syrian government, fighting to prevent the capital Damascus from falling to rebel forces, on Monday reiterated it would never resort to chemical weapons.

Saudi Arabia meanwhile urged the international community to take a unified position on Syria after the rebel groups formed a coalition last month.

"We see in forming the new Syrian coalition an important positive step towards uniting the opposition under one banner," Prince Saud al-Faisal said.

"We hope to see a similar step towards uniting the positions and views of the international community in dealing with the Syrian issue," the foreign minister added.

Saudi Arabia has openly called for arming the Syrian rebels.

On the ground on Tuesday, the Syrian army blasted a string of rebel zones on the eastern and southwestern outskirts of Damascus.

Rami Abdel Rahman, director of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said "the army is trying at all costs to keep the rebels out of Damascus.

"The rebels are pushing hard to enter into the city but they have not been able to make the advance they are hoping for," he added.

Pro-regime daily Al-Watan reported that the army is "making progress in all directions in Damascus province, chiefly in villages along the road linking the capital to the international airport."

Syrian state television meanwhile reported that a rebel attack on a school near Damascus on Tuesday killed nine students and their teacher.

In the face of deteriorating security, the United Nations on Monday suspended operations in Syria and said it would pull out non-essential staff, while the European Union reduced its activities in Damascus to a minimum.

Against this backdrop, Syria and Turkey's request for help to boost its defence was dominating the two-day NATO meeting in Brussels, which was to dedicate some time also to strained ties with Moscow.

Military sources in Turkey have said NATO is considering the deployment of up to six Patriot batteries and some 300-400 foreign troops to operate them.

The Patriot, designed mainly to bring down missiles but effective also against aircraft, would likely be supplied by Germany, The Netherlands or the United States.

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Egypt opposition march on palace

OPPONENTS of Islamist President Mohamed Morsi have marched on the presidential palace to protest his power grab and a controversial draft charter, as the country plunged deeper into crisis.

Thousands took to the streets waving Egyptian flags, chanting for the downfall of the regime and denouncing the Muslim Brotherhood, from which Morsi emerged, for having "sold the revolution" that toppled Hosni Mubarak last year.

A November 22 decree issued by Morsi expanding his powers and enabling him to put to a mid-December referendum a draft constitution - rejected by liberals, leftists and Christians - has sparked strikes and deadly protests.

"I'm not going to vote. Morsi and the committee (drafting the constitution) are void," said protester Mohammed.

The charter has become the focal point of a political and ideological battle in Egypt between Islamists and the largely secular-leaning opposition.

"Egypt is a country where all religions should live together. I love God's law and Sharia (Islamic law) but I will vote against the constitution because it has split the people," said Bassam Ali Mohammed, a professor of Islamic law, as he neared the presidential palace.

Thousands also gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square - where protesters have been camping out since Morsi issued his decree - with the numbers expected to swell later in the evening.

Morsi's decree not only placed his decisions beyond judicial oversight but also barred any judicial body from dissolving the Islamist-dominated panel that drafted and approved the new constitution, sparking a conflict with the country's judges.

Security measures were tightened around the capital, with some schools and businesses closing on Tuesday.

Independent and opposition newspapers refused to publish their Tuesday editions in protest at a lack of press freedom in the constitution.

The move was in order to "stand up to tyranny," independent daily Al-Tahrir said on its website.

"The Egyptian Independent objects to continued restrictions on media liberties, especially after hundreds of Egyptians gave their lives for freedom," read a message on that newspaper's website, its only viewable content on Tuesday.

As he faces his worst crisis since taking office in June, Morsi insists the measures are aimed at ending a tumultuous transition following the popular uprising that toppled Mubarak in early 2011.

But his opponents have accused him of choosing the same path of autocracy that finally cost Mubarak his presidency.

The decision to go to a referendum on December 15 caused further upheaval, including within the judiciary itself.

On Monday, the Supreme Judicial Council said it would ensure judicial supervision of the referendum, despite calls for a boycott by some of their colleagues including the influential Judges Club, an association that represents judges nationwide.

On Tuesday, the head of the Judges Club, Ahmed al-Zind, stuck by his group's decision to boycott the vote and said judges who supervise the referendum "would never be forgiven."

