Bushfire near Seymour out of control

A 100-HECTARE bushfire is burning out of control near Seymour north of Melbourne, while fire at the nearby Puckapunyal Military Range is under control.

The fire at Whiteheads Creek, west of Seymour, broke out about 6.10pm (AEDT) on Saturday and is estimated to cover an area of about 100 hectares, a Country Fire Authority (CFA) spokeswoman said.

Twenty-five fire trucks are on scene.

"The fire is still not yet under control and we are working very hard to get it under control," the spokeswoman told AAP.

Local residents have been advised to be vigilant and monitor the CFA website and local radio for updates.

There is another blaze at the Puckapunyal Military Range, which was sparked by live firing in recent days but it is under control. The range is about 6km northwest of Puckapunyal township.

There was also a separate grass fire about 40km northwest of Puckapunyal at Heathcote but that has now been extinguished.

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Congo army, rebels 'committed rapes'

The UN says Congo's army have committed rapes, looting and other human rights violations near Goma. Source: AAP

REBELS and government troops raped and killed civilians and looted towns during battles in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo last month with children suffering dramatically, according to the United Nations.

The UN said on Friday that its investigators had confirmed that M23 rebels and troops had committed serious abuses in their battle for control of mineral-rich North Kivu province and its capital, Goma.

UN investigators have confirmed "serious human rights violations including killing and wounding of civilians and looting committed by M23 in Goma and surrounding areas", said deputy UN spokesman Eduardo del Buey.

UN experts have said the M23 had support from Rwandan forces as it moved on Goma last month, inflicting major defeats on government forces.

There have also been claims that dozens of women were raped by the government army, the FARDC, in the town of Minova near Goma during their retreat.

Del Buey said the UN had "expressed serious concern to the Congolese authorities".

Meanwhile three times as many children have been killed or maimed this year in the eastern DR Congo conflict region than in past years, according to UN figures quoted by German ambassador Peter Wittig.

"Just last month more children were killed due to the fighting in eastern DRC than in the whole year before," Wittig told a UN security council meeting.

Even before the M23 offensive on Goma, 143 children were killed in the conflict region from January to the end of October, up from 55 in all of 2011 and 40 in 2010, according to the UN figures.

"M23 is estimated to have at least 300 children forcibly recruited as child soldiers," Wittig said.

"There are gruesome testimonies from children confirming that M23 commanders killed child soldiers within their ranks who tried to escape," Wittig said.

The German envoy called on the security council to use its "unique powers and responsibilities" to step up the protection of children in conflicts.

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Foreign fighters in rebel-held Syria

MOST of them avoid reporters like the plague but in "liberated" northwestern Syria, it is difficult not to run into foreign jihadist fighters, both on the front lines and at rebel bases.

"Secrecy shrouding the activities of foreign militants makes it extremely difficult to assess with any accuracy their extent, location and potential ramifications," the International Crisis Group said in a report.

But while President Bashar al-Assad's domestic foes have tried for months to downplay the impact of outsiders, "foreign militants have had more direct involvement, fighting alongside Syrian insurgents", the Brussels-based group added.

The small town of Atme on the border with Turkey serves as a hub for foreign volunteers in the 21-month insurgency that has cost tens of thousands of lives.

They cross from the Turkish city of Antakya, travelling there from far and wide to join the "holy war".

Others make their way to the Turkish border town of Reyhanli before smugglers guide them across the border to Atme, a key rallying point for foreign fighters.

One fighter, 26-year-old Anas from Algeria, was already a war veteran, having fought in his homeland's Kabylie region, east of Algiers, as well as in Kashmir.

In the Jebel Akrad mountains, four Saudi men run the online websites of Islamist groups such as the Al-Nusra Front. They live in an abandoned apartment in the town of Salma, with a rocket-propelled grenade sitting in the living room near a copy of the Koran.

Asked what they are doing in Syria, they replied: "Tourism."

At the end of November, more than 100 black-clad men from Europe and Africa gathered in front of a mosque, under a sea of black Islamic flags after a Palestinian imam had preached to locals of the benefits of their presence in the town.

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One surfer dead, one missing off WA

A SURFER has died and another is missing after they were caught in a strong rip near Margaret River, in Western Australia's southwest.

A search and rescue operation had been under way until nightfall, with grave fears held for the 23-year-old man, the ABC reports.

Both surfers were at Redgate Beach, 280km south of Perth, when they got caught in treacherous conditions, police said.

Rescuers managed to reach the 29-year-old surfer but they were unable to revive him.

