Egypt's Islamists rally for Morsi

Vast crowds have rallied in Cairo to protest a draft constitution seen as undermining freedoms. Source: AAP

ISLAMISTS have rallied in support of President Mohamed Morsi's new expanded powers and the drafting of a contested charter, in a clear show of Egypt's deepening polarisation.

The demonstration on Saturday in the heart of Cairo comes a day after tens of thousands of Morsi opponents converged on Tahrir Square to protest against the president's decree and the speedy adoption of the draft constitution.

The charter has taken centre stage in the country's worst political crisis since Morsi's election in June, setting largely Islamist forces against more secular opponents.

It is expected to go to a popular referendum within two weeks.

Members of the constituent assembly were due to hand Morsi at 4pm (1am AEDT Sunday) the final draft of the constitution adopted after a marathon overnight session on Thursday that was boycotted by liberals, seculars and Christians.

By mid-morning, hundreds of pro-Morsi demonstrators, including members of the Muslim Brotherhood, on whose ticket Morsi ran for office, and other hardline Salafist groups gathered at Cairo University, with riot police on standby and roadblocks in place.

"The Muslim Brotherhood supports President Morsi's decisions," read a banner carried by Islamists who chanted, "The people want the implementation of God's law".

The Muslim Brotherhood and their supporters have branded the opposition as enemies of the revolution that toppled long-time dictator Hosni Mubarak in 2011.

Across the Nile river, hundreds of protesters camping out in Tahrir Square since Morsi issued a decree expanding his powers were expected to be joined by more demonstrators throughout the day.

The National Rescue Front a coalition of opponents, has called on Egyptians to "reject the illegitimate" decree and the "void" draft constitution, and stressed the public's right "to use any peaceful method to protest including a general strike and civil disobedience".

The crisis was sparked when Morsi issued the decree on November 22 giving himself sweeping powers and placing his decisions beyond judicial review, provoking mass protests and a judges' strike.

Amnesty International said the draft "raises concerns about Egypt's commitment to human rights treaties", specifically ignoring "the rights of women (and) restricting freedom of expression in the name of religion".

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Manila slams China's plans to board ships

THE Philippines has denounced Chinese plans to search ships sailing through what Beijing says is its territory in the South China Sea in the latest irritant between the countries.

The Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Saturday that the plans should be condemned by the international community because they violate maritime domains of countries in the region and impede freedom of navigation.

Chinese state media announced the plans, saying southern Hainan province, which Beijing says administers the South China Sea, had approved laws giving its police the right to search vessels that pass through the waters.

Last week the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan and India protested against a map on a new Chinese passport that depicts disputed areas as belonging to China.

The Philippine statement said it wants Beijing to "immediately clarify its reported plans to interdict ships that enter what it considers its territory in the South China Sea".

It said Manila was concerned that ships entering waters claimed by China, which is "virtually the entire South China Sea ... can be boarded, inspected, detained, confiscated, immobilised and expelled, among other punitive actions".

China's action will be "illegal and will validate the continuous and repeated pronouncements by the Philippines that China's claim of indisputable sovereignty over virtually the entire South China Sea is not only an excessive claim but a threat to all countries", the statement said.

The maritime territorial disputes include the Spratly Islands over which China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan and Brunei have conflicting claims. The Spratlys chain is believed to sit atop rich oil and gas reserves and straddles one of the world's busiest sea lanes.

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Syrian army moves to secure Damascus

Clashes have raged near Damascus airport, as members of the Friends of Syria group meet in Tokyo. Source: AAP

THE Syrian army has shelled the outskirts of Damascus in a drive to establish a secure perimeter around the capital, including the key airport road that has come under sustained rebel attack.

The 27-kilometre highway remained perilous a day after troops said they had reopened the key link to the outside world in heavy fighting that followed repeated deadly fire on a bus carrying airport staff and at least two attacks on UN convoys, a watchdog said.

The fighting on Saturday sparked mounting expressions of concern from UN officials.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the conflict had reached "appalling heights of brutality". UN-Arab League peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi said Syria was in danger of becoming a "failed state" if a political settlement was not reached soon.

The army shelled both the southwestern outskirts of the capital and the town of Douma in the northeastern suburbs, human rights monitors and opposition activists said.

Douma forms part of the so-called Eastern Ghouta region where troops have gone on the offensive to secure the airport highway.

Analysts say President Bashar al-Assad's regime has been trying to establish a secure perimeter around Damascus at all costs in a bid to be in a position to negotiate a solution to the 20-month conflict.

The repeated firing on the airport road prompted the cancellation of a string of international flights.

Airport officials said flights had resumed on Friday, but a military source acknowledged more heavy fighting lay ahead to fully secure the road.

Traffic resumed after the army cleared rebels from the western side of the highway and part of the eastern side on Friday.

"But the most difficult part is yet to come," the military official said. "The army wants to take control of the eastern side, where there are thousands of terrorists and this will take several days."

Shelling and fighting between troops and rebels also rocked Syria's second city Aleppo on Saturday, scene of urban warfare for more than four months, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Also, clashes were reported in the central city of Homs, dubbed by activists "the capital of the revolution".

In the east, troops re-entered the Al-Omar oilfield, three days after pulling out, the Observatory said.

"Despite Thursday's pullout, rebels did not enter the oilfield for fear that it was mined," said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

The oilfield is one of the regime's last positions east of the city of Deir Ezzor. Rebels last week seized a huge swathe of territory stretching from the city to the Iraqi border, the largest in Syria outside government control.