He said the number of judges who refused to supervise the election far outweighed those who agreed to take part.

The constitution itself has been criticised for failing to protect key rights and for paving the way to a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

Leading dissident and former Arab League chief Amr Mussa, who walked out of the constitution panel, said the charter did not reflect freedoms that should be guaranteed in the 21st century.

"The document has to be something that makes life easier for Egyptians ... not something that requires difficult interpretations, which scares people," Mussa told reporters. "We are in the 21st century."

Tuesday's march to the presidential palace was the latest in a string of protests which the opposition said could escalate.

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Crude oil prices fall on US data

CRUDE prices have fallen after data showed US manufacturing activity contracted last month, while dealers grow concerned at the lack of progress on a deal to avert the fiscal cliff.

Brent North Sea crude for January dropped $1.04 to $US109.88 ($A105.89) per barrel in London early afternoon deals.

New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in January, shed 72 cents to $88.37 a barrel.

"Crude oil prices continue to be on a consolidation mode, as mixed macroeconomic data from the United States and eurozone, and uncertainty about a potential 'fiscal cliff' dominate the markets," said Sucden analyst Myrto Sokou.

She added: "Due to the lack of US economic indicators, we expect thin trading conditions and further consolidation in the oil market today."

Crude oil prices had diverged on Monday as a weak reading in US manufacturing data for November offset an encouraging rebound in China's manufacturing sector.

The US Institute for Supply Management said manufacturing activity contracted in November in the world's biggest oil consumer, after two straight months of gains. The reading was also the lowest level of activity since July 2009.

Adding to concerns about the United States, Democrats and Republicans blamed each other over their proposals on action to close the huge US deficit.

If a deal is not reached to address the huge tax hikes and spending cuts that are due to come into effect on January 1, the world's biggest economy will likely tip into recession next year - and this would ravage global energy demand.

The White House late on Monday laid into a proposal tabled by the Republicans as not meeting "the test of balance".

The Democrats days before submitted a proposal that Republicans derided as "ridiculous".

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Fire in Chinese clothing factory kills 14

A FIRE in a clothing factory has killed 14 people in southern China, state media reports.

The official Xinhua News Agency said one other person was injured in the fire, which broke out in Shantou city in Guangdong province and was put out after half an hour.

Senior provincial officials set up a team to investigate the cause of the fire and step up safety measures to avoid similar fatal fires, it said in a brief report.

Last month, a fire at a clothing factory in Bangladesh killed 112 people and highlighted dangerous workplace conditions. Workers who survived the fire said exit doors were locked.

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France to vote for Palestinian state

THE French foreign minister says France plans to vote in favour of recognition of a Palestinian state at the U.N. General Assembly this week.

Laurent Fabius has told parliament that France has long supported Palestinian ambitions for statehood and "will respond 'yes'" when the issue comes up for a vote "out of a concern for coherency."

With the announcement, France - a permanent member of the Security Council - becomes the first major European country to come out in favour. It amounts to a setback for Israel.

The Palestinians say the assembly is likely to vote Thursday on a resolution raising their status at the United Nations from an observer to a nonmember observer state, a move they believe is an important step toward a two-state solution with Israel.

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Portuguese MPs clear austerity budget

BAILED-OUT Portugal's MPs have given final approval to a 2013 budget imposing an unprecedented austerity squeeze even as protesters massed outside.

The budget, aimed at saving 5.3 billion euros ($A6.63 billion), passed easily with the support of the centre-right government, which has an absolute majority.

The government says the plan, which relies on higher taxes for 80 per cent of the savings, is vital to Portugal's recovery.

"The state budget for 2013 is a determined step on the road to recovery," Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar said. But "the risks and uncertainties surrounding the 2013 budget year are great."

Portugal's new budget stipulates a broad rise in income tax to 14.5 per cent for the most vulnerable and 48 per cent for the most wealthy. It also reduces the number of tax brackets from eight to five, with the tax rate in each band raised by 3.5 percentage points.

Unemployment benefits are sliced by five per cent and sickness payments by six per cent.

"We have to finish with this policy before it finishes with us!" declared one banner unfurled at a rally outside parliament called by the main union, the General Federation of Portuguese Workers.