AA

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Attack planned in Pakistan: Karzai

AFGHAN President Hamid Karzai says a suicide attack that wounded the country's spy chief was planned in neighbouring Pakistan.

Asadullah Khalid, who heads the National Directorate of Security (NDS), was targeted by an attacker with a bomb hidden in his underwear posing as a Taliban peace envoy in Kabul on Thursday.

Karzai said he believed the attacker had come from Pakistan, but he did not blame the Pakistani government over the bombing.

"We know that this man who came in the name of a guest to meet with Asadullah Khalid came from Pakistan. We know that for a fact. That is clear," Karzai told reporters.

"This attack was plotted... from the (southwestern) city of Quetta in Pakistan."

"I will raise this issue with Pakistan," he added.

Khalid was attacked at a spy agency guesthouse and is now being treated at a US-run military hospital outside Kabul where he is in a stable condition, security sources have said.

On Friday, the NDS said that he was "recovering" and in a "satisfactory" condition.

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Chavez home after Cuba treatment

VENEZUELAN President Hugo Chavez has arrived back home in Caracas after10 days of medical treatment in Cuba.

State television showed images of Mr Chavez arriving at Caracas' airport early Friday and walking down the steps of the presidential jet.

Mr Chavez was received by members of his Cabinet, including Vice President Nicolas Maduro.

Mr Chavez traveled to Cuba on the night of Nov. 27 after announcing plans to undergo hyperbaric oxygen treatment in Havana.

The Venezuelan leader has spent much of the past 18 months fighting cancer, and said several months ago that he was cancer-free.

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Bangladesh blaze factory had no licence

A BANGLADESH garment factory where 110 workers were killed by a fire as they made clothing for firms such as Walmart did not have a valid safety license at the time of the blaze, an official said.

The Tazreen Fashion's fire safety license expired in June this year and the owners had not subsequently applied for a new one, said the fire department's administrative director Abdus Salam.

"Its license for 2011-12 year expired on June 30 this year and they did not come to us for renewing the fire safety certificate for 2012-13. We approve licenses after inspecting factory conditions," he said.

The 110 staff at the Tazreen factory were killed when a fire ripped through the nine-storey building on November 24 on the outskirts of Dhaka.

The victims, who were mostly women paid as little as $37 a month, found themselves overcome by smoke or jumped from elevated windows. Firefighters have told AFP that all three of the fire exits led to the ground floor.

The factory was supplying clothes to a variety of international groups including US giant Walmart, Dutch retailer C&A, Hong Kong supplier Li & Fung as well as to the brand owned by US rapper Sean "Diddy" Combs.

Mr Salam said none of the factory's fire equipment was used during the blaze and that initial investigations found that the inferno did not originate from an electric short circuit as was feared initially.

Mr Salam said the official government inquiry team would submit its report in the third week of the month. Its initial investigations pointed to "arson or sabotage" as the main cause of the incident.

Authorities have previously said that the nine-storey factory only had permission for three floors.

There have also been accusations that managers instructed employees to stay at their work stations when the fire broke out and told them that the activation of a fire alarm was only a routine drill.

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Hamas chief kisses soil on first visit to Gaza

EXILED Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal crossed into the Gaza Strip on his first-ever visit, kissing the ground and hoping he would one day die a "martyr" in the Palestinian territory.

Accompanied by his deputy, Mussa Abu Marzuk, and other senior officials, Meshaal drove through the crossing and then got out and kissed the ground before embracing Gaza's Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya.

His visit comes just two weeks after the end of a fierce conflict with Israel, which began on November 14 with an Israeli air strike in Gaza City that killed top Hamas militant Ahmed Jaabari.

Shortly after his arrival, Meshaal was taken to see the charred remains of Jaabari's car, which had been transported to Rafah especially for the visit.

"I hope God will make me a martyr on the land of Palestine in Gaza," he said on seeing it.

Izzat al-Rishq, another senior member of the Islamist movement's exiled politbureau, said it was a moving experience to finally be in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

"This is the greatest feeling I've ever had. It is an unforgettable historic moment," he said. "Our wish to kiss the soil of Palestine has come true."

Senior Hamas official Mahmud al-Zahar hailed the visit and said it was replete with symbolism.

"No matter how long a Palestinian is away from his homeland, he will always return after a victory," he said.

Streets across the territory were decked with green Hamas flags to mark the visit, along with the red flags of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) which on December 11 marks its 45th anniversary.

Masked Hamas militants from its Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades armed wing were out en masse, wearing fatigues and carrying Kalashnikov assault rifles, as they patrolled the roads along which the official convoy was set to travel.