Early last month, the rebels seized control of the Al-Ward oilfield, the first it had captured. The army has since also lost control of the Al-Jofra oilfield and the Conoco gas reserves, according to the Observatory.

Syria's oil and gas production is now largely for domestic consumption as a result of embargoes on its exports by its biggest pre-conflict customers. But rebel activity has also taken a mounting toll on output.

Violence nationwide killed at least 122 people on Friday, including 73 civilians and 22 fighters from neighbouring Lebanon, the Observatory said, bringing to more than 41,000 the number killed since the uprising erupted in March 2011.

UN chief Ban predicted that Syrian refugee numbers would surge to more than 700,000 by next month as more civilians fled the fighting in residential areas, up from 480,000 now.

Peace envoy Brahimi warned the intensifying conflict could see "the state and its institutions withering away, lawlessness spreading, warlordism, banditry, narcotics, arms smuggling and worst of all the ugly face of communal and sectarian strife take hold of Syria".

Google and Twitter said that they had reactivated a voice-tweet program, last used in 2011 when the internet was shut down in Egypt during its revolution, to allow Syrians affected by an internet shutdown to get messages out.

Most phones and internet networks were down for a second straight day on Friday, the Observatory said.

Syrian authorities blamed maintenance work. Washington accused Damascus of deliberately cutting communications.

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Man arrested after Darwin navy boat raid

POLICE believe a number of people were involved in a conspiracy to steal weapons from a navy patrol boat during a midnight raid in Darwin.

A dozen semi-automatic pistols and two pump-action shotguns were stolen from the armoury of the Armidale-class patrol boat Bathurst at midnight (CST) on Thursday, while it was moored at HMAS Coonawarra, near the city centre.

A duty sailor on board was overpowered during the robbery, assaulted and then restrained with cable ties.

Following an "around the clock" investigation into the robbery, Northern Territory police surrounded a unit in Darwin city about 2.30pm (CST) on Saturday.

A 40-year-old man tried to run from the area, but was captured and taken into custody nearby, Commander Richard Bryson, of the NT Police, said.

He said all 14 weapons were recovered at the unit, however police were still investigating what the man's involvement in the robbery was.

"We have a number of avenues of inquiry to go (on)," Cmdr Bryson told reporters on Saturday.

"The police force need to establish whether this person received the weapons or if he is one of the principal offenders.

"It would appear a number of people have conspired."

Cmdr Bryson said it appears several people were involved in the patrol boat raid, the ABC reported.

"Investigators will continue those investigations until all persons that had a hand in that conspiracy have been brought to justice," he said.

No charges have yet been laid and investigations are continuing.

Cmdr Bryson said he was happy to have the patrol boat's weapons removed from the streets.

"I commend all the officers involved with this investigation for working around the clock to achieve such a positive outcome," he said on Saturday.

On Friday, police said a person, allegedly wearing a balaclava and military clothing, boarded the patrol boat.

Cmdr Bryson told reporters on Friday that it appeared the intruder had good knowledge of the layout of the vessel and Australian Defence Force (ADF) procedures.

Navy chief Vice Admiral Ray Griggs has ordered an investigation of the security at Australia's fleet of ships and bases around the country in response to the theft.

Another five firearms were stolen from a business at Berrimah, near Darwin, about 5.30am on Friday after a shop's gun safe was broken into, but police have not identified any link between the two thefts as yet.

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North Korea to test long-range rocket soon

NORTH Korea says it will launch a long-range rocket between December 10 and 22, a move likely to heighten already strained relations with the US and South Korea, where a presidential election will be held on December 19.

This would be North Korea's second launch attempt under leader Kim Jong Un, who took power after his father Kim Jong Il's death nearly a year ago.

The announcement comes several weeks after US President Barack Obama was elected to a second term and before his public inauguration on January 21.

Washington considers North Korea's rocket tests to be veiled covers for tests of long-range missile technology banned by the United Nations.

An unnamed spokesman for the Korean Committee for Space Technology said North Korea had "analysed the mistakes" made in a failed April launch and improved the precision of the rocket and satellite, according to the official Korean Central News Agency.

The April launch broke up shortly after lift-off, but quickly drew condemnation from the UN, Washington, Seoul and other capitals.

North Korea's statement said a rocket carrying a polar-orbiting Earth observation satellite will blast off southward from its northwest coastal space centre.

The US has criticised North Korea's pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles as a threat to Asian and world security.

Under its young leader North Korea has pledged to bolster its nuclear arsenal unless Washington scraps what Pyongyang calls a hostile policy.

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'No support' for tough climate deal

THE United Nations climate chief is urging people not to look solely to their governments to make tough decisions to slow global warming, and instead to consider their own role in solving the problem.

Approaching the half-way point of two-week climate talks in Doha, Christiana Figueres, the head of the U.N.'s climate change secretariat, said she didn't see "much public interest, support, for governments to take on more ambitious and more courageous decisions."

Ms Figueres said "each one of us needs to assume responsibility. It's not just about domestic governments."

Her comments came as negotiators from nearly 200 countries were struggling to prepare draft agreements on how to move forward on greenhouse emissions cuts and climate aid for poor countries.