Protesters aimed their fire at the "troika" of creditors behind Portugal's 78 billion euro bailout: the International Monetary Fund, European Union and European Central Bank.

"We say no to the troika and its policies!" said one banner carried by activists, while others declared: "It's robbery, it is the people who pay!" and "Salaries frozen, future mortgaged!"

The tight-fisted budget has sparked multiple street protests including one on November 14 that degenerated into clashes between baton-wielding police and stone-throwing demonstrators.

The main opposition Socialist Party has opposed the budget, saying the austerity policies are "exaggerated", even though it was in power when Lisbon sought the rescue in May 2011.

While recognising the enormous sacrifices by his compatriots, Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho says austerity policies are the only path to economic recovery.

With its draconian budget, the government expects to trim the annual budget deficit to the equivalent of 4.5 per cent of gross domestic product next year from a target of 5.0 per cent in 2012.

The budget-trimming efforts come as the economy is expected to shrink three per cent in 2012, with a jobless rate already nearing 16 per cent.

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US stocks open lower despite Greek deal

US stocks have opened lower after Greece secured a revised bailout deal that will help it again avert a default on its huge debt load.

Doubts remained about the new deal, which allows Athens to trim its debt load through bond buybacks and reduced rates and promises new rescue loan instalments of 43.7 billion euros ($A54.63 billion) through March.

Five minutes into trade the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 27.19 points (0.21 per cent) at 12,940.18.

The broad-market S&P 500 lost 2.37 (0.17 per cent) at 1403.92, while the Nasdaq Composite slipped 4.26 (0.14 per cent) to 2972.52.

European markets were mostly higher after the deal, but critics said the European Union and the International Monetary Fund had again "kicked the can down the road" with the new arrangement.

"We think that Greece will eventually need a much larger debt relief, but any agreement on this is unlikely to happen before German elections next fall," said Tullia Bucco of UniCredit Research.

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Pot-loving defendant asks for final toke

AN AVID marijuana user has agreed to give up his favourite pastime to avoid a jail sentence, but not before asking a judge if he could have just one more toke.

Nineteen-year-old Damaine Mitchell got credit for time served for marijuana possession, ending that case. Mitchell first had to pledge to stop smoking marijuana and to seek treatment.

Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Melba Marsh convicted him of possession Monday after ruling him not guilty of trafficking. He remains jailed on a trespassing charge.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Mitchell told her in an earlier court appearance that he doubted he could stop smoking marijuana, which he'd been doing since age 10. She had denied his request to smoke one more joint before he gave it up.

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Amazon deforestation at record low

DEFORESTATION of Brazil's Amazon has slowed for a fourth consecutive year to its lowest rate since authorities began monitoring the world's largest rainforest, officials said.

The National Institute of Space Research found that the Amazon lost 4656 square kilometres of rain forest over a period running from August 2011 to July 2012, 27 per cent less than the previous year.

"It is the lowest deforestation rate since Brazil began its monitoring" in 1988, said Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira.

"I believe that it is the only good piece of environmental news," she told a press conference called to unveil a new electronic system to slap fines on those found guilty of deforesting the Amazon.

A year ago, INPE reported that the Amazon lost 6238 square kilometres of rainforest between August 2010 and July 2011, 11 per cent less than the previous year.

Declines in the extent of deforestation have been registered in each of the past four years.

Destruction of forests releases large quantities of CO2, which account for 17 per cent of the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.

Large-scale deforestation has made Brazil one of the world's top greenhouse gas emitters, but the government has made significant strides in curbing it over the past decade.

Key causes of Amazon deforestation are fires, the spread of agriculture and stockbreeding and illegal trafficking in timber and minerals.

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Gunmen kill 10 in Nigerian pub

GUNMEN said to be dressed as soldiers have opened fire on a central Nigeria pub, killing 10 people in a region hit by waves of clashes between Christian and Muslim ethnic groups, authorities say.

The incident occurred in the Barkin Ladi area of Plateau state late on Monday and saw gunmen storm the pub then open fire indiscriminately on customers, according to a military spokesman who denied soldiers were involved.

Barkin Ladi is a mainly Christian area of the region which lies on the fault line between the mainly Muslim north and predominantly Christian south of Africa's most populous nation.