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Baffling petrol station signs in spotlight

PETROL stations across Australia could be forced to standardise their fuel price boards in a bid to stop servos luring in drivers with misleading petrol signs.

The Legislative and Governance Forum on Consumer Affairs (CAF) on Friday released a public consultation paper canvassing options to simplify roadside fuel boards.

The paper, Consumers and Fuel Price Boards, is a response to complaints about fuel boards advertising only some fuel types, or low prices that are only available to drivers who have the right shopper docket or credit card.

"Consumers are being sucked in by fuel price boards that prominently display the prices of the most discounted fuel type," federal Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury said on Friday.

"Once they drive into the service station, only then do they find out that there are often large differences between the prices of the different fuel types available - sometimes more than 10 cents a litre."

The CAF paper includes three options to make the rules around price boards clearer.

Changes could include only letting fuel boards show undiscounted prices, or developing a detailed national standard mandating equal prominence for the undiscounted prices of a standard set of fuel types.

The third option would rely on current laws and industry self-regulation, though the consultation paper notes there are currently "no known efforts to develop an industry-led response to the identified problem".

The national peak motoring body welcomed the new paper.

"Motorists are confused and deserve improved fuel price information - maintaining the status quo is not an option," Australian Automobile Association executive director Andrew McKellar said in a statement.

"A recent national survey showed eight out of ten motorists supported consistent fuel price signage across all service stations."

Specific regulations about what information is given on fuel price boards and how it is displayed are already on the way for NSW.

From September next year, retailers selling up to four fuels must display the price of all of those fuels.

NSW Fair Trading Minister Anthony Roberts said a similar approach at the national level would boost transparency.

"I am proud NSW is leading the nation when it comes to giving motorists a fair go at the petrol pump," he said in a statement.

Motorists and industry stakeholders can have their say by visiting the Australian Consumer Law website (www.consumerlaw.gov.au).

Submissions close on February 15.

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Arsonists target ex-Greek minister's home

ARSONISTS have planted incendiary devices under two cars of former finance and defence minister Yannos Papantoniou, burning both vehicles outside the politician's house in northern Athens.

It was unclear whether Papantoniou was in the house at the time of Friday's attack.

No one was hurt, and there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Police said the devices, consisting of seven small cooking gas canisters, exploded beneath the cars in the Kifissia suburb of Athens, completely destroying the vehicles.

Papantoniou served as finance minister under Socialist governments between 1994 and 2001, and as defence minister between 2001 and 2004.

Arson attacks, mostly carried out by anarchist groups, are common in Greece.

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First home deposits take less time to save

HOME buyers are taking less time to save a deposit for their first property as prices stagnate and incomes rise.

Couples buying their first place took about three years and nine months on average to save a deposit in 2012 - about three months less than in 2011.

And they didn't have to save quite as hard, with the average amount needed for a deposit falling by $3,000.

The findings were part of a study released on Friday by Bankwest, which attributed the drop in saving time to plateauing house prices and increasing wages.

"It's the two factors combined - not one or the other" Bankwest retail chief executive Vittoria Shortt told AAP.

Owning that precious first home won't be quite so easy if you live in Sydney or Melbourne, where it will take five years and eight months and five years respectively to save for a deposit.

"It's no surprise that Sydney takes the longest," she said.

"That's really driven by property prices."

But if you happen to live in Queensland or Tasmania, it will only take three years and seven months to lay down a deposit on a home in both states' capitals, Brisbane and Hobart.

The study found first home buyers needed to save an $77,600 in the 2011/2012 financial year for a 20 per cent deposit on the median national house price of $423,000.

That was almost $3,000 less than the $80,500 needed the year before.

Almost 15,000 more buyers secured their first home in the 2011/2012 financial year than the previous year, a rise of 17 per cent.

"People are starting to think that it's a good time to buy and feeling more comfortable about buying," Ms Shortt said.

Those who live in the more expensive cities should look at buying in outer suburbs, she added.

"Every state has places where you can find cheaper property and that's the most important factor for anyone thinking of buying a first home," she said.

The Bankwest study used Australian Bureau of Statistics Census income data for couples aged 25 to 34 and median house prices to determine average times to save a 20 per cent deposit.

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Unions slam state guidelines for builders

UNIONS have slammed draft guidelines for construction companies engaged on taxpayer-funded infrastructure projects as an attack on workers' rights.

The NSW government guidelines, released on Thursday, address freedom of association, industrial action, and safety on state government construction projects.

The O'Farrell government says the guidelines are needed to stop cost blowouts on major infrastructure projects, but the president of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU), Rita Mallia, said the draft represented a political attack on workers' rights.