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Low-paid workers to get pay increase

EDS: not for release before 0001 (AEDT) Saturday December 1

SYDNEY, Nov 30 AAP - In what is being hailed as an important step towards ending the discrepancies between men's and women's wages, 30,000 low-paid social workers will receive pay increases.

After a ruling from Fair Work Australia, the commonwealth, ACT and NSW governments have committed to funding the pay increase.

Extra funds from government will help make up the 18 per cent average gap between men's and women's wages, Australia Services Union NSW and ACT secretary Sally McManus said.

"Finally funding these increases shows that our governments are serious about equal pay for our workers," she said in a statement.

The increases for social, community and disability sector workers will begin on Saturday.

Ms McManus said the pay increases will make a huge difference in the lives of those who look after society's most vulnerable.

"They're the people who look after our homeless, who support people with disabilities and the people families in crisis turn to," she said.

"It's fantastic to see these workers finally getting the recognition they deserve."

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Syria rebels 'using children in battle'

HUMAN Rights Watch has accused the Syrian opposition of using young boys to serve as fighters, guards and lookouts in the brutal conflict with regime forces.

"Children as young as 14 have served in at least three opposition brigades, transporting weapons and supplies and acting as lookouts," the New York-based watchdog said.

"Children as young as 16 have carried arms and taken combat roles against government forces."

It called on rebel commanders to make public commitments to end this practice and to forbid anyone under 18 from serving in military roles, regardless of whether they volunteer.

"All eyes are on the Syrian oppositiPriyanka Motaparthyon to prove they're trying to protect children from bullets and bombs, rather than placing them in danger," said , children's rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.

HRW interviewed five boys between 14 and 16 who said they had worked with the armed opposition.

"Majid," a 16-year-old boy from Homs, told HRW that he received combat training and had participated in missions in Syria along with his older brother.

"The job you have depends on you," he said. "If you have a brave heart, they'll send you to fight checkpoints."

"Haitham" and "Qassim," two sixteen-year-old boys from Daraa province currently living in Jordan, said they had voluntarily joined a local brigade.

"(The Free Syrian Army) is accepting people from 16 and up," Haitham said.

"Raed," 14, transported weapons and other supplies for rebels across the Turkish border at their request.

"All of the kids were helping like this," he said.

At least 17 children have been killed while fighting alongside the FSA, according to the Syria Violations Documenting Centre, an opposition monitoring group. Many others have been severely wounded and some permanently disabled.

In August, the UN Commission of Inquiry on Syria issued a report in which it expressed concern over reports of children under 18 fighting and performing auxiliary roles for opposition groups.

"The commission received assurances from (FSA chief) Colonel Riad al-Asaad that an FSA policy not to use children in combat is in place. There is evidence to suggest, however, that this policy is not uniformly being adhered to by the FSA and other anti-Government armed groups," it said.

HRW found that refugee boys in neighbouring countries remain vulnerable to recruitment and participation under pressure from older men, including FSA fighters on leave.

"We've watched men urge boys to support the FSA and join the fight," Ms Motaparthy said.

"Particularly when their older family members fight with armed opposition groups, or have been killed by regime forces, boys can face pressure to pick up weapons and fight back, sometimes even at very young ages."

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Senate passes Malaysia free trade deal

THE Senate has passed legislation to create stronger trade ties with Malaysia through a new free trade agreement.

Senators on Thursday approved legislation to implement the agreement, which will lead to almost all Australian goods being able to enter Malaysia free of import duties.

The Malaysia-Australia Free Trade Agreement would guarantee tariff-free entry for 97.6 per cent of recent goods exported from Australia after it comes into force. It would rise to 99 per cent by 2017.

Malaysian exporters would enjoy duty-free entry to the Australian market.

The coalition backed this legislation with Shadow Attorney General George Brandis saying it dated back to 2005 when the former Howard coalition government launched negotiations.

He said Malaysia was Australia's third largest trading partner in ASEAN and 10th largest partner overall with exports of $5 billion and imports of $9.1 billion in 2011-12.

"Prominent Australian industries are set to benefit from this new trade agreement with Malaysia including the Australian dairy industry," he told the Senate.

Senator Brandis said other Australian industries set to gain from the trade agreement include the local automotive sector, wine, agriculture including sugar, wheat and rice, plastics, processed foods, chemical and a range of manufactured goods.

Independent senator Nick Xenophon said he queried why Australia was interested in free trade with Malaysia but not in promoting democracy.

"There is no question that Malaysia is an important trading partner. But we must be listening to all sides of Malaysian politics," he said.

"The passage of this free trade agreement should be, must be, conditional on our support of free and fair elections in Malaysia."

Greens leader Christine Milne said the greens had a longstanding position that free trade agreements were not what they were cracked up to be.

"No matter how efficient an Australian farmer, they cannot compete against farmers in other economies if farmers in other economies don't have to bear the cost of compliance with environmental laws and standards or compliance with labour standards," she said.

"We cannot have free trade agreements in the future unless they take those things into account."

The Senate passed the Customs Amendment (Malaysia-Australia Free Trade Agreement Implementation and Other Measures) Bill 2012 and the Customs Tariff Amendment (Malaysia-Australia Free Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2012.

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European stocks rebound on US optimism

EUROPEAN stocks have rallied, mirroring gains elsewhere, on optimism over talks aimed at avoiding a so-called fiscal cliff in the United States, and after upbeat unemployment data in Germany.