"The gunmen opened fire indiscriminately on customers, killing eight on the spot, while two others died later as a result of the gunshot wounds they sustained," Captain Salisu Ibrahim Mustapha said.

"In protest to the killings, some members of the community barricaded the highway, preventing commuters from using the road."

Some residents claimed the gunmen were wearing army uniforms, while a Christian activist from the Stefanos Foundation made the same accusation.

"There was an attack on a drinking spot in Heipan last night by five gunmen dressed in army uniform," Mark Lipdo told AFP, referring to the neighbourhood in Barkin Ladi.

Mustapha denied any soldiers were involved. Criminals have in the past dressed as soldiers or police to carry out crimes or commit violence.

Nigeria's Plateau state has been hit by waves of clashes that have left scores of people dead in recent years. Policies favouring ethnic groups considered to be indigenous to the area have worsened the conflict.

The violence has often involved clashes between mainly Christian Beroms and Hausa-Fulani Muslims.

However, in addition to the ethnic clashes, Islamist extremist group Boko Haram has also carried out a number of attacks in the region as part of its insurgency.

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Gunmen on the run after fatal shooting

POLICE are still searching for the gunmen who shot one man dead and seriously injured another in Sydney's southwest on Tuesday.

Police found the dead man's body at the back of a house in Lumeah Avenue at Punchbowl after receiving reports of multiple shots around 4.10 pm (AEST).

Another man was found at the front of the home with at least five gunshot wounds and was rushed to St George Hospital.

The man, who remains in a serious but stable condition, reportedly suffered gunshot wounds to the back of his legs, hands and the back of his head.

Both men were shot inside the home, which was being renovated.

A woman who arrived on the scene told AAP she owned the property where the shootings took place.

She declined to comment other than to say the victims were "family friends".

It is believed the men, both aged in their 30s, were of Middle Eastern appearance and not known to police.

A manhunt for at least two suspects is continuing after the dog squad and police helicopter scoured the area shortly after the incident.

"We will be seeking further persons who are believed to have left the premises shortly after the shooting," Superintendent Michael McLean told reporters at the scene.

Police have established three crime scenes: where the shooting took place in Lumeah Avenue; in Christian Road where the incident may have spilled into; and in nearby Werona Ave where at least two spent shell casings were found on a nature strip.

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Foreign property buyers offered residency

FOREIGN investors will be offered Spanish residency rights in an attempt to dispose of some 750,000 unsold properties abandoned since the 2008 market collapse.

Bad debt in Spanish banks rose to a record 10.7 per cent of the loan total, about 182 billion euros ($A225.8 billion), in September, with institutions desperate to offload the crippling assets.

"We have proposed to the other ministries that for residents who acquire a home in Spain for more than 160,000 euro that will automatically entail a residency permit," Spanish Trade Minister Jaime Garcia-Legaz said in an article published by British newspaper The Times on Tuesday.

Russian and Chinese buyers are understood to be targeted in the initial real estate scheme, and it is unknown if the subsequent residency will be for Spain alone or the entire European Union.

With some five million Spaniards out of work, the number of people unable to maintain repayments and forced to leave their homes continues to rise, with reports claiming 300 evictions per day in the first half of 2012.

In November Spain's government announced a two-year halt to evictions of vulnerable home owners after the practice was linked to acts of suicide.

Spain's residency offer, which aims to revive the construction industry, is more attractive than similar schemes in Ireland and Portugal where buyers are offered such rights only after buying houses worth more than 400,000 euro or 500,000 euro respectively.

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Hamas kills six suspected collaborators

WITNESSES say masked gunmen have publicly killed six suspected collaborators with Israel at a busy Gaza City intersection.

The Hamas military wing claimed responsibility.

Witnesses said the six men were pulled out of a van on Tuesday, forced to lie face down on the street and then shot dead.

Five bodies lay in a pile as a mob stomped and spit on them. A sixth body was tied to a motorcycle and dragged through the streets as people screamed, "Spy! Spy!"

Hamas posted a sign on an electricity pole, naming the six alleged informers.

The public killings came during an Israeli military offensive that has killed more than 120 people, both militants and civilians.

Israel relies on a network of local informants to identify its targets.