The draft banned union safety representatives from running site inductions and allowed employers to refuse to negotiate with unions over workers' pay, Ms Mallia said.

She also said the guidelines would allow more casual labour to be used.

"The Liberal government is creating a society where construction workers are second class citizens with no right to permanent employment," Ms Mallia said in a statement.

Premier Barry O'Farrell said he would not allow "cosy unions deals to push up the cost of building infrastructure".

"In these tight economic circumstances, it's vital infrastructure funds are well spent, achieve value for money for taxpayers and create more job opportunities," Mr O'Farrell said in a statement.

"The infrastructure challenge in NSW is too great to waste a single cent."

Treasurer Mike Baird said higher wage costs on state infrastructure projects would hurt the broader economy.

Mr Baird said if wage costs on NSW's infrastructure pipeline increased by two per cent, it would result in 8200 fewer jobs.

"That's not a risk worth taking," he said.

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H&R Block 2Q loss narrows as revenue rises

H&R Block's fiscal second-quarter loss has narrowed, helped by cost-cutting efforts, and revenue has climbed mostly because of a strong tax season in Australia.

The US' largest tax preparation company typically turns in a loss in the August-to-October period because it takes in most of its revenue during the US tax season.

The company is optimistic and gearing up for its busy season.

"The US tax season is right around the corner and we believe we're on pace to deliver significant earnings and margin expansion in fiscal 2013," president and CEO Bill Cobb said in a statement on Thursday.

For the three months ended October 31, H&R Block Inc lost $US105.2 million ($A101.05 million), or 39 US cents per share. A year earlier it lost $US141.7 million, or 47 US cents per share, for the quarter.

Its loss from continuing operations was 37 US cents per share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected a bigger loss of 41 US cents per share.

Selling, general and administrative expenses declined and the quarter was free of any impairment charges. The prior-year period included a $US4.3 million impairment charge.

Revenue rose 6 per cent to $US137.3 million from $US129.2 million. This topped Wall Street's forecast of $US129.6 million.

Tax services revenue increased 7 per cent primarily because of the strong Australian tax season. Corporate revenue fell because of lower interest income from H&R Block Bank's shrinking mortgage loan portfolio.

H&R Block disclosed in October that it hired Goldman Sachs to help it explore options for its banking arm, H&R Block Bank. Those options, Block said, could result in the company no longer being regulated as a savings and loan holding company by the Federal Reserve.

The Federal Reserve announced some proposed rules in June that would impose higher capital requirements on savings and loan holding companies. H&R Block contends that if the proposed rules are enacted it would have to hold on to significant additional capital.

H&R Block, based in Kansas City, Montana, prepared 25.6 million tax returns worldwide in fiscal 2012.

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Coal, gas outburst kills 17 Chinese miners

AN accident in a coal mine in southwest China killed 17 miners on Wednesday, while 11 workers were still missing three days after another mine flooded in the northeast, state media reported.

The official Xinhua News Agency said there was an outburst of coal and gas in a shaft in a mine in Fuyuan county in Yunnan province on Wednesday afternoon.

Citing the county government, Xinhua said the other 49 miners underground at the time escaped unharmed.

In a separate report, Xinhua said 11 miners were still missing three days after a coal mine flooded in northeastern Heilongjiang province. A total of 22 miners were working in the mine when it was flooded on Saturday night. Six escaped, two were helped out on Sunday and three miners had been confirmed dead.

China has the world's deadliest coal mine industry, with 1973 miners killed in accidents last year.

Safety improvements have reduced deaths in recent years, but safety rules are often ignored and accidents are still common.

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18th-century French chateau razed in error

RESIDENTS of a sleepy French village in Bordeaux have been left dumbfounded after discovering their local 18th-century chateau was completely bulldozed "by mistake."

The mayor's office in Yvrac said on Wednesday that workers who were hired to renovate the grand 13,000-square-metre estate in November and raze a small building mixed up them up.

Former own Juliette Marmie says "the Chateau de Bellevue was Yvrac's pride and joy." She adds "the whole village is in shock. How can this construction firm make such as mistake?"

The chateau's current owner Russian businessman Dmitry Stroskin was away and returned home to discover his beloved chateau - with a grand hall that could seat some 200 people - was nothing but rubble.

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Aussie royal radio hoax condemned

MANAGEMENT of the London private hospital caring for Prince William's pregnant wife Catherine have condemned the actions of two Australian radio announcers who made a hoax call to the facility.