In late morning deals on Thursday, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index won 0.92 per cent to 5,855.57 points, Frankfurt's DAX 30 added 0.71 per cent to 7,395.68 points and the Paris CAC 40 climbed 1.05 per cent to 3,552.09.

Madrid's IBEX 35 index soared by 1.30 per cent to 7,938.70 points, rebounding from losses the previous day following heavy job cuts at Spanish nationalised lender Bankia.

The European single currency advanced to $US1.2986 from $US1.2939 late in New York on Wednesday. On the London Bullion Market, gold prices rose to $US1,724.07 an ounce from $US1,708 on Wednesday.

The V2X indicator which measures volatility on the Eurostoxx 50 index of the 50 biggest quoted companies in the eurozone fell to the lowest level since 2007, before the collapse of Lehman Brothers marked the beginning of the financial crisis.

Asian markets mostly tracked Wall Street higher on Thursday after House of Representatives speaker John Boehner said on Wednesday he was optimistic of a fiscal deal between his Republicans and their bitter Democratic rivals.

President Barack Obama also said he expected a solution would be found before Christmas to avert the "fiscal cliff" of automatic taxation hikes and spending cuts that will be activated on January 1 if they fail to reach agreement.

"The mood changed dramatically yesterday after John Boehner and President Obama expressed optimism that a deal could be reached," said analyst Fawad Razaqzada at trading firm GFT Markets.

European sentiment was also boosted on Thursday by official data showing that Germany's jobless total rose 5000 in November from October. That beat forecasts of a 15,000 gain, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

"The number ... is definitely good news, especially if we bear in mind the estimate was much higher," said trader Anita Paluch at Gekko Global Markets.

London's indices gained support also after British engineering firm Invensys agreed to sell its rail signalling division to German industrial giant Siemens for STG1.742 billion ($A2.68 billion), sparking speculation over a potential takeover.

Invensys added in London late on Wednesday that it would return STG625 million to shareholders, or about 76 pence per share. The firm will also place STG250 million in reserve, while the remainder will address a group pension deficit.

In reaction on Thursday, Invensys shares rocketed by 9.61 per cent to 306.90 pence on London's second-tier FTSE 250 index, which was 0.87 per cent higher at 11,994.50 points.

"We suspect it may be only be a matter of time before Invensys is acquired once the sale to Siemens is completed - likely around May 2013," noted RBC Capital Markets analyst Andrew Carter.

"The disposal of rail leaves Invensys more focused on automation and eliminates the UK defined benefit pension net deficit, thereby removing two major obstacles for potential acquirers."

Siemens stock added 0.76 per cent to 79.54 euros in Frankfurt deals.

Kingfisher shares slid 1.48 per cent to 276.45 pence after Europe's biggest home-improvements retailer posted weak third-quarter profits and sales, hit by adverse foreign exchange moves and a poor performance in France.

In Paris, shares in construction engineering group Eiffage rose by 7.40 per cent to 29.61 euros, to show a rise of nearly 60 per cent this year, mainly for technical reasons because the price had breached a key level and because of year-end book dressing by investors.

Traders were later on Thursday to digest the latest estimate of US economic growth for the third quarter of the year.

New York stocks had churned higher on Wednesday, spurred by encouraging remarks by politicians over the fiscal talks.

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Suicide bomber hits Pakistani warlord

A SUICIDE bomber attacked a prominent Pakistani militant commander in the country's northwest who is believed to have a nonaggression pact with the army, wounding him and killing seven people, officials said.

The bomber attacked militant Maulvi Nazir in Wana, the main town in the South Waziristan tribal area, as he was arriving at an office he uses to meet with locals and hear their complaints, said the commander's spokesman, Maulana Ameer Nawaz. Nazir was not critically wounded, said Mr Nawaz.

Nazir was one of over a dozen people wounded in the attack, said Pakistani intelligence officials and a local government administrator, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media.

They initially reported that three people died, but later raised the number to seven after some of the critically injured died of their wounds.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, which has been waging a bloody insurgency against the government for the past several years and has jockeyed with Nazir for power in South Waziristan.

The tribal area was the Pakistani Taliban's main sanctuary until the army launched a large ground offensive in 2009 and pushed many of them out.

Nazir is widely believed to have cut a deal with the army ahead of the offensive that allowed him to stay in South Waziristan as long as he remained on the sidelines. The militant commander has in the past focused his fight against U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan, not against the Pakistani state.

Nazir had been running a secret campaign in recent weeks to push the Pakistani Taliban and foreign militants allied with them out of Wana and the surrounding areas, said intelligence officials.

Nawaz, the militant commander's spokesman, said the suicide bomber who attacked Nazir appeared to be a 15- or 16-year-old boy.

"The moment the chief got out of his vehicle, the boy ran toward him and detonated his explosives," Nawaz told The Associated Press by telephone.

Yar Mohammad, a resident of Wana who witnessed the attack, said the blast was huge.

"I'm seeing smoke everywhere," he said.

_____

Associated Press Rasool Dawar contributed to this report from Peshawar, Pakistan.

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Children take lion cub to school

MOST primary school classes get a goldfish to keep, a hamster or a turtle if they're lucky - but children from one village in southern Russia got to play with a lion cub.

Children in the Rostov region found the 5-month old cub on the steppe and brought it to their teacher, who kept it in the school gym, police said.

While waiting for police, children petted and played with the cub, named Barsik. One boy even tried to ride it like a horse while it mewled and swiped at the air.