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US stocks open lower after HP loss

US stocks have opened lower after Hewlett-Packard reported a quarterly loss due in part to a massive writedown, offsetting fresh data signalling recovery in the housing market.

After a triple-digit gain on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 52.60 points (0.41 per cent) to 12,743.36 in the first 15 minutes of trade.

The S&P 500-stock index dropped 4.17 points (0.30 per cent) to 1382.72, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite slipped 6.21 (0.21 per cent) to 2909.86.

Charles Schwab & Co analysts said stocks were lower after Dow member HP announced an $US8.8 billion ($A8.49 billion) charge related to alleged accounting improprieties at Autonomy Corp, which HP acquired in August 2011 for over $10 billion.

On Monday, stocks scored solid gains on upbeat housing data and hopes that politicians will find a way to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff" of automatic tax hikes and spending cuts in January.

The jump was underpinned by Apple, the most valuable public company, which took a 7.2 per cent bounce to $565.73, following weeks of losses.

The Dow rose 1.65 per cent, the S&P 500 added 1.99 per cent and the Nasdaq leapt 2.21 per cent.

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One dead in fresh Kenya violence

FRESH violence has broken out in Kenya's restive northeast, with one person killed and seven others shot and wounded, officials say, a day after security forces cracked down on rioters.

Several other people were also hospitalised, some of them after being beaten with clubs by security forces in a crackdown following the killing of three soldiers in Garissa, a garrison town near the border with war-torn Somalia.

Kenya Red Cross said one person had died and 48 others - including seven with gunshot wounds - were being treated at Garissa hospital.

However, "relative calm and normalcy" had returned to the town by late afternoon, it added in a statement.

Garissa's main market was torched during the violence that broke out on Monday, after unknown gunmen killed three soldiers in town, sparking a security crackdown that provoked violent protests.

The violence is separate from riots that shook the capital Nairobi on Monday, although both broke out following attacks that resembled a recent string of grenade blasts and shootings blamed on supporters of Somalia's al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents.

Small scuffles were also reported on Tuesday in Nairobi's Eastleigh district, a predominantly ethnic Somali neighbourhood, but on a far smaller scale than Monday, when street battles took place the day after a bomb blast on a bus killed nine people.

Garissa MP Adan Duale warned of the potential for further clashes between the military and residents if the garrison is not moved away from the town.

"The soldiers need to be moved out of Garissa, the lost lives and property need to be compensated and a commission of inquiry needs to be set up," Duale said, confirming that a woman had died of gunshot wounds.

Senior Shebab official Abduaziz Abu Musab denied involvement in Sunday's bomb blast in Nairobi, but said it was possible "some sympathisers of our cause acted alone" in the shooting of the soldiers in Garissa.

"We are categorically denying any involvement in the bus attack in Eastleigh at the weekend," Musab told AFP, blaming the violence on Kenya's elections due in March 2013.

"The violence is instead related to the upcoming election in Kenya and was masterminded to harm the Muslims in Kenya," he told AFP.

The Shebab have vowed revenge after Kenya invaded southern Somalia last year to chase out the Islamist fighters, although the group has not claimed direct responsibility for any attack.

Violence in Kenya - ranging from attacks blamed on Islamists to inter-communal clashes to a police crackdown on a coastal separatist movement - have raised concerns over security ahead of next year's elections.

Five years ago, elections descended into deadly post-poll killings that shattered Kenya's image as a beacon of regional stability.

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UBS rogue trader jailed for 7 years

A ROGUE trader who lost $US2.2 billion ($A2.12 billion) in bad deals at Swiss bank UBS has been sentenced to 7 years in prison after being convicted in what prosecutors called the biggest fraud case in UK banking history.

Ghanaian-born Kweku Adoboli, 32, exceeded his trading limits and failed to cover his losses, allegedly faking records to hide his tracks at the bank's London office. At one point, Adoboli risked running losses of up to $12 billion.

"There is a strong streak of the gambler in you," Judge Brian Keith told Adoboli. "You were arrogant to think the bank's rules for traders did not apply to you."

Adoboli wiped away tears as Keith handed down his sentence.

A conviction for fraud carries a maximum jail term of 10 years.