The King Edward VII Hospital on Wednesday admitted a staff member was duped by 2Day FM duo Mel Greig and Michael Christian who posed as the Queen and Prince Charles.

The pair were connected by phone to a nurse treating Catherine and given an update on the Duchess of Cambridge's condition, including that she hadn't experienced any recent "retching".

In the background of the call, in which the pair adopt toffy voices, a third member of 2Day FM staff can be heard pretending to bark in an attempt to impersonate one of the Queen's corgis.

"She's quite stable. She hasn't had any retching and she's been sleeping on and off," the nurse tells the pranksters after referring to Greig as ma'am.

A hospital statement released on Wednesday said the incident has sparked a review of telephone protocol.

"King Edward VII's Hospital Sister Agnes can confirm that an Australian radio station made a hoax call to the hospital in the early hours of Tuesday morning," the statement read.

"This call was transferred through to a ward and a short conversation was held with one of the nursing staff. King Edward VII's Hospital deeply regrets this incident."

John Lofthouse, chief executive at King Edward VII's Hospital, said: "This was a foolish prank call that we all deplore. We take patient confidentiality extremely seriously and we are now reviewing our telephone protocols."

Catherine was admitted to the facility, favoured by the royal family, on Monday as the world learnt she was in the early stages of pregnancy.

She is being treated for acute morning sickness and is expected to be in hospital for several days, the palace said.

Representatives for the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have not commented on the prank.

"We don't want to cause any trouble," Christian is heard to say during the broadcast, which is online at www.youtube.com/watch?v=wa5JQC8VNdw and is attracting a fast-growing number of visits.

Greig asks the nurse when she can visit her "granddaughter Kate" and how her "little tummy bug is going".

"When is a good time to come and visit her coz I'm the Queen and I need a lift down there ..."

She is then heard to ask Charles (Christian) when he can take her to the hospital.

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Elective surgery levels stable in NSW

EDS: Not for use before 0001 AEDT on Thursday, December 6.

SYDNEY, Dec 6 AAP - The number of elective surgery procedures performed in NSW public hospitals from July to September 2012 was 54,216 and that is comparable to the same period last year.

According to the Bureau of Health Information's Hospital Quarterly report for July to September, ninety-three per cent received their surgery within the recommended time frame for their urgency category, up three per cent from the 2011 period.

The most common elective surgery procedure performed in NSW public hospitals in the July to September quarter of 2012 was cataract extraction.

At the end of the quarter, there were more than 67,500 patients on the elective surgery waiting list in NSW.

Of these, 80 per cent were classified in the non-urgent category, 17 per cent in the semi-urgent category, and three per cent were urgent.

During the quarter, the median waiting time for coronary artery bypass surgery was 28 days, 157 days for a hip replacement and 286 days for a knee replacement.

The most common procedure performed was cataract extraction, with 5732 patients undergoing the operation during the quarter.

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Hospital traffic up, response time steady

MORE people went to emergency departments at NSW hospitals between July and September but the time they waited to get treatment was the same, or less, than a year ago.

The findings were recorded in the Bureau of Health Information's latest Hospital Quarterly report, released on Thursday.

According to the report, about 21,000 more patients attended NSW emergency departments during the quarter, a four per cent increase on the same period last year and 11 per cent more than the same time two years ago.

"We continue to see the trend of more patients attending emergency departments and more patients being admitted to hospital," the bureau's acting chief executive Kim Browne said.

"During this quarter the time that emergency department patients waited for treatment to begin was the same, or shorter, across all of the urgency categories compared to the same quarter in 2011."

In the period, 144,000 of the 564,970 people who attended emergency departments travelled to hospital by ambulance, six per cent more than during the same period in 2011, and 11 per cent more than two years ago.

The report shows 57 per cent of these patients were transferred into emergency department care within 30 minutes, down from the 61 per cent in 2011.

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Ship sinks off Istanbul; 12 crew missing

TURKISH rescuers are searching for the crew of a cargo ship that has sunk in a storm in the Black Sea while a second ship is in danger of being overturned by high waves, officials say.

The St Kitts and Nevis-flagged ship, Volgo Balt 199, with 11 Ukrainians and one Russian crew member aboard, was sailing to the Turkish port of Antalya from Russia when it sank off the coast of Istanbul, the state-run Anadolu Agency reported. The vessel was carrying coal.

The head of the Coastal Safety Directorate, Salih Orakci, told private NTV television that rescue boats and a helicopter were searching for Volgo Balt 199's missing crew, while tug boats had been dispatched to try and help the second ship, the Antigua and Barbuda-flagged BBC Adriatic, further west off the coast of Istanbul.