The cub had escaped from a car on the way to a zoo in Dagestan in the North Caucasus. It has now been removed from the school and placed in a local zoo.

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Asian middle class key to Aussie tourism

THE rise of the Asian middle class is the key to Australia's tourism success in the next three years, a new economic report says.

Deloitte Access Economics' Tourism and Hotel Outlook also says a weakening Australian dollar in the medium term will play an important role in tourism's success.

Deloitte's Lachlan Smirl says visitors from China and other Asian countries continue to grow strongly.

Another promising sign is a moderation in the number of Australians spending their holiday dollars overseas.

While some traditional markets contract, Mr Smirl says China continues to grow at double-digit pace.

"Over the next three years, more than 75 per cent of the growth in international visitor nights will be from Asian travellers," Mr Smirl said in a statement on Thursday.

"Asia is, and remains, the key and China continues to present a huge and long term opportunity."

Deloitte forecasts annual growth in outbound travel by Australians will slow by three to four per cent per year for the next four years as the value of the Australian dollar moderates and more people opt for home-grown holidays.

"Over the past 12 months domestic growth rates have been the strongest experienced in a decade," Mr Smirl said.

But while domestic travel has almost returned to pre-GFC levels, he said almost all growth in domestic visitor nights has came from business travel and people visiting friends and relatives.

Tourism and Transport Forum Chief Executive John Lee said the analysis was extremely valuable as businesses planned for the future.

"It's also very helpful that the Outlook explores issues like the increasing influence of digital platforms on decision making and transactions in the visitor economy," Mr Lee told AAP.

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Snakeskin fashions threaten pythons

EUROPE'S love of snakeskin fashion items could threaten the very survival of pythons, according to a report published on Tuesday.

Nearly a half million python skins are exported each year - almost exclusively for use in European fashion - in a massive market with a legal value of more than $US1.0 billion ($A960.11 million), according to the study Trade in South-East Asian Python Skins.

Many of the skins end up as designer handbags, belts, wallets and other accessories. Italy, Germany and France are the biggest importers, while most of the skins come from Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam.

The trade of python products is closely controlled by CITES, a UN-linked organisation charged with protecting the endangered species and other animals whose numbers are dwindling.

"Problems of illegality persist in the trade in python skins and ... this can threaten the species' survival," Alexander Kasterine of the UN-linked International Trade Centre said in the report.

With supply chains often murky, a huge part of the snakeskin trade may be illegal and unsustainable, said the study, also backed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and the wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC.

The extent of the illegal trade is hard to quantify, with many illegal skins going undetected. But the report found the illegal trade was possibly on a par with the legal trade.

Large numbers of wild pythons are slaughtered before they can reproduce, the report found, warning that many skins supposedly from captive-bred snakes were likely poached from the wild.

A lack of oversight meant quotas were easily ignored and illegal skins were being smuggled into shipments of legal items, it found.

The European fashion industry accounts for 96 per cent of the value of the trade. It should push for more transparency in the supply chain, the study said, calling for a "traceability system" so consumers would know if their snakeskin product is from a legitimate source.

The report also recommended "legally binding minimum skin size limits to ensure protection of immature snakes."

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Inventor wins cash to create Braille phone

A 29-year-old Indian inventor won $50,000 to help him make a new low-cost mobile phone for the blind that uses a Braille display.

Sumit Dagar, an industrial designer from New Delhi, beat thousands to win the money from watch company Rolex, which announced the five winners of its Awards for Enterprise scheme.

Mr Dagar is developing a phone with a display panel of tiny bumps that can be varied in height independently to form characters in Braille, a system of reading for blind people invented by a Frenchman in 1824.

"In design, there is a certain negligence for minority groups as compared with the majority," Mr Dagar told AFP, explaining why he had decided to take on the challenge.

"Design is something that bridges the gap between users and technology," he added.

He said the first prototype using a Braille screen that can display text messages and names would be ready in the next six months, with a "smartphone" incorporating maps and GPS technology part of his future plans.

The prototype is "the phone of the 1990s. It's just that the display is in Braille," he explained.

Phones that convert text into speech are already available for the estimated 285 million people worldwide who are blind or visually impaired, and Mr Dagar faces competition from other designers vying to integrate Braille technology.

South Korean manufacturer Samsung won a design award in 2006 for a prototype Touch Messenger phone that was developed in China allowing users to send and receive text messages in Braille.

But no Braille phone has been commercialised, said Mr Dagar.

Experts say the Apple iPhone has also been revolutionary for many blind people in the rich world because of the number of applications designed for them, such as one that announces their exact location.

India is home to about one fifth of the world's blind people, according to the World Health Organisation.

A World Bank report published in 2007 found that disabled adults in India were much less likely to be employed than the general population, with just over a third, or 38 per cent, in work.

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Parents-to-be can buy 3D model of foetus

EXPECTANT parents in Japan who can't wait to show the world what their baby will look like can now buy a 3D model of the foetus to share with their friends.

Based on an MRI scan, a 3D printer can create a 9-centimetre resin model of the white foetus, encased in a transparent block in the shape of the mother's body.

"As it is only once in a lifetime that you are pregnant with that child, we received requests for these kind of models from pregnant women who... do not want to forget the feelings and experience of that time," said Tomohiro Kinoshita of FASOTEC, the company offering the service.

The 3D model is called Shape of an Angel and costs 100,000 yen ($A1171).