The 10-person jury at Southwark Crown Court in London found Adoboli guilty of two counts of fraud and innocent of four other false accounting charges.

The trader ran into trouble dealing in exchange traded funds, complex financial products that track stocks, bonds and commodities. Adoboli admitted the losses, but said he was pressured by staff to take risks.

He also testified last month that he had been trying to help UBS survive after it amassed losses of $52 billion during the 2007-2008 global financial crisis.

"There were times we thought there was no way the organisation would survive," said Adoboli, who joined UBS as a trainee in 2003 and rose quickly to become a senior trader. "I grew up with UBS. I felt very loyal to UBS."

Detective Chief Inspector Perry Stokes of City of London Police, who led the investigation of Adoboli, had a different view, believing the trader's motive was "to increase his bonus, his status, his job prospects and his ego."

"Adoboli was a sophisticated fraudster," Stokes said. "He was one of the most accomplished fraudsters that I've seen in my time investigating serious fraud."

After questions were raised about his trading, Adoboli walked off the job and sent an email to colleagues saying what he had done.

"I take full responsibility for my actions and the s-- storm that will now ensue. I am deeply sorry to have left this mess for everyone and to have put my bank and my colleagues at risk," he wrote.

The conviction on the second fraud count came on a 9-1 vote after the judge said he would accept a majority verdict. The sentences, to be served concurrently, were seven years on the first charge and four years on the second.

"We are glad that the criminal proceedings have reached a conclusion and thank the police and the UK authorities for their professional handling of this case," UBS said in a statement. "We have no further comment."

Prosecutors said it was the biggest fraud in British banking history, but it wasn't the largest trading loss. US-based JPMorgan Chase lost at least $5.8 billion through bad trades at its London office, the bank's CEO Jamie Dimon said in July.

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Syria troops besiege town near Damascus

SYRIAN troops have besieged Daraya and rained shells on the town near Damascus, killing a woman and a child, in a fresh attempt to storm it, activists and a watchdog say.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that at least 29 people have died over the past 24 hours in clashes between Kurdish militiamen and rebels in the northern Syria town of Ras al-Ain, near the Turkey border.

"We have been under constant rocket and artillery fire," Abu Kinan, an activist from Daraya southwest of Damascus, told AFP via Skype, adding that troops had rigged the area with checkpoints and arrested scores of people.

"There is no life in all of Daraya," he said, estimating that 90 per cent of the residents had fled the town in panic.

"The clashes are some of the heaviest we have seen. The Republican Guard came to reinforce the regime army," he said.

Rebel Free Syrian Army fighters are locked in fierce battles with regime troops on the edge of the town, he added.

At least two civilians, a woman and a child, were killed by army bombardments on Daraya, the Observatory said, in the latest of several attempts to storm the town over the past few days, the watchdog said.

Considered a heartland of non-violent activism, Daraya was the site of the worst massacre in Syria's 20-month conflict, with more than 500 people killed there in late August, according to monitors.

The Observatory also reported shelling attacks across the eastern outskirts of Damascus while state media said two mortars hit the ministry of information in the west of the capital, causing no casualties.

In the northern province of Aleppo, rebels attacked the Sheikh Suleiman air defence battalion, less than two days after a military source said the insurgents took control of the sprawling Base 46 in the same province.

The Observatory said casualties from clashes in Ras al-Ain included four Kurdish fighters, a local Kurdish official, and 24 members of the Islamist Al-Nusra Front and Gharba al-Sham rebel battalions.

The Kurdish fighters are members of the People's Defence Units, the armed wing of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), which is linked to Turkey's rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), said the British-based watchdog.

A Ras al-Ain activist, who gave his name only as Hevidar, said that tension has been high between rebels an the PYD since the insurgents took the town last week.

The clashes on Monday erupted after a Kurdish demonstration, which demanded that all rebels not from the town leave, was met with refusal.

The Observatory, which relies on a network of activists, lawyers and medics in civilian and military hospitals, gave an initial toll of at least 30 people killed across Syria on Tuesday.

The dead include nine soldiers who died in the central town of Mahin, east of Homs, when a truck rigged with explosives was detonated near a weapons depot. At least 20 soldiers were wounded in the blast.

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