NTV television footage showed the second ship with 14 crew members being battered in the stormy waters.

"The sea conditions are very rough which is making the rescue operation very difficult," Orakci said of the BBC Adriatic. "(But) God willing, we will save that ship."

Orakci said the Volgo Balt 199 had not sent any distress signals and disappeared off the radar on Tuesday.

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Cameron urges setup of press regulator

BRITAIN'S prime minister has warned newspaper editors they must act quickly to set up an independent press regulator in the wake of a media ethics scandal.

David Cameron spoke days after a report he commissioned on press wrongdoing proposed that the press should be regulated by an independent body enshrined in law.

Cameron has expressed misgivings about that and on Tuesday participated in a summit to hear proposals for a new system not backed by law.

He told the BBC that "the clock is ticking" for the industry to implement changes outlined in the report from Lord Justice Brian Leveson, which made recommendations to root out a subculture of unethical behaviour that led to Britain's phone-hacking scandal.

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Aussie youths encouraged to volunteer

A NEW campaign aimed at encouraging community spirit in Australia's youth will be launched to coincide with International Volunteer Day on Wednesday.

The charity Do Something!, which has world solo sailor Jessica Watson as an ambassador, is urging young Australians to get involved in volunteer work within their own communities.

Harnessing technology, young people can type their postcode into the charity's website, DoSomethingNearYou.com.au, instantly connecting them with volunteer opportunities nearby.

According to the most recent Australian Bureau of Statistic figures, 593,700 people aged 18-24 undertake voluntary activities each year, accounting for 9.4 per cent of all Australians who have volunteered over the past year.

Watson says the efforts of young people in the community often go unnoticed.

"Many people don't realise that there are lots of young Australians out there who are helping out or getting involved in their local community," she said.

"I think it's important that we celebrate those young Australians who are out their doing their bit and making a positive difference."

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Parents' decision to go public: Telegraph

PRINCE William and his wife Catherine made the decision to go public with news of a royal pregnancy and scrambled to tell family and friends before the story broke on social media, say reports in London.

Even the Queen, 86, who receives daily briefings on international affairs of the upmost secrecy, was kept in the dark until Monday when the whole world also learnt the Cambridges are expecting their first child.

Officials were forced to go public because of fears Catherine's hospitalisation would fuel concerns over her health, The Guardian newspaper reported.

However British broadsheet The Daily Telegraph told a different story: "royal aides said the decision to go public 'was very much driven by the Duke and Duchess'.

"It's a very hard thing to go public at such an early stage, but they wanted to be open with people as much as possible."

So read the first of more than five pages in Tuesday's edition dedicated to the baby, its possible name, its path to the throne, the effect he or she will have on British tourism, and of course, details of the morning sickness which has landed Catherine in hospital.

Although pregnant for less than 12 weeks, the common point at which expectant mothers share their news, Catherine and William feared the information would leak and be repeated on social networking sites such as Twitter.

There would have been no way of avoiding suspicion once the Duchess was forced to cancel upcoming official engagements, as she did on Monday.

After spending the weekend with Catherine's parents Michael and Carole Middleton at their country estate where the Duchess was reportedly ill, William drove his wife to hospital in London on Monday.

But before the palace released news of the royal pregnancy to the world late in the afternoon, the couple had to word-up family.

The Queen and Prince Philip, along with Prince Charles - who was visiting flood-affected areas of Wales on Monday - learnt the happy news before press officers went to work.

Prince Harry, 28, on duty in Afghanistan as an army Apache helicopter pilot, was told the news and is apparently overjoyed despite the being pushed down the royal ladder to fourth-in-line to the throne by his new niece or nephew.

For the Queen, already twice a great-grandmother to the children of Princess Anne's son Peter Phillips, the Cambridge birth will be an historic event.

For the first time in almost 120 years, a serving monarch will experience the birth of a great-grandchild in direct succession to the throne, The Guardian reported.

In 1894, Queen Victoria, who reigned until 1901, became great-grandmother to Edward VIII, who later abdicated the throne, making way for the current Queen's father, George VI.

Catherine is expected to remain in hospital for several days as she is treated for hyperemesis gravidarum, an acute form of morning sickness.

William was seen arriving at the hospital mid-morning on Tuesday.

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Man charged over cricket stump attack

A MAN who allegedly attacked a teammate with a cricket stump during a game at Bossley Park has been charged.

About 6pm on Saturday, two men became involved in a fight at the conclusion of a local cricket match at Terone Park.