It also comes with a miniature version that could be a nice adornment to a mobile phone, he added. Many young women in Japan add decorations to their phone strap.

The company said the ideal time for a scan is about eight or nine months into the pregnancy.

For those who would like a less pricey version, the company will offer a 3D model of the face of the foetus for 50,000 yen in December.

It will use ultrasound images taken at a medical clinic in Tokyo that is working with the company.

FASOTEC, originally a supplier of devices including 3D printers, uses a layering technique to build up three-dimensional structures.

The technique has been touted as a solution to localised manufacture on a small scale.

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Ehud Barak: war hero, political stalwart

ISRAELI Defence Minister Ehud Barak, who has stunned the country by announcing his retirement from politics, is a stalwart of the Jewish state's politics and a former prime minister with a legendary military career.

A liberal leader who once headed Labour, Barak nonetheless agreed in March 2009 to lead his party into the hawkish rightwing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

His sudden decision on Monday to conclude his storied career at the age of 70 came after a week-long air campaign in Gaza that the Israeli media said Barak was keen to conclude by signing up to an Egyptian-brokered truce.

Some in the government opposed that truce, and Barak has come under increasing pressure from Netanyahu's Likud party, much of which opposed his continuing position as defence minister.

"I have decided to resign from political life and not participate in the upcoming Knesset elections," Barak told a press conference in Tel Aviv.

"I will finish my duties as defence minister with the formation of the next government in three months.

Barak told the press conference he wanted to spend more time with his family.

The shock announcement came amid speculation that Barak - anxious to break ties with the more rightwing leaders of the ruling coalition - would announce his decision to join another party ahead of the snap January 22 elections.

His retirement also coincides with Israeli attempts to push the international community to exert more pressure on Iran over its contested nuclear program.

Israel and much of the West believes the program is an attempt to build a nuclear weapon, and Netanyahu and Barak have been among the loudest voices in Israel warning that the state could take pre-emptive military action against Tehran.

First appointed defence minister in June 2007, Barak brought Labour into Netanyahu's government after his party was drubbed in 2009 elections.

In 2011, he quit the party where he had spent his entire political career, forming the tiny Independence faction to stay in the government and his post as defence minister.

It was the second major comeback for the former chief-of-staff, who withdrew from politics altogether after his 1999-2001 premiership, having tried and failed to make peace with then Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

He had offered unpopular concessions on east Jerusalem, wanted by the Palestinians as the capital of a future state, only to see Arafat spurn the offer and Israeli voters punish him with a resounding endorsement of veteran rightwing challenger Ariel Sharon.

As prime minister, Barak oversaw Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000 after a two-decade occupation.

In 2007, he won back Labour's leadership from Amir Peretz after the latter resigned as defence minister following Israel's disastrous war with Lebanon's Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah the previous year.

Barak, who is of European extraction and whose family name at birth was Brog, was born in a kibbutz that his parents helped to found.

He holds degrees in physics, mathematics and systems analysis and is known to be keen on literature, poetry and music.

His military career was legendary.

In one episode he disguised himself as a woman on a commando raid in Lebanon to assassinate three senior Palestinian militants.

He also took part in a commando assault in Tel Aviv in 1972 on a Belgian passenger plane hijacked by Palestinian guerrillas.

And he participated in the 1976 raid to free Israeli hostages in Entebbe, Uganda, that saw the death of Yonatan Netanyahu, a brother of Israel's current prime minister.

Critics say Barak never really hung up his uniform for the civilian clothes of a politician. As prime minister, he infuriated Labour colleagues by making decisions without consulting them.

Before his split with Labour, party members publicly expressed their anger over his decision to remain in the government despite the failure of peace talks.

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Asian markets mixed

ASIAN markets were mixed on Monday as investors awaited the outcome of a meeting later in the day aimed at finalising a bailout deal for Greece, amid a simmering budgetary impasse in Washington.

Tokyo rose 0.24 percent, or 22.14 points, to 9,388.94, Sydney gained 0.25 percent, or 11.2 points, to close at 4,424.2 but Seoul ended 0.15 percent, or 2.82 points, lower at 1,908.51.

Hong Kong closed down 0.24 percent, or 52.17 points, at 21,861.81 while Shanghai slid 0.49 percent, or 9.92 points, to finish at 2,017.46.

Eurozone finance ministers were to meet later Monday for their third effort to agree on unlocking a 31.2-billion-euro ($40.5-billion) slice of aid for Greece as it teeters on the verge of bankruptcy as nervous investors hope for positive news.

French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici on Sunday offered some hope in the long-running saga to reach a deal for Athens, saying that ministers were "very close to a solution".

"I don't know if there will be an agreement tomorrow. I know it is possible and I want one," he said.

Europe's main stock markets fell at the start of trading Monday ahead of the meeting on Greece, with London's benchmark FTSE 100 index of top companies down 0.26 percent at 5,803.98 points.

Frankfurt's DAX 30 shed 0.31 percent to 7,286.69 points and in Paris the CAC 40 dropped 0.40 percent to 3,514.86.

The mixed Asian trade came after US stocks rallied Friday on signs that holiday retail sales were off to a good start, with Walmart calling it the "best ever" Black Friday, the traditional discount sales day that kicks off the holiday shopping season.

That helped boost the Dow Jones Industrial Average by 1.35 percent to 13,009.68.

Investors were also looking out for news of a compromise in Washington that will avert the so-called fiscal cliff of spending cuts and tax hikes, which will likely send the economy into recession if it comes into effect.

Finding a new spending deal to replace the package, scheduled to come into effect on January 1, has been elusive in the bitterly-divided US Congress.

"Certainly from our perspective, we are sceptical about whether there has really been any progress in discussions regarding the US fiscal cliff," Angus Gluskie, managing director of White Funds Management in Sydney, told Dow Jones Newswires.

On currency markets the euro lost ground after hitting a seven-month high on the yen.

The single currency bought $1.2965 and 106.38 yen from $1.2973 and 106.90 yen in New York on Friday.

The euro had climbed above 107 yen in earlier Asian trade Monday but the unit quickly fell.

The dollar was also weaker at 82.01 yen against 82.40 yen in US trade.

However, the yen has been under pressure recently on expectations the country's central bank will unveil a new round of monetary easing next month.

Oil markets were also affected by Greek debt fears and the US fiscal cliff, analysts said.

New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery, was down four cents to $88.24 a barrel in the afternoon, and Brent North Sea crude also for January eased 26 cents to $111.12.

"Having just enjoyed an unexpectedly strong week, global markets remain on a knife edge with uncertainty over Greece and the US taking centre stage again," said Jason Hughes, head of premium client management at IG Markets Singapore.

Gold was at $1,747.01 at 1030 GMT compared with $1,734.47 late Friday.

In other markets:

-- Wellington rose 3.69 points, or 0.09 percent, to 4,012.03, its highest close since January 2008.

Contact Energy gained 1.38 percent to NZ$5.15 and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare was up 1.63 percent to NZ$2.50.

-- Taipei was up 81.36 points, or 1.11 percent, at 7,407.37.

Leading smartphone maker HTC added 4.58 percent to Tw$251.0 while Hon Hai Precision was 0.87 percent higher at Tw$92.8.

-- Manila rose 0.49 percent, or 27.08 points, to close at a record high of 5,579.42.

Philippine Long Distance Telephone added 0.4 percent to 2,510 pesos and Philippine National Bank increased 1.9 percent to 85.90 pesos.

-- Singapore closed 0.51 percent, or 15.22 points, higher at 3,004.50.

Singapore Telecom rose 0.64 percent to finish at Sg$3.16 and property developer CapitaLand ended 0.59 percent higher at Sg$3.43.

-- Jakarta ended up 0.61 percent, or 26.361 points, at 4,375.169.

Retailer Ramayana Lestari Sentosa jumped 11.63 percent to 1,440 rupiah and tin firm Timah rose 2.94 percent to 1,400 rupiah.

-- Kuala Lumpur fell 0.40 percent, or 6.44 points, to end at 1,607.88.

Axiata Group shed 2.0 percent to 5.75 ringgit, while CIMB Group Holdings dropped 1.2 percent to 7.58.

-- Bangkok gained 0.71 percent, or 9.15 points, to 1,290.85.

Coal producer Banpu jumped 5.35 percent to 394.00 baht, while Siam Cement lost 0.77 percent to 387.00 baht.

-- Mumbai rose 0.16 percent, or 30.44 points, to 18,537.01.

GSK Consumer Healthcare, the local arm of GlaxoSmithKline, jumped 20 percent to 3,651.8 rupees on news that the parent firm planned to increase its stake in the local firm to 75 percent.

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Bills tying carbon price to EU passed

A PACKAGE of bills that tie Australia's carbon pricing mechanism to the European Union emissions trading scheme and dumps a $15 floor price have cleared parliament.

The seven bills passed the Senate, without amendments, by 34 votes to 28 on Monday night.

The debate was similar to previous contributions, with opposition senators railing against the carbon tax and vowing to repeal it in government.

Liberal senator Mathias Cormann described the carbon tax as a shambles.

"It is bad for Australia, it is bad for Australian families, it is bad for Australian small businesses, it is bad for the Australian economy," Senator Cormann said.

"It makes us less competitive internationally while pushing up the cost of living and at the same time doing absolutely nothing to help reduce global emissions. It should be scrapped."

Nationals senator Ron Boswell said renewable energy targets and the carbon price were driving up electricity prices.

"Australia is in an expensive energy hole right now because ... of the carbon tax, and it is time we stop digging," Senator Boswell told the upper house.

Labor senator Lisa Singh said carbon pricing was one of the most significant changes to the Australian economy.

"It will have an important and enduring effect on the way businesses calculate the environmental cost of their activities," she said.

Senator Singh said Australia wasn't going alone and, from 2013, 850 million people would live in places where emitters paid.

"Emissions trading is the preferred method of carbon reduction across most of the world because it is easiest for business and the most efficient and effective policy lever," she said.

Closing the debate for the government, Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig said one would have thought the opposition might have run out of puff on their carbon tax scare campaign.

"But no, not to be disappointed they continue to harp," he said.

Senator Ludwig said contrary to what the opposition had claimed, Australia was acting with the world, not going it alone or ahead or behind other countries.

"More and more countries are saying that they too are moving to a price on carbon just like Australia," he said.

Senator Ludwig said the opposition seemed to think if they say something over and over again, it must be true.

"It is no longer credible for the opposition to say that we should not act," he said.

"The world is acting. The community at large expect us to act. We are acting."

The package of bills now proceed for royal assent.