During the altercation a 24-year-old man was allegedly hit on the head with a cricket stump, sustaining a cut to his ear, bruising and swelling.

The alleged attacker fled the scene and was taken into custody on Monday charged with causing grievous bodily harm.

He was released on bail to appear at the Fairfield Local Court on January 7, 2013.

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Russia has 190km traffic jam

THE Russian government on Monday admitted it had to improve road services after a 190-kilometre traffic jam involving more than 4,000 trucks paralysed circulation on a key highway over the weekend.

According to Russian media, some drivers were stuck motionless in a remote part of the M-10 motorway surrounded by forest for up to 44 hours after heavy snow caused the traffic to build up.

Officials said that traffic on the M-10 motorway north of Moscow had been moving normally again since the early hours of Monday but acknowledged more needed to be done to prevent a repeat of the problems.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, the government pointman on transport issues, said it was clear road services had not worked effectively after traffic built up for 190 kilometres (118 miles).

"At the start of the snowfall, not even a half of the available technical hardware was used," he told Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

"Many drivers were stuck without provisions and fuel in the middle of a forest. This is not a European road but a Russian one, a forest road," he said.

Emergency Situations Minister Vladimir Puchkov described the problems as "a good lesson for all the services."

"They need to work on the roads and not in their warm offices," he warned.

Thousands of drivers waited for hours without moving in their lorry cabs Sunday in temperatures of minus five degrees Celsius.

Officials claimed that they had been given enough provisions but Puchkov admitted this had not always been the case.

"We had problems from the point of view of the highway services and ensuring that drivers had food, water and medication," he said.

Puchkov added: "Systems of keeping the drivers informed were not ready."

The traffic jam was caused by a heavy snowfall -- unusually severe for early winter -- late on Friday and was further complicated when the authorities manoeuvred a snow plough through the vehicles to clear the road.

According to the interior ministry, the traffic jam extended to 190 kilometres and involved more than 4,000 trucks.

Medvedev said that the road services needed to work efficiently and prevent such incidents from happening.

But the prime minister appeared to admit that such problems were inevitable given Russia's harsh climatic conditions.

"Drivers need to be prepared for the fact that the weather in our country is very, very complicated and there is always going to be snow," Medvedev said on television.

Traffic police said Monday that average speeds had by late morning returned to the normal 80 kilometres an hour after the vehicles started moving.

The M-10 motorway -- known as the "Russia" highway -- connects Moscow and Saint Petersburg and is one of the busiest in the country. It goes through the Tver region 160 kilometres (99 miles) north of Moscow where the traffic jam was at its worst.

The state RIA Novosti news agency said that by the afternoon a new traffic jam was starting to form on the highway just outside the city of Tver as weather forecasters warned of a heavy evening snowfall.

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Syria rejects use of chemical weapons

SYRIA will "never, under any circumstances" use chemical weapons against its own people, a foreign ministry official insisted on Monday.

"In response to the statements of the US foreign minister, Syria confirms repeatedly it will never, under any circumstances, use chemical weapons against its own people, if such weapons exist," he said, quoted on state television.

After a New York Times report over detected movement of chemical weapons by the Syrian military, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a warning to Damascus on Monday.

"This is a red line for the United States," she said on the eve of a NATO meeting in Brussels. "Once again we issue a very strong warning to the (President Bashar al-) Assad regime."

A US official told the New York Times: "The activity we are seeing suggests some potential chemical weapon preparation."

The unnamed foreign ministry official in Damascus insisted his country was "defending its people by fighting terrorists linked to Al-Qaeda" and accused the United States and other "known countries" of backing the jihadists.

Syrian authorities and state media have labelled all armed opposition fighters as foreign-backed terrorists since the uprising against Assad's regime broke out in March 2011.

On October 1, Foreign Minister Walid Muallem accused Washington of raising fears over Syrian chemical weapons stockpiles as propaganda to back its case for the overthrow of the regime.

"These chemical weapons in Syria, if they exist -- and I emphasise if -- how is it possible that we would use them against our own people? It's a joke," he said in a television interview.

Damascus acknowledged for the first time in late July that it possessed chemical weapons. It threatened to use them if attacked by outside countries, but never against its own people.

According to experts, these stocks, which amount to hundreds of tonnes, date back to the 1970s and are the largest in the Middle East.

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Farmers lose confidence about future

AUSTRALIA'S farmers are more pessimistic than optimistic about 2013 with dry weather and poor commodity prices biting, a key survey has found.

Spring was too dry, particularly in the key grain producing states of Western Australia and South Australia, hurting yields in the critical lead-up to harvest and hampering pasture growth for graziers.