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Berlusconi talked politics at parties

FORMER Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi liked to talk about politics and economics with female invitees to his so-called bunga bunga dinner parties, a court in Milan heard on Monday.

Over the past weeks, showgirls and Berlusconi associates have testified in a trial that sees the maverick politician accused of paying for sex with a dancer, when she was still a minor, and later pressuring the police to release her after she was held on suspicion of theft.

"Normally, Berlusconi would start talking about current affairs, economics and football and then ask the girls what they thought about a certain political situation or about the financial crisis," Romanian-born student Ioana Claudia Amarghioalei told the court.

Amarghioalei, 22, said she first met the 76-year-old Berlusconi when she was 19 and was invited for dinner at his villa outside Milan about 15 times. "I never saw scenes of a sexual nature, strip-teases or Berlusconi touching intimate parts," she told judges.

Like other girls who testified before her, Amarghioalei said Berlusconi was providing for her living expenses, by paying her about 2,500 euros (3,250 dollars) a month.

Another witness, former Italian Big Brother contestant Giovanna Rigato, said she saw girls queuing up to receive money while they were in Berlusconi's villa. Rigato, 31, said she had a 50,000-euro-a-year contract with Mediaset, Berlusconi's media firm.

The dancer at the centre of the Berlusconi trial, Moroccan-born Karima el-Mahroug, also known as Ruby Rubacuori, is expected to appear as a witness for the defence on December 10.

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Video shown of Breivik parking van bomb

NORWAY'S public broadcaster has shown for the first time video footage of right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik parking his van bomb that killed eight people in Oslo in July 2011.

Captured by video surveillance cameras, the images show Breivik parking his white van on July 22 at the very foot of a building tower that housed the prime minister's offices.

Breivik is seen getting out of the car in a security guard's uniform, and walking away briskly.

The video, which features comments by the security guard on duty that day and is available on www.nrk.no/fordypning/her-parkerer-breivik-bombebilen-1.8593408, also shows the damage caused by the bomb, which weighed nearly a tonne.

The prime minister was not in the building at the time, though eight other people were killed and several dozen were injured.

Breivik can also be seen leaving in a second vehicle, a grey Fiat van, which he used to drive to the nearby island of Utoeya, where he gunned down 69 people, mostly teens, attending a Labour Party youth camp.

Photographs of Breivik parking the van had previously been released and video footage was shown during his trial earlier this year, but this was the first time the video footage was released publicly.

It is part of a documentary that broadcaster NRK will air on Tuesday evening.

On August 24, Breivik was found sane and sentenced to Norway's maximum sentence of 21 years in prison, a sentence that can be extended indefinitely if he is deemed a continued threat to society.

Breivik confessed to the attacks, calling them "cruel but necessary" to protect his country from the multiculturalism his victims embraced and which he hates.

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Renewables to dominate 'within decades'

CHIEF climate commissioner Tim Flannery believes Australia will be generating 100 per cent of its energy from renewable sources within decades.

At the moment renewables such as hydroelectricity, wind and solar power account for 10 per cent of Australia's energy mix. That figure is expected to rise to 25 per cent by 2020.

But Professor Flannery insists there's "no doubt" Australia will end up with 100 per cent renewables sooner rather than later.

"It's only my gut feeling, but I would say (it will happen) within decades and not many," Prof Flannery told AAP, adding that prices were coming down and penetration was growing "massively".

The Climate Commission on Monday is to release a report examining renewable energy in Australia.

It suggests there is enormous potential but so far it's under-utilised.

"Solar PV and wind could be the cheapest forms of power in Australia for retail users by 2030, if not earlier, as carbon prices rise," the report states.

"The rate of growth of wind energy is well above any other large-scale generation source, growing at an average of 40 per cent each year over five years to 2009-10."

Prof Flannery said the situation was similar to what was happening in the media where historically there'd been a few large generators of news and many consumers.

"But the internet means there's now a whole lot of producers and a whole lot of consumers," he said.

"The electricity sector is going the same way. We led the world in terms of small installations of PV (solar) last year."

Prof Flannery said as renewables replaced fossil fuels there had to be changes such as a national roll-out of smart meters to manage demand.

There could also be a limited need for new infrastructure such as a connection to transfer wind-generated power from South Australia to the southeastern grid.

The ability to store electricity produced from renewables was also key, the chief climate commissioner said.

"That's what is going to be the next transformational technological innovation," he said.

"We already have the technology in terms of lithium-ion batteries."

Monday's report notes that global investment in renewable power reached almost $250 billion in 2011. That exceeded spending on new fossil-fuel power plants for the first time.

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Brother on sex charges flees to Sri Lanka

A FORMER Catholic brother facing charges of sexually abusing dozens of children has fled to Sri Lanka after tardy extradition attempts to bring him back from New Zealand where he had been living, says Fairfax Media.

The paper says former St John of God brother Bernard Kevin McGrath, who had served two years in a New Zealand jail for sexually abusing boys there, had 252 abuse charges laid against him in a Newcastle court on June 27.

It says the 65-year-old is alleged to have repeatedly raped, molested and abused dozens of young boys at church-run institutions in the Newcastle-Maitland diocese during the late 1970s and '80s.

NSW police were meant to extradite McGrath to Australia from New Zealand to face charges, but he was allowed to fly out of New Zealand some time after the charges were lodged, Fairfax said.

McGrath is now on a tea plantation in Sri Lanka, where Australia has no extradition treaty.

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