Rabobank's net rural confidence indicator has sat in negative territory all year but the latest quarterly survey showed Australian farmer sentiment has slipped further into the red.

That means a greater number of farmers expect conditions to worsen rather than improve over the coming 12 months, up to 35 per cent from 31 per cent, compared to just 16 per cent who were positive about the year (down from 19 per cent).

Nearly half (46 per cent) don't expect conditions to change much from last year.

The market and seasonal conditions were stronger last year, reflecting this year's falls.

The early part of 2012 was a wet one but the dry conditions since then caused crop downgrades, while livestock graziers across Australia have been concerned about the impact of dry weather on feed reserves and saleyard prices, said Rabobank group executive for Country Banking Australia, Peter Knoblanche.

"Looking forward, its heartening that the Bureau of Meteorology is now forecasting a more normal, less dry summer ahead," he said in a statement.

Uncertainties surrounding the live export legislation also put a dent in confidence for seven per cent of survey respondents.

This was particularly focused among sheep and beef producers, who were the least positive about the year ahead.

Prices for sheep and lamb are well off the historical highs of last year, while beef prices are also flat.

Of the sectors, sentiment was highest among the nation's dairy farmers.

That reflected the anticipated impact of slower production in the US and EU on the global dairy market.

Victoria's farmers were the most positive in the nation, with it being the largest dairy-producing state.

Farmers are more positive about their own enterprises than the wider agricultural economy.

However even that indicator slipped to just below neutral, with 34 per cent expecting a poorer gross farm income than that of last year (compared with 25 per cent who had that expectation last quarter), while 22 per cent anticipated an increase in gross farm income (down from 26 per cent).

The information comes from the Rabobank Rural Confidence Survey, which questions 1200 farmers across Australia every quarter about their outlook and sentiment.

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Death toll from landslide rises to 15

RESCUERS have found three more bodies after landslides in Pakistan-administered Kashmir taking the confirmed death toll to 15.

A military and civilian rescue operation was launched after heavy snows on Friday triggered two landslides at a remote outpost in the Kel area of the disputed territory near the de facto border with India.

"Despite bad weather and heavy snowfall rescuers found three more bodies yesterday (Saturday) and are searching for three more who are still missing," local administration official Raja Saqib Muneer said.

"So far 15 bodies have been recovered, including nine soldiers and six civilians."

Disputed Kashmir has been the cause of two of the three wars between India and Pakistan since their independence from Britain in 1947.

But with separatist violence having dropped sharply following the start of a peace process in 2004, the greatest dangers facing soldiers stationed at remote outposts are often landslides and extreme weather conditions.

In April, 140 Pakistani soldiers were buried when a huge wall of snow crashed into the remote Siachen Glacier base high in the mountains in Kashmir. They have all been declared dead, although some of the bodies remain buried.

That tragedy renewed debate about how much sense it made for a country where millions live below the poverty line to maintain outposts in Siachen, dubbed "the world's highest battleground", at immense cost when violence had decreased.

And in February, at least 16 Indian soldiers on duty in the mountains of Kashmir were killed when two avalanches swept through army camps.

In Friday's accident, a wall of mud and snow hit the outpost in the early hours.

An 18-strong team was quickly dispatched to search for the soldiers at the outpost, which is 130 kilometres (80 miles) from Pakistan-administered Kashmir's main town of Muzaffarabad.

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60 samples taken in Arafat poison probe

AROUND 60 samples were taken from the remains of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat for a probe into whether he was poisoned by polonium, a Swiss newspaper reported on Sunday, quoting a lead investigator.

The samples were distributed among three teams doing separate analyses eight years after Arafat's death in a French hospital, Patrice Mangin told Le Matin Dimanche.

A Palestinian pathologist was the only person allowed to touch the body when Arafat's grave was opened on Tuesday in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

He was able to "take all the samples that were wanted, around 60 in total," said Mangin, the director of the Swiss University Centre of Legal Medicine in Lausanne.

A French team is carrying out a separate probe at the request of Arafat's widow Suha, while a Russian team was appointed by the Palestinian authority.

Mangin said the investigation would take three or four months.

Speaking shortly after the exhumation process was completed, Tawfiq Tirawi, who heads the Palestinian investigation into Arafat's death, said Ramallah would petition the International Criminal Court in The Hague if it found proof that the veteran leader was poisoned.

The investigations were set up after evidence emerged that abnormal amounts of polonium, a radioactive substance, were found on Arafat's personal effects.

Polonium was the substance that killed Russian ex-spy and fierce Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006.

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